Department of Crop Science
The plant and the ground it stands in — four disciplines that between them decide what is grown, how, and in what soil.
The largest department, because the crop is the largest question.
Crop Science covers the whole of the plant's side of agriculture, and is organised into four disciplines: genetics and plant breeding, which develops and selects varieties; agronomy, which decides how a field crop is grown; horticulture, which does the same for fruit, vegetables and flowers; and soil science, which studies the medium all of them depend on.
The four are taught as separate disciplines but rarely work apart. A new variety is worth nothing without the spacing, nutrient and water regime that suits it, and none of that transfers between a sandy river-terrace soil and the heavy clay a few kilometres away — so the department's teaching and its trials both tend to run across all four at once.
Genetics and Plant Breeding
Varietal development, selection and seed improvement.
Agronomy
Field crop husbandry — sowing, spacing, nutrients, water and cropping systems.
Horticulture
Fruit, vegetable, flower and plantation crops, and post-harvest handling.
Soil Science
Soil fertility, nutrient management, organic matter and soil testing.