Agriculture

The screen surface particle distribution is an important factor affecting screening performance. A vibrating screen with an adjustable horizontal attitude angle was used, the non-uniform feeding and horizontal attitude angles were used as variables and the screening of rice particles was simulated by the discrete element method. The screen surface distribution and movement speed of the rice particles were analyzed based on the influence of the variables on screening performance. The results indicated that the material distribution became more unbalanced with the increase in non-uniform feeding, and the particles’ speed increased with the increase in attitude angle on the y-axis. The particles experienced accelerated dispersion, which improved the unbalanced distribution of the particles and screening performance. According to the loss rate, the horizontal attitude angle adjustment model was established and optimized under non-uniform feeding. The reliability of the model was verified by simulation. A bench test was carried out to verify the simulation. The optimization model can reduce the loss rate, improve the screening performance of non-uniform feeding, and provide a reference for the material screening of non-uniform feeding. Full article

Organic agricultural tourism is an environment-friendly tourism that has emerged in recent years. However, no comprehensive dependency theory discusses the tourists’ pro-environmental behavior and well-being from the perspective of the public sphere. This research aims to verify the effect of the four dimensions of attachment and its impact on pro-environmental behavior. This research substantiated that the four aspects of attachment theory had a positive and significant influence on pro-environmental behavior and well-being. Furthermore, place and activity attachment had the highest impact. The results serve as a basis for understanding and motivating tourists’ pro-environmental behaviors and assist them in achieving well-being through organic agriculture tourism. This research also suggests sustainable development practices for destination operators or managers. Full article

In order to optimize the parameters of the mechanism, reduce the pressure loss and improve the efficiency of pneumatic utilization, the principles and types of pneumatic loss in different areas were defined, and the key parameters, including the diameter of the horizontal air pipe, the angle of the air pipe, and the diameter of the negative pressure aperture, which affect the pressure loss, were analyzed. In addition, an orthogonal simulation experiment was carried out using Fluent software, and determined the best parameter combination, which is as follows: the diameter of the horizontal air pipe must be 15 mm, the angle of the air pipe must be 105°, and the diameter of the negative pressure aperture must be 34 mm. It can be concluded from the simulation results that the average airflow velocity of the seed-sucking hole is 102.59 $\mathrm{m}\cdot {\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$, the minimum airflow velocity of the seed-sucking hole is 101.58 $\mathrm{m}\cdot {\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$, and the airflow velocity standard deviation of the seed-sucking hole is 0.54 $\mathrm{m}\cdot {\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$. The trend of the test results was consistent with the simulation results, which verified the reliability of the numerical analysis. These results will provide theoretical guidance for research on the obstruction effect of complex airways on airflow. Full article

Background: Floral sterility and nucellar embryony are peculiar traits of several Citrus species and represent an obstacle to traditional breeding. Morphological sterility mainly results in pistil abortion and anther atrophy, while polyembryony is due to a mechanism known as sporophytic apomixis, which consists of the presence of embryos in the seed generated from the nucellar (maternal) tissue alongside the zygotic embryo (sexual origin). Considering the growing interest in lemon [Citrus limon (L.) Burm. f.] breeding, and the lack of information on floral sterility and the polyembryony trait among different lemon cultivars, a morphological and molecular characterization of these traits of interest was performed on forty Sicilian and international lemon cultivars available in the citrus germplasm collection of Catania University (Italy). Methods: Eight traits related to the reproductive biology were assessed on the selected lemon cultivars, namely: pistil abortion and anther atrophy, number of seeds per fruit, number of embryos per seed, percentage of seeds showing polyembryony, germination, percentage of seeds resulting in more than one plantlet, and average seed weight. Moreover, seedlings recovered after the germination assay were genotyped with SNP and SSR markers for ascertaining their nucellar or zygotic origin. In addition, PCR analysis were performed to assess the allele combination of the miniature inverted-repeat transposable element (MITE) insertion in CitRKD1, a gene associated with the occurrence of apomixis in citrus. Results: All traits showed high variability among the accessions analyzed. As for polyembryony, lemon ‘Adamopoulos’ scored the highest percentage of polyembryonic seeds (67.6%), whilst lemon ‘Lunario’ showed the lowest value (8.7%). Conclusions: Insights on the level of polyembryony within lemon varieties will represent a valuable tool for breeders for the set-up of novel mating schemes. In fact, when a polyembryonic female parent is used in cross breeding, the selection of the zygotic individual is hampered by the presence of a nucellar one. Full article

