Search results for: agricultural

Authors: Ilham ihoume, Rachid Tadili, Nora Arbaoui

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This study examines the manner in which a solar copper coil heating system performs in a North-South-oriented greenhouse environment. In order to retain heat during the day and release it back ‎into the greenhouse environment at night, this system relies on the circulation of water in a closed ‎loop under the roof of the greenhouse. Experimental research ‎was conducted to compare the results in two identical greenhouses. The first one has a heating system, whilst the second one ‎has not and is regarded as a control. We determined the mass of the heat transfer fluid, which ‎makes up the storage system, needed to heat the greenhouse during the night to be equivalent to ‎‎689 Kg using the heat balance of the greenhouse equipped with a heating system. The findings ‎demonstrated that when compared to a controlled greenhouse without a heating system, the climatic ‎conditions within the experimental greenhouse were greatly enhanced by the solar heating system. ‎‎

Keywords: renewable energy, storage, enviromental impact, heating, agricultural greenhouse

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Authors: Aziza Barrek, Mohamed Haythem Msaddek, Ismail Chenini

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Excessive groundwater pumping due to the increasing water demand, especially in the agricultural sector, causes groundwater scarcity. Groundwater recharge is the most important process that contributes to the water's durability. This paper is based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process multicriteria analysis to establish a groundwater recharge susceptibility map. To delineate aquifer suitability for groundwater recharge, eight parameters were used: soil type, land cover, drainage density, lithology, NDVI, slope, transmissivity, and rainfall. The impact of each factor was weighted. This method was applied to the El Fahs plain shallow aquifer. Results suggest that 37% of the aquifer area has very good and good recharge suitability. The results have been validated by the Receiver Operating Characteristics curve. The accuracy of the prediction obtained was 89.3%.

Keywords: AHP, El Fahs aquifer, empirical formula, groundwater recharge zone, remote sensing, semi-arid region

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Authors: Oluwagbemi Victor Aladeokin

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In the last decade, the global peanut cultivation has seen increased demand, which is attributed to their health benefits, rising to ~ 41.4 MMT in 2019/2020. Peanut and other nutshells are considered as waste in various parts of the world and are usually used for their fuel value. However, this agricultural by-product can be converted to a higher value product such as activated carbon. For many years, due to the highly porous structure of activated carbon, it has been widely and effectively used as an adsorbent in the purification and separation of gases and liquids. Those used for commercial purposes are primarily made from a range of precursors such as wood, coconut shell, coal, bones, etc. However, due to difficulty in regeneration and high cost, various agricultural residues such as rice husk, corn stalks, apricot stones, almond shells, coffee beans, etc, have been explored to produce activated carbons. In the present study, the potential of peanut shells as precursors in the production of activated carbon and their adsorption capacity is investigated. Usually, precursors used to produce activated carbon have carbon content above 45 %. A typical raw peanut shell has 42 wt.% carbon content. To increase the yield, this study has employed chemical activation method using zinc chloride. Zinc chloride is well known for its effectiveness in increasing porosity of porous carbonaceous materials. In chemical activation, activation temperature and impregnation ratio are parameters commonly reported to be the most significant, however, this study has also studied the influence of activation time on the development of activated carbon from peanut shells. Activated carbons are applied for different purposes, however, as the application of activated carbon becomes more specific, an understanding of the influence of activation variables to have a better control of the quality of the final product becomes paramount. A traditional approach to experimentally investigate the influence of the activation parameters, involves varying each parameter at a time. However, a more efficient way to reduce the number of experimental runs is to apply design of experiment. One of the objectives of this study is to optimize the activation variables. Thus, this work has employed response surface methodology of design of experiment to study the interactions between the activation parameters and consequently optimize the activation parameters (temperature, impregnation ratio, and activation time). The optimum activation conditions found were 485 °C, 15 min and 1.7, temperature, activation time, and impregnation ratio respectively. The optimum conditions resulted in an activated carbon with relatively high surface area ca. 1700 m2/g, 47 % yield, relatively high density, low ash, and high fixed carbon content. Impregnation ratio and temperature were found to mostly influence the final characteristics of the produced activated carbon from peanut shells. The results of this study, using response surface methodology technique, have revealed the potential and the most significant parameters that influence the chemical activation process, of peanut shells to produce activated carbon which can find its use in both liquid and gas phase adsorption applications.

Keywords: chemical activation, fixed carbon, impregnation ratio, optimum, surface area

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Authors: Martin Surya Mulyadi, Rosinta Ria Panggabean

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The terms of intellectual capital emerge as the economic activity shift from the agricultural economy to knowledge economy and it will allow corporations to earn competitive advantage to its competitors. Considering its importance, many researches have a focus on how corporations disclose its intellectual capital. This intellectual capital research mainly focuses on developed country with only several researchers conducted this research in developing the country. While there are several intellectual capital researches in developing country, to authors’ best knowledge, there is no intellectual capital reporting research in Indonesia published internationally. This research will focus on two industries that acknowledge having a high reliance on intellectual capital: finance industry and the pharmaceutical industry. Our research found that Indonesian corporations in these industries are aware of the importance of intellectual capital, and variations of this disclosure exist within the industry.

