The plant cell and organelles; Plant water relations; Photosynthesis – the ecological significance of photosynthesis in primary production of organic molecules, the Light Reaction, The Calvin Cycle, C3/C4 photosynthesis, CAM photosynthesis.  Photoperiodism and vernalization.  Fruit and seed formation: double fertilization and formation of seed tissues, Seed structure, chemical composition of seed, apomixis. Germination: What is germination? Phases in germination: seed hydration, genetic and metabolic events during germination, role of plant growth regulators in germination. Seed dormancy: Mechanisms of dormancy: Innate, induced and enforced dormancy, Significance of dormancy in attuning cycles of plant growth to seasonal changes in environment. Plant growth and development: meristems, cell expansion, cell differentiation, acid growth theory, tropisms, cell differentiation, apical dominance, bud dormancy; Plant growth regulators – synthesis and transport and physiological effects of auxins, gibberellins, cytokines, abscisic acid and ethylene on plant growth and development; Use of artificial plant growth regulators in Agriculture.

Characteristics of eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells and a range of micro-organisms viz. Bacteria, Fungi, Viruses, Viroid and Protozoa; their classification, morphology, nutrition, growth, replication and metabolism; Micro-organisms as agents of diseases (pathogens), use of micro-organisms in industrial microbiology (cheese, beer and wine making) and in silage making; Immunology; techniques of isolating and identifying micro-organisms; Microscopy.

AGRO136 Introduction to Statistics 

Introduction to statistics: definition, uses of statistics in research, business, tourism and agriculture; Probability: multiplicative law, addition law, conditional probability, tree diagram, law of total probability; Probability distributions: random variables, discrete, continuous, binomial distribution, normal distribution; Measures of central tendency and dispersion: mean, median, mode, range, variance, standard deviation, standard error of the mean. Sampling technique: simple random, stratified, cluster, systematic; Data types, presentation, and summarization techniques; tables, graphs, charts; Regression and correlation: regression parameters, correlation coefficient, coefficient of determination; Simple statistical inference: hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, t-tests, chi-square tests and one-way ANOVA.

Position of insects in the world: reproductive capacity, beneficial and injurious insects. Insect external anatomy: the exoskeleton, ecydysis.  Internal anatomy and physiology: The nervous system-sight, sound and vibration detection, chemical communication (pheromones), the digestive system, locomotion, insect reproduction, metamorphosis; Insect classification, life cycles, population ecology, population monitoring and economic decision making; Mites, ticks and spiders; Nematodes-morphology, classification, reproduction and economic importance.

HORT133 Introduction to Horticulture 

Definition, characteristics and importance of horticulture; branches of horticulture (pomology, olericulture, landscape horticulture, viticulture, ornamental horticulture); methods of propagating horticultural crops, Environmental factors affecting horticultural production at different phonological stages; Types and uses of controlled environments in horticultural production (manipulation of the plant environment); Pruning and training of horticultural crops; Harvesting, post-harvest handling and storage.

Cell division: mitosis and meiosis; nucleic acids, replication and protein synthesis.  Mendelian principles: segregation and independent assortment. Environmental effects and gene expression.  Gene interaction and lethality; sex determination and sex linkage.  Gene mutation and induced genetic change (biotechnology). Gene structure and regulation.  Population genetics, genetic biodiversity of agriculturally important plants and animals and conservation of genetic resources.

Measurement of Crop Growth – Growth analysis, parameters of size, efficiency and duration of the photosynthetic system, advantages and limitations of growth analysis; Gas analysis, Infra-red gas analyser, calibration for use in the absolute and differential modes, different ways of setting up the INRGA for measuring CO2 exchange, advantages and limitations of gas analysis, canopy analysers; The radiant environment and the crop; total radiation, the light spectrum, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), factors that affect radiation receipts on the earth’s surface, radiation interception by plant leaves and canopies, extinction coefficient (k) of canopies; Efficiency, size and duration of the photosynthetic system and factors that affect them. Management of factors that affect the efficiency, size and duration of the photosynthetic system (choice of crops and varieties, planting date, planting populations and patterns, fertilizer/manure application, irrigation and pest and disease control) to maximize economic yield.  Growth stages of important crops in Zimbabwe (maize, wheat, soybean and cotton) and effect of stress on growth and dry matter partitioning to economic yield.  Plant adaptation to water and temperature stress.     

