Design of an agricultural economic statistical digitalized system

To improve the efficiency of the management of large farms, a digitalized system of economic statistics is designed based on the Internet platform of the digitalized agricultural integrated system of Friendship Farm, the largest farm in the world. The system can also realize data storage by using the access databank technology. A dynamic website system, based on ASP technology, is used to implement the on-line inquiry of the statistical index of the agricultural economy and the diagrams of the index every year. Furthermore, it can provide the value of comprehensive indicators of farms' economic profits for every year and a trend chart of the comprehensive appraisal of economic development, by using principal component analysis. An early-warning indicator boundary is decided based on the majority principle. The system can realize the farm's terminal data input with effective data-collecting channels and a normative gathering scope and system. This system breaks through the stand-alone database system in agricultural digitalized research to realize the database system in the Internet environment by integrating the existing technologies in China. The system lays a foundation for the further integrated research on the network platform of the digitalized agricultural integrated system in Friendship Farm.

Design and Implementation of Drying Device in Macadamia Nut Digital Management

Macadamia,as the main industry of rural revitalization in Guangxi,has high economic value and good ecological benefits.However,the traditional way of drying macadamia nuts after harvest is very extensive.It cannot guarantee the quality and can cause mildew easily,thereby seriously restricting the industrial development.This paper introduced a device with a weighing device,which allows operators to understand the drying effect in time and thus reduces the loss of nutrition.The device solves the problem of relying on the weather to harvest,and ensures the drying effect of macadamia nuts.

Design and Implementation of Automatic Control Drip Irrigation Device in Macadamia Digital Management

Macadamia has the highest economic value and has always enjoyed the reputation of"king of dried fruits".In the process of digital management,irrigation is the most widely used.This paper designs the automatic control drip irrigation device in the digital management of macadamia nuts,including drip irrigation pipe,soil moisture sensor,motor,water storage chamber,water pump and central controller,and then gives an implementation scheme.The device is not only convenient for laying and positioning,but also convenient for controlling the overall irrigation water consumption during each drip irrigation and accurate use and improving the level of digital management.

The Digital Agricultural Knowledge and Information System(DAKIS):Employing digitalisation to encourage diversified and multifunctional agricultural systems

Multifunctional and diversified agriculture can address diverging pressures and demands by simultaneously enhancing productivity,biodiversity,and the provision of ecosystem services.The use of digital technologies can support this by designing and managing resource-efficient and context-specific agricultural systems.We present the Digital Agricultural Knowledge and Information System(DAKIS)to demonstrate an approach that employs digital technologies to enable decision-making towards diversified and sustainable agriculture.To develop the DAKIS,we specified,together with stakeholders,requirements for a knowledge-based decision-support tool and reviewed the literature to identify limitations in the current generation of tools.The results of the review point towards recurring challenges regarding the consideration of ecosystem services and biodiversity,the capacity to foster communication and cooperation between farmers and other actors,and the ability to link multiple spatiotemporal scales and sustainability levels.To overcome these challenges,the DAKIS provides a digital platform to support farmers'decision-making on land use and management via an integrative spatiotemporally explicit approach that analyses a wide range of data from various sources.The approach integrates remote and in situ sensors,artificial intelligence,modelling,stakeholder-stated demand for biodiversity and ecosystem services,and participatory sustainability impact assessment to address the diverse drivers affecting agricultural land use and management design,including natural and agronomic factors,economic and policy considerations,and socio-cultural preferences and settings.Ultimately,the DAKIS embeds the consideration of ecosystem services,biodiversity,and sustainability into farmers'decision-making and enables learning and progress towards site-adapted small-scale multifunctional and diversified agriculture while simultaneously supporting farmers'objectives and societal demands.

Research and development in agricultural robotics:A perspective of digital farming

Digital farming is the practice of modern technologies such as sensors,robotics,and data analysis for shifting from tedious operations to continuously automated processes.This paper reviews some of the latest achievements in agricultural robotics,specifically those that are used for autonomous weed control,field scouting,and harvesting.Object identification,task planning algorithms,digitalization and optimization of sensors are highlighted as some of the facing challenges in the context of digital farming.The concepts of multi-robots,human-robot collaboration,and environment reconstruction from aerial images and ground-based sensors for the creation of virtual farms were highlighted as some of the gateways of digital farming.It was shown that one of the trends and research focuses in agricultural field robotics is towards building a swarm of small scale robots and drones that collaborate together to optimize farming inputs and reveal denied or concealed information.For the case of robotic harvesting,an autonomous framework with several simple axis manipulators can be faster and more efficient than the currently adapted professional expensive manipulators.While robots are becoming the inseparable parts of the modern farms,our conclusion is that it is not realistic to expect an entirely automated farming system in the future.

