Agricultural Crop Biomass Research Articles

Information and Theoretical Foundations for Control of the State of Agrocenoses in Real Time

Objective: Presentation of a complete theory of management of the state of agrocenoses, including sowing crops and weeds. This theory makes it possible to obtain a given crop yield with the required reliability. Such management is formed on the basis of estimates of the parameters of the state of crops, soil environment and weeds, formed according to the data of Earth remote sensing in real time. Methods: The presented theory is based on new mathematical models of the parameters of the state of agricultural crops, soil environment, weeds, as well as models of the relationship of these parameters with remote sensing (RS) data. Control factors in agricultural technology are doses of mineral fertilizers, herbicides and irrigation rates. Therefore, the parameters of the state in the management system under consideration, in addition to the parameters of the biomass of agricultural crops and weeds, are the chemical parameters of the soil environment. All technological operations are carried out at the onset of certain phenological phases of the development of crop sowing. RS data are entered precisely at such moments of time when the parameters of the state of crops and weeds are estimated on their basis. The presented theory is based on classical control principles used in modern dynamic systems. The most important feature of the proposed approach to solving the problem of agrocenoses management is the development of the principle of spatial distribution of agricultural technology parameters. It consists in using models with spatial variables, which are complemented by models of spatial approximation of controls in the form of multidimensional power polynomials. The parameters of the approximation models are evaluated according to the optimal parameters of technological operations obtained on 15-20 test sites of the field. Results: In accordance with the proposed theory, mathematical models of agrocenoses, a real-time control algorithm using RS data and a specialized software package were developed, with the help of which the control system was tested on the example of spring wheat sowing. Conclusion: As a result of testing a specialized software package for the implementation of the proposed theory, the operability of the proposed theory of agrocenoses control in real time and the possibility of using it in practical systems for automated control of agricultural technologies were established.

Расчет фотосинтетической активной радиации в условиях Казахстана

The object of the research is agrocenosis of the Zhambyl region of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The studies were carried out with the purpose of improving the method of assessment of impact of solar energetic resources on the growth and development of agricultural crops. The aims of the investigations included: modeling of the production process forming the harvest; forecast of possible yields in different climatic conditions and possibilities of optimization of the formation process of the yield; development of the method of determination of productivity of biomass corn crop depending on the on the value of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). The fulfilled studies showed that the proposed method of determination of the biomass of agricultural crops allows obtaining without additional equipment local information on the receiving solar energy as a basis for photosynthesis. The experimental data of calculation of the corn biomass when growing on silo promoted to the yield of 542‑634 c/ha. The dry biomass productivity is in the range of 101.2‑154.5 c/ha, which is close to the index of usage PAR – 55‑84%.

Conceptual Design of Animal Feed Chopper with Medium Capacity

Agriculture is the backbone of Ethiopia economy directly or indirectly and most of its population is residing in rural areas. The majority of rural community is engaged in agricultural crop production, cattle farming and poultry production. To prepare feed for animals, the conventional feed cutting machines are intensively used which do not have friendly operation. Chopping of animal feed is considered as a labour intensive processing operation in animal production system. Traditionally, animal feed, especially crop residue are chopped manually by a sickle in the farms of Ethiopia. It is a labor intensive, less efficient and time consuming operation. Keeping in view, the drawbacks of the traditional chopping, this study has been carried out for the design animal feed chopper machine in order to reduce the above mentioned. Engine operated animal feed chopper has been designed for chopping of crop residue and hay. The machine was designed with the following main components: feeding hopper, feed roller, rotating blade, casing with fixed knives welded on it, a screen and stands. The machine was seated treatment based on the design concepts and designed up to capacity 300 kg /hr. This machine was design keeping in view its multifunctional operation like for the cutting of maize stacks, sorghum stack, agricultural crop biomass etc. The provision was provided to run this machine at variable speeds for different jobs/applications and to achieve variability in particle sizes. The economic production of designed animal feed chopper machine was simple and its cost 10,618.45ETBirr.