Keywords: Developed country, Indonesia, Intellectual Capital, Intellectual Capital Reporting

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Authors: Khadija Bouzaachane, El Mahdi El Guarmah

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The classification of low-resolution satellite images has been a worthwhile and fertile field that attracts plenty of researchers due to its importance in monitoring geographical areas. It could be used for several purposes such as disaster management, military surveillance, agricultural monitoring. The main objective of this work is to classify efficiently and accurately low-resolution satellite images by using novel technics of deep learning and reinforcement learning. The images include roads, residential areas, industrial areas, rivers, sea lakes, and vegetation. To achieve that goal, we carried out experiments on the sentinel-2 images considering both high accuracy and efficiency classification. Our proposed model achieved a 91% accuracy on the testing dataset besides a good classification for land cover. Focus on the parameter precision; we have obtained 93% for the river, 92% for residential, 97% for residential, 96% for the forest, 87% for annual crop, 84% for herbaceous vegetation, 85% for pasture, 78% highway and 100% for Sea Lake.

Keywords: classification, deep learning, reinforcement learning, satellite imagery

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Authors: Abdelghani Qadem, Zohair Qadem, Mohamed Lasri

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At the level of the Moroccan Sais Plateau, groundwater constitutes strategic natural resources for agricultural, industrial, and domestic use. Today, due to climate change and population growth, the pressure on groundwater has increased considerably. This contribution aims to delineate and map potential areas for groundwater storage in the area in question using GIS and remote sensing. The methodology adopted is based on the identification of the thematic layers used to assess the potential recharge of the aquifer. The mapping of potential areas for groundwater storage is developed through the method of modeling and weighted overlay using the spatial analysis tool on the Geographic Information System. The results obtained can be used for the planning of future artificial recharge projects in the study area in order to ensure the good sustainable use of this underground gift.

Keywords: Morocco, climate change, groundwater, mapping, recharge

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Authors: Jingxiao Liang, David Rooneyman

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Biogas, which is a valuable renewable energy source, can be produced by anaerobic fermentation of agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste, or food waste. It is composed of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) but also contains significant quantities of undesirable compounds such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S), ammonia (NH3), and siloxanes. Since typical raw biogas contains 25–45% CO2, The requirements for biogas quality depend on its further application. Before biogas is being used more efficiently, CO2 should be removed. One of the existing options for biogas separation technologies is based on chemical absorbents, in particular, mono-, di- and tri-alcohol amine solutions. Such amine solutions have been applied as highly efficient CO2 capturing agents. The benchmark in this experiment is N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) with piperazine (PZ) as an activator, from CO2 absorption Isotherm curve, optimization conditions are collected, such as activator percentage, temperature etc. This experiment makes new alcohol amines, which could have the same CO2 absorbing ability as activated MDEA, using glycidol as one of reactant, the result is quite satisfying.

Keywords: biogas, CO2, MDEA, separation

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Authors: Wilaiwan Sornpoon, Sébastien Bonnet, Savitri Garivait

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Open burning of sugarcane fields is recognized to have a negative impact on soil by degrading its properties, especially soil organic carbon (SOC) content. Better understating the effect of open burning on soil carbon dynamics is crucial for documenting the carbon sequestration capacity of agricultural soils. In this study, experiments to investigate soil carbon stocks under burned and unburned sugarcane plantation systems in Thailand were conducted. The results showed that cultivation fields without open burning during 5 consecutive years enabled to increase the SOC content at a rate of 1.37 Mg ha-1y-1. Also it was found that sugarcane fields burning led to about 15% reduction of the total carbon stock in the 0-30 cm soil layer. The overall increase in SOC under unburned practice is mainly due to the large input of organic material through the use of sugarcane residues.

Keywords: soil organic carbon, soil inorganic carbon, carbon sequestration, open burning, sugarcane

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Authors: Nicolas R. Finkler, Wesley A. Saltarelli, Taison A. Bortolin, Vania E. Schneider, Davi G. F. Cunha

