THE University of Melbourne's much-criticised Dookie campus is preparing for a 2013 revival.

Open for business: University of Melbourne's Dookie College.

Early indications suggest there will be a turnaround in numbers of students wanting to study agricultural science next year.

Dookie campus director Ros Gall said while offers will come out next month, early polling shows there is a "a clear and strong demand" for the Bachelor of Agriculture course.

Figures suggest agriculture has 86 first preferences compared with 37 last year.

Dookie came under fire at a recent parliamentary inquiry which said it was worried about the financial impact of low enrolments on the agricultural departments at La Trobe and the University of Melbourne.

"There is a risk of agricultural courses being discontinued if they fail to attract viable numbers of students," the education and training committee found.

Committee chairman David Southwick said Dookie was being "wasted".

Victoria has recently produced about 270 graduates annually in agriculture-related degrees.

Nationally, universities turn out about 700 graduates with jobs for about five times that many.

Students spend the third year of the University of Melbourne's degree course at the 2500ha former agricultural college at Dookie.