Data collection: populations and random sampling; Introduction to experimental designs, data analysis and interpretation; statistical methods related to variances; Statistical methods related to comparison of means;  Experimental designs and layout (randomized complete block designs, split plots, factorial, Latin squares);  Analysis of variance for one factor, two-factor experiments and multi-factor experiments; Multiple comparisons of means; Partitioning of the sum of squares, transformations;  Analysis of covariance; Repeated measures analysis; Regression, Correlation Multi-variate regression; Tests for the goodness of fit and independence;  Data entry, analysis and interpretation using statistical packages (MINITAB, GENSTAT, SAS) for all designs: Regression and Correlation.

Definition, characteristics and adaptation; Classification and identification of common weeds; Reproduction and dispersal mechanisms; Weed-crop interactions; 

Evolution of weeds: the r and k strategies, ruderals and agrestals.  Adaptations of weeds as pests of disturbed areas: relative growth rate and leaf area partitioning ratio, seed production, dormancy, periodicity of weed germination, formation of seed banks.  Weed interference: weed crop competition, types of competition, methods of studying weed crop competition, weedy and weed-free periods to avert yield loss; Allelopathy and methods to study allelopathy. Vegetative propagation: mechanisms, advantages and disadvantages. Weed dispersal. Biology of problem weeds in Zimbabwe (terrestrial and aquatic); Parasitic weeds of the tropics; Poisonous plants of Zimbabwe.

Structure, physiology, reproduction and classification of bacteria, fungi, viruses and other pathogens; Concepts of Disease; Disease epidemiology, Stages in the Development of Disease (Disease Cycle); Mechanisms of infection by pathogens; Plant defence mechanisms against pathogens;  Fungi as Plant Pathogens;  Bacteria and other procaryotes as Plant Pathogens; Viruses as Plant Pathogens; Parasitic Higher Plants as Plant Pathogens; Physiological or Abiotic Diseases; Plant 

Biology and ecology of major crop pests of important crops (food, storage cash and horticultural crops). Life cycles, damage caused by insect pests to crops and their products insect pest population dynamics, r and k strategies, insect pest voltines, agro ecosystems, trivial and transboundary movement.

Definition and origin, domestication and classification of cultivated plants; factors that affect crop productivity; crop water requirements & efficiency, water-logging and effects on crop growth. Zimbabwe’s agro=ecological zones, rainfall type, pattern, length and quality, crops or crop varieties selection. Land capability and suitability. Crop establishment, methods of planting and planting time.  Plant competition Cropping systems and patterns; Biological nitrogen fixation, crop yield function; quality of crop products; Tillage methods; Principles of Irrigation, types of irrigations, drainage, scheduling; importance of plant breeding in crop production; Grain Storage; Agricultural Pollution.

Work-Related Learning (WRL) for at least 8 months of the third year is a prerequisite for registration for fourth-year modules.  The purpose of WRL is to make students relate theory to practice in real work situations, facilitate students to acquire a world of work experience and skills, facilitate career choices by students and help students to identify entrepreneurial and business opportunities, among others. WRL is assessed as two components viz. continuous assessment and WRL report. The continuous assessment component consists of at least two assessment reports by academic staff that visit the students during WRL plus a workplace supervisor’s report.  The Work-Related Preliminary (WRP) and WRL reports are comprehensive and critical analyses of the activities, processes and outputs of the organization to which the student was attached and the drawing of lessons learnt from the WRL experiences.   The student is required to identify a specific problem in systems, processes and/or in the organization to which they are seconded, and analyse the problem and solutions.   Credit will be given to reports that show critical thinking and comprehensive analysis of the problem identified during WRL.

The rationale behind offering this module is to prepare students in areas of quality proposal and dissertation scientific writing, conducting of research, data collection, analysis, interpretation, verbal results presentation and publication. The primary objective of this module is to allow students to engage in independent study, with limited supervision and guidance. The dissertation shall focus on one of the following areas weed, insect pest, pathology and nematology issues,

This module presents an overview of the techniques and underlying theory of molecular biology, plant tissue culture and genetic engineering, understanding of traditional and molecular assisted plant breeding; molecular markers, genomics, gene transfer systems, including case studies and regulatory and ethical issues; cell & molecular understandings of plant processes important in horticulture, agriculture and forestry research and commercial applications, and issues/challenges in the area of plant biotechnology. It introduces students to the principles, practices and application of plant tissue culture and transformation in science, agriculture and industry. It gives students hands-on experience and training in plant tissue culture and genetic engineering techniques. It exposes students to issues and challenges encountered in the area of molecular biology and plant biotechnology. It acquaints students with experimental design and analysis of plant biotechnology experiments.

AGHORT435 Plant Nematode Biology, Ecology and Management