Agricultural Technology Development Research Articles

Information Systems in the Marketing Conscious Development of Agricultural Technologies

Information Systems in the Marketing Conscious Development of Agricultural Technologies

RETRACTED ARTICLE: The evolution of venture capital network structure and its effects in promoting the development of agricultural technology enterprises – a comparison between USA and China

This article has been retracted from publication in the Taylor & Francis journal, Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section B — Soil & Plant Science. Following publication, concerns were raised by multiple third-parties around the content of the special issue and the decision-making process. Following an investigation by the Taylor & Francis Publishing Ethics & Integrity team in full cooperation with the Editor-in-Chief, it was confirmed that this article included in Special Issue titled “ Envisage Computer Modelling and Statistics for Agriculture”, guest edited by Gunasekaran Manogaran was not peer-reviewed appropriately, in line with the Journal's peer review standards and policy. As the stringency of the peer review process is core to the integrity of the publication process, the Editor and Publisher have decided to retract all of the articles within the above-named Special Issue. The journal has not confirmed if the authors were aware of this compromised peer review process. The journal is committed to correcting the scientific record and will fully cooperate with any institutional investigations into this matter. The authors have been informed of this decision. We have been informed in our decision-making by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines.

Research on the Application of Agricultural Engineering Technology in Agricultural Modernization

In recent years, with the rapid improvement of China’s science and technology level, China’s agricultural engineering technology has also made considerable progress. The development of agricultural engineering technology provides an important technical foundation for the realization of agricultural modernization, especially in the effective use of agricultural resources, the improvement of agricultural labor productivity, and the transformation of agricultural production and operation methods. Therefore, we must increase the promotion and application of agricultural engineering technology in various agricultural production and operation activities. This will help promote the gradual development of China’s agricultural production in the direction of mechanization, automation, informationization and intelligence, so as to fully realize the modernization of China’s agriculture.

Forty Years of Food Safety Risk Assessment: A History and Analysis.

Before the founding of the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) in 1980, food safety in the United States had long been a concern, but there was a lack of systematic methods to assess food-related risks. In 1906, the U.S. Congress passed, and President Roosevelt signed, the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act to regulate food safety at the federal level. This Act followed the publication of multiple reports of food contamination, culminating in Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle, which highlighted food and worker abuses in the meatpacking industry. Later in the 20th century, important developments in agricultural and food technology greatly increased food production. But chemical exposures from agricultural and other practices resulted in major amendments to federal food laws, including the Delaney Clause, aimed specifically at cancer-causing chemicals. Later in the 20th century, when quantitative risk assessment methods were given greater scientific status in a seminal National Research Council report, food safety risk assessment became more systematized. Additionally, in these last 40 years, food safety research has resulted in increased understanding of a range of health effects from foodborne chemicals, and technological developments have improved U.S. food safety from farm to fork by offering new ways to manage risks. We discuss the history of food safety and the role risk analysis has played in its evolution, starting from over a century ago, but focusing on the last 40 years. While we focus on chemical risk assessment in the U.S., we also discuss microbial risk assessment and international food safety.

Network Structure and Influencing Factors of Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Spatial Correlation Network—A Study Based on Data from 30 Provinces in China

Based on the perspective of the value chain of agricultural science and technology innovation, in this paper, we divided the process of agricultural science and technology innovation into two stages: the Research and Development (R&D) of agricultural technology and the application of agricultural technology. We took the efficiency of agricultural science and technology innovation of the two stages as a comprehensive index measure for the development of agricultural science and technology innovation in China. On this basis, we used social network analysis to establish a two-stage spatial correlation network for the innovation development of agricultural science and technology in China. The spatial-temporal evolution trends, structural characteristics, and influencing factors of the network were analyzed from the three aspects of the overall, local, and individual network structure. The results show that: a. The development of agricultural science and technology innovation in China demonstrated a clear spatial correlation and spillover effect, and the spatial correlation network was in a connected state. b. The network had the distribution characteristics of ‘core-edge’ and strong stability, and the hierarchical structure of the members of each province in the network was gradually broken. c. The differences at the market level in agricultural science and technology, the differences in government support for agriculture, the geographically adjacent relationships, and the level of agricultural economic development were important factors affecting the spatial correlation of agricultural science and technology innovation. This study provides a policy reference to use a cross-regional coordinated development mechanism to solve the uneven and asymmetry problem of the distribution of elements in various regions in China.

