Hasil untuk "Agricultural industries"

Pravin Vejan, Rosazlin Abdullah, T. Khadiran et al.

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) shows an important role in the sustainable agriculture industry. The increasing demand for crop production with a significant reduction of synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides use is a big challenge nowadays. The use of PGPR has been proven to be an environmentally sound way of increasing crop yields by facilitating plant growth through either a direct or indirect mechanism. The mechanisms of PGPR include regulating hormonal and nutritional balance, inducing resistance against plant pathogens, and solubilizing nutrients for easy uptake by plants. In addition, PGPR show synergistic and antagonistic interactions with microorganisms within the rhizosphere and beyond in bulk soil, which indirectly boosts plant growth rate. There are many bacteria species that act as PGPR, described in the literature as successful for improving plant growth. However, there is a gap between the mode of action (mechanism) of the PGPR for plant growth and the role of the PGPR as biofertilizer—thus the importance of nano-encapsulation technology in improving the efficacy of PGPR. Hence, this review bridges the gap mentioned and summarizes the mechanism of PGPR as a biofertilizer for agricultural sustainability.

Manish Kumar, Xinni Xiong, Mingjing He et al.

Microplastics (MPs) as emerging persistent pollutants have been a growing global concern. Although MPs are extensively studied in aquatic systems, their presence and fate in agricultural systems are not fully understood. In the agricultural soils, major causes of MPs pollution include application of biosolids and compost, wastewater irrigation, mulching film, polymer-based fertilizers and pesticides, and atmospheric deposition. The fate and dispersion of MPs in the soil environment are mainly associated with the soil characteristics, cultivation practices, and diversity of soil biota. Although there is emerging pollution of MPs in the soil environment, no standardized detection and quantification techniques are available. This study comprehensively reviews the sources, fate, and dispersion of MPs in the soil environment, discusses the interactions and effects of MPs on soil biota, and highlights the recent advancements in detection and quantification methods of MPs. The prospects for future research include biomagnification potency, cytotoxic effects on human/animals, nonlinear behavior in the soil environment, standardized analytical methods, best management practices, and global policies in the agricultural industry for the sake of sustainable development.

Qingyu Guan, Feifei Wang, Chuanqi Xu et al.

Baohua Zhang, Yuanxin Xie, Jun Zhou et al.

Abstract Grasping, carrying and placing of objects are the fundamental capabilities and common operations for robots and robotic manipulators. Grippers are the most essential components of robots and play an important role in many manipulation tasks, since they serve as the end-of-arm tools, as well as the mechanical interface between robots and environments/grasped objects. Gripper developments are motivated by the great number of different requirements, diverse workpieces and the desire for well adapted and reliable systems. Grippers provide temporary contact with the grasped objects in manipulations. Secure grasping not only requires contacting the objects, but also avoiding the risk of potential slip and damage while the objects are picked and placed. To offer secure grasping for objects with a wide variety of shapes, sizes and materials, various sensors and control strategies are also needed. With the developments of technologies, labor shortage caused by the population aging, as well as the requirements of high automation degree, agricultural robots will find their increasing applications in agricultural and food industries. As the end-of-arm tools for the robots, grippers can be seen as the hands of robots, almost all automatic manipulations are conducted directly by robotic grippers. This paper gives a detailed summary about the state-of-the-art robotic grippers, grasping and sensor-based control methods, as well as their applications in robotic agricultural tasks and food industries. Different from workpiece in industrial environment, agricultural products are fragile and damageable. The requirement for grasping agricultural products is higher than that of grasping of industrial workpieces, various sensors are needed to be installed to the grippers to make them less aggressive, and more flexible and controllable. Therefore, particular attention has been paid to the sensors that used in the grippers to improve their sensing and grasping capabilities. The advantages and disadvantages of the grippers are discussed and summarized. Finally, the challenges and potential future trends of grippers in agricultural robots are reported.

Jiawei Han, Min Zuo, Wen-Ying Zhu et al.

Abstract Background Cold chain logistics (CCL) is not only vital for maintaining the quality and safety of fresh agro-products and reducing losses but also provides important support to help increase farmer income and thereby promote the revitalization of rural industry in China. In recent years, numerous studies have focused on improving the efficiency and sustainability of CCL, and the results have important implications for promoting innovation, applying technologies, improving facilities and equipment, and optimizing management in the CCL industry. Scope and approach This review discusses active research areas, gaps in the existing state of research, and future research challenges for CCL. Furthermore, we summarize the current status of China's CCL industry and technology and compare the state of CCL development in China with that in more developed countries in terms of infrastructure, data handling, and national policies. Key findings and conclusions The future trends of CCL involve low carbon strategies and intelligent innovation, which are the key to meeting environmental concerns and the evolving needs of the market. Advances in next-generation information technology (including IoT, blockchain, AI, etc.) have significantly accelerated the modernization of CCL. Meanwhile, attaining these dual objectives of a low-carbon footprint and intelligent innovation requires cooperation between national regulators, industry, consumers, and interdisciplinary experts. A key finding of this review is that national policy and financial intervention in China are expected to be the main forces behind renovating infrastructure and upgrading standardization, which is required to narrow the CCL development gap between China and other more developed nations.

Chaitanya Reddy Chilakamarry, A. M. Mimi Sakinah, A. Zularisam et al.

