History
The Federal University of Viçosa (UFV) stands out for the quality of the teaching, research, and outreach it has offered over 90 years of history. It presents a high and renowned scientific production and is distinguished as one of the largest centers for Teaching, Research, and Outreach in the country. Currently, UFV is composed of three Campuses located in the state of Minas Gerais. The Main Campus, in Viçosa, centralizes the political and pedagogical structure of the UFV, currently offering 67 undergraduate courses and 44 graduate courses, involving Master’s and Doctoral levels.
The Rio Paranaíba Campus, located in the Alto Paranaíba micro-region and the Triângulo Mineiro meso-region, currently offers 12 undergraduate courses in the areas of Agricultural, Biological, Exact, and Human Sciences. The legal framework for the Campus’s creation was materialized on July 25, 2006, as substantiated by Resolution 08/2006/CONSU. UFV’s great interest in establishing itself in the city of Rio Paranaíba is justified by the high potential of the Alto Paranaíba and Triângulo Mineiro regions concerning the agricultural and agribusiness sector, in addition to the strategic and socio-environmental importance provided by the insertion of an institution of excellence in teaching, research, and outreach in this region.
Currently, the Rio Paranaíba Campus is undergoing a structuring process, both through the improvement of basic infrastructure, making it more adequate for academic and research activities, and through the hiring or qualification of faculty members in their respective areas of expertise. This process is consolidating and establishing research applied to the region and to Brazil. The good availability of water resources, extensive areas with topography suitable for mechanization, and favorable climate enable faculty, students, and professionals in the Agricultural Sciences Area to explore innovative scientific and technological hypotheses. These are intended to contribute to the generation of knowledge and technological innovations, which in many situations receive support from government research incentives, as well as from companies and entrepreneurs in the Triângulo Mineiro meso-region.
The Academic Master’s Course in Agronomy (Crop Science / Plant Production) at the Rio Paranaíba Campus – UFV, in the Stricto Sensu modality, was approved by CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel) during the 123rd Meeting of the Technical-Scientific Council for Higher Education (CTC-ES), held from December 6 to 10, 2010. The activities of the Master’s in Agronomy (Crop Science) began in 2011, and in its first triennial evaluation in 2013, it received the recommended grade of three (3) from the CTC-ES.
The implementation of the Graduate Course in Agronomy (Crop Science) offers conditions and opportunities for professionals, students, professors, and researchers in the Agricultural Sciences and related fields to qualify in the Plant Production sector regarding scientific research, technological development, and innovation activities. This addresses the historical vocation of the Alto Paranaíba region and meets a great demand for highly qualified professionals in the agricultural sector. Thus, the establishment of the Master’s course in Agronomy (Crop Science) in the region favored the interaction of the academic sector with the productive sector, which eagerly anticipated the development of technologies and innovations in the field.