Mechanisms of Green Development of Urban Agricultural Production in a Large Industrial City

A city’s potential for food self-sufficiency is expected to increase through the distribution of innovative, high-tech, green agricultural practices of producing food in an urban environment, which can improve the city’s food security due to increased food accessibility in terms of quantity and quality. Aim. Based on the systematization of theoretical approaches and analysis of institutional aspects, the study aims to propose ways to strengthen the city’s food security by improving food supply in urban areas, increasing the socio-economic and environmental sustainability of urban food systems, and changing the diet of urban residents.Tasks. The authors propose methods for the development of urban agricultural production in a large industrial city based on the principles of green economy and outline the range of strategic urban activities aimed at implementing green agricultural production technologies associated with the formation and development of the culture of modern urban agricultural production.Methods. This study uses general scientific methods of cognition to examine the specificity of objectives of strengthening a city’s food security by improving the quality of food supply to the population. Methods of comparison, systems analysis, systematization of information, and the monographic method are also applied.Results. A strategic project for the development of urban agricultural systems through the implementation and green development of advanced urban agricultural technologies is described. Green development mechanisms will create conditions for the city’s self-sufficiency in terms of organic and safe products, functioning of short supply chains, and green urban agriculture.Conclusions. Managing the growth of urban agriculture will promote the use of highly effective, easily controlled, resource-efficient, eco-friendly, weather- and season-independent, multi-format urban agricultural technologies. The study describes actions aimed at creating conditions for stabilizing a city’s high-quality food self-sufficiency with allowance for the growing differentiation of citizen needs.

RESEARCH ON SOCIAL SERVICE FUNCTIONS OF AGRICULTURAL AND FORESTRY COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

China is a big agricultural country. The problems of agriculture, rural areas and farmers have always been major issues affecting national security and stability. Chinese agricultural development is facing major challenges. In addition, China is the most populous country in the world and agricultural production is facing great pressure. However, the country has always attached great importance to agricultural development, with special emphasis on the development of agricultural science and technology. China has successively established a large number of agricultural and forestry schools to train a large number of agricultural science and technology personnel for the country. In recent years, Chinese agriculture has developed rapidly and is developing in the direction of agricultural science and technology and modernization. The most important item in Chinese national development strategy is the comprehensive elimination of the poor and the vast rural population is an important target for this work. This means that Chinese agricultural universities and a large number of agricultural talents are facing major development opportunities. The vast number of agricultural and forestry colleges and universities should make full use of their own resources such as science and technology and talents to provide technology, services, products, etc. The exertion of social functions in agricultural and forestry colleges and universities should fully consider the relationship between colleges and major stakeholders. In this context, this paper explores the basic situation of the development and construction of agricultural and forestry universities in China. This paper also studies the problems existing in the development of agricultural and forestry universities and professional education. The basic situation of the number of college students majoring in agriculture and forestry was studied. It studies the development trend of Chinese agriculture and the basic content of social services of Chinese agricultural colleges. And put forward suggestions for them to better realize the social service function.

Survival Strategy of Rice Farmers in Planting Paddy in Dry Season

The development of agricultural tools and technology has made a change to cropping patterns in agricultural communities in Donoyudan Village. Farmers begin to plant rice in the dry season with the help of water wells as the main source of irrigation. Farmers choose to plant rice in the dry season because the results are better than the rainy season. The purpose of the research is to determine the survival strategies of paddy farmers in choosing plant species on agricultural land in the dry season. The research method uses qualitative methods, namely observation, triangulation, and in-depth interviews with farmers and farmer groups. The research is conducted in Donoyudan Village, Kalijambe District, Sragen Regency. The results show that the survival strategy of paddy farmers and rice farming activities in the dry season is the availability of water wells and water pumping machines as the main sources of irrigation in the dry season. Water wells are used if there is not enough rainwater to irrigate the fields. There are two types of water wells, which are shallow well and deep well.

Research on intelligent control of an agricultural greenhouse based on fuzzy PID control

With the development of agricultural science and technology in China, the number of greenhouses is increasing rapidly, but the control of greenhouse temperature, the most critical factor in the greenhouse environment, can no longer meet the requirements of the management and operation of agricultural greenhouse by manpower. Therefore, the perfect combination of greenhouse control and intelligent technology has become an urgent demand in the field of agricultural greenhouses. Research on the combination of greenhouse control and intelligent technology will help save human and financial resources and achieve the objectives of more efficient and stable control. Finally, it can guarantee an increase in crop yield and the profit of greenhouse operators. In this study, the temperature control of an agricultural greenhouse based on fuzzy proportion, integration and differentiation (PID) was taken as the research subject and a greenhouse temperature model was constructed by mathematical expression. Finally, simulation effect charts under simple fuzzy control and PID control were obtained, and the results were compared. Finally, it is concluded that fuzzy PID temperature control has the advantages of short response time and stable temperature-control effect, which is the optimal intelligent control mode of an agricultural greenhouse.

