Study Programmes 2015-2016
VEGE0023-1  
Foundations of managing and controlling bio-agressors
Duration :
54h Th, 6h FT
Number of credits :
Master in agricultural bioengineering (120 ECTS)5
Lecturer :
Frédéric Francis, Eric Haubruge, Sébastien Massart, Bruno Schiffers
Coordinator :
Bruno Schiffers
Language(s) of instruction :
French language
Organisation and examination :
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite :
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Course contents :
This course gives students a synthetic view of the specificities of the biology of the bioagressors (pests, plant pathogens, weeds), as well as their interactions with the plants and the environment in connection with their epidemiology.
It also exposes the approach to the diagnosis.
It presents the various options (cultural, genetic, physical, biological or chemical) for the prevention, control or eradication of pests in the context and according to biological, regulatory and socio-economic constraints.
Learning outcomes of the course :
At the end of this course, students will have demonstrated its ability to be used in seminars and restore during the final exam:
  • His knowledge of biology and / or his ability to identify the main groups of pests (pests, diseases and weeds)
  • Awareness of the different stages in an epidemiological cycle
  • His knowledge of conditions favoring the development of pests
  • The understanding of the damage threshold and economic threshold
  • Good knowledge of the main families and properties of pesticides and biocides, the registration process and their recommendation of use
It will in particular be able to:
  • To analyze the epidemic phases and to identify the key stages of an intervention
  • To analyze the biological, socio-economic and regulatory constraints on the development and choice of control methods
  • To identify the most effective options for preventing, controlling or eliminating pests
Prerequisite knowledge and skills :
Basis in microbiology, plant physiology, entomology
Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
Oral presentation (ex-cathedra)
Illustration of plant pathogens and diagnostic
Collection of diseased plants
Identification and biology of pests (based on slides)
Research of information and documentation (on internet and other sources)
Group works and oral presentations with power points (in English): application of theoretical elements presented during lectures to case studies (data integration, synthesis)
Preparation of an individual final evaluation
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :
Face-to-face
Recommended or required readings :
Training material (texts, papers, notes and slides) available on line on Blackboard for each partim.
Assessment methods and criteria :
ssessment of the work of the year:
Herbarium of diseased plants : 5%
Team work: 25% (see Organizational remarks for more details)
The evaluation the practical works will be based not only on presentations (content, quality of slides, communication & language skills) but also on answers to the collegial questions after each presentation.
Individual assessment of knowledge (oral exam with all professors): 70%
In the second session, only the oral exam may be represented for 70% of the final notation.
The notation for herbarium and other practical works (30% of the final notation for the course) will be saved as it was for the second session.
Work placement(s) :
Organizational remarks :
Team work on study cases for VEGE0023-1 - Year 2015-2016
Introduction
Two biotic stresses will be given to teams of 2-3 students for an in-depth analysis.
The groups are formed autonomously by students and they select themselves each a study case among the list (each study case can only be selected once).
For each study case, the student will develop two biotic stresses selected by the professors. For human types, one stress will correspond to a plant disease with consequences on food or feed and the other stress to a human parasite.
Group composition and selected study cases must be sent to Ms Gladys Rufflard (grufflard@ulg.ac.be) within 5 days after the presentation of the project to the students. Biotic stresses will be available on e-campus upon reception of the information for all the groups.
Expected work
WE DO NOT WANT A "COPY-PASTE" WORK FROM WIKIPEDIA OR GOOGLE !!!
We expect a level of bio-engineer based on 5 key elements :
a.      The selection of the relevant information and its synthesis.
b.     The critical analysis and interpretation of this information.
c.      An integrated and transversal view on the bio-aggressors and on the study case
d.     A capacity to summarize keypoints.
e.      A fluent and interesting presentation of the work in English.
Information to be gathered on the study case and biotic stresses:
- basic information on the crop and its bio-aggressors,
- biology of the proposed bio-aggressors (and link with biology of host),
- diagnostic of the proposed bio-aggressors,
- geographical area of the proposed bio-aggressors,
- economical importance of the proposed bio-aggressors,
- control measures and their limits.
Presentation of the work
The work will be presented by students through a powerpoint presentation.
A first presentation (8 minutes) will be carried out on 3rd November. The objective of this presentation is to give a first overview of the information gathered. The evaluation will be focused on the capacity of the students to gather relevant information and to summarize it (Point a. of the key elements).
A second presentation (15 minutes) will be held on 8th December. This presentation will be evaluated according to point b., c., d. and e. of the key elements.
The powerpoint presentations must be sent by e-mail to grufflard@ulg.ac.be before:
- 3rd November at 9 am (CET time) for the first presentation
- 7th December at 1 pm (CET time) for the second presentation
Any presentation sent after the deadline will not be taken into account and the quote will be 0 for this part.
Quotation
The work corresponds to 25% of the final quotation of VEGE0023. Your ability to write, present and discuss in English will also be evaluated.
- First presentation: 20% of the quotation
- Second presentation: 80 % of the quotation
Contacts :
Frédéric Francis (frederic.francis@ulg.ac.be)
Sebastien Massart (sebastien.massart@ulg.ac.be) Bruno Schiffers (bruno.schiffers@ulg.ac.be)