1,720,981 research outputs found
Harmonisation of Higher Education in Agricultural/Biosystems Engineering
Full text linkThe international harmonisation of the Higher Education Area (HEA) in Agricultural/Biosystems Engineering (ABE), was started by Prof. Giuseppe Pellizzi during the CIGR 1989 Conference.
This action was carried out in the EU by EurAgEng SIG RD12 - Education and Communication (Chairman Prof. Pierluigi Febo from 1994) and also elsewhere by CIGR WG1 - Agricultural Engineering University Curricula Harmonization (Chairman Prof. Pierluigi Febo from 1994 and Secretary Dr. Antonio Comparetti from 2007).
The book and CD-ROM: “The University Structure and Curricula on Agricultural Engineering. An overview of 36 countries”, were presented by Prof. Pierluigi Febo during the AgEng 2000 Conference.
Three thematic networks followed:
1) USAEE-TN (University Studies of Agricultural Engineering in Europe - A Thematic Network), comprising 31 institutions from 27 Countries, from 2002 to 2006;
2) Consortium POMSEBES (Policy Oriented Measures in Support of the Evolving Biosystems Engineering Studies in USA - EU), comprising eight EU and four USA institutions, from 2006 to 2008;
3) ERABEE-TN (Education and Research in Biosystems Engineering in Europe - A Thematic Network), comprising 35 institutions from 27 Countries, from 2007 to 2010;
4) Consortium TABE.NET (Trans-Atlantic Biosystems Engineering Curriculum and Mobility), comprising four EU and two USA institutions, from 2009 to 2013.
The major outcomes were:
- Agricultural Engineering degree study programs, satisfying FEANI (European Federation of National Associations of Engineers) and EurAgEng criteria;
- studies on Accreditation Procedures of the above degree programs in the EU;
- studies on the transition of Curricula from traditional Agricultural Engineering to the broader Biosystems Engineering;
- development of an ABE core curriculum and 11 European degree programs in the EU.
What will the future of Higher Education in Agricultural/Biosystems Engineering be
Fundamentals of Precision Agriculture
Full text linkPrecision agriculture or precision farming is the targeted application of crop input according to the locally determined crop needs. Therefore, it is the geo-referenced application of crop inputs, whose rates should be those required by the crop.
The most essential points of information about the topic being described are: overview; brief history of precision agriculture; theoretical basics of precision agriculture; precision agriculture cycle; geo-referenced measurement of within-field parameters; analysis and interpretation of geo-referenced data for mapping within-field parameters; spatially variable rate application of crop inputs; instruments for precision agriculture; current scenario of precision agriculture; current scenario of precision viticulture; Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and differential correction technique; proximal sensors of within-field soil and crop parameters; remote sensing from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and satellites; devices for setting up and controlling spatially variable rate crop input application; assisted guidance systems of agricultural machines; perspectives of precision agriculture
Plants for Environmental Protection
No full textPlants for environmental protection are Anaerobic Digestion plants for converting biomass as Renewable Energy Source (RES), i.e. biowaste, agricultural feedstock, livestock effluents (manure and slurry) and food industry by-products, into biogas, i.e. bioenergy, as well as digestate, i.e. biofertiliser. In turn, biogas can be converted into electrical and thermal energy or can be used for extracting biomethane, i.e. biofuel, or can be injected in the natural gas grid. Moreover, digestate can be divided into solid and liquid fractions, that can be used for fertilisation or fertirrigation, respectively, sometimes after aerobic composting
Use of Sentinel-2 Satellite for Spatially Variable Rate Fertiliser Management in a Sicilian Vineyard
Full text linkSatellites can be used for producing maps of within-field crop and soil parameters and, consequentially, spatially variable rate crop input application maps. The plant vegetative vigour index (i.e., Normalised Difference Vegetation Index—NDVI) and the leaf water content index (i.e., Normalised Difference Water Index—NDWI) maps were used to study—through both time and space—the phenological phases of two plots, with Syrah and Nero d’Avola grapevine varieties, in a Sicilian vineyard farm, located in Naro (Agrigento, Sicily, Italy). The aim of this work is to produce spatially variable rate nitrogen fertiliser maps to be applied in the two vineyard plots under study as well as to understand when they should be