Crop Production and Management

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2010:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

Field crop production is a major component of Australia’s economy, and landholders manage their resources to balance ecological, environmental and social demands. This subject discusses how these strategies are employed 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.

The objectives of this subject are to extend the students 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.

• One 3-hour final examination worth 50% of final marks;
• one essay equivalent to 1500 words maximum on a topic to be advised, worth 20% of final marks;
• a report on the field excursion of 1500 words maximum, worth 20% of final marks;
• and an assignment worth 10% of final marks on crop weeds including a small plant collection and a review of management options to control these weeds.

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

• Bachelor of Arts
• Bachelor of Biomedicine
• Bachelor of Environments
• Bachelor of Music

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

On completion of this subject, the student should have developed the following generic skills:

• an ability to demonstrate a broad knowledge of fundamental scientific precepts 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.