Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030495
Authors: Monica Marilena Miazzi Antonella Pasqualone Marion Zammit-Mangion Michele Antonio Savoia Valentina Fanelli Silvia Procino Susanna Gadaleta Francesco Luigi Aurelio Cinzia Montemurro
The genetic diversity of the ancient autochthonous olive trees on the Maltese islands and the relationship with the wild forms growing in marginal areas of the island (57 samples), as well as with the most widespread cultivars in the Mediterranean region (150 references), were investigated by genetic analysis with 10 SSR markers. The analysis revealed a high genetic diversity of Maltese germplasm, totaling 84 alleles and a Shannon information index (I) of 1.08. All samples from the upper and the lower part of the crown of the Bidni trees belonged to the same genotype, suggesting that there was no secondary top-grafting of the branches. The Bidni trees showed close relationships with the local wild germplasm, suggesting that the oleaster population played a role in the selection of the Bidni variety. Genetic similarities were also found between Maltese cultivars and several Italian varieties including accessions putatively resistant to the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, which has recently emerged in the Apulia region (Italy) and has caused severe epidemics on olive trees over the last decade.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030494
Authors: Xiaoshun Zhao Zhuangzhuang Hou Jizong Zhang Huali Yu Jianjun Hao Yuhua Liu
In order to improve the quality of transplanting devices and solve the problems of the poor effect on soil moisture conservation and more weeds easily growing due to the high mulching-film damage rate with an excessive number of hole openings, we developed a dibble-type transplanting device consisting of a dibble-type transplanting unit, a transplanting disc, and a dibble axis. The ADAMS software Adams2020 (64bit) was used to simulate and analyze the kinematic track of the transplanting device. The results of the analysis show that, when the hole opening of the envelope in the longitudinal dimension was the smallest, the transplanting characteristic coefficient was 1.034, the transplanting angle was 95°, and the transplanting frequency had no influence. With the help of the ANSYS WORKBENCH software Ansys19.2 (64bit), an analysis of the process of the formation of an opening in the mulching film and a mechanical simulation of this process were completed. The results indicate that, when the maximum shear stress of the mulching film was the smallest, the transplanting characteristic coefficient was 1.000, the transplanting frequency was 36 plants·min−1, and the transplanting angle was 95°. In addition, the device was tested in a film-breaking experiment on a soil-tank test bench to verify the hole opening in the mulching film. The bench test showed that, when the longitudinal dimension was the smallest, the transplanting characteristic coefficient was 1.034, the transplanting frequency was 36 plants·min−1, and the transplanting angle was 95°. When the lateral dimension was the smallest, the transplanting characteristic coefficient was 1.034, the transplanting frequency was 36 plants·min−1, and the transplanting angle was 90°. The theoretical analysis, kinematic simulation, and soil-tank test results were consistent, verifying the validity and ensuring the feasibility of the transplanting device. This study provides a reference for the development of transplanting devices.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030493
Authors: Yousuf Abdulmunem Noman Domingo Fernández Uclés
Turkey ranks among the top five olive oil-producing countries in the world, and the olive crop plays a crucial role in its economy, economically, environmentally, and socially. One of the primary challenges facing the agricultural sector is its profitability. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyse the olive sector in terms of economic efficiency, to identify productive and organizational variables directly associated with higher economic efficiency. Data were obtained from 193 organizations in the sector. A dual methodology is employed, comprising Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and, subsequently, Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). The findings highlight the relevance of variables such as organization size, irrigation usage, focus on olive oil, or cultivation on sloping terrain as factors associated with a higher level of economic efficiency.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030492
Authors: Shuhe Zheng Chongcheng Chen Yuming Guo
Aiming at the problems found in grinding Jun-Cao, such as poor grinding effect and high grinding power of mill, this study proposes a blade Jun-Cao grinding hammer based on the traditional hammer mill. With dynamics model analysis, it had better performance than a traditional hammer. By simulating the operation process in the DEM, forces on Jun-Cao and their motions were analyzed. By optimizing the structural parameters of the hammer blade based on multiobjective optimization using the genetic algorithm, an optimal solution set was obtained as a reference for practical production. Meanwhile, a bench test was designed to compare the traditional rectangular hammer with the new blade hammer regarding the operation effect. The result proved the following: (1) cutting edge length, cutting edge thickness and hammer thickness had a significant influence on the grinding effect and grinding power; (2) a total of 22 optimal solution sets were obtained, based on which the blade hammer with a cutting edge length of 45 mm, a cutting edge thickness of 3 mm and a hammer thickness of 7 mm was finally selected in the bench test; (3) the bench test proved that the blade hammer was generally superior to the traditional rectangular hammer with the output per kilowatt-hour having been improved by 13.55% on average.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030491
Authors: Zhongwei Wei Yuzhu Zhang Wenyu Jin
Super high-yielding rice (SHYR) (>15 t ha−1) plays a crucial role in global food production and security. We hypothesized that the external environment of different ecological regions could improve biomass accumulation in different periods and thus increase the rice yield. Two SHYR varieties, i.e., Xiangliangyou900 (XLY900) and Yliangyou900 (YLY900), were cultivated in the YONGSHENG and LONGHUI ecoregions, China. The results indicated that the average yield of the two SHYRs in the LONGHUI ecological region was 15.27–15.45 t ha−1 and 18.81–20.10 t ha−1 in YONGSHENG. The high grain yield in the YONGSHENG ecoregion was mainly due to the increased number of spikelets per panicle, crop growth rate, and total biomass during the transplanting–heading stage (TP-HS) and heading–maturity stage (HS-MS), and harvest index. The yield of SHYR was significantly correlated with external environment conditions, i.e., average minimum temperature, average daytime, and night-time temperature, and average daily temperature at the TP-HS, HS-MS, and transplanting–maturity (TP-MS) stages. The rice yield was significantly and positively correlated with the cumulative daily radiation. Therefore, it can be concluded that the final yield of super high-yield rice is closely related to the utilization of temperature and radiation resources during the growth process in the ecological environment.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030490
Authors: Lexin Zhang Kuiheng Chen Liping Zheng Xuwei Liao Feiyu Lu Yilun Li Yuzhuo Cui Yaze Wu Yihong Song Shuo Yan
This study introduces a novel high-accuracy fruit fly detection model based on the Transformer structure, specifically aimed at addressing the unique challenges in fruit fly detection such as identification of small targets and accurate localization against complex backgrounds. By integrating a step attention mechanism and a cross-loss function, this model significantly enhances the recognition and localization of fruit flies within complex backgrounds, particularly improving the model’s effectiveness in handling small-sized targets and its adaptability under varying environmental conditions. Experimental results demonstrate that the model achieves a precision of 0.96, a recall rate of 0.95, an accuracy of 0.95, and an F1-score of 0.95 on the fruit fly detection task, significantly outperforming leading object detection models such as YOLOv8 and DETR. Specifically, this research delves into and optimizes for challenges faced in fruit fly detection, such as recognition issues under significant light variation, small target size, and complex backgrounds. Through ablation experiments comparing different data augmentation techniques and model configurations, the critical contributions of the step attention mechanism and cross-loss function to enhancing model performance under these complex conditions are further validated. These achievements not only highlight the innovativeness and effectiveness of the proposed method, but also provide robust technical support for solving practical fruit fly detection problems in real-world applications, paving new paths for future research in object detection technology.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030489
Authors: Hoang Hai Nguyen Dae-Yun Shin Woo-Sung Jung Tae-Yeol Kim Dae-Hyun Lee
Industrial greenhouse mushroom cultivation is currently promising, due to the nutritious and commercial mushroom benefits and its convenience in adapting smart agriculture technologies. Traditional Device-Cloud protocol in smart agriculture wastes network resources when big data from Internet of Things (IoT) devices are directly transmitted to the cloud server without processing, delaying network connection and increasing costs. Edge computing has emerged to bridge these gaps by shifting partial data storage and computation capability from the cloud server to edge devices. However, selecting which tasks can be applied in edge computing depends on user-specific demands, suggesting the necessity to design a suitable Smart Agriculture Information System (SAIS) architecture for single-crop requirements. This study aims to design and implement a cost-saving multilayered SAIS architecture customized for smart greenhouse mushroom cultivation toward leveraging edge computing. A three-layer SAIS adopting the Device-Edge-Cloud protocol, which enables the integration of key environmental parameter data collected from the IoT sensor and RGB images collected from the camera, was tested in this research. Implementation of this designed SAIS architecture with typical examples of mushroom cultivation indicated that low-cost data pre-processing procedures including small-data storage, temporal resampling-based data reduction, and lightweight artificial intelligence (AI)-based data quality control (for anomalous environmental conditions detection) together with real-time AI model deployment (for mushroom detection) are compatible with edge computing. Integrating the Edge Layer as the center of the traditional protocol can significantly save network resources and operational costs by reducing unnecessary data sent from the device to the cloud, while keeping sufficient information.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030487
Authors: Zeyu Lu Lingtian Zhang Qing Mu Junyang Liu Yu Chen Haoyuan Wang Yanjun Zhang Rui Su Ruijun Wang Zhiying Wang Qi Lv Zhihong Liu Jiasen Liu Yunhua Li Yanhong Zhao
Due to recent innovations in gene editing technology, great progress has been made in livestock breeding, with researchers rearing gene-edited pigs, cattle, sheep, and other livestock. Gene-editing technology involves knocking in, knocking out, deleting, inhibiting, activating, or replacing specific bases of DNA or RNA sequences at the genome level for accurate modification, and such processes can edit genes at a fixed point without needing DNA templates. In recent years, although clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 system-mediated gene-editing technology has been widely used in research into the genetic breeding of animals, the system’s efficiency at inserting foreign genes is not high enough, and there are certain off-target effects; thus, it is not appropriate for use in the genome editing of large livestock such as cashmere goats. In this study, the development status, associated challenges, application prospects, and future prospects of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated precision gene-editing technology for use in livestock breeding were reviewed to provide a theoretical reference for livestock gene function analysis, genetic improvement, and livestock breeding that account for characteristics of local economies.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030488
Authors: Dongdong Jia Wenzhong Guo Lichun Wang Wengang Zheng Guohua Gao
In the plant factories using stereoscopic cultivation systems, the cultivation plate transport equipment is an essential component of production. However, there are problems, such as high labor intensity, low levels of automation, and poor versatility of existing solutions, that can affect the efficiency of cultivation plate transport processes. To address these issues, this study designed a cultivation plate transport system that can automatically input and output cultivation plates, and can flexibly adjust its structure to accommodate different cultivation frame heights. We elucidated the working principles of the transport system and carried out structural design and parameter calculation for the lift cart, input actuator, and output actuator. In the input process, we used dynamic simulation technology to obtain an optimum propulsion speed of 0.3 m·s−1. In the output process, we used finite element numerical simulation technology to verify that the deformation of the cultivation plate and the maximum stress suffered by it could meet the operational requirements. Finally, operation and performance experiments showed that, under the condition of satisfying the allowable amount of positioning error in the horizontal and vertical directions, the horizontal operation speed was 0.2 m·s−1, the maximum positioning error was 2.87 mm, the vertical operation speed was 0.3 m·s−1, and the maximum positioning error was 1.34 mm. Accordingly, the success rate of the transport system was 92.5–96.0%, and the operational efficiency was 176–317 plates/h. These results proved that the transport system could meet the operational requirements and provide feasible solutions for the automation of plant factory transport equipment.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030486
Authors: Milan Koszel Stanisław Parafiniuk Sławomir Kocira Andrzej Bochniak Artur Przywara Edmund Lorencowicz Pavol Findura Atanas Zdravkov Atanasov
Taking into consideration its physico-chemical properties, digestate should be used primarily as a fertiliser. The possible ways of using digestate as a fertiliser in agriculture were identified, and digestate collected from an agricultural biogas plant was tested for its macroelement and heavy metal content. The research was conducted on Haplic LUVISOLS soil according FAO classification. The area of the land plots was 75 m2. All measurements were carried out in ten replicates. Seed yield was determined at 2.6 t ha−1. The thousand-seed weight was similar in the three growing seasons, and averaged 171.49 g to 184.44 g for the three years under analysis. For the control object, the average thousand-seed weight from the three years of the experiment was 168.56 g. This parameter was significantly influenced by the year of analysis. The highest protein content was obtained in 2022 (an average of 20.3%), which was significantly higher than in 2021 (20.13%) and 2020 (20.12%). The analysis showed an increase in the average value for the three harvest years regarding the fat content of the multiflora bean seeds depending on the post-harvest digestate dose, ranging from 0.47% to 0.61%. In the control object, the average fat content for the three harvest years under analysis was 0.41%. The year under analysis had no significant impact on fat content. A positive correlation was found between the digestate dose and protein, fat, and carbohydrate contents per 100 g of beans. Increasing the dose resulted in statistically significant differences from the lower dose. The obtained results show an increase in macroelement content depending on the digestate dose applied. The average carbohydrate content per 100 g of beans for the three years under analysis ranged from 49.78 g to 54.01 g, while the calcium content per 100 g of beans ranged from 109.23 mg to 124.00 mg. In contrast, the magnesium content in 100 g of bean ranged from 129.91 g to 137.01 mg, the phosphorus content in 100 g of bean from 366.99 mg to 387.00 mg, and the potassium content in 100 g of bean from 1341.20 mg to 1394.06 mg. Statistical analysis revealed statistically significant differences except for potassium, where no differences were found for the two highest doses. In addition, no differences were found in the average phosphorus and potassium content between the years under analysis. The study showed an increase in yield depending on the amount of digestate applied. The highest dose used in the experiment provided the most nitrogen and macronutrients, with a positive effect on yield velocity, protein and fat content, micronutrients, and macronutrients in beans.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030485
Authors: Guoyu Zhang Ye Tian Wenhan Yin Change Zheng
The use of automation technology in agriculture has become particularly important as global agriculture is challenged by labor shortages and efficiency gains. The automated process for harvesting apples, an important agricultural product, relies on efficient and accurate detection and localization technology to ensure the quality and quantity of production. Adverse lighting conditions can significantly reduce the accuracy of fruit detection and localization in automated apple harvesting. Based on deep-learning techniques, this study aims to develop an accurate fruit detection and localization method under adverse light conditions. This paper explores the LE-YOLO model for accurate and robust apple detection and localization. The traditional YOLOv5 network was enhanced by adding an image enhancement module and an attention mechanism. Additionally, the loss function was improved to enhance detection performance. Secondly, the enhanced network was integrated with a binocular camera to achieve precise apple localization even under adverse lighting conditions. This was accomplished by calculating the 3D coordinates of feature points using the binocular localization principle. Finally, detection and localization experiments were conducted on the established dataset of apples under adverse lighting conditions. The experimental results indicate that LE-YOLO achieves higher accuracy in detection and localization compared to other target detection models. This demonstrates that LE-YOLO is more competitive in apple detection and localization under adverse light conditions. Compared to traditional manual and general automated harvesting, our method enables automated work under various adverse light conditions, significantly improving harvesting efficiency, reducing labor costs, and providing a feasible solution for automation in the field of apple harvesting.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030484
Authors: Tengteng Qu Yaoyu Li Qixin Zhao Yunzhen Yin Yuzhi Wang Fuzhong Li Wuping Zhang
Drone multispectral technology enables the real-time monitoring and analysis of soil moisture across vast agricultural lands. overcoming the time-consuming, labor-intensive, and spatial discontinuity constraints of traditional methods. This study establishes a rapid inversion model for deep soil moisture (0–200 cm) in dryland agriculture using data from drone-based multispectral remote sensing. Maize, millet, sorghum, and potatoes were selected for this study, with multispectral data, canopy leaf, and soil moisture content at various depths collected every 3 to 6 days. Vegetation indices highly correlated with crop canopy leaf moisture content (p < 0.01) and were identified using Pearson correlation analysis, leading to the development of linear and nonlinear regression models for predicting moisture content in canopy leaves and soil. The results show a significant linear correlation between the predicted and actual canopy leaf moisture levels for the four crops, according to the chosen vegetation indices. The use of canopy leaf moisture content to predict surface soil moisture (0–20 cm) demonstrated enhanced accuracy. The models designed for the top 20 cm of soil moisture successfully estimated deep soil moisture levels (up to 200 cm) for all four crops. The 20 cm range soil moisture model showed improvements over the 10 cm range model, with increases in Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Coefficient of Determination (R2), and Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency Coefficient (NSE) by 0.4, 0.8, 0.73, and 0.34, respectively, in the corn area; 0.28, 0.69, 0.48, and 0.25 in the millet area; 0.4, 0.48, 0.22, and 0.52 in the sorghum area; and 1.14, 0.81, 0.73, and 0.56 in the potato area, all with an average Relative Error (RE) of less than 10% across the crops. Using drone-based multispectral technology, this study forecasts leaf water content via vegetation index analysis, facilitating swift and effective soil moisture inversion. This research introduces a novel method for monitoring and managing agricultural water resources, providing a scientific basis for precision farming and moisture variation monitoring in dryland areas.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030483
