Master in Agricultural Sciences and Technologies

The “Agricultural Sciences and Technologies” second cycle degree course sets out to train professionals specialised in sustainable management and optimization of herbaceous and arboreal production systems, in light of the new market opportunities and of the more central role played by agriculture in modern society; it trains professionals in plant protection, as well as in the technical-economical and management aspects that drive agricultural business operations and estimation. The driving forces in this context include the changes in agricultural institutions, market liberalisation, European Community and international policies, environment awareness and innovative technologies, including biotechnologies, which evolve constantly.

The first year of the programme is common to all students; the second year includes three different curricula.
The first year further develops andconsolidates the basics of agricultural business economy, mechanisedagriculture, agronomy, plant nutrition, crop genetic improvement andprotection.
The curriculum allows students to acquireelements necessary to: interpret entrepreneurial behaviour and support economicchoices; make the right choice and use of traditional and innovative machineryfor crops; apply agronomic techniques to protect the environment and managespontaneous vegetation in agricultural and non-agricultural areas; assess themain physical variables of the land and establish the principles for a waterbudget; understand the main chemical, biochemical and microbiological processesthat govern soil nutrient absorption in the rhizosphere; recognise the maindisease symptoms and adopt the appropriate defence techniques; understand themain selection and genetic improvement methods for herbaceous plants;understand the physical, physiological, health, genetic and legal aspects ofdifferent seeds and the relevant laboratory analytic techniques.
Based on the training and competenciesacquired during the first year of the programme, students may further developand specialise in some of the above-mentioned areas by choosing one of thethree curricula.
The first curriculum focuses on: scientificknowledge of the physiology of herbaceous plants and fruit trees, withparticular reference to the relationship between production quality,environmental elements, agronomic management and stress; knowledge of thetraditional and innovative methods to determine the quality characteristics ofproducts; application of the main genomic principles in the study andvalorisation of genetic diversity; knowledge of the benefits and risks derivingfrom the cultivation and use of GMO vegetables; innovative productiontechniques applicable to the main crops, in order to make the appropriatemanagement choices in different pedoclimatic conditions and in relation tospecific production and process objectives.
The second curriculum focuses on: knowledgeof the dynamics between useful and harmful insects, in order to designeffective insect integrated and biological defence policies; the most recentagricultural landscape management policies, aimed at conserving andimplementing biodiversity and supporting the natural enemies of harmfulinsects; knowledge of the signs of biotic and abiotic diseases and of the mainvirulence factors of infectious disease agents and the mechanisms at the basisof epidemics; innovative technologies to diagnose and plan sustainable defencestrategies for agricultural products, and to conserve and treat harvestedproducts.
The third curriculum focuses on: estimationin the rural, agro-industrial and environmental sectors, to carry outevaluations and assessments of goods, projects and investments, including byconsulting the land registry; ability to carry out measurements of rural landusing topographic equipment; the basics of business organization, to analysethe economic and market performance of agro-industrial companies; decision andresource management criteria to plan business strategies; knowledge of thestages that bring value in a supply chain and intervention opportunities; therelation between company divisions, nodes of a production network and/or supplychain operators in terms of competitiveness and issue/functionality analysis;knowledge of the policy frame of reference in the agro-industrial sector, on aninternational level.