HORT 4450

Ecological Orchard Management

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2014-2015 Catalog.

The ecology and technology of deciduous tree-fruit production. Topics include basic tree and fruit physiology; orchard renovation and design systems; nutrition, irrigation, and freeze protection practices; tree pruning and training; post-harvest fruit storage; marketing and economic spreadsheet models; monitoring and decision-making systems for integrated pest management; and efficient use of orchard equipment. Emphasizes the agroecology of perennial crop systems, with labs providing hands-on experience in orchard management.

Prerequisites/Corequisites Prerequisite: two college-level biology courses. Recommended prerequisite: previous horticulture/plant science courses.

Outcomes

• Make critical decisions required for successful orchard management.
• Find and evaluate essential information sources about orchards.
• Understand and integrate key ecological, physiological, environmental, and economic issues in sustainable orchard systems.
• Select the optimal systems for orchard management.
• Plant, prune, and train fruit trees successfully; and harvest, store and market fruit efficiently.

When Offered Spring.

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