Unit Synopsis
This unit covers the fundamentals of soil and irrigation systems. You will learn how soil properties affect crop growth; how management strategies can be applied to manage variable soil conditions; how to interpret soil analytical data and how to develop soil improvement programs. The unit will show you how different growing conditions define management options and how a range of irrigation systems can be used to increase production.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 1 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 1 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
There are no pre-requisites for the unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School |
Compulsory Residential School View Unit Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 2 - 2026 Profile
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Online Quiz(zes) | 30% |
| 2. Portfolio | 30% |
| 3. Written Assessment | 40% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
Term 2 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 75.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 14.29% response rate.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: SUITE
Assessment 3 required students to visit a farm or garden and collect data for an irrigation plan. It was noted that not all students know a landholder or have access to a farm or garden.
Working in conjunction with colleagues and partners (including landholders), the unit coordinator will help students access a farm to collect data for their assessment. The AGRI11001 UC will liaise with the AGRI11002 (Plant Science and Crop Production) UC to ensure that soil and irrigation aspects are discussed during the farm visits organised for AGRI11002 during the Residential School.
For Assessment 3, students were asked to download weather data from Scientific Information for Land Owners (SILO), a Queensland Government database that provides climate data for Australia from 1889 to the present. Soil information could be obtained from Queensland Globe, an online interactive mapping tool provided by the Queensland Government that allows users to explore spatial data, maps, and imagery about Queensland.
Source: Self Reflection
The Residential School for this unit involved field assessment of key soil characteristics as well as some laboratory measurements. Students visited only one site located within the ROK Campus. There is a need to visit other agricultural farms and/or obtain soil samples from additional sites for comparative analysis.
The AGRI11001 UC will liaise with the AGRI11002 (Plant Science and Crop Production) UC to ensure that soil and irrigation aspects are discussed during the farm visits organised for AGRI11002 during the Residential School. Soil samples from a typical agricultural farm will be obtained and used for comparative analysis.
Soil samples from a typical agricultural farm in Bundaberg and two avocado orchards in Western Australia were analysed during the Residential School. In addition, soil samples were collected from the Rockhampton CQUniversity Campus.
Source: Self-reflection
Several guest speakers were invited to speak on selected topics.
The practice of inviting experienced guest speakers, including farmers and agricultural professionals, will be maintained. Students benefit from the diverse perspectives these speakers provide.
In Progress
Source: Self-reflection
Monitor the use of Gen AI to ensure academic integrity.
Guided by University policy, explore new strategies for ensuring academic integrity in the era of Gen AI, especially in online quizzes.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Apply knowledge of soil testing results in order to describe different soil types
- Explain how soil properties determine production opportunities
- Develop, monitor and review soil amendment practices
- Determine the feasibility of using or upgrading irrigation systems
- Develop and evaluate an appropriate irrigation plan.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | • | • | ||
| 2 - Portfolio | • | • | • | ||
| 3 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | ||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | ||
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • | • | • |
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | • | • | • |
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | • | ||
| 5 - Team Work | • | • | • | ||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | • | • | • |
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |