Abstract
This practical manual outlines the laboratory and field curriculum for the university unit ANS207: Crop and Pasture Management. It integrates hands-on experimental workflows, field observations, and modern diagnostic tools to analyse sustainable agricultural production systems.
The curriculum consists of seven structured practical modules covering key agronomic principles:
Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation: Measuring rhizobial inoculation efficacy in grain and pasture legumes.
Nutrient Response Dynamics: Evaluating the morphological impacts of nitrogen and potassium deficiencies in cereal crops.
Crop Phenology Modelling: Using predictive software tools to analyse environmental drivers like temperature, photoperiod, and frost risk.
Taxonomic Identification: Classifying Western Australian crop, pasture, and oilseed species using morphological keys.
Molecular Diagnostics: Employing PCR-based InDel markers to genetically distinguish phenotypically identical crop cultivars.
Physiological Assays: Assessing photosynthetic responses to carbon dioxide availability using leaf disk methods.
Ultimately, this manual establishes fundamental competencies in experimental design, rigorous scientific data collation, molecular diagnostics, and professional research reporting tailored to contemporary crop science.