From next year, all NSW students will be required to complete agricultural coursework in years seven and eight.

The roll out has been spearheaded by Charles Sturt Univeristy Wagga’s Professor Jim Pratley in consultation with seven NSW ‘lighthouse’ agriculture teachers, including Junee’s Paul Anderson.

“It’s about what it takes to get your food onto a plate,” said Mr Anderson.

You don’t just go down to the supermarket and your food just arrives there neatly wrapped in plastic on Styrofoam.”

It is the culmination of six year’s work. Mr Anderson is confident the announcement has been well-timed.

“Our population is set to double, so food production needs to double along with it,” he said.

“Land size will go down, so how do we produce more food on a smaller land parcel? That’s a question [students] are going to be dealing with in their lifetime.”

Once the curriculum commences, Mr Anderson will be among the mentor teachers who will aid schools with fewer agricultural resources in developing their classes.

“Technology is such these days that you could get onto the farm virtually,” said Professor Prately.

“You could skype a farmer, and in fact that is something we have set up with NSW Farmers. It’s just another way we can overcome that city and country divide. Even for those cities in country areas.”