Information on department

Information on the Department

Department of Agrosystems and Bioclimatology was established in 2005 within the reorganization of the Faculty of Agronomy and continues activities of the Department of General Plant Production and Division of Bioclimatology which was part of the Department of Applied and Landscape Ecology.

Department of Agrosystems and Bioclimatology provides education not only at the Faculty of Agronomy, but as well as at other MENDELU faculties.  

The following facilities are available to provide specialist education and research:   

a)   Field Experimental Station at the School Farm in Žabčice (ca 25 km south from Brno) with good equipment for conducting field trials including technology for precision agriculture,

b)   Biological-physical and Chemical laboratory for basic assessment of plant and soil samples, selected physical, chemical and biological analyses, and preparation of samples for special analyses,

c)  Laboratory of Herbology for conducting pot experiments with plants grown under controlled light and temperature conditions. Germination power of weed seeds is assessed under laboratory conditions. The laboratory is equipped with a fluorescent camera used for evaluating effects of herbicides and other biotic stresses,

d)  Mobile Laboratory for evaluating heterogeneity of site conditions (in a pick-up  Renault Master) equipped with receivers of satellite navigation (DGPS Trimble Pathfinder Pro XH with sub-meter accuracy, a pocket GPS receiver with standard accuracy), optical instruments for observing spectral characteristics of soil and canopies of field crops (a multispectral camera DuncanTech MS-3100, hyperspectral  sensor Specim Spectral Camera), a device for measuring LAI (SunScan, Delta-T), an instrument for measuring soil compaction (Penetrologger) and soil moisture characteristics (W.E.T. probe); results are analyzed in GIS medium  ESRI (ArcInfo, Erdas Imagine).

e)   Mobile Laboratory of Agroclimatology providing operative measuring of meteorological elements at defined sites,

f)  a series of specialized agrometeorological stations including stations in Žabčice (2 stations), in Polkovice near Přerov (2 stations) and in Domanínek (2 stations), phenological stations in Vranovice (3 stations),  Domanínek (1 station) and a teaching station in the MENDELU campus, in Arboretum. Data transmission via the Internet enables access to data also for the other workplaces of the MENDELU (http://old.mendelu.cz/~opr/meteo/index.htm). In addition, the staff of the Department participates in measuring in a large number of other locations across the Czech Republic and abroad,

g)    schoolrooms equipped with appropriate computer and presentation technology including special software ArcGIS and Erdas Imagine from ESRI firm (for teaching precision agriculture), Agrokrom, REPRO (for complex analysis of farm economy).