Search results for: Polish agriculture

Authors: I. Gedrovica, D. Karklina

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From year to year, the incidence of different diseases is increasing in humans, and the cause is inadequate intake of dietary fibre, vitamins, and minerals. One of the possibilities to take care of your health preventively is including in the diet products with increased dietary fibre, vitamin, and mineral content.Jerusalem artichoke powder (JAP) made from Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L) roots is a valuable product. By adding it to pastry goods, we can obtain a fibre-rich food that could be healthier and an excellent alternative to the classical pastry products of this kind.Experiments were carried out at the Faculty of Food Technology of Latvia University of Agriculture (LLU). Results of experiments showed that addition of Jerusalem artichoke powder has significant impact on all the studied pastry products nutritional value (p<0.05). With increasing concentration of Jerusalem artichoke powder in pastry products increase it nutritional value and decrease energy value.

Keywords: Biscuits, cakes, Jerusalem artichoke powder, nutritional and energy value

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Authors: Merkisz Jerzy, Lijewski Piotr, Fuć Paweł, Siedlecki Maciej, Ziółkowski Andrzej, Weymann Sylwester

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The paper discusses the problem of load transport using farm tractors and road tractor units. This type of carriage of goods is often done with farm vehicles. The tests were performed with the PEMS equipment (Portable Emission Measurement System) under actual traffic conditions. The vehicles carried a load of 20000 kg. This research method is one of the most desired because it provides reliable information on the actual vehicle emissions and fuel consumption (carbon balance method). For the tests, a route was selected that simulated a trip from a small town to a food-processing facility located in a city. The analysis of the obtained results gave a clear answer as to what vehicles need to be used for carriage of this type of cargo in terms of exhaust emissions and fuel consumption.

Keywords: Emission, transport, fuel consumption, PEMS.

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Authors: Asmaa M. Hussein, Amr Wassal, Ahmed Farouk Al-Sadek, A. F. Abd El-Rahman

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In this study, a multivariate analysis of potato spectroscopic data was presented to detect the presence of brown rot disease or not. Near-Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy (1,350-2,500 nm) combined with multivariate analysis was used as a rapid, non-destructive technique for the detection of brown rot disease in potatoes. Spectral measurements were performed in 565 samples, which were chosen randomly at the infection place in the potato slice. In this study, 254 infected and 311 uninfected (brown rot-free) samples were analyzed using different advanced statistical analysis techniques. The discrimination performance of different multivariate analysis techniques, including classification, pre-processing, and dimension reduction, were compared. Applying a random forest algorithm classifier with different pre-processing techniques to raw spectra had the best performance as the total classification accuracy of 98.7% was achieved in discriminating infected potatoes from control.

Keywords: Brown rot disease, NIR spectroscopy, potato, random forest.

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Authors: Mohammad Hosein Hojati , Fardin Boustani

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Groundwater resources in Arsanjan plain provide water for agriculture, industry, and human consumption. Continued agricultural development in this area needs to additional groundwater resources for, particularly during of drought periods, and effects on the quantity and quality of ground water available. The purpose of this study is to evaluate water level changes in the aquifer of Arsanjan plain in the Fars province in order to determine the areas of greatest depletion and the causes of depletion. In this plain, farmers and other users are pumping groundwater faster than its natural replenishment rate, causing a continuous drop in groundwater tables and depletion of this resource. In this research variation of groundwater level, their effects and ways to help control groundwater levels in aquifer of the Arsanjan plains were evaluated .Excessive exploitation of groundwater in this aquifer caused the groundwater levels fall too fast or to unacceptable levels. The average drawdown of the groundwater level in this plain were 19.66 meters during 1996 to 2003.

Keywords: Aquifer , ground water depletion, water table

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Authors: Susana M. A. Soutinho, Raquel P. F. Guiné, António M. Jordão, Fernando J. Gonçalves

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The agricultural organic farming is different from conventional farming in a way that is aimed at providing a balanced and constructive action in agricultural systems. With the increase in intensive agriculture, undesirable changes were being observed in ecosystems with irreparable damage being caused to the natural equilibrium. This is the reason for the increasing interest in organic farming as an environment friendly agricultural production method. In the present work three red fruits produced in organic farming were analyzed, namely raspberry, gooseberry and blueberry. The samples were harvested in a local farm when at plain maturation. The results obtained allowed to conclude that the blueberry contained higher amounts of phenolic compounds, total tannins and total anthocyanins than raspberry and gooseberry. Furthermore, the HPLC analysis allowed to identify monomeric anthocyanins and phenolic acids in the three fruits studied.

