Coffee is a commodity with significant business potential that has grown substantially in recent years. This research aims to identify the supply chain structure, analyze performance, and assess risks in the Sidikalang Arabica coffee supply chain, which is recognized for its geographical indication, to optimize its performance. The supply chain structure is analyzed using the Vorst method, while performance evaluation employs the Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR AHP) method, and risk assessment is carried out using the House of Risk (HOR) method. The study identifies six configurations in the Sidikalang Arabica coffee supply chain, primarily serving the hotel, restaurant, and café (HORECA) industry. Key supply chain members include farmers, micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), hotels, restaurants, and cafés. Performance analysis reveals that farmers, MSMEs, hotels, and restaurants fall into the medium category, scoring between 50%-70%, whereas cafés demonstrate strong performance with a 75% score. Risk analysis highlights that maintaining consistent quality standards significantly impacts consumer satisfaction and business sustainability. Optimization strategies include improving farmer cultivation, expanding MSME markets reach, diversifying products in the HORECA sector, and strengthening risk resilience. Meeting consumer demands with integrity reflects professionalism and enhances consumer satisfaction, ultimately supporting long-term business sustainability.
CV XYZ is a company engaged in the distribution of soybean commodities, located in Tangerang Regency. The company distributes its products to five retail outlets across the Jabodetabek area using two operational vehicles. Currently, CV XYZ faced issues with distribution scheduling due to the lack of a fixed policy, leading to occasional increases in delivery frequencies caused by insufficient stock and an inefficient existing scheduling system. As a result, the fulfillment rate of retail demands only reached 93% of the company’s target of 99%, creating a 6% gap that the company aims to address. To resolve this issue, a new distribution scheduling plan was developed using the Distribution Requirement Planning (DRP) method. Distribution Requirement Planning (DRP) method consists of four stages: first Netting for the process of calculating the amount of net requirements, second Lotting for the process of calculating the ideal order quantity, third Offsetting to determine the order plan, and finally the fourth explosion for the process of calculating gross requirements in distribution. The results of the new plan show an increase in the fulfillment rate of retail demands to 99.8%. Additionally, total distribution costs were successfully minimized, decreasing from Rp 593,980,120 to Rp 551,934,498, resulting in a saving of Rp 42,045,622 or approximately 7% of the previous total distribution costs.
Lahoucine Ech-Chatir, Salah Er-Raki, Julio Cesar Rodriguez
et al.
World food systems are subject to many challenges related to land degradation, rapid population growth, climate change, and limited resources. Crop growth models are being recognized as efficient tools for agricultural research to investigate trends in crop yield production and address these challenges under various pedoclimatic, genotypic, and management conditions. Crop growth models have come a long way in terms of development and use in recent decades but are still bound to be improved, especially for various perennial crops and the incorporation of beneficial soil microorganisms. Based on research papers published since 1965 across all continents, this review gives a brief history of crop models, explores 44 selected process-based crop growth models, their origin, usefulness, and applicability, and discusses some of their characteristics and their application in water management in arid and semi-arid areas. For the first time, this review highlights the modeling approaches in simulating the effects of beneficial soil microorganisms on crop growth, including plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria and mycorrhizal fungi, and discusses the advances in modeling perennial crops by exploring 35 studies found for fruit trees, perennial legumes, and vegetables, as well as 45 studies on perennial forage and bioenergy grasses. In addition, the review discusses crop modeling applications in the context of precision agriculture when combined with machine learning and remote sensing. The review concludes by emphasizing key limitations and challenges facing the use of crop growth models. Accordingly, this review can be a valuable resource for researchers, providing insights into existing crop models with a view to what needs to be improved.
Jackline W. Muturi, Christopher E. Ndehedehe, Mark J. Kennard
Accurate monitoring of irrigation water use (IWU) is essential for improving irrigation efficiency and countering global water stress. A key technique for monitoring IWU is satellite remote sensing, which observes the Earth ex-situ. This review synthesizes recent studies (2005–2024) to clarify the progress made and challenges in remote sensing of IWU, with a focus on global developments and specific emphasis on Australia, where vast geographic extent, regulatory complexity, and intensive irrigation pose unique challenges. Our objectives were to examine the relationships among methods, sensor types and measured variables, evaluate validation practices and identify study gaps in Australia. We found that studies have predominantly used optical sensors (82 %) to assess IWU while most other sensor types remain underutilized, particularly at regional scales, such as in Australia. Of the studies reviewed, 61 % validated their IWU estimates against field data, 24 % against reference data, 9 % against both reference and field data while 6 % did not perform validation. We highlight the need for strategic integration of remote sensing methods and sensor types to estimate IWU, supported by rigorous validation processes. Australia’s diverse agro-climatic landscape provides a valuable ground for evaluating and comparing different sensor types when used within various methods to estimate IWU. Furthermore, recent technological advances in optical, radar and microwave sensors, and future satellite missions present new opportunities in IWU monitoring. Overall, a coordinated approach within which policy makers are actively involved is essential for strengthening practical applicability of IWU estimates.
