791-293 Production Horticulture

Agricultural production systems II, Biology III.

The objective of this subject is to enable students to:

• develop management strategies for selected horticultural crops that integrate environmental influences, site characteristics and maxim crop value;

• describe the steps required to establish a sustainable production enterprise and justify the technology chosen from the options available, including pest control strategies;

• match crop climatic requirements with suitable production regions;

• describe recent trends in the market for crop products and changes in production technology across the industry in response to these changes; including the impact of world markets and production regions on the Australian industry.

The content includes:

• the production regions in Australia and overseas and the importance of international trade;

• the impact of, climate, soils, processing, and market, on crop yield and value;

• the current production options within the industry including their advantages and disadvantages;

• crop variety characteristics and their production requirements;

• site characteristics and development requirements and matching these with crop requirements when choosing an appropriate production site;

• crop quality assessment and harvest requirements;

• integrated pest management strategies for the control of current and potential pest problems;

• crop management practices through planting, pruning, trellising and training, irrigation, fertilising, pest control and harvesting;

• interactions between crop yield, climatic variables and crop harvest quality; and

• post-harvest treatments and their impact on product quality including cool storage.

Two assignments (2500 words) each 25% and one 2.5-hour exam 50%.