fertilised or not according to their target crop yields. The average plant vegetative vigour and leaf water content of both the plots showed a high temporal and spatial variability during all phenological phases and, according to these results, the optimal fertilisation time should have been 12 April 2021. In fact, this crop operation is aimed at supporting the vegetative activity but must be performed when the soil water and, therefore, the plant leaf water content are high. Therefore, spatially variable rate fertilisation should have been performed around 12 April 2021 in both plots, using previous NDVI maps and taking into consideration two management zones. This work demonstrates the usefulness of remote sensing data as Decision Support Systems (DSS) for nitrogen fertilisation in order to reduce the production cost, environmental impact and climate footprints per kg of produced grapes, according to the European Green Deal challenges
Proposal of a Nomenclature for Hydrogeological Instability Risks and Case Studies of Conservative Soil Tillage for Environmental Protection
Full text linkIn order to implement environmental protection, within the Soil Cadastre, previously proposed as a multipurpose inventory that aims to promote sustainable soil uses, the hydrogeological instability caused by human activities is the focus of this work. These activities can be aimed at sustainable agricultural soil use or the building of roads to allow the access to the fields. The soil’s hydrogeological instability causes the unsustainable use and management of a cadastral parcel. Therefore, the aim of this work is to propose a nomenclature for hydrogeological instability risks, as well as the best practices of conservative soil tillage in case studies, in order to reduce environmental impact. According to the proposed Soil Cadastre, the missing environmental sustainability of a parcel and the reason for this must be communicated to the field owner or manager. In a hilly area of inland Western Sicily, four main risk types of hydrogeological instability were identified: hydrogeological instability (caused only by natural factors); hydraulic-pedological-farming instability (crop not suitable for the field for missing or insufficient soil drainage and landslides); hydraulic-infrastructural instability (built up infrastructures unsuitable for the site); hydraulic-infrastructural-pedological-management instability (field improvements changing the downflow line and crop operations not suitable for the soil and climate parameters). The farm owner or manager must be informed about the risk type affecting their fields in order to perform the best practices (i.e., conservative soil tillage),
for implementing or restoring a sustainable soil use or management in each cadastral parcel
The evaluation of urban soils aimed at the sustainability of plants in public and private flowerbeds
No full textThe authors report the survey of some flowerbeds located in the city of Palermo with
the aim of assessing the sustainability of the plants and the interventions to be implemented, i.e. cutting or transfer of plants, to achieve a sustainable green. In the case in which it is possible to insert other plants in the flowerbeds, it is recommended to elaborate a project using programs that allow to have a preview of the spaces
available for the new plants. This work is methodological and is aimed at creating a green that can achieve the functional objectives in relation to the site where it is located (sustainability in all aspects) and at low management costs with no or almost no irrigation practice
Life Cycle Impact Assessment applied to cactus pear crop production for generating bioenergy and biofertiliser
No full textAmong the potential uses of cactus pear, the generation of bioenergy (biogas) and
biofertiliser (digestate), from the Anaerobic Digestion (AD) of cladodes and fruits,
is surveyed in this paper.
Data for Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) was drawn from a farm located in
Roccapalumba (Palermo, Sicily, Italy), where three cultivars were cultivated: 1) yellow
pulp cultivar; 2) red pulp cultivar; 3) white pulp cultivar. LCIA was applied to
six scenarios: 1) current dry crop; 2) current irrigated crop; 3) dry crop for fruit and
bioenergy production; 4) irrigated crop for fruit and bioenergy production; 5) dry
crop for bioenergy production; 6) irrigated crop for bioenergy production.
According to LCIA, the highest total GHG emissions were found in Scenarios 2 and
4, while the lowest ones were found in Scenario 5. Moreover, the highest share of
environmental impact for Scenarios 2, 4 and 6 is associated with the consumption of
cardboard boxes used for collecting and transporting fruits, crop irrigation and a
higher human work load.
