Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research
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Novel draught resistance sensing elements for measurement of drawbar power of agricultural machinery
No full textAim of study: To develop an instrumentation system comprising three force sensing elements to measure the draught resistance of any tillage and seeding tools during field operation by connecting one sensing element to each three-point linkage of the tractor.
Area of study: Department of AgFE, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India
Material and methods: Commercial S-type transducers were packed laterally in between the curved plates perpendicular to the direction of travel in such a way that the magnitude of the imposed force decreased and its nature got reversed consequently during tillage force measurement. Finite element analysis was also performed on the proposed model of the sensing elements. The performance was evaluated on the basis of non-linearity, hysteresis, and non-repeatability. The data were validated with the draught values simultaneously recorded using instrumented three-point linkages of tractor.
Main results: It offered good sensitivity and linearity during static calibration. The measurement capacity based on maximum applied load during static calibration was 10 kN with accuracy 93.40%. The low values of mean percentage error (9.03%), maximum absolute variation (17.43%), and root mean square error (0.51 kN) revealed good accuracy of the system. Validation was conducted by comparing the data for an offset type disk harrow with the model outputs of previous studies to assess its suitability for other soil working conditions, and the results were satisfactory.
Research highlights: The advantages of this sensing device in the measurement of drawbar power are fewer changes in the hitching geometry, lower cost, and capability of quick hitching
Climate change in relation to agriculture: A review
No full textClimate change is among the most crucial concerns of the world. It is a serious threat to the global agriculture and its overall impact on global agriculture is yet not clear. A rise of 2.5-4.5◦C is expected in the global temperature until the end of 21st century. The amount of greenhouse gases particularly CO2 is increasing at an alarming rate and is enhancing the plant photosynthesis and productivity. However, this increase in productivity is counteract by the more negative effects of climate change on agriculture like increased evapotranspiration, drought, floods, changes in the amount and distribution of rainfall, higher pest infestations and more irrigation demand. Climate change also affects the nutrients availability and efficiency by influencing microbial activities and population in the soil. Therefore, adaptation of agriculture sector to the changing climate is indispensable because of its sensitivity and size. This review is aimed to document the possible impacts of climate change on agriculture, its causes and future projections. Some strategies are also advised to mitigate the emission of greenhouse gases, to reduce the negative impacts of climate change on agriculture and to make new policies keeping in view their broader consequences on agriculture
Prevalence and risk factors of lameness in dairy cattle in Alexandria, Egypt
No full text Aim of study: Providing further information on the prevalence of lameness in four dairy cattle herds and gain insights into the risk factors associated with the frequency of lameness incidence including farm, frequency of mastitis, and number of lactations.
Area of study: Alexandria, Egypt.
Material and methods: Four dairy Holstein cattle farms near Alexandria Governorate in Egypt were involved in a retrospective investigation of lameness episodes between the years 1987 and 2011. The association between the frequency of lameness injury and the explanatory variables was tested by the maximum likelihood analysis of variance, adopting a loglinear model. The explanatory variables included in the model were farm, frequency of mastitis injury and number of lactations as well as their one-way interactions.
Main results: The prevalence of lameness ranged between zero and 19% in the four farms and the frequency of lameness events (from 0 to 4 times) increased with lactation number and mastitis incidence with correlation coefficients of 0.15 and 0.12, respectively.
Research highlights: Lameness is present in Egyptian dairy cow herds with highly variable prevalence and the risk increases with lactation number and mastitis
Peanut harvest quality: Relationship between soil tillage management and threshing systems
No full textAim of study: The objective was evaluating the peanut combining process quality in three soil tillage systems associated with threshing and separation systems efficiency of peanut combine available on market.
Area of study: Brazil.
Material and methods: The treatments were three soil tillage systems (conventional, reduced and strip) and two harvesters with different threshing systems. The losses were collected (subdivided in internal mechanisms, pickup platform, and total losses) in fifteen points for each treatment, as impurity samples, following the statistical process control.
Main results: The soil tillage only in sowing line reduced the peanut combining quality (30.4% more mineral impurities and 37.7% more vegetal impurities). The machine with tangential flow presented lower capacity of mineral impurity removal, regardless the soil tillage system.
