Sustainable Agriculture at UC Davis
This page gives some indication of the breadth and depth of
sustainable
agriculture at UC Davis, but it should not be considered comprehensive
and may be out of date in some cases.
"Sustainable agriculture" has been defined as producing food today in
ways
that protect our ability to produce food tomorrow. Agricultural
practices
that cause irreversible damage to the soil or to the natural systems
upon
which agriculture depends are considered unsustainable.
Sustainability
is a central concern for many in the College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, although we don't
always
agree on which practices are most sustainable. In many cases,
work
underway in our research fields and associated laboratories may provide
the answers. Sustainability is also a major theme of our teaching
and extension programs.
.
Sustainable agriculture research at UCD
Long-Term Research on Agricultural Systems (LTRAS)
Sustainable Agriculture Farming Systems (SAFS)
-- recently merged with LTRAS
Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
program
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP)
In addition to being a world-renowned
agricultural research university (although this may be threatened
by budget cuts and changing campus priorities),
UC Davis has an
unusually large and distinguished ecology
faculty. Many individual UCD faculty and their students
conduct
research on such topics as:
-
biological control of agricultural pests
-
biological nitrogen fixation
-
cover crops, intercropping, and agroforestry
-
soil organic matter and its management
-
using scarce resources (including water) more efficiently
-
effects of agriculture on wildlife, the atmosphere, etc.
Sustainable agriculture teaching at UCD
Sustainable agriculture teaching resources
Undergraduate programs
We are currently discussing a new undergraduate major in Agricultural
Ecology and Sustainability.
Meanwhile, you can choose from a variety of existing majors
and
courses such as:
-
Agriculture, Nature and Society (ASE 1)
-
Agroforestry: Global and Local Perspectives (IAD 160)
-
Agriculture and the Environment (ASE 101)
-
Concepts in Pest Management (ASE 105)
-
Cropping Systems of the World (ASE 150)
-
Ecology of Crop Systems (PLB 142)
-
Field Study of Vegetable Industry (ASE 195)
-
Fruit and Nut Cropping Systems (ASE170A,B)
-
Introduction to Plant Pathology (PLP 120)
-
Introduction to Weed Science (PLB176)
-
Organic Crop Production Practices (ASE 49)
-
Principles of Agronomic Crop Production (ASE 110A,B)
-
Soil Ecology (Soil Science 112)
-
Soil Microbiology (Soil Science 111)
-
Viticultural Practices (VEN 101A-C)
(This is only a small sampling of courses available at UC Davis.
For example, the Department of Viticulture and Enology alone offers
more than 30 undergraduate
courses in grape growing and wine making.)
Graduate Programs
MS in Horticulture/Agronomy
MS or PhD in Soil Science
or Ecology esp. Agroecology
Sustainable agriculture extension and outreach
at
UCD
Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
program
Long-Term Research on Agricultural Systems (LTRAS)
Small Farm Center
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP),
etc.