Educational program "Agrochemistry and Agroecology" - magistracy

Code and classification of the field of education: 7М08 Agriculture and bioresources

Code and classification of training areas: 7M081 Crop

Awarded degree: Master of Agriculture in the educational program "Agrochemistry and Agroecology"

Duration of study: 1.5 years

The purpose of the educational program " Agrochemistry and Agroecology " is to prepare competitive, highly qualified specialists who are able to formulate and solve problems on agrochemistry and agroecology related to environmental monitoring and compliance with environmental regulations for the use of chemicals, agroecological assessment of agricultural lands and the rationale for their rational use; development of environmentally friendly technologies for crop production and soil fertility reproduction

Objectives of the educational program:

- the choice of an individual direction of education by specialization in the field of agrochemistry and agrochemical ecology;

- deepening of theoretical and practical knowledge in the field of ecological farming, in the field of quality and ecological safety of plant products, ecological balance of the agricultural landscape;

- acquisition of skills for the organization and conduct of soil, agrochemical, agroecological surveys of the territories of destination; monitoring the state of the environment and compliance with environmental regulations of production and land use; agroecological assessment of agricultural land and the rationale for methods of their rational use;

- development of the ability for self-improvement and self-development in addressing the issues of rational use and conservation of agricultural landscapes in the production of crop products; monitoring the state of the environment and compliance with environmental regulations of production and land use, etc.

General characteristics of the educational program. Crop fertilizer is a technique that allows not only to provide plants with nutrients, but also to preserve the potential fertility of the soil for the future. But there is a situation where the use of unreasonable norms of mineral fertilizers, the imperfection of the technology of cultivation of crops and non-compliance with farming systems, leads to negative environmental consequences. As a result, in countries such as the United States, Sweden, Denmark, and others, which have a very high level of agricultural intensification and problems of overproduction, and in recent years, alternative agriculture has begun to develop in Kazakhstan ("ecological", "biological", " organic ", etc. agriculture). The productivity of these systems is based on the natural fertility of the soil, as well as on the means of combating natural pathogens. At the same time, the main task of such farming systems is not so much an increase in the productivity of farming as the mitigation of anthropogenic environmental impact. Also, alternative farming is possible only on soils with a high natural or artificially created supply of nutrients, with a scientifically based crop rotation and high farming standards.

At present, there are too few objective prerequisites for the transfer of Kazakhstan's production to alternative bases of farming (low soil fertility with low use of mineral and organic fertilizers, difficult phytosanitary situation, imperfect farming systems, etc.). In these conditions, there is no alternative to mineral fertilizers. It is only necessary to search for ways of their rational, safe, technological use, i.e. optimize fertilizer application system. In this regard, the feature of the developed EP "Agrochemistry and Agroecology" is determined by the environmental focus and provides an opportunity to get an in-depth understanding of the impact of fertilizers on the productivity of agricultural crops, on the environment, to assess the agro-ecological efficiency of fertilizer use.

Professional activities

NAO "Government for Citizens" Department of Land Resources and Real Estate in Astana, Almaty and branches in the Republic of Kazakhstan; research and production centers, the State Enterprise "Republican Scientific and Methodological Center of Agrochemical Service" and branches in the regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan, structural divisions of the Ministry of Agriculture, Committee on Environmental Regulation and Control of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan, departments of agriculture of the regional and district akimats; agricultural formations of various forms of ownership; research institutes, environmental testing laboratories;

Professional competencies

1) to  have an idea about: the importance of chemicalization of agriculture in improving soil fertility, yield and quality of agricultural crops; composition and properties, soil fertility, alternative farming systems, the use of plant protection products of biological origin; principles of rational nature management; methods of environmental, agronomic evaluation of the use of a system of chemicals; on the environmental impact assessment of land management;

2) to know: modern methods of determining the needs of crops for fertilizers, methods of laying experiments, biological characteristics of crops, their requirements for soil nutrition conditions and methods of its regulation, the role of the main elements in nutrition and crop formation and crop quality, properties of soil and fertilizers, behavior patterns and transformations of fertilizers in the soil, their influence on the properties of the soil and plants, the essence of the relationship of soil-plant-fertilizer, criteria for evaluating the effective fertility of the soil; basics of environmental regulation and expertise

3) be able to: conduct soil, agrochemical and agroecological surveys of lands, selection of soil and plant samples, agrochemical analysis of soils, plants and fertilizers, make cartograms of soil supply with nutrients, develop an optimized system of fertilizer application taking into account the requirements of cultivated crops, soil fertility, obtaining high-quality ecologically safe crop production; identify rational ways of land reclamation of disturbed territories

4) to  have skills in: developing a system of fertilizers, reproducing soil fertility and the ecological balance of the agrolandscape; environmental assessment and review; control over soil and plants and compliance with environmental regulations of production and land use; carrying out agroecological assessment of agricultural land and the rationale for methods of their rational use;

For persons with disabilities, it is formed an individual learning trajectory which provides the opportunity to choose the form of education and professional practice.