China's agricultural green total factor productivity based on carbon emission: An analysis of evolution trend and influencing factors

China's economy is currently moving from a stage of high-speed growth to a stage of high-quality development. Agricultural green total factor productivity is of great significance for promoting the high-quality development of the economy. Based on the panel data of China's provincial agriculture, this paper uses the Super-SBM model to calculate China's agricultural green total factor productivity based on carbon emissions. On this basis, this paper uses the nuclear density estimation method to investigate its dynamic evolution trend and the panel data model to empirically study the influencing factors of China's agricultural green total factor productivity. The results show that China's agricultural carbon emissions show an inverted-“U” trend, but the overall growth rate shows a gradual declining trend. The main concentration areas are transferred from the eastern region to the central region, and agricultural fertilizer is the main source of such emissions. China's agricultural green total factor productivity overall shows a fluctuating growth trend, and the differences between provinces show an increasing trend. Agricultural factor endowments and regional characteristics affect China's agricultural green total factor productivity, and there are regional differences in these effects. An important way to improve China's agricultural green total factor productivity and promote the coordinated development of agricultural regions and the high-quality development of the economy is by promoting clean agricultural production, strengthening the research and development of agricultural science and technology, expanding the agricultural opening-up level, and promoting the deep integration of industrialization and agricultural modernization.

Transcriptomics and proteomics-based analysis of heterosis on main economic traits of silkworm, Bombyx mori

The application of silkworm hybrids have promoted the innovation and development of agricultural technology, but the mechanism of heterosis in silkworm has not been explained clearly. In this study, the heterosis of silkworm in the aspects of body weight, silk gland and cocoon weight was investigated by means of silkworm hybridization and multi-omics approaches, including transcriptome and proteome. The results showed that heterosis of silkworm body weight, silk gland and cocoon weight was overdominant, but only part of genes and proteins were overdominant, and most of genes and proteins were non-additive. Combined analysis obtained six up-regulated genes and four down-regulated genes that were consistent both in transcriptome and proteome. Gene functional enrichment analysis indicated that most up-regulated genes and proteins were mostly related to metabolism, which led to accelerated metabolism and protein synthesis and contributing to improved heterosis. The up-regulation of 6-phosphate glucose dehydrogenase (G6PDH), phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein (PEBP) and sHSP20.4, which are involved in metabolism, might be related to silk gland heterosis. SignificanceA combination of transcriptomic and proteomic analysis was used to understand the molecular mechanism of silkworm heterosis. We found that the phenotypic traits of silkworm are overdominant, while the analysis of transcriptome and proteome showed that only part of genes and proteins were overdominant, and most of genes and proteins were non-additive. Some of the genes had unique expression in F1, which was speculated that genes under heterozygous condition may result in rearrangement and cause metabolic changes in the hybrids. Those both up-regulated in transcriptomic and proteomic analysis were found to be involved in various metabolic processes, so as to accelerate metabolism and protein synthesis, thus exhibiting heterosis.

Incentive mechanism of different agricultural models to agricultural technology information management system

The agricultural information technology management system has a certain role in promoting the development of agriculture. However, there is a lack of persuasive reference on how the incentive mechanism of different agricultural models will affect the development of agricultural technology, or which aspect will be affected. This article aims to study the incentive mechanism of different agricultural models to the agricultural technology information management system. This article uses a single variable method to study the application status of agricultural information technology in different regions and different agricultural models, and the agricultural technology information under different incentive mechanisms. Compare the results achieved by the management system. By comparing and summarizing the related ecological models, applying the method of optimal ratio to classify the optimal agricultural model incentive mechanism. The research data of the agricultural technology information management system shows that farmers are restricted by different incentive mechanism constraints. In the selection of ecological agriculture and conventional agriculture, ecological agriculture is more preferred. Experimental data shows that the information management system can reflect the determinants of farmers' choice of different agricultural models and policy incentives, which have an important influence on the development of agriculture.

Research on the Decoupling of Water Resources Utilization and Agricultural Economic Development in Gansu Province from the Perspective of Water Footprint.