Transition towards sustainability in agriculture and food systems:Role of information and communication technologies

Food sustainability transitions refer to transformation processes necessary to move towards sustainable food systems.Digitization is one of the most important ongoing transformation processes in global agriculture and food chains.The review paper explores the contribution of information and communication technologies(ICTs)to transition towards sustainability along the food chain(production,processing,distribution,consumption).A particular attention is devoted to precision agriculture as a food production model that integrates many ICTs.ICTs can contribute to agro-food sustainability transition by increasing resource productivity,reducing inefficiencies,decreasing management costs,and improving food chain coordination.The paper also explores some drawbacks of ICTs as well as the factors limiting their uptake in agriculture.

Resilience in Agriculture: Communication and Energy Infrastructure Dependencies of German Farmers

Agriculture is subject to high demands regarding resilience as it is an essential component of the food production chain. In the agricultural sector, there is an increasing usage of digital tools that rely on communication and energy infrastructures. Should disruption occur,such strengthened dependencies on other infrastructures increase the probability of ripple effects. Thus, there is a need to analyze the resilience of the agricultural sector with a specific focus on the effects of digitalization. This study works out resilience capacities of the interconnected technologies used in farm systems based on the experiences and opinions of farmers. Information was gathered through focus group interviews with farmers(N = 52) and a survey with participants from the agricultural sector(N =118). In particular, the focus is put on the digital tools and other information and communication technologies they use. Based on a definition of resilience capacities, we evaluate resilience regarding energy and communication demands in various types of farm systems. Especially important are the resilience aspects of modern systems’ digital communication as well as the poorly developed and nonresilient network infrastructure in rural areas that contrast with the claim for a resilient agriculture. The result is a low robustness capacity, as our analysis concludes with the risk of food production losses.

Simulation software and virtual environments for acceleration of agricultural robotics:Features highlights and performance comparison

Research efforts for development of agricultural robots that can effectively perform tedious field tasks have grown significantly in the past decade.Agricultural robots are complex systems that require interdisciplinary collaborations between different research groups for effective task delivery in unstructured crops and plants environments.With the exception of milking robots,the extensive research works that have been carried out in the past two decades for adaptation of robotics in agriculture have not yielded a commercial product to date.To accelerate this pace,simulation approach and evaluation methods in virtual environments can provide an affordable and reliable framework for experimenting with different sensing and acting mechanisms in order to verify the performance functionality of the robot in dynamic scenarios.This paper reviews several professional simulators and custom-built virtual environments that have been used for agricultural robotic applications.The key features and performance efficiency of three selected simulators were also compared.A simulation case study was demonstrated to highlight some of the powerful functionalities of the Virtual Robot Experimentation Platform.Details of the objects and scenes were presented as the proof-of-concept for using a completely simulated robotic platform and sensing systems in a virtual citrus orchard.It was shown that the simulated workspace can provide a configurable and modular prototype robotic system that is capable of adapting to several field conditions and tasks through easy testing and debugging of control algorithms with zero damage risk to the real robot and to the actual equipment.This review suggests that an open-source software platform for agricultural robotics will significantly accelerate effective collaborations between different research groups for sharing existing workspaces,algorithms,and reusing the materials.

Stereovision system for estimating tractors and agricultural machines transit area under orchards canopy

Managing orchards requires delicate agricultural operations being typically carried out in narrow zones where the operators usually drive machineries under stress that could result in poor performance.In such conditions,the use of technology would help manage the machines to reduce the hazardous work and eventual damage to the plants.To safely drive a tractor,the driver needs to be aware of its surroundings,thus a stereovision system can provide helpful information.Stereo imaging has proven to be an effective three-dimensional vision system.Indeed,the range(or third coordinate)information is useful to detect the obstacle distances.Such distances,when detected during agricultural operations,could be used to assist the operator in driving the tractor at regular or variable working speeds and eventually to provide manufacturers useful indications to model the form of ROPS(roll over protection structure).This study aimed to verify the closeness of agreement between manual and stereo-image measurements,and thus to provide helpful information regarding safety and working purposes.The system used a custom low-cost dual web-camera in combination with an image analysis algorithm in order to automatically extract the information needed.Manual independent measurements were carried out using a metric tape(sensitivity 1 cm).A regular structure was used for the analysis:four rows of ten trees each one.Alternated red and blue paper markers were placed on the hazelnut trees(two per tree)of two couples of rows for enhanced visibility.For each couple of trees(one on the right,the other on the left),the four markers formed a trapezoid that was measured.The results of the analysis demonstrated that the stereo vision provided distance measurements with reasonable accuracy(error<5%)in the range of distances lower than 20 m.The resolution assessed for the developed video system is suitable for obtaining distance information in real scenes.This information could be used to assist drivers to operate agricultural machineries through narrow tree rows during work execution.Moreover,such information could be used for safeguarding decision-making and/or for controlling some tractor functions such as continuing moving,changing driving direction,changing 3-point hitch position,reducing transmission speed,halting the tractor.These functions will be necessary before tractors become fully autonomous.Finally,the measured distances,marking the narrow transitions between the tree rows,could be also used to study the ROPS form,both for working safely and for avoiding possible damage caused to the hazel trees laterally.