Spodoptera frugiperda is one of the world’s major agricultural pests and it occurs in many countries around the world. In Lepidoptera, the peritrophic membrane in the midgut protects the midgut epithelial cells and facilitates the digestion and absorption of food. Its main components are chitin and protein. Chitin synthase (CHS), as the last enzyme in the chitin biosynthesis pathway, is very important. Here, the expression of chitin synthase B (CHSB) gene identified from midgut was inhibited by RNA interference to explore its function in the metabolism of trehalose and chitin of S. frugiperda larvae. The results were as follows: SfCHSB was highly expressed in actively feeding larvae. Second, knockdown of SfCHSB resulted in decreased expression of most genes involved in chitin metabolism, including chitinase, and abnormal phenotypes of S. frugiperda were observed. In addition, membrane-bound trehalase activity and glucose content increased, and trehalose content decreased at 24 h after dsSfCHSB injection. Trehalase activities increased significantly and the glycogen content decreased at 48 h after dsSfCHSB injection. Finally, the activity of chitinase decreased and the content of chitin increased significantly. Our results indicate that SfCHSB expression is specific, SfCHSB has a large role in regulating chitin metabolism, and it has broad application prospects in the biocontrol of S. frugiperda. Full article

This research examines the role of micro-irrigation systems, i.e., sprinkler and drip irrigation, on date palm production and quality in a semi-arid region. The field experiment was carried out for two successful seasons at a private farm, in the Al-Nubaria region of Egypt. The date palm was planted under pressurized irrigation (drip irrigation and mini-sprinkler irrigation) to investigate the effect of both irrigation systems and three water treatments (100, 80, and 60% from ETc) on the yield and quality of date palms. Results on the productivity of date palm yields showed that the yield of date palm under a drip-irrigation system with 80% of crop water demand was an equal match to the yield of the sprinkler-irrigated date palm with 100% of crop water demand. This reflects the high efficiency of the drip irrigation system compared to the sprinkler irrigation system in date palms, especially in the semi-arid region. The results showed a significant increase in productivity by increasing water applied from 60% up to 80 and 100%. Quality attributes of date palm (particularly, sucrose, purity, and extractable sugar %) have a rise with increasing water deficit. The results have numerous implications, especially for sustainable investment in date palms. Implications for three aspects of sustainable investment, economic, social, and environmental, are discussed. Full article

Climate change refers to the statistically significant changes in the mean and dispersion values of meteorological factors. Characterizing potential evapotranspiration (ET₀) and its climatic causes will contribute to the estimation of the atmospheric water cycle under climate change. In this study, based on daily meteorological data from 26 meteorological stations in Heilongjiang Province from 1960 to 2019, ET₀ was calculated by the Penman–Monteith formula, linear regression method and the Mann–Kendall trend test were used to reveal the seasonal and inter-annual changing trend of ET₀. The sensitivity-contribution rate method was used to clarify the climatic factors affecting ET₀. The results showed that: (1) From 1960 to 2019, the maximum temperature (T_max), minimum temperature (T_min) and average temperature (T_mean) showed an increasing trend, with climate tendency rate of 0.22 °C per decade (10a), 0.49 °C/(10a), 0.36 °C/(10a), respectively. The relative humidity (RH), wind speed (U) and net radiation (Rn) showed a decreasing trend, with a climate tendency rate of −0.42%/(10a), −0.18 m/s/(10a), −0.08 MJ/m²/(10a), respectively. (2) ET₀ showed a decreasing trend on seasonal and inter-annual scales. Inter-annually, the average climate tendency rate of ET₀ was −8.69 mm/(10a). seasonally, the lowest climate tendency rate was −6.33 mm/(10a) in spring. (3) ET₀ was negatively sensitive to T_min, and RH, while positively sensitive to T_max, T_mean U and Rn, its sensitivity coefficient of U was the highest, which was 1.22. (4) The contribution rate of U to ET₀ was the highest on an inter-annual scale as well as in spring and autumn, which were −8.96%, −9.79% and −13.14%, respectively, and the highest contribution rate to ET₀ were Rn and T_min in summer and winter, whose contribution rates were −4.37% and −11.46%, respectively. This study provides an understanding on the response of evapotranspiration to climatic change and further provides support on the optimal allocation of regional water resource and agricultural water management under climate change. Full article

