This unit of study is designed to expose students to the principles and practice of a diverse range of analytical methods used in agricultural and environmental science. The unit of study will be presented in four modules including: materials and sampling techniques; separation techniques (chromatographic and electrophoretic); instrumentation and measurement techniques (spectral, enzymic and imaging); and microbiological and molecular biology techniques. Each module will be a combination of lectures and practical classes that will analyse common agricultural or biochemical commodities to illustrate the practical aspects of the theory. Students will also gain skills in data analysis relevant to the respective techniques.
At the completion of these modules, students will be familiar with the operation of a number of laboratory instruments, the theory that underpins their operation, be confident in the analysis of data, and be able to choose the most appropriate sampling strategy and analytical technique to perform high quality research.

Lectures, practical work and field trip(s) covering advanced aspects of the theory, philosophy and practice of plant breeding. Included are extended discussions of screening techniques (in the field, glasshouse and laboratory), conservation and exploitation of diversity, disease resistance, tissue culture, plant cytogenetics of relevance to pre-breeding and breeding. Also considered are the role of biotechnology processes and products in plant breeding; genetic engineering and the use of molecular marker technologies. This course will use examples from the full range of crops; broad-acre cereals and legumes, pastures, turf and horticultural crops, both perennial and annual. The main base of the course may vary between the ATP and Camden campuses. Field trips (mainly to the IA Watson Grains Research Centre, Narrabri) will be used especially to examine trial procedures and field-based operations, and to interact with commercial plant breeding.

This unit examines agronomy as the discipline that underpins agricultural production. Two industries are studied to gain appreciation of the main agronomic principles of crop production. Most principles can be applied to dryland crops even though the emphasis in this unit is on irrigated crops. As a case study, the cotton industry is examined in detail to understand the end-user and social demands on agricultural production, the technical issues that challenge the farmer and the diversity of other specialist information from relevant disciplines such as entomology, pathology and soil science that must be integrated into the farming system. Likewise the rice industry provides a contrasting farming system as another case study. The unit includes a one-week excursion to cotton growing areas in northern NSW, specialist intensive instruction provided by the Cotton CRC and a series of workshops) tutorials that provides analysis and synthesis of the major farming systems in this industry.

The focus of this unit is the development and adoption of integrated pest management to control weeds, insects and plant pathogens. The advantages and disadvantages of biological, cultural and chemical control methods are described using examples from agro-ecosystems. Students will develop a comparative case study of IPM for a particular crop that considers all three pest groups and present a seminar about this case study.

This unit builds on knowledge gained in undergraduate plant and crop science units to develop an understanding of horticultural cropping systems management. Particular focus will be on intensive production systems and will provide them with a broad overview of current issues affecting the horticultural industries. Emphasis is on minimising the environmental impact of horticultural enterprises and introduces students to current themes and thinking in sustainable practices in horticultural science, such as efficient water management, sustainable use of fertilizers, salinity, integrated pest management and organic practices. Students also select an industry based case study analysis of a horticultural production system, designed to provide them with skills in data analysis and interpretation, problem identification and problem solving.

This unit of study is aimed at advanced techniques in Remote Sensing (RS), linked with Geographical Information Systems (GIS), as applied to land management problems. We will review the basic principles of GIS and then focus on advanced RS principles and techniques used for land resource assessment and management. This will be followed by practical training in RS techniques, augmented by land management project development and implementation based on integration of GIS and RS tools. The unit thus consists of three separate but overlapping parts: 1) a short theoretical part which focuses on the concepts of RS; 2) a practical part which aims at developing hands-on skills in using RS tools, and 3) an application-focused module in which students will learn the skills of how to design a land management project and actualise it using integrated GIS and RS techniques.
Syllabus summary: Lectures will cover: Overview of the basic principles of Geographical Information Science (GISc), Advanced principles of remote sensing, Land resource information and data capture using RS, Digital elevation modelling and terrain analysis using remote sensing; Image enhancement and visualization; Image classification and interpretation; RS data interpretation for land resource inventory; RS and GIS for land use and land cover change analysis; Coupling of models of land resource assessment with GIS and RS. Fifty percent of learning time will be devoted to the design and implementation of projects, which can be selected from GIS and RS applications in: agricultural land management, vegetation studies, water and catchment (hydrological) studies; land-cover and land-use change modelling, pesticide and herbicide environmental risk assessment, environmental impact analysis, land degradation modelling including soil salinity, soil erosion, etc.

