Kwantlen Polytechnic University's senate last week officially approved a new bachelor's degree in applied science and sustainable agriculture.

The four-year program will include classroom and field instruction with a focus on "the art and science of crop production and sustainable agriculture," according to program director Kent Mullinix, who says the degree is unique in Canada.

Mullinix and his colleagues at Kwantlen's Institute for Sustainable Horticulture have already launched the Richmond Farm School, a non-degree program that trains students in small-scale sustainable agriculture. A similar course at UBC, Sowing Seeds, is now in it's fourth season.

But this is the first degree program of its kind in Canada, according to Mullinix. "I know of no other university that is offering a degree in sustainable agriculture that focuses on small lot, intensive, direct-market farming," he told The Tyee.

"It's a brand new direction for the university. The university is in the process of committing squarely and forthrightly to develop a significant sustainable agriculture program; research, education and extension, and to fill this glaring, glaring void in British Columbia."

Mullinix said the program could start as early as fall, 2011.

Colleen Kimmett reports for The Tyee.