Authors: Lina Skinulienė Aušra Marcinkevičienė Mindaugas Dorelis Vaclovas Bogužas
Depending on the type of agricultural use and applied crop rotation, soil organic carbon accumulation may depend, which can lead to less CO2 fixation in the global carbon cycle. Less is known about organic carbon emissions in different crop production systems (cereals, grasses) using different agrotechnologies. There is a lack of more detailed studies on the influence of carbon content in the soil on plant productivity, as well as the links between the physical properties of the soil and the absorption, viability, and emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) from mineral fertilizers. The aim of this study is to estimate the long-term effect of soil organic carbon sequestration potential in different crop rotations. The greatest potential for organic carbon sequestration is Norfolk-type crop rotation, where crops that reduce soil fertility are replaced by crops that increase soil fertility every year. Soil carbon sequestration potential was significantly higher (46.72%) compared with continuous black fallow and significantly higher from 27.70 to 14.19% compared with field with row crops and cereal crop rotations, respectively, intensive crop rotation saturated with intermediate crops. In terms of carbon sequestration, it is most effective to keep perennial grasses for one year while the soil is still full of undecomposed cereal straw from the previous crop. Black fallow without manure fertilization, compared to crop rotation, reduces the amount of organic carbon in the soil up to two times, the carbon management index by 2–5 times, and poses the greatest risk to the potential of carbon sequestration in agriculture.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030482
Authors: Vladimír Langraf Kornélia Petrovičová
The policy of the European Union on land management promotes sustainable agriculture with an emphasis on the protection of biodiversity and the environment. Organic agriculture is the most appropriate alternative to ensure this common goal. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of factors such as pH, moisture, nitrogen potassium, phosphorus and grass herbaceous vegetation on the spatial structure of epigeic arthropods during the spring and summer seasons under organic farming conditions. Research took place between 2020 and 2022, and we recorded 14,988 individuals belonging to 16 taxa using pitfall traps. Between the years 2020 and 2022, we confirmed a decrease in the number of individuals and taxa of epigeic arthropods from the grass herbaceous vegetation to the interior of the field during the summer seasons. This decline was not confirmed in the spring seasons. Phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen, moisture and pH factors also had a significant influence on the spatial structure of epigeic arthropods. Our results show that the higher number of individuals and taxa at the grass herbaceous vegetation occurred only during the summer period. This fact contributes to an increase in biomass and, consequently, the yield of crops.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030481
Authors: Dania Tamayo-Vera Xiuquan Wang Morteza Mesbah
The interplay of machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) within the agroclimatic domain is pivotal for addressing the multifaceted challenges posed by climate change on agriculture. This paper embarks on a systematic review to dissect the current utilization of ML and DL in agricultural research, with a pronounced emphasis on agroclimatic impacts and adaptation strategies. Our investigation reveals a dominant reliance on conventional ML models and uncovers a critical gap in the documentation of methodologies. This constrains the replicability, scalability, and adaptability of these technologies in agroclimatic research. In response to these challenges, we advocate for a strategic pivot toward Automated Machine Learning (AutoML) frameworks. AutoML not only simplifies and standardizes the model development process but also democratizes ML expertise, thereby catalyzing the advancement in agroclimatic research. The incorporation of AutoML stands to significantly enhance research scalability, adaptability, and overall performance, ushering in a new era of innovation in agricultural practices tailored to mitigate and adapt to climate change. This paper underscores the untapped potential of AutoML in revolutionizing agroclimatic research, propelling forward the development of sustainable and efficient agricultural solutions that are responsive to the evolving climate dynamics.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030480
Authors: Zhe Zhao Yali Yang Hongtu Xie Yixin Zhang Hongbo He Xudong Zhang Shijun Sun
As the main organic materials, straw and manure play a critical role in soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration and crop yield in China. This meta-analysis evaluated the impact of straw and manure amendments, both individually and combined, on crop yield, SOC, and soil nutrients in China by collecting 173 studies. The findings of this study revealed that straw return and manure application increased crop yields by 14.4% and 70.4%, respectively, overall. Combined straw and manure application gained a better improvement effect than straw alone but was less effective than manure alone. Regarding the straw return results, rice straw and a 3000–6000 kg ha−1 returning quantity improved crop yield, SOC, available phosphorus (AP), available potassium (AK), and total nitrogen (TN) the most; regarding the straw return form, straw incorporated into soil and biochar increased crop yield and SOC more, respectively; and <5 years and ≥5 years of straw return treatment increased crop yield and TN more, respectively. Regarding manure application, pig and chicken manure increased crop yield and TN more, respectively; a 50–80% substitution ratio and 10–20 years of duration were best for improving crop yield, SOC, AP, AK, and TN. This study highlights the importance of optimal organic amendment through straw or manure applications to achieve a win–win between crop yield and soil fertility under the requirement of sustainable agriculture.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030479
Authors: Zvonko Antunović Josip Novoselec Željka Klir Šalavardić Zvonimir Steiner Mato Drenjančević Valentina Pavić Mislav Đidara Mario Ronta Lidija Jakobek Barron Boro Mioč
The objective of this study was to assess the impact that diets supplemented with grape seed cake rich in polyphenols had on lactating goats. The study investigated the quantity and quality of goat milk, the metabolic profile of blood, and the antioxidative status. The study involved 24 French Alpine dairy goats throughout their lactation period. The goats were, on average, 5 years old (±three months) and in the fourth lactation. The experiment lasted for 58 days. The control group (CON) had a diet without grape seed cake (GSC). The experimental groups were given a diet containing 5% and 10% GSC on a dry matter basis (GSC5 and GSC10, respectively). A slightly higher milk production, as well as protein and fat milk content, were found in GSC5 and GSC10, but the differences were not significant. Goat milk in the GSC10 group exhibited significantly higher activity of superoxide dismutase and glutathione reductase, as well as decreased concentrations of GUK and SCC. The feeding treatments did not affect significant differences in hematological and biochemical indicators, except for the BHB content, which can be associated with a higher energy value of feed containing GSC. There was an observed elevation in the activity of SOD within the blood of GSC5, and GSC10 was measured as well. The determined changes justify the supplementation of GSC rich in polyphenols to goat feed, especially in the amount of 10%, as it can reduce stress caused by lactation, which is known as a very stressful production period for animals.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030478
Authors: Jin Ren Xinrui Chen Lefeng Shi Ping Liu Zhixiong Tan
This study conducts a comprehensive analysis of China’s digital village construction, emphasizing its role in rural organizational governance, from bureaucracies to self-governance bodies to market forces and social organizations. Utilizing sample data from 30 provinces from 2014 to 2020, the study dissects the dynamics and diversity of multi-level governance in bolstering agroecological efficiency (AEE). Notable insights include a significant positive correlation between digital villages and AEE. However, it wanes in an “inverted U” pattern beyond a digital development index of 0.8. Furthermore, rural bureaucrats and self-governing entities independently advance AEE, while market forces and social organizations require enhancement. These findings contribute to the field of digital village construction and inform sustainable agricultural strategies in developing nations.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030477
Authors: Stefan Krajewski Jan Žukovskis Dariusz Gozdowski Marek Cieśliński Elżbieta Wójcik-Gront
This study comprehensively analyzed the dynamic landscape of organic farming in the European Union (EU) from 2004 to 2021, investigating the shifts in dedicated agricultural areas influenced by evolving preferences and the priorities of farmers and consumers. Examining the impact of socio-economic factors, including gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, the human development index (HDI), and human population density, this study established multivariate relationships through country-level analyses based on correlations, principal component analysis, cluster analysis, and panel analysis. Despite a universal increase in the organic agriculture areas across all the EU countries during the study period, the production levels exhibited negative correlations with the human population density, GDP per capita, and HDI. Notably, the Baltic countries and Austria led in organic farming production, while Malta, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, and Luxemburg formed a distinct group in the cluster analysis with less intensive organic agriculture per capita. These insights are crucial for supporting the resilience and sustainability of organic farming as it continues to evolve. Predictions of organic agriculture share for 2030 based on trends evaluated using linear regression in the years 2004–2021 estimated about 12% of utilized agricultural area, which was much lower than the target share of the European Commission at 25%. Predictions based on linear regression showed that achieving the European Green Deal target of a 25% share of organic agriculture in unlikely in most EU countries by 2030. The target is only highly probable to be obtained in Austria, Estonia, and Sweden. The EU countries varied significantly across various indices characterizing organic agriculture, including organic agriculture area share. It should be noted that the study was conducted on the data obtained prior to the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, which could potentially alter the previous trends in the development of organic agriculture in the EU.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030476
Authors: Heguang Sun Lin Zhou Meiyan Shu Jie Zhang Ziheng Feng Haikuan Feng Xiaoyu Song Jibo Yue Wei Guo
Southern blight significantly impacts peanut yield, and its severity is exacerbated by high-temperature and high-humidity conditions. The mycelium attached to the plant’s interior quickly proliferates, contributing to the challenges of early detection and data acquisition. In recent years, the integration of machine learning and remote sensing data has become a common approach for disease monitoring. However, the poor quality and imbalance of data samples can significantly impact the performance of machine learning algorithms. This study employed the Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE) algorithm to generate samples with varying severity levels. Additionally, it utilized Fractional-Order Differentiation (FOD) to enhance spectral information. The validation and testing of the 1D-CNN, SVM, and KNN models were conducted using experimental data from two different locations. In conclusion, our results indicate that the SMOTE-FOD-1D-CNN model enhances the ability to monitor the severity of peanut white mold disease (validation OA = 88.81%, Kappa = 0.85; testing OA = 82.76%, Kappa = 0.75).
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030475
Authors: Gilbert Exaud Mushi Pierre-Yves Burgi Giovanna Di Marzo Serugendo
The projected population increase and drastic climate changes are a great setback to food security through sustainable agriculture. However, governments need to play key roles in supporting the agriculture sector, which creates considerable employment and contributions to most countries’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP) outcomes. In many countries, the governments already support the agriculture sector with services based on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to reach many stakeholders, including smallholder farmers. This paper investigated the status of e-Government services in the agriculture sector for farmers in order to understand the functions and scope of e-services, the challenges faced by farmers, both addressed and unaddressed, and the challenges of ICT-based services for farmers and other stakeholders in Tanzania. We used a qualitative research approach to interview the Ministry of Agriculture, farmers, extension workers, and agriculture processing industries. The main finding reveals that e-government services play a major role in the agriculture sector in Tanzania. Our results show that the pre-existing ICT services identified for farmers cannot meet the needs of farmers in a complete farming cycle. Moreover, lack of awareness, digital illiteracy, and poor infrastructure are the major challenges faced by farmers and other stakeholders when it comes to ICT-based services. These results justify the need for a comprehensive digital platform, particularly the proposed Farmers Digital Information System (FDIS) to enable farmers and other stakeholders to access essential services in a complete farming cycle for a more sustainable agriculture.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030474
Authors: Andri Jaya Laksana Jong-Hoon Kim Jae-Hwan Ahn Ji-Young Kim
Fresh-cut apples are commonly known as minimally processed agricultural products because of their convenience and ease of consumption. However, during storage, the quality of the apple rapidly changes after cutting due to enzymatic and non-enzymatic processes. This study aimed to monitor the quality changes and volatile compounds in fresh-cut apples at various temperatures using an electronic nose. The quality relationships of the product during distribution and storage using cold chain systems were also evaluated. The results showed that the total viable count initially differed between fresh-cut apples (2.59 Log CFU/g) and mixed fruits (apple ‘Hongro’, kumquat, and cherry tomatoes) (3.2 Log CFU/g) during the storage period (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in the physicochemical properties except for the firmness, color values, browning index, whiteness index, and titratable acidity. The volatile compounds found in fresh-cut apples indicating apple fruit aroma were propyl propanoate and ethyl isovalerate, hexanol (freshness), and methanethiol and ethyl acetate (unpleasant off-odor), and these compounds could be used as markers for the deterioration process in fresh-cut apples during storage. Methanethiol and ethyl acetate were correlated with microbial growth (Pearson correlation of 0.81–0.98 for total viable microbe and 0.49–0.90 for coliform count). The limonene level was higher in the mixed fruits than in other treatments and gradually increased during storage due to the kumquat.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030473
Authors: Moucheng Liu Xin Chen Yuanmei Jiao
Due to the extensive degree of the consumption of resources and energy by industrial agriculture, there is a growing awareness of sustainable agriculture development that should not only increase yield to meet people’s demands for food security, but should also improve product quality and promote the multi-functionality of the agricultural ecosystem [...]
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030472
Authors: Hao Qi Shi-Jie Cao Jia-Yue Wu Yi-Ming Peng Hong Nie Xiao-Hui Wei
The tail-sitter VTOL UAV boasts not only high-speed cruising and air hovering capabilities, but also its unique tail-sitting vertical takeoff and landing and hovering attitude enable aerial operations with an exceptionally small cross-sectional area. This feature effectively broadens the scope of application for the UAV in intelligent agriculture, encompassing tasks such as agricultural inspection, production monitoring, and topographic mapping. Given the necessity for frequent modal transitions, this paper is grounded in a thorough examination of the typical structural characteristics of the tail-sitter VTOL UAV. A comprehensive technical solution for tail-sitter VTOL UAVs, based on the free-tail configuration, is proposed in this paper. The free-tail structure is utilized to address the limitations of traditional tailless layout and fixed landing gear in terms of flight stability and takeoff/landing performance of tail-sitter VTOL UAVs. However, the implementation of this solution necessitates the addition of a new maneuvering unit. Consequently, this paper delves into the aerodynamic coupling characteristics and laws between the layout parameters such as tail number, tail length, and tail area and the tail-sitter VTOL UAV fuselage. To optimize the free-tail configuration, a multi-objective optimization is performed by integrating the overall UAV dynamics, landing dynamics, and modal transition trajectory constraints. The results of stability modeling simulations and flight tests demonstrate that the tail-sitter VTOL UAV equipped with this technical solution exhibits enhanced maneuverability and flight efficiency compared to the conventional tailless layout.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030471
Authors: Chao Song Xinpei Zhang Fangyan Ma Yuanyuan Yin Hang Yin Shuhao Wang Liqing Zhao
The detection of the moisture content of wheat is an important index used to measure the quality and preservation of wheat. In order to rapidly and non-destructively detect the moisture content of wheat, in this study, we designed a stripline detection device that measures 151 frequency points in the 50–200 MHz frequency range with a vector network analyzer. Random forest (RF), extreme learning machine (ELM), and BP neural network prediction models were established, using the frequency, temperature, volume density and dielectric constant as input and the water content as output. It was shown that, in the frequency range 50–200 MHz, the permittivity of wheat decreases as the frequency increases, and that this is negatively correlated. The dielectric constant of wheat increases as the moisture content, temperature, and bulk density increase, and these are positively correlated. The random forest (RF) prediction model, which uses the frequency, temperature, effective dielectric constant εeff. and volume density as inputs and the wheat moisture content as the output, demonstrates the best performance. The determination coefficient (R2) = 0.99977, the mean absolute error (MAE) = 0.044368, the mean square error (MAE) = 0.0053011, and the root mean square error (RMSE) = 0.072809. This study provides a new device and method for the detection of the moisture content of wheat. The device is small and is not easily disturbed by the external environment. It can be measured in a variety of conditions and is important for the development of low-cost, high-precision, and portable devices for the detection of the moisture content of wheat.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030470
