Agricultura e Ambiente

There are no prerequisites.

The course is based on active learning methods, enabling students to acquire cognitive and technical skills that will allow them to act more proactively and meaningfully when they start their professional lives.

As mentioned, part of the course is based on an expository presentation of basic concepts and content, followed by discussion and the use of environmental management tools, in order to implement active learning methods, in which the problem-based learning steps to be implemented include: (1) Identify the problem, (2) Explore prior knowledge, (3) Generate potential theories, (4) Identify learning needs, (5) Individually gather research, (6) Re-evaluate and apply new knowledge to the problem, and (7) Reflect on the learning process (Fernandes 2001).

The aim is for students to acquire a set of skills in terms of understanding the relationship between agriculture and the environment, not only from the perspective of the environmental impacts of agricultural activities, but also the role that agriculture can play in managing environmental problems, in addition to economic and social ones.

 The course advocates the need for holistic management, in the sense of agricultural systems prior to the green revolution, in which there was integrated and holistic management of food production, in which there was true complementarity between the different agricultural activities. In this sense, students are expected to develop skills that allow them to return to a circular economy strategy.

 Students should understand and develop solutions for agriculture to adapt to climate change in order to maintain the productive capacity to feed 9 billion human beings properly, as well as using agricultural systems to increase carbon sequestration, understanding the barriers that exist to the development of new solutions and the consequences of not developing them.

 In this sense, students should understand the political framework and perspectives towards a more sustainable agriculture, namely within the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and other directives that condition agricultural activities, in order to control and extinguish behaviors that degrade human health and ecosystems, while developing more eco-efficient and competitive solutions.

 Students should be aware of the impacts of agricultural activities on air quality, particularly in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, and be familiar with mitigation strategies.

 Students should be familiar with active solutions for mitigating and adapting agricultural activities to climate change, particularly in terms of water use efficiency (irrigation), humus enrichment, techniques for increasing crop tolerance, such as using cover crops and crop rotation, increasing nitrogen fertilization, improving seeds, using agroforestry systems, changing the crop calendar and others.

 Students should understand the function of soils and the strategies used to counteract the degradation of agricultural soils, promoting soil and water conservation techniques and practices.

 A fundamental dimension of the Agriculture/Environment interaction relates to the use of water by Agriculture, so students should understand water management and the water needs of crops

 Agriculture is a source of non-point source pollution that affects water quality, particularly that resulting from the leaching of fertilizers and the use of pesticides. As such, students should understand the risks and what they entail in terms of management limitations, as well as knowing the different methods and techniques for controlling pests and the dispersal of pollutants, in order to preserve human health and ecosystems, preventing them from contaminating water resources and entering the food chain.

Students should know the Best Available Techniques for the most critical aspects in terms of the environmental impact of agricultural activities.

Students should also be familiar with concepts such as organic farming and integrated protection, as more environmentally friendly systems.

Students should understand how environmental management tools can help shape agricultural systems and activities, making them more eco-efficient and competitive.

Finally, students should explore the potential offered by new ICT solutions applied to agriculture that allow for more efficient management of production factors and thus improve the impacts of agricultural activities.

Introduction, including the need for a new approach to sustainability, based on holistic management and understanding of production systems, economic and social management and evaluation of decisions.

Sustainable agriculture, including knowledge of barriers and their consequences.

Agricultural policy and the environment, particularly with regard to implementing more sustainable agriculture, as well as addressing legislation related to the environmental performance of agricultural activities.

Agriculture and air quality, in particular farming activities as sources of air pollution, and techniques for reducing emissions.

Agriculture and climate change, including the potential impacts on harvests and adaptation and mitigation strategies and actions, including, among others, water efficiency solutions (irrigation), humus enrichment, the use of tolerant crops, cover crops and crop rotation, increased nitrogen fertilization, the use of improved seeds, the expansion of agroforestry systems and the impact on agricultural policy.

Soils as the basis of agricultural activities, including the study of soil degradation processes, soil and water conservation strategies, techniques and practices.

Agriculture and water use, water management strategies, crop water requirements, and techniques to improve performance.

Agriculture as a source of non-point source pollution, addressing water quality and the impact of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides.

Pesticides, including techniques such as vegetated filter strips, construction of wetlands, agricultural practices, impact on surface and subsurface flows and leaching into surface water bodies and aquifers. Active techniques to reduce the use of pesticides, such as reducing waste during spraying, integrated pest management (IPM), integrated crop protection, use of indirect control measures such as legislative, genetic, cultural and mechanical control and their natural limitations. Plant protection products and the use of direct control measures (physical, biological, biotechnical, chemical).

Fertilization with organic matter, pastures and protection of drinking water from agricultural pressure.

Best available techniques for intensive livestock farming.

Organic farming and integrated protection

Agriculture and eco-efficiency, including the application of the circular economy to the agricultural sector, industrial ecology, eco-efficiency, the use of life cycle assessment (LCA) to improve the performance of agri-food sectors, and the need to implement new solutions through participatory processes.

The Agriculture 4.0 revolution will be covered in general terms, namely the potential for using IoT, Big Data, artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions, based on case studies developed within the framework of research projects that the lecturer has coordinated/participated in, including decision support systems, network construction and the production of specific sensors, namely for recognizing insects and the state of maturity of crops. Precision agriculture

NAO