A three-year experiment was conducted in Cullman, AL, to determine the impact of iron clay pea, sunn-hemp, soybean, velvet Bean, sorghum Sudan, and pearl millet cover crops terminated with two methods (rolling and flail mowing) on collard (brassica oleracea var. acephala, L.) yield. Overall, each of the three growing seasons (2013, 2014, and 2015) produced significant differences in cover crop biomass production among cover crops. Across three growing seasons sorghum Sudan and Pearl Millet generated the highest biomass (23,752 and 23,333 kg ha -1 respectively). During the same period, sunn hemp produced 10,908 kg/ha -1 and soybean, velvet bean and iron clay pea produced lower biomass (6,754, 6,068, and 4,360 kg ha -1 , respectively). Termination rates of cover crops used in this study were mostly below 90%. Termination rates above 90% have been recommended by agricultural extension services to plant cash crop into cover crop residue. In all three growing seasons volumetric soil moisture content during evaluation have showed that plots with rolled residue consistently held more VMC than the standing cover crops, indicating that rolled cover crop residue better preserved soil moisture content. Collard green yield was significantly different in each growing season for different covers and termination methods. Averaged over three growing seasons, the highest collard yield was observed for iron clay pea (12,623 kg ha -1 ), Velvet bean (11,020 kg ha -1 ) and sunn hemp (10,802 kg ha -1 ). Data suggest that higher collard yield was obtained with legume cover crops with the benefit of released nitrogen into the soil and utilized by collards. In addition, across all years, the average collard green yield was higher for cover crops which were flail mowed (11,875 kg ha -1 ) compared to rolled/crimped cover crops (7,349 kg ha -1 ).

In this work, we studied the impact of electromagnetic fields of various periods on the germination, growth and production of bean (phaseolus vulgaris). The magnetization of the seeds was carried out as soon as it was placed underground in field conditions. Plant growth until pod formation was monitored under field conditions on an experimental surface of 10.0 m 2 . The electrical circuits used for magnetization made it possible to obtain electromagnetic fields of period 1, 2 and 4 as well as a non-linear or chaotic electromagnetic field. Daily 24-hour exposure with these different signals has influenced some growth parameters. The height difference was significant (at P <0.05) for the comparison between A0 and A2. We found a production time saving of approximately ten (10) days for the A4 treatment compared to the control treatment A0. Experience has shown that plants subject to the chaotic field (A5) formed the largest number of pods. The comparison between the maximum number of pods formed and the number of pods that reached maturity for each treatment showed pod losses during the last growth phase. The loss rate was 29.25%, 28.31%, 35.78%, 64.38% and 62.72% respectively for A0, A1, A2, A4 and A5 treatments.

The development of procedures which facilitate the determination of realistic yield expectations for management units within agricultural fields represents a scientific challenge. For this an applicable and scenario-apt Fuzzy-Expert system was developed. The procedure for generation of sites-specific yield expectation maps is divided into three methodical steps – step 1: estimation of yield potential, step 2: influences of pre-crop and crop variety and step 3: influence of site-specific parameters. The regional approach takes into account physical parameters as well as meteorological input data or results of variety testing trials for prediction of regional average yields. This prediction is starting point for the joined site-specific fuzzy model. For yield estimation site-specific heterogeneity spatial information of parameter influencing yield formation are taken into account. Physical soil parameter (plant available water, potential capillary rise, ground water table, landform attributes) are used to generate the site specific yield expectation map. This map is generated using the Spatial Analysis and Modeling Tool (SAMT). A method for training of the fuzzy model is described. The procedure was tested on a 45 ha field cropped with winter wheat in a Chernozem area of Saxony-Anhalt in East-Germany for the years 2000 and 2005.

This publication contains the journal version of the Book N. F. Bondarenko, which was published in 2012 as part of the series under the title Agrophysics: People and Destiny. The journal version consists of four parts. Part 4.1 includes the journal versions of the article written by Elizabeth Zakharovna Gak About Nikolai Filippovich Bondarenko. Parts 1 has been published in EAJ, 5(4). Parts 2 and 3 has been published in EAJ, 6(1).

