Universidade Federal do Ceará
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência do Solo

Professors: Raimundo Nonato de Assis Júnior and Jaedson Cláudio Anunciato Mota.

Syllabus: Goals. Introduction. Soil Texture and Structure. Soil Consistency. Soil Water: Content and Potential. Soil Movement in a Saturated and Non Saturated Soil. Infiltration. Soil Water Regime. Soil Gases Movement. Soil Thermic Regime. Soil Sampling. Analytical Characterization of Soil Physical Properties.

Professors: Fernando Felipe Ferreyra Hernandez and Maria Eugenia Ortiz Escobar.

Syllabus: We study the composition and soil chemical attributes. The program comprises the study of concepts and basic principles of chemistry and thermodynamic, linking to the main processes that occur in the soil atmosphere, soil water and organic and inorganic colloids of the soil. The oxidation conditions, anions and cations retention, soil reaction, acidic soils and their corrections, salt affected soils and the main soil and water contaminants, heavy metals, organic residues, some mechanisms of inactivation of pollutants in soil that might interfere in the development of plants and environmental quality are also studied.

Professor: Each year the program defines one of the professors of its board to coordinate the discipline.

Syllabus: Introduce the students to subjects related to agrarian sciences and to problems related to agronomic activities emphasizing actual political, economic and social context. The seminars are offered by the current students and by highly recognized and experience professionals in agronomic and environmental areas of interest. The content is determined each semester according to themes and the guest speakers.

Professor: Helon Hébano de Freitas Sousa

Syllabus: Acidity and alkalinity of mineral fertilizers. Classification of fertilizers and amendments. Situation of the national fertilizer production. Fertilizers and mineral fertilizers containing macronutrients. Fertilizers and mineral fertilizers containing micronutrients. Use of amendments in the soil. Fertilizers and organic fertilizers. Determination of fertilization requirement. Economic aspects of fertilization.

Professor : Paulo Furtado Mendes Filho.

Syllabus: Soil as a habitat for organisms: general aspects of micro, meso and edaphic macrobiota. Impacts of global climate change on soil biota. Biological indicators of soil quality. Introduction to soil biotechnology. Microbial symbioses and their potential for use in sustainable agriculture. Biological inoculants. Xenobiotics and biological soil activity. Fundamentals and application in soil bioremediation. Biological extremes and extremophilia: biotechnological potential for the soil. Analytical methods applied to soil biotechnology.

Professor: Claudivan Feitosa de Lacerda.

Syllabus: Plant Ecophysiology with emphasis on agro and semiarid ecosystems. The plant in the semiarid ecosystem. Populations and the environment. Energy and matter flux in the semiarid ecosystem. Water in the plant and in the semiarid ecosystem. Seed ecology in the semiarid. Morphophysiological development of plants in the semiarid region. Growth analysis.

Professor: Helon Hébano de Freitas Sousa

Syllabus: Chemical, physical and biological soil properties important for fertility. Absorption of nutrients by plants: absorption mechanisms and processes of nutrient/root contact. Factors that affect the production of the cropped plant. The soil colloids.. Soil reaction. Soil organic matter. Soil macronutrients. Soil Micronutrients. Evaluation of soil fertility.

Professors: Ricardo Espindola Romero and Raul Shiso Toma.

Syllabus: Introduction to Pedology and its basic concepts. Soil morphology. Notions of mineralogy and petrology. Weathering. Products of weathering. Pedogenic factors. Pedogenetic processes. Land classification history. Brazilian Soil Classification System (SiBCS). Diagnostic attributes and other attributes. Diagnostic horizons of surface and subsurface. General characteristics and genesis of the different classes of soils.

Professors: Jaedson Cláudio Anunciato Mota and Raul Shiso Toma.

Syllabus: Soil as a component of the landscape. Soils and lands concept. Soil survey: methods, types and limitations. Mapping (natural and technical). Bases for soil surveys. Introduction to digital soil mapping. Soil surveys and agri-environmental planning.

Professor: Thales Vinicius de Araújo Viana.

Syllabus: Concepts. Crops water requirements: evapotranspiration reference, evapotranspiration crop, crop coefficients. Irrigation management methods based on soil, plant and climate. Computerized irrigation management. Leaching requirements for salinity control. Assessment of irrigation uniformity and efficiency. Production functions. Irrigation control automation. Management of irrigation in protected crops.

Professor: Eunice Maia de Andrade.

Syllabus: Geomorphological characterization of drainage basins. Survey and basic information. Prioritization of drainage basins. Basics of watershed management. Planning for integrated use of natural resources. Management system of soil, water and vegetation resources. Use of natural resources and their importance in the ecosystem: preservation and conservation of water resources in the semi-arid region, elaboration of environmental sustainability indexes.

Professors: Mirian Cristina Gomes Costa and Julius Blum.

Syllabus: Agriculture, sustainability and the environment. Soil erosion. Estimates of surface runoff and soil loss. Soil and water loss modeling. Erosion research. Organic matter and nutrient cycling. Physical-structural dynamics of soil. Soil management in irrigated areas. Recovery of degraded areas. Pollution of soil and water.

