Part Of Sustainable Agriculture Research Articles

Revolutionizing onion preservation: A novel aerated storage approach

The second goal of sustainable development is ending hunger, achieving food security improving nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture. Improved storage system is a part of sustainable agriculture. This research aimed to design and develop an aerated storage system for onions and examined the extent of losses to assess the efficacy of the storage system. Unseasonal rainfall and adequate storage facilities result in quick sales and spoilage of onions. A huge amount of onion is damaged due to a lack of proper post-harvest actions like storage, transportation, temperature control, and humidity control in our country. In this study, 40 kg of onion inside the storage and 10 kilograms outside the storage were stored for four weeks from 12 October to 8 November to observe parameters like percentage of moisture loss, sprouting, deterioration, and marketable onion. Temperature as well as relative humidity was observed throughout storage. After completing the research, it was found that the appropriate temperature was 27˚C with 83% relative humidity resulting in minimum losses throughout four weeks of storage period. It was also observed that marketable onion bulbs for aerated storage systems was 97.536% on the other hand marketable onion bulbs for natural or open storage systems was 91.629% which was less than aerated storage systems. So, the aerated storage system is more effective for storing the onion than the natural or open storage system. Small-scale farmers will be benefited and the supply chain management will be maintained using this storage system. Additionally, stakeholders and families will benefit from reduced onion damage percentages when utilizing this storage solution.

Evaluation f the Insecticidal Activity of Nerium Oleander and Artemisia Campestris Powder and Extract on Wheat Insect Pests

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate the insecticidal potential of powders and methanolic extracts of two plants of the Lamiaceae and Apocynaceae families spontaneously growing in the region of Tiaret. Method: Insecticide tests were carried out in the laboratory using the Direct Contact Method. Results and Discussion: The obtained results showed that Nerium oleander and Artemisia campestris powders have remarkable insecticidal properties. N oleander powders induced 100% mortality in adults and up to 80% mortality in Tribolium castaneum larvae at a dose of 0.5g, after 7 days of exposure. Adults of Tribolium confusum showed some resistance to the powders of both plants, with an optimum mortality rate equal to 50% for adults. Larvae of both species were found to be sensitive to N. oleander powder with a mortality rate ranging from80to 90%. As for the powder of A. campestris, adults of T. castaneum were more sensitive than those of T.confusum, with adults’mortality rate equal to 100%. The methanolic extracts of both plants showed a very remarkable efficacy against the larvae of both species as well as the adults of T. castaneum with a mortality rate equal to 100%, after 7 days of treatment at different concentrations. Research Implications: Algeria has an abundance and diversity of flora that could provide new sources of compounds of plant origin with phytopharmaceutical properties, these results allow us to affirm that powders and methanolic extracts, of the studied plants, can be used for industrial application in the production of bio-insecticides. Originality/Value: This work could provide alternative or complementary solutions to the use of synthetic organic pesticides to protect stored beans. The development of bio-insecticides derived from plant extracts and the selection of varieties resistant to this pest are part of sustainable agriculture and development.

Utilization of Chia Seeds Powder in Wet Noodle Substituted with Modified Cassava Flour

The Indonesian food industry needs to utilize local food commodities as an alternative to wheat, supporting local farmers as part of sustainable agriculture. Modified cassava flour (MOCAF) has similar characteristics to wheat flour yet it lacks gluten and has low protein content. Chia seeds have the potential to improve the textural characteristics of gluten-free products due to their gel-forming ability and are a good source of plant-based protein. This study aims to utilize chia seed powder in the formulation of wet noodles substituted with MOCAF to possibly obtain wet noodles with equal textural characteristics and protein content to 100% wheat flour noodles. In this study, different ratios of wheat flour to MOCAF (100:0, 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40) and different amounts of chia seed powder (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%) are studied in terms of cooking quality (cooking loss and water absorption), textural properties (hardness, cohesiveness, and chewiness), color (brightness and hue angle). Higher MOCAF substitution resulted in higher water absorption and cooking loss, as well as undesirable (harder) textural properties. Incorporation of chia seeds powder successfully lowers the cooking loss and higher water absorption of the MOCAF-substituted noodles and noodles with 100% wheat flour without chia seeds powder. Chia seed powder can reduce the hardness while maintaining and increasing the chewiness of the MOCAF-substituted noodles. In the MOCAF-substituted noodles, comparable protein content to that of 100% wheat flour noodles can be achieved with the use of 10 to 15% chia seeds powder at a maximum 80:20 substitution ratio.

Lactic Acid Bacteria as Potential Biocontrol Agents for Fusarium Head Blight Disease of Spring Barley.

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a devastating disease encountered by spring-grown barley. Traditionally, synthetic chemicals have been used to control this disease on small grain cereals. A move toward biological control agents as part of sustainable agriculture is pertinent due to the evolutionary mechanisms employed by fungal diseases to circumvent current protection strategies. This study evaluated the effect of six lactic acid bacteria isolates on the development of FHB under in vitro and glasshouse conditions. The relative expression of Fusarium marker genes and transcription factors under Fusarium infection was examined. Dual-culture assays observed inhibition zones of up to 10 and 17% of total plate area for L. amylovorus FST 2.11 and L. brevis R2Δ, respectively. Detached leaf assays validated the antifungal activity and showed the potential of all test isolates to significantly inhibit sporulation of Fusarium culmorum and Fusarium graminearum strains. Spray inoculation of lactic acid bacteria to barley spikelets prior to Fusarium spore application significantly reduced disease severity for five candidates (P < 0.05) under glasshouse conditions. Mycotoxin analysis revealed the ability of L. amylovorus DSM20552 to significantly reduce deoxynivalenol content in spikelets (P < 0.05). A preliminary gene expression study showed the positive influence of lactic acid bacteria on the expression of important defense-related marker genes and transcription factors upon FHB. These results indicate the potential of lactic acid bacteria to be included as part of an integrated pest management strategy for the management of FHB disease. This strategy will reduce FHB severity and deoxynivalenol (DON) contamination of spring barley, leading to high acceptance in the grain market.

