Agro Products Research Articles

Drivers of Land Abandonment in Neelakantha Municipality: Perceptions of Farmers

This study analysed the role of factors for land abandonment in Neelakantha municipality, Dhading. For this purpose, survey and causal-comparative research design are used. Similarly, Reliability and normality of the collected data was ensured by using cronbach alpha and Shapiro-Wilk test respectively. Then after, inferential statistical tools i.e. Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis have been used to derive the result of the study. This study found that there is a significant impact of high cost of agro product, out migration, rough topography, lack of government protection from international competition, and destruction of food crops by wild animals on land abandonment. However, the impact of irrigation facility and market access on land abandonment was not statistically significant. The findings of the study suggest that the factors that contribute to land abandonment are complex and interrelated. However, the study provides some evidence that the factors that were found to be statistically significant can play a role in land abandonment.

ACSICS: Joint Distribution Mode Integrating Agricultural Industry Chain Logistics Under the Background of Artificial Intelligence

The purpose is to study the new application of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the Agro logistics industry distribution modes. This work summarizes the problems in agricultural logistics by investigating the current situation of the logistics distribution modes (LDMs) of Agro products and establishes a joint LDM integrating logistics and agricultural industry chain (AIC). An intelligent virtual center is established for the joint LDM according to the specific situation of Xi’an. Experts are invited to evaluate the proposed LDM. The results show that the existing third-party logistics (3PL), agricultural supermarket docking LDM, and company+farmer shared LDM have respective advantages and disadvantages. The virtual center for the proposed joint LDM multiplies the weight matrix [Formula: see text] and fuzzy evaluation matrix A to obtain a comprehensive fuzzy evaluation result. It evaluates the result according to the maximum membership criterion. Most experts have a relatively good evaluation of the joint LDM. In the comprehensive fuzzy evaluation results, the comprehensive “excellent” score is 0.3755, and the comprehensive “good” score is 0.2678. According to the principle of maximum subordination, the AIC logistics integrating Agro products logistics has an excellent performance, and the overall satisfaction level of performance has exceeded 85%. In addition, Yonghui supermarket adopts the joint LDM, and the price of fruits and vegetables is lower than that of other LDMs. Therefore, the proposed AI-based joint LDM can optimize the distribution route, improve distribution efficiency, and save logistics costs to a great extent.

Noise Pollution Control by using Agro Waste Material

Increasing use of electrical and mechanical appliances at home and industries has created a concern for noise pollution created by them. Urbanization and heavy growth of construction work in every neighborhood further emphasize the need of new technologies for noise reduction. Noise created by different machines can be controlled either by suppressing the noise generating factors or by using the noise proofing agro materials which help to reduce the acoustic wave's energy by blocking or absorption. Maize, rice straw, and coconut fiber these agro products help to reduce the noise pollution. Newspaper waste also used as noise absorbing materials noise pollution control using agro waste involves leveraging agricultural residues to create effective sound-absorbing solutions. This abstraction encompasses the development of materials like acoustic panels, barriers, or insulation from agro waste, providing sustainable and eco-friendly methods to mitigate noise pollution in diverse settings.

Comparison of engineering properties of organic and inorganic coconut: Implications on the design of coir fiber extraction machine