Authors: Shreyas M. Guruprasad Benjamin Leiding
The digital transformation of apiculture initially encompasses Internet of Things (IoT) systems, incorporating sensor technologies to capture and transmit bee-centric data. Subsequently, data analysis assumes a vital role by establishing correlations between the collected data and the biological conditions of beehives, often leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) approaches. The field of precision bee monitoring has witnessed a surge in the collection of large volumes of diverse data, ranging from the hive weight and temperature to health status, queen bee presence, pests, and overall hive activity. Further, these datasets’ heterogeneous nature and lack of standardization present challenges in applying machine learning techniques directly to extract valuable insights. To address this issue, the envisioned ecosystem serves as an open and collaborative information platform, facilitating the exchange and utilization of bee monitoring datasets. The data storage architecture can process a large variety of data at high frequency, e.g., images, videos, audio, and time series data. The platform serves as a repository, providing crucial information about the condition of beehives, health assessments, pest attacks, swarming patterns, and other relevant data. Notably, this information portal is managed through a citizen scientist initiative. By consolidating data from various sources, including beekeepers, researchers, and monitoring systems, the platform offers a holistic view of the bee population’s status in any given area.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030469
Authors: Yifei Xu Te Li Min Xu Ling Tan Shuanghe Shen
Climate change exerts significant impacts on regional agricultural production. This study assesses the implications of climate change on winter wheat yields in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain (3H Plain), utilizing bias-corrected climate projections from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) for mid-21st century (2041–2060) and late 21st century (2081–2100) periods under two shared socioeconomic pathways (SSP2–4.5 and SSP5–8.5). These projections were incorporated into the decision support system for agrotechnology transfer (DSSAT) CERES-Wheat model to forecast potential alterations in winter wheat production. Initial findings reveal that uncorrected CMIP6 projections underestimated temperature and precipitation while overestimating solar radiation across the southern 3H Plain. Following bias correction through the equidistant cumulative distribution function (EDCDF) method, the regional average biases for temperature, precipitation, and solar radiation were reduced by 18.3%, 5.6%, and 30.7%, respectively. Under the SSP2–4.5 and SSP5–8.5 scenarios, mid-21st century simulations predicted a 13% increase in winter wheat yields. Late 21st century projections indicated yield increases of 11.3% and 3.6% under SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios, respectively, with a notable 8.4% decrease in yields south of 36° N under the SSP5-8.5 scenario. The analysis of climate change factors and winter wheat yields in the 3H Plain under both scenarios identified precipitation as the key contributing factor to yield increases in the northern 3H Plain, while temperature limitations were the primary constraint on yields in the southern region. Consequently, adaptive strategies are essential to mitigate climate change impacts, with a particular focus on addressing the challenges posed by elevated temperature in the southern 3H Plain.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030468
Authors: Min Hao Quan Sun Chuanzhong Xuan Xiwen Zhang Minghui Zhao Shuo Song
We propose a lightweight detection algorithm based on the Single Shot MultiBox Detector (SSD) algorithm in order to facilitate sheep management and to realize sheep facial identification, and we take the self-constructed dataset as the research object. First, the SSD replaces the VGG16 backbone network with MobileNetv3, a lightweight neural network, to create a hybrid model that is much smaller. Second, the ECA attention mechanism is incorporated into the backend of the 72 × 160 bottleneck layer. Finally, the SmoothL1 loss function is substituted with the BalancedL1 loss function. The optimized model’s size decreases significantly from the original SSD’s 132 MB to just 22.4 MB. It achieves a mean average precision of 83.47% and maintains an average frame rate of 68.53 frames per second. Compared to the basic SSD model, the mean average precision has increased by 3.25 percentage points, the model size has decreased by 109.6 MB, and the detection speed has improved by 9.55 frames per second. In comparative experiments using the same dataset with different object detection models, the proposed model outperforms the SSD, Faster R-CNN, Retinanet, and CenterNet in terms of mean average precision, with improvements of 3.25 percentage points, 4.71 percentage points, 2.38 percentage points, and 8.13 percentage points, respectively. The detection speed has shown significant improvements, increasing by 9.55, 58.55, 53.1, and 12.37 frames per second, respectively. The improved model presented in this paper significantly reduces the model’s size and computational requirements while maintaining an excellent performance. This provides a valuable reference for the digitalization of animal husbandry and livestock farming.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030466
Authors: Xiuying Xu Changhao Fu Yingying Gao Ye Kang Wei Zhang
The origin of seeds is a crucial environmental factor that significantly impacts crop production. Accurate identification of seed origin holds immense importance for ensuring traceability in the seed industry. Currently, traditional methods used for identifying the origin of maize seeds involve mineral element analysis and isotope fingerprinting, which are laborious, destructive, time-consuming, and suffer from various limitations. In this experiment, near-infrared spectroscopy was employed to collect 1360 maize seeds belonging to 12 different varieties from 8 distinct origins. Spectral information within the range of 11,550–3950 cm−1 was analyzed while eliminating multiple interferences through first-order derivative combined with standard normal transform (SNV). The processed one-dimensional spectral data were then transformed into three-dimensional spectral maps using Gram’s Angle Field (GAF) to be used as input values along with the VGG-19 network model. Additionally, a convolution layer with a step size of 1 × 1 and the padding value set at 1 was added, while pooling layers had a step size of 2 × 2. A batch size of 48 and learning rate set at 10−8 were utilized while incorporating the Dropout mechanism to prevent model overfitting. This resulted in the construction of the GAF-VGG network model which successfully decoded the output into accurate place-of-origin labels for maize seed detection. The findings suggest that the GAF-VGG network model exhibits significantly superior performance compared to both the original data and the PCA-based origin identification model in terms of accuracy, recall, specificity, and precision (96.81%, 97.23%, 95.35%, and 95.12%, respectively). The GAF-VGGNet model effectively captures the NIR features of different origins of maize seeds without requiring feature wavelength extraction, thereby reducing training time and enhancing accuracy in identifying maize seed origin. Moreover, it simplifies near-infrared (NIR) spectral modeling complexity and presents a novel approach to maize seed origin identification and traceability analysis.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030467
Authors: Denan Zhao Simon Cooper Parmjit Chima Guobin Wang Lechun Zhang Binshu Sun Xuejian Zhang Yubin Lan
Utilizing agricultural UAVs for pesticide and insecticide spraying is an effective measure for plant protection. However, achieving effective coverage on the back side of target is often challenging. To address this issue, this study combined a contact-charging spraying system with a UAV to develop an electrostatic plant protection UAV system. Upon activating the electrostatic component, strong electrostatic effects were observed at the nozzle, altering the distribution of the liquid flow; the distribution within the liquid flow became more homogeneous, while the edge regions experienced electrostatic repulsion, leading to changes in droplet size and an increase in droplet density. In the central area, droplet size reduced from 159 μm to 135 μm, while in the edge area, it changed from no value to 120 μm. During field tests using the UAV, the results showed an increase of 1.0 m in effective spray width (at a flight height of 4.0 m), indicating that the charges and propellor wind field contributed to the diffusion of droplets towards the edges. Additionally, the droplet density increased by an average of 19.7 droplets/cm2, and the overall deposition increased by 0.12 μL/cm2, resulting in an approximate three-fold increase compared to conventional spray, which aids in insect control and reduces pesticide usage.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030465
Authors: Chunfeng Zhang Changyuan Zhai Meng Zhang Chi Zhang Wei Zou Chunjiang Zhao
The pulse-width modulation (PWM) variable spray system is the most widely used variable spray system in the world at present, which has the characteristics of a fast response, large flow adjustment range, and good atomization. Recently, the pressure fluctuation and droplet deposition uniformity of the PWM variable spray system caused by the intermittent spray mode of the nozzle have attracted more and more attention. In this study, a method for eliminating the inhomogeneity of ground deposition in low-frequency PWM variable sprays based on a staggered-phase drive mode was proposed, and a PWM variable spray system was built. The experimental results indicated that the pressure fluctuation amplitude upstream of the nozzle of the PWM variable spray system with the staggered-phase drive was reduced by 40.91%, and the dispersion rate of the pressure fluctuation was reduced by 62.78% (the initial pressure was 0.3 MPa, solenoid valve frequency was 5 Hz, and duty cycle was 50%). The PWM control parameters had a significant effect on the upstream pressure fluctuation (initial pressure > duty cycle > frequency). The droplet spectrum relative span of the staggered phased PWM variable spray system decreased by 24.83%, the coefficient of variation of the droplet particle size decreased by 4.40%, the particle size was more uniform, and the atomization effect was improved. The average deposition of droplets in the forward direction driven by the staggered phase was 4.87% greater than that in the same phase, and the variation rate decreased by 20.87%. The average deposition amount increased, and the deposition became more uniform. Staggered-phase spray control could effectively reduce the inhomogeneity of deposition in low-frequency PWM intermittent spraying. This research provides strong technical support for a precision variable spraying effect and droplet drift prevention.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030464
Authors: Chengmei Shang Zhixi Geng Yuanyuan Sun Dongxue Che Qingjiao Zhao Ting Chen Ming Tang Lijuan Huo
With the development of industrial activities and the agricultural and mining industries, farmland soils are facing serious problems related to heavy metal contamination, especially cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As) contamination. In this study, two industrial by-products, phosphogypsum (PG) and red mud (RM), were modified by lanthanum (La) impregnation to form a new composite (L-PR) to investigate the adsorption performance of Cd(II)/As(V) in both single and binary systems. The adsorption mechanisms of Cd(II)/As(V) on L-PR were analyzed using SEM, XRD, FTIR, and XPS. The passivation effect of L-PR on the Cd-As composite contaminated soil was confirmed through a soil cultivation experiment. The adsorption experiments revealed that L-PR showed superior adsorption capabilities for Cd(II) and As(V) compared to PG and RM. Additionally, L-PR was found to be less affected by changes in pH. The kinetic studies indicated that Cd(II) and As(V) adsorption by L-PR followed the second-order kinetic model most accurately. Isothermal adsorption experiments revealed that the adsorption of Cd(II) by L-PR was more in accordance with the Freundlich model, while As(V) was more in accordance with the Langmuir model. The mechanisms of Cd(II) and As(V) adsorption on L-PR involved electrostatic attraction, ion exchange, complexation, and precipitation. The adsorption of Cd(II) is dominated by complexation and precipitation, and the adsorption of As(V) is dominated by ion exchange and complexation. Soil cultivation experiments showed that L-PR significantly reduced the available Cd and As concentrations in soil by 86.01% and 27.80%, respectively, and it could induce the transformation of non-stable Cd(II)/As(V) to the more stable residual. In summary, L-PR exhibits facile preparation, excellent adsorption performance, and is capable of simultaneously removing Cd(II) and As(V) from aqueous solutions while immobilizing these contaminants in soil. These remarkable attributes made it a highly promising alternative for the simultaneous treatment of various toxic metal contaminants.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030463
Authors: Enrique Bonet María Teresa Yubero
In Spain, irrigated agriculture is the most water-intensive sector, consuming around of 80% of water resources. Moreover, irrigation water distribution systems are the infrastructure by which one-third of water resource losses take place. Monitoring and controlling operations in irrigation canals are essential for mitigating leakages and water waste in operational actions. On the other hand, energy consumption by agriculture is around 5% of usage in developed countries and even higher in undeveloped countries. Although it is a small part of the total energy supply for a country, energy waste reduces the competitiveness of the agriculture sector, which continually reduces profit margins in an economic sector with very low profit margins already. The tool developed in this paper aims to increase the efficiency of water and energy management in the agricultural sector and is included in an overall control diagram for scheduled irrigation management. This tool, the optimal pumping flow (OPF algorithm), optimizes the pumping flow from the irrigation canal to the irrigation reservoir in terms of water level at the canal and reservoir, crop flow demand, system constraints, and energy prices. Regarding the results, the OPF algorithm can calculate the optimum pumping operations, being able to optimize water resource usage and energy expenses by ensuring that the water level at reservoirs remains within a specified range and that pump flow never exceeds a threshold. Further, it allows for the management of pump operations outside of peak hours. On the other hand, the OPF algorithm is also integrated into the overall control diagram in a second test. Here, the OPF algorithm collaborates with a control canal algorithm such as the GoRoSo algorithm to optimize canal gates and pump operations, respectively. In this scenario, OPF reduces cumulative energy expenses by 58% compared to the scenario where the pump station operates only when the reservoir water level is below a certain threshold.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030462
Authors: Saker Ben Abdallah Belén Gallego-Elvira Dana Catalina Popa José Francisco Maestre-Valero Alberto Imbernón-Mulero Razvan Alexandru Popa Mihaela Bălănescu
Agricultural specialization has increased considerably in Europe over the last decades, leading to the separation of crop and livestock production at both farm and regional levels. Such a transformation is often associated with higher environmental burdens due to excessive reliance on exogenous inputs and manure management issues. Reconnecting crop and livestock production via mixed farming systems (MFSs) could improve circularity and resilience, leading to reduced environmental impacts. The objective of this study was to evaluate the life cycle environmental performance of a commercial mixed crop–dairy cattle farm in Romania and to compare it against the corresponding specialized systems. The evaluation covered both dairy cattle production (milk and meat) and cash crops. Overall, the results show that the coupled system improves environmental performance by reducing the over-reliance on high-impact inputs like synthetic fertilizers and exogenous feed. The carbon footprint for the milk production of the studied system (1.17 kg CO2 eq.) per kg of fat- and protein-corrected milk (FPCM) was 10% lower than the mean value of common intensive milk production systems. The eutrophication impacts (2.52 × 10−4 kg P eq and 2.67 × 10−4 kg N eq./kg of FPCM) presented values of one order of magnitude less than their specialized counterparts. However, the impacts of the studied MFS, albeit lower than those for comparable specialized systems, still remain relatively high. In particular, methane emissions from enteric fermentation (0.54 kg CO2 eq./kg FPCM) were a major contributor to the carbon footprint. This highlighted the need to address the elevated emissions from enteric fermentation with better feed management, as well as improving and reinforcing the system’s self-sufficiency.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030461
Authors: Techane Bosona
The increasing population pressure and demand for quality food, and the significant burden of agriculture on the environment, impede the sustainable development of the food sector. Understanding the environmental performance of different agricultural technologies and food value chains and identifying improvement opportunities play important roles in the sustainable development of this sector. This article presents the results of an environmental impact assessment of organic dried apples produced and supplied in Sweden, which was conducted using primary and literature-based data. A “cradle-to-consumer gate” life cycle analysis (LCA) method with a functional unit (FU) of 1 ton of fresh organic apples at the farm stage was used while considering conventional drying and heat-pump (HP)-assisted apple-drying techniques. The main environmental impact categories investigated were cumulative energy demand (CED), climate change impact (GWP), acidification potential (AP), and eutrophication potential (EP). The results indicate that the total CED values were 7.29 GJ and 5.12 GJ per FU for the conventional drying and HP-assisted drying methods, respectively, i.e., a reduction of about 30%. Similarly, the GWP values were 130 kg CO2 eq and 120 kg CO2 eq per FU, respectively. These findings highlight the importance of improving energy use and process efficiency to increase the sustainability of dried organic apple value chains.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030460
Authors: Qiufang Dai Ziwei Chen Guanfa Wu Zhen Li Shilei Lv Weicheng Huang
Agricultural environments are usually characterized by height differences and tree shading, which pose challenges for communication in smart agriculture. This study focuses on optimizing the packet loss rate and power consumption of LoRa’s practical communication quality. The research includes the investigation of the PHY anti-frame loss mechanism, encompassing PHY frame loss detection and the response mechanism between gateways and nodes. By implementing a closed loop for transmission and reception, the study enhances the communication network’s resistance to interference and security. Theoretical performance calculations for the SX1278 radio frequency chip were conducted under different parameters to determine the optimal energy efficiency, reducing unnecessary energy waste. An experimental assessment of the packet loss rate was conducted to validate the practical efficacy of the research findings. The results show that the LoRa communication with the anti-frame loss mechanism and the optimal energy ratio parameter exhibits an adequate performance. In the presence of strong and weak interferences, the reception rates are maximally improved by 37.8% and 53.4%, with effective distances of 250 m and 600 m, corresponding to enhancements of 100 m and 400 m, respectively. This research effectively reduces LoRa energy consumption, mitigates packet loss, and extends communication distances, providing insights for wireless transmission in agricultural contexts.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030459