Biogas slurry is widely used to fertilize crops. However, their impact on soil parameters and waxy winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) nutrition is poorly understood. The aim of this research was to determine the influence of liquid anaerobic digestate and pig slurry applied to waxy winter wheat on the dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (N_tot) in different forms on grain yield, and to compare them with the use of ammonium nitrate. The nitrogen rates (kg N·ha⁻¹) used for fertilization were N0, N60, N120, and N120+50. The study showed that the variation of nitrate nitrogen (N-NO₃) and water-extractable organic carbon (WEOC) in the soil during the growing season depended on N fertilizer rates, meteorological conditions of the year, and, to a lesser extent, on fertilizer forms. Meteorological conditions were responsible for the demand and supply of nutrients from the soil by the waxy winter wheat variety. This determined the wheat yield and the variation in the soil parameters studied. Over the 2 years, the soil C:N ratio decreased, especially at the medium and high N fertilizer rates. The lowest changes were observed in the unfertilized and fertilized plots at a rate of 60 kg N·ha⁻¹. Full article

Liquorice harvesting is the key process in the development of the liquorice industry. For harvesting liquorice with about 400 mm growth depth, a lightweight harvester with novel oscillating shovel-rod components was developed. Draft force, total torque, specific energy consumption, separation proportion, and soil structure maintenance were used to evaluate harvester performance under varied working conditions, and throw intensity and total torque were analyzed. A DEM model was developed to simulate the excavation and separation of soil. Three sets of single-factor simulation tests and one set of field tests were conducted. The results indicated that: Each 1 mm increase in amplitude decreased draft force by 463.35 N and increased total torque and specific energy consumption by 35.03 Nm and 4.3 kJ/m³, respectively. Each 1 Hz increase in vibration frequency increased specific energy consumption by 3.12 kJ/m³, while draft force and total torque decreased by 375.75 N and 28.44 Nm, respectively. Each 0.1 m/s increase in forwarding speed increased the draft force, total torque and specific energy consumption by 1302.72 N, 13.26 Nm and 3.82 kJ/m³, respectively. The main separation areas of the shovel-rod were front areas, where the soil separation proportion is greater than 60%, and the soil was completely separated at the end areas. The soils after harvesting had a relatively minimal disturbance in all layers, with soil structure maintenance greater than 0.61, and soil structure was well maintained. The liquorice plants were separated from the soil after passing smoothly through the oscillating shovel-rod components, during which the soil at different layers fell in sequence. This study revealed the interactive relationship between working components and soil, specifically the potential to maintain soil structure after harvesting. This new finding will assist in developing harvest techniques for rhizome crops with deep growth depth. Full article

Considering that the occurrence and spread of diseases are closely related to the planting environment, a tomato disease diagnosis method based on Multi-ResNet34 multi-modal fusion learning based on residual learning is proposed for the problem of limited recognition rate of a single RGB image of a tomato disease. Based on the ResNet34 backbone network, this paper introduces transfer learning to speed up training, reduce data dependencies, and prevent overfitting due to a small amount of sample data; it also integrates multi-source data (tomato disease image data and environmental parameters). The feature-level multi-modal data fusion method is used to retain the key information of the data to identify the feature, so that the different modal data can complement, support and correct each other, and obtain a more accurate identification effect. Firstly, Mask R-CNN was used to extract partial images of leaves from complex background tomato disease images to reduce the influence of background regions on disease identification. Then, the formed image environment data set was input into the multi-modal fusion model to obtain the identification results of disease types. The proposed multi-modal fusion model Multi-ResNet34 has a classification accuracy of 98.9% for six tomato diseases: bacterial spot, late blight, leaf mold, yellow aspergillosis, gray mold, and early blight, which is higher than that of the single-modal model. With the increase by 1.1%, the effect is obvious. The method in this paper can provide an important basis for the analysis and diagnosis of tomato intelligent greenhouse diseases in the context of agricultural informatization. Full article

