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Hemp Agriculture Certificate Agriculture & Natural Resources Total Units: 25
Term Effective: Summer 2025

Description:

The Hemp Agriculture Certificate of Achievement provides a rigorous and comprehensive foundation for students seeking positions in the hemp industry that propagate, grow, and market a variety of products for consumers, commercial enterprises, or the wholesale market. The program delivers both lecture and hands-on laboratory experience in: Plant science, growth, and development; Soil and plant nutrition; Integrated pest management; Nursery and crop production; Irrigation methods, system design, and troubleshooting; and Principles of sustainable agriculture. While these topics apply to production of any crop, these courses will offer contextualized units, assignments, and/or lab activities that apply these topics to specific aspects of the hemp plant.

Hemp represents a multi-billion dollar industry and is poised to grow exponentially following federal legalization in 2018. Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is a genetically distinct biotype of cannabis sativa grown for fiber, seed or oil. In federal law, hemp by definition contains less than 0.3% THC, the compound in marijuana known for its psychoactive effects (the euphoric “high”). Hemp is used in the production of a wide range of products, including food and beverages, cosmetics and personal care products, nutritional supplements, fabrics and textiles, construction and insulation materials, and other manufactured goods. In addition, hemp is used to produce non-psychoactive cannabidiol (CBD), which has shown enormous promise for a variety of medical applications.

While this certificate is focused on hemp agriculture students may apply the knowledge and skills attained to a variety of agricultural production careers.

Program Student Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this program, the student will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate primary methods of plant propagation in the hemp industry;
  2. Identify and compare important developmental stages of the hemp plant;
  3. Design a hemp production plan and schedule from soil preparation through harvest;
  4. Identify and analyze sustainable agronomic hemp cultivation practices.

Program Requirements:

The requirements for the Hemp Agriculture Certificate program are:

  • Complete 25 units from
    • Hemp Agriculture

Hemp Agriculture - complete 25.00 units
AGRI 20Introduction to Plant Science4.00
AGRI 60Soil & Plant Nutrition3.00
AGRI 70Integrated Pest Management3.00
HORT 70Plant Propagation3.00
HORT 72Greenhouse Production3.00
HORT 144Landscape Irrigation3.00
SUAG 50Introduction to Sustainable Agriculture3.00
SUAG 64Warm Season Crop Production2.00
Complete any combination totaling at least 1.00 units from the following:
CourseDescriptionUnits
AGBU 7Agricultural Economics3.00
AGME 50Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Skills3.00
AGRI 98Independent Study in Agriculture1.00-3.00
AGRI 99IAgriculture Internship0.50-8.00
HORT 71Nursery Production3.00
HORT 91Landscape Construction/Estimation3.00
SUAG 65Cool Season Vegetable Production2.00
SUAG 103Composting for Organic Farming and Gardening1.00
SUAG 109Organic Crop Planning and Production4.00
SUAG 160Direct Farm Marketing2.00

Term Effective: Summer 2025

The requirements for this program of study are effective beginning the semester shown above. If you began working on this program before the effective semester, you may not be affected by the changes. Consult with the program contact person or the department chair to determine your eligibility to complete the program under previous requirements.

Previous Versions:

Hemp Agriculture - effective Fall 2023
Hemp Agriculture - effective Fall 2020
Environmental Horticulture: Nursery Management - effective Fall 2018
Environmental Horticulture: Nursery Management - effective Fall 2016
Environmental Horticulture: Nursery Management - effective Fall 2015
Environmental Horticulture: Nursery Management - effective Spring 2007
Environmental Horticulture: Nursery Management - effective Fall 2005
Horticulture: Nursery Management - effective Fall 1981

Course Prerequisites and Advisories:

Courses in a program of study may have prerequisites or advisories; that is, courses that must or should be completed before taking that course. Please check for prerequisites or advisories by clicking on the course numbers in the Program Requirements section.

It is important that students who are completing an Associate Degree and desire to transfer to a four-year institution meet with a counselor to plan their lower division coursework. While many majors at SRJC are intended to align with lower division major preparation required by California public universities, specific lower-division major requirements vary among individual campuses. See a counselor, visit the Transfer Center, and check Guides For Transfer in Specific Majors, and ASSIST to review transfer preparation guides for specific schools and majors.

Notes:

Only one unit of AGRI 98 Independent Study or AGRI 99I Work Experience/Internship is required, but students may elect to take additional units.

Contact
Information
Phone Email Website
(707) 527-4409
info-agnr@santarosa.edu
Agriculture & Natural Resources