World's first university course of study in organic agriculture started 20 years ago at the University of Kassel

A glance at the cityscape of Witzenhausen is enough to recognize the international standing of Kassel's agricultural sciences. This small town about 35 kilometers east of Kassel is home to the Department of Ecological Agricultural Sciences, a branch of the University of Kassel. Of the approximately 1,000 students in Witzenhausen, one in five comes from abroad, and in the English-language and internationally oriented master's programs, the figure is more than half. International and German students form a community that also shapes cultural life in the small town.

This year, there is an anniversary to celebrate: In the fall of 1995, the course of studies in ecological agriculture was introduced; it was the first course of this kind at a university worldwide. With its focus exclusively on ecological agricultural sciences and sustainable management, the department in Witzenhausen is a world first. From arable soil to animal husbandry to the marketing of agricultural products, the scientists at 20 departments research aspects of sustainable and equitable food and energy cycles. Developments made in Witzenhausen range from the organic waste garbage can and toys for fattening pigs to methods of ecological pest control. The discovery of an ancient species of banana in Arabia, for example, is also due to Witzenhausen's spirit of research, as some disciplines are dedicated to agriculture in the tropics and subtropics. For this reason, the department also maintains a tropical greenhouse with over 400 useful plants for teaching and research purposes. For research and teaching on agriculture and animal husbandry in our latitudes, the university also manages the Hessian State Domain Frankenhausen as a 340 ha organic farm, located not far from Kassel. 

For the students, practical exercises in stables or in the field, in the greenhouse or in the laboratory are part of the program. With the changeover to the bachelor's/master's system, the range of courses on offer has meanwhile become broader and more specialized: In addition to a Bachelor's and a Master's in Organic Agriculture, it includes the English-language Master's programs Sustainable International Agriculture (in cooperation with the University of Göttingen) and International Food Business and Consumer Studies (in cooperation with Fulda University of Applied Sciences). Next fall, the department will start a cooperation with five other European universities with the study program Sustainable Food Systems, which is also taught in English. In addition, a dual study program in agriculture is offered, in which an agricultural apprenticeship and the bachelor's degree are completed side by side to link practice and theory. 

Excellent career prospects

Employment prospects after graduation are very good. "The realization that organic agriculture can be a win-win for the environment, animals and people has now caught on in many parts of the world," says the department's dean, Prof. Dr. Peter von Fragstein und Niemsdorff. "With our degree programs, we offer a scientifically excellent education for all those who want to help shape the development toward organic agriculture or live it themselves in their further careers." Surveys by the University of Kassel have shown that one year after graduation, nine out of ten graduates have found employment. Only about three percent are unemployed a year and a half after graduation (others are continuing their studies or pursuing a doctorate, for example). About a third of employed graduates work in agriculture and forestry, and about a quarter in the service sector. Many help shape agricultural policy in associations (eight percent) or in public administration (six percent). Among the graduates, for example, is Peter Röhrig, managing director of the German Federation of the Organic Food Industry. 

In 1995, the establishment of the course of study in organic agriculture followed a line of development that goes back to the German Empire: in 1898, the German Colonial School was founded in Witzenhausen to prepare settlers for agricultural life in the colonies and existed until 1944. In the 1960s, the federal and state governments established engineering schools for foreign and domestic agriculture in Witzenhausen, which became part of this new institution when the Kassel Comprehensive University (now University) was founded in 1971. In 1993, the two departments of Agriculture and International Agricultural Science merged to form today's Department of Organic Agricultural Sciences. Finally, in the fall of 1995, the degree program in Organic Agriculture was introduced, at that time as a diploma program; it was the first university program of its kind in the world. This was preceded by the founding of the Department of Methods of Alternative Agriculture in 1981 (now the Department of Organic Agriculture and Crop Production), which proved to be a major driving force behind this development. Enrollment for the new degree program began in the summer of 1995. "Organic agriculture had already become established in practice at that time," recalls Holger Mittelstraß, the department's study coordinator, "but it tended to fill a niche, and there was hardly any scientific discussion of it. Accordingly, the first graduates were still considered exotic. In the meantime, it has become clear how far-sighted the decision was."

Further information for prospective students:
http://www.uni-kassel.de/fb11agrar/studium-allgemein/informationen-fuer-studieninteressierte.html

Photo (Photo: University of Kassel):
http://www.uni-kassel.de/uni/fileadmin/datas/uni/presse/anhaenge/2015/Umwelt_2014_0087.jpg
Caption: Studying with a cow: a student doing practical work in the barn of the Frankenhausen teaching and experimental farm.

Contact: 

Dean's Office
Department of Ecological Agricultural Sciences
University of Kassel
Tel.: +49 5542 98-1211
Email: dekfb11@uni-kassel.de

Sebastian Mense
University of Kassel
Communication, Press and Public Relations
Tel.: +49 561 804-1961
Email: presse@uni-kassel.de