| Department of Agricultural Sciences | |||||||||||||
| Earliest Possible Year | |||||||||||||
| Duration | 1 semester | ||||||||||||
| Credits | 6 (ECTS) | ||||||||||||
| Course Level | MSc | ||||||||||||
| Examination | evaluation of project report Aid allowed Description of Examination: pass/fail, internal examiner | ||||||||||||
| Organisation of Teaching | Three week course (January) | ||||||||||||
| Block Placement | 3-week course January | ||||||||||||
| Teaching Language | English | ||||||||||||
| Optional Prerequisites | 057012 Soil, Water and Plant Nutrients in the Tropics 055511 Plant Growth Factors and Crop Physiology 035311 Geology and Soil Science Soil, Water and Plant Nutrients in the Tropics; Plant Growth Factors and Crop Physiology A; Geology and Soil Science or equivalent. | ||||||||||||
| Restrictions | No limitation | ||||||||||||
| Course Objectives | |||||||||||||
| The course introduces students, interested in tropical agriculture and natural resources management, to the principles and practices of designing land and water management activities aimed at economically, environmentally and socially sound natural resource management in rainfed as well as in irrigated areas. Special attention is given to small-scale water resources development and to soil & water conservation at field and watershed levels. The course integrates social and technical issues. | |||||||||||||
| Course Contents | |||||||||||||
| Improved land and water management is fundamental to the realisation of sustainable land use and poverty alleviation in the predominantly rural economies of most developing countries. Professionals working with agriculture and natural resources management are therefore expected to know the basic principles and problems of integrated land and water management including technological, social and development aspects. The major technical areas involved are Irrigation & Drainage and Soil & Water Conservation. Furthermore, Integrated Watershed Development has emerged as a globally very important project type, adopted by many development agencies and governments to facilitate the realisation of the dual objective of improved land use and poverty alleviation in rural areas through community based initiatives. The course focuses on three major themes: 1. Irrigation and Drainage: crop water requirement, field irrigation, conveyance and supply schedule, field channel design, scheme management and water users associations, land consolidation in wetland rice areas, and environmental aspects of water resources development; agro-ecosystems covered include semi-arid and humid wetland rice areas. 2. Soil and Water Conservation: runoff, soil erosion processes, vegetative barriers, terracing, drainage line treatments, water harvesting, farm ponds, tillage, sloping land management, agroforestry, and integrated soil fertility management. 3. Integrated Watershed Development: concept, experiences and planning; river basin management; case studies from Danida supported projects in Asia and Africa. Referring to important tropical ecosystems and cropping systems including wetland rice, lectures will cover: 1. Land and water management issues in tropical agricultural development. 2. Agrohydrology (climate, soil water, salinization, soil erosion, watershed hydrology; mainly technical aspects related to estimation practices). 3. Soil and water management (tillage, irrigation and drainage, salinity control, erosion control, integrated soil fertility management) 4. Watershed and river basin development and management and environmental aspects of land and water resources management. The students will through a set of integrated calculation exercises become familiar with the basic design principles and practices in small-scale irrigation and drainage, runoff and soil erosion control, and water harvesting. Available standard pc-software will be employed in combination with manual calculations. | |||||||||||||
| Teaching And Learning Methods | |||||||||||||
| Lectures and theoretical exercises based on group work.The students, working in small groups but with individual datasets, will complete a number of estimation exercises (project report) aimed at familiarising the student with the design methodology applied in solving typical problems in tropical land and water development and management. | |||||||||||||
| Course Litterature | |||||||||||||
| Jensen, J.R. (1989): Agricultural Land and Water Management in the Tropics. Estimation methods: Principles and Exercises. DSR Publishers (under revision) Selected texts and notes, to be announced. | |||||||||||||
| Course Coordinator | |||||||||||||
| Jens Raunsø Jensen, jrj@life.ku.dk, Department of Agriculture and Ecology/Environment, Resources and Technology, Phone: 35333387 | |||||||||||||
| Study Board | |||||||||||||
| Course Scope | |||||||||||||
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