Objectively evaluating the decoupling status of water resources utilization and economic development is an important sign of judging the sustainability of regional economic development. From the perspective of water footprint (WF), this paper expands the scope of water resources accounting by assessing agricultural blue WF, green WF and gray WF. The Tapio decoupling index was used to explore the decoupling status of agricultural WF and economic development in Gansu Province from 2006 to 2015, and the logarithmic mean divisor index (LMDI) decomposition model was used to identify the main driving factors of agricultural WF changes and explore the degree of divergence between agricultural economic development and water resources utilization. The results showed that agricultural economic growth was a main factor for the increase of WF; the improvement of agricultural production technology had a restraining effect, and the population effect and structural effect had a lesser effect. During the research period, the relationship between agricultural WF and economic growth in Gansu Province changed from weak decoupling to strong decoupling, and the contributing factors to decoupling were in descending order: economic, technological, structural and population. Finally, this paper puts forward suggestions on optimizing planting structure, improving agricultural technology and economic development mode to promote the sustainable development of local agriculture.

Water–food–energy–climate nexus and technology productivity: a Nigerian case study of organic leafy vegetable production

Low agricultural productivity is a major challenge constraining food production in developing countries. Attempts at addressing the problem have resulted in the development and deployment of agricultural technologies, such as organic farming, to help boost productivity, enhance farmers’ income, and their overall livelihood conditions. The deployment of such productivity-enhancing technologies has mostly overlooked their inexplicable interconnectedness and interdependencies with nexus factors such as climate, water, and energy within the embeddings of a food production system. Through a Nigerian case study approach, this study attempts to bridge this gap by qualitatively investigating how organic leafy vegetable production (OLVP) and its anticipated outcomes can be affected by the interface of water, energy, and climate with food production. This was intended to generate exploratory insights that will help underscore why cross-sectoral linkages should be accounted for when deploying agricultural technology interventions. To achieve this objective, we conducted in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, and field visits to the farms of organic farmers in Ajibode, Ibadan, Nigeria. Results indicate that the productivity of OLVP was severely constrained by highly contextual nexus factors such as energy deficit, the water source for irrigation, changes in rainfall patterns, and temperature effect of harmattan. We concluded that location-specific nexus elements that intersect with food production should be accounted for when introducing productivity-enhancing technologies. Otherwise, the opportunity for improved agricultural productivity may remain elusive. Finally, our study shows that the nexus approach can help reveal intricately linked cross-sectoral factors that can constrain the performance of agricultural technologies.

Agricultural Environment Information Management

ZigBee communication technology was used to design the internal information transmission system of intelligent gateway in the monitoring system. Finally, the system was used to detect the changes of temperature and humidity in the environment in real time for verification. The results showed that Amazon AWS cloud service platform was used to build the monitoring system, while the application layer used Spring MVC system framework in J2EE platform to realize the storage of perception data, control of equipment, and analysis of data, and developed the DEMO system by using Amazon DynamoDB NoSQL database and RDS database to jointly store data. The results of this study show that the agricultural environment IOT monitoring system based on cloud computing can better realize the monitoring of relevant parameters in the crop environment, and can lay a foundation for the development of agricultural technology of follow-up facilities.

Economic Contributions of Mega-Dam Infrastructure as Perceived by Local and Displaced Communities: A Case Study of Merowe Dam, Sudan

Investigations on the socioeconomic impacts of mega-dam projects have tended to focus on conventional cost–benefit analysis, while studies exploring perceptions of local communities, who are some of the prime beneficiaries of these development initiatives, are limited. This paper aims to address this research gap through a case study of community perceptions on the socioeconomic impacts of the Merowe Dam in Sudan from the residents of upstream, downstream, and relocated locations. Data were collected primarily through surveys and interviews with residents, government officials, dam implementation authority, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other key informants and a series of indicators were developed for the analysis from the responses. Three inter-related areas of impact were scrutinized: (a) electricity generation; (b) development of modern agriculture; and (c) institutional infrastructure in the region. The results reveal that local communities are fully aware of both the positive and adverse socioeconomic impacts of the Merowe Dam, although these are focused more on the visible impacts closely related to their livelihood and income, such as increased food production, water shortages, electricity supply and its costs. Policy implications include investments in the new settlement areas with respect to the agricultural economy, such as irrigation improvement through electrification, promoting crop diversity, research, development, and diffusion of modern agricultural technologies. Efforts are also needed to strike a balance between provision of utilities and services, (i.e., water, electricity and other infrastructural facilities) provided by the Merowe Dam, amongst communities in relocated, upstream, and downstream locations.

Design of Monitoring System in Smart Agriculture Environment

With the development of smart agricultural technology, traditional agriculture has also begun to shift to intelligent control. This article integrates wireless sensor network, wireless video monitoring network with Internet. From the collection of farm environmental parameters to real-time video monitoring of crop growth, data is eventually transmitted to the monitoring center. The environmental parameters of farmland and crop growth can be monitored in real time.

