ENV23815

In this century, people have had great success manipulating energy intensive inputs as well as crop genetics to reduce ecological limitations for traditional agricultural production. Some of this success, however, has been achieved by trading off future productivity or sustainability. For example, high yields today may come at the cost of serious soil erosion, or extreme dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels. In this course, we will explore the ecological basis of many basic farming practices. We will investigate the importance of soil organic matter and native soil fertility, crop diversity and genetic diversity, water availability and conservation, the effects of various tillage approaches, and the role of beneficial and pathogenic microorganisms in agroecosystems. The ecological underpinnings and sustainability of agricultural systems from around the world as well as local farms will be analyzed.SPECIAL NOTES: