I. General Information

1. Course Title:
Alternative Crop Systems

2. Course Prefix & Number:
SCMT 1241

3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:

Credits: 2

Lecture Hours: 2

4. Course Description:

This course covers alternative crop and management systems that can be used in fruit and vegetable production. Students will learn how to integrate different cropping practices to increase labor and marketing efficiencies. Costs and benefits of new technologies will be explored.

5. Placement Tests Required:

Accuplacer (specify test):

No placement tests required

Score:

6. Prerequisite Courses:

There are no prerequisites for this course.

9. Co-requisite Courses:

There are no corequisites for this course.

II. Transfer and Articulation

1. Course Equivalency - similar course from other regional institutions:

 

III. Course Purpose

1. Program-Applicable Courses – This course is required for the following program(s):

Specialty Crops Management, Diploma

IV. Learning Outcomes

1. College-Wide Outcomes

College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies	Students will be able to:
Analyze and follow a sequence of operations	Analyze financial projections for different cropping systems to determine which system will have the highest return
Utilize appropriate technology	Describe recent technologies and determine if the technology will improve overall profitability

2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of the course:

• Compare production and marketing cost factors between different crop systems
• Identify resource requirements for selected crops
• Identify the specific profit centers applicable to the business
• Evaluate different financial projections to choose production systems
• Identify environmental modification requirement choices for selected crops
• Determine if environmental modification will improve profitability

V. Topical Outline

Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.

1. Lecture Sessions

1. Cropping systems
• High density apple systems
• Seedling apple orchards
• Annual strawberry fields
• Matted row strawberry fields
• Organic vegetable production
• Conventional vegetable production
2. Production and marketing factors of different crop systems
• Production efficiencies of different cropping systems
• Investment costs of different cropping systems
• Potential risks of different cropping systems
• Marketing opportunities associated with new cropping systems
3. Use financial projections in choosing production systems
• Identify specific profit centers applicable to the business
• Identify resource requirements for selected crops
• Yields and returns for each production system
4. Environment modifications and financial returns
• Types of environmental modification
• High tunnels
• Low tunnels
• Row covers
• Costs to install environmental modification
• Expected returns for different types of environmental modification