Keywords: Blackberry, gooseberry, organic farming, phenolic compounds, raspberry.

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Authors: A. Vaidya-Soocheta, K. M. Wong-Hon-Lang

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Craft and fashion have always been interlinked. The combination of both often gives stunning results. The present study introduces ‘Paper Cutting Craft Techniques’ like the Japanese –Kirigami, Mexican –PapelPicado, German –Scherenschnitte, Polish –Wycinankito in textiles to develop innovative and novel design structures as embellishments and ornamentation. The project studies various ways of using these paper cutting techniques to obtain interesting features and delicate design patterns on fabrics. While paper has its advantages and related uses, it is fragile rigid and thus not appropriate for clothing. Fabric is sturdy, flexible, dimensionally stable and washable. In the present study, the cut out techniques develop creative design motifs and patterns to give an inventive and unique appeal to the fabrics. The beauty and fascination of lace in garments have always given them a nostalgic charm. Laces with their intricate and delicate complexity in combination with other materials add a feminine touch to a garment and give it a romantic, mysterious appeal. Various textured and decorative effects through fabric manipulation are experimented along with the use of paper cutting craft skills as an innovative substitute for developing lace or “Broderie Anglaise” effects on textiles. A number of assorted fabric types with varied textures were selected for the study. Techniques to avoid fraying and unraveling of the design cut fabrics were introduced. Fabrics were further manipulated by use of interesting prints with embossed effects on cut outs. Fabric layering in combination with assorted techniques such as cutting of folded fabric, printing, appliqué, embroidery, crochet, braiding, weaving added a novel exclusivity to the fabrics. The fabrics developed by these innovative methods were then tailored into garments. The study thus tested the feasibility and practicability of using these fabrics by designing a collection of evening wear garments based on the theme ‘Nostalgia’. The prototypes developed were complemented by designing fashion accessories with the crafted fabrics. Prototypes of accessories add interesting features to the study. The adaptation and application of this novel technique of paper cutting craft on textiles can be an innovative start for a new trend in textile and fashion industry. The study anticipates that this technique will open new avenues in the world of fashion to incorporate its use commercially.

Keywords: Collection, fabric cutouts, nostalgia, prototypes.

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Authors: Irfan Ahmad, Tahir Siddiqui, Rashid Ahmad Khan, Tahir Munir Butt

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An effort to find out the smaller size of cuttings for propagation of Morus alba was made in experimental area Department of Forestry, Range Management and Wildlife, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Different size of cuttings i.e. 2", 4", 6" and 8" were planted in polythene tubes of 3.5"x7". The effort was also made to compare the performance of cuttings in open air and in polythene low tunnel. Root length, number of root branches, root diameter and root fresh and dry weight were found maximum in two inches cuttings while minimum in four inches cuttings. Root growth was found maximum in open air as compared to under polythene sheet.

Keywords: cutting sizes Morus alba, Open air and polythene sheet, root growth

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Authors: I. Kruashvili, I. Inashvili, K. Bziava, M. Lomishvili

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Seepage capillary anomalies in the active layer of soil, related to the soil water movement, often cause variation of soil hydrophysical properties and become one of the main objectives of the hydroecology. It is necessary to mention that all existing equations for computing the seepage flow particularly from soil channels, through dams, bulkheads, and foundations of hydraulic engineering structures are preferable based on the linear seepage law. Regarding the existing beliefs, anomalous seepage is based on postulates according to which the fluid in free volume is characterized by resistance against shear deformation and is presented in the form of initial gradient. According to the above-mentioned information, we have determined: Equation to calculate seepage coefficient when the velocity of transition flow is equal to seepage flow velocity; by means of power function, equations for the calculation of average and maximum velocities of seepage flow have been derived; taking into consideration the fluid continuity condition, average velocity for calculation of average velocity in capillary tube has been received.

Keywords: Seepage, soil, velocity, water.

