Stellenbosch · Hex River Valley · South Africa
Agricultural technology, grown in the valley.
HexTech is a specialist institute for agritech: we teach the science, the sensors and the business of growing food in a dry, beautiful and demanding landscape.
Why HexTech
A small institute with the industry right on its doorstep.
We were founded in 2019 by growers, engineers and lecturers from the Boland who were tired of watching good technology fail in the field because nobody had been trained to run it. Everything we teach is tested on working farms in the Hex River Valley and the surrounding winelands.
Three things we do differently
Field first. Data always. Industry in the room.
You are in the field from week three
No waiting two years for practicals. First-year students spend a full day a week on a partner farm, from soil pits to harvest logistics, with a lecturer and a farm manager.
Data is a subject, not a side note
Every programme carries applied data modules: sensor networks, drone imagery, yield modelling and the uncomfortable business of making a dashboard a farmer will actually use.
Taught by people who still farm
Our lecturers hold industry appointments; our advisory board is made of packhouse managers, viticulturists and irrigation engineers who interview every graduate.
Academic programmes
Ten programmes. One valley.
Bachelor of Science · NQF 7
BSc Agricultural Data Science
Turn field data into decisions a grower can act on: sensors, satellite imagery, modelling and the awkward last mile of making it…
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Bachelor of Science · NQF 7
BSc Precision Viticulture & Oenology
Growing and making wine with data: block-level vineyard management, irrigation scheduling and winemaking decisions backed by measurement.
View programmeBachelor of Science · NQF 7
BSc Irrigation & Water Systems Engineering
Design, instrument and manage irrigation systems for a valley that is running drier every year. Engineering with a water account attached.
View programmeBachelor of Science · NQF 7
BSc Protected Horticulture Technology
Growing high-value crops under cover: climate control, hydroponics, light and the technical economics of a tunnel that has to pay for itself.
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Bachelor of Science · NQF 7
BSc Drone & Remote Sensing Agritech
Fly, process and interpret: drone operations, multispectral imaging, GIS and the regulatory reality of flying over South African farmland.
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Diploma · NQF 6
Diploma in AgriTech Operations
Two years, two days a week, built for people already working on farms: run the technology, the records and the crew that…
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The campus
Five minutes from Stellenbosch, twenty from the vines.
Our campus on Vaalblom Road in The Ridge holds the teaching labs, the agritech workshop and the data studio. Behind it, a working demonstration block of vineyards and tunnels belongs to the students.
- Plant and soil laboratory with a live irrigation test bench
- Agritech workshop for sensor builds, sprayer calibration and drone maintenance
- Data studio with satellite and weather feeds from the valley
- Packhouse and cold-chain training line operated with two industry partners
- Library, study pods and a very serious coffee machine
How you learn
Studio weeks, field weeks, and a problem that is yours.
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Two-week blocks
Each term alternates a studio week on campus with a field week on a partner farm, so theory is tested before it has time to go stale.
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A live brief from industry
Every semester you work on a real brief from a grower, packhouse or agritech company — and present it to them, not just to us.
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Small practical groups
Practicals are capped at 14 students. Labs and workshops are led by lecturers who hold an industry role the rest of the week.
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A portfolio, not just a transcript
You graduate with a documented portfolio of field trials, datasets and deployed technology, visible to the employers who hire from us.
I arrived thinking agritech meant a tablet and a drone. I left knowing how to argue with a viticulturist about irrigation scheduling — with the data to back it up.Lerato Mokoena BSc Precision Viticulture & Oenology, class of 2025 · now junior viticulturist, Robertson
Working with the valley
Our students work with
- Hex Valley Growers
- Boland Packhouse Co.
- Kaap Agri Systems
- Witzenberg Irrigation Board
- Stellenbosch Vineyards
- AgriData SA
Applications for 2027
Come and see the valley before you decide.
Open days run on the first Saturday of every month. Bring boots — we walk the demonstration block, then talk about money, residence and what the first year actually looks like.