Learn about growing oil crops
Agronomy V (Oil Crops) is a 100 hour course that encourages learners to enhance their skills and knowledge on the many different types of oil crops that are in high demand to produce a wide variety of products- from food, biofuels, cleaning products and much more.
Farmers who understand crops and land management practices will have more profitable businesses and will be able to diversify their crops when they need to.
This course has nine lessons:
Lesson 1: Nature & scope of oil crops
What are plant oils?
Essential oils
Plant oil crops & uses
Vegetable oil uses
Essential oil uses
Economic value of oil crops
What crops can be grown where?
Lesson 2: Oil extraction
Introduction
Oil seed processing
Mechanical processing
Chemical processing
Other processing methods
Distillation
Simple distillation
Steam distillation
Fractional distillation
Vacuum distillation
Molecular distillation
Extractive distillation
Membrane distillation
Lesson 3: Canola and rapeseed
Characteristics of canola
World production
Growing canola
Using seed
Soil types
Soil preparation
Sowing
Growth stages
Environmental stresses
Nutrition
Irrigation management
Weeds
Pest control
Diseases
Harvesting
Storage
Processing
Lesson 4: Olive oil
Characteristics of olive oil
World production
Growing olives
Using seedlings
Soil types
Soil preparation
Planting
Pruning
Growing conditions
Varieties
Nutrition
Irrigation management
Weeds
Pest control
Diseases
Organic production
Harvesting
Storage
Processing
Lesson 5: Other edible oils
Growing conditions
Organic matter
Soil texture
Subsoil PH
Soil water available to plants
Slope of the topography
Natural soil drainage
Maintaining good soil structure
Growing edible oil crops
Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus)
Flax/linseed (Linum usitatissimum)
Soybean/soya bean (Glycine max)
Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea)
Lesson 6: Herbal and pharmaceutical oils
Introduction
Pros and cons of herbal medicine & nutraceuticals
Essential oils
General guidelines for growing herbs for essential oils
Planting
Agronomy
Improved herbs and essential oils
Growing select crops for cosmetic or pharmaceutical oils
Avocado (persea americana)
Mint (mentha arvensis)
Tea tree (melaleuca alternifolia)
Blackcurrant (ribes nigrum)
Passionfruit (passiflora edulis)
Lesson 7: Biofuel and other industrial oils
Biofuel production
Vegetable oils and genetic modification
Extraction of oils from plants
GMO crops
Oleic acid
Oil palm trees
Novel fatty acids
Chemical and biotechnological transformations of basic industrial oils
Key targets for future industrial oil crops
Unusual fatty acids
Industrial importance
Growing select crops for biofuels and other industrial uses
Poppy (papaver somniferum)
Castor bean (ricinus communis)
Camelina (camelina sativa)
Crambe (crambe abyssinica)
Lesson 8: Issues, Risks, Optimising success
Successful farming
Capital
Profitability
Risk management
Succession
Entrepreneurial skills of farmers
Production management
Developing a farming business plan
Goals and mission
Asset planning
Land
Irrigation water
Livestock
Farm management
Labour and machinery
Capital
Soil testing
Produce selection
Integrated pest management
Integrated weed management
Grain storage
Lesson 9: Product development and management
Oilseed production and extraction yields
Oil fatty acid composition and biodiesel
Oil extraction and biodiesel processing
On-farm oil seed processing