History

After its founding and the start of its work, the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry in Skopje was continually organised, expanded and improved as a complete teaching and research institution. Over the course of its work and development it has gone through several organisational and developmental phases. The changes and transformations, its development and its work have been driven by the need to align teaching, research and the application of its own and foreign scientific knowledge in agriculture, linked to the political and socio-economic relations of the social order.

In 1975 the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry was divided into two independent faculties, Agriculture and Forestry, as separate work organisations. This independence was the result of the high level of development reached in all activities of the two former departments, agriculture and forestry.

From 1977 to 1989 the Faculty of Agriculture functioned as a Work Organisation integrating the Faculty of Agriculture, the Agricultural Institute, the Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, the Fruit Growing Institute, the Viticulture Institute and the Faculty farm at Trubarevo. Within this Work Organisation there were eight legal entities:

• Institute of Field Crops and Vegetable Growing
• Institute of Fruit Growing
• Institute of Viticulture and Enology
• Institute of Animal Husbandry
• Institute for Soil Research
• Institute of Plant Protection
• Institute of Agricultural Economics and Organisation and the Faculty farm

Because of its complex organisational set-up, since the beginning of 1990 the Faculty of Agriculture has worked as an independent work organisation with three core activities: education, research and applied work.

The first undergraduate diploma was issued on 30 December 1949, the first master's thesis was defended on 24 November 1971, and the first doctoral dissertation was defended on 28 May 1959.

From 1990, besides the existing three courses – field crops (with a vegetable and flower growing group), viticulture and fruit growing, and animal husbandry – a general course was also opened.

From 1992 to 1994 a veterinary course also ran as a separate course within the Faculty of Agriculture; it later became the independent Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.

In 1997 the Faculty established a new course – Agricultural Engineering. To follow the labour market's needs for professionals and the interests of students, since 2001 the Faculty has organised teaching in 10 courses:

• Field crops course
• Vegetable and flower growing course
• Viticulture and fruit growing course
• Animal husbandry course
• Agricultural engineering course
• Agricultural economics course
• Plant protection course
• Soil and water use, management and protection course
• Eco-agriculture course
• Agricultural product processing course

These changes provided the new professional profiles needed by small and large production facilities.

In the same year, 2001, the Faculty was among the first 4 faculties of Ss. Cyril and Methodius University to introduce the credit transfer system into teaching.

In February 2004 the Faculty of Agriculture changed its name to the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food.

Since 2005 the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food has run dispersed teaching of the vegetable and flower growing course in Strumica.

Today the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food runs full-time undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral studies. By 25 October 2006 the following had graduated from the Faculty:

• 6,237 students of undergraduate studies
• 111 students of specialist studies
• 317 students of master's studies
• 191 students of doctoral studies