Biosystems Engineering Research Articles

Human-centered design in the development of innovative technology for the food processing medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs) in Uganda

Taking account of end-user perspectives is crucial in the design and development process to ensure successful technology adoption considering the evolving customer demands. This study utilized the user-centric Human Center Design (HCD) framework to re-develop food processing equipment, specifically pulpers and pasteurizers, previously developed by the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (DABE) of Makerere University. The study implemented several interventions to augment the adoption of processing equipment among MSME agro-processors in Uganda. This included development of modified pasteurizers (biomass and electrical) and pulpers, development of user manuals, and training of processors on the use of equipment. All interventions were designed with a focus on the needs and preferences of the end users. This study demonstrates how HCD can be used to develop food processing equipment that addresses the dynamic needs of micro, small, and medium-scale agro-processors in form of production capacity and cost of ownership. The study findings can influence large-scale research and policy toward the production and adoption of user-centric food processing equipment, which in turn can provide agro-processors with increased livelihoods and reduce the major challenge of post-harvest losses.

PhD Student Funding Patterns: Placing Biomedical, Biological, and Biosystems Engineering in the Context of Engineering Sub-disciplines, Biological Sciences, and Other STEM Disciplines

Whether doctoral students are funded primarily by fellowships, research assistantships, or teaching assistantships impacts their degree completion, time to degree, learning outcomes, and short- and long-term career outcomes. Variations in funding patterns have been studied at the broad field level but not comparing engineering sub-disciplines. We addressed two research questions: How do PhD student funding mechanisms vary across engineering sub-disciplines? And how does variation in funding mechanisms across engineering sub-disciplines map onto the larger STEM disciplinary landscape? We analyzed 103,373 engineering and computing responses to the U.S. Survey of Earned Doctorates collected between 2007 and 2016. We conducted analysis of variance with Bonferroni post hoc comparisons to examine variation in funding across sub-disciplines. Then, we conducted a k-means cluster analysis on percentage variables for fellowship, research, and teaching assistantship funding mechanism with STEM sub-discipline as the unit of analysis. A statistically significantly greater percentage of biomedical/biological engineering doctoral students were funded via a fellowship, compared to every other engineering sub-discipline. Consequently, biomedical/biological engineering had significantly lower proportions of students supported via research and teaching assistantships than nearly all other engineering sub-disciplines. We identified five clusters. The majority of engineering sub-disciplines grouped together into a cluster with high research assistantships and low teaching assistantships. Biomedical/biological engineering clustered in the high fellowships grouping with most other biological sciences but no other engineering sub-disciplines. Biomedical/biological engineering behaves much more like biological and life sciences in utilizing fellowships to fund graduate students, far more than other engineering sub-disciplines. Our study provides further evidence of the prevalence of fellowships in life sciences and how it stretches into biomedical/biological engineering. The majority of engineering sub-disciplines relied more on research assistantships to fund graduate study. The lack of uniformity provides an opportunity to diversify student experiences during their graduate programs but also necessitates an awareness to the advantages and disadvantages that different funding portfolios can bestow on students.

Effect of different salinity on seed germination, growth parameters and biochemical contents of pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.) seeds cultivars

Soil and water salinity is an important limiting factor affecting yield and production levels in arid and semi-arid areas. Salt tolerance during germination is an important parameter that also affects the other plant development stages. In this respect, this study was designed to determine the responses of pumpkin seed varieties (Develi, Ürgüp, Hybrid) to different NaCl salinities. The study was carried out in 2022 in the laboratory of Biosystems Engineering Department of Erciyes University in randomized plots design with 3 replications. Experiments were conducted with 5 different water salinity. Germination percentage (GP), germination index (GI), mean germination time (MGT), seedling vigor index (SVI), ion leakage (Il), radicula length (RL) and plumule length (PL), root and shoot fresh and dry weights and some mineral composition (Na, K, Ca) were examined. Proline, antioxidant capacity, total phenolic and DPPH content were significantly affected by salinity. In scatter plot correlation analysis SVI a positive correlation was observed between GP (r2 = 0.774), GI (r2 = 0.745), RL (r2 = 0.929), FRW (r2 = 0.837), FSW (r2 = 0.836), DRW (r2 = 0.894), AC (r2 = 0.747), TP (r2 = 0.640) and DPPH (r2 = 0.635). It was determined that there were negative correlations between SVI and MGT (r2 = − 0.902), II (r2 = − 0.588), DSW (r2 = − 0.682) and PR (r2 = − 0.344). Present findings revealed that investigated parameters were significantly affected by increasing salinity levels. While Hybrid cultivar was the most affected by salinity, Develi cultivar was found to be resistant to saline conditions.

