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| RAVT2003-1 | Pastoral management in tropical regions
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| Duration : | 35h Th |
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| Number of credits : |
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| Lecturer : | Jérôme Bindelle |
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Language(s) of instruction :
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| French language |
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Course contents :
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| This course of Agrostology and Management of pastoral areas RAVT2003 is an introduction to the range management science and grasslands as forage resource for domesticated ruminants in the Tropics.
Ranges convert the energy from the sun and the atmospheric nitrogen into forage biomass available for ruminants. They are a resource that has been used by Man for millenia, from pastoral societies to ranch managers, to provide food and non-food products as well as services. Range management is a unique science dealing with the interface between plant and animal, rather than the plant or the animal alone. The key element in range management is manipulating the animal's grazing activities to maintain or improve range plant and animal productions. Many of those principles apply to the management of wild herbivores too.
Why agrostology? Because range management relies on the in depth knowledge of range pants and, among those, grasses or poaceae have an important place. However, to be a "good" range manager, you don't need to be good in pasture science only. The range manager must always combine his knowledge in management and feeding of wild and domesticated species, in climatology, hydrology, soil science, mapping, forestry, taxonomy, plant physiology, plant ecology, economy, etc. This course is therefore multidisciplinary.
The course is divided in two parts closely related one with the other. Part 1 is given as a lecture and covers more theoretical concepts related to the tropical environment, the origin and the botany of range plants, grazing resistance mechanisms, physiology of growth of plants and grass communities, methods to characterise ranges and the principles of extensive range management. Part 1 also reviews some grasses and legumes that play an important role as forage ressource in the tropics.
Part 2 combines conferences, exercices, field trips and practical exercices in a pasture in Gembloux, in order to show you how you can apply the theorical concepts on the field. teach you some |
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Learning outcomes of the course :
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| At the end of this course, you will:
- understand how biotic and abiotic elements influence the composition of forage plants and the ranges, their growth and their nutritive value;
- understand how to manage a range to maintain a long term production potential using the appropriate tools;
- be know how to identify grass species from tropical areas and to know their usefulness for animal production;
- be able to measure the quality of forage species and pastures, to measure their production potential and determine their theoretical carrying capacity.
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Prerequisites and co-requisites/ Recommended optional programme components :
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| In order to properly understand the course, we advise you to have notions in botany, plant physiology, soil science and animal feeding. |
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Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
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| The lecture uses many picture, photographs and figures from scientific papers as well as some videos in English.
The practicals include a floristic survey of a pasture in Gembloux, the interpretation of this survey, a conference on the use of GIS in range management and an exercise on measurement of carrying capacity.
We wish the course was interacive so we invite you to speak when we try to interact with the audience during the lectures. Please, feel also free to interrupt us at any time if you have any question. |
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Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :
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| Lectures : 21h
Exercices and field trips: 14 h |
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Recommended or required readings :
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| You have acess to the slides that are shown during the classes.
The course is of course not exhaustive. If wish to go into further details now or during your future professional life, I recommend you as first reading the following references:
For questions related to botany and physiology of forage plants :
Barnes RF, Nelson CJ, Moore KJ, Collins M. 2007. Forages. The science of grassland agriculture. Volume II. 6th Ed. Blackwell publishing. Ames.
For range management :
Holechek JL, Pieper RD, Herbel CH. 2011. Range management. Principles and practices. 6th Ed. Prentice Hall. Boston.
For the description of tropical forages, I recommend to visit the following website : www.tropicalforages.info |
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Assessment methods and criteria :
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| During the first examination period, you will be assessed by a open book examination. You can bring as many paper documents (no electronic documents) as you like. During the last course, you will be given a set of scientific papers about range management. During the examinantion, you be be asked some reflection questions related to link between the course and the papers.
During the second examination period, it will be a more "classical" oral exam about the topics covered by both the lectures and the exercises. |
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Organizational remarks :
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| The teacher's notes are available as the course starts. Nevertheles, we try to improve them constantly, so you might notice some modifications during the year. |
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Contacts :
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| Feel free to contact the teacher for any question regarding the course. I am available during the class. If you want to see me at all other times, please make an appointment by calling +32 81 62 26 09 or by sending me an email (jerome.bindelle@ulg.ac.be).
If you have questions regarding the practicals, you can also contact the assistants Mrs. Marie Malice or Ms. Laura Wauters (+32 81 62 24 13; marie.malice@ulg.ac.be; laura.wauters@ulg.ac.be) |
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