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Estimating the relative contribution of nonpoint or point sources of pollution in low-orders streams is an important tool for the water resources management. The location of headwaters in areas with anthropogenic impacts from urbanization and agriculture is a common scenario in developing countries. This condition can lead to conflicts among different water users and compromise ecosystem services. Water pollution also contributes to exporting organic loads to downstream areas, including higher order rivers. The purpose of this research is to preliminarily assess nutrients and solids loads exported by water bodies located in watersheds with different types of land uses in São Carlos - SP (Latitude. -22.0087; Longitude. -47.8909) and Caxias do Sul - RS (Latitude. -29.1634, Longitude. -51.1796), Brazil, using regression analysis. The variables analyzed in this study were Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN), Nitrate (NO3-), Total Phosphorus (TP) and Total Suspended Solids (TSS). Data were obtained in October and December 2015 for São Carlos (SC) and in November 2012 and March 2013 for Caxias do Sul (CXS). Such periods had similar weather patterns regarding precipitation and temperature. Altogether, 11 sites were divided into two groups, some classified as more pristine (SC1, SC4, SC5, SC6 and CXS2), with predominance of native forest; and others considered as impacted (SC2, SC3, CXS1, CXS3, CXS4 and CXS5), presenting larger urban and/or agricultural areas. Previous linear regression was applied for data on flow and drainage area of each site (R² = 0.9741), suggesting that the loads to be assessed had a significant relationship with the drainage areas. Thereafter, regression analysis was conducted between the drainage areas and the total loads for the two land use groups. The R² values were 0.070, 0.830, 0.752 e 0.455 respectively for SST, TKN, NO3- and TP loads in the more preserved areas, suggesting that the loads generated by runoff are significant in these locations. However, the respective R² values for sites located in impacted areas were respectively 0.488, 0.054, 0.519 e 0.059 for SST, TKN, NO3- and P loads, indicating a less important relationship between total loads and runoff as compared to the previous scenario. This study suggests three possible conclusions that will be further explored in the full-text article, with more sampling sites and periods: a) In preserved areas, nonpoint sources of pollution are more significant in determining water quality in relation to the studied variables; b) The nutrient (TKN and P) loads in impacted areas may be associated with point sources such as domestic wastewater discharges with inadequate treatment levels; and c) The presence of NO3- in impacted areas can be associated to the runoff, particularly in agricultural areas, where the application of fertilizers is common at certain times of the year.

Keywords: land use, linear regression, point and non-point pollution sources, streams, water resources management

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Authors: Isma Alfia Novita

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Indonesia is one country with the largest agricultural producer in the world but still can not meet the needs of the national rice. In addition, Indonesia was ranked the second-largest rice importer after the Philippines. Indonesia's rice consumption reached 102 kg per capita, or almost twice the average global rice consumption is only 60 kg per capita per year. One of the government's efforts in developing national food consumption is to invite people to improve diversification and food security. This is done considering the diet of Indonesia is still high consumption of rice. Therefore, this program made innovations Rice Moringa namely imitation rice with the addition of Moringa (Moringa oleifera). Moringa is a plant that is widely grown and easily found. In addition, Moringa has many benefits because it contains vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, calcium, protein, and potassium. Based on the analysis of the nutrient content, it is known that the Moringa leaves have good potential to maintain the balance of nutrients in the body

Keywords: imitation rice, Moringa oliefera, Moringa, AFTA

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Authors: Szilvia Várallyay, Szilvia Veres, Éva Bódi, Farzaneh Garousi, Béla Kovács

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The agricultural environment is contaminated with heavy metals and other toxic elements, which means more and more threats. One of the most important toxic element is the arsenic. Consequences of arsenic toxicity in the plant organism is decreases the weight of the roots, and causes discoloration and necrosis of leaves. The toxicity of arsenic depends on the quality and quantity of the arsenic specialization. The arsenic in the soil and in the plant presents as a most hazardous specialization. A dicotyledon plant were chosen for the experiment, namely sunflower. The sunflower plants were grown in nutrient solution in different As(III) levels. The content of As, P, Fe were measured from experimental plants, using by ICP-MS.Negative correlation was observed between the higher concentration of As(V) and As(III) in the nutrition solution and the content of P in the sunflower tissue. The amount of Fe was decreasing if we used a higher concentration of arsenic (30 mg kg-1). We can tell the conclusion that the arsenic had a negative effect on the sunflower tissue P and Fe content.

Keywords: arsenic, sunflower, ICP-MS, toxicity

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Authors: Juan P. Silva, T. R. Canchala, H. J. Lubberding, E. J. Peña, H. J. Gijzen

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This study measured the fluxes of greenhouse gases (GHGs) i.e. CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O from a tropical eutrophic freshwater wetland (“Sonso Lagoon”) which receives input loading nutrient from several sources i.e. agricultural run-off, domestic sewage, and a polluted river. The flux measurements were carried out at four different points using the static chamber technique. CO₂ fluxes ranged from -8270 to 12210 mg.m^-2.d^-1 (median = 360; SD = 4.11; n = 50), CH₄ ranged between 0.2 and 5270 mg.m^-2.d^-1 (median = 60; SD = 1.27; n = 45), and N₂O ranged from -31.12 to 15.4 mg N₂O m^-2.d^-1 (median = 0.05; SD = 9.36; n = 42). Although some negative fluxes were observed in the zone dominated by floating plants i.e. Eichornia crassipes, Salvinia sp., and Pistia stratiotes L., the mean values indicated that the Sonso Lagoon was a net source of CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O. In addition, an effect of the eutrophication on GHG emissions could be observed in the positive correlation found between CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O generation and COD, PO₄^-3, NH₃-N, TN and NO₃^-N. The eutrophication impact on GHG production highlights the necessity to limit the anthropic activities on freshwater wetlands.