An automatic rice-filling device for lotus root with glutinous rice was developed based on the process of artificial filling. In order to find the best parameters for the vibrating rice-filling device—feeding speed, filling height, funnel diameter, amplitude, and frequency—so as to reduce the time and improve the mass of rice filling, EDEM software was used to conduct numerical simulation of the process and analyze the influence of various factors on the rice-filling time. The optimal combination of parameters for the highest quality of rice filling was determined as follows: rice feeding speed, 1.4 kg/s; height of rice filling, 30 mm; funnel diameter, 55 mm; amplitude, 0.6 mm; frequency, 50 Hz; and filling time, 3.4 s. The simulation experiment results are in good agreement with the prototype experiment, achieving the purpose of improving the efficiency of rice filling. This study provides theoretical guidance for research on an automatic rice-filling device for lotus root with glutinous rice. Full article

A wet clutch is the key shift part of the hydro-mechanical continuously variable transmission (HMCVT), and the working characteristics have an important influence on the shift quality of HMCVT. To reduce impact during the shift and improve engagement quality, this paper analyzed the influence of system oil pressure and the clutch’s working flow on the engagement characteristics of the wet clutch in terms of shift quality. Firstly, the engagement characteristics (including oil pressure variation characteristics and dynamic torque characteristics) of the wet clutch were tested with different working flows and system oil pressures based on the HMCVT shift clutch bench. Then, the shift impact and sliding friction work were used to evaluate the shift quality. An evaluation function was established based on the maximum shift impact and the maximum sliding friction work to obtain the optimal shift quality. Finally, a shift model was built using Simulation X to simulate the shift quality of nine groups of engagement characteristics. The results showed that increasing the working flow can reduce the wet clutch engagement time by 1.7 s at most, and increasing the system oil pressure can only reduce this by 0.1 s. The higher working flow and system oil pressure can increase the shift impact and reduce the sliding friction work. The combination of the working flow and system oil pressure with the minimum evaluation function value is (10 L/min, 2.0 MPa), and the shift quality is the best. The research can provide a reference for the design, shift control, and shift quality improvement of an HMCVT wet clutch. Full article

As the basic link of autonomous navigation in agriculture, crop row detection is vital to achieve accurate detection of crop rows for autonomous navigation. Machine vision algorithms are easily affected by factors such as changes in field lighting and weather conditions, and the majority of machine vision algorithms detect early periods of crops, but it is challenging to detect crop rows under high sheltering pressure in the middle and late periods. In this paper, a crop row detection algorithm based on LiDAR is proposed that is aimed at the middle and late crop periods, which has a good effect compared with the conventional machine vision algorithm. The algorithm proposed the following three steps: point cloud preprocessing, feature point extraction, and crop row centerline detection. Firstly, dividing the horizontal strips equally, the improved K-means algorithm and the prior information of the previous horizontal strip are utilized to obtain the candidate points of the current horizontal strip, then the candidate points information is used to filter and extract the feature points in accordance with the corresponding threshold, and finally, the least squares method is used to fit the crop row centerlines. The experimental results show that the algorithm can detect the centerlines of crop rows in the middle and late periods of maize under the high sheltering environment. In the middle period, the average correct extraction rate of maize row centerlines was 95.1%, and the average processing time was 0.181 s; in the late period, the average correct extraction rate of maize row centerlines was 87.3%, and the average processing time was 0.195 s. At the same time, it also demonstrates accuracy and superiority of the algorithm over the machine vision algorithm, which can provide a solid foundation for autonomous navigation in agriculture. Full article

Gas-containing conditioning technology (GCT) employs mild sterilization methods to preserve the original qualities and nutrients of foods and is particularly suitable for processing various cooked foods or food ingredients. In this study, five kinds of dishes from daily life were processed with GCT. Thermal penetration detection technology was utilized to monitor the internal temperature of food and ambient temperature in real-time, and the optimal scheduled processes of each food were summarized. Additionally, foods were processed after GCT, and the total number of bacteria (<10² cfu/g) and coliform colonies (<50 MPN/100 g) were significantly reduced. Moreover, to detect the preservation effect of GCT, the processed foods were stored at 37 °C for 14 days, and the total number of colonies remained low (<10 cfu/g). These results revealed the multistage mild sterilization process, confirmed the excellent sterilization and preservation effects of GCT, and provided important experimental data for further applications of GCT in special environment foods. Full article