Furthermore, the digestate obtained from the AD process contains nutrients which
make it a valuable biofertiliser, so that it reduces the expenditure for mineral fertilisers
Simulation of granular organic fertilizer application by centrifugal spreader
Full text linkThere is no specialized equipment designed to spread granular cylindrical organic fertilizer in the soil. There are also no rational recommendations available on how to spread this type of fertilizer. Mineral fertilizer spreaders are most often used for spreading granulated organic fertilizer. However, these fertilizers are significantly different from mineral fertilizers. Due to these differences, organic granular fertilizers often are spread unevenly, and the fertilizer does not reach the required
working width. Furthermore, the rate of spreading is not accurate, and the fertilizer is often crushed too much. The objective of this research is to develop a simulation model for granular organic fertilizer applications with a centrifugal spreader in EDEM (extended distinct element method) software. It is possible to develop a numerical model that corresponds to a real spreader, and to determine the key physical–mechanical parameters for the application of granular organic fertilizer.
This model can also be used for evaluating the transverse uniformity of the fertilizer in the field (along the trajectory normal to the machine). The results of this research show that the distance traveled by the fertilizer granules partially depends on the particle size, initial speed, type of fertilizer and the parameters of the spinning discs of the spreader
Nomenclature for Hydrogeological Instability Risks
Full text linkThe nomenclature for hydrogeological instability risks includes four main risks, which are distinguished according to the risk causes :
1) hydrogeological risk, that is slowly caused by natural factors (e.g. collapse landslides in a calcareous cliff in uninhabited areas and erosion along a marly-calcareous slope) in environments where human activities are minimal, i.e. woods, forests and mountain pastures;
2) hydraulic-pedological farming risk, that implies the occurrence of landslides in every winter and is caused by incorrect crop selection, not suitable for the soil and climate parameters (e.g. on a hilly slope with a clay vertisol type with a landslide having different fronts, when the arable land is cultivated with a cereal-legume crop rotation), or the presence of springs with missing drainage in clay soils with a high gradient;
3) hydraulic-infrastructural risk, that is caused by the building up of infrastructures not suitable for the surrounding environment, as they change the downflow of shallow water;
4) hydraulic-infrastructural-pedological-management risk, that is caused by crop operations not suitable for soil and crop parameters, where the selected cultivated plant species are suitable for the environment and field improvements change water downflow (e.g. in soils along hilly calcarenite slopes cultivated with olive orchards, where up-down soil tillage causes shallow water erosion)
Towards the European harmonisation of a Soil Cadastre inventory as a tool for environmental, social, economic, legal and taxation purposes
No full textThe cadastral systems existing in EU Member States satisfy private and public needs but there is no common regulation describing the purposes, minimum requirements and functions of the Cadastre in each State.
In order to satisfy the need for harmonisation of Cadastres at the EU level, the Spanish Government’s Official Performance Programme of the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council supported, in the first semester of 2002, the initiative proposed by the Spanish General Directorate for the Cadastre to hold the “First Congress on Cadastre in the European Union” (15-17 May 2002). The main objective of this conference was to study the role of the Cadastre at EU level and the methods for the integration of national models.
For this purpose the Spanish General Directorate also presented two specific initiatives:
1) the project for a “Declaration on Cadastre in the European Union”;
2) the formation of a Cadastre Permanent Committee.
A unique Cadastre at EU level would allow that the CAP (Community Agricultural Policy) is implemented by considering the best practices of the land owners. Moreover, the basic taxation principles and coordination of property taxation are shown in this paper. In the long term, the free movement of people, goods and capital will
induce that the EU harmonises or at least coordinates property regimes, Land Registry and Cadastre in the Member States.
Cadastres enable to change the land from an object of utilisation into capital and thus economic growth (that is a prerequisite for investments in estate enhancement and/or environmental protection). This is an essential part of LIS (Land Information System) and GIS (Geographic Information System) systems, that provide information
crucial to decision making.
The new soil cadastral certificate, besides land use and capability, should also take into account the sustainability.
The Ground Cadastre should be developed into a multipurpose Soil Cadastre, i.e. an inventory for environmental, social, economic, legal and taxation purposes
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