Agroforestry, FNR 5335, Spring 2003

AGROFORESTRY: FNR 5335/FOR 4854, 3 CREDITS, SPRING SEMESTER 2005

Instructor:

Time and Place of Lectures:

Mon, Wed, Fri; Period 2 (8:30 AM - 9:20 AM); 219 N-Z Hall Purpose of Course:

Course Policy:
The course will consist primarily of lectures, classroom discussions, and library research. A field tour to relevant research/demonstration sites in Florida, a feature of the course in the past few years, will be continued. Prerequisite is an understanding of the principles of sound land management; students are expected to be familiar with the biological fundamentals of agricultural and forestry production systems. Emphasis will be on the use of agroforestry as an option for addressing the land-use problems such as resource limitations, fragile soils, "basic needs" approach, and multiple-component systems in the developing world, and environmental issues and societal concerns about land use in the industrialized world.

Each student is required to prepare a major term paper and present a poster based on that (see the attached guidelines).

Text Book:
The basic book is: Nair, P.K.R. 1993. An Introduction to Agroforestry. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. Paperback, ISBN 0-7923-2135-9; this will be supplemented by a recent book: Nair, P.K.R et al. (eds) New Vistas in Agroforestry, Kluwer 2004. Two copies each of these books will be kept on reserve in Science Library for the course.

Reference Books: (Copies of these will be kept ON RESERVE in the Science Library.)
    Alavalapati and Mercer (eds), Valuing Agroforestry Systems, Kluwer, 2004
    Garrett, Rieteveld, Fisher: North American Agroforestry, ASA, Madison, WI, 2000
    Buck, Lassoie, Fernandes: Agroforestry in Sustainable Agri. Systems, CRC Press, 1999
    Nair and Latt: Directions in Tropical Agroforestry Research, Kluwer, 1998
    Young: Agroforestry for Soil Management, 2nd ed., CABI Int'l, 1997
    Gordon and Newman: Agroforestry Systems in the Temperate Zone, CAB Int'l, 1997
    Ong and Huxley: Tree-Crop Interactions, CAB Intl. 1996
    Nair: Agroforestry Systems in the Tropics, Kluwer, Netherlands; 1989

Reference Journal:
Agroforestry Systems (Kluwer Academic Publishers) (Since 1982)

Course Outline
The history, definition, concepts, and principles of AF
Examples of existing AF systems
Classification of AF systems
Improved AF technologies in the tropics
      Improved fallow; homegardens; alley cropping; mulching/green manuring; fodder banks
North American and other Temperate-zone AF
Plant aspects of AF
     AF species; multipurpose trees, fodder-and firewood trees; N2-fixing trees; herbaceous
     species; plant management in AF
Soil/Environmental aspects of AF
     Nutrient cycling; biomass decomposition; soil productivity management; soil conservation;
   environmental amelioration
Economic aspects
     Economic and financial analysis, valuation of products and benefits
Social aspects
     Sociocultural linkages; land tenure; gender; institutional aspects of AF
Design and evaluation of agroforestry systems
     Research methodologies and criteria; the Diagnosis and Design approach; analysis and
     interpretation of data in AF; evaluation of AF systems

Some guest lectures are planned during the term.

Grading

1. One 50 min exam (mid-term)	20%
2. Major Term Paper (due March 30)	30% (Details attached)
3. Other assignments, etc.	20%
4. Final (2 h) examination	30%
TOTAL	100%

Grades: A: 90 and above; B+: 85-89; B: 80-84; C+: 75-79; C: <75

Tentavive Course Schedule

Academic Honesty

In the Fall of 1995, the University of Florida student body voted to enact a student honor code and approved the following statement:
We, the members of the University of Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the
highest standards of honesty and integrity.
This code will be adhered to in this course.

[International Forestry FOR 4060]