Application Prospects In Agriculture Research Articles

Preparation and properties of multifunctional eco-friendly slow-release urea fertilizer encapsulated by diatomite filter aid waste-based superabsorbent

Due to the high cost, incomplete degradation, and limited raw material sources of traditional slow-release fertilizers, the development of environmentally friendly slow-release urea based on waste filter aids is of great significance in modern agriculture. In this study, beer diatomite filter aid waste-based superabsorbent resin (BDWSA)11beer diatomite filter aid waste (BDW), beer diatomite filter aid waste-based superabsorbent resin (BDWSA), acrylic acid (AA),N, N-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA), potassium persulfate (KPS), ethyl cellulose (EC), monolayer-coated slow-release urea (MSRU), double-coated slow-release urea (DSRU). was synthesized by free radical grafting copolymerization through microwave radiation heating with beer diatomite filter aid waste (BDW), acrylic acid (AA), N, N-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA), and potassium persulfate (KPS). Then, BDWSA was used as the outer coating material, along with ethyl cellulose (EC) and Kaolin as the inner coating, urea and Phellinus igniarius biochar as the fertilizer core, to form a multifunctional eco-friendly double-coated slow-release urea (DSRU) for water-retaining and slow-release functionalities. The performance of slow release behavior of nitrogen was investigated, and showed that urea in soil released 86.02 % of nitrogen during 3 days, monolayer-coated slow-release urea (MSRU) released 94.02 % of nitrogen in 30 days, and DSRU released a total of 74.66 % of nitrogen in 30 days, indicating that DSRU can improve fertilizer utilization by delaying nutrient release. The biodegradation experiment showed that DSRU degraded 86.65 % wt% in 90 days, not only indicating a good biodegradation effect but also beneficial to the growth of soybeans under drought conditions in growth experiments. Therefore, the eco-friendly DSRU product with excellent slow-release capacity has broad application prospects in agriculture.

Mechanoresponsive ionic elastomers with Ultra-Stretchability, high toughness, fatigue resistance, and extreme temperature resistance

In the development of elastic materials, the non-synergy between stretchability and toughness is a challenge. Herein, we propose a rational design of a composite hydrogel by introducing strongly polarized hydrated Li-ion clusters, electron-withdrawing carboxyl groups, and Sn(II) complexation into hydrogen-bonded poly(acrylamide) (PAM) network. Weak interaction between Li-ions and amide groups facilitates the rapid flipping and slipping of the PAM chains during stretching, optimizing the stretchability of the hydrogel. This composite also provides an energy-dispersing mechanism based on strong ionic complexation between Sn(II) and amide groups, which improves its toughness. As-prepared composite hydrogel simultaneously exhibits high stretchability (>7000% elongation), ultra toughness of 580 kPa, excellent fatigue resistance and extreme temperature resistance (elastic at − 60 and 70 °C). Due to its excellent comprehensive performances, the present soft material has broad application prospects in agriculture, medicine, construction, and machinery.

High strength, controlled release of curcumin-loaded ZIF-8/chitosan/zein film with excellence gas barrier and antibacterial activity for litchi preservation

Polysaccharide films containing protein additives have good application prospects in agriculture and food field. However, interfacial incompatibility between hydrophobic proteins and hydrophilic polymers remains a major technical challenge. In this work, the interfacial compatibility between hydrophobic zein and hydrophilic chitosan (CS) is improved by the chemical crosslinking between zinc ions of curcumin-loaded zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (Cur-ZIF-8) with CS and zein. With the improvement of interface compatibility, the results show that the elongation at break and O2 barrier property of synthesized Cur-ZIF-8/CS/Zein are 9.2 and 1.5 times higher than CS/Zein, respectively. And the Cur-ZIF-8/CS/Zein exhibits superior antibacterial and antioxidant properties as well. Importantly, Cur-ZIF-8/CS/Zein can also be used as an intelligent-responsive release platform for curcumin. As a result, Cur-ZIF-8/CS/Zein can keep the freshness and appearance of litchi at least 8 days longer than that of CS/Zein. Therefore, this study provides a novel method to improve the interfacial compatibility between hydrophobic proteins and hydrophilic polymers, and is expected to expand the application of protein/polymer composites in agriculture and food field.

