Many will use this course to become a farm manager, work in marketing horticultural crops or start your own business. Others will use it to enhance a career they have already started in the horticulture industry.
- Learn about management, marketing and business
- Learn about horticultural crop production
- Combine these skills and discover opportunities for employment and business in the cropping industry
- 900 hour, self paced practical course with options to upgrade to longer learning programs
This Advanced Certificate develops both the skills required to manage a horticultural farm (eg. Market Garden, Orchard), and also the knowledge in the identification, growing, processing and marketing crops and crop related products. This course involves seven units, plus a 200 hr workplace project.
Modules
Note that each module in the Advanced Certificate in Applied Management (Crops) is a short course in its own right, and may be studied separately.
INDUSTRY PROJECT OR WORK EXPERIENCE
This is the final requirement that you must satisfy before receiving your award.
There are various options including:
Alternative
If you work in the industry that you have been studying; you may submit a reference from your employer, in an effort to satisfy this industry (ie. workplace project) requirement; on the basis of RPL (ie. recognition for prior learning), achieved through your current and past work experience.
The reference must indicate that you have skills and an awareness of your industry, which is sufficient for you to work in a position of responsibility.
Alternative
If you do not work in the relevant industry, you need to undertake a project as follows.
Procedure for a Workplace Project
This project is a major part of the course involving the number of hours relevant to the course (see above). Although the course does not contain mandatory work requirements, work experience is seen as highly desirable.
This project is based on applications in the work place and specifically aims to provide the student with the opportunity to apply and integrate skills and knowledge developed through various areas of formal study.
Students will design this project in consultation with a tutor to involve industry based activities in the area of specialized study which they select to follow in the course. The project outcomes may take the form of a written report, folio, visuals or a mixture of forms. Participants with relevant, current or past work experience will be given exemption from this project if they can provide suitable references from employers that show they have already fulfilled the requirements of this project.
For courses that involve more than 100 hours, more than one workplace project topic may be selected. For example, 200 hours may be split into two projects each of 100 hours. This will offer the student better scope to fulfill the needs of their course and to meet the number of hours required. Alternatively, the student may wish to do one large project with a duration of 200 hours.
Students will be assessed on how well they achieve the goals and outcomes they originally set as part of their negotiations with their tutor. During each 100 hours of the project, the students will present three short progress reports. These progress reports will be taken into account when evaluating the final submission. The tutor must be satisfied that the work submitted is original.
If the student wishes to do one large 200 hour report, then only three progressive reports will be needed (however the length of each report will be longer).
WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS?
Graduates from this course have a foundation for managing a wide variety of crops on different types of farms.
Even if you don't study the specific crop plant that you end up growing; the principles you learn and the scientific and commercial understanding which you develop, will lay a foundation that allows you to adapt to any type of job or any type of crop you find yourself confronted with.
This course lays a very solid foundation for business or employment in any type of Horticultural Crop Production.
For a farm to remain sustainable, certain minimum productivity levels must be maintained, using preferred plant species on an ongoing basis. These plants may be pasture species, fodder crops, grain, vegetables, fruit or other harvested plants.
CONSIDER THE CROP YOU CHOOSE TO GROW
- What crops are currently in demand? You need to attempt to gauge future demand, particularly if you are looking at growing crops that are long-term investments and may take several or more years to reach a marketable stage (eg. tree fruits, nuts, timber). Also look at the "stage" of demand for a crop. Is it a new, growing market, or is it one that everyone is "getting into" (resulting in a possible glut on the future market)? Select crops that are in high demand, where possible, to remain economically sustainable.
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Which crops are suited to growing in your locality? Some alteration to the soil and climate of the area may be beneficial in the long term. Examples are the introduction of windbreaks to prevent erosion, installing irrigation systems, or the creation of a microclimate to encourage growth of a particularly suitable plant.
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What resources do you have to produce different crops? This could include suitable land, equipment, staff, materials, or the financial backing to obtain these. Investment in equipment and materials must also be balanced with the amount of return you can expect.
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What expertise or knowledge do you have with regard to growing different crops? Can you obtain that knowledge? For new or experimental crops, determine what information is available on their culture and find out what grower support exists (eg. Department of Agriculture). Trying crops new to your area or still in an experimental usage stage can be costly but it has the potential to be very rewarding. Overseas research can often shed light on the suitability of the crop for your area. Start small and work up to larger production numbers if the results are good.
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How will the crop under consideration work with other crops? For instance, is there a market for a suitable companion plant? What crops should it be rotated with? What effects will this have on the soil and on the economics of growing this plant? Can the crop be marketed easily in conjunction with other crops you produce?
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What will you be using the crop for? If you are considering crops for your own subsistence, is this the cheapest and easiest way to obtain the crop? If you are using it for stock feed, is this the cheapest or easiest way to obtain suitable stock food?
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Is the crop sustainable? Many crops can only be grown with large inputs of fertilisers and pesticides. Choose crops that are suitable for your soils and the surrounding ecology.
The Future
Farming has been evolving over recent decades, driven by technological, social, economic and environmental change.
- Technology is enabling us to do more things smarter than ever before. Automation is a big part of these changes
- Environmental changes are causing a big rethink too; but there's a lot that a farmer can do to adapt.
- The economics of farming continues to impact what can be viable and where it might be viable.
Sustainability is increasingly important; and this course can help you to get your head around many of the sustainability issues confronting crop production.
As the world continues to change, watch world trends and adapt. Before that though, you need to get a broad, fundamental understanding of crop production; and that is precisely what this course should do.
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