ADMCSA: Climate Smart Agriculture

Module code: ADMCSA

Module provider: School of Agriculture, Policy and Development

Credits: 20

Level: 7

When you’ll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Gillian Rose , email: g.rose@reading.ac.uk

Module co-convenor: Dr Jake Bishop, email: j.bishop@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2025/6

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 3 April 2025

Overview

Module aims and purpose

Climate change and food insecurity are interlinked global challenges of key importance. Climate Smart Agriculture aims to secure food security, make agricultural systems more resilient to climate change, and reduce the impact of agriculture on climate change. Through this module you will have the opportunity to develop your knowledge of fundamental biological processes, your ability to use and critique research methods, and a detailed understanding of the complexity of tackling world-wide issues, all within the framework of Climate Smart Agriculture. 

The module covers essential information about the global climate system and the processes that govern interactions between plants, soils, and climate factors. We then critique a broad range of scientific methods used in climate smart agriculture, and you get hands-on experience using a crop model to simulate crop production in future climates and design an irrigation schedule that maximises crop water use efficiency. Climate Smart Agriculture cannot occur in isolation, so the module explores climate change adaptation, mitigation and legislation, and how transitions to Climate Smart Agriculture will impact stakeholders across agricultural and food systems.   

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to: 

1. Critically analyse methods used for understanding and predicting the impacts of climate change on agricultural productivity and independently judge the reliability of the resulting information.  
2. Evaluate how issues around food production and climate change are affected by other factors such as sustainable development, international trade, policy and climate change mitigation. 
3. Use theoretical approaches to predict responses to agricultural systems to climate change 
4. Critically analyse the relationship between crop growth, yield and water use and how to use water efficiently and simulate the impact of climate change on a crop and critically analyse adaptation strategies 

Module content

This module will cover a series of topics related to Climate Smart Agriculture including: 

• Climate change and biological responses to climate 
• Methods of investigating the impact of climates change including by research and modelling 
• Introduction to irrigation systems, scheduling, efficiency and calculating evapotranspiration 
• Climate change adaptation, mitigation and legislation 
• The use of crop modelling software to investigate the impact of climate change on crop production and adaptation strategies 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

This module uses a wide range of methods including: 

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• In-class discussions 
• PC Practical 
• Supportive material on Blackboard 
• Formative assessment 

Study hours

At least 44 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.