Developing Ecological Agricultural Engineering to Promote Rural Revitalization in China

Ecological agricultural engineering is a necessary innovation and expansion of China’s agricultural engineering science and technology that aims to meet the overall, the whole chain and the coordinated development needs of the whole system for rural revitalization. Focusing on ecological agricultural engineering, this paper introduces its development and early practice and technology, and also discusses its development direction, development path, and important role in boosting rural revitalization. The development of ecological agricultural engineering will play an important role in China’s agricultural production practice, agricultural engineering discipline construction and agricultural and rural modernization.

China National Engineering Research Center for Information Technology in Agriculture

China National Engineering Research Center for Information Technology in Agriculture （NERCITA） was established in 2001 with the approval of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China. As a national research institution, it mainly engages in research and development of agricultural and rural informatization engineering technology. Based on the requirements of agricultural and rural development of China, the major mission of NERCITA is to make key technology innovation, establish technical platform and develop significant products for agriculture, which focus on five aspects： intelligent information processing technology, remote sensing and geographic information system, precision agriculture, biological environment control engineering and automation technology as well as fast detection techniques of agricultural product security and the monitoring technology of farmland environmental quality. The ultimate goal is to provide a powerful technological support for agricultural modernization and rural development.

Harmful evaluation of heavy metals from soil layer to the groundwater: Take the Jilin Hunchun Basin as an example

The continuous enrichment of heavy metals in soils has caused potential harm to groundwater.Quantitative methods to evaluate the harm of heavy metals in soil to groundwater are lacked in previous studies.Based on the theory of groundwater circulation and solid-liquid equilibrium,a simple and easy-touse flux model of soil heavy metals migrating to groundwater is constructed.Based on groundwater environmental capacity,an innovative method for evaluating the harm of heavy metals in soil to groundwater is proposed,which has been applied in Hunchun Basin,Jilin Province,China.The results show that the fluxes of soil heavy metals into groundwater in the study area are Zn,Cu,As,Pb,Cd,Ni,and Hg in descending order.The content of heavy metals in groundwater(As,Hg,Cu,Pb,Zn,Ni,and Cd)in most areas has not risen to the threshold of environmental capacity within 10 years.The harm levels of soil heavy metals to groundwater in the most townships soils are at the moderate level or below.This evaluation method can quantify the flux of soil heavy metals into groundwater simply and quickly,determine the residual capacity of groundwater to heavy metals,evaluate the harm level of soil heavy metals to groundwater,provide support for relevant departments to carry out environmental protection of soil and groundwater,and provide a reference to carry out similar studies for related scholars.

Biosystems Engineering Curricula in Europe

This paper describes the history of the harmonisation of agricultural/biosystems engineering degree study programs in Europe from 1989, when the need for this process was widely felt, until now, when this need was partly satisfied through the implementation of the projects of two EU funded thematic networks, i.e., USAEE-TN and ERABEE-TN. The objective of this paper is to contribute to promote, in each EU country and elsewhere, the process of harmonisation of agricultural/biosystems engineering degree study programs, and student and graduate mobility within the EU, as well as between the EU and the USA. At present, in Europe, this harmonisation process is aided by the key results of the projects of USAEE-TN, ERABEE-TN and POMSEBES. USAEE developed some core curricula, to be used as benchmarks for European agricultural/biosystems engineering degree study programs, and a web-based database of these study programs. ERABEE promoted the transition from agricultural engineering to biosystems engineering and established the recognition procedures of new European study programs in biosystems engineering. The EU-US POMSEBES consortium built up a platform for exchange of experiences and ideas between the USA and the EU, aimed at： enhancing the quality and linkage of research and education; establishing appropriate policy oriented measures; promoting compatible degree study programs in biosystems engineering, within the EU as well as between the EU and the USA.

Characteristics of B,Zn and Se in stream sediments of Tanzania and their agricultural applications:Based on 1∶1000000 geochemical survey

Tanzania is located in eastern Africa with a predominantly agricultural ecomomy,the potential for developing and utilizing cultivated land are promising,but scientific guidance is required.B,Zn and Se are essential micronutrients for plants and human body with crucial biological functions,in particular,Se is significant for human health and considered as“the king of anti-cancer”.As these elements required by human or plants are mainly absorbed from soil directly or indirectly,therefore,it is important to understand the contents and distributions of them in the soil of cultivated land for guiding agricultural production.In this work,low-density geochemical survey at the scale of 1∶1000000 was carried out in Tanzania,and the results show that the concentrations of B,Zn and Se in stream sediments are low and their distributions are heterogeneous.According to the distributions of geological units,the existing cultivated land resources can be divided into five regions in Tanzania.Compared with the national background values,the concentrations of B,Zn and Se are insufficient overall but enriched locally in these regions.In general,element concentrations in stream sediments and soil have a positive correlation because of their similar sources,which is essential in agriculture application.Based on the information provided by low-density geochemical data and maps,the Se-sufficient and Se-rich regions were delineated in Tanzania,where can be used to develop Se-rich industries.Finally,this paper believes that geochemical survey is a powerful tool for cultivated land evaluation,agriculture management and land development.

