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price: £500
irrigation & fertilization course
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  • languages English
  • languages Certificate
From Salvatore’s desktop

Chief Agronomist of Smart Fertilizer, PhD Candidate 2020

SMART Academy - Online Course "Irrigation and Fertilization - Become an Expert"
Irrigation and fertilization are the two most important practices in crop production.

Participating in this course will give you the tools and expertise needed to master irrigation and fertilization. Improve your agricultural practices to achieve better yields and effectiveness. A certificate of completion will be awarded upon completion of the course. The course is designed for farmers, agronomists, students and anyone with a passion for agriculture. The course is comprised of 10 topics.
Course Topics
  • How to design an ideal fertilizer program
  • Irrigation water quality
  • How to master fertigation
  • How to balance nutrient solutions
  • How to interpret soil test results
  • Soil salinity and how to manage it
  • Nutrient management in soilless culture
  • Irrigation scheduling - principles, irrigation in soils
  • Irrigation scheduling in soilless culture
Course Topics
Topic 1 Topic 2 Topic 3 Topic 4 Topic 5 Topic 6 Topic 7 Topic 8 Topic 9 Topic 10
Topic 1: How to design an ideal fertilizer program
  • What factors impact the design of a fertilizer program:
  • Nutrient response curves.
  • Yield potential
  • Law of minimum
  • Soil analysis Nutrient requirements
  • Common units of expression
  • Water quality
  • Tissue analysis
  • Economic considerations
  • Application methods
Topic 2: Irrigation water quality
  • Parameters defining the quality of the irrigation water
  • Salinity and its effects
  • Specific toxicities
  • Sodium and its effects
  • Classification of water quality
  • Water pH and alkalinity
Topic 3: How to master fertigation
  • Fertigation methods
  • Preparation of stock solutions – solubility, compatibility, common ion effect
  • Fertilizer injectors
  • Injection ratios
Topic 4: How to balance nutrient solutions
  • The Equivalent
  • Cation-anion balance
  • What does a “balanced nutrient solution” mean?
  • Nutrient ratios
  • Ammonium/Nitrate ratio
Topic 5: How to interpret soil test results
  • Absorption of nutrients
  • Salinity vs. fertility
  • Extraction methods
  • Interpreting the results
  • Approaches for balancing soils
Topic 6: Soil salinity and how to manage it
  • The effects of salinity
  • Sodium effects
  • The relation between salinity and sodicity
  • Causes of soil salinity
  • How to measure soil salinity
  • Strategies to prevent salinity buildup
  • Reclaiming saline soils
Topic 7: Exercise
  • We will do a practical exercise that includes designing a
  • complete fertilizer program, interpreting soil test results
  • and designing a fertigation schedule.
Topic 8: Nutrient management in soilless culture
  • Types of growing substrates
  • Open and closed systems
  • Nutrient concentration in the nutrient solution
  • Nutrient management methods
  • The pH of the nutrient solution
  • Carbonate equilibrium
Topic 9: Irrigation scheduling
  • Water requirements of crops
  • Evapotranspiration
  • Discuss on methods of irrigation scheduling
  • The soil water
Topic 10: Irrigation scheduling in soilless culture
  • Parameters that affect the irrigation scheduling
  • Physical properties of growing media
  • Water retention curves
  • Air/water ratios in growing media
  • Determining the water requirements of the plant
  • Methods to determine the irrigation frequency
  • Discussion on different approaches of irrigation regimes