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Quick Facts
| Medium Of Instructions | Mode Of Learning | Mode Of Delivery |
|---|---|---|
| English | Self Study | Video and Text Based |
Course Overview
The Coursera Agriculture, Economics and Nature Course in partnership with The University of Western Australia, is an ideal institution for anyone who wants to delve deeper into the economics of agriculture. This course enables you to make meaningful contributions to decision making in farmer circles. It helps you understand the response of farmers to new reforms and policies, and why they react the way they do.
The Agriculture, Economics and Nature Programme includes a lot of expert interviews for you to learn from. Moreover, the course empowers you with the techniques to build efficient economic models using the economic principles learned throughout the training. The lessons also throw light on the various changes in areas like agricultural production methods, resource conservation, agricultural input levels, and the impact agriculture has on the economy.
Coursera’s Agriculture, Economics, and Nature Course comes with high-quality video lectures, practical Excel-sheet demonstrations, practice exercises, and a ton of reading to help you solidify your knowledge. The final assessment is based upon points scored in practice quizzes and the final exam. Further, the course is a 100 percent online learning experience, which comes with flexible deadlines and an industry-recognised certificate on completion.
The Highlights
- Approx. 16 hours to complete
- Beginner Level
- Flexible deadlines
- 100 percent online training
- The University of Western Australia offers
- The medium of learning: English
- Shareable Certificate
Programme Offerings
- Flexible learning
- self paced training module
- quizzes for evaluation
- 100% online training
- shareable course completion certificate
Courses and Certificate Fees
| Fees Informations | Certificate Availability | Certificate Providing Authority |
|---|---|---|
| INR 2480 | yes | Coursera |
Agriculture, Economics and Nature Course Fee Details :
Course | Fees |
Without Certificate | Free |
With Certificate | Rs. 2,480 |
Eligibility Criteria
To earn a Coursera certificate for the Agriculture, Economics and Nature programme, you need to satisfy the minimum passing criteria and pass all the projects in the curriculum. Also, you must buy the course to get a certificate. The deadline for the certification is 180 days. After 180 days, you will have to pay the fee again to be eligible for the certificate.
What you will learn
Upon completion of the Agriculture, Economics, and Nature course, you will have:
- In-depth knowledge about the reasons behind the 2007 global food crisis
- Understanding the changes that have been observed in agriculture production and prices over the years
- Ability to analyze various economic trends in agriculture
- Knowledge about agricultural issues like herbicide resistance, climate change, and water availability
- Techniques to quantify the relationship between economics and agriculture like analyzing the relationship between input and output
- Ability to choose the best input level and flat payoff functions
- Understanding the economics of land conservation, agri-environmental projects, and various government policies in agriculture
Who it is for
Admission Details
To enroll for the Act on Climate Steps to Individual, Community, and Political Action course, follow these steps:
- Visit the course page.
- Log in through your credentials.
- Search for the “Agriculture, Economics and Nature” course in Coursera’s course catalog.
- On the top left and the bottom left of the course page, you’ll find the “Enroll for free” button. Click on the button.
- A pop-up page will appear, with two options, purchase course and audit only. Make a choice between the two.
- Auditing the course will render some of the content like graded assignments locked. The purchase course option will take you to a payment gateway, completing which you can access the fully unlocked course.
Application Details
To enroll in the Agriculture, Economics and Nature programme by Coursera, sign up on Coursera with your account credentials. To view the programme material, you need to access the free audit option. Candidates who upgrade from the free course will get a certificate as well.
The Syllabus
Videos
- Course introduction
- History of agricultural production and prices
- Agricultural products' supply
- Agricultural products' demand
- The 2007 food price crisis
- Food security
- Resource usage 1: Land and soils
- Resource usage 2: Water
- Resource usage 3: Nutrients
- Resource usage 4: Pesticides
- Interview - Kadambot Siddique, Institute of Agriculture, University of Western Australia
Readings
- Optional Viewing - The Agricultural Revolution: Crash Course World History #1
- Optional Reading - Economics Basics: Supply and Demand
- Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussion 266: Supply and Demand: The Wool Crisis
- Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussions 178: Betting on Wheat Prices
- Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussions 284: The world food price crisis of 2007
- Optional Viewing - The Corn Controversy: Food or Fuel
- Optional Reading - The Food Price Crisis of 2007/2008: Evidence and Implications
- Optional Reading - Causes of the 2007-2008 global food crisis identified
- Optional Reading - The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World
Assignment
- Quiz - Agricultural production and prices, and agriculture’s reliance on natural resources
Videos
- Water pollution
- Pesticide bans
- Dryland salinity
- Resource exhaustibility: phosphorus supply
- Resource exhaustibility: water shortages
- Resource exhaustibility: herbicide resistance
- Climate change
- Climate policy and adaptation
- Interview - Michael Robertson, CSIRO
Readings
- Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussion 261: Agricultural water pollution
- Optional Reading - Protecting Water Quality from Agricultural Runoff
- Optional Reading - Pannell Discussion 26: Dryland salinity in Australia
- Optional Reading - Phosphorus: Essential to Life – Are we running out?
