College Certificate - Horticultural Production - North Hill Campus (Brandon)

Students will learn the totality of food production while studying in Assiniboine Community College's sustainable greenhouse at the North Hill campus. They will focus their interests on three key sectors: fruits and vegetables, greenhouse production and nurseries.

Students can learn in a state-of-the-art sustainable greenhouse that brings together solar powered, energy efficient growth solutions, plus a 3.2 acre grow plot and teaching orchard. Students can be part of a field to fork approach when they grow and cultivate the food used in Assiniboine Community College's Culinary Arts and Hotel and Restaurant Management programs.

Students can participate in pioneering research projects and help find ways to improve greenhouse management and food production. The Integrated Pest Management (IPM) course examines the most modern biological controls in food growth with an aim to reduce chemical interventions for controlling pests.

Students will create their own customized soil and compost. They will grow unusual food plants such as fenugreek, Malabar spinach and Jamaican thyme. Students will diagnose and treat plant diseases. They will improve drainage systems and learn how to increase food production via micro climate studies.

Graduates find work in city and municipal offices, provincial and national parks, Manitoba Agriculture and in the private sector at greenhouses, landscaping companies and other businesses.