South East Technological University (SETU) has expanded its agri-course offering with the launch of four new degrees in organic agriculture and agri-systems engineering at the National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, Co. Laois.
Prospective students interested in working in the agri-food industry can apply for a level 8 BSc (Hons) and level 7 BSc in organic agriculture and a level 8 BEng (Hons) and level 7 BEng in agri-systems engineering when the CAO opens in November.
SETU is a key player in land and food science higher education and research and the addition of these undergraduate courses further bolsters a well established course portfolio, bringing the total number of land and food science programmes to 14 across the Wexford, Waterford and Carlow campuses.
Agri-course offering
Dr. Stephen Whelan, programme director at SETU, explained that the new organic agriculture programmes give students a unique opportunity to make a big impact on the organic industry.
“The BSc in organic agriculture is the only such degree being offered on the island of Ireland and we believe the honours version of the course is the only level 8 degree in organic agriculture offered in either the UK or Ireland,” he said.
The programme was developed in close consultation with industry, including the Irish Organic Association (IOA), the expertise of which was drawn on in the development of the organic modules on the programme.
“The agri-team in the Wexford campus are thankful to all those in industry who contributed to the development of the programme, especially Grace Maher from the Irish Organic Association who was heavily involved from the start,” Dr. Whelan added.
The BSc in organic agriculture will complement the existing BSc in sustainable farm management and agribusiness programmes with which it shares the scientific and business modules.
It will be one of four agri/marine programmes that SETU offers on the Wexford campus, complementing the various land, marine and food-science related programmes offered across the SETU.
Agri engineering
The BEng in agricultural systems engineering was also developed by working closely with industry.
Dr. John Carroll, co-director of the programme together with Dr. Anthony Nolan, said that the vision for the programme is that it will create talented problem solvers for the agricultural industry, which is becoming increasingly mechanised and technical.
“Students on this programme will be able to take advantage of the best offering in the Wexford and the Carlow campuses of SETU, capitalising on the agricultural expertise in the former and the engineering expertise in the latter,” Dr. Carroll said.
Similar to the organic agriculture courses, the BEng in agricultural systems engineering programmes will share a number of agri-business and applied agriculture modules with the parent programme, the BSc in sustainable farm management and agribusiness.
Students will take the engineering components of the programme in Carlow as well as learning from exposure to the many agri-engineering companies in the south east.
Both the BSc in organic agriculture and the BEng in agricultural systems engineering will be offered at level 7 and level 8 and will have their first intake of students in September 2023.
Meanwhile, University College Dublin’s (UCD) new online MSc in animal science has just gotten underway. The programme which is provided by the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science, was developed following engagement with industry stakeholders to ensure graduates will be well positioned to respond to and address current and future industry requirements.