IACH BPAG 1101: INTRODUCTORY AGRONOMY AND CROP PHYSIOLOGY

Agronomy should cover environmental factors affecting crop growth and develop ment such as temperature, rainfall, moisture, soil and biotic factors as well as cropping systems and farming systems (crop rotation, intercropping, mixed farming, sole cropping vs. row intercropping, strip cropping vs. strip intercropping, multiple cropping, fallowing). Specific emphasis will be put on the agronomy of some important annual crops (maize, sorghum, etc), legumes (ground nuts and beans) and perennial crops (coffee, cassava, cotton, and bananas).  Crop physiology will cover structure and function of plant cells, tissues and organs, water and nutrients in plants, photosynthesis, regulation of plant growth and development (environment and hormones. Practical work will include: osmosis in plant cells, growing at least two annual crops (cereal and legumes) in the demonstration farm to grasp the agronomic practices and developmental stages in plant growth (germination %, height of plants, leaf area, and total yield).