(1)Rice cultivation and human life in Japan

Rice is a main food and there are a lot of rice cultures in Japan. Students cultivate the rice in the paddy field to observe rice growth and to understand the multiple functions of paddy field. After harvesting of rice grains, students understand the process to white grain for steamed rice. Students make some traditional celebrating goods from rice straw and they try to make fermented soybean using Natto micro-organism attached with rice straws.

(2)Production practice of familiar food

Students learn the relationship between our food and agricultural production of the crops and the domestic animal production, and understand the improvement effects such as long-term preservation and food taste by the processing technologies. Students have an experience to produces tofu, natto, jam and smoked chicken. In addition, they learn the hygiene management in the food production.

(3) Rural development and University involvement

Hokkaido University has concluded cooperation agreements with many local governments and develops activity to consult with talented person education and local promotion.
Our Field Science Center has two educational facilities in Shiribeshi region, Oshoro Marine Experiment Station in Otaru city and Yoichi Orchard in Yoichi town. These educational facilities have long history more than 100 years. Students has practical lecture in these facilities and study the role of these facilities in the development of Otaru city and Yoichi town. Students visit some traditional facilities, horticultural farms, Marine Experimental Station and Agricultural Co-operative etc. in Yoichi town, and understand
the activity by the local government and the private enterprise for local promotion.

(1)Agricultural practice

The lectures of various fields related to agricultural production and management are prepared for in the Faculty of Agriculture. An opportunity to experience actually content of lectures includes farm training. Students feel the joy in harvest and difficulty of agriculture management by touching the soil, crops, livestock and some facilities of the Experiment Farm. Students experience bringing up the crops, keeping livestock and raise the motivation of study for the agriculture subjects.

(2)Harvest practice of crops in summer season

It is a program to supplement farm training. Because the farm training is opening from April to July, and the training of the crop harvest is insufficient, Students perform the training mainly on the crop harvest during summer vacation.

(3)Cropping practice

Students perform whole process of crop production based on individual plan: crop and cultivar choice, field preparation, nursery production, transplant, fertilization, pest, disease and weed control and harvest. Students try to solve some problems occurred during a cultivation period by themselves. In addition, students understand practical issues on-site of agriculture business by the visit of the large-scale production farmhouse and the visit of the vegetable and fruit market.

(4)Training on agricultural engineering

Students understand the environmental states such as soil, water, the atmosphere affecting agricultural production and the operation method of various machines to making appropriate farming condition and circumstances. In addition, students realize the contribution of the mechanization by experiencing both machine work and manual labor, for example, in rice planting.

(5)Practice on animal production

Students experience whole work for livestock production, the grassland utilization, the feeding, milking etc by keeping dairy cows, pigs, sheeps and chickens through a year. Through this training, students understand a series of technologies on livestock production such as breeding, management, nutritional diagnosis, growth analysis and epidemics prevention of animal barn.

(6) Practice on animal products utilization

Students experience meat food production such as ham and sausage from the skeletal muscle of the domestic animal, dairy products such as cheese and butter from fresh milk and the hide products from secondary product. In addition, students learn the quality standards system of the product.

For the students who study nutrition science, it is important to understand agriculture production. In cooperation with teachers of Tenshi University, co-operated program is carried out. Students of Tenshi University experience the rice-transplanting and crop cultivation in the field and they use the food materials harvested in the Experiment Farm for their cooking practice.

Farm open

Open lectures on the introduction of farm facilities and some research projects conducted in the Experiment Farm, are carried out for Sapporo citizen. After the observation of some activities, discussion is performed between participants and farm staff to understand the importance of research and education on farm and some requests from neighboring people to keep good mutual relations.

HIRAMEKI☆TOKIMEKI SCIENCE（Welcome to a University Research Lab－Science that Inspires and Inspirits））

Practice programs for children, mainly high school students, are opened to touch with pilot researches by support of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan. High school students and junior high school students come to Experiment Farm to study the cutting edge researches such as the genetic improvement of wild small fruit trees.