Proper management of cover crops in conservation system is the key to achieving effective no-till planting of cash crops into desiccated residue cover without interfering with planting operations. One method of cover crop management is mechanical termination utilizing a rolling/crimping technique to injure the plant with the crimping bars without cutting stems. Another method is to injure plants using a heat source. To evaluate this concept at a small farm scale, a mechanical pusher using exhaust heat from the internal combustion gasoline engine with supplemental heat from heater strips was developed to terminate cover crops. The prototype was developed for a walk-behind tractor powered by a single cylinder gasoline engine. Heat to damage plant tissue was directed from the exhaust manifold to a rectangular perforated delivery steel tube that was in continuous contact with the cover crop that had been flattened by the pusher. In addition, a generator powered by the tractor’s PTO provided electrical energy for three parallel supplemental heater strips. Results demonstrated that using exhaust heat (otherwise lost to the environment) is a viable option to manage cover crops.

The article deals with the influence of fluctuations in vertical accelerations on soil compaction as a process of change in soil consistency under the influence of high mechanical loads, namely, heavy farm machines. The main object of this research is to investigate the pressure change in topsoil and to devise recommendations for the reduction of soil compaction resulting from intensive vertical accelerations during the movement of a field machine. A computational and experimental method of determining soil strain and mechanical stress caused by a wheel, taking into account soil properties and the value of the vertical acceleration components, has been proposed.

In most cases, genotypic characteristics and characteristics reflecting the influence of the environment are independent. The arrays of these characteristics are orthodox. However, in rather rare cases, individual elements of these arrays correlate. Select these elements and assess the relationship between them is a rather difficult task. The purpose of this work is to develop an algorithm for finding such elements using Fuzzy sets theory.

This publication contains the part 1 of the journal version of the V. Kurtener archive. Parts 2 and 3 are published in this issue of the journal. Parts 4 and 5 will be published in the second issue of the volume 5. The first edition of this archive was first published in a book titled A. V. Kurtener, which is part of the series under the title Agrophysics: People and Destiny, in 2010. However, due to the language barrier, (the book is written in Russian); it was inaccessible to the international agrophysical society.

This manuscript describes the first research activities conducted at CBEAI. This research includes two parts: a) Soil-agrochemical studies of experimental fields, and b) Spatial analysis of the contiguous heterogeneous of experimental field plots. An agrochemical survey of experimental fields (a 1.3 hectares field plot and a greenhouse) was carried out. Soil samples at depths of 0-10 and 10-20 cm were collected and laboratory agrochemical analysis were conducted. The results of soil analysis of the experimental field plot indicated that the mineral nitrogen content was very high (more than 35 mg/kg), mobile phosphorus content was high (46-60 mg/kg), mobile potassium content was elevated (300 mg/kg), organic matter content was low (1.1-2.0%), and the soil was alkaline. Spatial analysis showed that there was contiguous heterogeneous of the experimental field plot. In particular, the content of mobile phosphorus varied markedly across the field, ranging from 20.60 to 121.70 mg/kg P 2 O 5 .

This work is devoted to review the new scientific divisions that emerged in agrophysics in the last 10-15 years. Among them are the following: 1) soil quality assessment using a fuzzy indicator modeling, 2) zoning of an agricultural field using a fuzzy indicator modeling, 3) agrophysical and physic-technical bases of plant breeding, and 4) development, testing, and application of materials based on humic acids for improving soil fertility and solving environmental problems. In recent years, the development of these scientific divisions has been associated with the activities of the European Agrophysical Institute and, in particular, with the creation (in 2013) of the European Agrophysical Journal (EAJ). On the initiative of the European Agrophysical Institute, a branch of the Institute in China was created. The planned work of this branch include research on the stabilization of soil degradation processes, improving soil fertility, and solving environmental problems.