Climate-Smart Agriculture
Build the knowledge and skills to help shape the future of agriculture. The Crop Science minor explores agronomy, fruit and vegetable production, plant breeding, precision farming, organic production systems, plant pathology and more.
What You'll Study
Explore botany, plant growth, pest management, harvesting methods and production practices that support successful farming — from family-owned operations to large-scale commercial agriculture.
What You'll Take Away
You'll gain the knowledge and hands-on experience to apply plant science, pest management and precision agriculture technologies to real-world crop production challenges.
Dig Deeper
A minor in crop science offers you the opportunity to dig deeper with broad-based knowledge of the science and technology of agronomy and vegetable production.
Global Food Sources
You’ll gain technical proficiency in globally important food crops and the theoretical sciences to their production, maintenance and post-harvest handling.
Managing Natural Resources
You’ll get hands-on experience assessing and implementing sustainable growing practices based on region and microclimate, as they relate to water, soil and other essential natural resources.
Economic and Environmental Impact
You'll study, evaluate and adapt basic cultural practices, economic uses and environmental interactions in the production of food, fiber and forage plants.
Coursework Highlights
Through hands-on coursework and applied learning experiences, you will develop the technical knowledge and practical skills needed to lead in modern agriculture.
You’ll learn production practices from tillage to harvest for important forages, grains and vegetable crops and gain experience in addressing current issues in agriculture important to the row crop industry.
You’ll learn how GIS, GPS, remote sensing, and variable-rate technology are used for site-specific management and explore their economic and environmental benefits compared with whole-field management.
You’ll learn the principles of qualitative and quantitative genetics useful in the development of new plant varieties as well as procedures for the creation of genetic variability, testing procedures and selection schemes for the development of improved plant types.
You’ll learn how plant diseases affect California’s major crops, how to diagnose them and how to use sustainable practices for disease management.
You’ll learn how climate change and agriculture affect one another and explore mitigation and adaptation strategies for sustainable crop production.
You’ll learn how soil fertility, plant nutrition, crop management and pest management work together in organic crop production while exploring current regulations and technologies used in the industry.
Explore the Crop Science Minor
Check out the course catalogue and learn more about the courses you’ll take and what you’ll learn.