Big Data Analysis for Sustainable Agriculture on a Geospatial Cloud Framework

The grand challenge confronting agriculture is the development of technologies for sustainable intensification of crop production systems to feed the estimated future human population of 9 to 10 billion. It is thought that crop production must be increased by 60 to 100% by the year 2050 to meet these nutritional needs. Crop production systems that yield more food of higher nutritional content are needed that at the same time have a diminished impact on the environment. Prior agricultural intensification was through substantial use of fertilizer, pesticides, and irrigation all at significant environmental cost. As a part of Sustainable Agriculture, next-generation, on cropping systems that couple biologically based technologies (plant-beneficial microbes, cover crops) and precision agriculture need to be developed to decrease fertilizer, pesticide, and water inputs. Over the past two decades, Information Technology has been the disruptive force in industries by driving out market inefficiencies through automation and better decision support tools that require the inclusion of both the citizens and consumers in the process. Like all industries, Agriculture has not been immune to the constant disruptions over the past century. However, recent advances in the computing infrastructure, sensor technology, big data and advanced algorithms ( suggest that a major disruption or paradigm shift is on the horizon, leading to opportunities for sustainable agriculture entering the mainstream. Specifically, solutions based on these new technologies will be needed for mass transfer of genomic and other genetic data for development of these advanced crop cultivars, and for the management of agronomic data for the development of these next-generation production systems. Geospatial solutions based on imagery, IoT, AI, mobile data collection, etc. will be critical for the operation of precision agriculture systems where intelligent application of resource inputs are applied at precise geo-specific field locations based on crop need. Finally, solutions will be needed to allow immediate feedback from digital farm communities regarding the performance of these new cropping systems; speeding their development. Here we describe a “system of systems” approach to building a scientific network that integrates the scientific and farming communities, based on a Geoinformatics cloud framework.

English

Pulses on account of their vital role in nutritional security and soil ameliorative properties have been an integral part of sustainable agriculture since ages.The decrease in production and shrinkage in the area of pulse crops in Haryana since inception, as a consequence of green revolution and is a cause of great concern. Therefore, an attempt has been made in the present study to identify major constraints in the production and marketing of pulses. To derive the inferences of the study, the primary data were collected from 90 farmers i.e. 45 each from Bhiwani and Hisar district. The main production constraints noticed were inadequate knowledge of recommended packages and practices, unfavorable weather condition and non-availability of quality water for irrigation. The main marketing constraints were price fluctuation, small quantity of marketable surplus, non-availability of reliable market information system and involvement of large number of intermediaries in the marketing.

Weed sustainable managment in agricultral and non-agricultural areas

Sustainable agriculture is a way to assure the availability of natural resources for future generations.Weed management in cultivated and not cultivated areas is part of sustainable agriculture as well, and has to face three important challenges: economical (to increase income and competitiveness of farm sector), social (give rural areas opportunity of economic development and improvement of living conditions), environmental (promote good agricultural practices and preserve habitats, biodiversity and landscape). The first two challenges involve the in-depth study of models, the economic threshold of intervention, the management of herbicide resistance phenomena, the study and development of new herbicide molecules, or even modern formulations, leading to the optimization of treatments with possible reduction of distributed doses per hectare. Environmental issues must be set in the studies to assess and manage the factors leading to phenomena of diffuse or point pollution (i.e. water volumes, soil, etc.). However, a sustainable agriculture production must take into account consumers’ needs and concerns, especially about food health and safety with respect to production methods (traditional, integrated and biological). In this context, the results obtained by the development of more advanced active principles, the spread of public and private Integrated Production Specifications (Disciplinari di Produzione Integrata) and the greater and greater commitment by the institutions in charge of monitoring the agro-pharmaceutical residues in agro-food products, can be set. The SIRFI SIRFI (Societa Italiana per la Ricerca sulla Flora Infestante), thanks to the multi-disciplinarity of the structures supporting it, always takes an active part into innovation especially aimed to the identification of tools implementing farm activity sustainability.

Healthy and Happy: Animal Welfare as an Integral Part of Sustainable Agriculture

Healthy and Happy: Animal Welfare as an Integral Part of Sustainable Agriculture

Healthy and Happy: Animal Welfare as an Integral Part of Sustainable Agriculture

Good animal welfare is necessary if an agricultural system is to be sustainable. Although we have been concerned about the welfare of our animals since we first domesticated them and became dependent on their health and reproduction, this article focuses mainly on the development of the animal welfare debate since the 1960s. It presents animal welfare as a science that arose from society's concern about the way animals are kept. These moral and ethical concerns lead to it having a value framework that must also be taken into consideration. Different definitions of animal welfare, as well as examples of research, are presented and discussed in the light of developments in this area. For example, in recent years there has been an increased interest among consumers for animal-friendly products, as there has been for environment friendly products, and this has stimulated the move from experimental studies of animal welfare to its application in practice and to monitoring animal welfare on farms. Traditionally such measurements have been resource based, e.g. specifying the minimum amount of feeding space or the maximum stocking density, but now the trend is toward animal-based measures, such as the numberof lame animals, body condition, etc.