DAENR was established in 2013 in order to expand and integrate the activities of the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia in the field of the sustainable use of natural resources while protecting the agricultural environment. The activities of the Department are directed towards enhancing and sustaining the potential for the production of quality food with responsible agricultural management. The Department’s work covers applied and basic research and services in the areas of:
- responsible use of agricultural natural resources: systematic inspection and maintenance of soil fertility, soil management, and conservation of agricultural land quality;
- soil, agricultural land, and space quality: the chemical and physical properties of soil, quality and fertility, ground water, organic matter, sustainable land utilisation, irrigation, and regulation of agricultural land;
- environmental protection of agroecosystems: the fate of pesticides, herbology, plant physiology, the chemistry of agroecosystems;
- food safety: the suitability of agricultural and urban land for food production;
- database and information systems: production, replenishment, the maintenance of different databases (natural resources, land, agroecosystems).
All our activities include the application of environmental informatics (GIS), which encompasses the infrastructure and networking activities of the Department and the Institute.
The Department has two units: The Centre for Soil and Environmental Research (CSER) and The Centre for Agricultural Ecosystems (CAE).