Aims

To provide students with an introduction to crop pests. To introduce students to the significance, biology, and diversity of crop pests, how they cause damage, and the principles of their control. The module provides a study of the major insect, fungal and weed pests which affect crop production. The biology, life-cycle and principles of control of these pests via chemical and other means are evaluated.

Outline Of Syllabus

Animal Pests
Ecological background; why some animals are pests. Types of plant damage and factors affecting pest abundance. Economic thresholds. Methods of pest control. Biology and control of major pests of cereals and grasses, basic forage crops, vegetables and oilseed rape, potato, carrots, legume forage and vegetable crops, and stored products. Role of insects in spreading plant virus diseases.
Weeds
The problem of weeds; importance of weeds as pests in crop production; crop losses due to weeds.

Weed identification.
Weed biology: growth cycles; seed prolificacy; seed dispersal, dormancy, and survival; periodicity of germination.
Competitiveness of different weed species, critical periods of weed competition and control.
The role of weed and crop biology in the development of weed control strategies.

Diseases
Nature and importance of plant diseases.
How pathogens cause plant diseases and how they spread.
Methods and principles of disease control.
Diseases caused by protist (lower) fungi, ascomycetes, basidiomycetes, bacteria, and viruses

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures will provide an understanding of the range of crop pests of importance in British Agriculture. Through an understanding of their life-cycle and interaction with their hosts control methods will be evaluated. Practical classes will enhance the ability of students to recognise major-weed and fungal pathogens.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The exam assesses knowledge and understanding of material relating to each section of the module i.e. animal pests, weeds and pathogens.