1,721,335 research outputs found
Vernacular farm buildings in landscape planning: a typological analysis in a southern Italian region
Get PDFFarm buildings play a central role in the environmental characteristics of agricultural land. Over the centuries they have accompanied the development of the agricultural activities of man who has thereby been able to breed cattle, to grow and yield crops, and to store, transform and process agricultural products in a functional and efficient way. Farm buildings have allowed man to work in intensive conditions unaffected by the external climate. On the other hand, constructions built by farmers marked their territory, influencing and steering the spontaneous development of nature while leading to production that enabled man to get food. In the present paper, a typological analysis of farm buildings was conducted with reference to the Basilicata region, a southern Italian region rich in a history and culture connected with its traditional agricultural vocation, where rural houses still remain as witnesses to the social and cultural changes that have taken place over the years. Vernacular farm buildings, synthesizing in their architectural expression the culture, traditions and ways of life of generations of rural populations, were identified, analyzed and typologically classified all over the regional land. The results showed that many of the vernacular farm buildings visited are now abandoned; the technical survey often showed a situation of structural and functional degradation that makes their restoration difficult and expensive. Possible ways of reuse, making their recovery more economically profitable are, therefore, analyzed and discussed
Agrochemical Contamination and Ageing Effects on Greenhouse Plastic Film for Recycling
Get PDFPlastic films used for crop protection have reached notable consumption all over Europe, as well as in the rest of the world. This phenomenon however poses a serious environmental problem connected with the impact on the sustainability of agricultural production and relevant plastic footprint. Mechanical recycling of agricultural plastics is a common technique, but limited by many factors, as the loss of mechanical properties of plastic film. This phenomenon, due to its ageing after being exposed to natural weather conditions, plays a crucial role, especially when aggravated by contamination with agrochemicals ordinarily used for crop health and pest management. This article reports the result of some laboratory tests on agricultural plastic film, artificially aged for different periods and contaminated with two different agrochemicals (anti-aphid or fungicide). These results show that the impact of agrochemicals on plastic film is considerable, since it worsens the ageing process of the plastic film, conducting a more rapid reduction in its mechanical properties—mostly, a faster reduction in the elongation at break below 50% of the corresponding value of the virgin plastic film. This phenomenon, other than reducing the working life of the plastic film, gives it a low potential for being transformed into a closed-loop recycled material when entering the recycling stage. The increase in the value of the detected Carbonyl Index (CI) confirms the tendency of the material to degrade rapidly when in contact with agrochemicals, hence indicating that it may be impossible to mechanically recycle it
Implementing a landscape information modelling (LIM) tool for planning leisure facilities and landscape protection.
Get PDFBuilding Information Modelling (BIM) is growing in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) Industry. With the new strategy to mandate BIM, there is a need to identify its importance in architectural landscape design. It has the potential to challenge some of the limitations of designing, constructing and managing the built environment. Using BIM tools and applications, landscape analysis can be explored, developed and documented for design, planning and organization as well. This application, known as Landscape Information Modelling (LIM), may store object information such as: irrigation pipelines; areas allocated to specific plants; list of different plants involved in landscape projects; etc. Annotations used in landscape drawings would be accompanied by information attached to it. In this paper, a first application of LIM aimed to landscape protection has been implemented, so as to help in planning leisure facilities. Indeed, with many details involved, it can also be used to store data for landscape architects, who would easily develop and organize detailed information. Hence, with the ability for simulation and visualization, they should be able to produce detailed plans, walk-through animations and renderings for presentation, while exploring the scope and nature of work and making informed decision at early design stages
Use of traditional material in farm buildings for a sustainable rural environment.
Get PDFThe recent increase in the sensitivity about the concept of sustainable development is stimulating the valorisation of the locally
available material for agricultural construction, both for housing purpose and for some single components. This traditional building
technique has indeed interesting consequences on the rural landscape perception – since the color is similar to the countryside surroundings
– as well as on the agricultural environment – this material being, at the end of its useful life, recyclable in the same context.
