The Department of Agricultural Economics, which was established in the Faculty of Agriculture of Bursa Uludağ University in 1985, has started to receive undergraduate students since 1993-1994 academic year. Master's education in the department started in 1986, and after the fall of 1993, with the decision of the Council of Higher Education, Ph.D. The Department of Agricultural Economics consists of Agricultural Management and Agricultural Policy and Extension Disciplines.
Raising individuals who are contemporary and think analytically in order to carry out agricultural and food activities related to the use of natural resources, from providing input to agriculture, to obtaining, processing and consuming natural resources in the light of economics, contributing to the development of science and technology in the field, transferring the knowledge to the field of application falls within the field of study of the Department of Agriculture Economics.
History
The first studies regarding the establishment of an Agriculture Faculty in Bursa, which has a wide agricultural potential, were carried out in 1968-69 by the provincial administrators of Bursa and the University Establishment Association, and these studies received great support from the public. As a matter of fact, Bursa Provincial Directorate of National Education, in a report prepared in 1969, stated the reasons for including the Faculty of Agriculture within a University to be established in Bursa and asked for assistance from Ege University for the establishment.
While working on the establishment of an Agriculture Faculty in Bursa, on the other hand, Ankara University Faculty of Agriculture Faculty Board decided that it would be appropriate to open a Faculty of Agriculture in Bursa at its meeting on 17.04.1975 and submitted its proposal to the Ankara University Senate. After that, meetings between the representatives of Bursa and Ankara University Rectorate and Ankara University Faculty of Agriculture started.
As a result of Bursa University Rector Prof. Dr. Nihat BALKIR's application to the Ministry of National Education on 11.07.1980 and the positive opinion of the State Planning Organization (DPT) , the Ministry of National Education organization approved the assignment writing service on 11.09.1980. After this stage, the work related to the establishment was accelerated and as a result of the positive negotiations with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Affairs, it was decided that the Faculty of Agriculture would start education in the buildings of Bursa Agricultural Vocational High School.
In the session of Bursa University Senate on 07.05.1981 and numbered 81-9, it was decided to request 8 faculty members from Ankara University Faculty of Agriculture in order to establish the Faculty of Agriculture. This request was welcomed by Ankara University and in accordance with the decision of the Faculty Board of Ankara University Faculty of Agriculture and the 46th article of the Law no. 1750; Prof. Dr. M. Rifat OKUYAN, Prof. Dr. Ahmet ERKUŞ, Prof. Dr. Y. Sabit AĞAOĞLU, Prof. Dr. Halis Ruhi EKİNGEN, Assoc. Dr. Bahattin KOVANCI, Assoc. Dr. Günal AKBAY, Assoc. Dr. Rahmi KESKİN and Assoc. Dr. Abdurrahim KORUKÇU was assigned for 3 years to establish Bursa University Faculty of Agriculture.
On 04.06.1981, The Board of Founders, which convened under the chairmanship of Rector Prof. Dr. Nihat BALKIR, Prof. Dr. M. Rıfat OKUYAN has been elected as the first Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture of Bursa University. The Faculty Administrative Board, which was formed later, decided to start undergraduate education with 30 students starting from the 1981-1982 academic year and Bursa University Faculty of Agriculture started education with a ceremony held on December 7, 1981.
All of the first students admitted with the decision of the Faculty Board of Directors were placed in the Horticulture undergraduate program. Later, four different undergraduate programs were opened in Horticulture, Field Crops, Food Science and Technology and Animal Science since the academic year 1982-1983, and 105 students were enrolled in these programs. Following these developments, Plant Protection, Agricultural Civil Engineering, Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Mechanization and Soil Departments were established in 1983. From these departments, 24 students were enrolled in the Department of Agricultural Civil Engineering in the 1988-1989 academic year (its name was changed to the Department of Agricultural Structures and Irrigation in 1991) and 25 students in the Department of Plant Protection in the academic year of 1990-1991. Agricultural Machinery, Agricultural Economics and Soil Departments have started to receive students since 1993-1994 academic year. Landscape Architecture Department was established in 1999.
Within the scope of the restructuring of the Faculty of Agriculture, 5 programs were created in our faculty, namely Crop Production, Animal Production, Food Engineering, Agricultural Technology and Landscape Architecture with the contribution of 9 departments in 1999. However, this restructuring was changed again in 2003 and the existing structure was gathered under 3 programs: Agricultural Engineering, Food Engineering and Landscape Architecture. In 2009, the Agricultural Engineering Program was closed and the current structure which has 9 programs consisting of Horticulture, Field Crops, Animal Science, Plant Protection, Agricultural Economics, Soil and Plant Nutrition, Food Engineering, Biosystem Engineering and Landscape Architecture was applied.
