AGRONOMY I

Learn to grow broad acre crops such as wheat, rice, cotton and soybeans.

Agronomy is a large and important part of global agricultural production. It gives us the grains that form a major part of the human diet in many places. We make bread, cakes, pastries and breakfast cereals from agronomic grains. We cook rice and other grains to eat with meat and vegetables. We derive cooking oils, fabrics and many other basic commodities from agronomic farms.

Agronomy is plant culture on a very large scale, with a very definite purpose.

Lesson Structure

There are 8 lessons in this course:

1. Agronomic Practices
   • Introduction.
   • Crop Types.
   • Plant Structure and Function.
   • Transpiration Rate.
   • Selection Criteria for Plants.
   • Understanding Monoculture.
   • Row Crops.
   • Cover Crops.
   • Crop Operations.
   • Planter Types.
2. Culture
   • Soils.
   • Problems with Soils.
   • Loss of Soil Problems.
   • Erosion.
   • Salinity.
   • Soil Sodicity.
   • Soil Acidity and Alkalinity.
   • Improving Soils.
   • Cultivation Techniques.
   • Plant Nutrition.
   • Nutrient Deficiencies.
   • Organic Fertilisers.
   • Soil Life.
   • Insect Pests.
   • Diseases.
3. Crop Husbandry Practices
   • Operations.
   • Identifying Weeds.
   • Ways to Control Weeds.
   • Spraying.
   • Irrigation.
   • Chemical Crop Protection.
   • Preparing Plant Pathogens for Microscopic Observation.
   • Culturing Pathogens.
   • Natural Pest and Disease Control.
   • Physical Controls.
   • Organic Sprays and Dusts.
4. Seed And Seed Management
   • Seed Storage
   • Types of Seed Storage.
   • Seed Vigour Testing.
   • Dormancy Factors Affecting Germination.
   • Germination Treatments.
   • Types of Media.
   • Media Derived from Rock or Stone.
   • Media Derived from Synthetic Materials.
   • Organic Media.
   • Diseases.
   • Salinity Build Up.
5. Arable Cereal Crops
   • Cereal Crops.
   • Zadock Scale.
   • Wheat.
   • Barley.
   • Oats.
   • Triticale.
   • Sorghum.
   • Maize.
   • Rice.
   • Millet.
   • Sugar Cane.
   • Ryegrass.
   • Hay and Silage.
   • Quality Control.
   • Storage and Handling.
   • Hydroponic Fodder.
6. Arable Broadleaf Crops
   • Characteristics of Broadleaf Crops.
   • Oil Crops.
   • Chickpeas.
   • Narrow-leafed Lupins.
   • Canola.
   • Faba Beans.
   • Cover Crops.
   • Common Legumes.
7. Harvesting
   • Crop Preparation for Harvest.
   • Crop Harvest Equipment.
   • Forage Harvesting Equipment.
   • Cereal Harvesting Equipment.
   • Root Crop Harvesting Equipment.
   • Grain Storage.
   • Contract Harvesting.
8. Special Project
   • Crop Management from planting to post harvest handling.

Why study this course.

Agronomist are an integral part of food production and other commodities from agriculture. They advise our primary producers in relation to making amendments to the soil, how to control pests and diseases in a wide variety of agricultural and horticultural crops.