Unit Code: AGO411

Unit Name: Introductory to Crop Production and Agro Meteorology

Description: The purpose of this unit is to provide: Definition of agriculture: Meaning and scope, meaning and scope of crop production: Agricultural Research Institutes in Fiji, Agro-climatic zones of Fiji islands. Tillage: Definition, objectives, types, advantages and disadvantages of tillage; time and depth of ploughing; modern concept of tillage. Sowing, methods of sowing and sowing implements, time and depth of sowing for major agricultural crops, cereals and pulses; Crop stand establishment, factors affecting optimum plant population, planting geometry and planting pattern, intra and inter plant competition, effect of plant population on growth and yield; Growth and development: C3, C4 and CAM plants, physiological and harvest maturity of crops, various classification of crops; Nutrient management: soil fertility and soil productivity, criteria of essentiality, essential plant nutrients, macro and micro nutrients, maintenance of soil fertility, soil organic matter, manures, FYM, green manuring, fertilizers, methods of fertilizer application; Weed management: definition of weed, major characteristics of weeds, losses and uses of weeds, critical period of weed control, classification of weeds, allelopathy, methods of weed control; Water management: importance of water and water cycle, irrigation, objectives of irrigation, methods of irrigation, irrigation scheduling and drainage, types and its advantages of drainage; Farming systems: Cropping systems: definition and principles of crop rotation, monocropping, mixed cropping, intercropping, relay cropping, multistoried cropping, sequence cropping; Harvest maturity symptoms and harvesting of major agricultural crops, rice, maize, sugarcane and pulses, method of harvesting. Method of threshing and winnowing; Storage methods and structures for field crops. Definitions of meteorology, climatology and agricultural meteorology, its scope and practical utility of agricultural meteorology, Composition and structure of atmosphere. Sun: radiation, electromagnetic spectrum, solar constant, net radiation, albedo. Plant canopy and radiation, physiology, Air temperature: isotherms, horizontal and vertical temperature variations in the atmosphere, plant and its relationship with temperature. Frost damage and its control. Climatological management of water resources. Rainfall types, clouds, importance of rainfall on crops, drought, types of drought, effect of drought on crops, drought mitigation in farms. Climate change and its consequences, Past, present and future of Climate change, six historic periods, methods of determining past climates and ecosystems. Recent Climate Change and its consequences, Future Climate change, basics of global climate models: case studies.

Learning Target Outcomes:

Prerequisite: N/A

Prerequisite Sentence: Student must be enrolled in the programme.

Credit Point: 12

Offered In: Semester 1