Master in Agronomy and Agro-food

M2 : Specialisation in Plant Health

This Master’s is organised in partnership with L’Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Rennes (ENSAR) (The Advanced School of Agronomy at Rennes), L’Institut Nationale Agronomique Paris Grignon (INA-PG) (the National Institute of Agronomy at Paris-Grignon), and L’Institut Nationale d’Horticulture (INH) d’Angers (The National Institute of Horticulture at Angers).

This course will give you scientific and practical knowledge and the thinking processes required to :

• Analyse crop protection problems in the context of agro-systems
• Create innovative protection methods which are effective and durable
• Predict the economic, environmental and food safety consequences

Download the course brochure

Scientific objectives
Crop protection is made up of the combination and integration of a number of different scientific disciplines. The course is organised over time between the different sites in order to ensure both a multi-disciplinary pathway and the adaptability of students to a varied job market.
A special emphasis is given to the study of interactions between organisms (plants/pests/antagonists), on the biology of populations (epidemiology, dynamics and the genetics of populations) and on current methods of studying them (detection, identification, quantification and modelling).
The course is developed in a systematic and integrated way as production systems evolve. You will also learn about eco-toxicology and risk management (loss of harvest, economic risks, environmental risks, and public health risks).

Professional objectives
Crop Protection work, in France and in other countries, needs to be responsive to three issues from the social and economic context :

1. How to reduce production losses (quantity and quality) caused by pests. These cause considerable economic losses (direct or indirect) for farms, for communities, and for the agri-business sector. The impact of pests can mean a loss of 20-40% in production on a regular basis. It also means, indirectly, there is waste of energy, environmental losses in the quality of soil and loss of know how.
2. How to guarantee healthy products: there are risks of contamination of produce by toxic residues from pesticides or by toxic compounds produced by pests.
3. How to contribute to the balancing of eco-systems through sustainable crop systems whether they use highly developed farming methods or not: this issue has become more and more important in the last few decades and concerns proven risks for man or for the environment. These risks can be short or long term.
   

The course covers these three areas linked to distinct economic levels :

• At an agricultural level (including agricultural service) in response to a clear need from the world of agriculture (integrated protection strategies, balanced farming);
• At the level of consumers – based on reinforced safety standards throughout different commodity chains (certificates and quality marks);
• At the level of society overall: in response to demand to protect public health and the environment.
  

This course will prepare you to :

• Diagnose and identify crop protection problems
• Analyse the cause of these problems
• Evaluate their consequences (in different dimensions)
• Design technically satisfactory, economically viable solutions which are socially acceptable and respectful of the environment and public health.

Course fees
Registration fees are 950 € a year (475 € per semester).
Tuition costs : 3000 € or the second year of training
These tuition costs go towards paying for classes, study visits, insurance for the work placement, IT facilities, language laboratories, access to the restaurant etc.

Downlaod application form

On completing this course successfully the following jobs will be open to you :
- Specialised agronomists and consultants for crop protection
- Decision-makers and agronomy managers of a given land area
- Pest control experts (chemical and biological) and expert in the consequences of using pest control,
- Scientists working in crop protection research

These roles could be in the private or public sector, in industrial research and development, in management or in agricultural services, in initial or continuing training, in the industrial production sector, and in the commercialisation of products and tools for the protection of crops.

First Year (M1) – semesters S7 and S8

M1
Compulsory modules (16 ECTS credits) - General agronomy (2 ECTS credits) - Ecology (2 ECTS credits) - Foundation in plant science and plant populations (2 ECTS credits) - Soil science (2 ECTS credits) - Linear model and data analysis (2 ECTS credits) - Agricultural economics (2 ECTS credits) - Introduction to crop protection (2 ECTS credits) - IT (2 ECTS credits)				S7
Practical work on crop protection (14 ECTS credits)
Compulsory modules (8 ECTS credits) - Evolutive biology (2 ECTS credits) - Applied modelling for managing natural populations (2 ECTS credits) - Countryside ecology (2 ECTS credits) - Water-soil-plant (2 ECTS credits)				S8
Elective modules (12 ECTS credits) - Applied plant pathology (2 ECTS credits) - Insects of agronomic interest (2 ECTS credits) - Applied zoology (2 ECTS credits) - Plant-pest interactions (2 ECTS credits) - Tropical agriculture (2 ECTS credits) - Organic agriculture (2 ECTS credits) - Botany and plant ecology (2 ECTS credits)		- Knowledge of cultivated crops (2 ECTS credits) - Environmental diagnosis (2 ECTS credits) Soil and environment (2 ECTS credits) - Plant biotechnology (2 ECTS credits) - Animal and plant selection (2 ECTS credits) - Planning experiments (2 ECTS credits)
Other learning activities (10 ECTS credits) Bibliographies (4 ECTS credits) Experimental study of a pest (4 ECTS credits) Languages (2 ECTS credits)

Second Year (M2) –semesters S9 and S10
S9 is divided into three two month parts which take place in Montpellier, Rennes and Paris.

M2
Agro-Montpellier modules (7 ECTS credits) Pests Interactions		During this period you will also write a paper (7 ECTS credits) and continue to study languages (2 ECTS credits).		S9
Agro-campus, Rennes modules (7 ECTS credits) Populations Specialised problems (INH)
INA-Paris Grignon modules (7 ECTS credits) Plant health products New crop protection tools Protection of large-scale crops
Work placement and masters thesis (30 ECTS credits)				S10

Serge Kreiter
Agro.M

Anne Le Ralec
Agrocampus, Rennes

Guy Raynal
INA Paris-Grignon

Michel Tharaud
INH
Angers



Last update : 31/05/2010

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