Soil Fertility, Fertilizers and Integrated Nutrient Management Syllabus

Soil Fertility, Fertilizers and Integrated Nutrient Management Syllabus- Second Semester

Course CodeSSC 102
Course TitleSoil Fertility, Fertilizers and Integrated Nutrient Management
Credit Hour3(2+1)
Full Marks75
Theory50
Practical25

Objectives

Upon the completion of this course, the students will be able to understand soil in relation to soil fertility; inorganic and organic fertilizers, and role of organic matter and bio- fertilizers in crop production.

Syllabus of Soil Fertility, Fertilizers and Integrated Nutrient Management in BSc. Agriculture

Historical development of soil fertility and plant nutrition; essential plant nutrients and criteria of essentiality; sources, functions, deficiency symptoms and availability of plant nutrients to plants; chemical fertilizers – composition, use, and behavior in soil; bio-fertilizers and their uses; prospects of bio-gas in the Nepalese economy and environmental trade-off; preparation of manure, green manure and composted manure; methods of soil fertility evaluation for crop production; integrated nutrient management; soil fertility problems of Nepal; soil management for sustainable agricultural development.

Course Outline

A. Theory

S.NTopic / Chapter NameNo. of Lectures.
1Historical development of soil fertility and plant nutrition1
21.Essential plant nutrients:                                                                     
a)   Criteria of essentiality,
b) macro/primary and secondary plant nutrients,
c)   their sources, functions, deficiency symptoms and control measure , and availability to plants.		5
3Introduction to micro nutrients, their function, deficiency symptoms and control measure in plant.2
4Fertilizers:                                                                                         
a)  Nitrogenous, phosphatic and potassic fertilizers,
b)  their composition, uses and behaviors in soil.)		4
5Organic matter; source and composition and function2
6Organic manure : source, classification and preparation; bio-fertilizer and green manuring; bio-gas and its importance in Nepal  2
7Soil fertility evaluation: soil testing, plant analysis  visual diagnosis, and biological test method 3
8Soil fertility problems with respect to Nepalese agricultural system; effect of continuous use of organic versus inorganic fertilizers on soil fertility3
9Soil management for sustainable agriculture3
10Factors affecting fertilizer use efficiencies; tillage and traction affecting soil fertility 2
11Integrated nutrient management(INM), concept and relevance, components and management options of INM
3
Total30

B. Practical

S.NTopic / Chapter NameNo. of Practical
1Identification and function of soil fertility laboratory equipment1
2Soil sampling and preparation for soil fertility analysis1
3Use of kit box for different elemental analysis in soil2
4Chemical calculation and preparation of standard solution.1
5Determination of organic matter content in soil1
6Basic principles of micro- Kjeldahl distillation assembly,
spectrophotometer,flame photometer		2
7Determination of available nitrogen in soil2
8Determination of available phosphorus in soil1
9Determination of available potassium in soil1
10Plant sampling and their preparation for elemental analysis1
11Collection and identification of nutrient deficiency symptoms on major crops in and around AFU farm.2
Total15

References

Nyle C. Brady and Ray R. Weil. 2012. The Nature and Properties of Soils. 14th Ed. Prentice- Hall, Inc.

Robert E. White. 2009. Principles and Practice of Soil Science: The soil as a natural resource. 4th Ed. Blackwell Publishing Co.

Tisdale, S.L., W.L. Nelson, J.D. Beaton, and J.L. Havlin. 1993. Soil Fertility and Fertilizers. 5th Ed. P. F. Corey (Ed.). Macmillan Publishing Co., 866 Third Avenue, New York.

Rabindra N. Roy. 2006. Plant Nutrition for Food Security: a guide for integrated nutrient management. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

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