AbstractCoconut husk is widely used as a source of natural fibers in the tropics. Dehusking and fiber extraction are some of the important unit operations in coir manufacturing. For the development of an efficient and economically viable fiber extraction machine, the engineering properties of conventional and organically grown coconuts were evaluated. Selected engineering properties of whole coconut were investigated. The average true density and bulk density were in the range of 414.63 ± 111.85 to 529.28 ± 123.02 and 161.66 ± 24.41 to 212.23 ± 18.96 kg/m3, respectively. Along with whole coconuts, engineering properties of husk (weight, moisture content, and husk thickness), shell (weight, thickness, bulk density, and moisture content), and kernel parameters (weight, thickness, and moisture content) were also evaluated. The application of organic treatment (T4) exhibited substantial impacts, leading to a higher coconut weight (1.354 kg) as compared to conventional practices (T5), and increased dimensions (158.599 mm diameter and 205.000 mm height) and improved bulk density (190.97 kg/m3) in comparison to other organic treatments. In deshelled coconuts, T4 showcased a higher shell weight (175.667 g) and shell thickness (4.767 mm). The kernel parameters of T4 displayed enhancements, featuring a kernel weight of 314.334 g and a thickness of 11.774 mm. Although the study could not find any correlation between the farming practices and engineering characteristics of coconut fruit, the data presented herein could be utilized for the design and improvisation of efficient fiber extraction machines.Practical ApplicationsDeveloping countries are exploring the possibilities of implementation of organic farming for the production of agro products. Implementation of organic farming not only affects yield but may also change the engineering properties and nutritional characteristics of products. Understanding the engineering properties of food products grown under organic conditions is important for the modification of the design in the existing machineries and/or development of new food processing equipments.

Evaluation of antioxidant capacity and bioactive compounds in Capsicum annum L. red peppers following drying in a polycarbonate greenhouse

Abstract The current study aims to provide insights into the drying of agro products, with a specific focus on Capsicum annum L. (red pepper). Among open sun drying (OSD), polyethylene bag drying (PBD), and polycarbonate sheet drying (PCSD), PCSD was efficient requiring around 24 hours with a maximum yield of 350 g of dried product per 1000 g of supplied fresh peppers. The PCSD dried chili also showed greater retention of antioxidant markers (capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin) than OSD and PBD as evidenced by UV-VIS spectroscopy. Additionally, the PCSD dried chili demonstrated highest antioxidant potential via ABTS (2, 2′-Azinobis-3-Ethylbenzothiazoline-6-Sulfonic Acid). Interestingly, the presence of various aromatic compounds and other chemical groups, indicated the occurrence of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin in each drying method used. The study suggests that PCSD sheet drying is an efficient and cost-effective approach that can conserve the antioxidant potential of agro products such as red pepper.

Sustainable development and conservation of agro‐waste coconut shell powder strengthen lightweight aluminum bio‐composite for user friendly

AbstractThe sustainable growth of advanced material in metal matrix composites receiving the eco‐friendly hazard‐free composite via recycling waste agro products attains low fabrication cost. The prime goal of this investigation is to develop and strengthen the lightweight aluminum alloy (Al7075) composite through the conservations of 0 wt%, 5 wt%, 10 wt%, and 15 wt% agro‐waste coconut shell using squeeze cast technology. The developed aluminum alloy bio‐composites are promising the best option for replacing conventional metals in several engineering applications like automotive, structural, aerospace, and others. The synthesized Al7075 alloy bio‐composites are studied its physic‐mechanical behavior tag with ASTM standards. The density results revealed nominal improvement, and its mechanical properties of hardness, ultimate tensile strength, and elastic modulus increased significantly. Sample 4 composite contained 15 wt% coconut shell powder found 2.82 ± 0.17 g/cc density with 0.716% porosity level enhanced the hardness, Ultimate tensile strength and elastic modulus of 79 ± 1.1Hv, 238 ± 1.1 MPa and 77.89 ± 2.01 GPa, respectively.

