When Manika Debnath arrived at Aeres Training Centre, she already had a strong professional foundation. She had studied Animal Husbandry and Animal Nutrition in Bangladesh and had around ten years of experience in different parts of the livestock sector, including poultry farming, government services and laboratory work.
She had worked with feed formulation before. She understood animal nutrition. What she was looking for was the opportunity to connect that knowledge more directly with the production process. “I wanted to learn more, and I chose a programme that really matched my studies and my work experience.” The feed processing programme became her first international training experience – and an important step in her professional development.
From formulation to finished feed
What stood out most to Manika was the close connection between theory and practice. “We had a few lectures, but after that we immediately started with the practical work.” Participants first worked on ration formulation. They calculated nutritional requirements for poultry, cattle, sheep and goats and developed rations using raw materials relevant to their own countries. Then they took those calculations into the feed mill. “We prepared everything ourselves. We weighed the grains and the macro- and micro-ingredients, mixed everything and packed the final product.”
For Manika, that sequence made the difference. “We first learned how to calculate a ration and then how to implement it in the feed mill. The two were directly connected.”
Instead of treating formulation as an isolated calculation, participants could follow the process from nutritional requirements and ingredient selection to actual feed production. That is where learning by doing added value to knowledge Manika already had. It allowed her to see how decisions made on paper translate into a physical product.
Different professionals, different applications
The international group brought together participants with very different backgrounds. Some came from animal science or veterinary medicine. Others had a business background. Several were already involved in running small feed mills in their home countries.
For Manika, this diversity showed that the same knowledge can have a different value depending on someone’s professional situation. “Some participants had their own small feed-mill businesses. For them, the programme was directly connected to what they were already doing.”
She has remained in contact with several former participants and has seen how they continued to use their knowledge after returning home. “I still see some of them making their own rations for their animals, and some are producing feed for other people.” Those examples stayed with her. They showed that professional training can have an immediate effect when participants are able to apply new knowledge directly within their company or organisation. “We still keep in touch and share experiences.”
Seeing innovation beyond the textbook
One experience in particular demonstrated the value of seeing theory in practice. During the programme, Manika visited the black soldier fly unit on the Aeres campus in Barneveld. She already knew about the potential use of insects as an alternative protein source in animal feed from her studies. But she had never seen the process herself. “I had read about it in books, but I had never seen it in practice.”
At the unit, she could observe how black soldier flies were reared and discuss their potential use as a protein source in poultry nutrition. “For the first time, I could actually see how it worked.”
For Manika, the visit turned an academic subject into something tangible. It allowed her to connect existing knowledge with a real production system and consider how such an approach might be relevant in different agricultural contexts. That experience reflects something she valued throughout the programme: technical knowledge becomes more meaningful when professionals can see, question and apply it themselves.
A quality mindset that crosses sectors
Manika’s own career did not lead her into a feed mill. After completing the programme, she continued her education in the Netherlands with a master’s degree in Agricultural Production Chain Management.
Today, she works as a chemical analyst in a food laboratory, where she is involved in quality control for both human food and animal feed. “I am not working directly with farmers now, but I am still checking the quality of food and animal feed.” Her work includes laboratory analysis related to substances such as pesticides and antibiotics.
At first sight, quality control may seem like a different field from ration formulation and feed production. But for Manika, the different stages of her career are connected. Animal nutrition, feed processing and laboratory analysis all require professionals to understand ingredients, production processes and the quality of the final product. Her experience shows that knowledge does not have to be applied in exactly the same job for it to remain valuable.
The technical understanding she developed through feed production has become part of a broader professional perspective on production chains and quality assurance.
Expertise that makes learning possible
Manika also remembers the trainers as an important part of the experience. “They were helpful. Whenever we had questions, we could ask them, and they took the time to answer.”
For a group with very different professional backgrounds and levels of experience, that expertise mattered. “The trainers were well organised and knowledgeable. They knew what they were teaching us. Whatever we asked, they were able to answer.”
Practical facilities alone do not create meaningful learning. For Manika, their value came from the combination of hands-on experience and specialists who could explain the technical principles behind what participants were doing.
An experience that shaped what came next
For Manika, the programme also marked the beginning of a new international chapter. Several years later, she returned to the Aeres campus with her daughter. “I wanted to show my daughter the place where I first came. I was a little nostalgic.”
By then, her professional path had developed considerably. She had completed another degree, built a career in the Netherlands and moved from animal nutrition towards food and feed quality control. Looking back, she sees the programme as an important starting point. “Basically, my career started with that course.” Her path may be different from that of participants who returned to their own feed mills, but the wider value is the same: professional training can provide knowledge, confidence and new perspectives that continue to influence what comes next.
When asked whether she would recommend this type of training to organisations considering investing in their employees, Manika is clear. “I would give it ten out of ten.” She has seen the value both in her own development and in the work of former participants. “If employers send their employees for this type of training, it can be really helpful for the organisation. They return with more knowledge for their work.” For Manika, that is ultimately what makes professional learning valuable: knowledge that does not remain in the training room, but becomes part of the way professionals think, work and develop.
About Manika Debnath
Manika Debnath is a chemical analyst in the Netherlands with an academic and professional background in Animal Husbandry, Animal Nutrition, feed production and laboratory analysis. Before moving to the Netherlands, she worked in Bangladesh in poultry farming, government services and laboratory environments. She has also contributed to several international journal publications.