ЭФФЕКТИВНОСТЬ ПРИЕМОВ БИОЛОГИЗАЦИИ В ЗВЕНЬЯХ СЕВООБОРОТОВ С ОЗИМОЙ ПШЕНИЦЕЙ В ЛЕСОСТЕПНОЙ ЗОНЕ ПОВОЛЖЬЯ

The performance of the set tasks for the production of the necessary volumes of grain is possible only on the basis of a scientific-based approach to the development of agricultural technologies on a systematic basis. Research aim: to evaluate the effectiveness of methods of biologization of crop rotation links with winter wheat at the expense of grain legumes and organomineral fertilizer systems in conditions of forest-steppe zone of the Volga region. The research was carried out in years long stationary field trial of the department of agriculture, crop production and breeding of FSBEI HE Ulyanovsk SAU in 4-6-month field crop rotations. The objects of study were of crop rotation links with winter wheat: 1) complete fallow-winter wheat; 2) peas - winter wheat; 3) Lupin - winter wheat; 4) Lupin + peas - winter wheat. In the structure of land use, there is still a high share of complete fallow, which has negative environmental consequences. The main reason for the introduction of complete fallows is the preservation of moisture for seeding winter crops. However, our research shows that when replacing complete fallows to grain legumes (peas, white lupine), 23.0-25.0 mm of productive moisture accumulates in the soil before seeding winter wheat, which, if agrotechnical requirements are met, allows you to get seedlings and sufficient development of winter wheat in the autumn period. Despite the higher yield of winter wheat by complete fallow, the productivity of links with legumes was higher. The inclusion of grain legumes in crop rotations as steam-generating crops can be used to eliminate the negative effects of complete fallow. The results obtained allow us to recommend combined tillage that includes soil loosening for grain legumes and surface tillage for winter wheat, as well as to use the organomineral fertilizer system straw + NPK, while the doses of mineral fertilizers are calculated on the planned yield of grain legumes of 2.5-3.0 t/ha and winter wheat - 4.5 t/ha.

Automatic Temperature and Humidity Detection and Alarm System for Greenhouse

With the continuous development of agricultural production technology, greenhouses have been widely used in the production of agricultural products. Temperature and humidity are important parameters in greenhouses. The real-time detection and regulation of temperature and humidity in greenhouses plays an important role in crop cultivation. This paper designs an automatic detection and alarm system for greenhouse temperature and humidity based on STM32. The system uses STM32F103C8T6 single chip core module as the microcontroller, uses temperature and humidity sensor DHT11 to obtain temperature value and humidity value, and uses LCD1602 liquid crystal module to display monitoring data and Bluetooth module. Together form a temperature and humidity detection system. Through system function testing, the system can operate stably according to the expected requirements and meet the expected requirements. Finally, an intelligent temperature and humidity monitoring and alarming system that can monitor the temperature and humidity in the greenhouse in real time is realized. The system has the advantages of good stability, high precision and convenient operation, which is of great significance for improving the monitoring and management of temperature and humidity and agricultural production.

Changes in Serum Antioxidant Vitamin Levels After Consumption of Korean Diet and American Diet Among Korean Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract Objectives This study aimed to investigate changes in serum antioxidant vitamin levels after consumption of balanced Korean diet (BKD), recommended American diet (RAD), and typical American diet (TAD) among Korean adults from a randomized controlled trial. Methods Among 54 adults aged 25–65 years with body mass index ≥23 kg/m2 and blood LDL-cholesterol ≥120 mg/dL who finished a crossover feeding study conducted between 2015–2017, 16 subjects were selected for analyses of serum β-carotene, retinol, and α-tocopherol levels at baseline and after consumption of each diet for 4 weeks. Serum antioxidant vitamin levels were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. Results Mean levels of serum β-carotene, retinol, and α-tocopherol at baseline were 0.37, 0.34, and 7.19 mg/L, respectively. After consumption of BKD, increase in serum β-carotene and retinol levels was observed compared to the baseline, whereas α-tocopherol level was decreased. After consumption of RAD, serum β-carotene, retinol, and α-tocopherol levels were increased. However, retinol level was reduced after consumption of TAD. Conclusions This study may provide evidences about effects of diets on antioxidant vitamin levels in human body. Funding Sources This work was carried out with the support of ‘Research Program for Agricultural Science and Technology Development’, National Institute of Agricultural Science, Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea (Project No. PJ013475022018).