Traditional material could be employed in other agricultural components, e.g. for food aging, a technique used since Roman times,
involving the use of earthenware amphorae, buried in the soil and used for storing wine and oil. In the present paper, the most diffused
traditional building materials currently rediscovered are analyzed, focusing on their utilization opportunities. One of the most interesting
traditional construction material is the sun-dried earth brick, made of raw clay soil (so-called, ‘‘adobe”), often improved by the addition
of fibers to control cracking while drying in the sun. After a general overview about the diffusion of earthen construction within agriculture,
the results of experimental tests on adobe bricks reinforced with a natural fiber – Spanish Broom (Spartium junceum L.) –
are reported
Agrochemical plastic packaging waste decontamination for recycling: Pilot tests in Italy.
Get PDFAgriculture, one of the main economic pillars in Europe, plays a growing important role towards the environmental sustainability of the extra-urban land, in which the agricultural activities may proactively contribute to control and regulate the whole ecological conditions. Modern agriculture currently needs big quantities of agrochemicals, which are necessary for the growth and protection of crops and animals. These agrochemicals are commercially distributed to consumers in many types of containers. The most widely used packaging solutions usually employ plastic materials (e.g., containers for liquid pesticide; sacks for granular fertiliser; etc.). These materials, after the use of the agrochemical, need to be decontaminated, before being entrained in a recycling process, in the framework of a circular economy. In the present paper the main results coming from a EU-funded international project are reported, with specific reference to a pilot station that was realised in Italy with the aim to implement and test a codified system for the decontamination of these plastic containers for agrochemicals. The experimental tests were supported by relevant laboratory analysis, which have confirmed that the triple-rinsing decontamination procedure - traditionally employed by farmers for washing and decontaminating these containers - may be effective only under some well-defined conditions. Triple rinsing by farmers has indeed led to an only partial decontamination of the plastic containers, if farmers did not follow an appropriate triple-rinsing protocol, or did not triple-rinse the containers immediately after their emptying
Mechanical and Spectroradiometrical Characteristics of Agricultural Plastic Films
No full textRosana G. Moreira, Editor-in-Chief; Texas A&M UniversityThis is a paper from International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR, Commission Internationale du Genie Rural) E-Journal Volume 6 (2004): P. Picuno and C. Sica. Mechanical and Spectroradiometrical Characteristics of Agricultural Plastic Films. (April 2004)
Farm buildings as drivers of the rural environment: a literature review
Get PDFFarm buildings play a central role for the sustainability of the rural environment. Conceived to host biological production, the farm building constitutes indeed a unique example in the wide epistemological sector of building construction, due to its architectural and technical issues, different from other building sectors. The originality of what happens inside the farm building corresponds to what happens outside. The role that buildings have historically played is strictly connected indeed to the surrounding context, due to the need of the farmer to live in close contact with agricultural land and animal husbandry. In this way, human activities have often strongly influenced the agricultural environment and the visual perception of its landscape. The increasing sensitivity about the concept of sustainable development of the built environment is currently stimulating the valorisation of farm buildings, as well as the assessment of their impact on the rural landscape. In the present article, a general literature review about the role that farm buildings play on the rural environment is presented, with a special focus on the wider opportunities enabled by the implementation of new technologies for the survey, analysis and planning of the interactions among farm buildings, rural environment and landscape
Valorization of traditional building material for the sustainable development of rural areas.
No full textThe recent increase in the sensitivity about the concept of sustainable development is stimulating the valorization of the locally available material for agricultural construction¬, both for housing purpose and for some single components. This traditional building technique has indeed interesting consequences on the rural landscape perception - since the color is similar to the countryside surroundings – as well as on the agricultural environment – this material being, at the end of its useful life, recyclable in the same context. Traditional material could be employed in other agricultural components, e.g. for food ageing, a technique used since Roman times, involving the use of earthenware amphorae, buried in the soil and used for storing wine and oil. In the present paper, the most diffused traditional building materials currently rediscovered are analyzed, focusing on their utilization opportunities. One of the most interesting traditional construction material is the sun-dried earth brick, made of raw clay soil (so-called, “adobe”), often improved by the addition of fibers to control cracking while drying in the sun. After a general overview about the diffusion of earthen construction within agriculture, the results of experimental tests on adobe bricks reinforced with a natural fibre – Spanish Broom (Spartium junceum L.) – are reported
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