School of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
The SAES is distinctively situated in Limpopo Province, which is historically rural, but with diverse biodiversity, natural resources and pockets of high agricultural potential. Agriculture, mining and tourism had been selected as the potential economic pillars in the province and these also contribute enormously to the gross domestic product of South Africa.
Rural communities in which the SAES is located are faced with low agricultural productivity because of, inter alia: erratic and low rainfall, climate change, unprecedented soil degradation and low fertility, lack of proper cropping systems, deforestation, overgrazing, lack of post-harvest facilities and access to fresh-produce markets, lack of technical skills in agriculture and related industries, intense competition for natural resources, suspension of selected pesticides, HIV/Aids epidemic, inaccessibility to agricultural production resources, lack of risk management capacity and unplanned land reform. These constraints are no different from those encountered in most countries in the SADC
School of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Programmes
The consequences of these challenges are simply that there is a dire need for the School to be pro-active in providing solutions to both its immediate and distant communities by advancing training and research programmes which focus on improving the standard of living and food security through producing competent and entrepreneurial agricultural and environmental professionals through innovative teaching, research and community engagement. The latter requires resources, particularly infrastructural resources such as laboratory and office spaces which cannot be easily funded from external resources.
The SAES comprises three academic departments which offer different qualifications from undergraduate to doctoral studies. The School trains both undergraduate and post-graduate students through a quality research culture in Animal Nutrition, Animal Breeding, Aquaculture, Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Extension, Soil Science, Agronomy, Horticulture, Pasture Sciences, Plant Breeding, Entomology, Nematology, Plant Pathology, Geography and Environmental Resources Management. All of which are focused towards producing professionals with a capacity to craft relevant solutions to developmental problems in ways that are sustainable.
The school has collegial working relationship with key stakeholders, who include the Provincial and National Departments of Agriculture, District Municipalities, statutory agricultural research councils, commercial farmers and commodity associations. This places the school in a unique position in that it can directly contribute to the food security issues through skills development and research using multi-access approaches. Additionally, the multi-stakeholders contribute to the quality of our academic programmes through serving on quality-related advisory committees.
The SAES has an official research niche, titled “Technology management in relation to sustainable agriculture, food security and resource management in small, medium, micro and macro-agriculture”, and this is funded by the National Research Foundation”. The niche has raised substantial amounts of research funds both nationally and internationally.
School of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Programmes
SAES Qualifications and Programmes
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Undergradtate Degrees
Postgraduate: Honours Degrees
Postgraduate: Masters Degrees
Postgraduate: Doctoral Degrees
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School of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
SAES Admission Requirements
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Undergraduate programs: Admission to undergraduate programmes is on the basis of Matriculation Certificate, National Senior Certificate or Recognition of Prior Learning Policy will be used for admission purpose. Matriculation Certificate : For admission to the Bachelor of Science Agriculture (B.Sc. Agric.) in any of the four Departments namely Animal Production, Plant Production, Soil Science or Agricultural Economics a student must have Mathematics and Physical Science with at least symbols D (SG) and E (HG). Other subjects considered for admission are Biology , Agricultural Science, Geography, Accounting or Economics (Table 1). For admission to Bachelor of Science Environmental and Resource Studies, matriculation exemption with at least a score of 18 points is required. To be admitted a student must have at least D (HG) in Geography, E (HG) in English and E (SG) in Mathematics. Other subjects considered for admission are Physical Science, Biology , Agricultural Science, Accounting or Economics (Table 1). Table 1 List of subjects and symbols as presented in the matriculation certificate
* School of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences ProgrammesBonus points will be given for Mathematics and Physical Science only. National Senior Certificate (NSC) admission points : To be admitted into the B.Sc. in Agric or B.Sc. in Environmental Studies, the student should have a final minimum score of 22 points based on subjects listed and rated in the National Senior Certificate. In accordance with the rating (Tables 2 and 3), the final score will be calculated using the following criteria: • Rating of at least three in Mathematics and Physical Science, • Rating of at least four in two selected subjects viz. Agricultural Sciences, Geography, Life Sciences, Information Technology, Economics, Accounting, or Business Studies and • Rating of at least four in English and any other language. Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL ): The RPL policy of the UL will be applied to admit qualifying students into the Undergraduate programmes. The final selection for admission will be based on academic merit and must be approved by the School Management Committee. Table 2 List of Courses, National Senior Certificate Rates and Admission Point
Table 3 Descriptions of the National Senior Certificate Rates and Admission Point Scores *
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School of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Department
Agricultural Economics and Animal Production
Geography and Environmental studies
Plant Production,Soil Science and Remote Sensing
Water and Sanitation
School of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences contact
Contact Details
Principal Administrative Officer: Ms I Geldenhuys
Telephone: +27 15 268-2202
Facsimile: +27 15 268-2892
E-mail: geldenhuyse@ul.ac.za