Construction and investigation of multi-enzyme immobilized matrix for the production of HFCS.

Enzymes are biological molecules that act as catalysts and speed up the biochemical reactions. The world's biotechnological ventures are development of enzyme productiveness, and advancement of novel techniques for thriving their shelf existence. Nowadays, the most burning questions in enzyme technology are how to improve the enzyme productivity and reuse them. The immobilization of enzymes provides an excellent scope to reuse the enzymes several times to increase productivity. The main aim of the present study is the establishment of an immobilized multi-enzyme bio-system engineering process for the production of High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) with an industrial focus. In this study, multi-enzyme such as α-amylase, glucoamylase and glucose isomerase were immobilized in various support matrices like sodium alginate, sawdust, sugarcane bagasse, rice bran and combination of alginate with cellulosic materials. The activities of the immobilized multi-enzyme system for the production of HFCS from the starch solution were determined. The multi-enzyme immobilized in sodium alginate shows better fructose conversion than free enzyme. Among the support matrices, multi-enzyme immobilized in sawdust produced total 80.74 mg/mL of fructose from starch solution and it was able to be used in several production cycles. On the other hand, multi-enzyme immobilized in combination of sodium alginate and sawdust produced the maximum amount of fructose (total 84.82 mg/mL). The free enzyme produced 17.25 mg/mL of fructose from the starch solution in only a single cycle. In this study a new fixed bed immobilized multi-enzyme bioreactor system was developed for the production of HFCS directly from starch. This finding will create a new opportunity for the application of immobilized multi-enzyme systems in many sectors of industrial biotechnology.

Preface

The Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Modern Technologies in Agricultural Sciences (4th-ICMTAS) are encompassed within this Volume. The event was organized by the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Kufa in Iraq. From September 20th to September 21st, 2023, the city of Kufa in Najaf, Iraq.The primary objective of the Conference was to facilitate the sharing of expertise among prominent specialists in the domains of high-tech geochemical, geological, geophysical, and information technologies in various sectors such as agriculture, energy, oil and gas engineering, environmental management and engineering, mining, and soil processing technologies. Additionally, the conference aimed to explore contemporary areas of biodiversity research and conservation methods for sustainable development. It also sought to examine the environmental impact of food production and sustainable systems of food technologies. Other topics of interest included agroforestry, environmental safety, green technologies, and the management of natural resources.The Conference was structured according to the following guidelines:The academic disciplines encompassed in this list include ecology, plant protection, horticulture and forest ecology, agronomy and medicinal plants, food technology and sustainability of food security, sustainability of animal production techniques, sustainability of soil and water resources, agricultural mechanization techniques, and renewable energy resources, as well as techniques of agricultural economic and social sciences.The primary objectives of the conference were to offer lecturers and researchers from across Iraq a platform to disseminate their research on an international scale, engage in discussions pertaining to technological advancements and innovative engineering solutions in the fields of farming and irrigation, and contribute to the global academic community by providing open access information on the current state of agriculture in Iraq.A total of 722 submissions were submitted by scientists and practitioners from Iraq as well as international contributors.All of the papers underwent a rigorous process of peer assessment. Consequently, a total of 542 submissions were chosen for publishing. The present proceedings provide readers with an overview of recent advancements in various areas of study, including agricultural machinery, green energy systems, biosystems engineering and waste management, digital technologies in agriculture, food storage and processing, tillage and reclamation technologies, and natural resources.The IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (EES) was selected as the platform for authors to publish their works in a globally recognized publication that undergoes rigorous peer review. The aforementioned statement is highly regarded by all attendees of our conference.We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Chairman, the distinguished keynote speakers, as well as all the participants. We also want to thank the publisher for publishing the proceedings. May the readers could enjoy the gain some valuable knowledge from it. We are expecting more and more experts and scholars from all over the world to join this international event next year.List of committees for 4th International Conference of Modern Technologies in Agricultural Sciences (4th-ICMTAS), Local Scientific Committee, International Scientific Committee, Organizing Committee, Media and Technical Committee, Keynote Speakers are available in the pdf.

