The degree Course provides graduates of a deepening of professional training in the agricultural sector. The course is aimed at improving the technical and scientific expertise for the design, management and control of productive agricultural systems, with traits of sustainability and multi-functionality; the consolidation of the professional and scientific skills in the field of entrepreneurship and agricultural management and development of quality products and processes, and in the field of European policies, markets, and investment evaluation; the expansion of the expertise in the design and management of parks and gardens and technical, sports and recreation green areas in urban and suburban environments.
Graduates of this Course acquire specific professional training in the following areas:
- Propagation, production and protection of plants, shrubs, industrial and officinal herbaceous crops, trees, vegetables and flowers;
- Landscape analysis, design, implementation and management of parks, gardens and public and private green areas at large, in urban and suburban environments;
- Activation of business and supply chain initiatives related to the upgrading of products with specific(typical, biological, historical, etc.) quality characteristics, as well as the ability to relate with the socio-economic system through forms of integration and coordination of the productive and organizational activities.
The educational programme enable graduates to:
- Acquire an adequate cultural background to carry out basic and applied research and experimentation, and to develop and promote scientific and technological innovations;
- Acquire the skills to plan, design, maintain and enhance agricultural production systems and environmental and landscape resources also for recreational and sports purposes;
- Acquire command of the scientific methods of investigation in crop production, enabling them to intervene in problem solving on specific systems and processes, through direct field surveys, laboratory determinations, processing and interpretation of data;
- Have in-depth expertise to design, build and Certify agro-food systems, to design and manage parks, gardens, sports and recreation areas, in relation to technical means, machinery and mechanical equipment;
- Pursue the qualitative and quantitative improvement of plant and animal production through the genetic selection, nursery management, design of cropping systems, the defence against biotic and abiotic agents, the adoption of rational and innovative techniques and technologies;
- Possess the dialectical skills to discuss the technical and scientific aspects in inter-professional relations with specialists of the same or other sectors, and to disseminate to non-specialists farmers their technical convictions;
- Acquire skills in the field of international agricultural policy, market and marketing, investment evaluation, as well as of the technical and economic aspects of the development of products through the adoption of quality and safety systems, in relation also to the sociological roots of production and consumption behaviours.
The educational activities consist of lectures, laboratory and field exercises and mid-term tests.
The expected time for obtaining the Degree is two academic years. To achieve the Degree, students must have earned 120 university credits (CFU). The Degree Course program consists of 11 required courses and one elective course, plus the practical application internship at accredited facilities and the final examination with the preparation and discussion of a thesis on Course-specific issues.
The elective credits may be acquired, in accordance with article 10, paragraph 5, letter a) of the Ministerial Decree 270/04, and with the Course and University regulation, among all the subjects provided in the University of Palermo, if consistent with the educational objectives of the course.
At the end of the course students will be awarded the title of “Dottore Magistrale in Scienze della produzione e delle tecnologie agrarie" and, after passing the national professional qualification exam, they may register in Section A (Senior Agronomist) of the “Albo professionale dell'Ordine dei Dottori Agronomi e Forestali”.*
*Italian Professional Board