An Intelligent Near-Infrared Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy Scheme for the Non-Destructive Testing of the Sugar Content in Cherry Tomato Fruit

As a new non-destructive testing technology, near-infrared spectroscopy has broad application prospects in agriculture, food, and other fields. In this paper, an intelligent near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy scheme (INIS) for the non-destructive testing of the sugar contents in vegetables and fruits was proposed. The cherry tomato were taken as the research object. The applicable objects and features of the three main methods of near-infrared detection were compared. According to the advantages and disadvantages of the three near infrared (NIR) detection methods, the experiment was carried out. This experiment involved the near-infrared diffuse reflection detection method, and the back propagation (BP) network model was established to research the sugar content of the cherry tomatoes. We used smoothing and a principal component analysis (PCA) to extract the final spectrum from the experimental spectrum. Taking the preprocessed spectral data as the input of the network and the measured sugar content of the cherry tomatoes as the output, the 80-12-1 network model structure was established. The cross-validation coefficient of determination was 0.8328 and the mean absolute deviation was 0.5711. The results indicate that the BP neural network can quickly and effectively detect the sugar content in cherry tomatoes. This intelligent near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (INIS) scheme can be extended and optimized for almost all sugar-containing fruits and vegetables in the future.

Optimizing the Path of Plug Tray Seedling Transplanting by Using the Improved A* Algorithm

In greenhouse nurseries, one of the important tasks of the automatic transplanter is replanting missing or bad seedling holes with healthy seedlings. This requires the transplanter to spend significant time moving between the supply trays and target trays during replanting. The diversity and complexity of the transplanting routes affect transplanter efficiency. Path planning method can find a better path for the manipulator and improve the efficiency of transplantation. The A* algorithm (A*), which is one of the optimal path search algorithms, is often used in practical applications of path planning. In this paper, the heuristic function of the A* is optimized by the ant colony algorithm (ACA), and an improved A* algorithm (Imp-A*) is obtained. Simulation tests and transplanting trials of Imp-A*, A*, ACA, Dijkstra (DA), and common sequence method (CSM) were carried out using 32-, 50-, 72-, and 128-hole plug trays. The results show that Imp-A* inherits the advantages of A* and ACA in terms of path planning length and computation time. Compared to A*, ACA, DA, and CSM, the transplanting time for Imp-A* was reduced by 2.4%, 12.84%, 11.63%, and 14.27%, respectively. In just six trays of transplanting tasks, Imp-A* saves 60.91 s compared to CSM, with an average time saving of 10.15 s per tray. The combination optimization algorithm has similar application prospects in agriculture.

Potassium Ion‐selective Electrode with a Sensitive Ion‐to‐Electron Transducer Composed of Porous Laser‐induced Graphene and MoS2 Fabricated by One‐step Direct Laser Writing

AbstractIn this study, an ion‐selective electrode with a sensitive ion‐to‐electron transducer composed of porous laser‐induced graphene (LIG) and MoS2 (LIG‐MoS2/ISE) was fabricated to measure the potassium ion concentration in a greenhouse nutrient solution for soilless culture. Additionally, a more effective and low‐cost method was proposed for the large‐batch production and manufacture of potassium ion‐selective electrodes (K+‐ISEs) using the direct laser writing technique, which differs considerably from existing methods. Moreover, the sensing mechanism of the proposed LIG‐MoS2/ISE for potassium ion detection was investigated. The morphology and physical properties of the LIG‐MoS2/SC‐K+‐ISEs were studied by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy and energy‐dispersive spectroscopy. Potentiometric measurements, chronopotentiometry, potentiometric water layer tests, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to evaluate the analytical performance of the newly developed K+‐ISEs. A Nernstian slope of 30.1 mV/decade for the activity of potassium ions in a concentration range from 10−7 to 10−2 M was determined. The EIS and chronopotentiometry results revealed that the LIG‐MoS2/SC‐K+‐ISE had a larger resistance and double‐layer capacitance than the LIG/SC‐K+‐ISE. The ion‐selective membrane (ISM) and solid‐contact layer did not have any water film between them, according to the potentiometric water layer test. The results proved that the LIG‐MoS2 nanocomposite could possibly be used as a sensitive ion‐to‐electron transducer to fabricate K+‐ISEs. The K+‐ISE fabrication method using the direct laser writing technique had a higher efficiency, enabling its broad application prospects in agriculture.

Preparation, properties, self crosslinking mechanism, and characterization of UV initiated polyacrylic acid superabsorbent resins

AbstractThe self crosslinking polyacrylic acid (PAAsc) superabsorbent resins were prepared by UV irradiation without crosslinking agents and initiators. The effects of reaction factors on water absorbency and gel content of resins were investigated. The mechanism of self crosslinking polymerization was studied by means of 1H NMR and ESR, while the structure and morphology of the resins were characterized by IR, NMR, and SEM. The results show that the polymerization mechanism and structure of PAAsc superabsorbent resins polymerized through light radiation is significantly different from those polymerized by initiators. The main chain of PAAsc contains double bonds and polar functional groups such as ether groups and ester groups, which improves the hydrophilicity of the main chain and significantly improves the liquid absorption ability of the superabsorbent material. Moreover, the swelling kinetics, salt‐resistance, pH sensitivity, and water retention capacity of the PAAsc superabsorbents were studied. Owing to the remarkable water absorbency, salt resistance property and water retention capacity, this superabsorbent material has a broad application prospect in agriculture.

