Postgraduate Course: Plant Health in a Global Context (PGGE11205)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course will provide an introduction to plant health within a global context through a series of lectures and associated visits to provide a context for exploring plant health issues on a national and international level.
Students will explore the relevance of plant health concerns and management in relation to food and non-food plant production, storage, transport and trade with an emphasis on sustainability and socio-economic effects. The importance of plant health in the establishment and maintenance managed ecosystems will be examined together with the regulatory framework within which plant health specialists need to work.
Students will be provided with an understanding of the inter-relationships between resource use and plant health and the impacts that can result when plant health management fails.
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| Course description |
Exact timetabling is subject to change based on the availability of teaching staff but we will make every effort to keep linked sessions together.
Week 1: Introduction to global plant health issues in agriculture, horticulture, forestry, landscape and urban ecosystems: scale and reach.
Week 2: World trade, food security, energy and price.
Week 3: Plant health and the food chain.
Week 4: The plant and plant commodity trade: trends in production, consumption and health.
Week 5: Developments in plant health technologies.
Week 6: Horticulture and forestry international sector case studies.
Week 7: Poster presentations coursework evaluation and feedback
Week 8: Alien introductions and the evolution of new threats.
Week 9: National, regional and global regulation for plant health management
Week 10: Plant health in a changing world.
Week 11: The future of plant health discussion forum.
The course provides a perspective of the role, importance and impact of plant health issues in relation to global trade, food and other plant commodities and the pressures on sustainable resource use. The course will allow for alternative viewpoints in the understanding and exploration of these complex world issues. The coursework will allow students to place emphasis of the aspects of the subject that interest them most.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- an understanding of plant health in the context of world food and non-food commodity production
- an understanding of the interactions between plant health and the food chain, including production, storage, distribution and use of plant derived products,
- the ability to evaluate the relevance of plant health world economics and trade,
- the ability to assess the impact of plant health in relation to global threats, such as climate change, alien introductions, and the failure of control measures,
- the ability to evaluate the contribution that plant health management makes to sustainable development and the support of human communities.
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Reading List
Additional reading material will be provided during the course. Useful background reading includes:
Abrol, D.P. (2014). Integrated Pest management current concepts and ecological perpective. (s.l.): Elsevier Inc.
DEFRA (2013). Government Forestry Policy Statement; Ref PB13871 [online]. London: GOV.UK. Available at: www.defra.gov.uk/rural/forestry/panel-response/. [Accessed 30 June 2015]
Ebbels, D.L. (2002). Principles of Plant Health and Quarantine. In: The European Plant health Regime. Wallingford, Oxford: CABI Publishing,
FAO, IFAD and WFP. 2015. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015. Meeting the 2015 international hunger targets: taking stock of uneven progress. Rome, FAO.
Magdoff, F. & Tokar, B. (2010). Agriculture in Crisis: conflict, resistance and renewal. New York: Monthly Review Press.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Transferable Skills
The course will help you acquire and develop your skills in the following areas:
Evaluation to develop an understanding of the contribution that effective plant health management makes to trade, food security and landscape and habitat management.
Anticipation / prediction to assess the impact that potential threats can have on a local, regional or global scale.
Integration / synthesis understanding interrelationships between plant health and social and economic pressures and sustainable ecosystem management.
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| Keywords | Sustainable development,food security,international trade,climate change,forestry,horticulture |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Mark Hocart
Tel: 0131 535 4084
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Elspeth Martin
Tel: 0131 535 4198
Email: |
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