Global Cropping Systems and Sustainable Development

3.0 credits · Graduate

With accelerating demands for food, feed, and fiber along with increasing recognition of the importance of agricultural systems to ecosystem services and rural livelihoods, the requirements of agricultural systems are simultaneously intensifying and diversifying. This course introduces foundational concepts that explain the distribution, productivity, and ecological impacts of the world's major cropping systems from an interdisciplinary perspective, including soils, climate and water, markets, policies, and institutions. Through systems thinking and process-based agronomy, an emphasis is placed on assessing solutions for resolving core challenges to the sustainable development goals in the context of global change. Students gain insights into sustainable intensification technologies as well as the social process that support innovation. Evidence synthesis through a geographically-anchored case study and active participation in class discussions are required.