Undergraduate Study
Plant Sceinces

Study programme Coordinator: Prof. Milan Pospišil, PhD

The requirements of the study programme are fulfilled by students' continuous work on their assignments during the 6 semesters of studies, with a minimum of 15 weeks of lectures per semester. During the studies, students must take modules of at least 180 ECTS credits, with an equivalent of 30 hours of workload for 1 ECTS credit. The programme has 73% mandatory ECTS credits (including the final thesis and a professional project), and 27% of elective ECTS credits.

The first year of Plant Sciences study is performed together with the studies of Agroecology and Organic Agriculture.

During the first three semesters of the studies, along with the basic knowledge of natural and biotechnical disciplines, students also learn basics of agronomy, and in the fourth semester, they study the applied discipline of farm production. After the first and/or second year of their studies, students gain practical knowledge through at least 320 hours of practical work, which can be done on the Faculty test field, on farms that have a contract with the Faculty, or abroad.

During the third year of their studies, students expand their knowledge in other areas of agriculture, depending on their choice of elective modules. Also, in the final year of study, teams of 3 to 5 students work on professional projects, which train them for team work and business communication. Undergraduate studies are completed after the successful public defence of the written final thesis.

By attending lectures, exercises, field work and by taking exams, students acquire the necessary knowledge and skills. They are trained for the following activities:

• work in the area of agronomy, especially in selection, evaluation and production of farming cultures, industrial and forage plants,
• management of modern technological processes within the narrow professional area (farming), and similar agricultural areas (gardening, animal husbandry, pomology, etc.), depending on the selection of elective modules,
• sufficient knowledge to continue the graduate studies within the area of biotechnical sciences

The knowledge acquired in this study programme enables the Bachelors of Plant Sciences to familiarise themselves with the basics of farm production and production of other agricultural crops, as well as to learn about the new trends in the agricultural production in Croatia and abroad.

Bearers of this qualification are authorised to use the legally protected university degree of Bachelor (baccalaureus) in Engineering of Plant Sciences, and perform professional tasks in the area of qualification. The study is based on the knowledge in natural, biotechnical and agronomy sciences. Bachelors of Plant Sciences are therefore trained to handle tasks of medium complexity in different areas of agriculture and entrepreneurship, and are ready to face the challenges of technological changes and innovations. Employment is not necessarily limited to the area of plant sciences.

After the completion of this undergraduate study programme, students have the possibility to enrol into graduate studies of Plant Sciences and other graduate studies at the Faculty of Agriculture, or similar institutions in Croatia and abroad.

Objective

The objective of the Plant Protection study programme is to educate and train experts for various jobs that require essential competencies in the field of plant protection (phytomedicine). The objective is to train experts who will professionally apply regulations and principles of plant protection in practice, upgrade existing and acquire new competencies for analysis and synthesis of basic and practical knowledge in the field of zoology, phytopathology, weed science, phytopharmacy and pesticide application as well as in general agricultural knowledge. The objective is to enable students to develop critical and self-critical opinions and approaches aiming at solving the most important practical problems in the field of plant protection (phytomedicine) by applying gained competencies and in accordance with high standards of academic integrity (ethics and morals) both in the profession and in society as a whole. Along with employment opportunities in public, state and private companies as well as in the industry, the study programme will enable further education at the graduate study level.

Learning outcomes

1. Describe the state and trends in agriculture, especially in the immediate area of plant production, contemporary needs and trends in sustainable development of rural areas and the role of plant production in these processes
2. Define basics of production technologies for field, industrial, forage and other cultivated plants as well as the measures for grassland management
3. Recognise and explain the needs for production of foods of plant origin, for humans and animals, plant fibres for household production and industrial processing and biomass for energy production
4. Recognise and describe problems in the production of field, industrial, forage crops and other cultivated plants and evaluate the impact of agroecological conditions on yield and quality of crops
5. Select and recommend cultures and varieties/hybrids that meet specific agroecological conditions, evaluate agricultural characteristics of new field crops varieties and hybrids with the aim of giving recommendations for production and management
6. Independently create techniques for field, industrial and forage crops production and manage modern technological processes within related agricultural fields (vegetable growing, pomology, animal husbandry, etc.)
7. Recognise appropriate methods of plant breeding, aiming at selection of the best genotypes
8. Recommend appropriate technology for seed production of field, industrial and forage crops in order to maintain variety, as well as key measures of production technologies, storage and primary processing of field crops
9. Plan the production of field crops, organise the purchase of reproduction materials, machinery and equipment
10. Recognise market demands, calculate and explain basic success indicators of plant production management and argue production and business decisions
11. Manage the transport operations of reproduction materials and other equipment in agricultural plant production
12. Initiate and independently lead a business on a family farm in the area of plant production
13. Present and explain production problems of crops and other cultures using information and communication technology and propose solutions
14. Use previous knowledge for further formal and non-formal forms of education