Background

In an effort to uphold the titah of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, UNISSA has worked towards the establishing and implementing the Agriculture Faculty with the appointment of agricultural specialists from among UNISSA academicians as well as from outside UNISSA, consisting of visiting academicians and practitioners.

During the Aidilfitri Celebration 1440H/2019 organized by Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah at Plenary Hall, International Convention Centre, Berakas, His Majesty said:

“In the period of 20 years from 1998 until 2017, the output of the agricultural sector, agri-food and fishery is encouraging.”

“This positive development indicates that opportunities to develop this sector are widely open. Even more so with the geographical conditions of this country receiving rain, permitting weather and lands still unexplored. All that remains is our effort and commitment to develop this sector.”

His Majesty also said to continue to improve the agricultural sector, productivity, use of advanced technology and to provide an orderly ecosystem and one of the important elements according to His Majesty that needs to be given attention is human resources, especially youths to be active in plantation or livestock activities.

“Thus, in this direction, I call upon the youths to appear as the main force in the country’s agricultural industry. My government has been and is currently implementing several initiatives to help the growth of this sector.”

Apart from that, His Majesty also paid serious attention towards the importance of the agricultural sector in the country as well as the role of educational institutions to also contribute to the development of agro-based industries. His Majesty’s concern can be seen from a series of His Majesty’s titah on the importance of agriculture. The culmination was the establishment of the Faculty of Agriculture at UNISSA in a titah during an unscheduled visit to UNISSA on 12 October 2020. He said:

“Wouldn’t it be appropriate if UNISSA set up a new faculty called the Faculty of Agriculture because I understand that similar knowledge of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry is also found in Islam.”

“So, I see that although we have yet to have a Centre of Higher Education for Agriculture, having a Faculty of Agriculture is just as sufficient.”

Thereupon, UNISSA officially set up its agriculture faculty on 28th January 2021 and named it as Faculty of Agriculture.

Objectives

• To produce knowledgeable and skilled graduates in the field of agriculture based on the teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah.
• To produce agriculture graduates who are critical thinkers and innovative in applying agricultural knowledge to develop the Ummah, industry and country.
• To train and produce competent agriculture graduates who can channel knowledge effectively to the community.
• To enable students to play a role in developing the field of agriculture based on the latest technology and identify entrepreneurial opportunities that can be contribute to the development of the country’s agricultural industry.