The potential of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants cultivation to develop the Agri-business in Mizoram

India is one of country which is known for its agricultural products and currently more than 70% population still living in rural area. India is fully blessed with different kinds of agro-climatic regions. Production wise our country is standing at second rank throughout the world. Some of agricultural products from India are very high in demand in many parts of the globe. Counting its agro-climatic regions, the North East Region (NER) is another hot spot acquired a land of agriculture as well as forest area. The each states of NER having its own peculiarity for various agro products. They used to cultivate many crops which include export level to their daily delicacy. Ginger, Turmeric, Chili, Beans and bamboo products are produced in large quantities. As per the statistics, Mizoram is the highest ginger producing state (8.4 tons/hec) followed by Arunachal Pradesh (7.9 tons/hec), Assam and Nagaland (6.99 tons/hec) among the states of NER. Apart from cultivation, 60% area of NER comes under forest cover, especially Mizoram, where more than 80% of the geographical area of the state is under forest and tree cover. Looking into the prospects of diverse agricultural land settings and forest cover including biodiversity of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs), Mizoram could be potential state in relation to agribusiness. There is a tremendous scope for MAPs sector in the state. Valuable MAPs like Homalomena aromatica, Alpinia galanga, Cinnamomum tamala, C. verum, Mentha arvensis, Artemisia pollens, Ocimum sanctum, Elsholtzia communis and many others are traditionally cultivated on very small scale. Thus, there is a need to introduce good agricultural practices (GAPs) for increasing the raw materials/yield to establish the agri-market in Mizoram.

Agricultural Development in Comprehensive Village Development Program (CVDP) Area and Non-Comprehensive Village Development Area of Comilla

Purpose: This study compares the effectiveness of the Comprehensive Village Development Program (CVDP) and Non-CVDP models in the context of agricultural development in rural Bangladesh. The roles played by cooperative institutions in CVDP and non-CVDP villages in agricultural development initiatives based on agricultural extension in terms of the status of crops, vegetables, livestock, poultry, and fish farming so that the Bangladesh government can concentrate on the value of the CVDP model and implement it in the underdeveloped rural area.
 Data and Method: The secondary data used in this research were gathered between 1990 and 2017 and provided in the form of tables and charts. The study's results are interpreted using the percentage approach. The purposive sampling technique is used to emphasize qualitative and quantitative analysis. Information is gathered from BARD, books, journals, and government reports.
 Findings: The results of the study demonstrate that improved agricultural techniques, including the use of fertilizers and insecticides, were used in CVDP communities. However, there were no appreciable differences in the rice yield between CVDP and non-CVDP villages. Utilization of irrigation and realization of water charges have both increased in the CVDP zones. In all the communities, sophisticated farming machinery was utilized. The villages participating in the CVDP have established sales networks and expertise in raising livestock and poultry. Multiple ownership, theft, fish poisoning, etc. affected pond fish firming more in non-CVDP communities than in CVDP villages.
 Practical Implications: The government may be able to restructure agricultural extension developments in Bangladesh according to the CVDP model with the help of the data gathered from the research once again.
 Research Limitations: It is difficult to use recent data in the analysis due to a lack of past research on the topic in Bangladesh, limited access to relevant areas, and the absence of new studies in this field.
 Value: The findings of this study complement those of earlier research that could not examine variances in agricultural growth (in terms of the output of agro products including rice, vegetables, cereals and vegetables, livestock, poultry, etc.

Agricultural Development in Comprehensive Village Development Program (CVDP) Area and Non-Comprehensive Village Development Area of Comilla