Authors: Guofeng Wang Baohui Zhao Mengqi Zhao
Global warming affects food security and ecological security, and it threatens economic stability and sustainable agricultural development. The transformation and development of agriculture have significant implications for the achievement of the “dual-carbon” goals and the promotion of sustainable agricultural development. Based on panel data on organic dry farming in China from 2005 to 2020, this study aimed to comprehensively assess the transformation performance of organic dry farming (TRODF) in 15 provinces. It explored the impact of the transformation of organic dry farming on carbon emissions by utilizing a spatial Markov chain and spatial measurement models. Our findings are as follows: (1) The performance of the organic dryland agriculture transformation has gradually improved and is accompanied by a corresponding trend of fluctuating regional disparities, which are on the rise. Moreover, the disparities between the five major regions mainly stem from intra-regional differences. (2) TRODF agriculture presents the possibility of state transfer during different periods, featuring four convergent zones: a lagging zone, a starting zone, a crossing zone, and an advanced zone. The spatial Markov chain indicates that state transitions typically occur between adjacent levels, with fewer instances of “jump”-type transitions. Moreover, there is a clear trend of differentiation in the state transitions between non-adjacent areas. (3) The organic dry farming transformation exhibits a significant carbon reduction effect, which is characterized by heterogeneity across different stages of agricultural development, provinces, and time periods. This study emphasizes that economic and industrial transformation, along with the transformation of the ecological environment, represents a crucial direction for conserving resources and achieving a further reduction in carbon emissions.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030458
Authors: Martine J. Barons Lael E. Walsh Edward E. Salakpi Linda Nichols
The EU Green Deal requires the reduction in pesticides and fertilisers in food crop production, whilst the sustainable development goals require reductions in food loss and food waste. In a complex and interacting system like the food system, these goals are difficult to coordinate. Here, we show an approach using Bayesian network modelling for decision support. Bayesian networks are important tools for modelling complex systems which may develop emergent behaviour and for providing quantitative comparisons for different candidate policies, approaches or interventions under the Integrating Decision Support System paradigm. Using lettuce as an exemplar crop, we demonstrate that expected food loss changes under different agricultural input reduction and integrated pest management combinations can be quantified to aid decision making for growers.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030457
Authors: Weiwei Yuan Wanxia Yang Liang He Tingwei Zhang Yan Hao Jing Lu Wenbo Yan
The extraction of entities and relationships is a crucial task in the field of natural language processing (NLP). However, existing models for this task often rely heavily on a substantial amount of labeled data, which not only consumes time and labor but also hinders the development of downstream tasks. Therefore, with a focus on enhancing the model’s ability to learn from small samples, this paper proposes an entity and relationship extraction method based on the Universal Information Extraction (UIE) model. The core of the approach is the design of a specialized prompt template and schema on cotton pests and diseases as one of the main inputs to the UIE, which, under its guided fine-tuning, enables the model to subdivide the entity and relationship in the corpus. As a result, the UIE-base model achieves an accuracy of 86.5% with only 40 labeled training samples, which really solves the problem of the existing models that require a large amount of manually labeled training data for knowledge extraction. To verify the generalization ability of the model in this paper, experiments are designed to compare the model with four classical models, such as the Bert-BiLSTM-CRF. The experimental results show that the F1 value on the self-built cotton data set is 1.4% higher than that of the Bert-BiLSTM-CRF model, and the F1 value on the public data set is 2.5% higher than that of the Bert-BiLSTM-CRF model. Furthermore, experiments are designed to verify that the UIE-base model has the best small-sample learning performance when the number of samples is 40. This paper provides an effective method for small-sample knowledge extraction.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030456
Authors: Liyuan Zhang Xiaoying Song Yaxiao Niu Huihui Zhang Aichen Wang Yaohui Zhu Xingye Zhu Liping Chen Qingzhen Zhu
As prior information for precise nitrogen fertilization management, plant nitrogen content (PNC), which is obtained timely and accurately through a low-cost method, is of great significance for national grain security and sustainable social development. In this study, the potential of the low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) RGB system was investigated for the rapid and accurate estimation of winter wheat PNC across the growing season. Specifically, texture features were utilized as complements to the commonly used spectral information. Five machine learning regression algorithms, including support vector machines (SVMs), classification and regression trees, artificial neural networks, K-nearest neighbors, and random forests, were employed to establish the bridge between UAV RGB image-derived features and ground-truth PNC, with multivariate linear regression serving as the reference. The results show that both spectral and texture features had significant correlations with ground-truth PNC, indicating the potential of low-cost UAV RGB images to estimate winter wheat PNC. The H channel, S4O6, and R_SE and R_EN had the highest correlation among the spectral indices, Gabor texture features, and grey level co-occurrence matrix texture features, with absolute Pearson’s correlation coefficient values of 0.63, 0.54, and 0.69, respectively. When the texture features were used together with spectral indices, the PNC estimation accuracy was enhanced, with the root mean square error (RMSE) decreasing from 2.56 to 2.24 g/kg, for instance, when using the SVM regression algorithm. The SVM regression algorithm with validation achieved the highest estimation accuracy, with a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.62 and an RMSE of 2.15 g/kg based on the optimal feature combination of B_CON, B_M, G_DIS, H, NGBDI, R_EN, R_M, R_SE, S3O7, and VEG. Overall, this study demonstrated that the low-cost UAV RGB system could be successfully used to map the PNC of winter wheat across the growing season.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030455
Authors: Rodomiro Ortiz Fredrik Reslow Ramesh Vetukuri M. Rosario García-Gil Paulino Pérez-Rodríguez José Crossa
Potato genetic improvement begins with crossing cultivars or breeding clones which often have complementary characteristics for producing heritable variation in segregating offspring, in which phenotypic selection is used thereafter across various vegetative generations (Ti). The aim of this research was to determine whether tetrasomic genomic best linear unbiased predictors (GBLUPs) may facilitate selecting for tuber yield across early Ti within and across breeding sites in inbred (S1) and hybrid (F1) tetraploid potato offspring. This research used 858 breeding clones for a T1 trial at Umeå (Norrland, 63°49′30″ N 20°15′50″ E) in 2021, as well as 829 and 671 clones from the breeding population for T2 trials during 2022 at Umeå and Helgegården (Skåne, 56°01′46″ N 14°09′24″ E), respectively, along with their parents (S0) and check cultivars. The S1 and F1 were derived from selfing and crossing four S0. The experimental layout was an augmented design of four-plant plots across testing sites, where breeding clones were non-replicated, and the parents and cultivars were placed in all blocks between the former. The genomic prediction abilities (r) for tuber weight per plant were 0.5944 and 0.6776 in T2 at Helgegården and Umeå, respectively, when T1 at Umeå was used as the training population. On average, r was larger in inbred than in hybrid offspring at both breeding sites. The r was also estimated using multi-environment data (involving at least one S1 and one F1) for T2 performance at both breeding sites. The r was strongly influenced by the genotype in both S1 and F1 offspring irrespective of the breeding site.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030454
Authors: Xu Yang Yingsi Wu Lihe Wang Fei Liu Xuan Zhao Hongbin Bai Wenxue Dong Xiang Kong Hengtong Hu Wendong Zhong Dezheng Xuan Ao Yang Yutao Ma
To address problems encountered in current potato harvesting machines, such as potato damage, poor adaptability, and low operational efficiency, a new towed potato picking and bagging machine (4UJ-180A) equipped with a soil-digging axis, flexible conveying device, and hydraulic control system was developed. The digging mechanism of the harvester can reduce soil blockage and minimize damage to potato skins. The rubber biomimetic finger can maintain stable transportation of potatoes and minimize collisions. The hydraulic control system, the buffering components, and the bagging device work together to flexibly and continuously collect potatoes, reducing skin damage during the harvesting process. Based on the structure of the whole machine, the harvesting process, and the working principle, the soil picking, lifting buffer, and potato collection process were analyzed. Theoretical calculations were used to determine the structure and operational parameters of the potato picking, lifting buffering, and bagging segments. An experiment utilizing the orthogonal method was conducted. The experiment consisted of three factors and three levels, with the test indicators being the potato skin damage rate, potato injury rate, loss rate, and impurity rate. The factors considered in the experiment were the forward speed, conveyor speed, and soil-digging shaft speed. Field experiments demonstrate that at a forward speed of 1 m/s, soil digging shaft speed of 35 rpm, and conveyor speed of 28 rpm, the rate of potato skin damage is 2.8%, the potato injury rate is 1.3%, the loss rate is 0.4%, and the impurity rate is 0.7%. These experiments verify that all indicators adhere to national industry standards, providing a valuable reference for equipment research, development, optimization, and improvement.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030453
Authors: Elsa M. Gonçalves Mafalda Silva Luiza Andrade Joaquina Pinheiro
In the wake of escalating global concerns over the environmental impact of plastic pollution, there has been an unprecedented call for sustainable alternatives. The food-packaging industry, responsible for a staggering 40% of global plastic consumption, faces mounting challenges driven by environmental degradation and concerns about fossil fuel depletion. Motivated by these challenges, there is a growing interest in reducing reliance on traditional packaging and exploring eco-friendly solutions derived from renewable resources. Eco-efficient packaging, specifically derived from agricultural raw materials, emerges as a promising solution that aligns with ecological, economic, and social sustainability principles. Starch, abundant and versatile, emerges as a frontrunner among agricultural raw materials for biopolymers. Its inherent properties, including low cost, availability, biodegradability, and biocompatibility, make it a compelling choice. Starch-based bioplastics, with their potential to replace synthetic primary packaging materials, have gained traction due to their satisfactory mechanical and barrier properties. This review delves into the realm of starch-based films and coatings for food applications. It explores fundamental properties, advantages, and limitations, offering insights into potential improvements through various treatments or additive combinations. As technological advances drive the popularity of biodegradable starch-based packaging, this review aims to contribute to the ongoing discourse, providing a comprehensive overview and paving the way for more functional and widely applicable products in the ever-evolving landscape of sustainable packaging.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030452
Authors: Yu Zhang Jiajun Niu Zezhong Huang Chunlei Pan Yueju Xue Fengxiao Tan
An algorithm model based on computer vision is one of the critical technologies that are imperative for agriculture and forestry planting. In this paper, a vision algorithm model based on StyleGAN and improved YOLOv5s is proposed to detect sandalwood trees from unmanned aerial vehicle remote sensing data, and this model has excellent adaptability to complex environments. To enhance feature expression ability, a CA (coordinate attention) module with dimensional information is introduced, which can both capture target channel information and keep correlation information between long-range pixels. To improve the training speed and test accuracy, SIOU (structural similarity intersection over union) is proposed to replace the traditional loss function, whose direction matching degree between the prediction box and the real box is fully considered. To achieve the generalization ability of the model, StyleGAN is introduced to augment the remote sensing data of sandalwood trees and to improve the sample balance of different flight heights. The experimental results show that the average accuracy of sandalwood tree detection increased from 93% to 95.2% through YOLOv5s model improvement; then, on that basis, the accuracy increased by another 0.4% via data generation from the StyleGAN algorithm model, finally reaching 95.6%. Compared with the mainstream lightweight models YOLOv5-mobilenet, YOLOv5-ghost, YOLOXs, and YOLOv4-tiny, the accuracy of this method is 2.3%, 2.9%, 3.6%, and 6.6% higher, respectively. The size of the training sandalwood tree model is 14.5 Mb, and the detection time is 17.6 ms. Thus, the algorithm demonstrates the advantages of having high detection accuracy, a compact model size, and a rapid processing speed, making it suitable for integration into edge computing devices for on-site real-time monitoring.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030450
Authors: Lijuan Li Xinyi Chen Yan Wang Fubin Zhang Xinyi Zhou Tuo Zhang
Ferrihydrite is usually used as a remedy for arsenic (As)-contaminated soil due to its strong affinity and large specific surface area. However, its noncrystalline phase makes it unstable in long-term applications in the soil. In this study, a soil incubation experiment was designed using the diffusive gradient in thin film (DGT) technique and spectral techniques to investigate the fate of As-bearing ferrihydrite [As(V)-Fh] after long-term incubation at different soil water holding capacities (SWHCs). After As(V)-Fh (0.05 and 0.005 As/Fe molar ratio) was incubated in soil for 360 days, both DGT-derived labile As and Fe were released at 70% SWHC and 120% SWHC into the soil (at a vertical depth of 12 cm). The concentrations of DGT-As and DGT-Fe increased with incubation time and were greater at 120% SWHC. The results of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that As(V)-Fh gradually transformed into hematite and goethite after 360 days of incubation. Goethite was mainly found in the 120% SWHC treatment after 180 days. Hematite and goethite formation rates were greater in the 120% SWHC treatment and in the bottom soil layer. Mechanistic analysis based on X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that the variation in soil pH and the formation of Fe(II) (under flooded water conditions) are the two key factors promoting the formation of hematite (dehydrogenation and dehydration) and goethite (As(V)-Fh dissociation and reorganization). The As release mainly occurred due to the loss of adsorption sites. Thus, it is recommended that ferrihydrite be applied in paddy–dry rotations or dry-field patterns to effectively avoid the loss of As(V)-Fh in long-term-saturated soil.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030451
Authors: Fu Zhang Xinyue Wang Xiahua Cui Yubo Qiu Shuai Teng Shaukat Ali Sanling Fu
In order to improve the adhesive and passing performance of agricultural tracked vehicles under a non-structural environment, a theoretical design method of the structure of a bionic track pattern is proposed in this article. The Saanen goat is taken as the experimental subject, and the hoof tips and hoof spheres are taken as the characteristic functional parts, whose pressure is measured by thin film pressure sensors. The Qualisys Track Manager (QTM) gait analysis system was used to obtain the gait sequence of goats under multi-slope. The changes in vertical ground reaction force (GRF) and vertical impulse (VI) of the hoof tips and spheres and adhesion coefficient under multi-slope were analyzed. The results show that with the increase in slope, the GRF is transferred from the left hind hoof to the right front hoof, and the right front hoof has the most significant effect. Under the 10-degree slope, the peak vertical GRF and VI of the inner tip of the right front hoof are the largest; peak vertical GRF is 146.20 N, and VI is 127.67 N·s. The adhesion coefficient is the largest; the right front and left hind hoof are in the diagonal two-phase supported state, and μ is 0.3455. Therefore, the inner tip of the right front hoof is used as a bionic prototype to design the track pattern architecture. It provides a theoretical basis for the design and optimization of bionic patterns applied to agricultural tracked vehicles.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030449
Authors: Xiao Liu Xuhui Mao Jihong Chen Yan Du Wenjie Jin Ruiyuan Liu Libin Zhou Ying Qu
The oil sunflower is an important oil crop and ornamental plant. Flowering time affects the environmental adaptability and final yield of oil sunflowers. Floral induction is one of the important events that determines subsequent reproductive growth and seed setting, but there has been no systematic study on the regulation of gene expression during the transition from vegetative growth to reproductive growth in oil sunflowers. In this study, an oil sunflower mutant displaying early flowering (ef) was obtained by heavy ion beam irradiation. This mutant had a stable genetic trait, and its flowering time was 15 days earlier than the wild type (WT) in the field. The histology result showed that the ef mutant induced floral meristem at 6-leaf stage earlier than WT. The shoot apical meristems (SAMs) of the ef mutant and WT at 4-leaf, 6-leaf, 8-leaf, 10-leaf and budding periods were collected for RNA sequencing. The results showed that the transition from the leaf meristem to the floral meristem resulted in significant changes in the transcriptional landscape. Overall, 632, 1825, 4549, 5407 and 2164 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified at 4-leaf, 6-leaf, 8-leaf, 10-leaf and budding periods, respectively. These DEGs were mainly enriched in biological pathways, including plant hormone signal transduction, carbon metabolism, protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum, secondary metabolism, and photosynthesis. We also found significant differences in the expression levels of starch and sucrose metabolism-related genes in the ef mutant and WT, indicating that sugar signaling plays an important role in the early flowering of oil sunflowers, especially SUC9 and sugar synthesis and degradation enzyme genes. In addition to hormone and sugar signals, flowering integration genes SOC1, AP1, FUL and LFY were upregulated in the ef mutant, and genes in photoperiod, aging, autonomous and temperature pathways were also involved in the regulation of floral transition. The results showed that plant hormones, sucrose metabolism, and flowering genes synergistically cause the early flowering of oil sunflowers. Our study provided important information for understanding flowering and is helpful for the genetic improvement of sunflowers.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030448
Authors: Daniel Simeanu Răzvan-Mihail Radu-Rusu Adrian Maximilian Macri Daniel Mierliță
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that by 2050, there will be a 58% increase in dairy consumption and a 73% increase in meat and egg consumption, worldwide, which would put additional pressure on the availability of natural resources [...]
