Bachelor of Science in Horticulture (BScHort)

3.2.1 Introduction

The Bachelors in Horticulture with Management and Entrepreneurship is a three year course. It is designed to provide in-depth training on scientific facts on horticulture, and the establishment, development and management of horticultural enterprises. The course basically prepares students for self employment.

3.2.2 Objectives

The major objective of this program is to train people who will be able to positively transform the horticultural industry by increasing production and utilization of horticultural crops and other plants through research, extension, marketing and entrepreneurship. On completion of the horticultural programme the graduates will be able to;

Appreciate the importance of horticulture in the national economy with particular reference to the roles played by vegetable, spices and fruit crops as well as ornamental plants in meeting the family needs.
Acknowledge the gap between horticulture in Uganda and a few other leading countries in the world and be able to contribute to the bridging of this gap.
Run a horticultural business with minimum supervision.
Contribute to the improvement of production of horticultural crops, enhancement of marketing of horticultural crop produce and public awareness of aesthetic value of ornamental plants.
Relate and integrate production of horticultural crops with other farm enterprises.
Promote home, urban and institutional landscapes through design, development and maintenance.
Promote environmental conservation by encouraging and effecting agricultural practices that minimize soil erosion and pollution.
Carry out scientific research on various facets of horticultural and other plants.

3.2.3 Admission process

Mountains of the Moon University is committed to equal opportunity and does not discriminate against qualified persons on the basis of sex, religion, colour, nationality or ethnic origin in its admission policies. Nevertheless, admission at Mountains of the Moon University is a privilege and not a right.

Prospective applicants can apply through three avenues i.e.

Direct entry
Diploma entry
Mature age entry

3.2.3.1 Entry requirements

1. Direct entry

Candidates who wish to obtain admission directly after advanced level secondary education must have obtained;

The Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) or its equivalent with a minimum of a credit in mathematics and
The Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) with a minimum of two principal passes in biology, chemistry, physics, agriculture, mathematics, economics, or geography and
Minimum weighted points set by Mountains of the Moon University Admission Board

In computing the weighted points, advanced level subjects are evaluated as follows;

Group	Weight	Subject
Essential	3	Biology, Chemistry, Agriculture
Relevant	2	Physics, Mathematics, Economics, Geography
Desirable	1	Sub-mathematics, General Paper
Others	0.5	All other subjects examined at advanced level

Points used in weighting follow the Uganda National Examination Board system i.e.

Principal Level A = 6 points
Principal Level B = 5 Points
Principal Level C = 4 points
Principal Level D = 3 points
Principal Level E = 2 Points

2. Diploma entry

Candidates with Diplomas of at least Second Class standing in horticulture, forestry, agriculture, agricultural extension, veterinary medicine and fisheries from local or international institutions can apply.

3. Mature age entry

Individuals with extensive industrial experience may be granted admission under the mature age entry scheme after passing the mature age entry examination.

3.2.3.2 Application procedure

Application forms are obtainable from the Registrar Academic’s office at the University premises in Fort Portal or regional offices (to be specified later) at a non refundable application fee of 10,000 Uganda shillings. Forms should be completed by intending applicants and returned to the Academic Registrar or respective regional office. The completed application form should be accompanied with;

1. Photocopies of all academic certificates held by the applicant

2. Completed health form (to be provided by the university)

3. Four passport size photographs

4. Signed code of conduct (to be provided by the university)

5. Certified/confidential report from the last institution attended (for mature candidates only)

3.2.4 Programme structure

The instruction of courses under the programme involves lectures, tutorials and practicals. Each course unit is evaluated using the Credit Unit (CU) as the weighting unit. A Credit Unit is equivalent to 1 Contact Hour (CH) in each week of a semester for a particular course. A contact hour is related to Lecture Hours (LH), Tutorial Hours (TH) and Practical Hours (PH) as follows;

1 Contact hour is equivalent to 1 lecture hour

1 Contact hour is equivalent to 1 tutorial hour

1 Contact hour is equivalent to 2 practical hours

A given intake for the degree programme will run over a period of 3 years with each year consisting of two 17 week semesters and a 10 week recess term. The minimum and maximum semester course load per student per semester will be 15 and 25 credit units respectively.

3.2.5 Graduation requirement

A candidate qualifies for the award of the Bachelor of Science in Horticulture with Management and Entrepreneurship after completing a minimum of 142 credit units.

3.2.6 Assessment and grading system

3.2.6.1 Assessment

Courses will be assessed out of 100% independently as follows;

Course work/progressive/continuous assessment: 40%

End of semester examination: 60%

For purposes of quality assurance, the University will arrange to have external examiners to assess candidates at the end of each academic year.

3.2.6.2 Grading

Marks %	Letter grade	GPA
80-100	A	5.0
75-79.9	B+	4.5
70-74.9	B	4.0
65-69.9	B-	3.5
60-64.9	C+	3.0
55-59.9	C	2.5
50-54.9	C-	2.0
45-49.9	D+	1.5
40-44.9	D	1.0
35-39.9	D-	0.5
Below 35	E	0

The pass mark for each course is 50%

3.2.7 Degree classification

Class	Cumulative GPA
First Class	4.40 - 5.00
Second class-Upper Division	3.60 - 4.39
Second class-Lower Division	2.80 - 3.59
Pass	2.00 – 2.79

3.2.8 CGPA calculation

The following procedure are used in calculating the cumulative grade point average;

Calculate the grade point average for each course independently using the table in 3.2.6.2 above.