Purpose: This study compares the effectiveness of the Comprehensive Village Development Program (CVDP) and Non-CVDP models in the context of agricultural development in rural Bangladesh. The roles played by cooperative institutions in CVDP and non-CVDP villages in agricultural development initiatives based on agricultural extension in terms of the status of crops, vegetables, livestock, poultry, and fish farming so that the Bangladesh government can concentrate on the value of the CVDP model and implement it in the underdeveloped rural area.
 Data and Method: The secondary data used in this research were gathered between 1990 and 2017 and provided in the form of tables and charts. The study's results are interpreted using the percentage approach. The purposive sampling technique is used to emphasize qualitative and quantitative analysis. Information is gathered from BARD, books, journals, and government reports.
 Findings: The results of the study demonstrate that improved agricultural techniques, including the use of fertilizers and insecticides, were used in CVDP communities. However, there were no appreciable differences in the rice yield between CVDP and non-CVDP villages. Utilization of irrigation and realization of water charges have both increased in the CVDP zones. In all the communities, sophisticated farming machinery was utilized. The villages participating in the CVDP have established sales networks and expertise in raising livestock and poultry. Multiple ownership, theft, fish poisoning, etc. affected pond fish firming more in non-CVDP communities than in CVDP villages.
 Practical Implications: The government may be able to restructure agricultural extension developments in Bangladesh according to the CVDP model with the help of the data gathered from the research once again.
 Research Limitations: It is difficult to use recent data in the analysis due to a lack of past research on the topic in Bangladesh, limited access to relevant areas, and the absence of new studies in this field.
 Value: The findings of this study complement those of earlier research that could not examine variances in agricultural growth (in terms of the output of agro products including rice, vegetables, cereals and vegetables, livestock, poultry, etc.

Study on the Purification and Reusability of Burnt Cooking Oil and Assessment of Its Physicochemical and Safety Parameters

Aims: The aim of the study was to investigate the reusability of edible oils and to find which temperature the refined oils could be used for cooking purposes.
 Study Design: The study followed a completely randomized design (CRD).
 Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at the Department of Agro Product Processing Technology and its corresponding laboratory on Jashore University of Science and Technology, Jashore, Bangladesh. The study took three consecutive months to complete the study.
 Methodology: The study adopted several methods to refine the burnt cooking oils and analyze their physicochemical as well as cooking qualities. At first, the heat was applied to commercially purchased palm, soybean, and rice bran oil. Produced burnt oil was refined using a base and hexane mixture. After that, these refined oils were repeatedly heated for 15, 30 and 60 minutes and physicochemical quality like peroxide value (PV), saponification number (SN), acid value (AV), etc were analyzed for each oil sample at each time interval. Furthermore, cooking quality of the refined oils was determined by frying sausages using each oil and the flavor, color, texture and overall acceptability were determined using hedonic scale.
 Results: The study found that the refining rate of each oil was at the peak when the base -to-hexane ratio was 9:1. An increasing trend was observed in the case of the peroxide value of the refined oils during repeated heating. This trend was most predominant in case of palm oil. In palm oil sample, PV of palm oil increased from 4.950±0.6 to 14.432±0.86 meqo2/kg oil at the third time of heating. The other two sample oils also crossed the standard PV of the respective oil at the third time of heating. It means all the refined oil can be used for a maximum of three times. Acid value of the oils also showed the same trend of increasing with an increase in temperature. In the case of SN, palm oil showed a higher degree of saturation with increased heating time among the refined oils. The flavor, color, texture, and overall acceptability of the sausages fried in these three showed significant differences at p<0.05. This is an indicator that burnt cooking oil that was refined can be reused in cooking. 
 Conclusion: Due to the increasing price of edible oils and limited resources, they can be refined from their burnt stage and reused for cooking. Therefore, refining can be a good method to solving edible oil scarcity.

Recent Developments in the Applications of GO/rGO-Based Biosensing Platforms for Pesticide Detection

Pesticides are often used in different applications, including agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, food industry, etc., for the purpose of controlling insect pests and weeds. The indiscriminate usage of pesticides poses a massive threat to food, environmental, and human health safety. Hence, the fabrication of a sensitive and reliable sensor for the detection of pesticide residues in agro products and environmental samples is a critical subject to be considered. Recently, the graphene family including graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) have been frequently employed in the construction of sensors owing to their biocompatibility, high surface-area-to-volume ratio, and excellent physiochemical, optical, and electrical properties. The integration of biorecognition molecules with GO/rGO nanomaterials offers a promising detection strategy with outstanding repeatability, signal intensity, and low background noise. This review focuses on the latest developments (2018 to 2022) in the different types of GO/rGO-based biosensors, such as surface plasmon resonance (SPR), fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), and electrochemical-based techniques, among other, for pesticide analysis. The critical discussions on the advantages, limitations, and sensing mechanisms of emerging GO/rGO-based biosensors are also highlighted. Additionally, we explore the existing hurdles in GO/rGO-based biosensors, such as handling difficult biological samples, reducing the total cost, and so on. This review also outlines the research gaps and viewpoints for future innovations in GO/rGO-based biosensors for pesticide determination mainly in areas with insufficient resources.

