Special Issue "Precision Agriculture and Sustainability"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Simone Pascuzzi
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Science, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy
Interests: sprayer machines for crop protection; mathematical model concerning agricultural machines; remote and proximal sensing within precision agriculture; agricultural operators' safety; geothermal heat pumps and hybrid power systems (photovoltaic panels, alkaline water electrolyzer, fuel cells) for use in rural areas

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The aim of the current interactions among the agricultural-forestry and livestock sectors and technological innovation, automation, energy aspects, environment and agro-forestry territory is sustainability, based on the development and integration of knowledge and technologies across the entire agro-industrial system. Precision agriculture fits well within this context, encapsulating the innovative drive towards the development of agronomic and technological skills aimed at sustainability, i.e., respectful of natural resources such as water, soil fertility and biodiversity, and rejecting the use of polluting chemical products. Sustainability is also advantageous for farmers, because it favors a fair income, safeguards workers’ health, and improves the quality life of society as a whole. New research is then needed in order to meet the following global challenges: increasing the efficient use of resources; reducing waste and emissions; safeguarding the health and wellbeing of plants and animals; improving food security; improving the quality of working conditions in agriculture, livestock farming, and forestry. The topics to be explored are diversified and mainly concern: (i) farming systems that enhance biodiversity and natural biological processes contributing to increased efficiency in the use of water and nutrients and improved crop production; (ii) new economic policies concerning farm management; (iii) safeguarding environmental and territory; and (iv) new digital technologies that are useful in the agricultural-forestry and livestock sectors.

Prof. Simone Pascuzzi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • environmental monitoring and control
  • multisource data
  • remote and proximal sensing
  • conservation agriculture
  • hydroponic
  • farm management
  • crop protection
  • vegetable and livestock biodiversity

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Article
A New Spiral Potato Cleaner to Enhance the Removal of Impurities and Soil Clods in Potato Harvesting
Sustainability 2020, 12(23), 9788; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12239788 - 24 Nov 2020
Viewed by 626
Abstract
Sustainability in the agricultural field suggests the conservation and maintenance of a natural environment of soil. Nevertheless, in the potato production chain, the mechanized harvest is carried out with the concurring removal of impurities and fertile soil. The authors have developed a new [...] Read more.
Sustainability in the agricultural field suggests the conservation and maintenance of a natural environment of soil. Nevertheless, in the potato production chain, the mechanized harvest is carried out with the concurring removal of impurities and fertile soil. The authors have developed a new spiral potato cleaner which is able to capture and efficiently remove soil lumps of various sizes and shapes, as well as various plant residues. Theoretical and experimental studies have been performed on this soil clod cleaner to determine the structural and kinematic parameters that provide efficient capturing, motion and sifting down of the soil, through the gaps between the helices of its cleaning spirals. An analytical description of the motion of the clod of soil has been made and a system of differential equations has been compiled, whose numerical solution made it possible to determine the indicated reasonable operative parameters of the developed spiral potato cleaner. The results of the experimental research confirmed those ones obtained through the numerical solution of the mathematical model, i.e., rational angular speed ω of the rotation of the spirals from 20.0 to 30.0 rad s−1 and the radius R of spirals between 0.12 and 0.15 m. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precision Agriculture and Sustainability)
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Article
A Study on the Drift of Spray Droplets Dipped in Airflows with Different Directions
Sustainability 2020, 12(11), 4644; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114644 - 06 Jun 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 735
Abstract
The European Directive concerning pesticide sustainable use establishes regulations to reduce the environmental drift throughout treatments to agricultural crops, particularly in nearby sensitive areas, such as water bodies, natural reserves and urban areas. The drift represents the fraction of mixture delivered by the [...] Read more.
The European Directive concerning pesticide sustainable use establishes regulations to reduce the environmental drift throughout treatments to agricultural crops, particularly in nearby sensitive areas, such as water bodies, natural reserves and urban areas. The drift represents the fraction of mixture delivered by the sprayer that is not caught by the crop, and is the clearest cause of environmental pollution. Anti-drift nozzles are usually employed, and buffer zones are also maintained along the edges of the sprayed field to reduce drift production. The aim of this work was the theoretical study of the motion of the spray droplets delivered by a nozzle, dipped in downwards and/or lateral forced air flows. A mathematical model has been developed, consisting of a system of 2nd order differential equations, to simulate the motion of water droplets of different diameters within simultaneous different directions of air flow. The graphs, obtained by means of the numerical solution of the model, allow us to analyze the level of the droplets’ drift, according to their diameter and to the speed of the lateral and the downward air flows, respectively. A lateral airflow at a speed of 5 m · s 1 produced a drift in its direction until 1.70 m for droplets from 100 to 500 μm in diameter. For larger drops, the impact of the downward airflow is not very significant. The results obtained by the numerical solution of the mathematical model have been compared with the results of experimental tests carried out to evaluate the drift of spray produced by different nozzles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precision Agriculture and Sustainability)
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Article
Quantitative Analysis and Correction of Temperature Effects on Fluorescent Tracer Concentration Measurement
Sustainability 2020, 12(11), 4501; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114501 - 02 Jun 2020
Viewed by 670
Abstract
To ensure an accurate evaluation of pesticide spray application efficiency and pesticide mixture uniformity, reliable and accurate measurements of fluorescence concentrations in spray solutions are critical. The objectives of this research were to examine the effects of solution temperature on measured concentrations of [...] Read more.
To ensure an accurate evaluation of pesticide spray application efficiency and pesticide mixture uniformity, reliable and accurate measurements of fluorescence concentrations in spray solutions are critical. The objectives of this research were to examine the effects of solution temperature on measured concentrations of fluorescent tracers as the simulated pesticides and to develop models to correct the deviation of measurements caused by temperature variations. Fluorescent tracers (Brilliant Sulfaflavine (BSF), Eosin, Fluorescein sodium salt) were selected for tests with the solution temperatures ranging from 10.0 °C to 45.0 °C. The results showed that the measured concentrations of BSF decreased as the solution temperature increased, and the decrement rate was high at the beginning and then slowed down and tended to become constant. In contrast, the concentrations of Eosin decreased slowly at the beginning and then noticeably increased as temperatures increased. On the other hand, the concentrations of Fluorescein sodium salt had little variations with its solution temperature. To ensure the measurement accuracy, correction models were developed using the response surface methodology to numerically correct the measured concentration errors due to variations with the solution temperature. Corrected concentrations using the models agreed well with the actual concentrations, and the overall relative errors were reduced from 42.36% to 2.91% for BSF, 11.72% to 1.55% for Eosin, and 2.68% to 1.17% for Fluorescein sodium salt. Thus, this approach can be used to improve pesticide sprayer performances by accurately quantifying droplet deposits on target crops and off-target areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precision Agriculture and Sustainability)
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