PLSCI 5210 - Soil and Crop Management for Sustainability

Fall. 3 credits. Student option grading.

Co-meets with PLSCI 3210.

H. van Es.

Students learn about agronomy and recent advances in sustainable soil and crop management, and gain a lot of practical farming knowledge. Integrated perspectives on the physical, biological, and chemical aspects of soil management in the broader context of agroecosystems are explored. Soil and crop management practices and resulting interactions between soil, water, organisms, and organic and chemical inputs form the basis for discussions on diverse cropping systems, soil health, water quality and quantity, bioenergy, greenhouse gases, and sustainability.

Outcome 1: Articulate the grand challenge of sustaining future world populations.

Outcome 2: Synthesize and evaluate concepts of sustainable soil and crop management, relate and integrate them into your personal experience through assigned readings, homework, writing, in-class discussion and group collaborative work.

Outcome 3: Recognize and describe basic soil physical, biological, and chemical processes through analysis, graphing (in Excel), and interpretation of data for laboratory and homework activities.

Outcome 4: Summarize factors affecting soil management and crop production, and describe common criteria used to evaluate the sustainability of cropping systems.

Outcome 5: Use technologies (including Adapt-N) and cite policies related to the management of soil and crops.

Outcome 6: Apply what you learn from reading, lectures, hands-on experience, and the use of commonly used management tools to assess, plan, and modify sustainable soil management practices.