AMEHERST, Mass. — The UMass Stockbridge School of Agriculture is offering a new online class on hydroponic food and aquaponic fish production this fall. STOCKSCH 365 is a 4 credit, college class taught by Jonathan Allred, whose research at Cornell University focuses on the application of light and carbon dioxide in controlled environment agriculture (CEA) systems with an emphasis on leafy greens and strawberries. This online course will cover the principals and practices of commercial hydroponic vegetable, herb, fruit and fish production.
Specific topics covered include: growing environments (high tunnels, greenhouses, and warehouse/vertical farms), manipulation of and crop response to the aerial and root-zone environments, nutrient solution preparation and management, aquaponics and organic hydroponics, crop maintenance, production scheduling, integrated pest management, business plan development, and markets. In addition, online lectures on recirculating aquaponic production will focus on integrating fish and plants.
This 4-credit college level class maybe used to satisfy the degree requirements for the UMass Sustainable Food and Farming 15-credit Certificate, the 60-credit Associate of Science and/or the 120-credit Bachelor of Science degree programs. Credits may also be transferred to other colleges or universities. The UMass Stockbridge School of Agriculture Sustainable Food and Farming program is the only online program in the U.S. that offers 40 online classes that may be taken either individually or toward completion of one of these three fully online degrees.
The UMass Stockbridge School of Agriculture is offering 13 online classes this fall including; Practical Beekeeping, Building a Sustainable Homestead, and Organic Vegetable Production. Fall classes begin on September 3, 2019 and registration is now open. For information on all 13 online classes offered this fall at UMass Amherst, please see: https://onlinesustfoodfarm.com/.
–UMass Stockbridge School of Agriculture
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