Prabhakar Maheswari, Purushothaman Raja, Manoj Karkee
et al.
Deep learning plays an important role in automating various operations in fruit crop production including irrigation, nutrition management, yield estimation and harvesting. Yield estimation is essential in fruit crop production as it helps farmers optimize cultivation, harvesting, logistics and marketing operations. Furthermore, fruit detection and localization is a very important step in the development of an automated fruit harvesting system. Hence, an intelligent system was proposed in this study for apple fruit detection and localization using modified DeepLabv3+, semantic segmentation based architecture. The finetuned customizations (such as modifying the activation function, optimization technique and loss function) were performed in the original architecture of DeepLabv3+ and its performance was analyzed. The modified model was trained with the training dataset of 2600 apple tree images. Images were split into 80 % of training and 20 % of validation. The modified architecture was also compared with the other variants of DeepLabv3+ architectures. After training, the model was tested with the unobserved test dataset of 101 images. The test results demonstrated the Mean Accuracy (MAcc) of 98.58 % and the Mean Intersection over Union (MIoU) of 96.66 % without compromising the inference time (i.e., 15 ms). The proposed model revealed the improved results than the original model which attained a MAcc of 92.12 % and MIoU of 88.94 % for the same dataset with the inference time of 40 ms. To ascertain further, the modified model was compared with other single stage detectors, including Fully Convolutional Network (FCN) and U-Net. FCN attained a MAccandMIoU of 77.5 % and 77.27 %, respectively whereas U-Net resulted a MAcc and MIoU of 83.95 % and 81.09 %, respectively. Results demonstrated that the modified DeepLabv3+ with ResNet18 is capable of detecting the apple fruits by mitigating the effects of class imbalance which is the major drawback in single stage detectors. Further, better detection and localization of apple fruits can lead to the precise picking by the robotic system.
B.M. Khaled, Mrityunjoy Biswas, Adda Ann Sina
et al.
The study investigated the changes in chemical and fatty acid composition in selected edible oils due to continuous heating. Peroxide value of all the oil except rice bran oil went beyond the permissible limit of 10 mEqO2/kg after 90 min of heating. At first degree of heating, the saponification number of all the oils increased. But the values declined after second and third time of heating, indicating a high degree of saturation. Rice bran oil showed the most slower decreasing trend in case of iodine value. Acid value of all the oils increased with time of heating indicating the presence of free fatty acid. Fatty acid composition of all the oils seemed to be affected due to continuous heating when analyzed with GC–MS. Presence of essential fatty acids was affected and fully absent in some oil. Some foreign chemicals like glycidyl fatty acid esters, fumaric acid, succinic acid, cyclohexane, etc. were detected due to the heating of oils. Glycidyl fatty acid esters were discovered in the degradation of each oil. Cyclohexane is produced during the breakdown of palm and soybean oil. Conferring to the results, it is recommended that oils should not be used after the third degree of heating.
Photovoltaic-powered drip irrigation is a vital approach to address the irrigation requirements in regions with limited water resources and energy deficiencies, thereby ensuring the provision of sustenance and horticultural produce for local inhabitants. However, the susceptibility of the drip irrigation system to clogging as well as the fluctuations in photovoltaic output can significantly impact irrigation quality. Moreover, conventional storage methods commonly employed in photovoltaic-powered drip irrigation systems, such as elevated water tanks and batteries, exhibit notable technological, economic, and environmental limitations. The present study introduces a novel photovoltaic drip irrigation technology (CAES-PVDI) that utilizes solar energy as the exclusive source of power, enabling stable and cost-effective high-quality drip irrigation. This technology actively regulates solar energy through compressed air energy storage, employing a cyclic pulse discharge method to ensure uniformity in irrigation outflow and significantly enhance the anti-clogging performance of the drip irrigation system. The proposed technology was implemented in a solar greenhouse for drip irrigation, and subsequent tests were conducted to assess its hydraulic performance and anti-clogging properties The results demonstrated that the system achieved a discharge uniformity of no less than 91.76 %. Furthermore, there was no blocked emitter in CAES-PVDI system, and the sedimentation inside the capillary tube decreased by 78.95 %-93.36 % compared to traditional drip irrigation system. In comparison to existing photovoltaic-powered drip irrigation technology, the CAES-PVDI system exhibited exceptional technical indicators and offered significant economic and environmental benefits, thereby presenting a novel approach to promote environmentally friendly and efficient operation of drip irrigation systems.