Modeling in estimation of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) fruit weight based on fruit length and diameter in response to harvest option

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is a tropical vegetable and a source of vitamins such as K, C, and B. It is commonly grown and sold for daily consumption, but picking the right fruit size is more profitable. Therefore, a method for estimating the fruit weight is highly recommended. This paper aimed to determine the dimensions of cucumber fruit based on its usual harvesting size and to establish a model to show the relationship between fruit weight, fruit length, and fruit diameter. Cucumber was planted in the experimental field belonging to the Faculty of Agricultural Biosystems Engineering, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from January to June 2022. In the study, 48 market-size fruits were randomly selected from the plots to measure their weight, length, and diameter. The result shows that fruit length and fruit diameter had a positive relationship (P < 0.001; R = 0.70). Fruit weight was 3.38 fruit length × fruit diameter (P <0.001; R = 0.95). Nevertheless, L/D ratio negatively affected fruit weight, when it exceeded 3:1. Fruit weight was greater than 100 g when fruit diameter was over 4 cm and fruit length was over 10 cm. Therefore, when picking cucumber fruits, one must consider fruit length and diameter to be profitable. Further studies will focus on measuring cucumber fruit already available on the market to understand more about actual consumer preferences.

Automation in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

During the industrial revolution, agriculture saw a tremendous improvement in the way it was done. For the first time in the history of agriculture, steam and internal combustion engines were used to carry out laborious on-site farm activities, the first milling machines were built, and several other hitherto manually operated and tiresome operations were mechanized. Since then, however, just like in other fields, the industrial revolution has served as a turning point in the way things are done. Continuous research was carried out in a quest for more improvements and developments. Agricultural machinery has never seen as much improvement as it has in the technological age, which started around the mid-twentieth century. Transformations occurred in the way agricultural machines are being built, and one of the most significant transformations is the automation incorporated into machines such as harvesters, ploughing machines, and irrigation systems. Each of these machines has made their dedicated operations easier, faster, and more efficient, and with little human supervision. Traditional manual machines were also known to make work easier, faster, and more efficient, but not without the full supervision of man. Automation, however, ensures that work is carried out more efficiently by making machines work on their own accord, precisely and accurately, with very little or no human supervision. This research was carried out utilizing literature reviews on other earlier researches to show more clearly how agricultural machines have been automated in developed countries and to suggest how they can be emulated by a developing country like Nigeria. Nigeria, as a developing country blessed with resources, can rise and become the next great nation by fully harnessing the power of automation in agriculture.

Changes in physical properties of some proprietary safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) cultivars after film coating application

Safflower is one of the economically important oil plants. There are some studies on safflower, but none on its seed properties. This study was carried out in the Biosystem Engineering laboratories of the Faculty of Agriculture of Bingöl University in 2021. The seeds of four different proprietary safflower cultivars were randomly sampled, and some of their physical properties were examined under two separate groups, that is, control and film-coated. The film coating material was applied in a single layer, and its effects on the seed size were compared between the study groups. The coating dose should be at a level that will not adversely affect the germination and emergence performance of the seed. As a result of the study, it was found that the safflower seeds were long and oval in shape. This study is important in that its results will help the researchers carry out mechanization and breeding studies on safflower. Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res. 58(2), 129-132, 2023

