ECTS
ECTS Course Catalogue

Course details
Course code: RRSS-10157o16
Semester: 2016/2017 summer
Name: SOIL AND CROP MANAGEMENT 1
Major: Agriculture
Study Type: one cycle
Course type: compulsory
Study Semester: 4
ECTS points: 0
Hours (Lectures / Tutorials / Other): 15 / 30 / 0
Lecturer: dr hab. Piotr Sobkowicz
Language of instruction: Polish / English


Learning outcomes: Learning outcomes and competences: Student receives basic knowledge on the components and function of the agroecosystem. Explains the importance of environmental factors and their influence on crops. Identifies seeding material of crops from various botanical families. Identifies crops, based on observation of plants at different stages of growth. Classifies soil tillage systems. Describes conventional soil tillage methods and function of particular tillage implements used before seeding of a crop. Knowledge: ecosystem and agroecosystem, environmental conditions, theoretical bases of soil tillage, conventional technology of soil tillage, assessment of quality of seeds, preparation of seeds for sowing, sowing technology, crop growth stages of popular field crops Skills: Student selects appropriate crops according to environmental conditions present on a farm, choses proper implements for soil tillage before selected crop, plans sowing technology of various crops, assesses winter survival of winter crop species.

Competences: Personal and social competences: Student organizes and recommends soil tillage technology without degradation of the environment, arrange and conducts research in team of persons, appreciates importance of permanent learning and widening personal skills.

Prerequisites: Botany, soil science, agrometeorology.

Course content: LECTURES (1 hour per week) 1. Characteristics of field crop production. Agricultural terminology. 2. The agroecosystem concept 3. Crop environment and basic rules of plant-environment interactions, light as environmental factor 4. Temperature and water as environmental factors 5. Wind, topographic, biotic and anthropogenic factor 6. Soil environment 7. Preparation of seeds for sowing 8. Methods of sowing and planting crops 9. Fundamentals of soil tillage 10. Soil tillage systems 11. Plow and plowing 12. Types of plowing 13. Cultivators, harrows and their use 14. Rollers and other implements for seedbed preparation 15. Post-harvest soil tillage CLASSES (2 hours per week) 1. Seeds of field crop species – the introduction 2. Seeds of cereals 3. Seeds of grain legumes 4. Seeds of pasture legumes 5. Seeds of root crops, industrial crops and special crops 6. Assessment of winter survival of winter crops (on farm) 7. Assessment of quality of seeds for sowing 1 8. Assessment of quality of seeds for sowing 2 9. Assessment of quality of sowing and plant stand after plant emergence (on farm) 10. Assessment of the function of implements for sowing tillage (on farm) 11. Recognizing plants of crops at various stages of their growth (on farm) 12. Soil structure and soil aggregates – methods of assessment 13. Water resistance of aggregates taken from different soils 14. Experimental base of DAGAM (on farm) 15. Final test

Recommended literature: 1. Martin J. H., Waldren R. P. Stamp D. L. 2006. Principles of field crop production. Pearson, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River. 2. Gliessman S.R. 2000. Agroecology. Ecological processes in sustainable agriculture. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton.

Assessment methods: Partial tests, final test.

Comment: The course is obligatory prerequisite for Soil and Crop Management 2.