Tangent Resistance of Soil on Moldboard and the Mechanism of Resistance Reduction of Bionic Moldboard

The tangent resistance on the interface of the soil-moldboard is an important component of the resistance to moving soil . We developed simplified mechanical models to analyze this resistance. We found that it is composed of two components, the frictional and adhesive resistances. These two components originate from the soil pore, which induced a capillary suction effect, and the soil-moldboard contact area produced tangent adhesive resistance. These two components varied differently with soil moisture. Thus we predicted that resistance reduction against soil exerted on the non-smooth bionic moldboard is mainly due to the elimination of capillary suction and the reduction of physical-chemical adsorption of soil.

Rice Drying,Storage and Processing:Effects of Post-Harvest Operations on Grain Quality

Various post-harvest processes of rice are commonly employed,especially during the off-season,to ensure its consumption feasibility,which often affect the grain quality.Different forms of drying,storage and processing of rice are evaluated to identify their effects on grain quality.Microwave drying has emerged as an alternative to the widely-used intermittent-drying and fixed-bed-dryer methods of drying paddy rice.Control of drying-air temperatures(between 40℃ and 60℃)according to the rice variety can improve quality,especially for exotic varieties.Keeping stored grain in hygroscopic balance,with water content between 11%to 15%,at temperatures between 16℃ and 20℃ and with intergranular relative humidity near 60%,allows 12 months of storage in a controlled environment without significant deterioration.Other innovations,notably the application of artificial refrigeration to grain stored in bulk in vertical cylindrical silos and the use of impermeable packaging for storage,ensure the conservation of grain mass.The different stages and equipments used to obtain polished,brown and parboiled rice result in significant changes in the nutritional value of rice because of the removal of the outermost layers of the grains.Polishing reduces the nutritional value and physical homogeneity of rice.Brown rice retains more bioactive compounds and nutrients because it does not lose the outer layer of the grains in the polishing processes.Parboiled rice,although less nutritious than brown rice,has better grain integrity and milling yield and less loss of nutrients than white rice.

Engineering crop nutrient efficiency for sustainable agriculture

Increasing crop yields can provide food,animal feed, bioenergy feedstocks and biomaterials to meet increasing global demand; however, the methods used to increase yield can negatively affect sustainability. For example, application of excess fertilizer can generate and maintain high yields but also increases input costs and contributes to environmental damage through eutrophication, soil acidification and air pollution. Improving crop nutrient efficiency can improve agricultural sustainability by increasing yield while decreasing input costs and harmful environmental effects. Here, we review the mechanisms of nutrient efficiency(primarily for nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and iron) and breeding strategies for improving this trait, along with the role of regulation of gene expression in enhancing crop nutrient efficiency to increase yields. We focus on the importance of root system architecture to improve nutrient acquisition efficiency, as well as the contributions of mineral translocation, remobilization and metabolic efficiency to nutrient utilization efficiency.

Experimental Study on the Performance and Emission of Chinese Small Agricultural Diesel Engine Fuelled with Methanol/Biodiesel/DTBP

Diesel engine alternative fuels, such as methanol and biodiesel, are beneficial to reduce diesel engine emission. In order to study the influence of methanol and biodiesel on the performance, economy and emission of small agricultural diesel engine, the physical-chemical properties(cetane number, lower heat value(LHV), viscosity, etc.) of methanol and biodiesel were analyzed. The methanol and biodiesel showed good complementary property to some extent. When a large proportion of methanol was added into biodiesel, the cetane number of the methanol/biodiesel blend will be greatly reduced. Since the cetane number of the blend fuel has great influence on the combustion process of diesel engine, after testing for blending ratio of methanol/biodiesel, the blend was prepared with 5%(BM5), 10%(BM10) and 15%(BM15) methanol, respectively. Di-Tert-Butyl Peroxide(DTBP) was chosen as a cetane number improver to be added into methanol/biodiesel blend. 0.25%, 0.50% and 0.75% of DTBP was added into BM15. The bench test was carried out on a 186 FA diesel engine to study the effect of methanol and DTBP on the engine performance and emissions. The results show that, at rated condition, compared with biodiesel, the NO;concentration of BM5, BM10 and BM15 is reduced by 5.02%, 33.85% and 21.24%, and smoke is reduced by 5.56%, 22.22% and 55.56%. However, the engine power is also reduced by 5.77%, 14.23% and 25.41%, and the brake specific energy consumption is increased by 3.31%, 7.78% and 6.37%. The addition of DTBP in methanol/biodiesel could recover the engine power to the level of diesel. DTBP shows good effect on the reduction of the brake specific energy consumption and NO_(x), CO, HC concentration, but a little increase of exhaust smoke.