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Authors: Wanting Zeng, Hsunling Bai

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Silica was extracted from agriculture waste rice husk ash (RHA) and was used as the silica source for synthesis of RMCM-48 and RSBA-16. An alkali fusion process was utilized to separate silicate supernatant and the sediment effectively. The CTAB/Si and F127/Si molar ratio was employed to control the structure properties of the obtained RMCM-48 and RSBA-16 materials. The N2 adsorption-desorption results showed the micro-mesoporous RSBA-16 possessed high specific surface areas (662-1001 m2/g). All the obtained RSBA-16 materials were applied as the adsorbents for acetone adsorption. And the breakthrough tests clearly revealed that the RSBA-16(0.004) materials could achieve the highest acetone adsorption capacity of 181 mg/g under 1000 ppmv acetone vapor concentration at 25oC, which was also superior to ZSM-5 (71mg/g) and MCM-41 (157mg/g) under same test conditions. This can help to reduce the solid waste and the high adsorption performance of the obtained materials could consider as potential adsorbents for acetone adsorption.

Keywords: Acetone, adsorption, micro-mesoporous material, rice husk ash (RHA), RSBA-16.

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Authors: Atefeh Hekmat, Abolfazl Barati, Ebrahim Vasheghani Frahani, Ali Afraz

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In modern agriculture, polymeric hydrogels are known as a component able to hold an amount of water due to their 3-dimensional network structure and their tendency to absorb water in humid environments. In addition, these hydrogels are able to controllably release the fertilisers and pesticides loaded in them. Therefore, they deliver these materials to the plants' roots and help them with growing. These hydrogels also reduce the pollution of underground water sources by preventing the active components from leaching. In this study, sIPN acrylamide based hydrogels are synthesised by using acrylamide free radical, potassium acrylate, and linear polyvinyl alcohol. Ammonium nitrate is loaded in the hydrogel as the fertiliser. The effect of various amounts of monomers and linear polymer, measured in molar ratio, on the swelling rate, equilibrium swelling, and release of ammonium nitrate is studied.

Keywords: Hydrogel, controlled release, ammonium nitrate fertiliser, sIPN.

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Authors: Lija Dukalska, Sandra Muizniece-Brasava, Irisa Murniece, Ilona Dabina-Bicka, Emils Kozlinskis, Svetlana Sarvi

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Experiments were carried out at the Faculty of Food Technology of Latvia University of Agriculture (LLU). Soft cheese Kleo produced in Latvia was packed in a biodegradable PLA without barrierproperties and VC999 BioPack lidding film PLA, coated with a barrier of pure silicon oxide (SiOx) and in combination with modified atmosphere (MAP) the influence on the shelf life was investigated and compared with some conventional (OPP, PE/PA, PE/OPA and Multibarrier 60) polymer film impact. Modified atmosphere consisted of carbon dioxide CO2 (E 290) 30% and nitrogen N2 (E 941) 70%. The analyzable samples were stored at the temperature of +4.0±0.5 °C up to 32 days- and analyzed before packaging and in the 0, 5th, 11th, 15th, 18th, 22nd, 25th, 29th and 32nd day of storage. The shelf life was extended along to 32 days, good outside appearance and lactic acid aroma was observed.

Keywords: Soft cheese, modified atmosphere, conventional andbiodegradable PLA film, shelf life

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Authors: Qurbanov Huseyn Nuraddin

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The results of scientific research on a machine that pours an equal amount of mineral fertilizer under the soil to increase the productivity of grain in mountain farming and obtain quality grain are substantiated. The average yield of the crop depends on the nature of the distribution of fertilizers in the soil. Therefore, the study of effective energy-saving methods for the application of mineral fertilizers is the actual task of modern agriculture. Depending on the type and variety of plants in mountain farming, there is an optimal norm of mineral fertilizers. Applying an equal amount of fertilizer to the soil is one of the conditions that increase the efficiency of the field. One of the main agro-technical indicators of the work of mineral fertilizing machines is to ensure equal distribution of mineral fertilizers in the field. Taking into account the above-mentioned issues, a combined plough has been improved in our laboratory.

Keywords: Combined plough, mineral fertilizers, sprinkle fluently, fertilizer rate, cereals.

