The Department of Agricultural Economics offers a 5 – year programme leading to the award of the Degree in Bachelor of Agricultural Technology (Agricultural Economics). The core field of the programme covers subject areas of Farm Management and Production Economics, Agribusiness Management, Agricultural Finance, Agricultural Marketing and Agricultural Resource Economics. The importance of Agricultural Economics cannot be overemphasized, it contributes in agricultural policy developments of the nation, such policies like the achievement of food security of the nation, production of raw materials for industrial growth, foreign exchange earning to the nation, providing investment opportunities in the agricultural sector and non-agricultural sectors of the nation, to mention but a few. Agricultural Economics is essentially management in nature, it has to do with decisions of effective allocation of scarce resources to achieve an optimal output. Students of the Department also take courses from Crop Science, Animal Science, Soil Science, Forestry and Wildlife as well as Fishery and Aquaculture, as well as other Sciences and General Studies. These are all designed to give the students professional background in agriculture especially in policy formulation, analysis and implementation and in solving the human, societal and environmental challenges of the nation.
The philosophy of the Degree Programme is to produce graduates with in-depth knowledge in both practical and theoretical aspects of agriculture and economics. These are to equip the students for work in the private sector, international organizations, teaching and research as well as meeting the challenges of self-employment. Further, the students undergo one-year industrial attachment for practical exposure in the relevant fields. The programme is carefully designed in a manner to raise graduates who will be job creators rather than job seekers for a job. Graduates on their own can establish, run and manage any of agribusiness value chain, starting from input suppliers, production, processing and marketing. All these are geared towards making the students be globally competitive.
The objective of the programme is to train scientific and professional workers with competence in the analysis of socio-economic problems in agriculture in both micro and macro levels. More specifically, the programme is expected to:
The mission of the Department is to produce graduates with in-depth knowledge in both practical and theoretical aspects of Agricultural Economics and well-grounded enough to permit self-employment upon graduation.
The unique practical training offered to students confers on them a competitive advantage in the Agricultural and allied sector labour market. The career opportunities arise from our emphasis on producing well-trained graduates who are confident job creators, self-employers, owners and managers of agribusiness enterprises. They are particularly groomed as academics and decision-makers to occupy such positions as Agricultural Economists, Agricultural Consultants, Farm Managers/Accountants, Agricultural Managers in private companies and oil, gas, bank and environmental industries, Credit executives in service industries, Rural Development Specialists, Agricultural Planners, Internal Auditor etc both within Nigeria and overseas.
The Department of Agricultural Economics was headed within the following periods by:
100 Level
UNDERGRADUATE COURSE CODE, TITLES AND UNITS
YEAR ONE
HARMATTAN SEMESTER
RAIN SEMESTER
200 Level
YEAR II
HARMATTAN SEMESTER
RAIN SEMESTER
STUDENTS INDUSTRIAL, WORK EXPERIENCE SCHEME (SIWES)
SIW 200 Industrial Attachments 0.0.2
300 Level
YEAR III
HARMATTAN SEMESTER
RAIN SEMESTER
400 Level
YEAR IV
PRACTICAL YEAR (HARMATTAN AND RAIN SEMESTERS)
500 Level
YEAR V
HARMATTAN SEMESTER
* LIST OF ELECTIVES
CODE COURSE TITLE
SST 501 – Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry – 2
SST 503 – Soil Survey and Land-use Planning – 3
SST 507 – Soil Geomorphology and Environmental Conservation – 3
CST 501 – Weeds and Weed Control
CST 503 – Plant Pathology I
CST 507 – Olericulture and Pomology
YEAR V
RAIN SEMESTER
* LIST OF ELECTIVES
CODE – COURSE TITLE
AST 502 – Swine Production
AST 506 – Animal Nutrition
AST 512 – Rabbit and Mini Livestock Production – 2
SST 502 – Soil and Plant Water Relationship – 2
SST 506 – Soil Fertility and Organic Matter – 2
SST 510 – Fertilizer Technique
To be admitted into the 5 –year B. Agric. Tech degree with a specialization in Agricultural Economics, the candidate must possess either of the following:
i. University Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) Entry Requirements
In addition to an acceptable pass in UTME, candidates must have Senior Secondary School Certificate with credit passes in 5 subjects, which must include English Language, Chemistry, Biology or Agric. Science., Mathematics, and at least a pass in Physics at not more than two sittings. The UTME subjects shall comprise of English language, Chemistry, and any two subjects from Physics, Biology/Agricultural Science and Mathematics.
ii. Direct Entry Requirements
B. Agric., M. Sc., PhD
Email: stephen.onyeagocha@futo.edu.ng