Estimation of Parameters of Biomass State of Sowing Spring Wheat

The purpose of this work is to present a new method for estimating the parameters of the biomass of agricultural crops based on Earth remote sensing (ERS) data. The method includes mathematical models and algorithms estimation and has been tested on the example of spring wheat sowing. Sowing biomass parameters are the basis for making management decisions aimed at obtaining a given crop yield. Currently, for these purposes, vegetation indices are most widely used. It is impossible to estimate the physical parameters of the crop sowing biomass using these indices, due to their scalar form and lack of dimension. The paper develops a classical approach to the problem of estimating the parameters of the state of agricultural crops, in which remote sensing data are considered as an indirect measurement of the estimated parameters. The basis for the implementation of the estimation method is the dynamic model of biomass parameters and the remote sensing model, which reflects the relationship between the spectral reflection parameters and the estimated parameters of the crop biomass. The parameters of the dynamic model and the remote sensing model are refined by selective ground measurements in separate elementary sections of the field. The difference between this article and previous works of a similar nature lies in the fact that agricultural crops with a more complex morphological structure are considered as the object of evaluation. In addition, such an important feature of agricultural objects as their spatial distribution is considered here. To take it into account, a new type of mathematical models is used, in which spatial coordinates are introduced. Due to the significant complication of modeling and estimation algorithms based on such models, simpler approximation schemes are proposed. The advantage of the proposed approach is that the assessment is considered as a dynamic process that meets the content of the task of monitoring crops.

Дистанційне визначення величини фотосинтетичного стоку органічного вуглецю (Ph) в агроценозі пшениці озимої залежно від строкатості ґрунтового покриву

The article presents the results of research on the relationship between soil differentiation and remote identification of the amount of photosynthetic runoff of organic carbon (Ph) in winter wheat crops. scientific work is devoted to the development of new and improvement of existing models of accumulation of biomass of agricultural crops, in order to form the structure of these models under different climatic conditions and on different types of soils. Models were developed during the research of carbon runoff values in the agrocenosis of winter wheat on sandy and light loam soils (PhСО2LIG and PhСLIG), medium and heavy loam soils (PhСО2HEAV and PhСHEAV) have been developed, and their accuracy has been assessed. Experimental studies have established and confirmed territorial consistency of the values of organic carbon runoff PhСО2LIG on wheat crops with geomorphological features of the quality of sandy and loamy soils, in particular the particle size distribution, gleying of soil and gley soil, was revealed. It is established that 95.2 % of the value of the error of remote identification of Ph of winter wheat biomass is due to the values of grain yield, straw and root mass. Taking into account the peculiarities of diagnostic phases of photosynthetic runoff of organic carbon phases of organogenesis of winter wheat for remote identification, the recommended average annual time windows of the Sentinel 2A image order in terms of natural and climatic zones of Ukraine have been developed. Thus, it is proposed to develop similar models for other satellites that produce images in the SWIR and NIR bands close to 2080-2350 nm and 1550-1750 nm, respectively. This will provide more images needed to diagnose carbon runoff in winter wheat crops.

Rice husk ash as green and sustainable biomass waste for construction and renewable energy applications: a review

Due to the numerous downsides associated with the non-renewable energy sources, the global attention is increasingly diverting towards using renewable sources. Among many others, the biomass of agricultural crops is shown to be a promising non-renewable energy source, hence becoming a preferable choice to extract/synthesize value added products. In this respect, rice husk has shown its potential time and again. As an example, rice husk can be converted into ash which is already an investigated source of rich silica content, and therefore can be utilized in the relevant applications. Agricultural biomass and its waste have gravitated a significant interest of researchers around the globe due to their low reaction time and high utilization. The present review explores the novel and recent green/sustainable applications of rice husk/rice husk ash in various engineering, industrial, and other renewable energy applications. Moreover, it gives a background of agro-waste applications along with a comparative study of achievable silica from rice husk and other agro-waste sources.