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Authors: A. Gandomkar, R. Dehghani

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Drought is natural and climate phenomenon and in fact server as a part of climate in an area and also it has significant environmental, social ,and economic consequences .drought differs from the other natural disasters from this viewpoint that it s a creeping phenomenon meaning that it progresses little and its difficult to determine the time of its onset and termination .most of the drought definitions are on based on precipitation shortage and consequently ,the shortage of water some of the activities related to the water such as agriculture In this research ,drought condition in Fars province was evacuated using SPI method within a 37 year – statistical –period(1974-2010)and maps related to the drought were prepared for each of the statistical period years. According to the results obtained from this research, the years 1974, 1976, 1975, 1982 with SPI (-1.03, 0.39, -1.05, -1.49) respectively, were the doughiest years and 1996,1997,2000 with SPI (2.49, 1.49, 1.46, 1.04) respectively, the most humid within the studying time series and the rest are in more normal conditions in the term of drought.

Keywords: Fars Province, Drought, SPI Method, Time Series

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Authors: S. Graeff-Hönninger, J. Pfenning, V. Gutsal, S. Wolf, S. Zikeli, W. Claupein

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Broccoli is considered as being a rich source of AOX like flavonoids, polyphenols, anthocyanins etc. and of major interest especially in the organic sector. However, AOX is environment dependent and often varies between cultivars. Aim of the study was to investigate the impact of cultivar and harvest date on AOX in broccoli. Activity of the AOX was determined using a Photochem®-Analyzer and a kit of reagent solutions for analysis. Results of the study showed that the lipid (ACL) and water-soluble antioxidant potential (AWC) of broccoli heads varied significantly between the four harvesting dates, but not among the different cultivars. The highest concentration of ACL was measured in broccoli heads harvested in September 2011, followed by heads harvested at the beginning of July in 2012. ACW was highest in heads harvested in October 2011. Lowest concentrations of ACW were measured in heads harvested in June 2012. Overall, the study indicated that the harvest date and thus growing conditions seem to be of high importance for final antioxidant capacity of broccoli.

Keywords: Antioxidant activity, open pollinating, organic agriculture.

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Authors: Panudet Saengseedam, Nanthachai Kantanantha

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This paper proposes a linear mixed model (LMM) with spatial effects to forecast rice and cassava yields in Thailand at the same time. A multivariate conditional autoregressive (MCAR) model is assumed to present the spatial effects. A Bayesian method is used for parameter estimation via Gibbs sampling Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). The model is applied to the rice and cassava yields monthly data which have been extracted from the Office of Agricultural Economics, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Thailand. The results show that the proposed model has better performance in most provinces in both fitting part and validation part compared to the simple exponential smoothing and conditional auto regressive models (CAR) from our previous study.

Keywords: Bayesian method, Linear mixed model, Multivariate conditional autoregressive model, Spatial time series.

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Authors: Leandro X. Cardoso, Susana O. Souza, Fernanda C. L. Ferreira, Orlando C. Ferreira, Elenilson Barboza, Carlos E. Alhanati

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Measurements of radioactivity in the environment is of great importance to monitor and control the levels of radiation to which man is exposed directly or indirectly. It is necessary to show that regardless of working or being close to nuclear power plants, people are daily in contact with some amount of radiation from the actual environment and food that are ingested, contradicting the view of most of them. The aim of this study was to analyze the rate of natural and artificial radiation from radionuclides present in cement, soil and fertilizers used in Sergipe State – Brazil. The radionuclide activitiesmeasured all samples arebelow the Brazilian limit of the exclusion and exemption criteria from the requirement of radiation protection.It was detected Be-7 in organic fertilizers that means a short interval between the brewing processes for use in agriculture. It was also detected an unexpected Cs-137 in some samples; however its activities does not represent risk for the population. Th-231 was also found in samples of soil and cement in the state of Sergipe that is an unprecedented result.

Keywords: Cs-137, Be-7, Th-231 radiation dose, radio isotopes.

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Authors: A. Farsiani, M. E. Ghobadi

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To study on effect of PEG and NaCl stress on germination and early seedling stages on two cultivar of corn, two separated experiment were laid out at physiology laboratory, faculty of Agriculture, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran in 2009. This investigation was performed as factorial experiment under Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. Cultivar factor contains of two varieties (sweet corn SC403 and Flint corn SC704) and five levels of stress (0, -2, -4, -6 and -8 bar). The principal aim of current study was to compare the two varieties of maize in relative to the stress conditions. Results indicated that significant decrease was observed in percentage of germination, germination rate, length of radicle and plumule and radicle and plumule dry matter. On the basis of the results, NaCl as compared with PEG had more effect on germination and early seedling stage and sweet corn had more resistant than flint corn in both stress conditions.

Keywords: Corn, Early Seedling Stage, Germination, PEG andNaCl Stress.

