Agricultural Science

By TBHS | Posted: Thursday March 14, 2019

The Year 12 Agricultural Science class has been busy planning a scientific investigation looking at the effects that physical factors have on brassica growth.

Forage brassica crops are grown widely both as a supplement and as an alternative to pastures in New Zealand’s animal production systems. Brassicas are important for their potential to produce high quality and high yields of forage that can be fed ‘in situ’ from early summer through to late winter and for their role as break crops during pasture renewal.

• They produce high quality feed in periods of pasture feed deficit.
• They are a feed substitute to avoid pasture-related health problems such as facial eczema and ryegrass staggers.
• Brassica break crops provide advantages for pasture renovation by reducing weeds, pests and diseases, and creating better soil conditions and cleaner seed beds for establishing new pastures.

Many problems with brassica production arise from poor sowing techniques, inadequate seed bed preparation, incorrect fertiliser use and poor watering procedures. The students have researched one of the above areas and have designed an investigation around this on a small scale. This week they planted their brassica.  These will grow over the next 10 weeks with growth measurements taken periodically. They will then analyse the results and come up with a conclusion that includes recommendations for farmers. This investigation is part of a Level 2 Achievement standard worth 4 credits (AS91289).