Research highlights: The losses were similar for conventional and reduced soil tillages, which indicates that it would be possible to reduce the number of agricultural operations before peanut sowing, consequently lessening costs without loss in process quality
A review of the effects of agricultural intensification and the use of pesticides on honey bees and their products and possible palliatives
No full textThere is considerable scientific evidence revealing a decrease in pollinating insects in different ecosystems around the world. In this context, agricultural intensification and the use of phytosanitary products are likely the main causes. This problem is common to many pollinators but of particular ecosystemic, economic and bromatological significance for honey bees (Apis mellifera) since their presence in these landscapes is mainly due to the proximity of apiaries for human food production and because they are the most important biotic pollinators of agricultural crops. In this review, we present a synthesis of the results of several years of research on this topic, as well as potential solutions referenced in the bibliography that might help alleviate the effects of contamination on honey bees and their products. Additionally, we expose the possible limits of the real implementation of such solutions and conclude on the need to implement land-use planning strategies for agricultural systems. Without mitigating actions in the short term, the sustainability of agricultural ecosystems as bee-friendly habitats and the production of foods suitable for human consumption are uncertain
Early detection of graft-incompatibility in hawthorn (Crataegus azarolus L.) trees on apple, pear, and quince rootstocks
No full textAim of study: This study was conducted to determine the usability of some clonal rootstocks of apple (MM 106 and MM 111), pear (Fox 11), and quince (Quince A) for hawthorn trees propagation.
Area of study: Fruit Research Institute, Isparta and Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, Hatay, Türkiye.
Material and methods: ‘Sultan’ hawthorn cultivar was budded on the following clonal rootstocks: pear Fox 11, quince A, and apple MM 106 and MM 111. Plants of hawthorn seedlings (Crataegus azarolus L.) budded with ‘Sultan’ cv. were used as control. External visual diagnosis of the scion-rootstock graft combinations was performed by observing visual symptoms in budded trees growing in nursery conditions, as well as anatomic and histological investigations of the incompatibility in the laboratory.
Main results: In this study, healthy scion development and callus tissue in the graft region were formed in the seedling rootstock as well as on Fox11 and Quince A clonal rootstocks. In contrast, MM 106 and MM 111 apple rootstocks showed incompatibility symptoms, with insufficient scion vigor and unstructured callus tissue development.
Research highlights: ‘Tanslocated’ and ‘located’ graft incompatibility symptoms were observed in Sultan/MM 106 and Sultan/MM 111 combinations. Further studies are necessary to confirm the early good compatibility found in nursery conditions, testing the effect of those clonal rootstocks from different species (Fox11 and Quince A) on vigor, yield, and fruit quality traits in orchard conditions
Influence of D and Rec strains of plum pox virus on phenolic profile and antioxidant capacity of fresh plum fruits of ‘Čačanska Lepotica’ cultivar
No full textAim of study: To investigate the changes in chemical composition of fresh plum fruits cv. ‘Čačanska Lepotica’ prompted by the presence of various strains of plum pox virus (PPV).
Area of study: Serbia
Material and methods: In an experimental orchard of ‘Čačanska Lepotica’ plum cultivar, fruits were picked from virus-free and PPV-infected trees (PPV-D and PPV-Rec strains) in four harvest stages in 2017 and 2018. Fruits were further analyzed on total phenolics, flavonoids, anthocyanins, antioxidant capacity and selected phenolics.
Main results: The results indicate that virus infection causes chemical changes to a certain extent, but mostly in initial harvest stages, while the values are equal in later stages. In the last harvest stage, as the most utilizable in commercial purposes, only chlorogenic acid content was affected in 2017, while in 2018 contents of neochlorogenic acid and chrysanthemin were altered by the PPV infection. Total contents of flavonoids and phenolics revealed no influence of virus infection during both 2017 and 2018, while PPV-Rec infected samples were richer in anthocyanins under heavy rainfall during summer months of 2018. Given the number of identified compounds (10) and the vast experimental data, it might be concluded that influence of PPV infection on chemical composition of ‘Čačanska Lepotica’ plum fruits was quite limited.
Research highlights: Plum cultivar ‘Čačanska Lepotica’ should be considered as highly tolerant cultivar to PPV, and can be grown in heavily infected environment with no risk. Therefore, it might be a great replacement for sensitive plum cultivars, such as ‘Požegača’ and ‘Čačanska Rodna’