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Authors: Abdoullah Namdar, Fadzil Mat Yahaya

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The waste agriculture materials cause environment pollution, recycle of these materials help sustainable development. This study focused on the impact of used oil palm shell ash on the compressive and flexural strengths of cement mortar. Two different cement mortar mixes have been designed to investigate the impact of oil palm shell ash on strengths of cement mortar. Quantity of 4% oil palm shell ash has been replaced in cement mortar. The main objective of this paper is, to modify mechanical properties of cement mortar by replacement of oil palm ash in it at early age of 7 days. The results have been revealed optimum quantity of oil palm ash for replacement in cement mortar. The deflection, load to failure, time to failure of compressive strength and flexural strength of all specimens have significantly been improved. The stress-strain behavior has been indicated ability of modified cement mortar in control stress path and strain. The micro property of cement paste has not been investigated.

Keywords: Minerals, additive, flexural strength, compressive strength, modulus of elasticity.

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Authors: Gizelle K. Vianna, Gustavo S. Oliveira, Gabriel V. Cunha

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The use of decision support systems in agriculture may help monitoring large fields of crops by automatically detecting the symptoms of foliage diseases. In our work, we designed and implemented a decision support system for small tomatoes producers. This work investigates ways to recognize the late blight disease from the analysis of digital images of tomatoes, using a pair of multilayer perceptron neural networks. The networks outputs are used to generate repainted tomato images in which the injuries on the plant are highlighted, and to calculate the damage level of each plant. Those levels are then used to construct a situation map of a farm where a cellular automata simulates the outbreak evolution over the fields. The simulator can test different pesticides actions, helping in the decision on when to start the spraying and in the analysis of losses and gains of each choice of action.

Keywords: Artificial neural networks, cellular automata, decision support system, pattern recognition.

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Authors: C. D. Papanikolaou, V. A. Giouvanis, E. A. Karatasiou, D. S. Dimakas, M. A. Sakellariou-Makrantonaki

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Irrigation is one of the most important cultivation practices for each crop, especially in areas where rainfall is enough to cover the crop water needs. In such areas, the farmers must irrigate in order to achieve high economical results. The precise irrigation scheduling contributes to irrigation water saving and thus a valuable natural resource is protected. Under this point of view, in the experimental field of the Laboratory of Agricultural Hydraulics of the University of Thessaly, a research was conducted during the growing season of 2012 in order to evaluate the growth, seed and oil production of sunflower as well as the water saving, by applying different methods of irrigation scheduling. Three treatments in four replications were organized. These were: a) surface drip irrigation where the irrigation scheduling based on the Penman-Monteith (PM) method (control); b) surface drip irrigation where the irrigation scheduling based on a soil moisture sensor (SMS); and c) surface drip irrigation, where the irrigation scheduling based on a soil potential sensor (WM).

Keywords: Irrigation scheduling, soil moisture sensors, sustainable agriculture, water saving.

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Authors: Sheroz Khan, A. H. M. Zahirul Alam, Othman O. Khalifa, Mohd Rafiqul Islam, Zuraidah Zainudin, Muzna S. Khan, Nurul Iman Muhamad Pauzi

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The study of soil for agriculture purposes has remained the main focus of research since the beginning of civilization as humans- food related requirements remained closely linked with the soil. The study of soil has generated an interest among the researchers for very similar other reasons including transmission, reflection and refraction of signals for deploying wireless underground sensor networks or for the monitoring of objects on (or in ) soil in the form of better understanding of soil electromagnetic characteristics properties. The moisture content has been very instrumental in such studies as it decides on the resistance of the soil, and hence the attenuation on signals traveling through soil or the attenuation the signals may suffer upon their impact on soil. This work is related testing and characterizing a measurement circuit meant for the detection of moisture level content in soil.

Keywords: Analog–digital Conversion, Bridge Circuits, Intelligent sensors, Pulse Time Modulation, Relaxation Oscillator

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Authors: S. M. Shah, N. J. Mistry

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This study was conducted to evaluate factors regulating groundwater quality in an area with agriculture as main use. Under this study twelve groundwater samples have been collected from Padra taluka, Dabhoi taluka and Savli taluka of Vadodara district. Groundwater samples were chemically analyzed for major physicochemical parameter in order to understand the different geochemical processes affecting the groundwater quality. The analytical results shows higher concentration of total dissolved solids (16.67%), electrical conductivity (25%) and magnesium (8.33%) for pre monsoon and total dissolved solids (16.67%), electrical conductivity (33.3%) and magnesium (8.33%) for post monsoon which indicates signs of deterioration as per WHO and BIS standards. On the other hand, 50% groundwater sample is unsuitable for irrigation purposes based on irrigation quality parameters. The study revealed that application of fertilizer for agricultural contributing the higher concentration of ions in aquifer of Vadodara district.