Simultaneous Measurement of Temperature and Relative Humidity Using Cascaded C-shaped Fabry-Perot interferometers

In this paper, a novel platform for simultaneous measurement of relative humidity (RH) and temperature using dual Fabry–Perot interferometers (FPIs) based on C-shaped fiber was demonstrated. The sensor was composed by splicing two sections of C-shaped fiber between single mode fiber (SMF). Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) are filled in the two sections of C-shaped fibers to increase sensitivity to temperature and RH. This is the first demonstration that solid polymer materials can be added to the C-shaped fiber interferometers for sensing. In our experiment, RH sensitivities of -0.128 nm/%RH and 0.038 nm/%RH in the range of 20%RH to 45%RH, and temperature sensitivities of 0.022 nm/°C and -0.722 nm/°C in the temperature range of 15 °C to 45°C, were acquired for dual FPIs, respectively. We verified that it is possible to use the sensitivity matrix method to measure two parameters simultaneously. In addition, it has the benefits of simple structure, excellent stability and high sensitivity, and has a broad application prospect in agriculture, food processing and environmental measurement.

Stimuli-responsive Ca-alginate-based photothermal system with enhanced foliar adhesion for controlled pesticide release

For minimizing volatilization and leaching of pesticides, and enhancing their residence time on crop surfaces, we synthesized and characterized a novel intelligent pesticide delivery system. Therein, imidacloprid (IMI) was adsorbed by polydopamine modified kaolin (PK) with high adsorption property through hydrogen bonds. Ca-alginate was used as a structural matrix of the system and a protective shell to hinder the pesticide burst release from PK, and endowed the system with unique pH-sensitive property for IMI release. The amino silicone oil (ASO) coating could bind with the waxy layer of crop leaves by the theory of “similarity-intermiscibility”, which increased the adhesion of composite on crop leaves. Moreover, by the excellent light-sensitive property of detonation nanodiamond (DND) and temperature-responsive performance of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm), the release of IMI from the functional system could be adjusted by sunlight. Besides, the composite displayed high control efficacy. This novel composite can promote the targeting ability and utilization efficiency of pesticides, thus having a huge potential application prospect in agriculture.

Stable and Efficient Biosynthesis of 5-Aminolevulinic Acid Using Plasmid-Free Escherichia coli.

5-Aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) is a key metabolic intermediate of the heme biosynthesis pathway, which has broad application prospects in agriculture and medicine. However, segregational instability of plasmid-based expression systems and low yield have hampered large-scale manufacture of 5-ALA. In this study, two important genes of the 5-ALA C5 biosynthesis pathway, hemA and hemL, were integrated into Escherichia coli MG1655 for chemically induced chromosomal evolution (CIChE). The highest hemA and hemL copy-number, 98 per genome, was obtained in CIChE strain MG136. The 5-ALA titer of this strain reached 2724 mg/L in optimized condition. Then, after undergoing adaptative evolution and the deletion of recA, strain MG136a ΔrecA::FRT could stably produce 4550 mg/L 5-ALA from glucose, 450 times the amount produced by hemA- hemL single copy strain MG1655-hemAL. This study constructed a plasmid-free E. coli strain for 5-ALA production, which will provide the basis for further manipulation of metabolic regulation and optimization of fermentation.

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens uses mixed sugar to synthesize γ-PGA

Poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) is an anionic polymer synthesized by microorganisms. It has very strong water solubility, edible property and biocompatibility. It is non-toxic to humans and the environment. It has wide application prospect in agriculture, food industry, pharmacy and environment. However, its fermentation cost is high, and its fermentation medium needs a large amount of carbon and nitrogen sources such as glucose, citric acid and glutamic acid, while lignocellulose As one of the most abundant biomass resources on the planet, it can hydrolyze glucose and xylose. Therefore, it is possible to select suitable fermentation strains and utilize lignocellulose to optimize culture conditions to improve the efficiency of γ-PGA synthesis. In this paper, a self-screening bacillus amyloliquefaciensC1 was studied and found that the bacteria can use xylose as a carbon source for growth and metabolism. Using bacillus amyloliquefaciensFZB42 as a control to study in depth, two strains of bacteria were cultured in M9 containing 10g/L xylose, and when the culture time reached 44h, the strain C1 had almost completely consumed 10g/L of xylose, while the strain FZB42 Only consumed 2g/L of xylose. In response to this phenomenon, we will be Cl bacteria can effectively use the nature of xylose used in polyglutamic acid fermentation experiments, 60g/L of xylose as a carbon source can produce polyglutamic acid 14.52g/L, while the same concentration Of glucose as carbon source, can produce polyglutamic acid 9.64g/L.