Bacillus spp. has the potential to control bacterial and fungal diseases of crops. In vitro study, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens DSBA-11 showed best to inhibit the growth of Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum as compared to Bacillus cereus JHTBS-7, B. pumilus MTCC-7092, B. subtilis DTBS-5 and B. licheniformis DTBL-6.Three primers sets from nucleotide sequences of polyketide antibiotic synthase genes viz., macrolactin, difficidin and bacillaene of B. amyloliquefaciens FZB42 were designed and standardized protocol for simultaneous detection of polyketide antibiotics-producing strains of Bacillus spp. by multiplex—PCR with products size of 792 bp, 705 bp and 616 bp respectively. All the strains of B. amyloliquefaciens contained three polyketide antibiotic synthase genes, and B. subtilis possessed difficidin and macrolactin, whereas B. cereus JHTBS-7, B. pumilus MTCC-7092 and B. licheniformis DTBL-6 did not contain any polyketide antibiotic genes. By using this technique, polyketide-producing strains of Bacillus spp. were screened within a short period with high accuracy. These polyketide synthase genes were cloned by using a T&A vector to study the role of these genes in producing antibiotics that suppressed the growth of R. pseudosolanacearum under both in vitro and in vivo conditions. Bio-efficacy of cloned products of these genes macrolactin, bacillaene, and difficidin along with parent strain B. amyloliquefaciens DSBA-11 inhibited the growth of R. pseudosolanacearum and formed 1.9 cm², 1.9 cm², 1.7 cm² and 3.3 cm² inhibition area under in vitro conditions respectively. Minimum bacterial wilt disease intensity (29.3%) with the highest biocontrol efficacy (57.72%) was found in tomato cv. Pusa Ruby (susceptible to wilt disease) was treated with B. amyloliquefaciens DSBA-11 followed by cloned products of difficidin and macrolactin under glasshouse conditions. Hence, the developed multiplex protocol might be helpful for screening polyketide antibiotics producing potential strains of Bacillus spp. from soil which can apply for managing the wilt disease of tomatoes. The polyketide antibiotics produced by bacteria might have a significant role suppression of R. pseudosolanacearum due to the disintegration of cells. Full article

Nitrogen fertilization is a basic agrotechnical orchard treatment, and affects quality and size of the crops. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of nitrogen fertilization on the yield and quality of sour cherry fruit of the ‘Łutówka’ cultivar. The course of climatic conditions in relation to the timing of flowering and fruiting was analyzed. The trials were carried out in three different experimental sour cherry orchards (quarters) with different planting dates (1999, 2001 and 2002) located at the experimental orchard of the Poznań University of Life Sciences in Poland. In each orchard, three levels of fertilization were used: control without fertilization, fertilization at a dose of 60 kg N ha⁻¹ and fertilization at 120 kg N ha⁻¹. Increasing the dose of N did not have a significant effect on sour cherry yield. However, it resulted in a reduction of fruit weight, extract content, acidity and TSS/TA ratio, whereas the brightness (L*) and redness (a*) of the fruit surface color increased. Temperature and precipitation had the greatest influence on the course of flowering, fruiting and fruit ripening. Particularly important was the course of climatic conditions at the beginning of the growing season, especially during flowering, when there is a high risk of spring frosts. The timing of flowering and fruiting was correlated with the sum of active temperatures. The greatest relationship for the flowering date was found for SAT (sum of active temperatures) when the base temperature equals 11 °C and the temperature for the harvest date equals 9 °C. Full article

