CECP Core Competencies: Agriculture and Natural Resources

Agronomic Crops

1. Understands basic production principles
   
   • Soils
   • Water
   • Fertility
   • Genetics/selection
   • Cultural practices
   • Irrigation
     
   
   
2. Understands pest management principles including IPM
   
   • Diseases and Identification
   • Insects and Identification
   • Weeds and Identification
   • Nematodes and Identification
   • Others
     
   
   

3. Understands Harvesting/Handling issues

4. Understands food safety issues

5. Understands budgets and marketing principles

6. Understands pertinent regulatory issues

7. Can troubleshoot and analyze problems

8. Be able to conduct on-farm demonstrations

9. Understands new and precision technologies
   
   

Horticultural Crops

Fruit Crops

1. Understands basic production principles
• Soils
• Water
• Fertility
• Genetics/selection
• Cultural practices
• Irrigation
  
  
2. Understands pest management principles including IPM
   
   • Diseases and Identification
   • Insects and Identification
   • Weeds and Identification
   • Nematodes and Identification
   • Others
     
     

3. Understands Harvesting/Handling issues

4. Understands food safety issues

5. Understands budgets and marketing principles

6. Understands regulatory issues

7. Can troubleshoot and analyze problems

8. Be able to conduct on-farm demonstrations

Ornamental Crops

1. Understands basic production principles
   
   • Soils
   • Water
   • Fertility
   • Genetics/selection
   • Cultural practices
   • Irrigation
     
     
2. Understands pest management principles including IPM
   
   • Diseases and Identification
   • Insects and Identification
   • Weeds and Identification
   • Nematodes and Identification
   • Others
     
     

3. Understands budgets and marketing principles

4. Understands regulatory issues

5. Can troubleshoot and analyze problems

6. Be able to conduct on-farm demonstrations
   

Vegetable Crops

1. Understands basic production principles
   
   • Soils
   • Water
   • Fertility
   • Genetics/selection
   • Cultural practices
   • Irrigation
     
     
2. Understands pest management principles including IPM
   
   • Diseases and Identification
   • Insects and Identification
   • Weeds and Identification
   • Nematodes and Identification
   • Others
     
     

3. Understands Harvesting/Handling issues

4. Understands food safety issues

5. Understands budgets and marketing principles

6. Understands regulatory issues

7. Can troubleshoot and analyze problems

8. Be able to conduct on-farm demonstrations
   
   

Animal Sciences

1. Understands basic production principles
   
   • Reproduction
   • Genetics
   • Health
     
   
   
2. Understands basic nutrition
   
   • Requirements
   • Supplementation
   • Formulation
   • Forages
   • Grazing strategies
     
   
   
3. Understands basic management principles
   
   • Selection
   • Development
   • Conditioning
   • Scoring body condition
   • Controlled breeding
     
   
   

4. Understands product handling issues

5. Understands food safety issues

6. Understands basic marketing principles

7. Understands regulatory issues

8. Can troubleshoot and analyze problems

9. Be able to conduct on-farm demonstrations
   
   

Forestry

1. Understands management principles

2. Understands fire dynamics

3. Understands silviculture principles

4. Understand tree propagation principles

5. Understands resource economics

6. Understands forest measurements

7. Understands forest biology

8. Understands soils and hydrology principles

9. Understands policies and regulations

10. Understands principles of agroforestry

11. Can troubleshoot and analyze problems

12. Be able to conduct demonstration trials
    
    

Aquaculture and Fisheries

1. Understands basic biology

2. Understands weed identification and management

3. Understands disease identification and management

4. Understands health management

5. Understands nutrition

6. Understands water quality priniciples

7. Understands site selection and construction

8. Understands fisheries management

9. Understands budgets and marketing

10. Understands Harvesting/Handling issues

11. Understands food safety issues

12. Understands policies and regulations

13. Can troubleshoot and analyze problems

14. Be able to conduct demonstration trials
    
    

Natural Resources

1. Understands client base

2. Understands water issues
   
   • Quality
   • Quantity
   • Allocation
     
     

3. Understands invasive pest issues

4. Understands environmental issues

5. Understands endangered species issues

6. Understands rural/urban interface issues

7. Understands fundamentals of hydrogeology

8. Understands the principles of resource, wildlife and fisheries management

9. Has a basic understanding of public policy issues
   
   

Risk Management

1. Understands farm/business management principles

2. Understands financial management/financial risk management
   
   • Financial condition
   • Risk factors
     
     

3. Understands risk management principles

4. Understands production risk management

5. Understands human resource risk/estate planning

6. Understands legal risk/farm liability
   
   

Public Policy

1. Understand agricultural policy principles
   
   • Commodity policies
   • Animal policies
   • Resource policies
     • Conservation policies
     • Preservation/protection policies
     • Water policies
     • Air quality policies
       
       

2. Understands trade policy principles

3. Understands environmental/natural resource policy

4. Understands rural development policy
   

   • Rural resource policy
   • Rural economic development policy
   • Rural infrastructure policy
   • Rural leadership development policy
   • Rural growth/migration policy
   • Rural poverty/welfare policy
   • Agrotourism
   • Rural housing policy
   • Rural public revenue/spending policy
     
     

5. Understands macroeconomic policy

6. Understands consumer food/fiber policy

7. Understands agribusiness policy
   
   

Sustainable Agriculture - being developed

Small Scale Farming - being developed

Lawns, Gardens, and Landscapes - being developed

Bio-technology - being developed

Food Safety/Security - being developed

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