Plant Production and Genetics

After the establishment of the Agriculture Faculty at Urmia University in 1965, the Department of Agronomy was established as the first group in the Faculty. After a few years, the group name changed to Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding .In the following years, students were admitted in two undergraduate majors (Agronomy major and plant breeding major). In 2012, the department was divided into two separated groups and started their independent activities in the field of Agronomy, Plant Breeding and Biotechnology. The Department of Agronomy has been educating and training students in the Master’s degree since 1998, and Plant Breeding in 2008 and Plant Biotechnology in 2009 established the master's degree respectively. Regarding doctoral program, the department has been accepting doctoral students in Agronomy since 2006. A doctoral degree in Plant Breeding with two majors of Molecular Genetics and Biometrical Genetics was added to the department’s educational activities in 2014. Finally, in 2019, following the educational policies of Urmia University, the two departments of Agronomy and Plant Breeding and Biotechnology were merged and formed a department under the title of Plant Production and Genetics.
The department currently consists of eight faculty members in different fields of Production and seven faculty members in different fields of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, and Dr. Reza Amirnia was appointed as the first head of merged department by the faculty members.
The department is currently training and educating students in the following programs and fields:
1. Bachelor
• Plant Production and Genetics
2. Master of Science
• Agrotechnology – Crop Ecology
• Agrotechnology – Crop Physiology
• Agrotechnology - Seed Science and technology
• Agroecology
• Agricultural Biotechnology
• Plant Genetics and Breeding
3. Ph.D.
• Agrotechnology - Crop Ecology
• Agrotechnology - Crop Physiology
• Plant Genetics and Breeding
The Plant Production and Genetics Department with various fully-equipped laboratories including genetics, tissue culture, physiology, seed technology, genomics and joint laboratory with high-tech devices, several growth chambers, research farms and greenhouses provides an appropriate atmosphere for students to study and research in different fields of field crops sciences and plant biotechnology. The Department's mission is to make contributions to the world's Science and the country's agricultural production, through teaching, research, and extension.