1. SOIL FERTILITY MANAGEMENT & PLANT MINERAL NUTRITION LWR 107
LECTURER
R. L. MHINDU
Assessment:
exam %
practicals 10% assignmts 10%
tests %

2. COURSE CONTENT Soil fertility, soil components and soil productivity
Interaction of soil components
Soil productivity
Review of basic chemistry and geology for soil scientists
Atoms, molecules, ionic and covalent bonding, the periodic table
Parent materials, igneous, sedimentary and metarmorphic rocks
The zimbabwean geological map
The zimbabwean soils map
3. Basic soil plant relationships

3. Module outline contd 5.Essential macro and micro nutrients
3. Soil reaction acidity and alkalinity
The soil pH concept, measurement
Soil colloids and soil buffer capacity
Liming and lime requirement
4.Soil organic matter
The carbon cycle
Humus genesis, OM classification
Influence of OM on soil properties
5.Essential macro and micro nutrients
Sources, role and importance in plants
Availability, deficiency symptoms
Concentration & cycling in SPA environment

4. Module Outline contd…. Nutrient management in agric
Diagnostic tools and methods
Fertilizer type and mgmt
Organic and inorganic amendments
Soils and chemical pollution
Toxic organic chemicals behavior in soils
Inorganic contaminants
Sources and prevention of pollution

5. Required textbooks
John Havlin, James Beaton, Samuel Tisdale, and Werner Nelson( 2005). Soil Fertility and Fertilizers: An Introduction to Nutrient Management, 7th Edition, Prentice Hall.
David L Rowell (1994). Soil Science, Methods and Applications, Pearson Education, Edinburgh.
Tisdale, Werner Nelson, and James Beaton. (1985). Soil Fertility and Fertilizers. 4th ed., MacMillan Publishing Company, New York, NY.
Nyle C Brady and Ray R. Weil (2008). The Nature and Properties of Soils, Prentice Hall.
Henry, D Foth (2003). Fundumentals of Soil Science 8th edition, Wiley.
Robert, E. White (2006). Principles and Practice of Soil Science: The Soil as a Natural Resource. 4th ed. Blackwell Publishing.
L Donahue, Raymond R Miller and shickluna ( ). Soils-An introduction to soils and plant growth. 5th Edition. Prentice Hall.