- Optional Reading - Can Australia overcome its Water Scarcity Problems?
- Optional Reading - Pannell Discussion 57: Herbicide resistance: Does prevention pay?
- Optional Reading - Pannell Discussions 230: Future climate change and wheat yields in Western Australia
- Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussions 168: Telling farmers how to adapt to climate change
Assignment
- Resource and environmental challenges facing agriculture
Videos
- Fertiliser
- Fertiliser and Crop Yield
- Production functions
- Profit maximisation
- Building a spreadsheet to maximise profit
- Effects of price and yield changes on optimal fertiliser use
- Considering pollution in input decisions
- Flat payoff functions
- Interview - David Brown, Farmer, Burracoppin, Western Australia
Readings
- Optional reading - world data on fertilizers
- Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussion 277: Perfection isn’t best
- Optional Reading - Determining Optimum Nitrogen Application Rates for Corn
- Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussions 88: Flat-earth economics
Assignment
- The economics of agricultural inputs
Videos
- Resource conservation in farming
- Benefits and costs of resource conservation over time
- Accounting for time
- Discounting
- Building a spreadsheet for discounting benefits and costs
- Case study: conservation agriculture
- Drivers of farmers’ decision-making
- Interview - Mike McFarlane, farmer, Doodlakine, Western Australia
- Interview - Greg Shea, WA Department of Agriculture and Food
Readings
- Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussions 33: Time is money
- Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussions 268: Conservation Agriculture in Developing Countries
- Optional Reading - The farm-level economics of conservation agriculture for resource-poor farmers.
- Recommended Reading - Adoption of conservation practices by rural landholders
- Optional Reading - Pannell Discussions 203: Predicting adoption of new farming practices
- Help with the calculations for Week 4 Quiz
Assignment
- The economics of land conservation
Videos
- Environmental projects in agriculture
- Extending economics beyond the farm
- Characteristics of environmental projects
- Benefit: Cost Analysis
- enefit: Cost Ratio
- Case study: The Gippsland Lakes
- A helpful tool: INFFER
- Interview - Marit Kragt, School of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Western Australia
Readings
- Optional Viewing - A cleaner Baltic Sea by improved agricultural productivity
- Optional Viewing - Positive benefits flow from agri-environment funding support in Scotland
- Recommended Viewing - Intro to Cost-Benefit Analysis
- Optional Reading - Simple Introduction to Cost-Benefit Analysis
- Recommended Reading - When ranking environmental projects, mixing a little theory, logic and common sense leads to better outcomes
- Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussion 182: Increasing marginal costs of environmental projects
- Optional Reading - INFFER (Investment Framework for Environmental Resources)
Assignment
- The economics of agri-environmental projects
Videos
- Government policies in agriculture
- Policies to support agricultural production
- Policies for environmental protection in agriculture
- Agricultural policy problems: Price support
- Agricultural policy problems: Biofuels
- Justifications for agricultural policy
- Course wrap-up
- Interview - Ross Kingwell, Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre
Readings
- Optional Viewing - Fields of Gold: Lifting the Veil on Europe's Farm Subsidies
- Optional Reading - Pannell Discussions 259: Increasing environmental benefits
- Recommended Reading - Pannell Discussion 266: Supply and Demand: The Wool Crisis
- Recommended Reading - Severing the Link between Farm Program Payments and Farm Production: Motivation, International Efforts, and Lessons
- Optional Reading - The Trouble with Biofuels: Costs and Consequences of Expanding Biofuel Use in the United Kingdom
- Optional Reading - Pannell Discussions 22: Public goods and public benefits in NRM
- Optional Reading - Pannell Discussions 35: Externalities and market failure
- Further information on studying agricultural economics, natural resource economics or environmental economics at the University of Western Australia
Assignment
- Government policies in agriculture
Quiz
- Final Exam