Academic and Licensure Examination Performance of the Bachelor in Science in Agricultural Biosystems Engineering Graduates

One of the most notable achievements of all board undergraduate program offerings in the Philippines is the graduate’s distinctive cognitive performance in the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) licensure examination. Similarly, licensure outcomes may demonstrate the caliber and efficacy of their institutions' teaching environment. Also, maintaining regular accreditation entails a good licensure examination performance of graduates. This study evaluated the academic and licensure examination performance of the BSABE first time takers from 2018-2022. The study employed a pearson product-moment correlation coefficient to examine the association between the graduate's academic performance and licensure examination performance. Moreover, the graduates' academic performance and results of their licensure examination were described using the mean and standard deviation. Consequently, the academic performance of the graduates has a “good” interpretation based on their general grade weighted average. However, a “Failed” interpretation in their licensure examination rating was deduced “ having a mean below 70 percent. Generally, no significant relationship was revealed in the study between the academic performance and the licensure examination rating . The study recommends that the College of Engineering strengthen their admission and retention policies, revised program curriculum, and update course syllabi, based on CHED policy and standards.

Decline effects are rare in ecology: Comment.

EcologyAccepted Articles e4069 COMMENT Decline effects are rare in ecology: Comment Yefeng Yang, Corresponding Author Yefeng Yang [email protected] orcid.org/0000-0002-8610-4016 Evolution & Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia Department of Biosystems Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China Correspondence Yefeng Yang. Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorMalgorzata Lagisz, Malgorzata Lagisz Evolution & Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia These authors supervised this work equally and are joint senior authors.Search for more papers by this authorShinichi Nakagawa, Shinichi Nakagawa orcid.org/0000-0002-7765-5182 Evolution & Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia These authors supervised this work equally and are joint senior authors.Search for more papers by this author Yefeng Yang, Corresponding Author Yefeng Yang [email protected] orcid.org/0000-0002-8610-4016 Evolution & Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia Department of Biosystems Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China Correspondence Yefeng Yang. Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorMalgorzata Lagisz, Malgorzata Lagisz Evolution & Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia These authors supervised this work equally and are joint senior authors.Search for more papers by this authorShinichi Nakagawa, Shinichi Nakagawa orcid.org/0000-0002-7765-5182 Evolution & Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia These authors supervised this work equally and are joint senior authors.Search for more papers by this author First published: 28 April 2023 https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4069 Handling Editor: Jean-Philippe Lessard This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as doi: 10.1002/ecy.4069. AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Accepted ArticlesAccepted, unedited articles published online and citable. The final edited and typeset version of record will appear in the future.e4069 RelatedInformation

Peer Review Statement

All papers published in this volume have been reviewed through processes administered by the Editors. Reviews were conducted by expert referees to the professional and scientific standards expected of a proceedings journal published by IOP Publishing.• Type of peer review: Double Anonymous• Conference submission management system: Morressier• Number of submissions received: 109• Number of submissions sent for review: 101• Number of submissions accepted: 83• Acceptance Rate (Submissions Accepted / Submissions Received × 100): 76.15• Average number of reviews per paper: 2.09• Total number of reviewers involved: 10• Contact person for queries: Name: Muhammad Iqbal Abdi Lubis Email: miqbalabdi@ae.unand.ac.id Affiliation: Department of Agricultural and Biosystem Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Andalas University, Padang, Indonesia

The 5th International Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and Biosystem

