Sustainable Soil Management

To achieve the objectives of each of the aspects focused on the curricular unit and the conference of the competences expected to the students, the teaching learning process is based on:
1. The study of specific cases, accompanied by a set of instructions that lead the student to analyze them, draw conclusions and make decisions or suggest actions;
2. In the execution of practical work to apply the theoretical concepts, which can be of numerical, laboratory or field nature, namely in the identification and characterization of profiles corresponding to different soil types, in the soil fertility evaluation or in the identification and classification of management practices applied;
3. In the bibliographical research needed to complement the information obtained in class and for the execution of the reports. The student is stimulated to participate in the research works that are developed in the institution, within the thematic of soil fertility management.

Course provides students with the necessary skills for the sustainable use of soil as a factor of production and support of agricultural ecosystems, such as:
1. Identifies soil constituents and properties, factors and processes of formation and differentiation leading to soil classification
2. Understands the dynamic properties of water movement, adapting soil tillage to optimum sowing or planting conditions
3. Knows the dynamics of nutrients and SOM, identifying the role of soil biodiversity in their transformation and in the C sequestration
4. Identifies sustainable use practices of soil resources, increasing their functionality in the ecosystems of dryland and irrigated farming
5. Recognizes erosion and loss of soil fertility, identifying regenerative practices of soil recovery and conservation of sustainable systems
6. Performs soil sampling techniques, interprets chemical and physical analyses to define adequate corrections to the production systems

1. Mineral and organic constituents of soil; Physical and chemical properties and relation with soil composition
2. Factors and processes of soil formation; Diagnostic horizons; Portuguese classification, FAO/WRB
3. Dynamic soil properties: adhesion and cohesion forces; Soil tillage classification: adequacy to production systems
4. Soil water: pF curves, movement in saturated and unsaturated soil, soil water storage capacity
5. Nutrients and SOM: transformation and dynamics in soil
6. Soil biodiversity and role in nutrient dynamics: microbiome and carbon sequestration, mineralization and stabilization of SOM
7. Sustainable management practices in dryland and irrigated soils; Application of the Good Agricultural Practices Code
8. Water erosion and soil degradation: regenerative practices for soil recovery and conservation
9. Sampling for chemical and physical analysis, interpretation for soil adequacy corrections to the production system.

NAO