Using the results in 1 above, calculate the cumulative grade point average for courses taken in a semester using the formula;

Σ GPA_i x CU_i

i = 1

CGPA =

Σ CU_i

i = 1

Where;

CGPA is the cumulative grade point average for a given semester

GPA_i is the calculated independent grade point average for a given course in 1 above

CU is the credit unit for a given course as indicated in the schedule of courses in 3.2.13 below

The final cumulative grade point average is an average of calculated grade point averages for all the 6 semesters allotted to the course.

3.2.9 Progression

Progression of a student is classified as normal or probationary.

3.2.9.1 Normal Progress

Normal progress occurs when the student has passed all required subjects. This happens when the student has passed each course with a minimum grade point of 2.0.

3.2.9.2 Probationary Progress

This is a warning stage, and occurs if

A student fails a course
A student obtains a Cumulative Grade Points Average (CGPA) of less than two 2 at the end of any semester.

3.2.10 Re-taking a course

There are no supplementary examinations in the semester system. When a student has to re-sit a course, he/she has to wait and re-sit that course, without penalty, when it is offered again. However, the student will have to pay the examination fee i.e. 10,000 Uganda shillings for Ugandans or USD 15 for non Ugandans. This fee may be revised from time to time. A candidate can retake a course in order to;

Pass it if he/she had failed it
Improve the grade obtained when it was previously done

When retaking the course;

The student will redo the continuous assessment and end of semester examination
The academic transcript shall indicate that the given course was retaken

3.2.11 Discontinuation

A student shall be discontinued from the programme if one of the following conditions occurs; -

Receiving two probationary warnings on the same course
Receiving two consecutive probations based on Cumulative Grade Point average
Gross misbehaviour not conducive to the well being of Mountains of the Moon University

3.2.12 Withdrawal from the programme

Tuition will only be refunded to a student who withdraws from the programme not later than 4 weeks after commencement of the academic year. Such a student will have his/her tuition refunded as follows;

Period of withdrawal	% of tuition refunded
Before end of semester week 1	80
Between semester week 1 and 3	60
Between semester week 3 and 4	40
After semester week 4	0

3.2.13 Schedule of courses

Year 1: Semester 1

	CU	LH	TH	PH	CH
HORT 101: Principles & Practices of Horticulture	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 102: Introduction to Soil Science	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 103: Botany & Ecology	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 104: Genetics	3	30	-	20	40
HORT 105: General Biochemistry	2	20	-	30	30
HORT 106: General microbiology	2	30	-	30	45
Ethics 101: Introductory Ethics	2	20	10	-	30
ICTN100: Introduction to Computers	3	15	-	60	45
CS100: Communication skills	2	30	15	-	45
BBM 112: Principles of Management	2	20	10	-	30

TOTAL	25

Year 1: Semester 2

	CU	LH	TH	PH	CH
HORT 107: Statistics	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 108: Crop Physiology	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 109: Introductory Entomology	2	20	-	20	20
HORT 110: Introduction to Weed Science	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 111: Horticulture Plant Propagation	2	20	-	20	30
HORT 112: Farm Structures	2	20	-	30	30
HORT 113: Applied Horticultural Botany	2	20	-	30	30
HORT 114: Introduction to Micro & Macro Economics	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 115: Horticultural practical skills	2	-	-	60	30
ICTN101: Computer Applications	3	15	-	60	45

TOTAL	27

Year 2: Semester 1

	CU	LH	TH	PH	CH
HORT 201: Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition	3	45	-	30	60
HORT 202: Principles of vegetable production	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 203: Plant Pathology	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 204: Biometry	2	30	-	30	45
HORT 205: Greenhouse Construction & Maintenance	2	20	-	20	30
HORT 206: Entrepreneurship Development & Agribusiness	3	30	15	-	45
HORT 208: Farm Power and Mechanization	2	20	-	20	30
HORT 209: Introduction to Plant Breeding	3	30	-	30	45


TOTAL	24

Year 2: Semester2

	CU	LH	TH	PH	CH


HORT 210: Research Methodology	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 211: Ornamental Flower Production	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 212: Plant Biotechnology	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 213: Landscape Design, Construction & Maintenance	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 214: Applied Entomology	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 215: Principles of Fruit Production	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 216: Seed Technology	2	30	-	30	45
HORT 217: Plant Nursery Management	3	-	15	60	45
HORT 218: Production Economics	2	20	-	20	30
TOTAL 25

Year 3: Semester 1

	CU	LH	TH	PH	CH
HORT 301: Chain Management& Marketing of Hort. Crops	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 302: Harvesting & Post Harvest Handling Techniques	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 303: Medicinal, Spice & Aromatic Plant Production	2	20	-	30	35
HORT 304: Organic and Sustainable Horticulture	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 305: Farm Business Management	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 306: Integrated Pest Management	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 307: Agricultural Extension & Education	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 308: Soil and Environmental Pollution	2	20	-	30	35
HORT 309: Irrigation Technology	2	20	-	30	35
Special Research Project Proposal				60	30

TOTAL	24

Year 3: Semester 2

	CU	LH	TH	PH	CH

HORT 310: Greenhouse Climate control	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 311: Breeding and Applied crop improvement	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 312: Agricultural Extension Education	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 313: International Trade in Horticulture	3	30	15	-	45
HORT 314: Commercial Horticultural Crop Production	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 315: Processing of Horticultural Crops	3	30	-	30	45
HORT 316: Special Research Project	5			80	40
Ethics 302: Horticultural Professional Ethics	2	20	10	-	30
TOTAL	25