(The 5th ICSAB 2022)“Sustainable Agriculture and Biosystem for Better Life - Post Pandemic Period”Padang, November 24th 2022 Preface International Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and Biosystem (hereinafter called ICSAB) was established in 2018 which was known as International Conference on Sustainability Agriculture. Then, in 2019 the International Conference on Sustainability Agriculture changed its name to ICSAB. The organizer is located in Agricultural and Biosystem Engineering Department, Andalas University, Padang City, West Sumatera, Indonesia. It is our 5th conference that we held over the past 5 years.The 5th ICSAB is an International Conference to allow annual scientific meeting with sharing sessions by lecturers and researchers from several countries and some research fields. It was held on November, 24th 2022 with the theme “Sustainable Agriculture and Biosystem for Better Life – Post-pandemic Period”. The 5th ICSAB was held as an online (remote presentation) through Zoom meeting, due to a global pandemic issue (Covid-19) increased at the time closer to the event date. This option taken by the committees because it was planned and many delegations and authors requested for this conference to keep it going, even though virtually. Meanwhile they need it to coverage their research findings and as a scientific sharing session.This conference was organized by Agricultural and Biosystem Engineering Department, Andalas University in collaboration with Ehime University, Japan; Universiti Technology MARA, Malaysia; Maejo University, Thailand; Universiti Teknologi Brunei, Brunei Darussalam; and University of Khartoum, Sudan. The participants are also coming from couples of countries in Asia i.e., Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. We also presented 6 keynote speakers that come from different countries i.e., Japan, Malaysia, Brunei Darusslam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Sudan. Related topics at the 5th ICSAB were:Smart Technologies in Agricultural SystemSocio-Economic Value Chains in Agricultural SystemPostharvest EngineeringBiosystem and BioprocessLand and Water ResourcesFood TechnologyAgro-Industrial Production SystemRenewable Energy and BiodiversityList of Organizing Committee, All Keynote Speaker are available in the pdf.

Urea Electrooxidation in Alkaline Environment: Fundamentals and Applications

AbstractUrea is an important chemical in agricultural, biosystem and chemical engineering. It can not only be a fertilizer and feed supplement, but also converted into electricity and hydrogen based on the counterpart half‐reactions. In this concept, we demonstrated the fundamental mechanism of electrochemical urea oxidation reaction (UOR) and its various applications on environmental, energy and healthcare devices with typical examples. UOR providing potential directions for the electrochemical treatment of urea‐contained wastewater were also introduced in this concept. This work is not focused on electrocatalyst design, but rather offers instructive guidance for the UOR developments in environmental, energy, and healthcare devices.

Energy and Exergy Analysis of Palm Tree Pruning Residues Gasification

Gasification is the process of obtaining syngas containing combustible gases such as H2, CO and small amounts of CH4 from biomass by performing partial combustion with a limited oxygen supply or with the help of suitable oxidants such as CO2 and water vapor. The efficiency of the gasification process is the most important parameter that determines the success of the system. In this study, the performance of the system in the gasification of palm pruning residues was evaluated by energy and exergy analysis methods. The gasification process was carried out at 7.6 Nm3/h and 10.2 Nm3/h air flow rates in the laboratory type fixed bed downdraft gasification unit manufactured in the Biosystems Engineering Department. The lower heating value of the syngas obtained as a result of gasification was found to be 4.09 MJ/Nm3 at 7.6 Nm3/h air flow rate and 3.76 MJ/Nm3 at 10.2 Nm3/h air flow rate. It has been observed that the lower heating value of the syngas is lower at high air flow rate. Energy efficiencies of the gasification system at 7.6 and 10.2 Nm3/h air flow rate were calculated as 47.6% and 52.8%, and exergy efficiencies were calculated as 43.7% and 48.1%, respectively. Exergy efficiencies were found to be lower than energy efficiencies in both air flow rates. However, as the air flow rate increased, the energy and exergy efficiencies also increased. The results obtained are similar to the results of previous studies on gasification of biomass.

