Plant Technologist (m/f) – a new vocation for plant breeding

Abstract

A cornerstone of German vocational training is its twin-track structure called the “dual system”, a combination of school education and on-the-job training that allows the apprentice to acquire the essential competences he will need to handle his professional tasks with a high degree of personal responsibility and autonomy. The vocational training for an Agricultural Laboratory Technological Officer (m/f) (Landwirtschaftlich-technische/r Laborant/in (LTL)) needed revisions since the syllabus was outdated and needed to be harmonized between the German Federal States. These revisions resulted in 2013 in the creation of a new vocational training course for “Plant Technologist (m/f )” (“Pflanzentechnologe/-in”) designed with a particular view to plant breeding and seed production, plant protection and manuring as well as field trials and laboratory cultivation. This vocational course does not compete with, but complements the other vocational courses often employed in research-intensive sectors like plant breeding, namely the Agricultural Technical Assistant (m/f ) or the Assistant for Agricultural Technologies (Landwirtschaftlich-technische/r Assistent/in (LTA) or Agrar-technische/r Assistent/in (ATA)). The broad syllabus comprising eight different areas opens a wide range of possible careers to Plant Technologists in all branches of plant production. In 2016, the path has been paved for a possible qualification as Master Craftsman in Plant Technology and the official process for the respective qualification regulations has been initiated.