The use of industrial waste as an agricultural resource is important for clean and sustainable agriculture. We assumed that industrial organic wastewater coupled with chemical fertilizer would increase cotton yield by enhancing nutrients absorption and utilization. To test this hypothesis, a two-year (2019–2020) field trial was conducted to assess the impacts of CK (0 kg ha⁻¹), chemical fertilizer (CF) (N-P2O5-K2O: 228-131-95 kg ha⁻¹), chemical fertilizer + organic wastewater (F0.6 (60%CF + OW: 1329 kg ha⁻¹), F0.8 (80%CF + OW), F1.0 (CF + OW), F1.2 (120%CF + OW) and F1.4 (140%CF + OW)) on nutrient absorption and distribution, fertilizer use efficiency and cotton yield under drip irrigation system. Compared with CF, the soil organic matter, NH4+-N and AV-K increased significantly after F0.8-F1.4 treatments. The absorption of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) by plants after dripping organic wastewater (F0.8-F1.4) increased by 1.1–11.2% as compared with CF (F0.6, CF < F0.8, F1.0 < F1.2, F1.4). Under F0.8, treatment resulted in a higher distribution rate of N, P and K in reproductive organs compared with other counterparts. In addition, drip application of organic wastewater promoted the absorption of magnesium (Mg) and zinc (Zn) in leaves and Fe in roots with higher translocation of Zn and boron (B) to reproductive organs compared with other treatments. The absorption of N, P and K was positively correlated with Mg, negatively correlated with calcium (Ca) and sulfur (S), and positively correlated with manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe). The yield and fertilizer utilization rate of cotton were higher at F0.8. Conclusively, the use of 1329 kg ha⁻¹ organic wastewater (organic mattered ≥ 20%, humic acid ≥ 20 g L⁻¹, Bacillus subtilis ≥ 2 × 108 L⁻¹) combined with chemical fertilizer (N-P2O5-K2O) at (182-104-76 kg ha⁻¹) reduces the application of chemical fertilizer and can increase utilization efficiency of chemical fertilizer with a high cotton yield under mulch drip irrigation in arid regions. Full article

The aim of this research was to study the impact of supplementary feeding on reproductive traits in sheep. Two groups, L1 (control) and L2 (experimental treatment), of adult females aged between two and six years belonging to the Botosani Karakul sheep breed were formed. The experimental treatment group (L2) received supplementary feeding 25 days prior to mating. Improvements in body condition and significant increases in live weight occurred by the time of mating in those ewes that had been flushed (L2) (p < 0.01 vs. L1). The number of lambs per individual parturition was influenced by the body condition score (BCS), especially in females with a BCS of 2.0. The total number of weaned lambs in females with a BCS of 2.0 differed in comparison to that of females with a BCS of 2.5 or 3.0. All results highlighted that supplementary feeding applied to ewes prior to mating affected their reproductive and economic performance, translating to an increased live weight of the litter at weaning in the L2 group (p < 0.01 in lambs from BCS 2.0 ewes and p < 0.001 in lambs from BCS 2.5 to 3.5 ewes). Full article

We estimate the combined effect of climate and landuse-landcover (LU-LC) change on the streamflow of the Betwa River; a semi-arid catchment in Central India. We have used the observed and future bias-corrected climatic datasets from 1980–2100. To assess the LU-LC change in the catchment, we have processed and classified the Landsat satellite images from 1990–2020. We have used Artificial Neural Network (ANN) based Cellular Automata (CA) model to simulate the future LU-LC. Further, we coupled the observed and projected LU-LC and climatic variables in the SWAT (Soil and water assessment tool) model to simulate the streamflow of the Betwa River. In doing so, we have setup this model for the observed (1980–2000 and 2001–2020) and projected (2023–2060 and 2061–2100) time periods by using the LU-LC of the years 1990, 2018, and 2040, 2070, respectively. We observed that the combined effect of climate and LU-LC change resulted in the reduction in the mean monsoon stream flow of the Betwa River by 16% during 2001–2020 as compared to 1982–2000. In all four CMIP6 climatic scenarios (SSP126, SSP245, SSP370, and SSP585), the mean monsoon stream flow is expected to decrease by 39–47% and 31–47% during 2023–2060 and 2061–2100, respectively as compared to the observed time period 1982–2020. Furthermore, average monsoon rainfall in the catchment will decrease by 30–35% during 2023–2060 and 23–30% during 2061–2100 with respect to 1982–2020. Full article