Learning Outcomes:
On completion of this module, students should be able to:
Demonstrate practical management skills for the production of fruit crops.
Understand the physiological principles involved in growing and storing commercial fruit crops.
Manage and control rootstock and shoot growth, flower initiation, and fruit development.
Measure and evaluate quality parameters in fruits.
Apply techniques to manipulate plant physiology for improved crop performance.
Implement mechanisation and precision horticulture practices in fruit crop production.
Manipulate and control storage atmospheres to optimise the quality and longevity of stored fruits.
Identify and explore novel business opportunities in the horticultural industry.
Indicative Module Content:
This module explores the scientific and technological basis of temperate fruit crop production. Lecture material discusses tree, shrub and berry fruits; orchard management; pruning; grafting; mineral nutrition; plant reproduction; cultivar and rootstock selection; crop maturity; and pest and disease management. Postharvest physiology covers handling and transportation of fresh produce; refrigerated and controlled atmosphere storage; ethylene inhibition; and physiological storage disorders. Tropical fruit crops are introduced. Practical and laboratory sessions include dormant pruning; starch, sugar, and acid content of fruit; fruit juice extraction; and pest monitoring, trapping, and identification. Students will be required to produce individual practical and laboratory reports. Students will be taken on one or more industry site visits and will be required to produce individual reports detailing their observations and providing a critique of the business. Students will be randomly assigned a scenario-based learning project on developing a new horticultural enterprise based around fruit or fruit waste, from concept to end of first year of business, covering product development, marketing, and finance. Each student will be required to prepare a poster of their project that they will present and defend under questioning from fellow students and academic staff in a mini-conference setting. The module will culminate in a final examination.