Anti-attachment Function and Biomimetic Application of Slippery Zone in Nepenthes Pitcher

Carnivorous plants of Nepenthes species have evolved particular organs named pitchers at the tips of their conspicuous leaves, allowing slippery trapping and effective digesting prey to acquire sufficient growing nutrients. Nepenthes pitchers are generally distinguished by several morphological regions exhibiting distinct functions in prey capturing, and combined effect of the several zones results in great trapping efficiency. Depending on specific micro-structures, slippery zone performs an important role in efficiently preying arthropods, and this prey ability inspires an idea for biomimetic development of slippery trapping plate used in controlling agricultural pests. In this paper, combined with our latest results, the authors introduced the recent studies of the slippery zone, including surface structures and anti-attachment functions. They also highlighted the biomimetic application of slippery zone in developing slippery trapping plate for controlling agricultural pest.

Parameter matching and experiment of the combined cyclone separation and cylinder sieve cleaning system for rape combine harvester

Existing rape combine harvester with a cyclone separation cleaning device has the challenge that the loss rate and the cleaning rate increase and decrease simultaneously.A cleaning process route was proposed,which involves the cyclone separation cleaning device removing light and tiny impurities,and the cylinder sieve device removing coarse and long impurities such as pod shells and short stems.A novel cleaning system combining the cyclone separation cleaning device and cylinder sieve cleaning devices was designed.The ranges of the structure and operation parameters for each component were analyzed based on kinematics and dynamic analysis.A four-factor five-level quadratic orthogonal test was carried out,in which the loss rate and cleaning rate were taken as the evaluation indexes.The velocity at the suction port,the rotation speed of the cylinder sieve,the screw pitch of the spiral blade and the diameter of the sieve hole were taken as the influencing factors.The orthogonal test results showed that the cleaning system performed best at a rotation speed of the winnower is 600 r/min,an airflow velocity at the suction port is 18.25 m/s,a rotation speed of the cylinder sieve is 87 r/min,a screw pitch of the spiral blade is 440 mm and a diameter of the sieve hole is 4.48 mm.At this time,the loss rate of the cleaning system is 3.22%,and the cleaning rate is 95.67%.Compared to the conventional cyclone separation cleaning device,the loss rate is reduced by 2.17%and the cleaning rate is increased by 1.05%.This study can provide a reference for the optimal cleaning system design for rape combine harvesters.

Analysis of journal content characteristics and metrics reported in the Clarivate Analytics Journal Citation Reports and Web of Science Core Collection Agricultural Engineering categories

The Clarivate Analytics Journal Citation Reports(JCR)and Web of Science(WoS)platforms are arguably the most influential journal citation/metric databases worldwide.Journals must first be indexed in the WoS Core Collection(CC)before being indexed in the JCR.The JCR and WoS platform are separate Clarivate Analytics products,but the JCR is included in the WoS platform for organizations that purchase both databases.The analysis for this study focused on citation data reported in the 2017 JCR(based on 2016 citation data)and other data reported in the WoS CC up to 2016.A total of 14 journals are indexed in the 2017 JCR agricultural engineering category;however,only 13 journals are analyzed in this because one journal was listed by mistake.Six of the 13 journals are published by large for-profit publishers(i.e.,Elsevier B.V.or Springer Verlag)and the other seven are published by respective professional societies.The journals were analyzed as a function of type(specialty versus comprehensive),type of publisher and publication frequency,metrics such as the Journal Impact Factor(JIF),volumes of articles published by year and journal,and the source institutions and countries of published articles.Bioenergy-and industrial crop-focused journals included in the 2017 JCR agricultural engineering category manifest the strongest overall metrics,as evidenced by relatively high JIF scores:Bioresource Technology(4.917),Biomass and Bioenergy(3.219)and Industrial Crops and Products(3.181).In contrast,the highest JIF reported in the 2017 JCR for a comprehensive agricultural engineering journal was 2.044 for Biosystems Engineering.During 2006 to 2016,the number of articles indexed in the Core Collection for the JCR agricultural engineering category rose from 1,124 to 4,078,an increase of 263%.Over 70% of the total articles published in 2016 were published in the three bioenergy-or industrial-crop focused journals.The top three countries that published the highest levels of WoS Core Collection agricultural engineering articles in 2016 were China(1132),United States(669)and Brazil(474).The similar top publishing institutions were the United States Department of Agriculture(USDA;136),Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS;136)and Indian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research(CSIR;79).The results of the study also show that publishing by Chinese scientists in the 13 journals indexed in the JCR Agricultural Engineering(AE)category is rapidly increasing,with seven research institutions ranked in the global top 20 in 2016,based on studies published in journals indexed in the JCR agricultural engineering category.The analysis also reveals that the specialty journals(e.g.,the three bioenergy-focused journals)are not directly comparable with the comprehensive agricultural engineering journals and should potentially be excluded from future versions of the JCR and WoS CC AE categories.

