29369 - Food Crop Ecology and Productions

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student will acquire the knowledge of food crops, in relation to productive and geographical factors, with special respect to quality and technological characters and their determining factors.

Course contents

a) Propedeutic part.  Principles of plant morphology and organography;: plant cells, tissues and organs. Principles of plant taxonomy.  Reproductive systems of the Angiosperms; fruit morphology. Physiological processes of crop plants, with special relation to the upscaling from cell to plant community level. Genetic factors: diversity, genetic structure and genotypes of crop plants. Atmospheric factors: radiation interception., assimilation, maintenance and growth respiration, phenology and development, assimilate partitioning, biomass yield. Soil factors: water and nutrient constraints, effects on quality. Biotic factors: interspecific and intraspecific competition: effects on quantitative and qualitative production. Other biotic factors. Crop protection: impact on food and environmental quality.

b) Professional part. Aspects of the biology, genetic, distribution, supply, quality and uses of the following temperate crops (at different detail levels): Cool season cereals: bread and durum wheat, barley, oats, minor cereals. Warm season cereals: corn, rice, other species. Sugar crops: sugarbeet. Oilseeds: soybeans, sunflower, rapeseed, other species.  Pulses: beans, peas, horsebeans, chickpea, lentil. Solanaceae: potato, tomato, peppers. Asteraceae: artichoke, chicories, lettuces. Alliaceae: onion, other species. Rosaceae: strawberry. Chenopodiaceae: spinach. Cucurbitaceae: industrial cucumber, other. Daucaceae: carrot, other. Condiment plants, spices, herbs. Species for the extraction of phytochemicals for the food industry.

Readings/Bibliography

The topics are dispersed in several textbooks. It is advised to use the . pdf trace of lectures. A list of reference texts will be supplied

Teaching methods

Traditional in classroom lectures. Laboratory  practical determinations on specific subjects. Guided visits at agro-food entreprises. 

Assessment methods

The examination is oral, and is generally based on three questions: one plant morphology and physiology, one on crop ecology and one on the professional part. The weight of the three on final mark will be approximately 20-20-50%; all part must anyway attain the  minimum mark. Different cases: further questions may be asked for particularly weak  (especially in the professional part) or brilliant situations (to obtain the cum laude mark). Overall duration usually  ranges from 20 to 50 minutes.
This module is part of an integreted course together with the Frutticoltura module. The final mark comes from the weigthed average (according to credit number) of the two module marks.

Teaching tools

Digital slide projector, PCs, laboratory equipments for practical.

Office hours

See the website of Luigi Filippo D'Antuono