Keywords: Groundwater pollution, agricultural activity, irrigation water quality, sodium adsorption ratio (SAR).

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Authors: S. Kumar, R. Sultana

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This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Aspergillus species on acridid populations which are major agricultural pests of rice, sugarcane, wheat, maize and fodder crops in Pakistan. Three and replicates i.e. Aspergillus flavus, A. fumigatus and A. niger, excluding the control, were held under laboratory conditions. It was observed that consumption faecal production of acridids was significantly reduced after the pathogenic application of Aspergillus. In the control replicate, the mortality ratio for stage (N₄-N₆) was maximum on day 2^nd i.e. [F_10.7 = 18.33, P < 0.05] followed by [F_4.20 = 07.85, P < 0.05] and [F_3.77 = 06.11, P < 0.05] on 4^th and 3^rd day, respectively. Similarly, it was a minimum i.e. [F_0.48 = 84.65, P < 0.05] on the 1^st day. It was also noted that faecal production of Acridid nymphs was not significantly affected when treated with conidial concentration in H₂O formulation; however, it was significantly reduced after the contamination with conidial concentration in oil. The high morality of acridids after contamination of Aspergillus supports their use as bio-control agent for reducing pest population. The present study recommends that exploration and screening must be conducted to provide additional pathogens for evaluation as potential biological control against grasshoppers and locusts.

Keywords: Acridid, agriculture, Aspergillus, formulation, Grasshoppers.

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Authors: J. Furuya, S. Kobayashi, S. D. Meyer

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This research examines possible effects of climatic change focusing on global warming and its impacts on world agricultural product markets, by using a world food model developed to consider climate changes. GDP and population for each scenario were constructed by IPCC and climate data for each scenario was reported by the Hadley Center and are used in this research to consider results in different contexts. Production and consumption of primary agriculture crops of the world for each socio-economic scenario are obtained and investigated by using the modified world food model. Simulation results show that crop production in some countries or regions will have different trends depending on the context. These alternative contexts depend on the rate of GDP growth, population, temperature, and rainfall. Results suggest that the development of environment friendly technologies lead to more consumption of food in many developing countries. Relationships among environmental policy, clean energy development, and poverty elimination warrant further investigation.

Keywords: Global warming, SRES scenarios, World food model.

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Authors: Nurul-Akidah M. Yusak, Rahmah Mohamed, Noor Zuhaira Abd Aziz

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The introduction of degradable plastic materials into agricultural sectors has represented a promising alternative to promote green agriculture and environmental friendly of modern farming practices. Major challenges of developing degradable agricultural films are to identify the most feasible types of degradation mechanisms, composition of degradable polymers and related processing techniques. The incorrect choice of degradable mechanisms to be applied during the degradation process will cause premature losses of mechanical performance and strength. In order to achieve controlled process of agricultural film degradation, the compositions of degradable agricultural film also important in order to stimulate degradation reaction at required interval of time and to achieve sustainability of the modern agricultural practices. A set of photodegradable polyethylene based agricultural film was developed and produced, following the selective optimization of processing parameters of the agricultural film manufacturing system. Example of agricultural films application for oil palm seedlings cultivation is presented.

Keywords: Photodegradable polyethylene, plasticulture, processing schemes.

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Authors: Sandra Muizniece-Brasava, Lija Dukalska, Irisa Murniece, Ilona Dabina-Bicka, Emils Kozlinskis, Svetlana Sarvi, Ralfs Santars, Anna Silvjane

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The research object was wheat bread. Experiments were carried out at the Faculty of Food Technology of the Latvia University of Agriculture. An active packaging in combination with modified atmosphere (MAP, CO2 60% and N2 40%) was examined and compared with traditional packaging in air ambiance. Polymer Multibarrier 60, PP and OPP bags were used. Influence of iron based oxygen absorber in sachets of 100 cc obtained from Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Europe Ageless® was tested on the quality during the shelf of wheat bread. Samples of 40±4 g were packaged in polymer pouches (110 mm x 120 mm), hermetically sealed by MULTIVAC C300 vacuum chamber machine, and stored in room temperature +21.0±0.5 °C. The physiochemical properties – weight losses, moisture content, hardness, pH, colour, changes of atmosphere content (CO2 and O2) in headspace of packs, and microbial conditions were analysed before packaging and in the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th days of storage.

