Agronomy and Herbaceous cropsModule General Agronomy
Academic Year 2022/2023 - Teacher: Salvatore COSENTINOExpected Learning Outcomes
Course Structure
During the course students will be divided into groups that will prepare together a thesis on an agronomic topic. The thesis will be presented during the exercises towards the end of the course.. The final exam is oral and includes the recognition of seeds of herbaceous crops (about 50), the discussion of the thesis and further questions on other agronomic topics provided for in the course. The assessment of learning can also be carried out electronically, if the conditions require it
Required Prerequisites
Attendance of Lessons
Detailed Course Content
The content of the course is articulated as follows. Agriculture and man: historical stages. Agriculture-environment relations. Objectives and contents of General Agronomy. Crop production, the quality of agri-food products and the factors that influence it. Concept of ecosystem and agroecosystem. The climate and its classifications: main elements (solar radiation, temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, evapotranspiration) and relations with agricultural crop production. Growth, development and productivity. The agricultural soil and its characteristics: A) Intrinsic: origin, constitution, stratification, position and exposure, color; B) Extrinsic: structure, biological characteristics, chemical characteristics, plasticity, toughness, adhesiveness. The organic matter of the soil. Concept of fertility. Habitability functions of the agricultural soil: mass and interventions for its regulation, heat, softness, hygienic conditions. Tillage. Water-to-soil ratios, water potential, hydrological constants and measurement of soil moisture. Irrigation (irrigation purposes, methods and variables) and quality of irrigated water. Elements of aridoculture. Water regulation and hydraulic-agrarian arrangements. Crop rotation and its agronomic and environmental significance. Notes on cultivation systems. Notes on the fight against weeds. Functions of nutrition of the agricultural soil: nutrients, fertilizers and fertilization technique, fertilization and product quality. Fertilization plan. Environmental impact of fertilization. Notes on the propagation of cultivated plants and on the characteristics of the breeding body
Textbook Information
Lecture notes, bibliographic materials and indications of online consultation material provided by the teacher
Text 1: Giardini Luigi, 2012. L’agronomia per conservare il futuro. Pàtron.
Text 2: Ceccon Paolo, Fagnano Massimo, Grignani Carlo, Monti Michele, Orlandini Simone (a cura di), 2017. Agronomia. EdiSES
Course Planning
Subjects | Text References | |
---|---|---|
1 | Presentation of the course. Agriculture and man: historical stages. Agriculture-environment relations. Objectives and contents of General Agronomy. Structuring of the discipline. | |
2 | Concept of ecosystem. Concept of agroecosystem. Modifications induced by anthropogenic interventions in the agroecosystem: nature of inputs and outputs and consequences on the balances between the components of the system. | |
3 | The atmosphere. Definitions of climate. Factors and elements of the climate. Climate classifications. | |
4 | Solar radiation and its relationships with cultivated plants. | |
5 | Temperature and its relationships with cultivated plants. The thermal sums. Thermoperiodism, vernalization, devernalization, dormancy. | |
6 | Precipitation and their relationships with cultivated plants. Relative humidity. Evapotranspiration. | |
7 | The agrarian soil. Intrinsic characteristics of the soil: the origin, constitution, stratification, laying and exposure, color. | |
8 | The agrarian soil. Extrinsic characteristics of the soil. Structure, biological conditions, chemical conditions, plasticity, adhesiveness, toughness. | |
9 | Functions of habitability of agricultural soil: mass, softness, capacity of the soil for air and water. | |
10 | Water-soil relations. Water potential of the soil and its components. The hydrological constants of the soil and the water available to plants. | |
11 | Soil conservation and contour farming | |
12 | Dry farming | |
13 | Irrigation. Purposes of irrigation, time of irrigation intervention, irrigation methods. Quality of irrigated water. | |
14 | Soil organic matter. Concept of fertility. | |
15 | Soil tillage | |
16 | Functions of nutrition of the agrarian soil. Nutrients. Correctives, fertilizers and soil improvers. Fertilization program. | |
17 | Elements of the fight against weeds | |
18 | Elements of the control of weeds | |
19 | Choice of breeding body: Crop rotation and its environmental significance. Notes on cultivation systems. | |
20 | The yield and its components. Unit of measurement of yield. The quality of agri-food products and the factors that influence it |
Learning Assessment
Learning Assessment Procedures
Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises
1 Soil texture
2 Soil structure
3 Water-to-soil relationships
4 Evapotranspiration
5 Factors and elements of climate
6 Quality of irrigated water
7 Hygienic conditions
8 Hydraulic-agrarian arrangements
9 The seeds
10 Notes on the fight against weeds
11 Ecosystem and agroecosystem
12 Aridoculture
13 Irrigation methods
14 Tillage
15 Leaf area index (LAI)