Supporting teaching practice, program improvement, and accreditation efforts in an engineering program

This paper emphasizes the essential role of a support person for faculty teaching and assessing the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) graduate attributes as part of an ongoing accreditation cycle. It details the continuous program improvement process adopted by the Department of Biosystems Engineering at the University of Manitoba, and the role of engineering stakeholders. It recounts a study that details the supportive efforts of a Research Associate who helped to validate and implement rubrics with individual professors as outcomes-based tools for teaching and assessing the 12 CEAB graduate attributes, which resulted in the creation of 14 rubrics for 12 courses. Findings included new pedagogical understandings, the appreciation of individual support from the Research Associate, and the continued use of rubrics; the work led most professors to think deeply and in new ways about teaching and assessment. There was evidence that six professors engaged in ‘reverse design’, developing rubrics with targeted learning outcomes and course materials in mind. The work led to critical improvement in teaching practices and evidence of continual program improvement. Despite overall engagement and success, some professors continued to struggle with the concept and use of rubrics. In sum, this experience emphasizes the benefit of a dedicated person to support professors to implement rubrics, and in creating and sustaining an outcomes-based assessment culture in the department.

The Effectiveness of Mathematics Learning Using Online Media During the Covid-19 Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused the learning process to be hampered and cannot be carried out face-to-face. Therefore, a solution is needed for this problem. One alternative to overcome this problem is online learning. This study aims to describe the effectiveness of online learning using online media during the Covid-19 pandemic in Mathematics courses. The subjects of this study were 51 students in the Faculty of Science and Technology, Nahdlatul Ulama University, Purwokerto. They were from five different study programs, namely Agrotechnology, Mathematics, Biology, Fisheries Science, and Agricultural Biosystems Engineering, who had taken mathematics courses. This study was carried out in June – August 2021. This study used closed, semi-closed, and open-ended questionnaires as research instruments. Then, the data collection procedure was done through Google Forms. The data obtained were then selected using purposive sampling. To get valid and reliable data, triangulation was applied in this study. Triangulation was carried out through interviews with five students whose data were selected randomly. The researchers used descriptive statistics as the data analysis. The study found that the activities most often carried out by students during Study From Home (SFH) are playing on cellphones or laptops, doing assignments, working, and sleeping. Then, related to online learning, students prefer to use WhatsApp Group media and lectures. The preferred assignments or assessments are individual assignments and quizzes. Furthermore, the learning model most favored by students is the face-to-face learning model because students consider online learning ineffective. The results of this study can be used as a reference in choosing the suitable model, method, and learning media. Therefore, online learning can be held effectively and easily accepted by students during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Fatty acid compositions of seeds of some proprietary safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) cultivars

Safflower, an important oil plant, has been cultivated for about 3000 years. Due to the fact that it is used as a raw material in many sectors, safflower has been examined in various studies. This study was carried out in the laboratories of the Department of Biosystem Engineering and the Central Laboratory Application and Research Center, Faculty of Agriculture, Bingol University between 2020 and 2021. In the study, the saturated fat contents of the seeds of four different registered safflower varieties (Balcı, Dinçer, Yektay, and Yenice) were determined. It was found that there were 19 different components in all safflower varieties. Oleic acid (20.03% to 34.41%) and Linoleic acid (39.79% to 53.70%) were found to be in the highest rates, and some fatty acids were detected in trace levels.
 Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res. 57(3), 195-198, 2022

Department of Biosystems Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University, 60250 Tokat

With the increase in the world population and the continuous development of technology, energy demands continue to increase. In general, the global energy needs are met by fossil sourced fuels. Depleting nature of fossil energy sources, their negative impacts on environment, increasing energy demands have led the efficient use of energy sources and the shift to local and renewable energy resources. Biogas is a renewable energy resource. Since organic wastes are used in biogas production, biogas offers a significant way of elimination of wastes and a source of energy. Animal wastes are the primary source of biogas. In this study, it is aimed to determine the biogas potential of Tokat province from animal wastes. Depending on this purpose, the amount of waste and biogas that can be obtained from animal waste and the energy potential that can be produced have been revealed by using the current data of the Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry. Energy equivalents of the biogas that can be obtained were also calculated. According to 2021 data, there are 303.952 cattle, 511.457 sheep and 247.333 poultry in Tokat province. Annually, 245.988 tons solid animal waste are obtained in Tokat province. In this study, conducted with the 2021 data of Tokat province, the amount of biogas that can be produced from animal wastes was calculated as 49 million m3/year. Districts with the greatest biogas potential are Merkez, Turhal and Zile respectively in 2021. The energy equivalent of biogas produced has been calculated as 292.000 MWh/year

