Bachelor of Science Program in Agricultural Science (Field of Study in Agronomy)

Significance of crop science. Agricultural ecosystem. Plant classification. Crop production. Physiology. Plant breeding. Soil science. Cultural practices and cropping system. Seed science and field crop production.

Laboratory for field crop science emphasizing on plant identification. Soil-water-fertilizer and their analyses. Plant nutrition and hormones. Plant reproduction and hybridization. Plant breeding. Agricultural machines and their uses. Plant pests and their control. Seed quality and germination and biotechnology for agriculture.

Major economic crops in Thailand. Cultivation areas. Cultivars. Suitable environmental conditions. Land preparation. Planting. Crop management. Pest control. Application of modern technology to increase production efficiency. Harvesting. Utilization and marketing.

Botany of major economic field crops of Thailand, including cereals, oil crops, protein crops, sugar crops, tuber crops and industrial crops. Botanical characteristics and responses to production factors.

Types. Botanical characteristics. Growth. Cultivation management. Utilization, preservation and breeding for production of tropical forage crops.

Products in economic crops. Proteins. Fatty acids. Carbohydrate. Phenol. Alkaloids. Antioxidants. Factors and suitable agronomic management to produce natural products in economic crops. Extraction methods. Properties. Application of natural products. Analysis of quantity and quality of natural products. Commercial applications of natural compounds. Relevant regulations and standards.

Botany of weeds. Ecology. Technology and innovation of weed management. Weed controls by chemical and other methods. Types of herbicide. Herbicide selectivity. Mode of action. Relationship of soil, plant and herbicides.

Methods of herbicide classification. Chemical name. Common name and trade name. Chemical properties of the active ingredients. Methods of herbicide application. Biochemical activity in plant and soil, including toxicity to human, animal and environment.

Weed classification, identification, morphology, taxonomy, physiology, ecology, growth, propagation, and development. Weed survey and population studies. Interactions among weeds, cultivated crops as well as environmental factors. Allelopathy phenomena for biological weed control. Technologies and innovations in weed science.

Nature of the atmosphere. Climate classification. Agroclimatological services. Use of climatological information for agriculture. Global climate change and the agricultural impacts. Carbon neutrality and climate smart agriculture.

Water for agriculture. Soil-water-plant relationships. Water management for field crop production. Land management for efficient water use. Irrigation systems and their efficiency. Cost and return on water investment. Field trip.

Economic and social importance of rice. Science and technology of rice production. Utilization. Processing. Logistic system. Marketing and commerce and transfer of rice technology to community.

Principles and applications of innovation. Modern technology to increase efficiency in production of food and industrial crops. Supply chain and logistics management. Use of geographic information systems data to support decision-making in production processes. Product development. Standards and safety. Marketing and innovative business of food and industrial crops. Field trip.

Technologies and innovations for domestic and international renewable energy crops production. Factors affecting growth and yield. Approaches to increasing productivity. Technologies and concepts for converting crops into renewable energy, including their utilization as substitute for petroleum-based energy.

Biosynthesis of important biomolecules and natural products from economic crops, application and utilization for food, feed nutrition and industry.

Current major crop production and innovation of each field crop, factors affecting growth and yield, method of yield improvement, utilization and marketing of major industrial crops for food, feed and fuel.

Principle of crop physiology. Growth. Development and yield production. Application to cultural practices with strong emphasis on influences of light, temperature, water and soil properties on crop physiology.

Importance and the development of agricultural system for world food supply. Type of tropical agricultural system. Integrated technology to increase productivity and achieving sustainable natural resources and environment.

Principles and methods of plant breeding. Hybridization, selection and techniques used in crops improvement of plant varieties. Field trip.

Principle and technique in crop breeding for breeding methods, hybridization and selection, tissue culture, techniques used for evaluating pest and disease resistance or biotic and abiotic resistance factors. Applied molecular marker for plant breeding.

Principle and methodology of plant cell and tissue culture. Laboratory practices in plant cell and tissue culture and applications for crop improvement and industrial-scale crop production.

Basic knowledge and breeding approaches for economic field crops. Fundamentals of genetics for plant breeding and standard breeding methods. Biotechnology and modern techniques for economic crop improvement. Laws and regulations related to plant breeding. Marketing and value added in crop breeding business. Group project for designing economic field crop breeding programs.

Regulation of gene expression in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Principles and techniques in recombinant DNA technology. Production of recombinant protein in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Mutagenesis, protein engineering and directed evolution. Various applications of molecular biotechnology in agronomy study.

Seed set. Development. Maturity. Structure. Chemical composition. Germination. Dormancy. Vigor. Deterioration. Seed production. Harvesting. Conditioning and storage. Quality control. Seed certification and seed laws. Seed quality testing and seed inventory management.

Statistical fundamentals, theory and explanation of research procedures. Principles of experimental design. Experimental designs. Analysis of variance in experimental designs. Treatment comparisons. Correlation and regression analysis. Applications of computer for agronomy research analyses. Interpretation of results.

Selected topics in Agronomy at the bachelor's degree level. Topics are subject to change each semester. Field trips required.

Study and literature review of research article, academic article, text book, and oral presentation.

Study and research in field crops at the bachelor's degree level and compile into a written report.

Special training in field crops.

On the job training as a temporary employee according to the assigned project including report writing and presentation.