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Ten modules · 2027–2028 syllabus · taught by eight simulacra
Agriculture is the oldest applied science — and one of the most demanding. To farm well, you must understand soil chemistry, plant physiology, animal biology, ecology, economics, and engineering. The Cambridge IGCSE Agriculture 0600 syllabus covers all of this, from the formation of soil and the nitrogen cycle through to the mechanics of a mould-board plough and the water pressure in a storage dam.
Universitas assembles a faculty uniquely suited to the task. Norman Borlaug Simulacrum covers land use, economics and crop agronomy — the architect of the Green Revolution who understood that agronomic excellence and economic reality are inseparable. George Washington Carver Simulacrum teaches soil — the man who spent his life rebuilding soil destroyed by industrial monoculture. Joseph Banks Simulacrum covers plant physiology — the botanist who mapped the global distribution of economically useful species. Elvin Stakman Simulacrum leads crop protection — the plant pathologist who spent his career racing wheat rust and mentored Borlaug. Robert Bakewell Simulacrum teaches livestock anatomy and production — the first systematic animal breeder in history. Bill Mollison Simulacrum covers pasture management — the inventor of permaculture, who understood carrying capacity as an ecological reality with irreversible consequences. Gregor Mendel Simulacrum leads genetics; Nikolai Vavilov Simulacrum joins for selective Isambard Kingdom Brunel Simulacrum closes the course with farm structures and tools — because every farmer is an engineer. Brunel's credentials extend beyond the Great Western Railway: his Treatise on Draught, published anonymously in Youatt's The Horse (1831) and attributed to him only in later editions, is a rigorous mechanical analysis of horse-drawn traction and its comparative efficiency against the new railways.
Norman Borlaug Simulacrum
Land use systems (rotations, mixed farming, monoculture, forestry, aquaculture), the environmental limits on farming, the contested economics of organic production, hydroponics and GM crops, and the principles of supply, demand and diminishing returns that govern every farm gate decision.
Open module →George Washington Carver Simulacrum
Soil formation from parent rock, soil profile, texture and structure, crumb structure and organic matter, soil types and their properties, soil constituents and organisms, major nutrients and the nitrogen cycle, organic and inorganic fertilisers, liming, soil erosion and conservation, drainage, irrigation and the water cycle.
Open module →Joseph Banks Simulacrum
Water and mineral uptake through root hairs and vascular tissue, leaf structure and photosynthesis, stem transport and food storage in modified organs, transpiration and the four factors that control its rate, sexual reproduction in maize and bean, seed and fruit dispersal, asexual reproduction from tubers and cuttings, and germination conditions.
Open module →Norman Borlaug Simulacrum
Land preparation from stumping through primary and secondary cultivations, the four main crop types (legumes, roots and tubers, edible fruits, cereals) and their products, and the complete 10-step cultivation sequence for one locally important cash crop from soil preparation through to storage and record keeping.
Open module →Elvin Charles Stakman Simulacrum
The biology, life cycle and spread of a named weed, one pest from each of three groups (biting/chewing, piercing/sucking, boring), and one disease from each of three types (bacterial, fungal, viral). Contact and systemic pesticides, biological and cultural control, and the safe handling, mixing, application and storage of farm chemicals.
Open module →Robert Bakewell Simulacrum
The four-chambered ruminant stomach and microbial cellulose fermentation compared with the monogastric digestion of pigs and poultry. The reproductive system, fertilisation, birth, colostrum, lactation and weaning of a named farm mammal.
Open module →Robert Bakewell Simulacrum
Housing requirements and young stock care, nutritional requirements and balanced rations (maintenance and production), clean water supply, stockmanship and record keeping, signs of health and ill-health, disease spread, internal and external parasites, notifiable diseases, livestock hygiene and isolation.
Open module →Bill Mollison Simulacrum
Grazing land vegetation (grasses, legumes, browse), improved pasture establishment, rotational grazing, paddock systems, zero grazing, intensive and extensive systems, stocking rates and carrying capacity, the consequences of overstocking, bush control, and the appropriate and inappropriate use of fire. Includes stocking rate calculations.
Open module →Gregor Mendel Simulacrum · Nikolai Vavilov Simulacrum
Monohybrid inheritance through Punnett squares (1:1 and 3:1 ratios), all eight genetics terms defined and applied. Selective breeding for yield, disease resistance, hardiness and appearance in livestock and crops. The benefits of artificial insemination. The distinction between conventional selective breeding and GM crop technology.
Open module →Isambard Kingdom Brunel Simulacrum
Fencing construction and post treatment, fence types for different stock, windbreaks, properties of seven farm building materials (wood, concrete blocks, metal, stone, brick, earth, thatch), water sources and treatment by settling and filtration, dam construction and water pressure principles, pipe distribution and simple plumbing, and the use and maintenance of farm hand tools and machinery. Brunel's credentials extend beyond bridges and railways: his Treatise on Draught — published in Youatt's The Horse (1831) — is a rigorous mechanical analysis of horse-drawn traction and the comparative efficiency of animal power versus the new railways.
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