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Crop Production and Management (AGRI30031)
Undergraduate level 3Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Semester 2
Overview
Availability | Semester 2 |
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Fees | Look up fees |
Field crop production is a major component of Australia’s economy, and landholders manage their resources to balance environmental, economic and social demands. This subject discusses how these resources are managed to produce high quality crop products.
Topics include:
- An appraisal of the cropping enterprises in southern Australia - the location, scale and nature of cropping enterprises and their contribution to the national economy
- Growth, development and yield in crop production - definitions and relations between growth and development attributes, yield and yield components, measurement of crop yields, biological and economical yield and harvest index (complemented by field exercises)
- Environmental constraints limiting productivity - climate and growing season, water and nutrient availability
- Agronomic management to optimise production and product quality, including water and nutrient management, soil management and rotations
- Problems and prospects of both dryland and irrigated crop production within farm systems, comparative cost-return analysis, marketing strategies
Intended learning outcomes
The objectives of this subject are to extend the student's ability to:
- Identify the ecological principles underpinning crop production systems
- Understand how the processes of growth and development of plants interact with management operations in a crop production system
- Identify the role and place of selected crops in production systems
- Develop skills in predicting outcomes from particular management practices on economic and environmental benchmarks
Generic skills
On completion of this subject, the student should have developed the following generic skills:
- An ability to demonstrate a broad knowledge of fundamental scientific concepts across crop production systems
- An understanding of the structures of agriculture and related industries and the principal factors that determine location, environmental impact, sustainability, profitability and international trade competitiveness
- The capacity to apply scientific knowledge to the definition, analysis, and solution of agricultural and environmental problems
- A capacity for the exchange, acquisition and dissemination of scientific and industry information and for technology transfer
Last updated: 22 March 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
EVSC20002 | Soil and Water Resources | Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
AGRI20026 | Plant Growth Processes | Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 22 March 2024
Assessment
Additional details
- Practical report 1 (1000words) based on the field trips due in Week 4 ( 20%)
- Practical report 2 (1000words) based on the field trips due in Week 8 (20%)
- A small plant collection; collection, presentation and short description of approximately ten plants due towards the end of semester ( 20%)
- 2-hour end-of-semester examination (40%)
Last updated: 22 March 2024
Dates & times
- Semester 2
Principal coordinator Marc Nicolas Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 51 hours – 21 hours lectures and 2 field trips Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 24 July 2017 to 22 October 2017 Last self-enrol date 4 August 2017 Census date 31 August 2017 Last date to withdraw without fail 22 September 2017 Assessment period ends 17 November 2017 Semester 2 contact information
Time commitment details
170 hours
Last updated: 22 March 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Loomis, R. S., & Connor, D. J. (1992) Crop Ecology: Productivity and Management in Agricultural Systems. Cambridge University Press.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Major Sustainable Production Informal specialisation Science-credited subjects - new generation B-SCI and B-ENG. Informal specialisation Selective subjects for B-BMED Major Agricultural Science - Breadth options
This subject is available as breadth in the following courses:
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Last updated: 22 March 2024