Keywords: eutrophication, greenhouse gas emissions, freshwater wetlands, climate change

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Authors: Nanik Hidayatik, Dondin Sajuthi, Tuty L. Yusuf, Muhammad Agil, Entang Iskandar

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Copulatory (mating) pattern was varied among mammals, and species may have species-typical patterns. Studies on mating behavior of tarsier that had been reported were study on Tarsius bancanus. Whereas, until now mating behavior of Tarsius tarsier has never been reported. The aim of this study was to study the mating behavior of T. tarsier in captivity. Three pairs of T. tarsier housed at the Primate Research Center of Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia was observed using focal animal sampling method. The mating behavior was started with mounting by male followed with quick thrusting and slow thrusting, with duration range 3-4 minutes. When slow thrusting by male displayed, female shouted vocalization, and at the end, male remained motionless with his penis inserted in female genitalia. Mating behavior in T. tarsier occurred only once in the first oestrus day. Mating pattern in T. tarsier was similarly to T. bancanus.

Keywords: mating, mounting, Tarsius tarsier, thrusting

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Authors: Sarra Sobti, Baelhadj Hamdi-Aïssa

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The bacteria of the soil, usually called rhizobium, have a considerable importance in agriculture because of their capacity to fix the atmospheric nitrogen in symbiosis with the plants of the family of legumes. The present work was to study the effect of the salinity on growth and nodulation of alfalfa-rhizobia symbiosis at different agricultural experimental sites in Ouargla. The experiment was conducted in 3 steps. The first one was the isolation and characterization of the Rhizobia; next, the evolution of the isolates tolerance to salinity at three levels of NaCl (6, 8,12 and 16 g/L); and the last step was the evolution of the tolerance on symbiotic characteristics. The results showed that the phenotypic characterizations behave practically as Rhizobia spp, and the effects of salinity affect the symbiotic process. The tolerance to high levels of salinity and the survival and persistence in severe and harsh desert conditions make these rhizobia highly valuable inoculums to improve productivity of the leguminous plants cultivated under extreme environments.

Keywords: rhizobia, symbiosis, salinity, tolerance, nodulation, soil, Medicago sativa L.

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Authors: Soroush Mokallaei

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Since ancient times, urbanization engineers have always thought of creating green spaces along with urbanization. Athens and Rome have attempted to construct public gardens around streets and palaces. Since then developing green space has become a part of urban civilization. In medieval ages, all Western cities had palaces and houses with internal gardens. In different sources green belt is defined as a green band of trees and bushes around the cities which has multiple functions. It is said that green belts are not only around the mountains, cities, and rivers but also around houses, subways, and highways. Constructing green belt around cities has different advantages such as: protecting cities against pollution, purifying air, screening dust, being a place for recreation, buffer zone of city internal lands, confronting the phenomenon of heat island, increasing agricultural products, helping to prevent illegal city development, confronting deforestation, preventing flood and increasing subterranean water resources.

Keywords: environment, garden cities, green belt, metropolises

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Authors: Tiantian Ma

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The district of Doumen, Zhuhai has a sophisticated seabass value chain. However, unlike typical Global Value Chain (GVC) industries, the seabass value chain in Doumen is highly domestic both in terms of production and consumption. Still, since the highly-industrialized and capital-intensive industry involves many off-farm segments in both upstream and downstream, this paper will be utilizing the method of value chain analysis. To be specific, the paper will concentrate on two research goals: 1) the value chain mapping of the seabass industry, such as identifying actors in the hatchery, fish feed, fishponds, processing, logistics, and distribution, 2) the SWOT analysis of the seabass industry in Doumen, including incompetence of the waste disposal, the strategy of marketing, and the supportive role of the government, etc. In general, the seabass industry in Doumen is a sophisticated but not yet comprehensive value chain. It has achieved a lot in industrializing aqua-food products and fostering development, but there are still improvements that could be carried out, such as upholding environmental sustainability and promoting the brand better.

Keywords: agricultural value chain, fish farming, regional development, SWOT analysis, value chain mapping

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Authors: Pakize Ozlem Kurt Polat

