Study How to Grow Nuts
- Learn to identify and grow a wide range of edible nuts
- Learn from professional university trained horticulturists with decades of industry experience
- Build networks within industry and discover opportunities for commercial production or self sufficiency
- With increased pressure on food supply & the envirionment, opportunities for food production experts are set to expand in the future -Now is the time to study.
This course will reveal the world of nut growing, expanding your horizons, deepening your knowledge and laying a foundation to explore and do things with nuts which you might not have previously considered.
There are 9 lessons in this course:
- Introduction
- What is a Nut
- Identifying Plants Accurately
- Classification of Nuts into their Plant Families
- Juglanaceae,
- Coylaceae,
- Fagaceae,
- Burseraceae,
- Lecthidaceae
- Sterculiaceae
- Rosaceae
- Pinaceae
- Anacardiaceae, etc
- Review of Botany of Nuts: flowers and fruit development
- Resources
- The Most Commonly Grown Varieties
- Overview of Nut Culture
- Comparing most common nuts
- Terminology
- Almond
- American Hazlenut
- Cashew Peanut
- Walnut
- Macadamia
- Culture of Nuts
- Site Selection and Management
- Soils
- Soil Testing
- Water Management
- Nutrition and Feeding
- Plant Health: pest and disease, protection from wind, salt, air, etc
- Common problems with different types of nuts
- Planting
- Terminology
- Weed Management
- Pruning
- Less Common Nuts
- Pecan
- Pistacio
- Pine Nuts
- Auraucaria
- Chestnut
- Filbert
- Brazil Nut
- Beech
- Oak
- Sunflower
- Pili Nut
- Cola Nut
- Cocao
- Hausa Groundnut
- Acacia, and more
- Propagation
- Seed Propagation of Nuts
- Cuttings
- Layering
- Grafting
- Propagating Corylus
- Propagating Pinus
- Propagating aids and structures
- Harvest and Post-harvest of Nuts.
- Harvesting
- Cleaning, Cracking and Shelling
- Drying and Storage
- Handling Almonds
- Cashews
- Chestnuts
- Pine nuts
- Walnuts
- Hazlenuts
- Pistacios
- Marketing Nuts
- Overview
- Where to sell nuts
- Marketing Processes
- Market Research
- Uses of Nuts: Food and other uses
- Workplace Health, Safety and Risk Management
- Duty of Care
- Risk Assessment in a Horticultural Enterprise
- Financial Risks
- Keeping the Workplace Safe
- Protective Clothing
- Equipment Safety (Tools and Machinery)
- Safety with Manual Handling and lifting
- Special Assignment
- PBL Project Develop a plan for growing selected varieties of nuts in a specific location
Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.
Aims:
- Identify different nut crop varieties.
- Determine the cultivation practices appropriate to a range of different nut crops.
- Determine how to propagate a range of different nut plants.
- Determine appropriate techniques for harvesting a nut crop.
- Specify an appropriate post-harvest treatment for a nut crop.
- Develop marketing strategies for nuts.
What you will do:
Distinguish between common and scientific perceptions of the term nut.
- Compare the botanical characteristics of the fruits from five different nut genera.
- Describe the botanical classification of twenty different species of nut plants, including where appropriate, botanical interrelationships.
- Prepare a plant collection of twenty-five different nut varieties, including the following details on each plant:
- Plant names (Common and scientific)
- A photo, illustration or pressed specimen
- Cultural details
- Harvest & Post-harvest
- Uses (eg. valuable products).
- Develop a resource file of forty items of information relevant to the nut growing industry, including:
- Suppliers of nut plants
- Trade or grower associations
- Publications
- Perform simple tests on three different soils to determine:
- Soil type
- pH
- Drainage
- Water holding capacity
- Evaluate three different soils tested in 2.1 to determine nut varieties suitable for growing in each.
- Explain soil management requirements for at least ten different nut varieties, including:
- Nutrition
- Soil structure
- Physical attributes
- Explain the control of twenty different pests and diseases on ten different nut varieties.
- Develop guidelines for the culture of a specified variety of nut, in the learner's locality, including:
- Watering
- Weed control
- Soil management
- Fertilising
- Pest control
- Disease control
- Prepare a twelve month plan for cultural practices on a specified nut plantation.
- Explain different methods of propagating five different nut species, including:
- Seed
- Grafting
- Layering
- Cuttings
- Determine propagation methods for fifteen different nut species, including where applicable, rootstock variety names.
- Demonstrate how to prepare cuttings for two different nut species.
- Demonstrate three different types of grafts, suitable for propagating nut varieties.
- Determine seed germination procedures for ten different nut genera.
- Prepare a production schedule, for nursery production of a specified type of nut.
- Propagate two different nut plant varieties.
- Explain the operation of a mechanical harvester which can be used for nuts.
- Determine when to harvest four different specified nut species.
- Compare the efficiency of four different techniques for harvesting nuts.
- Describe two different storage techniques for a specified nut variety.
- Determine the optimum environmental conditions for the storage of three different nut species.
- Evaluate three different samples of nuts, which have been stored using three different techniques.
- Determine the commercial processing techniques used for five specified nut species.
- Explain post-harvest handling of a specified nut species, by a commercial plantation in a specified locality.
- Determine different ways in which nuts can be consumed.
- Compare different ways nuts are packaged for retailing, with reference to different factors including:
- Physiological impact on the nut
- Cost of packaging
- Presentation
- Explain the marketing of two different specified nut products, in your locality.
- Develop a marketing plan for one specified type of nut.
Interested? Request a free information pack today!
Finance options
If you are an Irish citizen you may be eligible to receive financial support, meaning you
can defer payment of your course fees. Additionally, if you are a resident of Ireland,
you may also be eligible to receive a student grant under the Student Grant Scheme
Student support
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Then there are the unexpected life challenges that also get thrown our way.
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As an enrolled student at Learning Cloud, you are entitled to access a variety of
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designed to walk beside you throughout your studies they will assist you in life’s
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chosen course.
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How will this course advance my career?
Learning Cloud programs have been developed in response to industry demand
and are specifically designed to equip graduates with work-ready skills.
Each participant will be trained and assessed in theory and in practical tasks
and Real-world exercises are used throughout the program.
Studies prove, time and again, that college-educated workers earn more than those
with only a high school qualification. College graduates often enjoy additional
benefits, including greater job opportunities and promotions. Though the proof for
greater earning potential exists, some might wonder whether the cost of the
education warrants the overall expense in the long run.
College Graduate vs. Non-Graduate Earnings
The National Centre for Education Statistics (NCES) analyses employee earnings data
biennially, according to education level. Findings indicate that workers with a
qualification earn significantly more than those without. Since the mid-1980s,
education has played a large part in potential wages, with bachelor's degree holders
taking home an average of 66% more than those with only a high school diploma do.
While college-educated workers' wages have increased over the past two decades,
those with only a high school education have seen decreases in annual salaries in
the same time period (nces.ed.gov).
How else will I benefit from studying with Learning Cloud?
- Studying online or distance means you can study where you want
and at your own pace.
- Receive career-focused training with practical, hands-on learning.
- All course materials are provided and all digital platforms are
interactive, work on any device and designed to be fun.
- Recognition of Prior Learning or Skills Recognition may be available
for previous work experience, formal training or qualifications in this field.