Nutritional regime of gray forest soil аt different anthropogenic loads

The aim of the research is to establish the peculiarities of the formation of the nutrient regime of gray forest soil with different systems of basic cultivation, fertilization and sealing of by-products of crops in short-rotation 4-field grain crop rotation – winter wheat–corn for grain–barley–soybean. Evaluate the quantitative inflow of biomass, participation in the formation of the nutrient regime of gray forest soil, especially the differentiation of 0–40 cm of soil layer depending on the distribution of nutrients in different tillage soil systems. The studies were carried out in a long-term stationary experiment of the department of soil cultivation and weed control of the NSC «Institute of Agriculture of the NAAS», founded in 1969. The fertilization system consisted of the application of mineral fertilizers N65Р58К68 kg acting things per 1 ha of crop rotation area. As an organic fertilizer, we used by-products of crop rotation, where during 2009–2013 received an average of 5,17–5,50 t/ha, and 2014–2017 – 6,65–7,76 t/ha of crop rotation. The existing yield of the main product significantly influenced the volume of the non-commodity part, with the growth of the main product, the growth of by-products also took place in direct proportion. Nitrogen removal averaged 105 kg/ha, and with biomass it returned on average 55,4 kg/ ha, nitrogen with a full mineralization cycle, in general, this corresponds to 45–47 % of the share of costs. In general, the return of phosphorus from by-products for the rotation of 5 received an average of 12,0–16,7 kg/ha and 4-field crop 26 rotation 19,5–22,0 kg/ha, which was 35–40 % of the total removal harvest. The soil received many times more potassium from the biomass of agricultural crops than part of the cost of the main product, due to the attraction of the maize leaf mass, from which an average of 177–253 kg/ha enters the soil, and for crop rotation – 61,4–95,4 kg/ha per hectare of sown area. Key words: gray forest soil, soil nutrient regime, recycling of nutrients, main and by-products of crops.

PROSPECTS AND EFFICIENCY OF BIODIESEL PRODUCTION IN UKRAINE FROM OILSEED CROPS

PROSPECTS AND EFFICIENCY OF BIODIESEL PRODUCTION IN UKRAINE FROM OILSEED CROPS

The effect of active forms of silicon on the biomass of agricultural crops during their growth period on technogenically altered soils of the Nikopol Manganese Ore Basin

The problem of recovery of technogenically affected soils remains unsolved. Silicon which moves in the “soil – plant” system has been insufficiently studied, though this element takes part in many processes. For assessing the role of silicon compounds, we selected samples of technogenically affected soils of different types in the territory of the research station for land reclamation of Dnіpro State Agrarian-Economic University in the Nikopol Manganese Ore Basin. We conducted a vegetative experiment and a series of laboratory tests with adding SiO 2 . We chose the following crops: buckwheat ( Fagopyrum esculentum Moench, 1794), vetch ( Vicia sativa Linnaeus, 1753) and sunflower ( Helianthus annuus Linnaeus, 1753). The рН of the studied soils fluctuated between 7.1 to 7.8. The content of available nitrogen and phosphorus in the soils was low, except the content of phosphorus in pedozems. We analyzed 240 samples of plants and measured their biomass. Vetch grew best on sod-lithogenous soils on forest-like lomy soils, buckwheat and sunflower – on sod-lithogenous soils on grey-green clays. The variant of experiment with 0.2% solution of SiO 2 was most the efficient during growing all chosen crops on all types of studied soils. After adding amphoteric silicon, the best biomass indicators of vetch and buckwheat were observed on sod-lithogenous soils on forest-like loam, and indicators for sunflower – on sod-lithogenous soils on grey-green clays. After using 0.3% and 0.4% solution of SiO 2 , a gel film forms, which the seeds have no energy to penetrate and run out. Thus it slows the plant’s growth. An exception was an experiment with pedozems with adding 0.4% solution of SiO 2 , when the biomass of vetch was 1.5 times greater than in the experiment with 0.2% solution. We observed no similar positive effect in other variants of the experiment. All chosen crops on technogenically affected soils reacted to addition of silicon compounds by increasing biomass under the influence of SiO 2 solutions with concentration higher than 0.2%. Possibly, the increase in biomass during the first 14 days is connected with adsorbing activity of silicon, which retains water and accelerates the development of plants. Even with low content of available nitrogen and phosphorum, addition of silicon compounds increased the biomass of plants by two-four times, therefore silicon in this case is a limiting factor.

