Print Syllabus

Syllabus

P000073 Cropping Systems Diversification, 5.0 Credits

Subjects

Agricultural Science

Education cycle

Postgraduate level

Grading scale

Language

English

Prior knowledge

Admitted to a PhD programme in agricultural sciences, environmental science, ecology, or related fields. Also postdocs with similar educational background.

Objectives

On completion of the course, the students will be able to:
- Understand different concepts of cropping systems diversification, including its implications on agronomic, ecological, economic, technological and social aspects.
- Describe how crop diversification is related to ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services and how it contributes to sustainable development of agricultural systems.
- Design experimental methods for crop diversification studies, including the involvement and role of different stakeholders.
- Reflect and hypothesise how cropping systems diversification relates to the current PhD project, including identifying key mechanisms to crop diversification in student’s own projects.
- Exchange disciplinary experiences and knowledge among participants.

Content

The aim of the course is for the students to acquire knowledge on the topic of cropping systems diversification. Through the course, the students will develop a deeper understanding on crop diversification and be able to relate it to their individual research project. In particular, the course will provide a knowledge platform for understanding crop diversification in agriculture, with emphasis on agronomic and ecological aspects, and outlooks on economic, technological and social perspectives. Students will encounter and use different scientific methods to assess the outcomes of crop diversification. The course also offers an opportunity to further exercise student’s writing and reflection skills.

During the course, crop diversification approaches such as intercropping, crop rotations, multiple cropping will be presented together with theories on ecological interactions including how crop diversification can enhance the provision of multiple ecosystem services and a transition to more sustainable agricultural systems. The teacher team will include researchers from the hosting Department as well as invited researchers, advisors and practitioners from other national and international organisations.

Different crop diversification experiments at the field research facilities at SLU Campus, Alnarp will be presented to demonstrate recent experimental designs of crop diversification studies. The experiments will be utilised for practical exercises targeting hypothesis testing in relation to crop diversification theory and designing.

Furthermore, the demonstration of experiments will provide inspiration for discussions on key processes and mechanisms of performance of diversified systems and provide examples on the involvement and role of different actors/stakeholders in research projects. The course will also offer the opportunity to exchange experiences and knowledge among the participants, and assist in identifying key mechanisms of crop diversification in students’ own projects.

Additional information

**Pedagogical form**

The course consists of three parts; four preparatory assignments, an on-site course week, and two final assignments.

*Preparatory assignments*: 1) Students will be provided key literature to read before the physical meeting to gain a baseline knowledge on crop diversification. 2) Students will also use this literature to prepare an individual poster, which will be presented in an introductory seminar during the on-site course week. 3) Use the literature to prepare for post lecture discussions during the on-Campus week. 4) Each student will also prepare a 2-3 page document describing the cropping systems diversification in their respective country and will read and comment/ask questions on two of the documents in canvas.

*On-site one week course activities*: A number of short inspiring lectures and presentations encompassing both state of the art information and ongoing research projects on crop diversification (different short- and long-term crop diversification experiments at SITES Lönnstorp). There will be discussion sessions after each theme lecture which will be an opportunity for students to share their questions and reflections on the literature and lecture. The course includes field visits, student lead workshops, practical exercises, and plenary student presentations.

*Final assignments*: 1) An individual written report presenting the student’s own research in relation to the course content after the on-site course activities. 2) A personal reflection on the students’ own learning during the course.

Responsible department

Department of Biosystems and Technology