This is a problem-based applied soil science unit. It is designed to allow students to identify soil-related problems in the real-world and by working in a group and with an end-user to suggest short and long-term solutions to such problems. It utilises and reinforces soil-science knowledge and problem-solving skills gained during the program. This unit will address real-world scenarios which involve soil-related problems such as carbon management, structural decline, acidification, salinisation and contamination. Students will gain some understanding of the concept of sustainability, and will be able to identify the causes of problems by reference to the literature, discussion with landusers and by the design and execution of key experiments and surveys. They will gain a focused knowledge of the key soil drivers to environmental problems and will have some understanding on the constraints surrounding potential solutions. By designing and administering strategies to tackle real-world soil issues students will develop their research and inquiry skills and enhance their intellectual autonomy. By producing reports and seminars that enables understanding by an end-user students will improve the breadth of their communication skills.

Soils support agricultural and natural ecosystems and regulate environmental interactions between the hydrosphere and atmosphere. It is the quality of our soils that affect productivity, the environment, health and ultimately sustainability. However, challenges such as those presented by lack of plant nutrient supply, soil acidification, physical degradation, soil contamination, and loss of soil biodiversity are problems at a global scale that threaten the sustainability of the environment and society. As well as the threats the importance of maintaining a quality soil that regulates environmental interactions will be explored, such as soil as a sink for carbon affecting climate interactions or understanding how a rich soil biodiversity can contribute to food production affecting food security. To do this, this unit of study is concerned with exploring the key pedology, soil chemistry, soil physical and soil biological processes that drive these challenges to soil quality. Time will be spent investigating how the quality of the soil can be assessed, using the indicators of the mentioned soil processes, and how the resulting data can be aggregated and communicated in a meaningful way. Working with case studies, the students will identify problems that are assessed using soil quality or function analysis with the aim of identifying management options. The management options will be evaluated to determine their adoptability and implement ability. By investigating the case studies using soil quality or function analysis students will develop their research and enquiry skills. Assessing and developing adoptable management strategies the students will develop their skills in synthesising material from multiple sources and enhance their intellectual autonomy. By producing reports and presenting seminars the students will develop their communication skills.

This unit builds on knowledge gained in undergraduate soil science and crop science units to develop an understanding of field level management. Particular focus will be on the effect of climate variability and change on water management decisions at the field and farm scale in relation to farm output and externalities (Salinity, nutrient losses). At the completion of this unit student would be able to: Identify which climate variables will be most affected by climate change and variability; Evaluate which field and farm scale outputs will be most affected by climate change and variability; Develop scenarios based on distributions of climate variability; and Calculate the likely impacts of climate variability and change on crop production and externalities in irrigated systems using Monte Carlo techniques.
The open source software package R (www.r-project.org) will be used for most analysis and other open source software will be used for crop modelling.

The focus of this unit is the response of plants to the environment, drawing examples from both managed and natural ecosystems. Students will develop advanced-level understanding of plant-environment interaction at scales from leaves to whole ecosystems through presentation and discussion of current research papers. Practical sessions will provide students with hands-on experience of state-of-the-art measurement techniques. Understanding of basic biophysical processes will be applied to inform discussion about the effects of climate change on terrestrial ecosystem services, including crop productivity.

This unit of study is designed to enable students to participate in and improve the management of Australian forest ecosystems. Beginning with an introduction to the unique chemical, physical and ecological characteristics of Australian forests, this unit focuses on policy development and management prescriptions driven by fundamental processes of ecosystem function. Topics will encompass both tropical and temperate ecosystems with students given the opportunity to gain first hand observation of subtropical forest management practices by participating in a 4 day field exercise. At the end of this unit, students will be able to articulate strengths, weaknesses and improvements to the management of Australian forests for the purposes of production, conservation and climate change adaptation. Students will gain first-hand experience of land management practices as they pertain to Australian forest systems and communicate with industry and governmental groups.

