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C4. LAND EVALUATION
(KUL-code: I839 (Th); I700 (Pr))
Lecturer: DECKERS J.
ECTS-credit: 5 pts
Contact hours: 30 hrs. of theory/30 hrs. of practical
Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of general pedology
Time and place: 2 nd semester, 13 sessions of 3 hours each, K.U.Leuven
Course syllabus: Lecture notes
Evaluation: Oral examination, submission of a paper and quotation on seminar work
Comparable handbook: Driessen, P., Deckers, J., Spaargaren, O., and Nachtergaele, F., (Eds), 2001. Lecture
Notes on the Major Soils of the World, World Soil Resources Reports Nr. 94, FAO,
Rome, Italy.
Deckers, J., Nachtergaele, F., Spaargaren, O., 1998. World Reference Base for Soil
Resources. Introduction, ACCO Publishers, ISBN 90-334-4124-1, 165 pp.
Additional information: Students who have interesting case studies from their home country are welcome to
bring them during the seminars for discussion.
Learning objectives:
This course aims to bring awareness among the students on land as a carrier of all our economic activities and
of the natural ecosystem. The students therefore will have to get acquainted with basic principles of soil,
climatic and socio-economic assessment as well as with specific requirements of land utilization types. For the
end terms more emphasis is given on general comprehension than to mere encyclopedial knowledge. The
alumni of this programme should be well enough informed to ask the right questions, to think in an
interdisciplinary way, whenever they are in a decision making position.
Course description:
The objective of the course Land Evaluation is to train the students in a series of methodologies and approaches
to predict the suitability of land for specific uses from land properties. These approaches are based on the
physical, chemical and biological land properties, and incorporate hydrological features, socio-economic factors
and environmental and health aspects.
The course encompasses the following topics:
1. Basic principles of land evaluation;
2. Agro-ecological zoning: an overview of soil and climate inventory procedures;
3. Requirements of land utilization types;
4. Land evaluation for irrigation;
5. Sustainability issues for land evaluation with emphasis on irrigated agriculture; and
6. Processes of land degradation and soil conservation measures for sustainable land use.
7. Land evaluation for forestry
8. Land evaluation for extensive grassland
9. Global change issues
The practical exercises aim to highlight the practice of land evaluation, through excursions, contacts with guest
speakers and the analysis of land evaluation case studies.
9 / Course syllabi