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GMO (genetically modified organism) is the result of a laboratory process where genes from the DNA of one species are extracted and artificially forced into the genes of an unrelated plant or animal. This technology includes; nucleic acid hybridization, recombinant DNA, RNA, PCR, cell culture and gene cloning techniques. The studies are divided into three groups of properties transferred to the transgenic plant. Up to 59% herbicide resistance characteristic of the transfer, 28% resistance to insects and the virus seems to be related to quality characteristics of 13%. Transgenic crops are not included in the commercial production of each product; mostly commercial plant is soybean, maize, canola, and cotton. Day by day increasing GMO interest can be listed as follows; Use in the health area (Organ transplantation, gene therapy, vaccines and drug), Use in the industrial area (vitamins, monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, anti-cancer compounds, anti -oxidants, plastics, fibers, polyethers, human blood proteins, and are used to produce carotenoids, emulsifiers, sweeteners, enzymes , food preservatives structure is used as a flavor enhancer or color changer),Use in agriculture (Herbicide resistance, Resistance to insects, Viruses, bacteria, fungi resistance to disease, Extend shelf life, Improving quality, Drought , salinity, resistance to extreme conditions such as frost, Improve the nutritional value and quality), we explain all this methods step by step in this research. GMO has advantages and disadvantages, which we explain all of them clearly in full text, because of this topic, worldwide researchers have divided into two. Some researchers thought that the GMO has lots of disadvantages and not to be in use, some of the researchers has opposite thought. If we look the countries law about GMO, we should know Biosafety law for each country and union. For this Biosecurity reasons, the problems caused by the transgenic plants, including Turkey, to minimize 130 countries on 24 May 2000, ‘the United Nations Biosafety Protocol’ signed nudes. This protocol has been prepared in addition to Cartagena Biosafety Protocol entered into force on September 11, 2003. This protocol GMOs in general use by addressing the risks to human health, biodiversity and sustainable transboundary movement of all GMOs that may affect the prevention, transit covers were dealt and used. Under this protocol we have to know the, ‘US Regulations GMO’, ‘European Union Regulations GMO’, ‘Turkey Regulations GMO’. These three different protocols have different applications and rules. World population increasing day by day and agricultural fields getting smaller for this reason feeding human and animal we should improve agricultural product yield and quality. Scientists trying to solve this problem and one solution way is molecular biotechnology which is including the methods of GMO too. Before decide to support or against the GMO, should know the GMO protocols and it effects.

Keywords: biotechnology, GMO (genetically modified organism), molecular marker

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Authors: Albert Gyamfi

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Cocoa plays critical role in the socio-economic development of Ghana. Meanwhile, smallholder farmers most of whom are illiterate dominate the industry. According to the cocoa-based agricultural knowledge and information system (AKIS) model knowledge is created and transferred to the industry between three key actors: cocoa researchers, extension experts, and cocoa farmers. Dwelling on the SECI model, the media richness theory (MRT), and the AKIS model, a conceptual model of web 2.0-based AKIS model (AKIS 2.0) is developed and used to assess the possible effects of social media usage for knowledge creation in the Ghanaian cocoa industry. A mixed method approach with a survey questionnaire was employed, and a second-order multi-group structural equation model (SEM) was used to analyze the data. The study concludes that the use of web 2.0 applications for knowledge creation would lead to sustainable interactions among the key knowledge actors for effective knowledge creation in the cocoa industry in Ghana.

Keywords: agriculture, cocoa, knowledge, media, web 2.0

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Authors: Azzouzi Fadoua

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This study focuses on the diagnosis of the dynamics of natural resources in a semi-arid mountainous weakened by natural vulnerability and anthropogenic action. This is evident in the forms of hydraulic erosion and degradation of agricultural land. The rate of this damaged land is 53%, with a strong presence of concentrated erosion; this shows that balanced and semi-balanced environments are less apparent to the Watershed, representing 47%. The results revealed the crucial role of the slopes and the density of the hydraulic networks to facilitate the transport of fine elements, at the level of the slopes with low vegetation intensity, to the lake of the dam. Something that endangers the siltation of the latter. After the study of natural and anthropogenic elements, it turned out that natural vulnerability is an integral part of the current dynamic, especially when it coincides with the overexploitation of natural resources, in this case, the exploitation of steep slopes for the cultivation of cereals and overgrazing. This causes the soil to pile up and increase the rate of runoff.

Keywords: watershed, erosion, natural vulnerability, anthropogenic

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Authors: Stamatia Nasiakou, Dimitrios Chouvardas, Michael Vrahnakis, Vassiliki Kleftoyanni

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Recent research in the mountainous and semi-mountainous rural landscapes of Greece shows that they have been significantly changed over the last 80 years. These changes have the form of structural modification of land cover/use patterns, with the main characteristic being the extensive expansion of dense forests and shrubs at the expense of grasslands and extensive agricultural areas. The aim of this research was to study the 60-year changes (1960-2019) of land cover/ use units in the rural landscape of Mouzaki (Karditsa Prefecture, central Greece). Relevant cartographic material such as forest land use maps, digital maps (Corine Land Cover -2018), 1960 aerial photos from Hellenic Military Geographical Service, and satellite imagery (Google Earth Pro 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019) was collected and processed in order to study landscape evolution. ArcGIS v 10.2.2 software was used to process the cartographic material and to produce several sets of data. Main product of the analysis was a digitized photo-mosaic of the 1960 aerial photographs, a digitized photo-mosaic of recent satellite images (2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019), and diagrams and maps of temporal transformation of the rural landscape (1960 – 2019). Maps and diagrams were produced by applying photointerpretation techniques and a suitable land cover/ use classification system on the two photo-mosaics. Demographic and socioeconomic inventory data was also collected mainly from diachronic census reports of the Hellenic Statistical Authority and local sources. Data analysis of the temporal transformation of land cover/ use units showed that they are mainly located in the central and south-eastern part of the study area, which mainly includes the mountainous part of the landscape. The most significant change is the expansion of the dense forests that currently dominate the southern and eastern part of the landscape. In conclusion, the produced diagrams and maps of the land cover/ use evolution suggest that woody vegetation in the rural landscape of Mouzaki has significantly increased over the past 60 years at the expense of the open areas, especially grasslands and agricultural areas. Demographic changes, land abandonment and the transformation of traditional farming practices (e.g. agroforestry) were recognized as the main cause of the landscape change. This study is part of a broader research project entitled “Perspective of Agroforestry in Thessaly region: A research on social, environmental and economic aspects to enhance farmer participation”. The project is funded by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT) and the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI).