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030447
Authors: Vijay Rajamanickam Kunnummal Kurungara Vinod Krishnapriya Vengavasi Tarun Kumar Viswanathan Chinnusamy Renu Pandey
Understanding the changes in the root system architecture of bread wheat under phosphorus (P)-limited conditions is critical for identifying specific traits contributing to improved P uptake. Phenotypic variability in root, biomass, and P index-related traits among 204 diverse wheat genotypes at the seedling stage was examined under low and optimum P treatments. Strong genotypic and phenotypic associations between P utilization efficiency (PUtE) and total root volume, dry weight of root and shoot, total P uptake, and total plant biomass were observed under optimum P. Under low P, strong positive correlations between PUtE and total root length, total root volume, total surface area, and total biomass were observed, while it was negatively correlated with average diameter. These traits exhibited medium to high heritability. Under low P, average root diameter, primary root length, root mass ratio, total root tips, and surface area showed high Shannon–Weaver diversity index (H’) values (>0.79). The agglomerative hierarchical clustering analysis grouped the genotypes into four distinct clusters. The best performing genotypes in Clusters I and II indicated their strong relationship with P use efficiency due to higher percent increases in total root length, total surface area, total root volume, total root tips, total biomass, P efficiency ratio, specific root length, and PUtE under low P as compared to optimum P conditions. The present study identified specific root system architectural traits and P use-efficient genotypes (SHANGHAI, Pavon F76, BWL 5233, SONALIKA, KHARCHIA LOCAL, WH 102, BWL 4425, HD 2888.2, CBW 12, MN75136/PGO, KRL 19, and WH 1022) associated with efficient P uptake and utilization. These identified genotypes and traits may be useful in wheat breeding programs to develop P-efficient varieties with better adaptations for sustainable agriculture.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030446
Authors: Bin Li Xiaolong Gao Xuegeng Chen Yang Liu Shiguo Wang Yuncheng Dong
To solve the problems associated with the poor harvesting ability of existing sunflower harvester cutting tables, and high seed drop rates, we designed a sunflower cutting table that can greatly improve the operational performance of sunflower combine harvesters. In this paper, we introduce the structure and principle of the whole machine and select the key parameters of the cutting table with the goal of adapting to a variety of planting modes in Xinjiang, China. Since the harvesting of sunflower in the wrong row easily causes the sunflower stalks to break, ADAMS (Version: 2020) simulation experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of the forward speed of the machine, the height of the sunflower insertion disk, and the angle of inclination of the harvest divider on the offset angle of the sunflower. With the goal of reducing the offset angle of the stalks in the forward direction of the harvest divider and reducing the size of the cutting table, the harvest divider inclination angle was chosen to be 45°; by using Design-Expert V13.0.15 software, a three-factor, three-level field test was carried out to determine the optimal parameter combinations that resulted in the minimum seed loss rate and the maximum success rate of the disk picking. Moreover, a validation test was conducted. The results show that when the forward speed is set to 0.62 m/s, the lifting speed of the pick-up disk device is set to 0.42 m/s, and the height of the inserted disk is set to 1000 mm, the relative errors between the theoretical values of the disk-picking success rate of the cutting table and the seed loss rate and the field test values are 6.5% and 1.3%, respectively. The results of the present study can provide a reference for improving the performance of sunflower harvester cutting tables and for the mechanical harvesting of inserted disk sunflowers.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030445
Authors: Lang Jia Wenjuan Wang Francis Zvomuya Hailong He
As one of the basic disciplines of agricultural, natural resource, and environmental science, soil science has played a critical role in global food security and socio-economic and ecological sustainability. The number of soil science journals and publications has increased remarkably with the development of soil science. However, there is a lack of systematic and comprehensive studies on the developmental trends of soil science based on journals and publications. In this study, 39 journals included under the soil science category in the 2022 Journal Citation Reports, and 112,911 publications in these journals from 1992 to 2022 were subjected to scientometric/bibliometric analysis to determine trends in publication, journal metrics, co-authorship, and research topics, in addition to general journal information. The results show that soil science ushered in a renaissance period with the number of publications, citations, impact factors, and CiteScore demonstrating an increasing trend. America and the Chinese Academy of Sciences had the most publications and citations. The most productive author published more than 400 articles. Soil science research focused mostly on its fundamental impact on the ecological environment based on the strongest citation bursts analysis of keywords. The analysis indicated that open access has increased in popularity. Current soil science journals still face a few common challenges, including an urgent need for a fairer evaluation mechanism on journal quality compared to the traditional use of single metrics as well as equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in the whole editorial process. Artificial intelligence may bring new tools and more changes to the development of soil science. This study will help soil science researchers to better understand the development status and future trends of soil science. It will also guide authors in journal selection.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030444
Authors: Jinwu Wang Zhe Liu Mao Yang Wenqi Zhou Han Tang Long Qi Qi Wang Yi-Jia Wang
Weeds compete with rice for sunlight and nutrients and are prone to harboring pathogens, leading to reduced rice yields. Addressing the issues of low weeding efficiency and weed mortality rates in existing inter-row weeding devices, the study proposes the design of a combination paddy field inter-row weeding wheel. The device’s operation process is theoretically analyzed based on the weed control requirements in the northeastern region of China, leading to the determination of specific structural parameters. This research conducted experiments on the mechanical properties of weed cutting to obtain geometric parameters for paddy field weeds. It was found that the range for the cutting gap of the dynamic–fixed blade is between 0.6 mm to 1.4 mm and the cutting angle is between 5° to 15°, resulting in the lowest peak cutting force for weeds. Using LS-DYNA R12.0.0 dynamic simulation software, a fluid–structure interaction (FSI) model of the weeding wheel–water–soil system was established. By employing the central composite experimental design principle and considering the soil stir rate and coupling stress as indicators, the optimal structural parameter combination for the device is obtained: a dynamic–fixed blade cutting gap of 1.4 mm, a cutting angle of 10.95°, and a dynamic blade install angle of −3.44°. Field experiments demonstrated that the device achieved an average weeding rate of 89.7% and an average seedling damage rate of 1.9%, indicating excellent performance. This study contributes to improving weed mortality rates and provides valuable guidance for inter-row mechanical weeding technology.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030443
Authors: Sayaka Ushimaru Rintaro Iwata Eka Rastiyanto Amrullah Arini W. Utami Akira Ishida
In many developing countries, ensuring a stable and affordable supply of safe and nutritious food for urban dwellers, especially impoverished households, has become an urgent policy issue due to growing urban populations. Since urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) has emerged as a potential solution, research interest in UPA has increased. However, most studies have been conducted in specific African towns, and analyses in Asian countries are scarce. In addition, further research must be performed on urban and peri-urban livestock farming (UPLF), which may provide animal-based protein to the urban population. Therefore, this study aims to clarify who raises livestock in the urban and peri-urban areas of eight developing Asian countries using raw data from the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS). The aggregation results reveal that at least 10% of households keep livestock, with more than 30% of households in four of the eight Asian countries practicing UPLF. Poultry is the most common type of livestock, and the number of animals per household is usually limited. Logistic regression analysis reveals that poorer families are more likely to raise livestock, suggesting UPLF can enhance food and nutritional security for low-income households.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030442
Authors: Krzysztof Lachutta Krzysztof Józef Jankowski
This study was undertaken to examine the influence of the sowing date, sowing density, and split spring application of nitrogen (N) fertilizer on plant density, tillering, yield components, and grain yields of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grown in northeastern Poland between 2018 and 2021. The experiment had a split-plot design with three sowing dates (early (3–6 September), delayed by 14 days, and delayed by 28 days), three sowing densities (200, 300, and 400 live grains m−2), and three split spring N rates (40 + 100, 70 + 70, and 100 + 40 kg ha−1 applied in BBCH stages 22–25 and 30–31, respectively). The number of spikes m−2 increased by 11% on average when winter wheat was sown with a delay of 14 days (17–20 September) and 28 days (1–4 October). The number of spikes m−2 was highest when winter wheat was sown at 300 and 400 live grains m−2. The application of 100 + 40 kg N ha−1 (BBCH 22–25 and 30–31, respectively) increased the number of spikes m−2. An increase in sowing density from 200 to 300 to 400 live grains m−2 decreased the number of grains spike−1 by 5% and 7%, respectively. Thousand grain weight (TGW) increased by 1% and 2% when sowing was delayed by 14 (17–20 September) and 28 days (1–4 October), respectively. In northeastern Poland, grain yields peaked when winter wheat was sown between 17 September and 4 October (10.52–10.58 Mg ha−1). In late-sown winter wheat, grain yields increased due to a higher number of spikes m−2 and higher grain weight. The highest sowing density (400 live grains m−2) induced a greater increase in grain yields than the lowest sowing density (200 live grains m−2) (10.25 vs.10.02 Mg ha−1). In winter wheat sown at a density of 400 live grains m−2, the increase in grain yields resulted in a higher number of spikes m−2. Grain yields peaked in response to 100 kg N ha−1 applied in BBCH stages 22–25 and 40 kg N ha−1 applied in BBCH stages 30–31 (this split N rate increased the number of spikes m−2). In turn, the highest straw yield (6.23 Mg ha−1) was obtained when the second split of N fertilizer was applied in BBCH stages 30–31 (40 + 100 kg N ha−1). Straw yields decreased significantly (by 6%) when winter wheat was sown late (early October). Delayed sowing (mid-September and early October) increased the harvest index (HI) of winter wheat by 5–7%. Split spring N application influenced grain and straw yields, but it had no effect on the HI of winter wheat.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030441
Authors: Nobukhosi Nhliziyo Abbyssinia Mushunje
Globally, climate change remains one of the most pressing challenges, and it is also an obstacle to the fundamental achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The purpose of the study was to examine the determinants of small-scale farmers’ participation in social capital networks to enhance adoption of climate change adaptation strategies. Multistage and purposive sampling were used to carry out the study. A cross-sectional research design was used to carry out the study and structured questionnaires were used as a data collection tool. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Binary Logit model, and the Ordered Logit model. The findings of the study show that gender, household size, age, marital status, education, and employment status affect a farmer’s participation in social capital networks. The results also show that household size, employment status, and income level affect the extent of participation in social networks. As the paper is the first to look at the determinants of the participation of farmers in social capital networks in Eastern Cape, the results are of paramount importance to policy formulators in order to formulate policies that will encourage farmers to join localized farmer-based social capital networks to adopt climate change adaption measures.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030440
Authors: Rundong Zhou Lin Wang Xiaoting Deng Chao Su Song Fang Zhixiong Lu
In order to study the energy distribution of the tandem hybrid tractor and achieve optimal fuel economy under the whole operating condition, an energy distribution strategy based on PMP (Pontryagin minimum principle) is proposed. The performance parameters of the relevant power components are obtained by constructing the test bench of the tandem hybrid tractor. At the same time, the mathematical model of energy distribution is established from the aspects of energy distribution objective function, state variable, and variable constraint. Based on the external characteristic test of the hub motor and the resistance analysis, the transport operation condition of the tractor is selected as the simulation target condition. The ADVISOR2002 and Simulink software are used to jointly simulate the three energy distribution strategies: the thermostat type, the power-following type, and the PMP type. The simulation results show that, compared with the other two, the fuel economy and battery power loss of the PMP-based energy distribution strategy are significantly improved. The fuel consumption per 100 km is decreased by 32.91% and 26.10%, respectively, which verifies the feasibility of the strategy. This study is of great significance for improving the production efficiency and reducing fuel consumption of hybrid tractors.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030439
Authors: Penghui Wang Rui Ding Wenjiao Shi Jun Li
Quantifying potential reductions in environmental impacts for multi-crop agricultural production is important for the development of environmentally friendly agricultural systems. To analyze the spatial differences in the potential reduction in nitrogen (N) use, we provided a framework that comprehensively assesses the potential of improving N use efficiency (NUE) and mitigating environmental impacts in Hubei Province, China, for multiple crops including rice, wheat, maize, tea, fruits, and vegetables, by considering N and its environmental indicators. This framework considers various sources such as organic N fertilizers and synthetic fertilizers, along with their respective environmental indicators. We designed different scenarios assuming varying degrees of improvement in the NUE for cities with a low NUE. By calculating the N rate, N surplus, N leaching, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under different scenarios, we quantified the environmental mitigation potential of each crop during the production process. The results showed that when the NUE of each crop reached the average level in Hubei Province, the improvement in environmental emissions is favorable compared to other scenarios. The N rate, N surplus, N leaching, and GHG emissions of grain (cash) crops could be reduced by 25.87% (41.26%), 36.07% (38.90%), 49.47% (36.14%), and 51.52% (41.67%), respectively. Overall, improving the NUE in cash crops will result in a greater proportionate reduction in environmental impacts than that in grain crops, but grain crops will reduce the total amount of GHG emissions. Our method provides a robust measure to assess the reduction potential of N pollution and GHG emissions in multi-crop production systems.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030438
Authors: Yadong Li Rujia Li Rongbiao Ji Yehui Wu Jiaojiao Chen Mengyao Wu Jianping Yang
Grain legumes play a significant global role and are integral to agriculture and food production worldwide. Therefore, comprehending and analyzing the factors that influence grain legume yield are of paramount importance for guiding agricultural management and decision making. Traditional statistical analysis methods present limitations in interpreting results, but explainable artificial intelligence (AI) provides a visual representation of model results, offering insights into the key factors affecting grain legume yield. In this study, nine typical grain legume species were selected from a published global experimental dataset: garden pea (Pisum sativum), chickpea (Cicer arietinum), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), garden vetch (Vicia sativa), faba bean (Vicia faba), lentil (Lens culinaris), pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan), peanut (Arachis hypogaea), and white lupine (Lupinus albus). Seven commonly used models were constructed for each legume species, and model performance evaluation was conducted using accuracy, AUC, recall, precision, and F1 score metrics. The best classification model was selected for each grain legume species. Employing Decision Tree analysis, Feature Importance Evaluation, and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) as explainable techniques, our study conducted both individual and comprehensive analyses of nine leguminous crops. This approach offers a novel perspective, unveiling not only the unique responses of each crop to the influencing factors but also demonstrating the common factors across different crops. According to the experimental results, XGboost (XGB) and Random Forests (RF) are the best-performing models among the nine types of grain legumes, and the classification accuracy of a specific species is as high as 87.33%. Insights drawn from the feature importance map reveal that several factors, including aerial biomass, precipitation, sunshine duration, soil conditions, growth cycle, and fertilization strategy, have a pivotal influence. However, it was found from the SHAP graph that the responses of various crops to these factors are not the same. This research furnishes novel perspectives and insights into understanding the factors influencing grain legume yields. The findings provide a robust scientific foundation for agricultural managers, experts, and policymakers in the pursuit of optimizing pulse yields and advancing agricultural sustainability.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030437
Authors: Qiang Jin Hui Dang Heng Wang Zhenghe Zhang
In the context of agricultural modernization in China, this paper examines the micro-level perspective of agricultural value chains. Drawing from three primary models of agricultural value chain cooperation—namely, “leading enterprises + small farmers”, “leading enterprises + cooperatives + small farmers”, and “corporate integration”—it establishes four game models: the decentralized decision-making game model, the two revenue-sharing game models, and the centralized decision-making game model. It systematically analyzes the cooperation mechanisms between leading enterprises and small farmers in upstream production links of the agricultural value chain, aiming to improve the cooperation strategy between leading enterprises and small farmers, elevate the status of small farmers in the agricultural value chain, promote increased income for farmers, and strengthen the agricultural value chain. The research findings are as follows: Firstly, the traditional contract of “leading enterprise + smallholder farmers” is incomplete, which makes it difficult to avoid opportunism and moral hazard that may arise between the two parties. By comparing multiple parameter values, it is found that this model is at a lower level of agricultural value chain development. Secondly, the model of “leading enterprise + cooperative + smallholder farmers” improves the tightness and stability of cooperation between leading enterprises and smallholder farmers. This model explains to some extent the operability of smallholder farmers sharing the value of the agricultural value chain. Compared with various parameter values, this model is at a medium level between other models. Finally, the “corporate integration” model is a fully vertical integration model. Compared with various parameter values, this model is at an advanced stage of agricultural value chain development. Therefore, agricultural value chains will ultimately develop toward the direction of corporate integration. This study has positive practical significance for enhancing the status and claim rights of small farmers, promoting increased income for farmers, enhancing the consistency of values between leading enterprises and small farmers, strengthening the stability of the agricultural value chain, and ultimately achieving common prosperity and agricultural modernization in China.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030436
Authors: Desislava Vlahova-Vangelova Desislav Balev Nikolay Kolev Stefan Dragoev Evgeni Petkov Teodora Popova
The increasing production of edible insects on an industrial scale makes it crucial to implement appropriate technologies after harvesting to process safe and high quality insect products. The aim of this work was to compare the impact of different drying treatments used in the production of flour from Tenebrio molitor larvae. The larvae were subjected to freeze-drying (FD), conventional drying (CD), microwave drying (MWD), microwave drying without freezing prior blanching (MWDL), and microwave drying with addition of 0.1% butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) during the blanching of the larvae (MWDA). The studied parameters included water activity (aw), instrumental colour, chemical composition, lipid oxidative processes, antioxidant activity, as well as microbiological status. The freeze-drying and conventional drying of the larvae reduced the aw of the derived flours (p < 0.0001); however, their nutritional profile revealed lower protein (p < 0.0001) and considerably higher fat content (p < 0.0001) compared to the flours after microwave treatments. The conventional drying and microwave treatment with BHT induced significantly darker colour (p < 0.0001) in comparison to the other methods. Despite the advantages of the microwave drying as a fast and energy efficient method, it displayed some negative effects associated with low lipid stability such as higher acid value (AV) and secondary products of lipid oxidation (TBARS) (p < 0.0001). This was also observed in the MWDA flour, indicating a certain pro-oxidative effect of the BHT. Regardless of the drying method, all the flours had a low microbial load.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030435
Authors: Shaobo Ye Xinchi Zhang Qi Wang Xin Li Fenshan Hu Haiyan Song Decong Zheng
Mechanical weeding is an important technical means for organic and regenerative agricultural systems. Current weed control equipment has a variety of problems, such as difficulty adapting to high-stalk crops and poor operational quality. A high-clearance mid-tillage weeder (HMTW) has been developed to meet the mechanical weed control needs of high-stalk crops. The weeder mainly comprises a suspension device, a frame, parallel four-rod profiling mechanisms, weeding operation components, and depth-limiting soil-cutting devices. Based on the agronomic requirements of dryland flat planting, the overall structure of the HMTW was determined, and the weeding unit and flat shovel hoe were designed. Theoretical analysis was conducted on the depth stability of the HMTW, and an optimization mathematical model of the HMTW was established to further improve its tillage depth stability for agronomic requirements. The optimization objective was to minimize the deflection angle (∆β) of the profiling rod on a vertical plane, and the parameters of the parallel four-rod profiling mechanism were optimized. Based on the optimized structural parameters, a prototype of the HMTW was developed and evaluated. The test results show that the optimized HMTW exhibited a good weeding effect, and the tillage depth stability was within the design operating range. When the driving speed was 1.0 m/s and the tillage depth was 8 cm, the weed removal rate, seedling injury rate, seedling burial rate, and qualified rate of tillage depth were 90.8%, 3.2%, 4.1%, and 94%, respectively. The proposed HMTW successfully meets the weeding agronomic requirements of high-stalk crops for dryland farming, and the performance analysis and optimization models provide technical references for the design and development of such structures.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030434
Authors: Wendong Zhong Xuan Zhao Fei Liu Hongbin Bai Wenxue Dong Hengtong Hu Xiang Kong
This paper proposes a solution to the problem of tight population in the filling area of traditional air suction seed metering devices during quinoa sowing, which leads to inaccurate adsorption. The proposed method disperses the population into a stable seed flow and absorbs the seeds in a flow posture. The flow adsorption precision seed metering device is designed and improved, and the key structure parameters are optimized based on the shape and size parameters of quinoa seeds. A four-factor and three-level response surface orthogonal test is conducted using the Box–Behnken experimental design. The number of seeds, flow angle, negative pressure at the suction hole, and advancing speed are taken as experimental factors, and the qualified index of grain number per hole, qualified index of hole distance, and coefficient of variation of hole distance are used as evaluation indices. The results are optimized using extreme value theory, and it is found that when the seed amount is 5.82 mm, the flow angle is 31.08°, the negative pressure of the air chamber is 1.7 kPa, and the advancing speed is 3.82 km·h−1, and the qualified index of hole number is 94.37%, the qualified index of hole distance is 95.39%, and the coefficient of variation of hole distance is 4.51%. The results are in general agreement with the prediction through the bench validation test, which meets the requirements of quinoa seed metering devices.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030433
Authors: Sheng Sun Bin Hu Xinming Wu Xin Luo Jian Wang