Classification and recognition scheme for vegetable pests based on the BOF-SVM model

The current detection technology for vegetable pests mainly relies on artificial statistics, which exists many shortages such as requiring a large amount of labor, low efficiency, feedback delay and artificial faults. By rapid detection and image processing technology targeting at vegetable pests, not only can reduce manpower and pesticide use, but also provide decision support for precise spraying and improve the quality of vegetables. Practical research achievements are still relatively lacking on the rapid identification technology based on image processing technology in vegetable pests. Given the above background, this paper presents a classification and recognition scheme based on the bag-of-words model and support vector machine (BOF-SVM) on four important southern vegetable pests including Whiteflies, Phyllotreta Striolata, Plutella Xylostella and Thrips. This paper consists of four sub-algorithms. The first sub-algorithm is to compute the character description of pest images based on scale-invariant feature transformation. The second sub-algorithm is to compute the visual vocabulary based on bag of features. The third sub-algorithm is to compute the classifier of pests based on support vector machines. The last one is to classify the pest images using the classifier. In this study, C++ and Python language were used as implementation technologies with OpenCV and LibSVM function library based on BOF-SVM classification algorithm. Experiments showed that the average recognition accuracy was 91.56% for a single image category judgment with 80 images from the real environment, and the average time was 0.39 seconds. This algorithm has achieved the ideal operating speed and precision. It can provide decision support for UAV precise spraying, and also has good application prospect in agriculture. Keywords: agricultural image processing, vegetable pests, classification, recognition, bag of features, support vector machine DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20181103.3477 Citation: Xiao D Q, Feng J Z, Lin T Y, Pang C H, Ye Y W. Classification and recognition scheme for vegetable pests based on the BOF-SVM model. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2018; 11(3): 190–196.

Review of Wheeled Mobile Robots’ Navigation Problems and Application Prospects in Agriculture

Robot navigation in the environment with obstacles is still a challenging problem. In this paper, the navigation problems with wheeled mobile robots (WMRs) are reviewed, the navigation mechanism of WMRs is analyzed in detail, the methods of solving the sub problems such as mapping, localization and path planning which all both related to robot navigation are summarized and the advantages and disadvantages of the existing methods are expounded. Especially in the agricultural field, the precise navigation of robots in the complex agricultural environment is the prerequisite for the completion of various tasks. This paper is aimed at the special complexity of the agricultural environment, prospected the application of the solution to the navigation problem of WMRs in agricultural engineering, put forward the research direction to solve the problems of precise navigation in agricultural environments.

Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Barnase: Contribution of Noncovalent Intramolecular Interaction to Thermostability

Bacillus amyloliquefaciensribonuclease Barnase (RNase Ba) is a 12 kD (kilodalton) small extracellular ribonuclease. It has broad application prospects in agriculture, clinical medicine, pharmaceutical, and so forth. In this work, the thermal stability of Barnase has been studied using molecular dynamics simulation at different temperatures. The present study focuses on the contribution of noncovalent intramolecular interaction to protein stability and how they affect the thermal stability of the enzyme. Profiles of root mean square deviation and root mean square fluctuation identify thermostable and thermosensitive regions of Barnase. Analyses of trajectories in terms of secondary structure content, intramolecular hydrogen bonds and salt bridge interactions indicate distinct differences in different temperature simulations. In the simulations, Four three-member salt bridge networks (Asp8-Arg110-Asp12, Arg83-Asp75-Arg87, Lys66-Asp93-Arg69, and Asp54-Lys27-Glu73) have been identified as critical salt bridges for thermostability which are maintained stably at higher temperature enhancing stability of three hydrophobic cores. The study may help enlighten our knowledge of protein structural properties, noncovalent interactions which can stabilize secondary peptide structures or promote folding, and also help understand their actions better. Such an understanding is required for designing efficient enzymes with characteristics for particular applications at desired working temperatures.

Study on Hyperspectral Remote Sensing in Agriculture

With the development of computer technology and aerial and space technology, remote sensing monitoring has been become a simple, fast and high effective monitoring method, and extensively being used on geological prospecting, environmental monitoring, weather forcast and agriculture. It achieve considerable success. Because of hyperspectral resolving power, extra-multi-band and large information capacity, hyperspectral remote sensing is a powerful means used to observe the earth and the key of moden remote sensing, and has a widespread application prospects in agriculture. Hyperspectral data (especially differential hyperspectrum) are correlate to leaf area index (LAI), leaf chlorophyll density (CH. D) and other biochemical contents such as protein and so on. It is introduced on the difficult problems, present and future of hyperspectral remote sensing in agriculture in this article.