Wisdom Richard Mgomezulu, Paul Thangata, Daniel Njiwa
The impact of trade liberalization on Malawi’s economy has been a hotly debated topic. To shed light on the subject, a study was conducted using the PEP-1–1 CGE model and the latest Malawi’s Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) from 2019. The results were eye-opening, revealing the potential effects of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on various sectors of the economy. The removal of trade tariffs is predicted to have a significant impact on prices, with a decrease of 26.31% in the agricultural sector alone, services (−7.88%), public administration (−9.92%), and manufacturing and industry (−11.23%) imposing hopes of improving food affordability and food security. However, it is expected to have adverse impacts on wage rates in the agricultural sector (−18.78%), manufacturing and construction (−19.01%), services (−2.79%) and public administration (−15.81%). Additionally, while exports are expected to increase, the country’s balance of payments may suffer as imports are likely to outweigh foreign earnings. This could also lead to a decrease in government revenue from taxes. To mitigate these effects, the study suggests implementing export restructuring strategies, particularly in industries like manufacturing and construction, and promoting diversification of local production to boost competitiveness and improve wage rates. With these measures in place, the government will not only offset potential losses but also tap into new sources of taxable income.
Cities. Urban geography, Urbanization. City and country
Rachel Furmidge, Rachel Furmidge, Caitlin E. Jackson
et al.
High internal phase emulsion (HIPE) templating is a well-established method for the generation of polymeric materials with high porosity (>74%) and degree of interconnectivity. The porosity and pore size can be altered by adjusting parameters during emulsification, which affects the properties of the resulting porous structure. However, there remain challenges for the fabrication of polyHIPEs, including typically small pore sizes (∼20–50 μm) and the use of surfactants, which can limit their use in biological applications. Here, we present the use of gelatin, a natural polymer, during the formation of polyHIPE structures, through the use of two biodegradable polymers, polycaprolactone-methacrylate (PCL-M) and polyglycerol sebacate-methacrylate (PGS-M). When gelatin is used as the internal phase, it is capable of stabilising emulsions without the need for an additional surfactant. Furthermore, by changing the concentration of gelatin within the internal phase, the pore size of the resulting polyHIPE can be tuned. 5% gelatin solution resulted in the largest mean pore size, increasing from 53 μm to 80 μm and 28 μm to 94 µm for PCL-M and PGS-M respectively. In addition, the inclusion of gelatin further increased the mechanical properties of the polyHIPEs and increased the period an emulsion could be stored before polymerisation. Our results demonstrate the potential to use gelatin for the fabrication of surfactant-free polyHIPEs with macroporous structures, with potential applications in tissue engineering, environmental and agricultural industries.
Oveis Hassanijalilian, C. Igathinathane, Stephanie Day
et al.
Iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC), a symptom of reduction in chlorophyll and stunted growth, causes a great yield loss in soybean every year in the Midwest, USA and the most efficient method to manage IDC is to plant tolerant cultivars. The assessment of cultivars' tolerance is traditionally performed by visually rating the IDC symptoms based on leaves discoloration twice during the growing season. However, the visual rating method is time-consuming, subjective, not suitable at large scales, labor-intensive, and unaffordable for frequent observation. Therefore, in this study, we used an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as a tool to monitor the soybean cultivars more frequently and more efficiently through image processing approach of the whole field. Images were taken with a DJI Phantom 4 and orthomosaicked in Agisoft Photoscan. A 40-cultivar soybean experimental plots (3000 m2; Image 1) at 5 locations in North Dakota, USA (Amenia, Colfax, Leonard (2), and Hunter) for 2 years (2016 and 2017) were used in the study. The orthomosaicked images were processed in MATLAB to calculate the dark green color index (DGCI), which is a good indicator of chlorophyll in soybean leaves. The grayscale DGCI images were then processed in ArcGIS to extract the average DGCI and canopy size (CS) for each plot for each flight. The area under the curve (AUC) was calculated for DGCI, CS, and CS × DGCI product (CDP) to aggregate the values of all flights within each year. The correlation of AUC of CDP and the yield was more consistent among both years and was the better predictor of yield (R2=0.74 and R2=0.79). The latest growth stage (more representative of yield) values of both years were combined to build models for yield prediction and the CDP produced the lowest error (11.72%). Future studies should look into IDC progress measurement involving more cultivars, geographical locations, frequent imaging, as well as methods applied to regular soybean production sites to evaluate various image-based parameters and their interaction for yield predictions.