We have combined the theory of bulk dynamics and the agronomic requirements of precision sowing with the aim of resolving the technical problems of poor seed mobility and the difficulty in controlling suction posture, which leads to an increase in the leakage rate and a reduction in seed qualification index scores. In this study, a vibrationally tuned directional seed supply method and system are proposed. We carried out a force analysis of seeds, constructed kinematic equations for seeds and seed boxes to specify the state of the seed motion, and determined the structural parameters and the range of structural parameters that affect the seed suction posture. In addition, we coupled the ADAMS-EDEM simulation of the motion process of the seed and seed boxes and analyzed the vibrational tuning process of the seeds and the angle of inclination of the bottom surface of the seed box. The speed of the eccentric wheel and the eccentric distance were used as test factors. Three-factor and three-level Box–Behnken central combination testing with a single-grain rate, multiple-grain rate, and cavity rate were used as response indicators. Mathematical models were obtained between the experimental factors and the response indicators. Multi-objective optimization of mathematical regression models was carried out with Design-Expert 10.0.4 software. The optimal parameter combination obtained was a tilt angle of 14.27°, an eccentric wheel speed of 4.48 rad/s, and an eccentricity of 1.94 mm. The rate of single grains was 90.75%, the rate of multiple grains was 3.63%, and the rate of cavities was 5.62%. In bench performance tests, using an angle of inclination of 14°, the speed of the eccentric wheel was 4.50 rad/s and the eccentricity was 2 mm. The mean value of the single-grain rate was 89.28%, the mean value of the multiple-grain rate was 3.89%, and the mean value of the cavity rate was 6.83%. The test error was within permissible limits, and reliable results were achieved for parameter optimization. The results met the technical requirements for precision sowing. The results of the study can provide academic references for theoretical research on the methodology of posturing and directional seed supply. They can also provide ideas for the design and development of seed supply systems for precision sowing machinery.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030432
Authors: Xinyu Yuan Caojun Huang Guixiang Tao Shujuan Yi Yifei Li
To tackle the issues of low seeding accuracy and seed injury caused by the seeders utilized at a small scale and in the plot seeding of sorghum in mountainous or hilly regions, this study presents the design of an oil–electric hybrid air suction sorghum plot seeder. The main working parts of the seeder are described, and the performance of the seed-mixing device is simulated using EDEM software. An oil–electric hybrid drive mode is used to provide power for operation and to the seed-metering device and fan. Additionally, a sowing control and monitoring system is designed using a single-chip microcomputer controller to ensure uniform plant spacing at different forward speeds. A multi-factor experiment is conducted using the central synthesis method to determine the optimal operating parameters of the seed-metering device through bench tests. The results show that a profile hole diameter of 2.5 mm on the seed tray, a negative-pressure chamber vacuum of 8.0 kPa, and a seed-metering device speed of 28 r/min result in a 95.95% pass rate, 0.5% missing rate, and 3.55% reseeding rate. The deviation between the experimental and analytical results that validate the optimum parameters is kept within acceptable limits. Field tests are conducted at different forward speeds using the optimum parameter combinations, and a comparison is made with the widely used duckbill planter. The results show pass, missing, and reseeding rates of 94.41%, 2.3%, and 3.29%, respectively. The missing monitoring error is less than 7.19%. All of the indices of the oil–electric hybrid air suction sorghum plot seeder are superior to those of the duckbill planter; thus, it fulfills the agronomic requirements for seeding a sorghum plot.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030431
Authors: F. D. Prisca Seeli Muthukumar Manoharan Bharathi Ayyenar Rohit Kambale Vignesh Mohanavel Veera Ranjani Rajagopalan Sudha Manickam Raveendran Muthurajan Manonmani Swaminathan
In the ever-changing climatic conditions, it has become important to enhance rice productivity to ensure global food security. Drought is one of the major limiting factors in rice pro- duction. Drought during the reproductive stage results in maximum or complete yield loss. Efforts have been taken to develop drought-tolerant rice lines by introgressing three major drought-effect QTLs, viz. qDTY1.1, qDTY2.1, and qDTY3.1, from Apo into a susceptible popular rice variety, Improved White Ponni (IWP). Backcross inbred lines of IWP × Apo were developed through the marker-assisted backcross breeding approach. Foreground analysis using linked markers resulted in the identification of 17 progenies carrying two or more QTLs, and the recurrent parent genome recoveries of these lines were >95.6% using 72 genome-wide SSR markers distributed throughout all chromosomes. Upon phenotypic evaluation of 17 IWP BILs, the water limited condition resulted in the identification of improved lines by recording the yield and the yield-related parameters. The promising performance of IWP BILs in terms of spikelet fertility (63.3%) and grain yield per plant (>10 g) under drought stress indicated the positive effects of introgressed qDTYs, while IWP recorded complete yield loss (94.2%). Out of the cultivars considered, the best-performing lines which truly exhibited drought tolerance, with more increased yield than the recurrent parent under water-limited conditions, and the effects of these QTLs and their interactions were examined in this research work.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030430
Authors: Chen Kang Mingwang Cheng Xinyu Wei
Parental downward support plays an important role in urban and rural sustainable development. It is of great significance to study parental downward transfers and their motivation. However, there is no consensus on the motivation behind parental downward transfers in China. This study examines the timing and monetary impacts of social pensions on parental downward transfers and assesses the motivations behind them. We found that pension insurance encouraged rural parents to provide time and monetary support to their children. Unlike rural parents, pension insurance increased the monetary support of urban parents but inhibited their time support. Because of the higher income level of urban parents and the better organization of the domestic service market, parents have the motivation and conditions to reduce their time support and increase monetary support. Our findings highlight the importance of parental downward transfers in urban and rural sustainable development.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030429
Authors: Deok-Woo Kim Eu Gene Chung Eun Hye Na Youngseok Kim
Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) inputs can have detrimental environmental effects, necessitating a comprehensive understanding of the nitrogen budget (NB) and its spatial correlation with the water quality. This study, utilizing a 2016 dataset, scrutinized 850 subwatersheds with diverse land covers across the Republic of Korea (ROK). Employing Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR), it examined the spatial correlations between the NBs and the quality of the groundwater and river water at the watershed scale. Robust correlations (R2 = 0.87) were observed between the groundwater quality and NBs, surpassing those of the surface water (R2 = 0.48). Sensitivity analyses highlighted the importance of high-resolution spatial data in capturing nuances within complex land covers. The integration of such data led to increases in the spatial correlations between the groundwater and river water quality of approximately 0.6–0.9 and 0.3–0.5, respectively. Notably, when the agricultural land cover exceeded 10%, significant enhancements in the spatial correlations were observed, emphasizing the pivotal role of agriculture in nutrient and water quality. At a 10% cropland ratio, the spatial correlations between the watershed-scale NBs and river/groundwater quality increased by approximately 76% and 501%, respectively. This study provides novel insights into the spatial relationships among NBs, water quality, and land use, highlighting the significance of high-resolution data and the impact of agricultural practices on watershed management. These findings contribute valuable information for developing strategies to mitigate nitrogen pollution.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030428
Authors: Gheorghe Lazaroiu Lucian Mihaescu Rodica-Manuela Grigoriu Gabriel-Paul Negreanu Dorel Stoica
The dynamics of poultry waste co-combustion with solid biomass has been theoretically and experimentally analyzed by authors in several works. The current work is focused on a case study regarding the energy recovery from poultry waste in order to use it for heating a 1000 m3 chicken rearing complex, considering the specific climatic conditions in Romania. Even if biomass has significant national potential, there are only a few experimental incentives in our country to use it for energy production. Since poultry manure is characterized by high moisture and low calorific value, its co-combustion with solid biomass was chosen. Thus, laboratory experiments involving the combustion of 20–30% poultry waste were carried out on a 55 kW pilot boiler. This is an environmentally friendly and low-cost approach. The tests showed that phosphorus and potassium are concentrated by the combustible mass disappearance in the ash (P = 3.2–5.5% and K = 2.2–3.8%), leading to the conclusion that it represents a much more valuable fertilizer than raw waste, since it is lighter and much easier to store, transport, and spread over the agricultural area. The poultry waste mix with solid biomass was taken into account for heating a chicken rearing hall module by considering the needs of each period (cycle) in the development of the chicken-bird flow in accordance with a temperate-continental climate, such as Romania’s climate. The resulting annual fuel consumption is 53.27 t. This quantity represents 42.60 t of biomass and 10.67 t of poultry manure. The co-combustion showed pollutant emissions within the legal limits and no presence of ammonia, which was incinerated on the biomass layer surface.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030427
Authors: Yihua Liu Meng Xu Jian Guo Yinbo Gan
Fruit pubescence (trichome) is an important characteristic and is controlled by a single dominant gene (G/g), resulting in peaches and nectarines. The length and/or density of fruit fuzz varies greatly among different peach cultivars. However, little is known about fruit trichome development in peaches. In this study, significant differences in fruit trichome length and density were identified between ‘XT1’ and its bud mutation ‘BM’, showing much higher values for ‘BM’. Comparative transcriptome analysis was performed, and 987 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, which were confirmed by qRT-PCR. GO (Gene Ontology) and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) analyses showed that genes involved in defense response, secondary metabolites and plant hormone signal transduction may also be related to the development of peach fruit trichomes. By integrating other transcriptome data, we finally determined 47 DEGs that might participate in peach trichome development, including five plant-hormone-related genes. The promoter analysis showed that one abscisic-acid-related gene, Prupe.6G072400 (abscisic acid 8′-hydroxylase 2), and one auxin-related gene, Prupe.3G074900 (auxin-responsive protein IAA1), have obvious differences in the cis-acting elements of the promoters between ‘XT1’ and ‘BM’. The results of this study will provide a valuable resource illustrating the mechanism of fruit trichome development in peaches and benefit future genomic research.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030425
Authors: Charles Hunt Walne Naflath Thenveettil Purushothaman Ramamoorthy Raju Bheemanahalli Krishna N. Reddy Kambham Raja Reddy
The increasing severity of drought has become a significant threat to global crop production. Early season drought in corn produces poor plant stand and grain yield. Thus, identifying corn hybrids for drought tolerance during the early season is important. Nineteen corn hybrids commonly grown in the Midsouthern US were assessed for drought tolerance using mini-hoop structures. Plants grown under non-stress conditions were exposed to three moisture levels at 100% (0.17 m3 m−3 soil; control), 66% (mild drought; DS1), and 33% (moderate drought; DS2) of the control from one to five leaf stages (V1 to V5). The physiological and morphological traits of corn hybrids were measured to assess variability in drought tolerance. When averaged across the hybrids, shoot parameters declined by 51% and 59% under DS1 and DS2 conditions, respectively, compared to the control. A decline in root traits was noticed under drought stress (38% under DS1 and 48% under DS2) compared to the control, revealing the shoot system sensitivity under drought conditions. In the principal component analysis, the first two principal components accounted for 66% of the phenotypic variation among the corn hybrids under drought stress. Total, shoot, leaf dry weights, root surface area, and root volume captured most of the phenotypic variation among the corn hybrids under drought. The results of the principal component analysis and drought stress response indices complimented the identification of ‘A6659’ and ‘D57VP51’ as drought-tolerant hybrids during the early seedling stage. These hybrids can be used as source material in developing drought-tolerant cultivars. Also, the tolerant hybrids will perform best under rainfed environments prone to early-season drought.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030426
Authors: Jing Fu Guangji Tong
In the published publication [...]
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030423
Authors: Peiyi Zeng Shujuan He Liping He Muqing Yang Xian Zhu Min Wu
In the long-term production process of lead and zinc smelting enterprises, atmospheric subsidence leads to the accumulation of heavy metals in surrounding farmland, which poses a serious threat to the growth of crops and food safety. Given the knowledge that heavy metal pollution in cultivated land does not support treatment and restoration, determining how to ensure the quality and safety of agricultural products is the main problem facing the agricultural industry at present. Previous studies have mainly focused on the low accumulation of heavy metals in maize varieties, while the removal of heavy metals from soil through high biomass has been studied less. In order to identify the maize varieties that demonstrate high removal and low accumulation of heavy metals, 29 maize varieties were planted in soil contaminated with lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd), and the growth status of the maize varieties and the absorption and transport of Pb and Cd by different tissues were studied. The results showed that heavy metals had the least effect on the growth of the Longhuangbai3, Jinqiuyu 35, Jinyi 418, and Qiuqing 88 varieties, and the content of Pb and Cd in maize varieties was in the order leaf > stem > root > grain. It was found that soil remediation and safe production can be taken into account in the results of the Qiuqing 88 (Pb, Cd), Fengdeng 2025 (Cd), and Yayu 719 (Pb, Cd) varieties. Moreover, the Xinzhongyu 801 (Cd) and Longdan 1701 (Pb) varieties demonstrated high metal accumulation in the edible part, which poses a potential risk to human health; thus, they are not recommended for local cultivation.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030424
Authors: Magdalena Szymańska Wiktoria Gubiec Bożena Smreczak Aleksandra Ukalska-Jaruga Tomasz Sosulski
The aim of the study was to assess the impact of the specialization of agricultural production on selected parameters of soil health, i.e., soil organic carbon content (SOC), soil acidification, soil nutrient status, i.e., total nitrogen content (NT), available forms of phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium, and microelements content, as well as the content of selected potentially toxic metals (PTMs). For the study, 18 farms located in the Masovian Voivodeship in Central Poland were selected. They were grouped into six types, and each type was represented by three farms. The study included organic farms; farms specializing in: crop, vegetable, poultry, dairy cattle, and pigs production. A total of 144 soil samples were analyzed. The results showed that the specialization of agricultural production and fertilizer management had a significant impact on most of the tested soil health parameters, except SOC and NT content. Despite the high organic fertilizer doses introduced into soils in poultry (170 kg N per hectare as poultry manure) and pig farms (150 kg N per hectare as pig manure), there was no significant influence of these amendments on SOC content. This may indicate low organic carbon sequestration potential in some Polish agricultural soils. Organic farms had the lowest levels of plant nutrients in the tested soil samples, which may limit soil productivity. All the tested soils were strongly acidified, which could restrict both production and regulatory soil functions. Based on the synthetic index of soil fertility (SSFI), vegetable and poultry farms were characterized by very high fertility, while crop, dairy cattle, and pig farms fell into the medium fertility class. Organic farms were in the lowest fertility class. However, the study suggests that the SSFI may not be the best indicator for assessing soil fertility and health; therefore, further research is needed.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030422
Authors: Hongmei Xia Liuquan Li Chuheng Deng Shicheng Zhu Jieqing Chen Teng Yang Runxin Huang Wenbin Zhen
The finite element simulation is a valid way for the rapid development of the root-cutting mechanism for hydroponic Chinese kale. The stem of the hydroponic Chinese kale was simplified as a transverse isotropic elastic body, and axial compression, three-point bending, and shear tests were performed. The ANSYS/LS-DYNA19.2 software was adopted for stem shear simulation, and the regression equation of the maximum simulated shear force was established. The optimized mechanical parameters were determined by minimizing the deviation between the maximum shear force obtained from the simulation and test. The three-dimensional scanning method was employed to establish the geometric model of the hydroponic Chinese kale stem. The cutting finite element simulation model and test platform were constructed. Displacement, deformation, and force measured from simulation and test were compared. Through measurement and simulation calibration, an axial elastic modulus of 6.22 MPa, axial Poisson’s ratio of 0.46, radial elastic modulus of 3.56 MPa, radial Poisson’s ratio of 0.44, radial shear modulus of 0.8 MPa, and a failure strain of 0.08 were determined. During the cutting simulation and test, the resulting maximum displacement deviations of the marking points on the end of the stem were 0.68 mm along the X-axis and 2.83 mm along the Y-axis, while the maximum deviations of the cutting and clamping force were 0.49 N and 0.77 N, respectively. The deformation and force variation laws of the kale stem in the cutting simulation and test process were basically consistent. It showed that the mechanical parameters calibrated by the simulation were accurate and effective, and the stem cutting simulation results with the finite element method were in good agreement with that of the cutting test. The study provided a reference for the rapid optimization design of the root-cutting mechanism for hydroponic Chinese kale harvest.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030421
Authors: Junhui Ran Zhipeng Song Quan Zhang Wensong Guo Xufeng Wang
Drip irrigation technology is widely used in agricultural production in the Xinjiang region. However, there are still a series of problems in the mechanized recovery of field drip irrigation belts, such as easy breakage of drip irrigation belts, low recovery efficiency, and excessive doping of recycled drip irrigation belts. This study focused on the problems of mechanized recovery of drip irrigation belts in Xinjiang and designed a new type of drip irrigation belt recovery machine. The key mechanisms of the new drip irrigation belt recovery machine were designed and theoretically analyzed, and their basic parameters were determined. Then, the superiority of the new drip irrigation belt recovery machine’s operational performance was verified through experiments. The experimental results showed that the new drip irrigation belt recovery machine is superior to existing machines in terms of the drip irrigation belt recovery rate and operational efficiency. In addition, the drip irrigation belts recovered by the newly designed machine have low impurity content. During the recovery process, the new machine requires less labor input than that of the existing machine.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030419
Authors: Tuo Sheng Haifeng Luo Mingliang Wu
Timely and effective drying of agricultural products is crucial for ensuring the quality and yield of grains. Biomass drying enhances energy utilization and reduces energy pressure. To this end, a novel multi-channel circulating biomass hot air furnace was designed to provide precise control of the heat source for grain drying, thereby improving the efficiency and quality of the drying process. The combustion process utilizes a multi-channel combined air supply to ensure complete combustion of biomass pellet fuel. During the heat exchange process, heat exchange plates isolate hot and cold areas, discharging combustion exhaust, while ensuring a pure air output. Using rapeseed as the drying subject, a temperature controller based on adaptive fuzzy PID was designed, targeting the biomass hot air furnace’s heat exchange system for modeling and verifying the model with the step response method. Model simulations were conducted in Matlab’s Simulink module using both adaptive fuzzy PID and traditional PID controllers, for a given signal. The settling times for the conventional PID and fuzzy PID were 445 s and 364 s, respectively, with overshoots of 20.1% and 6.3%, showing that the fuzzy PID controller performed better in terms of control performance. The validation tests showed that both control methods could maintain the temperature within ±5 °C. Compared to traditional PID control, the adaptive fuzzy PID control achieved a precision of ±3 °C. At the target temperature of 90 °C, the error was reduced to 3.7%, with a stabilization time of 1014 s. The use of fuzzy PID control exhibited better dynamic response characteristics, meeting the drying needs of rapeseed. This study provides a theoretical basis for the structural design and control system design of biomass hot air furnaces.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030420
Authors: Chongshang Zhang Kaiyu Lyu Chi Zhang
This study aims to examine the influence of crop insurance on the utilization of chemical fertilizers using plot-level data. The dataset utilized in this analysis consists of information obtained from 1039 participants residing in four major grain-producing provinces (Heilongjiang, Zhejiang, Henan, and Sichuan) in China. To address the potential issue of endogeneity, instrumental variables were employed to establish a causal relationship within the empirical model. The findings of this study indicate that crop insurance does not exert a statistically significant impact on overall fertilizer input in China. Nonetheless, the effect varies across different categories of farmers. Specifically, large-scale farmers experience a moderate reduction in fertilizer input as a result of crop insurance, while small-scale farmers do not demonstrate a significant effect. It is essential to strike a balance between risk protection and the potential influence of moral hazard in order to enhance future crop insurance policies.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030418
Authors: Alicja Sułek Grażyna Cacak-Pietrzak Marcin Studnicki Jerzy Grabiński Anna Nieróbca Marta Wyzińska Marcin Różewicz
Cultivar, habitat conditions and agrotechnology have an influence on the yield and chemical composition of rye grain. The main anti-nutritional substances present in rye grain include alkylresorcinols, water-soluble pentosans and trypsin inhibitors. The aim of this study was to determine the variability in yield and the concentration of anti-nutritional compounds in the grain of selected winter rye cultivars in relation to nitrogen fertilisation levels and weather conditions. Field studies were conducted at the Experimental Station of IUNG-PIB in Osiny (Poland) in two growing seasons (2018/2019 and 2019/2020). The experiment was located on pseudo-polylic soil using the randomised sub-block method in three replications. The first factor of the experiment was the level of nitrogen fertilisation (0, 70 and 140 kg N∙ha−1) and the second was the population (Dańkowskie Skand, Piastowskie) and hybrid (KWS Vinetto, SU Performer) winter rye cultivars. The study showed that the yield of winter rye depended on the genotype and the level of nitrogen fertilisation. The hybrid cultivars yield ed 17.9% higher in relation to the population cultivars. The content of anti-nutritional compounds in rye grain depended significantly on genotype, level of nitrogen fertilisation and weather conditions. The reason for the higher synthesis of anti-nutrients in rye grain was the stressful weather conditions occurring in the 2019/2020 season. Nitrogen fertilisation influenced the content of alkylresorcinols, water-soluble pentosans and trypsin inhibitor activity in grain. The interaction of cultivar and fertilisation was also found to shape the content of the aforementioned anti-nutrients.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030416
Authors: In-Seok Hwang Jeong-Hun Kim Wan-Tae Im Hwan-Hong Jeung Ju-Seok Nam Chang-Seop Shin
The advancement of agriculture and a shortage of labor have led to an increased use of agricultural machinery. However, the resulting environmental issues have prompted a shift from internal combustion engines to electric drivetrains. The electric drivetrain includes the installation of batteries, which can lead to decreased energy efficiency and significant loads on the vehicle due to their heavy weight. Consequently, the importance of ensuring the safety of agricultural machinery is being increasingly emphasized. The load on the frame of agricultural machinery is not consistent during off-road driving, and the accumulation of load cycles can lead to the destruction and failure of components. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure a level of safety and to predict the fatigue life. In this study, we estimate the safety factor and predict the fatigue life of weak points in an electrically driven, multi-purpose cultivation tractor based on working conditions (width, soil, and drive). Strain gauges were attached to these weak points to measure the strain, which was then converted to von Mises stress. Fatigue life was predicted using the rainflow counting method and the Palmgren–Miner rule. The results showed that the safety factor measured under various working conditions was greater than 1. The estimated minimum fatigue life was 124,176 years. Considering that the cultivator is used for 29.7 h annually and has a durability lifespan of 5 years, it is expected to be safely usable throughout its service life.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030417
Authors: Malika Mahmoudi Mohamed Naceur Khelil Sarra Hechmi Basma Latrech Rim Ghrib Abdelhamid Boujlben Samir Yacoubi
The authors wish to make the following corrections to the original paper [...]
