Agronomy for Mountain Areas

The teaching of Mountain Agronomy has the general objective to:
- understand the bases of soil functioning, the main bio-geochemical cycles and its ecological role;
- know the internal mechanisms of the soil-cultivated plant system, relating to the cycles of the elements and the water cycle
- understand the structure of agroecosystems and the functional processes that link its various components (soil, atmosphere, cultivated plant)
- evaluate the main agronomic practices (crop management, hydraulic management, soil fertility and biological adversities) in relation to their effectiveness and environmental sustainability
- translate the knowledge acquired into practice relative to mountain agroecosystems, their specificity and the key elements for the enhancement of local agricultural production.

Through the teaching, students will be able to:
- Illustrate the components of an agro-ecosystem (soil, atmosphere and cultivated plant) and their functional relationships.
- Describe the historical evolution of agriculture and its current role in the sustainable development agenda (e.g., Agenda 2030, new EU agricultural policy, climate change adaptation and mitigation)
- To characterize an agricultural territory from the agrometeorological point of view considering the meteo-climatic (radiation, temperature, precipitation) and edaphic factors (chemical-physical-biological and hydraulic characteristics of the soils).
- Describe the main agronomic management techniques (spatial and temporal organization of the crop system, hydraulic-agricultural arrangements, soil processing, fertilization, drainage and irrigation, interventions on biological adversities, digital agriculture)
- Evaluate different agronomic management techniques in relation to production objectives and potential short and long-term environmental impacts (e.g., energy / water consumption, pollution, soil degradation, biodiversity loss)
- Use basic quantitative agronomic data (chemical-physical analysis of soil / water / atmosphere and biological, plant production) for the evaluation of the most suitable agronomic techniques.
- Draw up a fertilization and irrigation plan.