Hyperspectral versus multispectral crop-productivity modeling and type discrimination for the HyspIRI mission

Precise monitoring of agricultural crop biomass and yield quantities is critical for crop production management and prediction. The goal of this study was to compare hyperspectral narrowband (HNB) versus multispectral broadband (MBB) reflectance data in studying irrigated cropland characteristics of five leading world crops (cotton, wheat, maize, rice, and alfalfa) with the objectives of: 1. Modeling crop productivity, and 2. Discriminating crop types. HNB data were obtained from Hyperion hyperspectral imager and field ASD spectroradiometer, and MBB data were obtained from five broadband sensors: Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), Advanced Land Imager (ALI), Indian Remote Sensing (IRS), IKONOS, and QuickBird. A large collection of field spectral and biophysical variables were gathered for the 5 crops in Central Asia throughout the growing seasons of 2006 and 2007. Overall, the HNB and hyperspectral vegetation index (HVI) crop biophysical models explained about 25% greater variability when compared with corresponding MBB models. Typically, 3 to 7 HNBs, in multiple linear regression models of a given crop variable, explained more than 93% of variability in crop models. The evaluation of λ1 (400–2500nm) versus λ2 (400–2500nm) plots of various crop biophysical variables showed that the best two-band normalized difference HVIs involved HNBs centered at: (i) 742nm and 1175nm (HVI742-1175), (ii) 1296nm and 1054nm (HVI1296-1054), (iii) 1225nm and 697nm (HVI1225-697), and (iv) 702nm and 1104nm (HVI702-1104). Among the most frequently occurring HNBs in various crop biophysical models, 74% were located in the 1051–2331nm spectral range, followed by 10% in the moisture sensitive 970nm, 6% in the red and red-edge (630–752nm), and the remaining 10% distributed between blue (400–500nm), green (501–600nm), and NIR (760–900nm).Discriminant models, used for discriminating 3 or 4 or 5 crop types, showed significantly higher accuracies when using HNBs (>90%) over MBBs data (varied between 45 and 84%).Finally, the study highlighted 29 HNBs of Hyperion that are optimal in the study of agricultural crops and potentially significant to the upcoming NASA HyspIRI mission. Determining optimal and redundant bands for a given application will help overcoming the Hughes' phenomenon (or curse of high dimensionality of data).

Dynamic model of accumulation of total biomass of agricultural crops

Issues concerning the growth and biological time of agricultural crops are under consideration. A closed system of equations is derived for calculating total dry biomass and biological time of plants. The model parameters are given, and the model is verified based on the experimental data of observations of the sunflower in the southern conditions of the Ukraine.

タンパク質工学を用いたキシロース発酵性サッカロミセス酵母の育種

The utilization of ethanol produced from plant biomass (so-called “bioethanol”), which is derived from the fixation of atmospheric CO2, as an industrial carbon source and car fuel is one of the most important research issues for the realization of a sustainable global environment. Currently, bioethanol is produced mainly from agricultural crop biomass, which, however, compete with food and animal feed. Alternatively, “lignocellulosic biomass”, such as woods and agricultural residues, is an attractive feedstock, and consists of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. In agricultural crops, corn for example, starch, consisting of cellulose (hexose polymers), accounts for 70% of the mass, and its biological fermentation is easy. On the other hand, in lignocellulosic biomass, hemicellulose, accounting for 30% of the mass, is composed of pentoses as well as hexoses such as xylose (and L-arabinose), which cannot be fermented by natural microorganisms.

Possibility of estimating the green biomass of agricultural crops with a remote-probing system in the visible and near-IR regions

Possibility of estimating the green biomass of agricultural crops with a remote-probing system in the visible and near-IR regions

METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES IN ASSESSMENT OF THE CONDITION OF AGRICULTURAL CROPS BY REMOTE SENSING

A new method is proposed for determining the spectral brightness coefficients (SBC) of agricultural crops, making it possible to exclude contributions to the formation of the brightness field caused by bare soil and weedy vegetation. This makes possible a substantial increase in the accuracy in determining actual biomass of agricultural crops. It is shown that the use of measurement data not only for brightness, but also for the polarization of radiation ascending from the sensed object, ensures a quite reliable assessment of the share of damaged agricultural crops.