Mathematical modelling and verification of open sun drying of cotton seeds

Abstract Researchers have carried out the kinetics of various agro products for open sun drying, but research articles still need to address such analysis for cotton seeds. Open sun drying of cotton seeds has been experimentally investigated and presented in this paper. Shorting of cotton seeds was carried out to collect appropriate samples in current research work. Cotton seeds were found to have a nearly ovoid shape with an average radius of 2 to 2.5 mm. The initial moisture content of cotton seeds was estimated to be 14.65% wet-basis using the hot air oven method. During drying, the reduction in the mass of cotton seeds was measured at every one-hour time interval. From this data, it was observed that drying occurred with a falling rate period. Drying data were fitted with 10 mathematical models available in the literature. Multi-regression analysis in Excel-solver equation was performed to obtain values of constants and coefficients of these models. Coefficient of determination (R2), reduced chi-square (χ2) and root mean square error were taken as criteria for the selection of the best drying model. The diffusion approach and models by Verma et al. were chosen as the most suitable drying models for open sun drying of cotton seeds. Effective diffusivity was estimated and found within the range suggested in the literature.

Impact of pesticides on agro products, health and environment

Pesticides are substances used by human being to kill or deter organisms (pests) that threaten our health and wellbeing of pets and livestock or cause damage to crops. Antibiotics in the medical sense are excluded, but included are insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, molluscicides and rodenticides among others. Of these, insecticides (to control insects) and herbicides (for controlling unwanted vegetation) are used in the largest quantities. They are also concerned that birds, fish and other beneficial organisms may be adversely affected by pesticides. The insecticidal activity of some naturally occurring compounds such as nicotine and pyrethrum derived respectively from the tobacco plant and certain chrysanthemum species has been known for centuries. These have since been supplemented by inorganic compounds for insect control and sulphur and copper based compounds for fungus control. Discovery of the insecticidal activity of a number of synthetic organic compounds such as Organochlorines like Dichloro-diphenyl trichloroethane (D.D.T.). Benzene Hexachloride (BHC) already synthesised as chemicals in the previous century.

Q-Learning-Based Pesticide Contamination Prediction in Vegetables and Fruits

Pesticides have become more necessary in modern agricultural production. However, these pesticides have an unforeseeable long-term impact on people's wellbeing as well as the ecosystem. Due to a shortage of basic pesticide exposure awareness, farmers typically utilize pesticides extremely close to harvesting. Pesticide residues within foods, particularly fruits as well as veggies, are a significant issue among farmers, merchants, and particularly consumers. The residual concentrations were far lower than these maximal allowable limits, with only a few surpassing the restrictions for such pesticides in food. There is an obligation to provide a warning about this amount of pesticide use in farming. Previous technologies failed to forecast the large number of pesticides that were dangerous to people, necessitating the development of improved detection and early warning systems. A novel methodology for verifying the status and evaluating the level of pesticides in regularly consumed veggies as well as fruits has been identified, named as the Hybrid Chronic Multi-Residual Framework (HCMF), in which the harmful level of used pesticide residues has been predicted for contamination in agro products using Q-Learning based Recurrent Neural Network and the predicted contamination levels have been analyzed using Complex Event Processing (CEP) by processing given spatial and sequential data. The analysis results are used to minimize and effectively use pesticides in the agricultural field and also ensure the safety of farmers and consumers. Overall, the technique is carried out in a Python environment, with the results showing that the proposed model has a 98.57% accuracy and a training loss of 0.30.