Preface

The 4th International Conference on Agricultural Engineering for Sustainable Agriculture Production (AESAP) 2021 was successfully organized by Mechanical and Biosystem Engineering Department, Faculty of Agriculture Engineering and Technology, IPB University. Organizer was collaborated with (1) Indonesian Society of Agricultural Engineering (ISAE) Bogor Chapter, (2) Indonesian Industrial & Beverages Crops Research Institute (IIBCRI), Ministry of Agriculture, Indonesia, (3) Indonesian Industrial and Beverage Crops Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture - Republic of Indonesia and (4) Yanmar Agricultural Research Institute (YARI) IPB. Due to COVID-19 related real conference and travel restrictions, AESAP 2021 was held as an online conference on 11-12 Octobers 2021 by Online Video Conference platform.The conference has provided an opportunity to strengthen network among academicians, researcher, practitioners, and government in collaboration for sustainable agriculture productions. This year, the theme of the conference is “The Role of Agricultural and Biosystem Engineering to provide and manage Food, Land, Water, and Bioenergy to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) toward Industry 4.0”. The conference was thematically discussed the contribution of biosystem engineering for sustainable agriculture in the industrial revolution 4.0 era, covering topics of agricultural engineering field, such as:1. Postharvest and Food Engineering2. Energy and Agricultural Machinery3. Land and Water Resources Engineering4. Agricultural Structure and Environment Engineering5. System Engineering and Informatics for AgricultureAESAP 2021 main program consisted of three plenary sessions. AESAP 2021 successfully delivered 30 minutes-plenary lectures (20-minute lecture and 10-minute discussion) by five (5) difference countries such as: Dr. Ir. Sam Herodian (Indonesia), Prof. Emiritus Mikio Umeda (Japan), Dr. Dares Kittiyopas (Thailand), Dr. Rossana Marie c. Amongo (Philippine), Dr. Ir. Dadan Kusdiana, M.Sc (Indonesia), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Muhammad Aziz (Japan), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ryozo Noguchi (Japan), Prof. Dr. Yukihiko Matsumura (Japan), Prof. Dr. Kudang Boro Seminar (Indonesia), Asif Aunillah, STP., M.Sc (Ministry of Agriculture, Indonesia), Prof. Dr. Ir. Herry Suhardiyanto, (Indonesia), Dr. Arora Amarpreet Singh (Korea) and 80 parallel presenters.List of the 4th International Conference on Agricultural Engineering for Sustainable Agriculture Production Committees are available in this pdf.

The Study of Shallot Seedling from TSS (True Shallot Seed) on LCAC (Low-Cost Aeroponic Chamber)

True Seed Shallot (TSS) is the planting material beside bulbs that farmers in Indonesia have used. TSS give some benefit for farmer technically and economically. However, the farmer’s utilization of TSS is not used widely yet because there are constraints on the provision of shallot seeds from TSS, such as low seed growing percentage and seedling performance. This study aims to obtain the best seedling performance of shallot from TSS with LCAC (Low-Cost Aeroponic Chamber) technology. The experiment was conducted at the Plant Factory and Screen House, Leuwikopo, Department of Mechanical and Biosystems Engineering, IPB University, July to October 2021. The germination was carried out for seven days. After that, the shallot seedlings have given light source treatments. The factor was light sources, i.e., screen house (sunlight; as a control; used wick system hydroponic), white light, red-blue light, and custom light (LED in a controlled room with LCAC). The performance shallot seedling on sunlight source treatment gave the average plant height, the number of leaves higher than white, red-blue, and custom light on 3 and 4 weeks after sowing. The white light treatment gave the chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-b, and total chlorophyll-a & b higher than the other light source treatments.