Keywords: Agroforestry, Forest expansion, Land cover/ use changes, Mountainous and semi-mountainous areas

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Authors: Molla Tadesse Lakew

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Researchers tried to find out the socio-economic and supply-side constraint factors to adoption. However, they overlooked the role of social networks and relationships among the community. Therefore, the aims of this review were to review the roles and negative effects of social capital. Based on its contents, relevancy, and time duration, only 121 (journals, books, and paper reports) were selected. It concludes that social capital has an indispensable role in facilitating cooperation and connection between members of the farmers' community, informal and experiential knowledge sharing, and access to research-based knowledge and contributes to reducing the transaction cost of adoption. On the contrary, inside the black box of social capital, the negative effects include the exclusion of outsider’s knowledge and experiences, excessive claims on group members, and restrictions on individual freedom.

Keywords: social capital, local institutions, adoption, Ethiopia

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Authors: Hakan Arslan, Deniz Ekinci, Alper Gungor, Gurkan Bilir, Omer Tas, Mehmet Altun

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Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses affecting the agricultural production worldwide. In this study, Leaf samples were taken from the carrot plants grown under drought stress conditions during the harvesting period. The plants were irrigated in three irrigation interval (4, 6 and 8 days) and Irrigation water regime was set up in pots. The changes in activities of antioxidant enzymes such as glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione s-transferase (GST), superoxide dismutase (SOD)) in leaves of black carrot were investigated. The activities of antioxidant enzymes (GR, GST, SOD) were varied significantly with irrigation intervals. The highest value of GR, GST and SOD were determined in the irrigation interval of 6 days. All antioxidant activity values were decreased in 8 days of irrigation interval. As a result of the study, it has been suggested that optimum irrigation intervals for plants can be used in antioxidant enzymes.

Keywords: antioxidant enzyme, carrot, drought, irrigation interval

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Authors: N. Degui, Y. Daoud

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The study investigates the assessment of micronutrient bioavailability and behavior in saline soils based on the determination of three cations and one anion on three soil profiles affected by secondary salinization in Lower Cheliff. The chemical fractionation method was used for the speciation study (different forms) of micronutrients in these soils. The results show that total form quantities of cations are height than norms in agricultural soils, thus the quantities of anion are lows. At the other hand, the quantities of available forms are lows. Statistical analysis reveals that cationic micronutrients localize preferentially in the coarse fraction of the soil in salty conditions and that sodicity causes a decrease in the iron reserve in the soil. The pH range ‘7.49 - 8.76’ represents a constraint for the complexation of micronutrients by organic matter. The study concluded that quantities of total and available forms of micronutrients in salty soils are influenced by soil properties such as: pH, electrical conductivity and exchangeable sodium.

Keywords: chemical fractionation, micronutrients, salty soils, speciation

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Authors: Claudia Marcela Munoz Gonzalez, Diego Fernando Hernandez Losada, Hugo Alberto Herrera Fonseca

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The project owner's role in the public-private investment consists of controlling and verifying the correct execution of the project's objectives and resources. Likewise, it is a discipline little explored in the academic field, whereby this work wishes to contribute with a model of good practices based on the project management methodology proposed by the Project Management Body of Knowledge® Guide. In the same way, highlight what are the controls that an integral project owner should take into account in its exercise and application, through the stages in which its contract runs. This proposal aims to structure its practice and integrate its functions according to a project management methodology. In addition, these practices will be applied in a case study of projects in the agricultural sector, particularly in the construction of irrigation district in Cundinamarca, Colombia.

