The Institute for Agrofood and Fishery Research and Training is an independent body of the Andalusian Regional Government created by Law 1/2003 of 10th April and which currently belongs to the Department of Innovation, Science and Enterprise. One of its main objectives is to modernise the agrofood sector and make it more competitive through a combination of research, innovation, transfer of technology and training of sector employees. It carries out its activities via a network of 18 centres (A.R.T.C.s) distributed throughout Andalusia. The A.R.T.C. in Alameda del Obispo hosts a range of research and development projects focussing on a variety of topics pertaining to the dairy sector and to cheesemaking technology in particular. Recent studies worthy of note include:
* The effects of nutrition-genotype interaction on the technological quality of goat’s milk obtained from the Malaga breed.
* The quality and composition of goat’s milk as a healthier product.
* The development of technological innovations for use in goat milking.
* The use of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for quality control in the cheesemaking industry.
* The profiling of Traditional Andalusian Cheeses.
Knowledge is also transmitted to companies in the sector via the Association of Andalusian Cheesemakers.
To date, over 60 different studies related with the sector have been made available in book format, in Spanish and foreign magazines, congress communications and reports and scientific and technical symposiums.