General Agriculture and Agricultural Machinery

Those legally required to attend the course.

The syllabus was defined according to the competences to be achieved, we also tried to make them similar to equivalent Curricular Units taught in other Higher Education institutions. Bearing in mind the syllabus presented, it is intended that the main learning objectives are the following:
The syllabus will be developed so that students understand and analyze agriculture in a globalized way, indicate how best to use agronomic techniques with different equipment and establish solutions for specific situations.

1. Assess the importance of the national agricultural sector, in the European and global context and its evolution;
2. Know the interconnection between agriculture and the surrounding environment;
3. Know the importance of animal husbandry at a national, European and global level and the main indicators used in animal husbandry;
4. Know the main mechanized cultural techniques used in agriculture, from land preparation to harvesting and equipment used;
5. Indicate the advantages and disadvantages of using different cultural techniques in specific situations.
6. Substantiate the integration of general cultivation operations with the characteristics of the biophysical, economic and social environment of the agricultural holding and with the nature of the activities (plant and animal production), rationally combining the resources available in different modes of production and the appropriate mechanization system.

1. Historical evolution and organisation of agriculture:
   1.1 Generic concepts of agriculture and agronomy;
   1.2 Multifunctionality of agriculture;
   1.3 Historical perspective of agriculture;
   1.4 Classifications of agronomic use: plants, crops and phytotechnologies;
   1.5 Main farming systems in Portugal.
2. Structural, economic and social indicators of agriculture:
   2.1 Panorama at national, European and world level;
   2.2 Agricultural geography of production;
   2.3 The agro-forestry complex;
   2.4 Importance of agricultural products in the agricultural economy, foreign trade and the food balance;
   2.5 Agricultural performance indicators at different geographical scales.
3. Agricultural production environment:
   3.1 Notions of edaphology;
   3.2 Climatology and agricultural meteorology.
4. Ecophysiological bases of growth and development and production techniques from a sustainable perspective:
   4.1 Notions of growth, development and phenology;
   4.2 Crop yield formation;
   4.3 Soil mobilisation and conservation;
   4.4 Maintaining and controlling soil fertility;
   4.5. Optimising agricultural production;
   4.6 Fundamentals of cultivation techniques.
5. Mechanised operations and agricultural equipment:
   5.1 Topics on power units;
   5.2 Topics on agricultural machinery;
   5.3 Efficient use of agricultural equipment;
   5.4 Selection and sizing of power units and equipment.
6. Main plant production techniques:
   6.1 Characteristics of the main phytotechnologies;
   6.2 Crop rotations, thinning and succession;
   6.3 Species combinations;
   6.4 Constraints on the choice of cropping system;
   6.5 Technical itineraries;
   6.6 General cultivation operations and associated equipment.

NAO