The Degree Course in Agricultural Science and Technologies provides core competences in the agricultural sector, with respect, in particular, to the technologies and control of plant and animal productions in their qualitative, quantitative and hygienic-sanitary aspects, to the transformation and marketing of products, to the management of agricultural farms, to the evaluation of land, equipment, technical means and products.
Graduates of this course should acquire core competences in propaedeutical subjects such as Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, Chemistry, Plant and animal Biology, which are needed to understand the principles of specific professional subjects. These competences will enable students to achieve a professional grounding including the agronomic principles of cultivations and of crop defence as well as zootechnical breeding principles
Graduates will possess knowledge of the techniques for surveying animal and plant biological parameters, enabling them to carry out field surveys and the relevant qualitative and quantitative processing. They will also acquire knowledge about the main industry regulations and the principles of forestry economics and evaluation needed for autonomous professional activities such as planning and settling of agricultural firms, evaluation of land, technical means, agricultural equipment and products; projects and valuations of tree, herbaceous and systems; land exploitation and amelioration; rural development and technical-economic management of farms, protected areas and processing companies. The profile requires the dialectical skills needed to disclose and argue oneà- s own technical ideas with specialists and non-specialists, command of English language or of another European language, which is necessary for reading and interpreting technical texts, for professional exchanges and for basic dissemination.
Acquired competences will enable graduates to tackle and solve the following issues:
- Sustainable management and development of agricultural and environmental assets;
- Agricultural economics and policy, land and environment evaluation;
- Open air and protected tree, grass, vegetables and flower farming techniques;
- Techniques of livestock production;
- Agricultural Mechanics and mechanization of crop and livestock farms;
- Agricultural Hydraulics, irrigation systems and their design;
- Storage and processing of agricultural and livestock products;
- Defense of the crops and the environment from biotic and abiotic damages;
Educational activities consist of lectures, laboratory and field practice and mid-term testing.
The course lasts three academic years. To achieve the degree, students should have acquired 180 credits (CFU), including the ones related to the knowledge of an European Union language, besides Italian, subject to the special rules for the protection of linguistic minorities.
The educational programme provides for 19 mandatory examinations, 1 elective examination, a test of computing skills, a language test and a practical training period in external facilities and the final examination about specific course issues.
The 12 elective credits may be acquired, in accordance with article 10, paragraph 5, letter a) of DM 270/04, choosing freely among teachings provided by other courses of the Faculty of Agriculture of Palermo and other faculties of the University and other Italian and foreign universities.