Keywords: controls, construction of irrigation district, PMBOK®, project owner

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Authors: Gift Udoh, Diane S. Rohlman, Benjamin Sindt

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BACKGROUND: There is concern regarding the widespread use of pesticides and impacts on public health. Farmers in Nigeria frequently apply pesticides, including organophosphate pesticides which are known neurotoxicants. They receive little guidance on how much to apply or information about safe handling practices. Pesticide poisoning is one of the major hazards that farmers face in Nigeria. Farmers continue to use highly neurotoxic pesticides for agricultural activities. Because farmers receive little or no information on safe handling and how much to apply, they continue to develop severe and mild illnesses caused by high exposures to pesticides. The project aimed to reduce pesticide exposure among rural farmers in Nigeria by identifying hazards associated with pesticide use and developing and pilot testing training to reduce exposures to pesticides utilizing the hierarchy of controls system. METHODS: Information on pesticide knowledge, behaviors, barriers to safety, and prevention methods was collected from farmers in Nigeria through workplace observations, questionnaires, and interviews. Pre and post-surveys were used to measure farmer’s knowledge before and after the delivery of pesticide safety training. Training topics included the benefits and risks of using pesticides, routes of exposure and health effects, pesticide label activity, use and selection of PPE, ways to prevent exposure and information on local resources. The training was evaluated among farmers and changes in knowledge, attitudes and behaviors were collected prior to and following the training. RESULTS: The training was administered to 60 farmers, a mean age of 35, with a range of farming experience (<1 year to > 50 years). There was an overall increase in knowledge after the training. In addition, farmers perceived a greater immediate risk from exposure to pesticides and their perception of their personal risk increased. For example, farmers believed that pesticide risk is greater to children than to adults, recognized that just because a pesticide is put on the market doesn’t mean it is safe, and they were more confident that they could get advice about handling pesticides. Also, there was greater awareness about behaviors that can increase their exposure (mixing pesticides with bare hands, eating food in the field, not washing hands before eating after applying pesticides, walking in fields recently sprayed, splashing pesticides on their clothes, pesticide storage). CONCLUSION: These results build on existing evidence from a 2022 article highlighting the need for pesticide safety training in Nigeria which suggested that pesticide safety educational programs should focus on community-based, grassroots-style, and involve a family-oriented approach. Educating farmers on agricultural safety while letting them share their experiences with their peers is an effective way of creating awareness on the dangers associated with handling pesticides. Also, for rural communities, especially in Nigeria, pesticide safety pieces of training may not be able to reach some locations, so intentional scouting of rural farming communities and delivering pesticide safety training will improve knowledge of pesticide hazards. There is a need for pesticide information centers to be situated in rural farming communities or agro supply stores, which gives rural farmers information.

Keywords: pesticide exposure, pesticide safety, nigeria, rural farming, pesticide education

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Authors: Vrince Vimal, Madhav J. Nigam

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Wireless sensor networks have enticed much of the spotlight from researchers all around the world, owing to its extensive applicability in agricultural, industrial and military fields. Energy conservation node deployment stratagems play a notable role for active implementation of Wireless Sensor Networks. Clustering is the approach in wireless sensor networks which improves energy efficiency in the network. The clustering algorithm needs to have an optimum size and number of clusters, as clustering, if not implemented properly, cannot effectively increase the life of the network. In this paper, an algorithm has been proposed to address connectivity issues with the aim of ensuring the uniform energy consumption of nodes in every part of the network. The results obtained after simulation showed that the proposed algorithm has an edge over existing algorithms in terms of throughput and networks lifetime.

Keywords: Wireless Sensor network (WSN), Random Deployment, Clustering, Isolated Nodes, Networks Lifetime

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Authors: Akinfiresoye W. A., Olarewaju O. O., Okunola, Okunola I. O.

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An indigenous honey-extracting machine was designed, fabricated and evaluated at the workshop of the department of Agricultural Technology, Federal Polytechnic, Ile-Oluji, Nigeria using locally available materials. It has the extraction unit, the presser, the honey collector and the frame. The harvested honeycomb is placed inside the cylindrical extraction unit with perforated holes. The press plate was then placed on the comb while the hydraulic press of 3 tons was placed on it, supported by the frame. The hydraulic press, which is manually operated, forces the oil out of the extraction chamber through the perforated holes into the honey collector positioned at the lowest part of the extraction chamber. The honey-extracting machine has an average throughput of 2.59 kg/min and an efficiency of about 91%. The cost of producing the honey extracting machine is NGN 31, 700: 00, thirty-one thousand and seven hundred nairas only or $70 at NGN 452.8 to a dollar. This cost is affordable to beekeepers and would-be honey entrepreneurs. The honey-extracting machine is easy to operate and maintain without any complex technical know-how.

Keywords: honey, extractor, cost, efficiency

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Authors: Dereje Regasa

Abstract:

