B8260 - Territorial Agronomy, Biodiversity and Weed Management

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student will have acquired the basic elements both for the interpretation of the agronomic use of the territory and for the evaluation of the level of interconnection with the surrounding ecosystems. In this context, knowledge of herbaceous crop rotations as well as floristic evolution based on the adopted cropping systems will be of primary importance. Both chemical management strategies of weed flora and "biological" alternatives will also be known. The student will also be able to know the "biological indicators" that can be used to summarize the level of sustainability and landscape impact of the various cropping systems. He will also be able to evaluate the level of agro-ecological sustainability provided by the "useful" biodiversity spread in a given rural territory. He will also be able to analyze the spontaneous flora of urban and other anthropized environments in terms of criticality and/or compatibility. The student will be able to know the now “ancient” hydraulic-agrarian systems of plains, hills and mountains and will be able to make a landscape interpretation of them and will be able to compare them with the current territorial agronomic management. The analysis of biodiversity and “crop” and “wild” floristic landscape will be in summary objectives of primary importance and will be analyzed both to monitor the territorial floristic evolution in space and time and to identify the compromise between agricultural productivity and environmental protection.

Course contents

27372 – TERRITORIAL AGRONOMY BIODIVERSITY AND WEED MANAGEMENT

1.0 Territorial agronomy: ecological and anthropic generalities of the agroecosystem and differences with natural ecosystems. Peculiarities of territorial agronomy. Sustainable productivity concept. Evolution of agroecosystems in space and time. Environmental criticalities of current agroecosystems.

2.0 Agricultural systems

2.1 Intensive, extensive, integrated agriculture

2.2 Organic farming

2.3 Biodynamic agriculture

2.4 Slash-and-burn agriculture

2.5 Hill and mountain agriculture

2.6 Agriculture with genetically modified plants

2.7 Urban agriculture and biodiversity

3.0 Quality marks and territorial origin of foods

4.0 Territorial agronomic peculiarities of the Italian regions

5.0 Areas of crop origin and domestication (according to Vavilov)

6.0 Environmental risk mitigation: cover crops, buffer strips

7.0 Classifications of spontaneous flora: botanical, biological, ecological and agronomic characteristics

8.0 Agronomic damage to weed flora: quantitative, qualitative, agronomic.

9.0 Concepts of competition and allelopathy: Root and aerial competition, allelopathic interactions.

10.0 Recognition of the main weeds: Taxonomic groupings at botanical family level and recognition at seedling and seed level.

11.0 Persistence strategies of weed flora in the agroecosystem:

11.1 Ecology of germination, dormancy and longevity of seeds

11.2 Vegetative reproduction of perennial species

11.3 Mechanisms of biotic dissemination (endo-zoochory, epi-zoochory, myrmechory, autochory), abiotic (anemochory, hydrochory, barochory) and anthropochory.

12.0 Chemical weed control: methods, time of distribution, mechanisms of action, environmental criticalities. Concepts of selectivity, tolerance and resistance.

13.0 Mechanisms of action of herbicides: HRAC (Herbicide Resistance Action Committee) classification

14.0 Conventional and integrated weeding of the main crops and non-agricultural environments: autumn-winter cereals, corn, sugar beet, rice, rapeseed, sunflower, soya, alfalfa, vineyards, olive groves, other arboretums, turf, urban ecosystem, lines railways, ditches and canals, meadows and pastures, nurseries.

15.0 Non-chemical management of the weed flora of the various anthropized ecosystems: mechanical, physical, agronomic. Notes on natural herbicides.

16.0 Soil seed bank: botanical, morphological and ecological aspects. Self-burying mechanisms. Relationships between agrotechnics and the dynamics of accumulation and persistence of seeds in the soil, emergency dynamics.

17.0 “Ecosystem services” provided by floristic biodiversity: entomogamous wildflowers, useful plants for parasitoid insects, anti-erosive winter covers, etc.

18.0 Cover crops: agronomic effectiveness for removing ecological niches from weeds (botanical and agronomic aspects).

19.0 Calculation of the floristic biodiversity indices of the agroecosystem: Shannon (H'), Simpson (D) and agronomic strategies to promote the dynamics of biodiversity in the agroecosystem.

20.0 Floristic dynamics expected following climate change: relationship between climatic variations, extremization of events and species potentially growing or subject to rarefaction.

21.0 Geo-agronomic evolution of spices: aromatic species and spices of the Old and New World, historical and agronomic evolution of the spice trade, new agronomic areas for the cultivation of various crops.

22.0 Edible spontaneous flora (territorial food ethnobotany)

Readings/Bibliography

Baldoni, G., & Dinelli, G. (Eds.). (2024). Principi di agronomia. UTET università.

Catizone, P., & Zanin, G. (2001). Malerbologia. In Malerbologia (pp. 1-925). Patron Editore.

Viggiani, P., & Angelini, R. (1990). Erbe spontanee e infestanti: tecniche di riconoscimento: dicotiledoni. Bayer Italia.

Viggiani, P., & Angelini, R. (1998). Erbe spontanee e infestanti: tecniche di riconoscimento (Graminaceae).

Teaching methods

Lectures in presence, practical exercises in the classroom (recognition of adult wild plants, seedlings, seeds) and in the field. Recalls between scientific theory and practical reality as well as between environmental and productive objectives with the search for agro-ecological compatibility.

Assessment methods

The verification and evaluation of learning will be carried out in oral exams. In this context, some questions will be asked on the following topics: territorial agronomy, management of weed flora and recognition of weed/wild biodiversity.

Teaching tools

Original educational-photographic material, collection of crop and weed seeds, microscope to highlight the details of the various plant elements (leaves, stems, flowers, fruits, seeds, etc.) to identify the various species.

Office hours

See the website of Stefano Benvenuti