Ukraine-EU-Africa: the agro-exports correlation issues

The aggression towards Ukraine resulted in blocking its agro–products exports, and threatened the food security in many African countries, making the agro–exports topic of not only economic but also of political importance. Therefore, the research aims to analyse whether the agricultural products exports of Ukraine to the EU are correlated with the exports of the EU to Africa and if they are, how strong the correlation is. The data under research are the agricultural products exports from Ukraine to the EU and from the EU to Africa, which were taken from the Eurostat database. The agricultural products are the goods from the SITC Groups 0+1. SITC stands for Standard International Trade Classification, in which Group 0 comprises food and live animals and Group 1 – beverages and tobacco. The timeframe under analysis is ten years – from the year 2011 to 2020 included. To reach the aim of the research, empirical analysis, comparative analysis, statistical analysis, different visualization tools, tabular method, method of trends, etc., were used. The research itself and its results will be interesting and useful for public administration officials, companies involved in international trade and agriculture, academic society representatives, decision-makers at all levels, beginner and experienced data analysts.

The market potential and financial feasibility of cable car tourist attraction development in Pelaga, Bali, Indonesia

<span>The purpose of this work is to carry out consumer and investor behavior through a feasibility study of cable car tourist attractions in agritourism in Pelaga Village, Petang district, which focuses on studying marketing and financial perspective. This research uses observation and feasible study methods based on marketing theory, and investment financial management theory. It is highly likely by potential tourists as an attraction that can openly present natural beauty, as an environmentally-friendly tourist attraction, a unique tourist attraction in Bali, will provide public facilities, telecommunications, restaurants, and agro product market centers, proximity to the city center, availability of transportation to the location, easy access to locations, and community friendliness towards tourist arrivals. The economic aspect where analysis of market opportunities is based on estimated sales data for four types of services: cable cars, restaurants, UFO glass platform attraction, and under the park and agritourist. The findings of this study reinforce the method and theory that business-oriented development planning must go through a feasible study of at least two important aspects, namely aspects of market potential, and aspects of investment management which are expected to be profitable for investors.</span>

Logistic Regression and Man-Land Ratio in the Analysis of House-Ownership Status of Four Blocks in Purba Medinipur District, West Bengal, India

It is pertinent to initiate our study of rural economic status by examining the compositional factors of Man-land ratio and Logistic regression of house ownership. The principal sources of economy of the rural sector are agro product. As per the capability of land, it continuously helps to develop its catchment rural area. The productive land directly provides opportunity through the traditional agriculture practice. Our study is emphasis on Man-land ratio distribution and Logistic regression analysis of two independent variables of four blocks of Purba Medinipur district. Consider two independent variables are number of household and house ownership. Actually, house ownership is one of the alternative setup that may stable due to stable income source. Secondary data have collected authorised source, from Ministry of Rural development, published by Government of West Bengal in 2001 and 2011. The results of man-land ratio indicate that, the considered blocks having with standard level of status due to satisfied level of Man-land ratio value. The population density of the considered area is exhibit at moderate level. Finally, a robust statistical technique like Logistic regression (Hosmer and Lemeshow Test.) was applied over the considered data set with specific level of section and after binary conversion. The result shows that, the expected house ownership and calculated house ownership makes a strong relation between them. B value (slope) is -3.515 and calculated test statistic value satisfied the significant level at 9th and 10th steps sections at 97 % (P =0.03) level of confidence.

