Agronomic School
The Agronomic School of Kazan State Agrarian University nowadays educates specialists in three areas: “Agronomics”, “Plant Protection”, “Agricultural Chemistry and Agronomic Soil Science” and “Land Management”.
Specialty 310200 “Agronomics” training is carried out in the School since 1919. The qualification obtained is an agronomist. The professional activity subjects are cereals, vegetables, fruit cultures, soil and its fertility, plant production manufacturing techniques.
Within recent years private and corporative investments in the agricultural sector tend to rise both in the Republic of Tatarstan and all over the country, increasing considerably the demand for highly knowledgeable specialists in agriculture. Besides, farm enterprise growth, landscaping, decorative floriculture increased volumes, bioengineering achievement introduction open up new vistas for specialists in agriculture on the market.
During their studies “Agronomics” students obtain basic knowledge in agriculture, plant-growing, agricultural chemistry, soil science, selection and seed farming, agricultural melioration, agroecology, plant protection. They study in practice plant structure and vital activity, soil processing and increase of fertility techniques, main depredators, disease and weed plants, as well as protection methods, agricultural methods for predominant agricultural plants, harvesting techniques, machinery availability for basic agricultural work mechanization.
The training is carried out by the teachers famous in Russia and abroad, including 15 professors. One of agriculture School traditions is students’ active participation in the most advanced investigations of current interest in the area of plant-growing.
On evidence of the Ministry of Agriculture, the dramatic lack of agroscientists with higher professional education is observed in the agricultural sector of the Republic of Tatarstan, that makes young specialists’ employment assistance after they have finished their studies much easier.
Specialty 310100 “Agricultural Chemistry and Agronomic Soil Science”. The qualification obtained is an agronomist-environmentalist. The professional activity subjects are plants and soils, their properties and their rational use, agricultural sector chemicalization. The Agronomic School educates experts in two areas: 31010 “Agricultural Chemistry” and 310103 “Agroeconomic Data and Land Legal Assessment”.
The modern agricultural chemistry is much different from «the classical agricultural chemistry» of the end of the 19th — the beginning of the 20th centuries. It practices incomparably improved research methods, it is supported by an increased standard of knowledge, advanced chemical industry and a wide agrochemical service net. The so-called «green revolution» — agricultural plants’ cropping capacity jump, achieved by the end of the 50-s, is connected not only with genetics and selection achievements, but with agricultural chemistry achievement, too. Agrochemical science possesses knowledge about the substances contained in plants (protein, carbohydrates etc.), biosynthesis and metabolism in plants, plant hormones, enzyme systems, plant diseases.
Due to new agricultural chemistry branch formation — pesticide chemistry — there appeared the possibility not only to improve plant nutrition, but also to influence (with the help of growth-regulating chemicals) their growth, and to protect them against diseases (with the help of seed disinfectants, fungicides and bactericides), insects, acarian, eelworm and other depredators.
“Agricultural Chemistry and Agronomic Soil Science” students receive profound academic and practical training on plant nutritional control for the purpose of cropping capacity and plant-growing product quality increase, soil fertility reproduction, substance balance and biological cycle improvement, fertilizer efficiency upgrading.
The importance of this specialty is huge for the agroindustrial economy. Scientifically grounded recommendations, given by specialists, permit to improve soil fertility and to increase agricultural plant cropping capacity.
Soil fertility laboratory evaluation techniques and their need in various fertilizers for different farming rotations are developed and widely used in the area of agronomic soil science and chemistry of fertilizers. On the basis of laboratory tests our graduates recommend to carry out soil chemical amelioration (chalking, gypsuming) to improve their composition, structure and properties. Agricultural chemistry means help not only to increase cropping capacity, but also to achieve considerable agricultural industry intensification.
Specialty 310400 “Plant Protection”. The qualification obtained is an agronomist. Plant protection is an agricultural area, investigating theoretical and practical questions of plant protection against diseases and depredators.
The Agronomic School trains specialists on plant protection, who are often called plant doctors. The aim of their work is disease prevention, treatment or protection against hazardous organisms, they use biologically active substances, influencing the group of living organisms biogeocenosis. That is why specialist training on plant protection means to acquire deep knowledge not only in biology, ecology, zoology, botany, microbiology, physiology, phytochemistry, zoochemistry and genetics, but also in special-purpose subjects — plant-growing, agricultural chemistry, entomology and plant pathology, chemical and biological protection and others.
It is not enough for a modern agronomist to know perfectly well plant-protecting agent application technology. Phytosanitary condition agricultural plant seeding complication, harmful subject (including quarantine ones) spreading probability rising, has created the problem of plant protection service formation. That is why plant-protection agroscientist should understand and be able to analyze objectively agroecological situation and to offer a solution of existing problems in the agricultural system.
Successful graduates in this area are needed in large agricultural firms, municipal parks and forestries, in seed fields, growing rooms, in the national system of plant protection service of the Russian Federation having the status of a State federal agency, in the system of State seed control inspection, in customs service for phyto-sanitary control and depredator etc.
The Specialty “Land Management”. The qualification obtained is a senior surveying engineer. With a view of ensuring manufacturing requirements in highly-qualified personnel of senior surveying engineers, Kazan State Agrarian University was the first one in the Republic of Tatarstan to open a new specialty of “Land Management” in 2006. The economic conversion, taking place in Russia, has required the formation of the land cadastre, as an information structure to support the market mechanism. Thereby, the role of such land stewardship state functions as agricultural regulation, land use and protection control, monitoring and land taxation will grow considerably. The Republic of Tatarstan range among the regions, where the land reform is most purposeful, successive and effectual.
The percentage of college-bred senior surveying engineers in the Country Team of Immovable Property Cadastre Federal Agency Administration in the Republic of Tatarstan is less than 10 %. Alongside with that, according to draft federal law “On forming, state cadastral registration and state cadastral value of real estates” the demand for professional cadastral engineers to introduce cadastre and to estimate property grows considerably.
The term of studies for the specialties “Agronomics”, “Plant Protection”, “Agricultural Chemistry and Agronomic Soil Science” and “Land Management” is 5 years for full-time students and 6 years for part-time students. The entrance examinations are in Biology, Chemistry and Russian.