Course Content
Lectures
- Maize, Sorghum, Millet (Botanical description, ecological requirements, cultivation techniqueς)
- Rice: (Botanical description, ecological requirements, cultivation techniques)
- Beans: (Botanical description, ecological requirements, cultivation techniques)
- Lentil B(otanical description, ecological requirements, cultivation techniques)
- Pea – Chickpea (Botanical description, ecological requirements, cultivation techniques)
- Grass pea, soya bean ((Botanical description, ecological requirements, cultivation techniques)
- Alfalfa, Clover, Vetch (Botanical description, ecological requirements, cultivation techniques)
- Cotton (morphological characteristics, varieties, cultivation techniques, harvest, yield)
- Tabacco plant crop (morphological characteristics, varieties, cultivation techniques, harvest, yield)
- Sugar beet crop (morphological characteristics, varieties, cultivation techniques, harvest, yield)
- Sunfluer and common hop crops (morphological characteristics, varieties, cultivation techniques, harvest, yield)
- Hemp, Sesame and castor bean crops (morphological characteristics, varieties, cultivation techniques, harvest, yield)
- Tomato (morphological characteristics, varieties, cultivation techniques, harvest, yield)
Laboratory Exercises
- Biological index of large-scale crops
- Plant growth index
- Irrigation and fertilization programs (spring cereals, industrial and herbaceous crops)
- Seed identification
- Spring cereals planting systems
- Industrial crops planting systems
Course Content
Lectures
- The effect of the photosynthetic organisms on earth evolution.
- Water and plant cells.
- Water balance of the plant.
- Stomata and transpiration.
- Mineral nutrition.
- Solute transport.
- Photosynthesis: the light reactions.
- Photosynthesis: the carbon reactions – C3 cycle.
- Photosynthesis: C4 cycle and Crassulacean acid metabolism.
- Ecological considerations on photosynthesis.
- Secondary metabolites.
- Plant defense.
- Growth and development – embryogenesis.
Laboratory exercises
- Seed germination and the effect of light on the growth of the seedlings.
- The effect of light on the stomata opening and closure.
- Quantitative determination of photosynthetic pigments.
- Qualitative separation of photosynthetic pigments.
- Plant cell plasmolysis.
- Plant photosynthesis and transpiration.
Course Content
Lectures
- Introduction (historical overview, statistics, greenhouse types, greenhouse crops)
- Radiation (Solar/Thermal radiation, solar spectrum, solar radiation intensity, calculation of incident solar radiation)
- Microclimate – Solar Radiation (Lighting), Temperature, Humidity
- Physical and dynamic Ventilation. Systems – Equipment.
- Heating (systems, equipment). Infrared radiation & heating. Systems – Equipment.
- Cooling – Cooling, Relative humidity control. Systems – Equipment.
- Energy balance of greenhouses
- Artificial lighting, CO2 enrichment, Disinfection. Systems – Equipment.
- Digital Transformation. Automatic Control Systems & Decision Support Systems. Cutting-edge Technologies
- Networks and Their Contribution to Rural Economy
- Automatic Meteo Stations. Sensors, Dataloggers, and processing of experimental micro- and macro-climate data of the area of greenhouse systems. Operation of networks receiving data from the AMS.
- Warehouses for agricultural products (General Warehouses – grass Warehouses -fruit Warehouses – Potato warehouses- Silos – Warehouses of Fresh Vegetables – Dryers)
Laboratory Exercises
- Design of greenhouse construction (greenhouse design criteria, types of greenhouses and structural features, impact on microclimate, functionality, cost, support of covering materials, foundation, drainage, winding, siting)
- Greenhouse coverage materials – glass panes (generally for glass, glass panes, glazing types, glazing properties and behavior of glass panes as glasshouse cover materials)
- Plastics (generally polymer and plastic, flexible plastic sheets and hard plastic surfaces, characteristics, properties and behavior of selected stiff and flexible plastic sheets, effect of additives on polyethylene sheets, coating materials with selected light transmittance)
- Construction materials (General wood, structural wood as greenhouse material, characteristic properties and behavior of wooden greenhouses, protection.) General aluminum and steel, aluminum and steel as greenhouse materials, characteristic properties and behavior of aluminum greenhouses and steel, protection)
- Calculation of energy losses and Thermal Needs of Greenhouses and Agricultural Units. Greenhouse Energy Balance
- Statistical processing of micrometeorological parameters with a computational program. Analysis of meteorological data to determine the climate of the area of greenhouse systems.
