P07 Soil & Plant Science WS 2024/25

• MSc International Organic Agriculture (IOA) and MSc Sustainable International Agriculture (SIA) offer a basic bridging module P07 Soil & Plant Science WS 2024/25.
• It aims to equip students with agricultural basics, covering soil science, plant nutrition, plant breeding & genetics, and phytomedicine.
• The password to access the course materials is "P0724".

Module Instructors and Topics

• Tobias KD Weber and Abdelrazek_Elnashar: Soil Science (12 hours, 22 points exam)
• Andreas Bürkert and Mariko Ingold: Crop Science & Nutrition (2.5 hours, 2 points exam)
• Gunter Backes: Genetics & Plant Breeding (12 hours, 22 points exam)
• Jelena Baćanović-Šišić: Phytomedicine Plant Pathology (12 hours, 17 points exam)
• Helmut Saucke: Phytomedicine Entomology and Coordination (11 hours, 17 points exam)
• There are 60 hours of lectures with a 100-point exam.
• Location R1102 is on the first floor.

Learning Outcomes

• The module provides fundamentals of soil and plant science.
• It analyzes agricultural systems in temperate and tropical environments, covering soil science, plant nutrition, plant breeding & genetics, and phytomedicine.
• The module helps students lacking basic knowledge or needing a refresher in agronomy disciplines related to organic cropping systems.
• Lectures and reading materials update students on state-of-the-art knowledge, focusing on organic agriculture-related questions.
• Module prepares students for advanced courses in these fields.

Examination Requirements

• Soil Science: Physical (texture, soil water, pore space), chemical (buffering, exchange capacity, nutrients), biological properties (organic matter, edaphon), soil formation and classification.
• Plant nutrition: Covers major and minor elements in plants, nutrient availability and mobilization, plant nutrients, and food quality.
• Plant breeding and genetics: Includes plant morphology, genetics, breeding principles, domestication and use, characterization, evaluation, genetic resources, and the genetic basis for breeding.
• Plant protection: Covers plant pathology and entomology, genetics of plant diseases, epidemiology, plant defense mechanisms, insect physiology and ecology, plus designing integrated control programs.

Introduction to Agricultural Entomology

• Module includes literature and training questions.
• Importance of arthropods relevant to humans, categorized into 7 groups.
• Focus on taxonomy and the primary insect orders.
• Interaction between insects, and between insects and microbes.
• Abiotic and biotic regulation factors, including the use of botanical insecticides.
• Control practices include "Bio"-control, "chemical"-control, and "ecological"-control.
• Key concepts discussed are the threshold concept, pesticide legislation, and indirect preventive and direct curative approaches in organic production.

Arthropods & Insects

• Arthropods are a dominant group, especially insects.
• Taxonomy aims to reflect phylogenetic relationships.
• Basic features of arthropods include outer and inner anatomy.

Outer Anatomy

• Insects are segmented invertebrates with a body divided into head, thorax, and abdomen.
• Legs and wings attach to the thorax.
• They have three pairs of legs (Hexapoda), "poda" means feet.
• Insect orders are recognized based on five external criteria: frontwings, hindwings, legs, antenna, and mouthparts.

Insect Orders

• Classification relies on front wings (ptera means wing), hindwings, legs structure, antenna types, and mouthparts.
• Mouthparts include mandibles (for biting and chewing) and stylets (for sucking and stinging).

Inner Anatomy

• Consists of a nervous system (brain + ganglions).
• Trachea system facilitates respiration and gas exchange (O2, CO2).
• An open circulatory system with haemolymph.

Arthropoda Taxonomy

• Arthropoda includes three classes.
• Crustacea: aquatic crayfish and terrestrial pill bugs.
• Arachnida: spiders and mites, characterized by 4 pairs of legs.
• Insecta: insects, characterized by 3 pairs of legs.
• Development in insects is either hemimetaboles (nymphs) or holometaboles (pupal stage).

Insect Development

• Insecta have larval stages with singular (larva) and plural (larvae) forms.
• Hemimetaboles: larvae are nymphs or juvenils.
• Holometaboles: larvae are caterpillars, grubs, and maggots.
• Taxonomy of insects includes phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.
• Cydia nigricana (Pea moth) serves as an example. Scientific names are key for literature searches.

Key Insect Orders

• Focus on those feeding on plants (herbivores) and insect classification.

Hemimetabole Insect Orders

• Orthoptera: grasshoppers, locusts, cockroaches, termites. Chewing and biting mouthparts.

Holometabole Insect Orders

• Hymenoptera: wasps, bees, ants with chewing and biting mouthparts.
• Coleoptera (beetles): have sclerotinized front wings and chewing mouthparts.
• Lepidoptera (butterflies): larvae (caterpillars) have chewing mouthparts.
• Diptera: includes flies, gnats, mosquitoes (some have sucking or stinging mouthparts).

Insect Development and Hormones

• Insect development is regulated by hormones.
• Moulting is how insects reach their 1st and 2nd instar stages (removal/replacement of skin).
• Insect’s chitin skin (exoskeleton) is either soft or hard (sclerotinized) but not stretchable.
• Moulting is regulated by hormones (juvenilhormon and ecdyson).

Insect Reproduction

• Sexual reproduction happens when male meets female (egg and sperm)
• XX chromosomes = female, XY chromosome = male, or XO (male lacks a chromosome)
• A-Sexual reproduction is parthenogenesis
  • Development of eggs that does not need fertilization
  • Honeybees are (1n), the unfertilized queen lays the egg
  • Aphids create identical clones, or can give fertilized 2n eggs(autumn) or birth by giving birth
• Temparate climates = parthenogenetic propagation

Summary: Basic Insect Features

• Segmented invertebrates
• Body divided into head, thorax, and abdomen
• Exoskeleton (chitin); regular moults of larva(e)
• Winged and wingless forms
• 3 pairs for legs on insects, 4 pairs on spiders and mites
• Breathing = has a trachea type design (not blood)
• Can be hemimetabol with nymphs, or holometabol (pupal )
• Open blood system Haemolymph is pumped