Keywords: Active packaging, wheat bread, shelf life.

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Authors: Anderson Rocha, Pedro Miguel de Figueiredo Dinis Oliveira Gaspar

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Machine vision has been widely used in recent years in agriculture, as a tool to promote the automation of processes and increase the levels of productivity. The aim of this work is the development of a path recognition algorithm based on image processing to guide a terrestrial robot in-between tree rows. The proposed algorithm was developed using the software MATLAB, and it uses several image processing operations, such as threshold detection, morphological erosion, histogram equalization and the Hough transform, to find edge lines along tree rows on an image and to create a path to be followed by a mobile robot. To develop the algorithm, a set of images of different types of orchards was used, which made possible the construction of a method capable of identifying paths between trees of different heights and aspects. The algorithm was evaluated using several images with different characteristics of quality and the results showed that the proposed method can successfully detect a path in different types of environments.

Keywords: Agricultural mobile robot, image processing, path recognition, Hough transform.

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Authors: W. A. D. P. Wanigasundera, P. C. B. Alahakoon

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Kandy district in Sri Lanka, has small scale and rain-fed paddy farming, and highly vulnerable to climate change. In this study, the status of climate change was assessed using meteorological data and compared with the perceptions of paddy farming community. Factors affecting the adaptation to the climate smart farming were also assessed.

 Meteorological data for 33 years were collected and the changes over time compared with the perceptions of farmers. The temperature, rainfall and number of rainy days have increased in both locations. The onset of rains also has shifted. The perceptions of the majority of the farmers were in line with the actual changes. The knowledge and attitudes about the causes of climate change and adaptation were medium and related to level of adoption. Formulating effective communication strategies, and a collaborative approach involving state, private sector, civil society to make Sri Lankan agriculture ‘climate-smart’ is urgently needed.

Keywords: Adaptation of climate-smart technology, climate change, perception, rain-fed paddy.

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Authors: Rachel Bardy Prado, Vinícius de Melo Benites, José Carlos Polidoro, Carlos Eduardo Gonçalves, Alexey Naumov

Abstract:

Most agricultural crops cultivated in Brazil are highly nutrient demanding. Brazilian soils are generally acidic with low base saturation and available nutrients. Demand for fertilizer application has increased because the national agricultural sector expansion. To improve productivity without environmental impact, there is the need for the utilization of novel procedures and techniques to optimize fertilizer application. This includes the digital soil mapping and GIS application applied to mapping in different scales. This paper is based on research, realized during 2005 to 2010 by Brazilian Corporation for Agricultural Research (EMBRAPA) and its partners. The purpose was to map soil fertility in national and regional scales. A soil profile data set in national scale (1:5,000,000) was constructed from the soil archives of Embrapa Soils, Rio de Janeiro and in the regional scale (1:250,000) from COMIGO Cooperative soil data set, Rio Verde, Brazil. The mapping was doing using ArcGIS 9.1 tools from ESRI.

Keywords: agricultural sustainability, fertilizer optimization, GIS, soil attributes.

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Authors: Abdullah Gokhan Yilmaz, Monzur Alam Imteaz, Shirley Gato-Trinidad, Iqbal Hossain

Abstract:

Climate change leading to global warming affects the earth through many different ways such as weather (temperature, precipitation, humidity and the other parameters of weather), snow coverage and ice melting, sea level rise, hydrological cycles, quality of water, agriculture, forests, ecosystems and health. One of the most affected areas by climate change is hydrology and water resources. Regions where majority of runoff consists of snow melt are more sensitive to climate change. The first step of climate change studies is to establish trends of significant climate variables including precipitation, temperature and flow data to detect any potential climate change impacts already happened. Two popular non-parametric trend analysis methods, Mann-Kendal and Spearman-s Rho were applied to Upper Euphrates Basin (Turkey) to detect trends of precipitation, temperatures (maximum, minimum and average) and streamflow.

Keywords: Climate change, precipitation, snow hydrology, trend analysis and Upper Euphrates Basin

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