Cropping Systems (PLNT3510) Instructor: Dr. Martin H. Entz |
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Course overview The Cropping Systems course is designed for final year agronomy students, but we also welcome students from other programs. This course emphasizes a systems approach to crop production using cropping system examples from throughout history and from different places around the world. We will start with some systems theory. What does it mean to be a systems thinker? We will then discuss the sustainability of crop production systems. How is sustainability measured and who measures? We will look back to past agricultural systems and look forward to cropping systems of the future.We will study innovations in crop production - precision crop and land management, crop diversification with new crops and new cropping techniues, etc., and we will critically examine specific aspects of the cropping. Class times and classroom agreement on cell phone use We meet every Tuesday afternoon between 2:30 and 5:25 PM. We will have a 15 minute break somewhere in the middle. Please turn your cell phones off during the class. You can send and receive phone messages during the break.
Course Outline September 15 Introduction, systems theory and discussion of the big questions facing humanity What is a system? What does it mean to be a systems thinker? Both mechanistic and conceptual approaches to systems thinking will be presented and discussed. We will then turn our attention to the big questions facing human beings and the planet. Hopefully some of your ideas will be the basis of future lectures in this course. September 22. Sustainable Crop Production Indicators and Measurements. How do we know when a cropping system is a good one? Can a working definition of sustainability be achieved? This will be one of our tasks in today’s class - identifying sustainability indicators that describe the performance of a cropping system. The next step will be to determine which of these indicators is the most important? Crop diversity assignment handed out. Experiential learning project 1. How do crop rotations affect weeds? September 29. Principles and practices of diversification We will learn from past and present day agriculture how crop diversity makes the system more stable. Plants are the basis of cropping systems and plant diversity leads to more sustainable systems that are also more economically attractive for farmers and society as a whole. We will review some of the science behind the “crop rotation effect”. The productionist view of agriculture that has dominated Canada for the past 50 years has struggled with diversity -as specialization has been the name of the game. The “Bonanza farm” story from 130 years ago will provide you with an interesting historical perspective of how monocultures go bad. Experiential learning project 2: Nitrogen and non-N benefits of legumes in crop rotation. October 6 Crop-Livestock Integration: employing the principles of diversity and recycling. Integration is different than diversification. Integration allows for symbiosis within the farming system. One of the most popular and important forms of farm integration involves combined production of crops and livestock. Crop-livestock integration provides opportunities for nutrient “sharing” and use of perennials in the rotation. Crop-livestock integration can occur at various scales – local and regional. What are the benefits of crop-livestock integration in Manitoba? Joel Salatin is taking crop livestock integration to a new level! (visit: http://www.polyfacefarms.com/)
October 13 The conservation agriculture revolution. Living in the prairie region, we are very aware of the importance of conservation and zero-tillage crop production practices. The no-till seeding equipment that was designed by Canadian prairie farmers can now be seen in countries from Australia to Kazakhstan. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has now defined conservation agriculture and is promoting its use around the world – in both large-scale and small-holder agriculture. Agronomists have added many different wrinkles to conservation farming – such as the System for Rice Intensification. We will review conservation agriculture and monitor its development across the globe. Experiential learning project 3. Winter wheat seedling development as influenced by stubble management.
October 20 Addressing the big questions. Earlier in the class, you have identified the big questions that humanity is dealing (or needs to) deal with. In this class, we will review the question in some detail and engage each other in discussion about them. October 27 and November 3. We will study several different cropping systems.
November 10 Guest professor
November 17 Precision agriculture Precision agriculture is based on technologies that allow places in fields to be located ( GPS – global positioning systems), and allow data from the field to be managed on a spatial scale ( GIS – geographic information systems). We will discuss how precision agriculture is shaping cropping systems. Perhaps sustainable cropping systems management can also shape precision agriculture? We will also here from Mr. Dan Hacault, a Swan Valley, MB farmer who has been experimenting with precision agriculture for many years.
November 24 Topics in agronomy. We will cover several topics relevant to Manitoba cropping systems today. I have selected 2 for starters. During the first 6 weeks of the course, other topics will come up and will be added to this list.
December 1 The agronomist in the Information Age Things like the I-Phone allow agronomists to be in the field, yet connected to the rest of the world. Never before have agronomists had so much information to apply to land management and crop production decisions. We will discuss different approaches to collecting and disseminating crop and soil information, and demonstrate how agronomists currently make decisions in the field. We will also discuss information ownership and information source bias. December 8 The ecological agriculture revolution Organic agriculture, fair trade, farmers markets, community supported agriculture, bird-friendly coffee..... These terms reflect a new reality in agriculture. We will review ecological agriculture movements in Canada and elsewhere. We will investigate the principles behind ecological agriculture. Students will be asked to reflect on how the new focus on ecological agriculture will shape future cropping systems. Reading material (you will be reading!) Each section of the course will involve lectures, in-class discussion and independent reading. Articles for independent study will either be on reserve in the Agriculture library or be distributed in class. A 3-ring binder will be a very good way to store and organize the material handed out in this class. Material will be handed out once. Only under exceptional circumstances (illness, etc.) will the instructor provide material that students missed in class.
Explanation of Assignments and Distribution of Marks
Late Submission of Assignments: 5% reduction every 24 hour period (no exceptions). Plagiarism and Cheating: See The University of Manitoba General Calendar, 2009/10.
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