The Bulduri Biotechnology Centre (Bulduru Biotehnoloģijas centrs) is the research and development unit of Bulduri Technical School in Jūrmala, Latvia. Its mission is the development, testing and implementation of the latest horticultural innovations, with the ambition of growing into an internationally recognised, self-sustaining scientific institution. The Centre works across three overarching goals – biodiversity, smart agriculture and ecosystem health – and focuses on four development directions: plant micropropagation, agrochemical analysis, climate-controlled agriculture and molecular biology.
The Centre occupies around 900 m² of equipped laboratories and is a place where professional education, research and industry meet. Vocational, secondary and university students carry out practical work and research here, alongside a professional team that runs scientific projects, provides analytical services and produces planting material. The autonomous robotic platform Latvian i-Garden – a 2.5-hectare living collection of some 800 varieties of vegetables, ornamental plants and fruit crops – forms the Centre’s outdoor testbed for plant monitoring, automation and the digitalisation of horticultural production.
Facilities and equipment
The Centre brings together four specialised laboratories:
- Climate-controlled agriculture laboratories – aeroponic, hydroponic, ebb-and-flow and deep-water multi-tier growing systems and acclimatisation rooms, developed and tested for climate-controlled cultivation.
- Plant tissue culture laboratory – equipped for media preparation, sterilisation (autoclave, dry-heat steriliser) and in-vitro growing shelves with lighting and climate control, supporting student training and the micropropagation of planting material.
- Molecular biology laboratory (PCR) – equipped for DNA and RNA isolation and analysis (bead homogeniser, centrifuges, nucleic-acid quantification, PCR and detection instruments), enabling microorganism identification, plant disease testing and other plant genetic analyses.
- Agrochemistry laboratory – a modern laboratory offering a wide range of soil, peat substrate, plant biomass and water analyses. It is accredited by the Latvian National Accreditation Bureau (LATAK, certificate No. LATAK-T-691-00-2024) and provides analyses both for internal needs and as a commercial service to farmers and other clients.
Activities and services
Across these laboratories the Centre delivers soil, substrate, biomass and water analyses; plant micropropagation and plantlet production and hands-on training for students at all levels. A systematic data-collection and processing layer – combining sensors, cameras, databases, machine learning and other artificial-intelligence tools – is being built into the Latvian Smart Garden platform to interpret plant condition in real time and support horticultural management decisions. The outputs of this work include publications, technologies, products, services, datasets, protocols and methods.
Projects and development directions
Under its 2025–2030 strategy the Centre is scaling up its scientific and commercial activity: growing its portfolio of research projects, increasing the number of peer-reviewed publications, commercialising new analytical services, and expanding its team of doctorate-level researchers. Priority directions are building international scientific capacity, strengthening innovation and industry links, developing staff, maintaining a modern research environment, and improving communication and training.
Cooperation
The Bulduri Biotechnology Centre cooperates with the University of Latvia, Riga Technical University and the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, as well as with leading companies of the horticulture industry and grower associations, both in Latvia and internationally, including through the organisation of and participation in international conferences.
Contact
Anta Sparinska
Bulduri Biotechnology Center
anta.sparinska@bulduri.lv
Website: