AGR521: Soil Fertility / Faculty of Plantation and Agrotechnology

This course is designed to provide an overview of the fundamental concepts of soil fertility and plant nutrition. Different areas of soil science that play important role in influencing the soil properties which will directly or indirectly affect soil fertility will be examined. This course will complement the students existing knowledge of soil science and help the student understand soil conditions affecting the availability of different plant nutrients; function and movement of different nutrients in plants and methods of determining nutrient levels in plants and in soils. Upon completion, students should understand and know the principles of managing plant nutrient for crop production, fertilizer materials, techniques of crop fertilization, soil fertility maintenance and management practices for optimizing fertilizer use and understand the process of carrying out soil and plant tissue testing as diagnostic tools in nutrient management. The knowledge gained will provide students with the basic knowledge of soil fertility management and fertilizer requirement for plantation and agricultural crops.