Substrate-grown crops represent approximately 10% of the cropping area of intensive greenhouse horticulture in southern Spain. The vast majority are free draining, in that they do not collect and recirculate drainage. The substantial nutrient loss in drainage contributes to contamination of water bodies. This study examined the effectiveness of dynamic management approaches to appreciably reduce the large nutrient loss associated with free-draining substrate-grown crops. For three tomato crops, grown in substrate, this study (i) compared management of N, P and K based on the ratio of the concentration in drainage to that in the nutrient solution, to conventional management, (ii) derived uptake concentration values for N, P and K throughout the crop cycle, and (iii) evaluated uptake concentration as a nutrition management tool. Ratio-based management reduced the amounts of N, P and K in drainage, in relation to conventional management by 58–61%, 65–80% and 55–77% respectively. The amounts of applied N, P and K were reduced by 22–28%, 37–43%, and 28–34% compared to conventional management. N, P and K concentrations in the applied nutrient solution slightly below the uptake concentration were associated with much lower concentrations in the drainage solution. In contrast, when the applied nutrient concentration exceeded the uptake concentration this was associated with much higher drainage nutrient concentrations. In conclusion, the two nutritional management strategies examined, ratio-based management, and use of uptake concentrations were both associated with reduced nutrient application and a considerable reduction of nutrient loss in drainage. Fruit production was maintained with the improved nutrient management practices. These strategies offer approaches that can considerably reduce the substantial nutrient loss in drainage associated with free-draining substrate cropping in greenhouse production in southern Europe.
After globalization gradually became a worldwide trend, world trade became more frequent, leading to closer relations among the world actors. However, in the context of the increase in trade volume, many states, especially South American states, suffer from the side-effects of rapidly decreasing natural resources. This paper examines the impact of World Trade, primarily aimed at agricultural industries, on the natural resources of South American states under the Neoliberalism framework by collecting data on agricultural exports and cultivated land and forests in South America in recent years. In recent years, the world's total population has continued to grow at a positive rate, and the trade-off between the resources needed to meet the needs of such a large population and curbing further environmental degradation has become increasingly urgent. This research will help people to understand this issue better. Deforestation creates challenges for Indigenous People in this region, and the increase of arable land area noticeably brings more pesticides to stay competitive within the market. This research found that under the influence of globalization, South American states, as marginal countries, export a large number of commodities of agricultural products and continue to increase their arable land area year by year, and a positive correlation exists between the increase in arable land area and the decreased forest coverage in South America. Thus, this paper suggests that Neoliberalism negatively impacts natural resources in developing states and deserves attention from all actors internationally, and these drawbacks may further create unsustainable outcomes.
Agriculture is a critical sector for the economy of any state, because it is the lifeblood of many other industries. The article provides an indicative analysis of the of the Russian economy readiness to enter the growth phase of the sixth technological order. The research is based on the postulate of the theory of long waves by N.D. Kondratyev, according to which the monitoring of innovation in the agricultural sector allows obtaining indicators of the phase of the economic cycle. The paper provides an assessment of the innovative development of world agriculture for compliance with global technological trends. The main indicators of innovation and economic growth in dynamics over the past few years are considered. The investment process specificity in country’s agri[1]cultural production due to geographical, logistic and economic factors, that leads to a high capital intensity of innovations in the industry, has been revealed. The main problem in the investment attractiveness of the industry is the low demand among farmers for research and development results due to their high cost, which forms the extensive nature of investments in the industry and their low profitability. Low efficiency of research and development financing in the industry is due to investments in basic research that is not demanded by the market. The reason for this phenomenon is explained by ageing of intellectual capital in the industry and the lack of institutional tools for its activation: low wages, lack of clear tools for managing innovation in the industry. Possible solutions to problems of the agriculture innovative development and increasing the agricultural sector attractiveness for investors are given.
Nenciu Florin, Nae Gabriel, Milian Gabriela
et al.
Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) is a technical plant that manages to adapt very well to unfriendly environments, even in polluted or poor in nutrients soils and may serve in the near future as an important raw material for the food, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries. Furthermore, the plant is growing rapidly, producing large amounts of biomass and offers the possibility to be harvested up to 2 times a year, therefore presents a high potential to be used in the field of biofuel production. The plant's capacity to multiply easily by developing small tubers in the soil, allowing the production of economically advantageous crops, can be considered an advantage for biofuel producers, however this feature might be a drawback for agricultural land owners considering the very invasive behavior. The present paper aim to assess two Jerusalem Artichokes crops established on marginal soils, assessing productivity and the extensive impact on the ecosystem, paying a special attention to plant invasiveness tendencies.