- Field trips.
Course Content
Lectures
- Botanical classification of ornamental plants.
- The genetic basis of diversity in ornamental plants. Natural selection. Human-driven selection.
- Categorization of flowering plants into annual herbs, perennial herbs, geophytes, shrubs, trees, etc.
- Morphology and development of ornamental plants. Flowering control
- Effect of environmental factors on their development and physiology.
- Organic and inorganic substrates
- Cropping systems for ornamental plants.
- Plant propagation and grafting.
- Use of phytoregulatory compounds – phytohormones.
Laboratory Exercises
- Greenhouse cultivation,
- substrates, preparation of mixtures
- planting and seed development in crates and pots, planting bulbs.
- Seedling development and cultivation
- Seedling transplants
- Grafting and asexual propagation of plants.
Course Content
Lectures
- Introduction – Basic elements pomological science (importance of fruit trees at national and global level, origin of fruit tree species and taxonomical species characteristics)
- Fruit tree parts and their fundamental functions.
- Ecology and environment of fruit trees. Frost and frost protection of fruit trees.
- Juvenile characteristics, alternative bearing and commercial life span of fruit trees.
- Bud dormancy of fruit trees.
- Pollination, flower fertilization, fruit set, development and growth of fruits, fruit thinning.
- Maturity scale and harvest of tree fruits. Postharvest conditions and applications for tree fruits and storage principles. Plant hormones, applications and regulatory pathways in fruit trees.
- Cultivational practices of fruit trees related to water management.
- Cultivational practices of fruit trees related to tree nutrition and fertilization.
- Pruning and tree formation systems.
- Fruit trees propagation.
- Grafting/budding fruit trees.
- Rootstocks of fruit trees.
Laboratory exercises
- Identification of most important fruit trees at local, national and global level.
- Planning and establishment of tree orchard.
- Differences of fruit tree growth among species.
- Fruit bearing (fruit buds, morphological / physiological changes).
- Pruning and training fruit trees.
- Fruit trees propagation techniques.
Course Content
Lectures
- Purpose, significance and history of Plant Pathology. Concept of Disease
- Disease Symptoms
- Disease Signs
- Basics of Plant Fungal Ddiseases: Morphology, Reproduction, Classification, most important plant pathogenic genera and species of True Fungi and Oomycetes.
- Basics of Plant Bacterial Diseases: Morphology, Reproduction, Classification, most important genera and species of Bacteria. Bacterial Survival & Dispersion. Most common symptoms of plant bacteriological diseases. Bacterial pathogenesis and control strategies
- Basics of phytoplasma and spiroplasma diseases
- Basics of Plant Virology: Virus Morphology, Multiplication in host cells, Reproduction, classification, most important plant pathogenic viruses, symptoms of plant viral diseases, virus transmission, identification and control strategies. Basic knowledge about viroids.
- Plant diseases caused by parasitic higher plants, invasive climbing plants and parasitic green algae. Non-parasitic plant diseases. Extreme temperatures. Nutrient deficits and toxicities. Phytotoxic pollutants in the atmosphere.
- Mechanisms of Pathogenesis
- Plant defense and The Immune System of Plants
- The Quartet of Plant Diseases.
- Principles and Methods of Diagnosis of Plant Diseases
- Principles and Methods of Plant Disease control
Laboratory exercises
- Health and safety rules in the laboratory. Principles of plant disease study.
- Description and microscopy study of mycelia and specialized spores and fruiting bodies of fungi.
- Stereoscopy and microscopy study, identification and classification of major plant pathogenic fungi (Oomycetes, Ascomycetes Basidiomycetes and Adelomycetes)
- Identification of symptoms, signs and causal agents of important plant diseases (downy mildew, mildew, rust, etc.).
- Processing of fresh plant samples with fungal, bacteriological, virological and non – parasitic diseases.
- Field practice