Agroecology and Cropping Systems

The objectives of this course are:
- to provide fundamental knowledge and tools about agro-ecosystem management.
- to provide knowledge about the analysis and the interpretation of agroecosystems and on the interaction between climatic driving forces and agro-ecosystems.
- to provide knowledge of genetics, phenology, morphology, physiology and agronomy of woody plants for the basic knowledge of tree-cropping systems.

The students will acquire the skills needed for understanding and interpreting the ecological mechanisms driving crop production processes and their interactions with the management activities of the farmer. Moreover, students will obtain competences in biology and ecology of woody plants, and about agronomy of tree-cropping systems. Therefore, they will be able to correctly evaluate the planting of a tree crop in its constituent parameters and to optimally manage and maintain it.