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030415
Authors: Nomfundo Shelembe Simphiwe Innocentia Hlatshwayo Albert Modi Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi Mjabuliseni Simon Cloapas Ngidi
Indigenous crops have been proposed as part of a solution for household food security and sustainable farming systems. However, they have been overlooked and underutilised by households and farmers despite their potential contribution to household food security. The objective of this paper was to determine the association of socio-economic factors and indigenous crops with the household food security of farming households. About 260 farming households were selected using a simple random sampling procedure. The food security status was measured through the use of the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). The Chi-square test and extended ordered probit regression model assessed the relationship of socio-economic factors and indigenous crops with household food security status. The results from the HFIAS showed that farming households were largely in the mildly and moderately food-insecure categories, with 34.2% and 36.2% of the sampled farmers found in these categories, respectively. The Chi-square test showed a statistically significant relationship between food security status and socio-economic factors. Young men and everyone were perceived to be the ones likely to consume indigenous crops. Consumption of indigenous crops was perceived to be associated with food security. The results also showed that farming experience is likely to positively contribute to the food security status of the farming households. Selling indigenous crops in a formal market is perceived to be associated with food security compared to selling in an informal market. This study concludes that consuming indigenous crops is likely associated with improved food security. Identifying an appropriate market for sales of indigenous crops is imperative. Government, extension officers, and nutritionists must conduct training workshops to encourage households to grow, market and buy indigenous crops. Government and policymakers need to include indigenous crops in the national food and nutrition security policy and create formal markets for indigenous crops.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030414
Authors: Jianling Song Quanquan Sun Qiankun Li Umair Ashraf Xu Hu Lin Li
Straw return (SR) has been widely recommended as a conservation agricultural practice in China. However, the effects of SR on crop yield and soil properties are inconsistent across studies of rice–oilseed rape cropping systems in China. This study aimed to investigate the effects of SR on crop yield and soil nutrient content in a rice–oilseed rotation system, and to understand the mechanism of straw return on the difference in yield increases between rice and oilseed rape. Additionally, suitable climate factors, soil properties, and agricultural practices were identified to achieve maximum increases in yield and soil nutrients in a rice–oilseed rotation under SR. This paper is based on a meta-analysis of 1322 observations from 83 peer-reviewed studies to evaluate the effects of climate, initial soil conditions, and agricultural management practices on rice and oilseed rape yields and soil nutrients under SR. The results showed that the responses of oilseed rape and rice yield remained positive, with 12.37% and 6.54% increases, and were significantly higher under SR than the control (no SR). Moreover, SR significantly increased the contents of several soil nutrients (soil organic carbon (SOC), total nutrients, available nutrients) and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN). Interestingly, the increase in crop yields was attributed to the increase in SOC, total nitrogen, and available potassium. Additionally, the increase in yields was mainly affected by climate factors, initial soil properties, and agronomic practices. For example, both mean annual temperature (MAT) and mean annual precipitation (MAP) had a positive correlation with crop yield increases under SR (p < 0.01). Initial soil conditions such as low SOC and total nitrogen content were more suitable for increased rice yield under SR, while the opposite was true for increased oilseed rape yield. Without fertilization, the SR did not significantly improve crop yield and soil nutrients, while it was more pronounced with N fertilization at 150–180 kg hm−2. The positive effect of SR on crop yields is more evident with plowing tillage, whereas the SR caused the highest increase in soil nutrients with the no-tillage condition. These findings have important implications for further improving crop yield, SOC, and soil nutrients in the Chinese rice–oilseed cropping system through straw return.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030413
Authors: Biao Zhang Cheng Gao Weimin Shen Baoshan Chen
Conventional straw-returning machines were incompatible with ridge cultivation terrain and unevenly distributed materials, resulting in substandard operations such as insufficient leaf fragmentation, damage to ratoon stumps, and high cutting energy consumption. In this regard, this paper proposes a novel profiling configuration of chopping and returning machine to adapt to the coverage characteristics of cane leaves in furrow-ridge terrain. The leaves piled at furrow sole are intensively collected and fed into the whirling space by the flexible hook teeth assembly, and are cooperatively broken by the unequal-length swing blades densely arranged along the double helix. Based on the measured topographic trends and dynamic analysis of the leaf-shredding process, experimental factors affecting profiling cutting and picking capabilities of the main components were determined. Further, using chopping qualification rate (CQR) and fragmentation degree (CFD) as indicators, field trails were conducted through a response surface method to test the comprehensive crushing performance of the machine. After multi-objective optimization, the optimal structural and operating parameters were determined as: blade length gradient of 1.57 cm, teeth spacing of 6.84 cm and feed speed of 3.2 km/h. With such adaptive configurations, CQR and CFD reached 81.14% and 0.101, respectively, which were significantly improved by 60.50% and 47.99% compared to those of conventional machines. Crushed leaves appeared to be more thoroughly mixed with the soil and more evenly spread in the field. Meanwhile, the traction resistance tended to be stable, with an effective RSM 45.85% lower than the value of higher-level blade gradient, indicating a better overall fit with the irregular terrain. This study can provide a reference for the development of leaf-chopping and returning machines suitable for ridge-type crops.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030412
Authors: Peirong Lu Yaxin Liu Yujie Yang Yu Zhu Zhonghua Jia
Localized soil compaction in greenhouses resulting from less frequent tillage operations and frequent trampling by farmers inevitably disturbs the continuity and homogeneity of soil’s hydraulic properties, which impacts the precision of greenhouse cultivation regarding water supply and salinity control. However, predicting water–salt dynamics under partly compacted topsoil is difficult because of the interactions between many factors related to soil properties, including irrigation method and water quality, which are especially subjected to varied compaction sizes and positions. Here, two field treatments were conducted in brackish water (3 g L−1) drip-irrigated plots, with the designed soil compaction region (40 cm width and 30 cm depth) adjacent to (T1) and below (T2) the drip lines. The calibrated and validated HYDRUS-2D model was applied to analyze salt exchanges across the vertical and horizontal interfaces between the compacted and non-compacted zones and the associated solute concentration variations within these two zones. The results indicated that the limited horizontal solute flux under T1 enhanced the subsequent downward flux below the drip lines, whereas, under T2, the restricted downward flux with relatively limited improved horizontal salt spreading resulted in more salt retention in the soil profile. Additional scenario simulations considering the vertical and horizontal extension of soil compaction sizes (ranging from 10 × 10 cm to 40 × 40 cm) were also conducted and revealed that, with the same increment in compaction size, the vertical extension of the compacted zone aggravated salt accumulation compared with that of horizontal extension, while the simulated cumulative water and salt downward fluxes were positive in relation to the compaction sizes in both vertical and horizontal directions under T1, but negative under T2. The findings of this study explore the effect of relative positions between drip lines and the soil compaction zone on salt transports under brackish water irrigation and reveal the potential soil salinization trend as extending compaction regions in the vertical or horizontal direction.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030411
Authors: Youyan Huang Lihui Yan Zhongfa Zhou Denghong Huang Qianxia Li Fuxianmei Zhang Lu Cai
Rapidly and accurately extracting tobacco plant information can facilitate tobacco planting management, precise fertilization, and yield prediction. In the karst mountainous of southern China, tobacco plant identification is affected by large ground undulations, fragmented planting areas, complex and diverse habitats, and uneven plant growth. This study took a tobacco planting area in Guizhou Province as the research object and used DJI UAVs to collect UAV visible light images. Considering plot fragmentation, plant size, presence of weeds, and shadow masking, this area was classified into eight habitats. The U-Net model was trained using different habitat datasets. The results show that (1) the overall precision, recall, F1-score, and Intersection over Union (IOU) of tobacco plant information extraction were 0.68, 0.85, 0.75, and 0.60, respectively. (2) The precision was the highest for the subsurface-fragmented and weed-free habitat and the lowest for the smooth-tectonics and weed-infested habitat. (3) The weed-infested habitat with smaller tobacco plants can blur images, reducing the plant-identification accuracy. This study verified the feasibility of the U-Net model for tobacco single-plant identification in complex habitats. Decomposing complex habitats to establish the sample set method is a new attempt to improve crop identification in complex habitats in karst mountainous areas.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030410
Authors: Kezhu Tan Qi Liu Xi Chen Haonan Xia Shouao Yao
The nutritional components of soybean, such as fat and protein, directly decide soybean quality. The fast and accurate detection of these components is significant to soybean industries and soybean crop breeding. This study developed an improved SSA-SVM (support vector regression based on the sparrow search algorithm) for the rapid and accurate detection of the fat and protein in soybean seeds using hyperspectral reflectance data. In this work, 85 soybean samples were selected. After their fat and protein contents were analyzed using chemical methods, a total of 85 groups of hyperspectral image data were collected using the hyperspectral imaging system. An effective data preprocessing method was applied to reduce the noise for enhancing the prediction models. Some popular models, including partial least-square regression (PLSR), random forest regression (RFR), and support vector regression based on the genetic algorithm (GA-SVR), were also established in this study. The experimental results showed that the improved SSA-SVM model could predict the nutrient contents of the soybean samples with accuracies of 0.9403 and 0.9215 and RMSEs of 0.2234 and 0.325 for the fat and protein, respectively. The convergence speed was improved significantly. Therefore, hyperspectral data combined with the SSA-SVM algorithm presented in this study were effective for evaluating the soybean quality.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030409
Authors: Yiorgos Gadanakis Jorge Campos-González Philip Jones
In agriculture, the intricate relationship between innovation, productivity, and entrepreneurship is underexplored. Despite the widely recognized role of innovation in driving productivity, concrete indicators and comprehensive farm-level studies are lacking. This research aims to unravel this complexity by exploring the impact of innovation, specifically in agricultural entrepreneurship, on transformative changes in farm productivity. The work presented in this manuscript explores how farm-level data derived from the Farm Business Survey (FBS) for the period between 2003 and 2014 is used to identify innovators and to assesses changes in productivity, technical efficiency, and economic efficiency. Therefore, it aims to contribute to comprehensively exploring the role of innovation, particularly within the context of entrepreneurship in agriculture, and its influence on driving transformative changes in farm productivity. Results reveal significant productivity variation and a moderate overall improvement. Furthermore, investment in human resources, particularly managerial input, significantly enhances farm productivity across various models, indicating experienced managers utilize technology effectively. Notably, management and human capital innovation drive positive productivity changes in the UK cereal sector for the period 2003–2014, surpassing technological advancements. Efficient farmers leverage experience to benefit from operational scale changes, emphasizing the importance of accumulated knowledge. Hence, policy interventions should recognize these nuances; while promoting vocational training aids technology adoption, it may not spur management innovation. Thus, strategies must balance various aspects to effectively foster innovation in agriculture, considering both technological and managerial advancements for sustained productivity growth. The study advocates for a departure from the ‘bigger is better’ mentality, proposing educational programs and support services to encourage informed decision-making. This forward-looking approach aims to inform future policies and enhance understanding of the intricate dynamics between agricultural innovation, productivity, and entrepreneurship.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030407
Authors: Xianxin Wu Qiujun Lin Guang Li Chunjing Guo Lina Li Jianzhong Wang
There is growing concern regarding cadmium (Cd) exposure through rice consumption. Compared with alternate wetting and drying (AWD), continuous flooding (CF) is usually considered as an effective approach for reducing Cd enrichment in rice but increases the risk of pollution from arsenic (As). In this study, the field trial was conducted to investigate remediation effects of two water management (CF and AWD) techniques on Cd pollution in rice in typical japonica rice cultivation areas with varied soil pH levels. The results indicate that soil pH was a crucial factor in regulating CF-mediated Cd/As accumulation and migration in rice plants, and grains at all stages of rice growth. In acidic fields, compared with AWD, the use of CF reduced the accumulation of Cd in plants during the tillering stage; CF during the milk stage promotes the risk of contamination of Cd in rice grains and any form of As in plants and inhibits the content of any forms of As in grains. During the mature stage, CF reduced the levels of Cd in the plants and grains while promoting the accumulation of As(V) and total As(T-As) in plants and As(III) in grains. In alkaline fields, compared with AWD, CF during the tillering stage promoted the accumulation of various forms of As in plants. During the milk stage, CF increased and decreased the Cd content in plants and grains, respectively, and reduced the accumulation of T-As in plants and As(III) in grains; during the mature stage, CF promoted the accumulation of Cd in plants and grains, induced the accumulation of T-As plants, and inhibited the accumulation of any form of As in grains. From the perspective of food safety, the impact of CF conditions on the accumulation of Cd and As in rice from acidic fields exhibited a pattern of reduction in Cd and increase in As during the maturity period, as compared to that on the AWD. Conversely, CF increased the Cd risk while simultaneously reducing the As accumulation in rice grains to a safe level in alkaline fields. CF is not recommended as a remediation strategy for Cd pollution in rice in low Cd pollution areas, but it can be considered as a potential strategy for As pollution remediation in rice in alkaline fields with low Cd pollution.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030408
Authors: Dmytro Onopriienko Tetiana Makarova Hennadii Hapich Yelizaveta Chernysh Hynek Roubík
The purpose of our research is to evaluate the agroecological condition of soils under long-term irrigation (over 50 years) and to improve existing measures to slow down degradation processes by introducing phosphogypsum. The possibility of simultaneously addressing the ecological issue of using large amounts of phosphogypsum waste and the agronomic characteristics of slowing or eliminating salinisation processes in irrigated soils has been studied and justified. The research methodology was based on the comparison of different meliorative doses of phosphogypsum under the following conditions: by the amount of exchangeable sodium that should displace calcium in the calculated soil layer; by the coagulation limit; and by the absorption norm and the corresponding amount of sodium coming with irrigation water. To determine water-soluble salts (anions, cations) and pH level, a water extract was utilized. Multi-year studies to determine the impact of phosphogypsum on irrigation-salinised soils with and without irrigation showed positive changes in the anion–cation composition of water extraction, resulting in a reduction in the degree of the salinity of these soils. It was established that in chernozem soils under irrigation, the sodium adsorption ratio decreases by 74.5% compared to the control indicators, and without irrigation, by 23%. The best results in the displacement of exchangeable sodium were observed when phosphogypsum was applied at a dose calculated by the coagulation limit without irrigation and with irrigation—by the absorption norm.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030406
Authors: Jessica I. Clippinger Emily P. Dobry Ivy Laffan Nyla Zorbas Bryan Hed Michael A. Campbell
The oomycete Plasmopara viticola, which causes downy mildew, is currently one of the most destructive pathogens affecting grape production. Although native to the eastern United States, P. viticola was introduced into Europe in the mid-to-late 1800s and is now found in virtually every grape-growing region of the world. Since its discovery, much effort has been made to understand the life cycle and infection process of the pathogen to develop more effective management practices. Widespread application of fungicides, especially those which have only one mode of action, has led to an increased occurrence of resistance to these treatments. Thus, with increased fungicide resistance and rising environmental concerns surrounding their use, traditional chemical management practices have begun to fall out of favor. Newer approaches, from targeted breeding utilizing quantitative trait loci to biological control agents, are continually being investigated and adapted to limit the damage caused by downy mildew. This review summarizes the current knowledge of the pathogen and methods of its control and explores potential avenues for future research focused on hypovirulence and biological control agents.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030405