The global food system is at a crossroads, which requires prompt action to minimize the effects of the crises. Agroecology is gaining prominence due to its contributions to sustainable food systems. To support efforts in mitigating the crises, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) established alternative approaches for sustainable agri-food systems. Agroecological elements and principles were developed to guide and support measures that countries need to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs require the systemic integration of practices for a smart intensification or adaptation of traditional or industrial agriculture. As one of the countries working towards SDGs, the agricultural practices in Ethiopia need to be guided by these agroecological elements and principles. Aiming at the identification of challenging aspects of a sustainable agri-food system and the characterization of an enabling environment for agroecology, as well as exploring to what extent the existing policies and strategies support the agroecological transition process, five policy and strategy documents were reviewed. These documents are the Rural Development Policy and Strategy, the Environment Policy, the Biodiversity Policy, and the Soil Strategy of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA). Using the Agroecology Criteria Tool (ACT), the contents were reviewed, focusing on agroecological requirements and the inclusion of sustainable practices. ACT is designed to support a self-assessment of elements supporting agroecology. For each element, binary values were assigned based on the inclusion of the minimum requirements index and then validated through discussion with the document owners. The results showed that the documents were well below the requirements for an agroecological transition of the agri-food system. The Rural Development Policy and Strategy only suffice to 83% in Human and Social Value. It does not support the transition concerning the other elements. The Biodiversity Policy and Soil Strategy suffice regarding the inclusion of Co-creation and Sharing of knowledge (100%), while the remaining elements were not considered sufficiently. In contrast, the Environment Policy supports the transition with three elements accounting for 100%. These are Resilience, Recycling, and Human and Social Care. However, when the four documents were combined, elements such as Synergies, Diversity, Efficiency, Human and Social value, Responsible governance, and Co-creation and Sharing of knowledge were identified as fully supportive (100%). This showed that the policies and strategies complemented one another to a certain extent. However, the evaluation results call for improvements concerning elements like Culture and food traditions, Circular and solidarity economy, Resilience, Recycling, and Regulation and balance since the majority of the elements were not sufficiently observed. Consequently, guidance for the smart intensification of local practices is needed, as well as traditional knowledge enriched with advanced technologies. Ethiopian agricultural and environmental policies and strategies should provide sufficient support and guidance for the intensification of sustainable practices and should provide a framework for an agroecological transition towards a sustainable agri-food system.

Keywords: agroecology, diversity, recycling, sustainable food system, transition

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Authors: Kalep Filli, Sophia Wassén, Annika Krona, Mats Stading

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Food security challenge and the growing population in Sub-Saharan Africa centers on its agricultural transformation, where about 70% of its population is directly involved in farming. Research input can create economic opportunities, reduce malnutrition and poverty, and generate faster, fairer growth. Africa is discarding $4 billion worth of grain annually due to pre and post-harvest losses. Grains and tubers play a central role in food supply in the region but their production has generally lagged behind because no robust scientific input to meet up with the challenge. The African grains are still chronically underutilized to the detriment of the well-being of the people of Africa and elsewhere. The major reason for their underutilization is because they are under-researched. Any commitment by scientific community to intervene needs creative solutions focused on innovative approaches that will meet the economic growth. In order to mitigate this hurdle, co-creation activities and initiatives are necessary.An example of such initiatives has been initiated through Modibbo Adama University of Technology Yola, Nigeria and RISE (The Research Institutes of Sweden) Gothenburg, Sweden. Exchange of expertise in research activities as a possibility to create channel for value addition to agricultural commodities in the region under the ´Traditional Grain Network programme´ is in place. Process technologies, such as extrusion offers the possibility of creating products in the food and feed sectors, with better storage stability, added value, lower transportation cost and new markets. The Swedish–Nigerian initiative has focused on the development of high protein pasta. Dry microscopy of pasta sample result shows a continuous structural framework of proteins and starch matrix. The water absorption index (WAI) results showed that water was absorbed steadily and followed the master curve pattern. The WAI values ranged between 250 – 300%. In all aspect, the water absorption history was within a narrow range for all the eight samples. The total cooking time for all the eight samples in our study ranged between 5 – 6 minutes with their respective dry sample diameter ranging between 1.26 – 1.35 mm. The percentage water solubility index (WSI) ranged from 6.03 – 6.50% which was within a narrow range and the cooking loss which is a measure of WSI is considered as one of the main parameters taken into consideration during the assessment of pasta quality. The protein contents of the samples ranged between 17.33 – 18.60 %. The value of the cooked pasta firmness ranged from 0.28 - 0.86 N. The result shows that increase in ratio of cowpea flour and level of pregelatinized cowpea tends to increase the firmness of the pasta. The breaking strength represent index of toughness of the dry pasta ranged and it ranged from 12.9 - 16.5 MPa.

Keywords: cowpea, extrusion, gluten free, high protein, pasta, sorghum

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Authors: Nagini Sabbineni, Rajini T. V. Kanth, B. V. Kiranmayee

Abstract:

India’s economy primarily depends on agriculture yield growth and their allied agro industry products. The agriculture yield prediction is the toughest task for agricultural departments across the globe. The agriculture yield depends on various factors. Particularly countries like India, majority of agriculture growth depends on rain water, which is highly unpredictable. Agriculture growth depends on different parameters, namely Water, Nitrogen, Weather, Soil characteristics, Crop rotation, Soil moisture, Surface temperature and Rain water etc. In our paper, lot of Explorative Data Analysis is done and various predictive models were designed. Further various regression models like Linear, Multiple Linear, Non-linear models are tested for the effective prediction or the forecast of the agriculture yield for various crops in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states.

Keywords: agriculture yield growth, agriculture yield prediction, explorative data analysis, predictive models, regression models

Procedia PDF Downloads 315