FORAGE CROPS

The course develops a training course able to provide students skills and applicative skills on crops intended in whole or in part for the feeding of domestic animals and on the related cultivation techniques in different pedo-climatic conditions, with particular attention to the semi-arid environment. The skills acquired will make it possible to recognize, cultivate and use forage species, improve the degree of farm self-sufficiency and the quality of forage production taking into account the social, economic and cultural aspects and the existing environmental and landscape constraints.

In particular, at the end of the course, students will be able to:

i)                    the knowledge and understanding of the bases of the management of Mediterranean forage systems, with particular attention to the choice of species, cultivation techniques aimed at optimizing production performance and the quality of forage resources.

ii)                   apply knowledge and understanding skills with a professional approach, and possess adequate skills to devise and support arguments aimed at solving problems relating to the rational management of forage resources in the Mediterranean environment;

iii)                 collect and interpret data and information aimed at independently analyzing the production processes and the effects of agronomic techniques applied to forage systems, critically evaluating their sustainability and scientific and ethical consequences.

iv)                 communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions relating to topics of agronomic interest to specialists and non-specialists.

v)                   develop, with specific reference to the contents of the discipline, learning skills that allow them to continue their university studies in subsequent cycles with a high degree of autonomy.

The course will be structured as follows:

• Lectures
• Participated lessons
• Cooperative lessons
• Analysis of case studies

If teaching is given in a mixed formula or remotely, necessary changes may be introduced to what was previously stated in order to comply with the provided and reported  syllabus.

Learning assessment may also be carried out on line, should the conditions require it.

As a guarantee of equal opportunities and in compliance with current laws, interested students can ask for a personal interview in order to plan any compensatory and/or dispensatory measures, based on their specific needs and on teaching objectives of the discipline. 
It is also possible to ask the departmental contacts of CInAP (Center for Active and Participatory Integration - Services for Disabilities and/or DSAs), in the persons of professors Anna De Angelis.

1. Forage crops: general description, historical outline, ecological and environmental value, climate relationship.
2. Forage crops: agronomic classification
3. Economic importance of forage crops in the world, in Italy, in Sicily.
4. Temporary forage crops
   1. autumn-spring annual species: main grasses, legumes and cruciferous species; botanical features, biology, environmental needs, cultural technique, production and quality.
   2. spring-summer annual species: main grasses species, botanical features, biology, environmental needs, cultural technique, production and quality.
   3. perennial forage crops: historical importance in the context of Italian forage production; main grasses and legume species, cultivation techniques and utilizations, production and quality.
5. Pastureland (natural permanent pastures): definitions and agro-ecosystems functions; pastoral resources in the world and in the Mediterranean countries; pasture vegetation types and their analysis methods, productivity of pasture (direct methods and simulation models), forage quality, agronomic improvement, grazing management.
6. The forage system: study methods.
7. Case studies of Mediterranean forage systems

1. BALDONI R., GIARDINI L., 2002. Coltivazioni erbacee – Foraggere e tappeti erbosi. Patron, Bologna. DISPA – Le colture da energia di possibile coltivazione in Italia (a cura dei docenti della sezione di Scienze Agronomiche)
2. BERTONI G., RONCHI B., BERNABUCCI U., 1991. Valorizzazione dei foraggi prativi in relazione alle tipologie di allevamento. Rivista di Agronomia, 25, 2, 127-147.
3. CASSANITI S., COSENTINO S., COPANI V., RIGGI E., 2002. Disponibilità di risorse foraggere e movimenti zonali degli animali in allevamento nell’area dei Monti Nebrodi. Giornata di Studio su “La Transumanza: tecnica antica e tecnologie moderne”, Firenze, 27 settembre 2001. Atti Accademia dei Georgofili, XLVIII, 573-608.
4. CAVALLERO A., CIOTTI, A., 1991. Aspetti agronomici dell’utilizzazione dei prati e dei pascoli. Rivista di Agronomia, 25, 2, 81-126.
5. CERETI F. C., TALAMUCCI P., 1991. Possibilità di studio e di organizzazione del sistema foraggero pratopascolivo. Rivista di Agronomia, 25, 2, 148-169.
6. COSENTINO S, CASSANITI S., COPANI V, CORLETO A, ZILIOTTO U., 2003. Ruolo agronomico delle leguminose foraggere. Rivista di Agronomia 37: 79-88. 
7. TALAMUCCI P., 1997. Combinazione delle risorse pascolive nei sistemi foraggeri e loro ruolo nei sistemi multiuso. Rivista di Agronomia, 31, 1, 107-107
8. Appunti del docente.

The assessment of learning takes place through an oral interview. The evaluation of the student's preparation will take place on the basis of the following criteria: learning ability and level of depth of the topics covered, properties of synthesis and exposition, and the student's ability to reason.

The vote follows the following scheme:

Classification of forage crops.

Areas and production of forage crops in Italy and Sicily.

Description, biology, adaptation and cultivation techniques of a grassland and alternate meadow forage species.

Pastures: typologies, methods of surveying pastoral vegetation and production.

Techniques for improving the production and quality of pasture.