Research progresses in technological innovation and integration of agricultural engineering

Based on the technical characteristics of agricultural engineering,this research developed a theoretical system and methodology on the integration of agricultural engineering technology by studying the classification of constituent technologies,technological evaluation and integration,and optimization of agricultural engineering patterns.Thirty-two integrated agricultural engineering patterns are proposed according to the methodology for different regions with different local industry backgrounds,operating scales and objects.This research provides a solid foundation for the study of the agricultural engineering technical scheme,patterns and construction standards,which can help to provide a comprehensive solution to problems relevant to modern agriculture.

From agricultural engineering and forestry engineering to biomechinfotronic engineering

The deterioration of global environment,decreasing of biological diversity,increasing of natural disasters,exhausting of biological resources and acceleration of desertification emphasize the need to provide the human-beings with the suitable environments.Nowadays,precision agriculture and precision forestry have been emphasized to obtain the maximum output with minimum input and the least impact on the environment,so agricultural and forestry engineering systems require multi-disciplinary design groups to deal with some common interests and the concept of biomechinfotronics is needed.The word“biomechinfotronic”is introduced to describe the multidisciplinary aspects of this complex system.In the paper,the prospects,mission analysis,education system,research areas of biomechinfotronics are studied.The particular characteristics of biomechinfotronics are the synergistic integration of biological engineering with mechatronics,bioinformatics,infotronics,bioelectronics and intelligent computer systems for conducting common research and development and for recruiting and training students with wide specialties.

Design and implementation of international agricultural and biological engineering expert management system based on WEB mode

Agriculture and biological engineering are the foundation of agricultural modernization,and related countries have also issued relevant policies to guide the development of agriculture and biotechnology.Agricultural and biological engineering experts are the intellectual resources in the field.At present,there is less research on the management and maintenance of agricultural and biological engineering experts,and there is a lack of software systems in this area.In order to realize the management and maintenance of agricultural and biological engineering expert information,a service platform for the international agricultural and biological engineering expert system based on the B/S framework has been developed.The background of the system used C#as the development language,and the foreground used JavaScript technology and Bootstrap.The software adopted ASP.NET MVC as the web development framework and used the Entity Framework to operate the SQL Server background database.The system has the function of searching and querying agricultural and biological engineering expert information according to keywords,and implements the functions of adding,deleting,and modifying data records,and the function of generating spreadsheets and importing spreadsheet data.The development of this system provides effective management tools for the maintenance and construction of agricultural and biological engineering expert databases and lays a good foundation for the construction of agricultural and biological engineering think tanks.

Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

General Introduction Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering(FASE)is an authoritative source for professionals with interests encompassing agricultural science and engineering,supervised by the Chinese Academy of Engineering,administered by Higher Education Press of

Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering Aims & Scope

Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering(FASE)is an international journal for research on agricultural science and engineering.The journal’s aim is to report advanced and innovative scientific proceedings in agricultural field including Crop Science,Agricultural Biotechnology,Horticulture,Plant Protection,Agricultural Engineering,Forestry Engineering,Agricultural Resources,Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine,

Invitation to Contribute to Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering

Colleagues,It is our great pleasure to introduce you to the Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering(FASE),a new international journal launched in 2014.FASE was founded jointly by the Chinese Academy of Engineering,China Agricultural University and

Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering Aims & Scope

Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering(FASE)is an international journal for research on agricultural science and engineering.The journal’s aim is to report advanced and innovative scientific proceedings in agricultural field including Crop Science,Agricultural Biotechnology,Horticulture,Plant Protection,Agricultural Engineering,Forestry Engineering,Agricultural Resources,Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine,