Search results for "Agricultural Engineering"
showing 10 items of 81 documents
Sustainable technologies for greenhouse systems
2020
The greenhouse cultivation system in European countries represents one of the most energy-intensive sectors in the agriculture and agro-industry sector. In this regard, renewable energies represent an innovative solution to reduce energy costs and environmental impacts. Both, the energy demands and the economic aspects are analyzed with regard to the main energy users, i.e.: heating and cooling systems, lighting and pumping for irrigation. This work considers the use of solar photovoltaic and thermal energy. The use of semi-closed greenhouses is also considered.
Assessment of yield and water productivity of clementine trees under surface and subsurface drip irrigation
2018
Abstract Irrigation systems aimed to optimize water use efficiency in agriculture have become essential due to the increasing water limitations that agriculture is currently facing. Assessment of crop responses to different irrigation systems and strategies are therefore encouraged to find the most efficient options for each specific case. The main objective of this study was to assess the performance of a citrus crop under a surface (SI) and subsurface drip irrigation (SSI) with 7 (SI7, SSI7) or 14 emitters (SI14, SSI14) per plant, as well as a third SS treatment (SSIA), identical to SSI7 but equipped with and additional drip line buried between the tree rows. Evaluations were made in term…
Irrigated agriculture: Water resources management for a sustainable environment
2014
In the last decade, research on irrigation has mainly been aimed at reducing crop water consumption. In arid and semi-arid environments, in relation to the limited water resources, the use of low quality water in agriculture has also been investigated in order to detect their effects on soil physical properties and on crop production. More recently, even the reduction of energy consumption in agriculture, as well as the effects of external factors, climate change and agricultural policies, have been major research interests. All these objectives have been considered in the papers included in this special issue. However, in the last years, approaches aimed at reducing crop water requirements…
Automatic detection and agronomic characterization of olive groves using high-resolution imagery and LIDAR data
2014
The Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union grants subsidies for olive production. Areas of intensified olive farming will be of major importance for the increasing demand for oil production of the next decades, and countries with a high ratio of intensively and super-intensively managed olive groves will be more competitive than others, since they are able to reduce production costs. It can be estimated that about 25-40% of the Sicilian oliviculture must be defined as “marginal”. Modern olive cultivation systems, which permit the mechanization of pruning and harvest operations, are limited. Agronomists, landscape planners, policy decision-makers and other professionals have a grow…
Economic evaluation of biogas plant size utilizing giant reed
2015
Abstract Amongst energy crops for the production of biomass feedstock for biogas plants, giant reed (Arundo donax L) has been attracting attention in recent years in Italy. Undoubtedly, this is due to its potentially high yield in terms of biomass, low agronomic inputs, as well as for being eligible for European Union energy crop incentives. The aim of this study was to perform an analysis of plant costs considering three macro-categories (biomass, plant installation and transport). Also, we aimed to describe the economic performances of biogas plants, while progressively altering two key variables. Specifically, we considered electrical power capacity (in the 100–999 kW range) and several …
Moisture loss, gain and migration in foods
2011
Abstract: The loss, gain and transfer of moisture often affect food materials. Whether arising from interaction with the atmosphere or with another component of the food, such changes always cause deterioration of the overall quality of the food through softening, toughening, breakdown, swelling or shrinkage due to phase transitions or dissolution. In most cases, water migration leads to organoleptic or microbiological changes in the food. With a view to better understanding the physical deterioration of food and to providing a tool for better control of food quality (and therefore of longer shelf life), this chapter reviews the water relationships in foods with particular attention to, and…
A Simple Analytical Model for Remote Assessment of the Dynamics of Biomass Accumulation
2011
Efficient means for assessment of the dynamics and the state of the stocks of renewable assets such as wood biomass are important for sustainable supplies satisfying current needs. So far attention has been paid mainly to the economic aspects of forest management while ecological problems are rising with the expected transfer from fossil to renewable resources supplies of which from forest being essential for traditional consumers of wood and for emerging biorefineries. Production of biomass is more reliant on assets other than money the land (territory) available and suitable for the purpose being the first in the number. Studies of the ecological impacts (the “footprint”) of sustainable u…
Application of deep convolutional neural networks for the detection of anthracnose in olives using VIS/NIR hyperspectral images
2021
Anthracnose is one of the primary diseases that affect olive production before and after harvest, causing severe damage and economic losses. The objective of this work is to detect this disease in the early stages, using hyperspectral images and advanced modelling techniques of Deep Learning (DL) and convolutional neural networks (CNN). The olives were artificially inoculated with the fungus. Hyperspectral images (450–1050 nm) of each olive were acquired until visual symptoms of the disease were observed, in some cases up to 9 days. The olives were classified into two classes: control, inoculated with water, and fungi composed of olives inoculated with the fungus. The ResNet101 architecture…
Application of near Infrared Spectroscopy to the Quality Control of Citrus Fruits and Mango
2016
NIR spectroscopy is a proved tool to measure the optical properties of the samples, which are related to their chemical and textural properties. This technology can be used for determining the internal and external quality of fruits. Accordingly, many studies have been reported for long time to assess the quality of different fresh fruits by using reflectance measurements acquired with visible-NIR spectroscopy. We have been working on the estimation of the quality of fruits using computer vision for more than twenty years, always focused on problems that affect the local industry. As the region of Valencia (Spain) is one of the main producers and exporters of citrus fruits worldwide, most o…
Application of deep convolutional neural networks for the detection of anthracnose in olives using VIS/NIR hyperspectral images
2021
Abstract Anthracnose is one of the primary diseases that affect olive production before and after harvest, causing severe damage and economic losses. The objective of this work is to detect this disease in the early stages, using hyperspectral images and advanced modelling techniques of Deep Learning (DL) and convolutional neural networks (CNN). The olives were artificially inoculated with the fungus. Hyperspectral images (450–1050 nm) of each olive were acquired until visual symptoms of the disease were observed, in some cases up to 9 days. The olives were classified into two classes: control, inoculated with water, and fungi composed of olives inoculated with the fungus. The ResNet101 arc…