This unit provides students with an overview of current debates and approaches to understanding and quantifying interactions between the biosphere, oceans and atmosphere, as used around the world, and the consequences of those interactions for climate. The unit considers climate change on a variety of timescales.
This unit will include a weekend field trip to Snowy Mountains field sites managed by the University of Sydney where students will be introduced to cutting edge, ongoing climate change research.

This aims to develop a student's ability to review the literature with the view of developing a major research project in an area of specialization. The student will work with an academic advisor on a mutually agreed topic for research to be undertaken and the subsequent writing of a literature review. The literature review will advance the student's ability to identify existing knowledge, define research problems, demonstrate a sound grasp for presenting a research question, and begin to define a research strategy. Students will develop their research and inquiry skills through sourcing a wide range of literature and improve their written communication skills.

This unit of study aims to develop a student's ability to write a detailed research proposal and develop a strategy combined with the appropriate methodology to execute their research. Working with their academic advisor students will prepare a proposal describing; the background and aims, its significance and innovation, the justification of the methodology, the national benefit, and considerations of the required budget and project timeline. This unit will enable students to develop their ability to define a research project to be managed within a suitable research framework. Students will develop their skills in solving research problems and enhance their intellectual and personal autonomy through managing a research program.

This unit of study builds on the major research project proposed in AFNR5904. Working with their academic advisor students will execute their research strategy that provides data and subsequent data analysis towards solving the research question. The results and analysis will be presented in a format suitable for submission as a research paper to a relevant journal. Students will build their research skills, develop a strong analytical capacity, demonstrate a sound grasp of the topic, and ability to interpret results in a broad framework. Students will demonstrate their ability to draw reliable conclusions and identify future areas of research. Students will continue to develop their skills in solving research problems and enhance their intellectual and personal autonomy by means of managing a research program. Students will improve their communication skills through presentation of the research paper.

This unit of study provides the students with the opportunity to present the research findings of their major research project using several communication media appropriate for different audiences, for example, external stakeholders and /or popular media. Using poster and oral presentations students will communicate their research to the academic community in a professional conference environment. Students will also be required to attend the Faculty's seminar program that is relevant to their research topic. Students will build on their skills to use several modes of communication to demonstrate their ability to produce high quality results, draw reliable conclusions and identify future areas of research.

Performance of the agricultural and resource marketing systems, marketing margins, transportation, storage, and risk.. The structure, conduct and performance of marketing firms, and government and public interest in the food system will also be addressed. Extensive reading will be required.

This unit focuses on the microeconomic analysis of development, with a special emphasis on the importance of market failures in financial markets as origin of persistent poverty. The unit also addresses policy interventions to overcome such failures and the challenges in their evaluation. A special emphasis is put in the discussion of the role of agriculture in development, and the evidence supporting its importance in poverty reduction.

In this unit of study the basic economic principles underlying international trade in agricultural and resource commodities and the policies involved will be presented. Issues related to trade and development will also be considered. The main topics covered will include: trends in agricultural and resources trade; economics and politics of protection, economic integration and impacts on international commodity trade; international trade policy making. An understanding of globalisation, including foreign direct investment, will also be required. Extensive reading will be required.

This unit focuses on applications of economic theory and methods in agribusiness decision making. It provides advanced treatment of the industrial organisation of agribusiness firms. Case studies will be used to examine the economic complexities of global agribusiness systems. Extensive readings make up the central component of the unit.

This unit examines the use of mathematical methods and models in planning at both the individual firm level and the sectoral level. While the principal focus is on formal optimization, simulation and Monte Carlo methods are briefly discussed. Topics include non-linear programming, elements of input-output analysis, computable general equilibrium analysis, dynamic problems and methods (eg. dynamic programming and optimal control). Sectoral level planning applications considered include transportation and plant location studies; spatial equilibrium; and resource utilization across time. Firm level applications include multi-period planning, queuing problems, inventory analysis, and replacement problems. Extensive use is made of computer-based optimization.
The unit includes material dealt with at the advanced undergraduate level. Additional workshops, seminars, tutorials, assignments and/or assessment are provided as appropriate to the postgraduate program.

