Syllabus for: PLSS 443 Soil Management

Fall Semester, 2003

Instructor: E.C. Varsa, Agriculture 161B
Office Hours: 10:00-11:00 a.m. M W or by appointment
Time of Class: Lecture 11:00-11:50 M W, Ag 152; Lab Tu 8:00-9:50, Ag 167

Text:     (Optional): Soil Conditions and Plant Growth. 11^th Edition, by Alan Wilde (1988)
            (Optional): Soils of Illinois. Bulletin 778, (1984)
            (Optional): Humus Chemistry: Genesis, Composition and Reaction. 2^nd Edition, by F.J. Stevenson, (1994)
            (Optional): Soils and Environmental Quality. 2^nd Edition, by G.M. Pierzynski, T.J. Sims, and G.F. Vance (2000). CRC Press.
            (Optional): Soil Fertility Management for Sustainable Agriculture. By R. Prasad and J.F. Power. (1997)

I.   Overall Course Objective:

     Familiarize students with the complex of factors important in the maintenance and enhancement of the long-term productivity and sustainability of the soil resource in food, feed and fiber production. Vital components in soil productivity maintenance and enhancement include soil and water conservation, organic matter management, and amendment additions.

       1.        Introduction: The soil resource in relation to food, feed, and fiber needs for increasing populations. The need for soil care and sustainability.

       2.        Soil characteristics useful in grouping soils for management purposes - (conservation needs, fertility needs, irrigation and drainage needs, organic matter    
                  maintenance needs, needs for different tillage systems, etc.).

       3.        Factors affecting productivity of soils - The Illinois example.

       4.        Soil conservation and erosion control: prerequisites for long-term soil utilization and sustainability.

       5.        Components involved in good soil management and conservation:
                   a. Conservation tillage and no-till.
                   b. Rotations - their importance and need for inclusion in various cropping systems.
                   c. Organic matter residue management. Includes an understanding of soil organic properties, synthesis, and accumulation enhancement (carbon
                       sequestration).
                   d. Irrigation and drainage - crop plants responsive to these needs and practices.
                   e. Liming and fertility needs and practices for soil sustainability.
                   f. The growing of adapted crops most responsive to "limiting" soil situations.
                   g. Tillage requirements and hazards as dictated by the properties of the soils to be managed.
                   h. Soil and nutrient management plans for environmental protection.

       6.        Soil characteristics and properties in relation to site-specific management (precision agriculture).

       7.        Amelioration of man mis-managed soils.

       8.        Amendments and recyclables back to the soil:
                  Sewage sludges and agricultural wastes of plant and animal origin.
                  Gypsum; fly ash-scrubber sludges, wood ashes, yard and garden wastes, canning and processing wastes, etc.

       9.        Soil compaction and soil crusting. The susceptibility of different soils to compaction and crusting.

      10.       Energy considerations in soil management and crop production.

      11.       Influence of drought and climatic change on soil and crop management decisions.

      12.       Suitability of soils for farm ponds, waste disposal and septic fields, etc.

      13.       Soil management practices readily implemented by the small land owner and gardener.

Individualized student projects where the orientation is toward "problem-solving" situations.

IV.     Grade Determinants:

2 1-hour exams................................................................................................ 40%

Laboratory project............................................................................................30%

Final Exam (comprehensive)..............................................................................30%

       90-100 = A
       80-90   = B
       70-80   = C
       60-70   = D
       <60      = F

The laboratory will consist of students working in pairs on single, major projects or experiments conducted during the semester oriented toward the solution of some peculiar soil problem. It is desired that the investigations or experiments be conducted in the greenhouse or laboratory and the beneficial effects of treating the soil with some amendment(s) be measured as a function of plant growth or some soil chemical or physical response. A final, decided-upon project will be discussed with the instructor for "do-ability" and the likelihood of showing contrasting results. With appropriate guidance from the instructor the students are encouraged to obtain the "problem soil" that they wished to use in their project. We (to the best of our ability) will furnish the amendments with which the experiments will be treated.

At the conclusion of the semester each student pair will prepare a joint report (including a short library review of the literature) that includes the project results. Also a 15-20 minute presentation will be given before the class during the final 1 or 2 laboratory periods of the semester, describing the experiment performed and results obtained.

The approximate value of the laboratory activities will be 30% of the final course grade.

1.        The influence of fertilizer (or lime) on a nutrient deficient topsoil and subsoil and its effect of plant growth.

2.        The influence of different limestone particle sizes on raising an acid soil pH. A comparison of Anna and Jonesboro limestone as an example.

3.        The influence of sewage sludges (or gypsum, wood ashes, fly ash, yard wastes, etc.) as an amendment to:

           a.        alteration of poor physical and chemical conditions of a "slick spot" or salt water spill from oil wells.

           b.        correct the toxic affects of a herbicide-damaged soil.

           c.        correct the effects of high salts due to excessive fertilizer use.

           d.        modify strip mine spoils, golf and turf areas, and athletic fields to become a useful plant rooting medium.

4.        Use a "super slurper" and other additives to reduce soil crusting.

5.        The release or tie-up of nutrients in soils by adding fresh, vs. matured plant residues (a study of mineralization and immobilization in soils).

6.        The influence of animal liquid waste (urine) vs. solids as a source of plant nutrients for the correction of nutrient deficiencies in soils.

7.        The influence of controlling soil moisture content on plant growth and the determination of the permanent wilting point in soils.

8.        Develop deficiency symptoms of selected nutrients on plants.

9.        Nitrogen management and fertilizer placement for plants grown in mulch-covered soil (no-till). Use of inhibitors to increase plant growth.

10.      Needs of southern Illinois soils for boron or other micronutrients.

11.      Broadcasting vs. banding (concentrating) fertilizers in a "low" testing soil.

12.      Nitrogen contribution from legumes or other crops.