Message from the Dean
Agricultural sciences are applied sciences that are needed for what is most important for human life: securing food.
'In the beginning were the agricultural sciences', so to speak.
Food and the environment have been, and continue to be, significant issues facing humankind.
The Saga University Faculty of Agriculture encompasses academic fields that range from those involving the production and processing of edible organisms to those involving consumption.
That calls for the learning of basic sciences--biology, chemistry, physics, geography--as well as economics and other social sciences.
For example, the sustainable production of a crop requires technology to maintain the environment in a condition that remains suitable for the crop even over time.
The stable production of healthy, delicious food requires a knowledge of the diseases and pests that affect agricultural products and livestock.
The use of biotechnology in the breeding of animals, plants and microorganisms is also essential.
For food to be delivered to consumers so that they may safely and reliably enjoy it, technologies for processing, storage, and transport are indispensable.
The achievement of balanced dietary habits for disease prevention and health maintenance requires that the chemical constituents of each food be examined, the functions of foods in terms of nutrition and physiology be elucidated and this knowledge be applied to actual dietary habits.
Saga University is also making environmental efforts.
We conduct education and research in the analysis of environmental pollutants, and in technologies for purification and for bioenergy production.
Students can also learn how the social environments of farming and fishing communities in Japan differ from those in foreign countries.
The social and international circumstances surrounding Japan's agriculture have recently undergone great changes.
Discussions are under way on issues such as free-trade agreements, economic partnership agreements and the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement.
Major agricultural reforms are required in Japan, such as those promoting aggressive agricultural strategies and agriculture and food manufacturing industries that expand internationally from rural areas.
Given these circumstances, students in our faculty can learn economics and management so as to look at agriculture as a business.
As seen above, various orientations of research and study are laid out for those pursuing agricultural sciences.
We offer various areas of study in arts and sciences, with 'food and the environment' as the key phrase.
We sincerely hope that each of you will discover what you want to do, develop with us and, after graduation or completion, play an active role in wide spheres, from rural communities to international society.