Fiona Constable, Grant Chambers, Lindsay Penrose
et al.
Pospiviroid species are transmitted through capsicum and tomato seeds. Trade in these seeds represents a route for the viroids to invade new regions, but the magnitude of this hazard has not been adequately investigated. Since 2012, tomato seed lots sent to Australia have been tested for pospiviroids before they are released from border quarantine, and capsicum seed lots have been similarly tested in quarantine since 2013. Altogether, more than 2000 seed lots have been tested. Pospiviroids were detected in more than 10% of the seed lots in the first years of mandatory testing, but the proportion of lots that were infected declined in subsequent years to less than 5%. Six pospiviroid species were detected: <i>Citrus exocortis viroid</i>, <i>Columnea latent viroid</i>, <i>Pepper chat fruit viroid</i>, <i>Potato spindle tuber viroid</i>, <i>Tomato chlorotic dwarf viroid</i> and <i>Tomato apical stunt viroid</i>. They were detected in seed lots exported from 18 countries from every production region. In many seed lots, the detectable fraction (prevalence) of infected seeds was estimated to be very small, as low as 6 × 10<sup>−5</sup> (~1 in 16,000; CI 5 × 10<sup>−6</sup> to 2.5 × 10<sup>−4</sup>) for some lots. These findings raise questions about seed production practices, and the study indicates the geographic distributions of these pathogens are uncertain, and there is a continuing threat of invasion.
The aim of the paper is to identify elements of seasonality in supply and demand in the liquid biofuels sector in Poland and Germany. An additional purpose is to present forecasts for selected aggregates until 2020. Two research questions have been formulated for their implementation: (1) is biofuel production in Poland higher in spring or summer (due to the seasonality of agricultural raw material production) than e.g. in winter?; (2) Is the consumption of biofuels seasonal in both countries? The research applies quarterly data for the following aggregates from the biofuels sector: for Poland – production and sale of biofuels in the quarters of 2006-2018, for Germany – biofuel consumption in the quarters of 2007-2017, import and export of bioethanol in the quarters of 2007-2015, import and export of esters in the quarters of 2007-2017. The work focuses on identifying seasonal fluctuations in order to identify purified seasonality indicators, so that it is possible to present forecasts for the biofuels sector. The research conducted in the article leads to the conclusions that, in the liquid biofuels sector, in Poland and Germany, there are elements of seasonality, especially in the field of sales / consumption of biofuels, which in turn is the effect of the changing demand for traditional fuels in which liquid biocomponents are admixed or (less often) used separately as fuel. Differences in the values of variables in Poland and Germany in quarters, in the analysed periods, can be significant – they usually reach several dozen (up to even over 100%), although in nominal terms these differences are usually several or several percentage points. The consumption of biofuels in both countries was higher in the second and third quarters, i.e. in the spring-summer period than others.
The development of bioethanol as fuel substitution is believed to overcome the potency of the world energy crisis including Indonesia. The bioethanol development can be done by increasing the production capacity of the existing bioethanol factory plant by improving yeast culture for enhancing the performance of the fermentation process. This study was aimed at obtaining a method of optimizing the ability of Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation that can be applied by the alcohol industry in Indonesia for increasing factory productivity, thereby reducing the cost of producing alcohol. In this study, the adaptation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Watei and Saccharomyces cerevisiae Hakken I were adopted in environment condition with high ethanol content up to 13%. The results showed that the yeast was able to grow in environments with high ethanol content with higher specific growth rate and larger cell size than those within the original yeast. This condition showed that adapted strains can overcome stress caused by high ethanol. These results promise the good performance yeasts with ability in growing and performing metabolic activities in high alcohol-containing environment conditions
Há um debate considerável sobre a forma de como devem ser os métodos de ensino adaptados em uma sociedade que entra em sua quarta revolução industrial. Na área da formação a tecnologia é um aspecto a considerar ao projetar materiais educativos adaptados às necessidades exigidas pela sociedade atual. São necessárias pesquisas para buscar e analisar as possibilidades de novos materiais e ambientes de aprendizagem. Neste trabalho é analisada a possibilidade de incorporar materiais multimédia imersivos utilizados em materiais de treinamento especificamente aplicados para o desenvolvimento territorial. Através de métodos qualitativos, baseados na análise léxica e de conteúdo observa uma percepção positiva na utilização destas tecnologias na educação.