BOTANY SERIES
Agricultural Science and Policy
Professor David Hewitt

This course is co-sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.  The lectures will be given at the PHS offices, 100 N. 20th Street (20th and Arch Streets), Philadelphia.

LECTURES ARE HELD FROM 6:30 TO 8:00 PM

1. Monday, March 26, 2012 - Overview
   The geography of agriculture and its ecological constraints.
2. Monday, April 2, 2012 - Fertilizer
   Where does fertilizer come from?
3. Monday, April 9, 2012 - Fertilizer
   Where does fertilizer go?
4. Monday, April 16, 2012 - Seeds
   How are seeds produced (conventional breeding)?
5. Monday, April 23, 2012 - Seeds
   How are seeds produced (genetic engineering)?
6. Monday, April 30, 2012 - Synthesis
   How fertilizer, seeds, water, crop protectants, energy and machinery come together to become feed, fuel and fiber.

There will be an optional field trip to the Reading Terminal Market.

This course will provide scientific background to understand selected current issues in agricultural and food policy. Subjects will include ecology, physiology (plant and animal), genetics and molecular/cell biology and will be integrated into discussions of topics in fertilizer production and nutrient management and seed production and biotechnology. Other topics will be discussed.

Recommended reading: 

Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. By Michael Pollan. Penguin Press, 2006.

GAO Report 09-060: Genetically Engineered Crops. November 2008. (online)

"Does Peak Phosphorus Loom?" By Catherine Clabby. American Scientist 98 no. 4 (July-August 2010). (online)

"Human Alteration of the Global Nitrogen Cycle: Sources and Consequences" Issues in Ecology No. 1 (1997). (online)

A Primer on Water. By Luna B. Leopold and Walter B. Langbein. US Government Printing Office, 1960. (online)

Plants, Man, and Life. By Edgar Anderson. Little, Brown & Co., 1952. (online)

Registration for this course has reached capacity.

To be placed on the waiting list, please call (215) 763-6529, ext. 23.

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