Jordan University of Science and Technology Faculty of Agriculture Department of Natural Resources and Environment First Semester 2006/2007

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1 Jordan University of Science and Technology Faculty of Agriculture Department of Natural Resources and Environment First Semester 2006/2007 Course Title Course Information SOIL FERTILITY AND FERTILIZERS Course Number (NR 412) (Line #: ) Prerequisites NR 202 & PP 205 Course Website Instructor Office Location Office Phone Office Hours Teaching Assistant Prof. Munir Rusan Mon & Wed 11:00 12:00 OR by appointment Course Description NR 412: Soil Fertility and Fertilizers (3C, 3H) Soil chemical and physical properties as related to soil fertility. Plant nutrients and their classification, functions, soil and plant contents, reactions and availability in the soil. Movement and absorption of plant nutrients. Fertilizers classification, types and application methods. Soil fertility evaluation and fertilizer recommendations. Fertigation and advanced techniques in fertilizer applications. (Prerequisite: NR 202, PP 205) Text Book Title Soil Fertility and Management Author(s) Havlin, Publisher Jersey; Year 1999 Edition 6 th Edition Book Website - References Text Book Title Soil Fertility and Fertilizers Author(s) Tisdale, S. L., W.L. Nelson, and J.D. Beaton Publisher Macmillan Publishing Co., N. Y Year 1993 Edition 5th Edition Book Website References

2 Assessment Policy Assessment Type Expected Due Date Weight First Exam 25% Second Exam 25% Final Exam 40% Assignments 10% Course Objectives Weights To develop an understanding of the: 1. Soil fertility and productivity, role of soil in supplying nutrients to plants, growth 10% factors 2. Major soil-plant relationships and their influence on the main soil functions and phenomena that affect soil fertility parameters 15% 3. Mineral nutrients: requirements, classification forms and functions in the plants 15% 4. Fertilizers of the major macronutrients and micronutrients: sources, forms, reactions in the soil, environmental concerns 30% 5. Development, characterization and management of acid soils and salt affected soils 10% 6. Types, and methods of fertilizer application: techniques, advantages and disadvantages 10% 7. Soil fertility evaluation, fertilizer recommendation 10% Teaching & Learning Methods Lecture notes will be presented in: 1. Power point presentation 3. Field trips Learning Outcomes: Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to Related Objective(s) Reference(s) Objective 1 1. How to distinguish between soil fertility and soil productivity and how to manage or control factors affecting both fertility and productivity of the soil

3 Objective 2 Objective 3 Objective 4 Objective 5 Objective 6 Objective 7 2. Soil physical and chemical properties that affect availability of nutrients in the soil, and learn how to consider these properties for optimizing fertilizer management 3. Classification of nutrients based on various categories according to the objectives of the classification. Beside, they will learn terminology related to status of the nutrients in the plant tissues. 3. Nature, behavior and availability of the native nutrients in the soil; how they interact with agricultural crops; how to consider these data to make the right decision on which nutrients should be added. 4. How to manage and/or reclaim acid soils and salt affected soils (both saline and sodic soils). How to optimize both crop and soil management to successfully use these types of soil without further degradation of the soil 5. Learn how to evaluate soil fertility based on visual observations, soil chemical testing and plant tissue analyses. How to make representative samples and how to prepare them for analysis and make fertilizer recommendations based on the results of the analysis 3. Learn about the most popular methods of fertilizer application;

4 when, where to place and how to implement each method. They will also learn how to select the best type, form of fertilizers for various soil and crop conditions Text book Useful Resources Lecture notes Handouts Course Content Week Topics Chapter in Text (handouts) 1 Introduction: Soil fertility; Soil productivity 2 Growth and the factors affecting it: Factors affecting plant growth; Growth expressions 3 Plant nutrients: Essentiality and classification of plant nutrients; Definitions (deficient, insufficient, excessive, toxic, competition, antagonism, synergism) 4 & 5 Basic soil- plant relationships: Anion and cation exchange; Contact exchange; Root cation exchange 6 & 7 Movement of ions from soils to roots: Mechanisms; cell membrane and ion absorption mechanisms by roots 8 & 9 Soil and nitrogen fertilizers: N cycle; Soil N; Plant N; N fertilizers; Environmental concern 10 Soil and phosphorus fertilizers: P cycle; Soil P; Plant P; P fertilizers; Environmental concern 11 Soil and potassium and sulfur: Soil K and S; Plant K and S; K and S fertilizers; 12 & 13 Soil and micronutrients: Soil and plant contents; Fertilizers micronutrients 14 Salt-affected soils: Origin and sources of soil salinity; Classification; reclamation and management 15 & 16 Fundamental of fertilizer application: Methods of application; Advanced techniques of fertilizer application fertigation Additional Notes

5 Assignments Exams Cheating Attendance Workload Graded Exams Participation Laboratory Projects Expected due date Exams will be hold on time as scheduled unless the university is off. Makeup exam is allowed only under very serious situation and the makeup exam will be given by two instructors and in two parts (written and oral). The makeup exam is always more challenging Cheating will be reported to the department Chair for further processes. Penalties vary from getting zero in the exam to dismissing for a semester or more Attendance of the lectures is obligatory (15% is max. allowable absence starting from lecture #1) Attendance, preparation, assignments, exams, Graded exams will be given back to the students Participation is encouraged The lab is separate course Term papers