Selective colorimetric detection of Cyanide from Agro products and blood plasma by a bio-active Cu(II) complex of azophenine derivative: A potential tool for autopsy investigation

An azophenine derivative based copper complex (CN-1•Cu2+) is rationally designed and unveiled herein for the first time in the realm of azophenine family, which can selectively detect cyanide from purely aqueous medium via metal-displacement approach (MDA). CN-1•Cu2+ exhibits ‘naked-eye’ chromogenic change from brown to yellow with corresponding hypsochromic shift in UV-Vis spectra having detection threshold of 0.23 µM (60 ppb) which is far below the permissible limit of CN- in drinking water set by WHO. The mechanistic course of interaction has been affirmed by experimental evidence with theoretical corroboration. A one-to-two decoder logic circuit has been formulated based on the selective recognition phenomenon. CN-1•Cu2+ can also monitor CN- in a series of environmental samples, wherefrom CN- could be recovered at an appreciable quality rate (~99.4–101.1%), escalating the real-field applicability of the developed material. Interestingly, the complex also exhibits efficacy towards recognition of endogenous cyanide from cyanogenic food sources like sprouting potatoes, bitter almonds. Moreover, CN-1•Cu2+ is equally responsive toward real-time monitoring of cyanide in different physiological samples, like blood plasma, serum with appreciable intracellular fluorescence imaging capability examined on HeLa and Candida albicans cell lines, which unambiguously could be a potential tool for autopsy investigation in cyanide-induced death cases. This is the first azophenine-based copper complex, which exhibited significant anti-bacterial activities on Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli, anti-mycotic activities on Candida albicans and also in-vitro anti-cancer activities on cervical cancer cell lines (HeLa).

Sustainable IoT Solution for Freshwater Aquaculture Management

In recent years, we have seen the impact of global warming on changing weather patterns. The changing weather patterns have shown a significant effect on the annual rainfall. Due to the lack of annual rainfall, developing countries like India have seen a substantial loss in annual crop production. Indian economy largely depends on agro products. To compensate for the economic loss, the Indian government encouraged the farmers to do integrated aquaculture-based farming. Despite government subsidies and training programs, most farmers find it difficult to succeed in aquaculture-based farming. Aquaculture farming needs skills to maintain and monitor underwater environments. The lack of skills for monitoring and maintenance makes the aquaculture business more difficult for farmers. To simplify the pearl farming aquaculture, we have proposed an Internet of Things (IoT)-based intelligent monitoring and maintenance system. The proposed system monitors the water quality and maintains an adequate underwater environment for better production. To maintain an aquaculture environment, we have forecasted the change in water parameters using an ensemble learning method based on random forests (RF). The performance of the RF model compared with the linear regression (LR), support vector regression (SVR), and gradient boosting machine (GBM). The obtained results show that the RF model outperformed the forecast of the DO with 1.428 mean absolute error (MAE) and pH with 0.141 MAE.

STUDY ON ANNUAL USE PATTERN, BREAKDOWNS AND PROFITABILITY OF FARM TRACTORS IN DISTRICT LUCKNOW (UTTAR PRADESH) INDIA

In INDIA’s Lucknow district (Uttar Pradesh), most of the farmers have bullock farming and perform cultural operation using traditional indigenous implements. Some farmers have started shifting towards tractor farming looking the problems with the bullock farming and to facilitate timely completion of cultural operations with generation of employment and a source of income. It has been realized by the farmers that owning a tractor in their farming is essential for timely completion of field operations, better utilization of costly inputs, to handle large volume of agro produce, to improve quality of work and to have a side business during off season. Most of the farmers in Lucknow have purchased tractors with a trolley and cultivator, taking loan from the Banks. Tractors are more often used in the northern states than in Lucknow. The state of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh together account for 60 per cent of the total tractors in India. (Singh and Tandon, 1987) In this region the farm tractor is generally used for operations i.e. tillage, sowing (covering seed), leveling, puddling, threshing, irrigation and transportation for marketing of agro product, and for transportation of sand, bricks, stone etc. The tractor is also being used during festival, marriage and other social works. All the farm tractors are generally used in own work and in custom hiring work. KEYWORDS Tractor, Farm Tractor, Breakdowns of Tractor, Profitability, Lucknow, Agricultural Engineering.