Professor: Julius Blum.

Professor: Joaquim Albenísio Gomes da Silveira.

Syllabus: The main transformations of nitrate on the plant. Nitrate reductase and nitrite reductase. Symbiotic N2 fixation. NH3 ways of assimilation. Glutamine synthetase, glutamate synthase, glutamate dehydrogenase and other enzymes in the assimilation of ammonia. The urea cycle. The ornithine cycle. Via production and proline degradation. Photorespiratory cycle N. producing ammonia routes. Turnover of protein and free aminoacid pool.

Professor: Raimundo Nonato de Assis Júnior.

Syllabus: General aspects of the philosophy of science. Scientific knowledge and other knowledge forms. The Scientific Method. Logic of science. Language of science. Scientific research. Research planning. Scientific writing.

Professors: Paulo Furtado Mendes Filho.

Syllabus: Introduction to soil microbiology. Large microbial groups and their functions in soil. Microbial metabolism. Role of microorganisms in major biogeochemical cycles. Microbial aspects of organic matter decomposition and organic pollution in soil. Microbial ecology of the rhizosphere. Biological fixation of atmospheric nitrogen. Mycorrhizae. Microbial activity in the recovery of degraded areas.

Syllabus: Soil as a nutrient source to plants. Absorption, assimilation, transportation and redistribution of nutrients into the plant. Macro and micronutrients participation in plant metabolism. Nutritional requirements of plants. Diagnosis of nutritional status of plants. Cultivation of plants under hydroponic conditions.

Syllabus: Bibliographical researches of relevant subjects in soil science with emphasis on soil fertility/chemistry/ambience. Applied research under field and or greenhouse conditions, involving agricultural soils, with the aim of reinforces the student’s professional training in the field of scientific research.

Professor: Maria Eugenia Ortiz Escobar.

Syllabus: Introduction to environmental chemistry. Biogeochemical cycles. Aquatic chemistry and water pollution concept. Atmospheric chemistry and air pollution concept. Soil chemistry and soil pollution concept.

Professor: Mirian Cristina Gomes Costa.

Syllabus: Conceptualization and characterization of degraded areas. Notion of chemical and mineralogical properties of the soil for characterization of degraded areas. Notion of soil physical properties for characterization of degraded areas. Notion of soil biological properties for characterization of degraded areas. Mining activities – Acid rock drainage; Evaluation of acidic rock drainage; Recovery techniques in mining areas. Agrosilvopastoral system activities – Types of degradation related to agriculture; Recovery practices for degraded agricultural areas; Types of degradation related to forestry; Recovery practices for degraded forest areas; Types of degradation related to livestock; Recovery practices for degraded livestock areas. Principles of ecology applied to recovery degraded areas processes. Key strategies of recovery degraded areas. Evaluation and monitoring of recovery degraded areas processes. Understanding the environmental impact assessment (EIA), environmental impact report (EIR) and degraded areas recovery plan (DARP). Political and regulatory aspects of ARP. Research lines about recovery degraded areas.

Professor: Claudivan Feitosa de Lacerda.

Syllabus: The soil-plant-atmosphere system. Mechanisms of water transfer in the system. Translocation forms of minerals and organic substances in the plant. Analysis of the influence of soil water availability and salts excess on physiological processes linked to crop growth and development.

Professor: Fernando Felipe Ferreyra Hernandez.

Syllabus: Parameters for assessing water quality irrigation and soil solution. Units and transformations. Classification and interpretation. Soils affected by salts: origin, processes of accumulation and distribution of salts in the profile. Classification: saline, sodic and saline-sodic soils, characteristics and problems. The effects of salinity, infiltration and toxicity of specific ions on plant development. Management and recovery of soils affected by salts.

Professor: Adunias dos Santos Teixeira.

Syllabus: Concepts of GIS. General Structure of a GIS. Computational Representation of Geographic Data. Modeling. Global Positioning System (GPS). Geographic and Projections Coordinate Systems. Data Sources in GIS. Scanning. Remote Sensing and GIS Integration. Geo-Statistics: Applications in Agronomy, Agricultural Engineering; Irrigation and Drainage and Fisheries, Water and Environmental Resources. Software Applied to GIS.

Professor: All professors of the Program as well as Visiting Professors are eligible to teach the course.

Syllabus: Not a regular course, taught by our knowledgeable faculty or visiting professors, condensed or not. Variable content covering topics important to the overall student education not addressed in the regular courses offered at the UFC.

Professor: All professors of the Program as well as Visiting Professors are eligible to teach the course.

Syllabus: Not regular discipline, taught by visiting professors or the institution itself, concentrated or not. Variable contents covering important topics to the overall formation of the student, not covered in regular disciplines offered in the UFC.

Professor: All professors of the Program as well as Visiting Professors are eligible to teach the course.

Syllabus: Not regular discipline, taught by visiting professors or the institution itself, concentrated or not. Variable contents covering important topics to the overall formation of the student, not covered in regular disciplines offered in the UFC.

  Teaching Internship III (Code AKP0224; 4 credits)