Authors: Maria Pergola Enrica De Falco Angelo Belliggiano Corrado Ievoli
Around the world, medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) play a fundamental role in the economic, social, cultural, and ecological ambits of local communities. Today, the most important uses of MAPs are their applications in the pharmaceutical, perfume, cosmetics, toothpaste, soap, beverage, and food industries. At the same time, the expression MAPs is often used with a plurality of meanings that are not always clear and well-defined. Thus, the paper aims to answer two research questions: (1) to understand how the expression MAPs has been meant over time by scholars, and (2) to realize the weight that socio-economic research regarding MAPs has assumed in this context. To these ends, a literature review was conducted using the scientific database Scopus. The results highlight that researchers started talking explicitly about MAPs in the 1950s, and the geographical focus of the literature on this theme is in India, followed by China. Researchers have published studies concerning the agronomic aspects, cultivation, characterization, and germination techniques of MAPs, but the most cited articles concern the health and beneficial properties of their essential oils. At the same time, nobody has ever wondered what MAPs are, and since 1977, the World Health Organization definition has been taken for granted, and any species with medicinal or aromatic functions is considered to be a MAP. Regarding the socio-economic weight of the research conducted on MAPs, they represent only 1% of the total academic publications, but from them, it has emerged that, especially in rural areas, MAPs depict important sources of income for several local communities. At the same time, there is a need to increase the estimation of the ecosystem services that MAPs offer, the analyses of consumer preferences in the search for new business opportunities, and the environmental impact assessment of the entire supply chain.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030404
Authors: Peng Hu Ruirui Zhang Liping Chen Longlong Li Qing Tang Wenlong Yan Jiajun Yang
(1) Background: Various types of adjuvants are added during application to enhance the spraying effect, but most adjuvant formulations are proprietary products, and their exact compositions have not been disclosed. (2) Methods: The spatial distributions of droplet sizes and velocities generated by the atomization of different polymer adjuvants were measured based on the phase Doppler interferometer (PDI) measurement method. The sub-area statistical method was used to quantitatively analyze the droplet characteristics at various points below the nozzle. (3) Results: The polymer (polyethylene oxide (PEO))/associative surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)) can increase the droplet size and velocity of the solution after atomization by increasing the amount of the polymer/associative surfactant to reduce the equilibrium surface tension of the solution and increase the viscosity. Different concentrations of polymer/associative surfactant atomization produced larger droplet sizes and better uniformity than polymer/non-associative surfactant (polysorbate-20 (Tween20)). At the same position, the relationship between droplet velocities for the three adjuvant combinations was roughly as follows: PEO/SDS solution had the highest velocity, followed by PEO solution, and PEO/Tween20 solution had the lowest velocity. (4) Conclusions: The optimal of droplet size distribution can be achieved by adding appropriate amounts of associative surfactants to polymers.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030403
Authors: Yoshiaki Yamamura Kyoko Higuchi Akihiro Saito Takuji Ohyama
Phosphorus (P) is an essential major element for plants. The absorption and transport of P are important for soybean growth and yield, including nodule growth and N2 fixation. Through an analysis of xylem sap, we investigated how nodulated soybean plants absorb PO4 via the roots and transport it to the shoot. The nodulated soybean plants were treated with 0, 50, and 250 μM PO4 concentrations for 1, 3, 7, and 15 days. The PO4 concentration in the xylem sap significantly decreased after 1 day of P deprivation, and then it gradually decreased for 15 days. The high-concentration (250 μM PO4) treatment increased the PO4 concentrations in the xylem sap at 7- and 15-day timepoints but not at the 1- or 3-day timepoints. The soybean plants were treated with 0, 25, 50, 100, 150, 250, and 500 μM PO4 for 3 days. The PO4 absorption rate increased consistently in conjunction with the increase in the PO4 concentration; however, the PO4 concentrations in the xylem sap increased only from 0 to 50 μM PO4 but were constant under higher P concentrations. The soybean plants accumulated extra PO4 in the roots. The PO4 concentration in the xylem sap immediately reflected the P deficiency conditions; thus, this index may be used as an indicator for the diagnosis of P deficiency.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030402
Authors: Xingling Jiang Yong Sun Mou Shen Lixia Tang
Eradicating poverty and improving human well-being are pivotal objectives for achieving global sustainable development. Sustainable agriculture, as a key domain, plays a crucial role in addressing poverty. However, to date, there remains insufficient research on the specific impact of agricultural green development on poverty. To bridge this gap, we utilize panel data from 273 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2022 to explore how agricultural green development affects poverty based on constructing a regional multidimensional poverty index and an index of green agriculture. Our study reveals that agricultural green development effectively reduces poverty, particularly in regions of deep poverty and the eastern part of China. Further mediating analysis indicates the alleviation of poverty by agricultural green development through the infrastructure, the industrial structure, and the green technology innovation effect. Our findings offer valuable insights for informing policies on agricultural green development and poverty reduction, as well as for improving government resource allocation and strengthening resilience in impoverished areas. By deepening our understanding of the link between green agriculture and poverty, this research significantly contributes to global agricultural sustainability and expedites poverty eradication worldwide.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030401
Authors: Xingmei You Jingru Zhang Yannan Xue Ruikai Zhang Siwen Zhang Chuanwang Li Xiaoming Xia
Plastic mulching is a widely used intensive planting system for cotton production in China. For the present study, the effects of three plastic mulching treatments (i.e., NDNM: normal sowing date with no plastic mulching as a positive control, NDM: normal sowing date with plastic mulching, and LDM: sowing 7 days late with plastic mulching) were studied in the field on seedling disease, Verticillium wilt, and Fusarium wilt as well as on the lint yield in cotton from 2019 to 2020. The treatment effects were evaluated based on the disease incidence (DI) and disease severity index (DSI), seedling fresh weights, lint yields, and yield components. For all cultivars (SCRC28, SCRC21, and Jimian11), both the DIs and DSIs of the seedling disease were lower in the LDM treatment than in the NDNM and NDM treatments. The DIs and DSIs of Fusarium wilt for all the cultivars were higher in the NDNM treatment than in the NDM and LDM treatments. However, the DIs and DSIs for Verticillium wilt were lower in the NDNM treatment. Moreover, the seedling fresh weights, average lint yields, and boll numbers per square meter were all highest in the NDM treatment and lowest in the NDNM treatment. The results of this study demonstrated that the use of plastic mulching with a suitable seed sowing date would be an appropriate cultural practice for enhancing cotton production and reducing the severity of cotton seedling and Fusarium wilt disease.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030400
Authors: Asim Mehmood Peter M. Dracatos Linta Arshad Shabana Bibi Ahmad Zaheer
Both morphological and molecular markers have been extensively used to evaluate genetic diversity; however, molecular markers are considered more reliable and can lead to improved reproductive efficiency. This study utilized inter-primer binding site (iPBS) markers to examine the genetic diversity and population structure of thirty mulberry accessions from the districts of Sahiwal and Faisalabad, Pakistan. These mulberry accessions belonged to three species: Morus nigra (n = 13), Morus alba (n = 12), and Morus rubra (n = 5). The use of nine iPBS primers in this study provided a comprehensive understanding of genetic diversity among the selected mulberry accessions. Nine iPBS primers were used in the study and generated 431 bands with allelic frequencies ranging from 21 to 75 and band sizes from 200 to 1500 base pairs. The primer 2230 showed the highest polymorphic information content (PIC) value of 0.47 and the highest Shannon’s information index (I = 0.53). The Morus nigra accessions had the highest levels of expected heterozygosity (He = 0.30), unbiased expected heterozygosity (µHe = 0.33), and Shannon’s information index (I = 0.45). The molecular variance analysis (AMOVA) revealed a high degree of genetic variation, as estimated by the pairwise PhiPT value of 0.21, which was significant at the p < 0.001 *** level. The neighbor joining tree, principal coordinate analysis, and structure analysis grouped the 30 mulberry accessions into four main clusters. The distinct grouping of accessions SWLS14, SWLS6, FSDS30, and SWLS7 validated their notable genetic distinctiveness. Overall, these findings contribute valuable insights into the genetic landscape of mulberry accessions, which are essential for conservation and breeding strategies.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030399
Authors: Yuhuan Li Shuo Zhao Fazhan Yang Peng Liu Baogang Li Quan Song Shibin Yan Xian Li
In response to the poor cleaning effect of the brush-type soybean seeder, a lightweight mechanism of the brush-type soybean seeder was optimized and designed. We proposed a progressive seed-cleaning method. Firstly, mechanical analysis was conducted on the soybean seeding process to prevent excessive clearing of individual soybean seeds initially filled into the orifices by the seeding brush. A formula for expressing the force exerted by the seeding brush on stabilizing individual soybean seeds in the orifice was derived. Secondly, an analysis of the progressive seeding principle was performed, and theoretical calculations were carried out for the progressive seeding curves within the x-y plane and along the direction of the z-axis. The progressive seeding curves were determined. Factors affecting the seeding efficiency were analyzed, including the plate’s speed, the initial angle of the seeding brush, and the initial distance between the seeding brush and the seeding plate. Based on the Box–Behnken central composite design theory, using the seeding tray’s rotational speed, the initial angle of the seeding brush, and the initial distance between the seeding brush and the seeding tray as experimental factors, orthogonal experiments were conducted with the leakage rate and the over-cleaning rate as the indicators for the evaluation, and the working parameters were optimized. Validation experiments showed that with a plate speed of 29 rpm, an initial angle of the seeding brush of 54°, and an initial distance between the seeding brush and the seeding plate of 11 mm, the results were as follows: a skip-seeding rate of 1.23% and an over-seeding rate of 0.66%, indicating a significant improvement in seeding performance. A comparative experiment was conducted with non-progressive cleaning brushes, and the test results showed that the progressive cleaning brush reduced the leakage rate by more than 1% and the over-cleaning rate by more than 0.5%.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030398
Authors: Jinhu Ma Sheng Sun Jian Wang Bin Hu Xin Luo Xiaoyun Xu
Because the operating speed of current mechanical maize hole seeders is low and their ability to adapt to the seed is poor, an active clamping-type precision hole planter for corn was designed. Here, we explain its structural composition and working principle. According to the maize kernel size, the combination of hole parameters is based on the principle of virtual work on analyzing the seed extraction disc assembly’s static mechanical model. The model was imported into the ADAMS simulation for validation and the parameters and ranges affecting the seed-filling performance were identified. By further analyzing the results of the coupled ADAMS–EDEM simulation, the “arching” process of the seeds during leakage charging was revealed, and an arch-breaking method was proposed with the help of a swinging seed-collecting slider. The speed of the hole planter, the diameter of the outer edge of the gravity ring, and the angle of the block installation were used as test factors. The Box–Behnken center-combination simulation test was conducted using the sowing pass index, re-seeding index, and missed sowing index as evaluation indices. The experimental results show that the optimal parameter combination was as follows: gravity ring = 174.3 mm, stopper installation angle = 131.9°, and hole seeder speed = 85.2 rpm. At this time, the qualified seeding index was 94.53%, the multiple indices were 4.30%, and the leakage index was 1.18%. Under these conditions, the row seeding performance bench test was conducted to obtain the qualified seeding index of the hole seeder, which was 93.36%, while the multiple indices were 5.20% and the leakage index was 1.44%, which satisfied the agronomic requirements of precision seeding. This provides a theoretical reference for mechanical seeding methods for irregular seeds, as well as a basis for the research and development of maize precision sowing machinery and equipment.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030397
Authors: George Ipate Filip Ilie Viorel Fătu Gheorghe Voicu
Vacuum degassing of seeds is a basic preliminary stage of the treatment process to improve the viability of seeds of various crops. In this work, the degassing process of corn seeds was experimentally and numerically analyzed by removing air or other gases from around the seeds, specifically from the seed coating, in a rough vacuum chamber. Two complementary variants were employed to understand and optimize this process to improve the quality and germination rate of the seeds. The average germination percentage on the first day was about 98%, and the germination speed of 5.0 days. Several experiments were conducted with well-established durations of 10 min and masses of 5 kg and masses of corn seeds at different temperatures to observe and record the behavior of the system, facilitating the modeling of the degasification process in the vacuum compartment. Modeling the degasification operation in the vacuum chamber allowed for determining the pressure profiles on the vacuum chamber and its lid. Numerical simulations were either conducted using a simulation program developed in the Visual Basic Applications (VBA) language for Microsoft Excel to model the degassing process in the vacuum chamber or with the assistance of specialized software (transient structural analysis and simulation program in the ANSYS Workbench environment). Statistical analysis of the correlation between experimental and estimated pressure values revealed that both the proposed mathematical model and the solution method are well-chosen, with differences expressed through the absolute error (EA) being very small, only 1.425 mbar. Structural dynamic analysis carried through the Finite Element Method (FEM) highlights that the chosen materials for manufacturing the vacuum chamber vessel (316 stainless steel—yield strength 225 MPa and tangent modulus 2091 MPa) or the chamber lid (transparent acrylic plastic—yield strength 62.35 MPa and shear modulus 1445.3 MPa) are durable and capable of withstanding the desired pressure and temperature demands in the seed treatment process. Additionally, through structural dynamic analysis, it was possible to study the deformation of system components, providing a detailed perspective on their structural distribution. Thus, the paper aims to improve the quality and survival/germination rate of corn seeds as an important step to improve corn yield through simulations and analyses (numerical and experimental) of the vacuum corn seed degassing system. The degassing process of the vacuum chamber was simulated with a simulation program developed for Microsoft Excel for Microsoft 365 MSO (Version 2401 Build 16.0.17231.20236) 64-bit in the VBA language and software (transient structural dynamic analysis in the ANSYS environment through FEM). Vacuum degassing of corn seeds involves the removal of air or other gases around the seeds or products, which is crucial in various fields such as the food, pharmaceutical, or space technology industries.
]]>Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture14030396
Authors: Paola Arguello-Hernández Iván Samaniego Alex Leguizamo María Josefa Bernalte-García María Concepción Ayuso-Yuste
Quinoa is known for its high nutritional value and adaptability; however, there is a lack of data about the chemical composition of quinoa produced in Ecuador, especially the Chimborazo ecotype. Our research aims to evaluate the nutritional components of Chimborazo quinoa. This knowledge (chemical composition) can help to improve cultivation and farmers’ understanding. Samples were collected from 49 plots at four altitude ranges (3000–3200; 3201–3300; 3301–3400; 3401–3533) m.a.s.l. Each sample of 2 kg quinoa was cleaned, dried (32 °C/15 h), and stored at −20 °C before analyzing water activity, proximate composition, mineral content, antioxidant activity, and functional compounds. The data were analyzed using ANOVA and mean comparison, Pearson correlation, and principal component analysis. The Chimborazo ecotype shows protein content comparable to or exceeding other global quinoa cultivars. Statistical analysis revealed that altitude had a minimal influence on quinoa’s chemical composition, resulting in overlapping altitude-based clusters. Complex relationships between quinoa variables were identified, which varied with altitude. These findings suggest that cultivation of high-quality quinoa across a range of altitudes is feasible without compromising its intrinsic quality. Moreover, the extensive and diverse results from our study provide a solid foundation for further plant breeding and the development of specialized quinoa varieties.
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