Part I
Foundations
- 1The Case for AgriTech: Productivity, Climate, Markets and How to Judge a Technology
- 2Measuring the Farm: Data, Records, Soil and Weather
- 3Digital Agriculture: Advisory, Markets, AI and Finance on the Phones Farmers Have
A twelve-module course in three formats
Applied AgriTech
Technology, Data and Value Addition in Modern Agriculture
Applied AgriTech: Technology, Data and Value Addition in Modern Agriculture is a practical course in choosing, using, maintaining and paying for technology along the agricultural value chain, from farm power, water and precision tools to digital services, livestock and fish, post-harvest technology and agro-processing. Each of its twelve modules opens with a true, dated story, including technologies that failed their users as often as ones that succeeded, then gives a framework and puts it to work in a lab, a workshop or a task carried out where the student works. Every technology family comes with its cost over its life, its payback and the business model that makes it affordable, and with the safety and inclusion questions that decide whether it works for the people who use it. Students build an AgriTech Adoption Plan for a real or realistic enterprise, one step per module, and pitch it to a panel at the end.
Course materials are for enrolled students and lecturers. You will need the enrolment code your lecturer gives you.
- Level
- Introductory to intermediate; no engineering, programming or technology background needed
- Length
- 12 modules in four parts: about 30 hours of module sessions and 40–60 hours of study
- Capstone
- An AgriTech Adoption Plan for a real or realistic enterprise, built one step per module
- Assessment
- Online tests 10%, exercise portfolio 30%, group technology appraisal 20%, capstone plan and pitch 40%
- Materials
- Textbook in full and Essentials editions, slides, cheat sheets, online tests, the AgriTech toolkit, 21 field guides for work in the field, and country supplements
Who it is for
Who the course is for
The course is for students of agriculture, agricultural engineering, agribusiness and food technology at technical and vocational colleges, farm institutes and polytechnics, from certificate and diploma level to first-year degree students who want the applied view, and for working professionals seeking extra education: farm managers and supervisors, extension and advisory workers, machinery and irrigation technicians, agro-processing technicians and supervisors, cooperative and producer-group staff, input and machinery dealers and service providers, agri-entrepreneurs, and graduates of other fields entering agriculture. Teachers and trainers of agriculture can take it to update their own technical knowledge. It is written first for readers in sub-Saharan Africa and other tropical, mostly smallholder farming regions, so that a reader in a highland dairy district, a lowland cereal belt or a coastal horticulture zone each sees their own work in it, and it assumes no particular country or job.
Curriculum
Twelve modules in four parts
Every module adds one step to a capstone AgriTech Adoption Plan.
Part II
Technology in the Field
- 4Farm Power and Mechanisation: Tractors, Small Machinery, Hire Services and Safety
- 5Water Technology and Climate-Smart Farming: Irrigation, Solar Pumping and Resilience
- 6Precision Agriculture: Sensing and Acting at Every Scale
- 7Protected Cultivation: Greenhouses, Nurseries and Controlled Environments
- 8Livestock and Aquaculture Technology: Dairy, Poultry and Fish
Part III
From Field to Factory
- 9Post-Harvest Technology: Drying, Storage and the Cold Chain
- 10Agro-Processing and Food Manufacturing: Lines, Quality and Food Safety
Part IV
Business, People and the Plan
- 11Value Chains, Standards and the AgriTech Business
- 12Adopting Technology Well: People, Safety, Inclusion and the AgriTech Adoption Plan
Formats
Three ways to take the course
12-day intensive
One module a day for two and a half weeks, with a practice lab each afternoon and the capstone pitches on the last, for cohorts released full-time and for colleges running the course as a block.
- Pattern
- One module a day over two and a half weeks
- Contact time
- 30 hours of module sessions, 22 hours of practice labs and daily capstone clinics
- Practical work
- A two-hour practice lab each afternoon from Day 1 to Day 11
- Self-study
- 40–60 hours of reading, exercises and capstone work across the course
- Capstone
- A step drafted each day in a 30-minute clinic; pitches on the afternoon of Day 12
- Suits
- Cohorts released full-time and colleges running the course as a block
12-week course
One session a week over a term, with self-study, online tests and a try-it task between sessions, for students and working professionals.
- Pattern
- One module a week over a term
- Contact time
- Twelve 150-minute sessions, 30 hours in all, plus the pitch session
- Practical work
- Demonstrations in the session and a weekly "try it where you work" task
- Self-study
- The Essentials chapter before each session; the test, capstone step and try-it task after it
- Capstone
- A step each week; pitches in week 13
- Suits
- Students and working professionals studying alongside work
3-day short course
The Essentials edition over three days: the core of every module, one in-class exercise each, and a short adoption plan.
- Day 1
- Modules 1–4: the case for technology, measuring the farm, digital services and farm power
- Day 2
- Modules 5–8: water, precision agriculture, protected cultivation, livestock and fish
- Day 3
- Modules 9–12: post-harvest, processing and food safety, the business, and the adoption plan
Inside the course site
Everything in one place
The textbook, online
The full edition and the shorter Essentials edition, with search, chapter navigation and every exercise.
Online tests
Module tests and a final exam, with answers, explanations and the section to revisit after you submit.
Revision tools
Flashcards for every chapter, a searchable case library, the glossary, reading lists and cheat sheets.
A toolkit to take away
Editable templates that put the course into practice.
For lecturers
Lecturer notes, slides with speaker notes, the test bank and a results dashboard for the cohort.
Private by design
No tracking and no third-party services. The site stores only what it needs to run the course.
Ready to start?
Create your account with the enrolment code from your lecturer, or sign in if you already have one.