This unit has two related components. One component concerns risk and risk management in agriculture; the other deals with issues of agricultural producer finance. Risk topics include: risk measurement, subjective probability, adjusting beliefs as a result of new information; risk attitudes; decision making under risk; expected utility theory; valuing information; generalizations of expected utility theory; E-V analysis; stochastic dominance; internal measures to cope with risk including diversification and flexibility; insurance, futures, options and other market instruments for managing risk. Finance topics include the implications of capital market imperfections and consequential differences between corporate and small business finance; financial relationships between debt/equity levels and risk, optimal debt levels; cost of capital; short term working capital management; and longer term capital (investment) budgeting. Techniques of valuation of projects in risk-free and risk situations are examined. Financial and risk management practices in Australian agriculture are reviewed.
The unit includes material dealt with at the advanced undergraduate level. Additional workshops, seminars, tutorials, assignments and/or assessment are provided as appropriate to the postgraduate program.

This unit provides a detailed treatment of benefit-cost analysis and its use in public sector decision making and project evaluation. The underpinning concepts in welfare economics are analysed in detail, such as economic efficiency, criteria for assessing social welfare improvements, and economic surplus measures. Procedures of undertaking a benefit-cost analysis are presented, and tools of non-market valuation for environmental assets are covered in detail. These techniques include both stated and revealed preference techniques, including contingent valuation, choice modeling, hedonic pricing and travel cost methods.

The unit provides theoretical and empirical background necessary for a resource economist to be able to successfully function when faced with various environmental problems. The unit investigates economic aspects of a range of environmental issues. The studied concepts are exemplified with environmental problems related to agriculture (soil salinity, algal blooms, overgrazing etc.) as well as with environmental problems typical to Australia. The guiding economic themes are: competing uses of the environment / externalities, market failure, the importance of property rights, optimal allocation of pollution abatement, and the processes for making choices relating to non-market goods. Some social issues with environmental impacts are studied through exploration of the problems of population size and distribution, economic growth, and environmental regulation.

The unit provides theoretical and empirical background on the economics of minerals exploration, extraction and marketing and on the economics of energy generation, distribution and use. The economics of minerals and energy commodity markets will be discussed and analysed. The interactions of mineral extraction and energy generation activities with other natural resources and the environment will be of particular interest (e.g. mine site remediation, land use conflicts). Sustainability and prospects for long term efficient use of these resources, as well as the development and use of alternative technologies will also be discussed. In addition, institutional and policy issues (e.g. regulatory reform), will be analysed. The unit will discuss the main aspects of the markets for minerals and energy, market structure, business environment and price movements. The unit will also provide an introductory discussion on the markets for derivatives (options, futures, forward, swaps) on minerals and energy commodities.

The main objective of the economics of biological resources will be to introduce students to the bio-economic modeling of the resources that experience biological growth. The unit consists of two complementary parts: water economics and economics of biological resources (fisheries, forestry, other wildlife). The main objective of the water economic component is to investigate the economic aspects of water use and water quality. In particular approaches toward efficient use of the water resource over time, optimal allocation of water among competing uses and achievement of the socially optimal level of water quality will be discussed. The demand for water from various sectors will be analysed in both static and dynamic settings. Issues considered include the selection and construction of water storages, aquifer water extraction and alternative water sources. The issues of waste water disposal and water quality, changing water technologies, and water pollution will be also discussed. The unit will also discuss the economics of wildlife preservation and protection, as well as the economics of biodiversity. Particular attention will be devoted to the economic mechanisms for managing the water resources including property rights, water allocation and water markets. The key policy instruments (taxes, quotas, standards) in these areas are analyzed and discussed. The institutional and policy aspects will also be considered through analysis of water policy reform in Australia and elsewhere.