The increase in solid waste has become a common problem and causes environmental pollution worldwide. A green approach to valorise solid waste for sustainable development is required. Agricultural residues are considered suitable for conversion into profitable products through solid-state fermentation (SSF). Agricultural wastes have high organic content that is used as potential substrates to produce value-added products through SSF. The importance of process variables used in solid-phase fermentation is described. The applications of SSF developed products in the food industry as flavouring agents, acidifiers, preservatives and flavour enhancers. SSF produces secondary metabolites and essential enzymes. Wastes from agricultural residues are used as bioremediation agents, biofuels and biocontrol agents through microbial processing. In this review paper, the value addition of agricultural wastes by SSF through green processing is discussed with the current knowledge on the scenarios, sustainability opportunities and future directions of a circular economy for solid waste utilisation.

Yufeng Chen, Jiafeng Miao, Zhitao Zhu

Kaijun Leng, Ya Bi, Linbo Jing et al.

Abstract As an underlying support technology, blockchain is a shared ledger system and a computational paradigm, which is decentralized, and it is highly compatible with the distributed economic system. The distributed scheduling model of agricultural business resources based on the public service platform is a comprehensive solution to the current situation of agricultural industry which is ”scattered, small, disorderly and weak”, and plays an important role in integrating decentralized resource and making on-demand scheduling. Aiming at some key problems in the current Chinese public service platform, this paper proposes a public blockchain of agricultural supply chain system based on double chain architecture, mainly studying the dual chain structure and its storage mode, resource rent-seeking and matching mechanism and consensus algorithm. The results show that the chain of agricultural supply chain based on double chain structure can take into account the openness and security of transaction information and the privacy of enterprise information, can self-adaptively complete rent-seeking and matching of resources, and greatly enhance the credibility of the public service platform and the overall efficiency of the system.

Dashuai Wang, Wujing Cao, Fan Zhang et al.

Population growth, climate change, and the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic are imposing increasing pressure on global agricultural production. The challenge of increasing crop yield while ensuring sustainable development of environmentally friendly agriculture is a common issue throughout the world. Autonomous systems, sensing technologies, and artificial intelligence offer great opportunities to tackle this issue. In precision agriculture (PA), non-destructive and non-invasive remote and proximal sensing methods have been widely used to observe crops in visible and invisible spectra. Nowadays, the integration of high-performance imagery sensors (e.g., RGB, multispectral, hyperspectral, thermal, and SAR) and unmanned mobile platforms (e.g., satellites, UAVs, and terrestrial agricultural robots) are yielding a huge number of high-resolution farmland images, in which rich crop information is compressed. However, this has been accompanied by challenges, i.e., ways to swiftly and efficiently making full use of these images, and then, to perform fine crop management based on information-supported decision making. In the past few years, deep learning (DL) has shown great potential to reshape many industries because of its powerful capabilities of feature learning from massive datasets, and the agriculture industry is no exception. More and more agricultural scientists are paying attention to applications of deep learning in image-based farmland observations, such as land mapping, crop classification, biotic/abiotic stress monitoring, and yield prediction. To provide an update on these studies, we conducted a comprehensive investigation with a special emphasis on deep learning in multiscale agricultural remote and proximal sensing. Specifically, the applications of convolutional neural network-based supervised learning (CNN-SL), transfer learning (TL), and few-shot learning (FSL) in crop sensing at land, field, canopy, and leaf scales are the focus of this review. We hope that this work can act as a reference for the global agricultural community regarding DL in PA and can inspire deeper and broader research to promote the evolution of modern agriculture.

Li-Mei Cai, Qiu-Shuang Wang, Han-Hui Wen et al.

To investigate contamination level, origins and spatial distribution characteristics of heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Hg, Ni, Cd, As, and Cr) in agricultural soils of Gaogang Town, a typical industrial transfer-undertaking region of the Pearl River Delta (PRD), China, a total of 162 surface soil samples were collected in August 2016 and determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry and atomic fluorescence spectrometry. Moreover, heavy metals contents were systematically analyzed by pollution index, enrichment factor, multivariate statistical approaches and geostatistical analysis. The results showed that the mean concentrations of Cd, Pb, Zn, Ni, Cu and Hg were higher than the soil background values of Guangdong Province, and the relatively high values of pollution index and enrichment factor indicated that these elements (Cd, Pb, Zn and Hg) had cumulative trends in soil. All results of multivariate statistical approaches and geostatistical analysis showed that pollution were heavily distributed in areas of industries, river and dense road network. The eight heavy metals in agricultural soils of Gaogang Town came from three different sources. Arsenic, Cr, Cu and Ni arose mainly from parent materials. Agricultural practices and traffic activities were the main sources of Cd, Pb and Zn. Mercury mainly came from industrial practices.

Yuanming Li, Shibo Lu, Yunfeng Zhang et al.

To address the low degree of mechanisation and high labour intensity of the mulberry leaf harvesting devices in the current mulberry leaf cultivation model, an efficient and low-damage harvesting linkage clamping mulberry leaf harvesting device was designed. First, the fundamental characteristics of the mulberry orchard under the leaf harvesting mode were investigated, providing a theoretical foundation for optimising the design of the harvesting device. Subsequently, for efficient and low-damage mulberry leaf harvesting requirements, the linkage clamping mechanism was optimised by targeting increased clamping force and opening width, determining the specific parameters of the linkage clamping mechanism. Experimental results indicate that the device can complete the entire mulberry branch harvesting process, including six stages: branch insertion, branch gathering, leaf harvesting, branch retraction, leaf release, and position return. Multiple mechanical protection measures were implemented to protect tender leaves and branches effectively. Finally, experimental studies were conducted on the main factors affecting the leaf harvesting rate, mulberry branch tender leaf (MBTL) damage rate, and the device's performance. The optimal parameter combination was obtained through experimental validation and parameter optimisation: a longitudinal cutting speed of 500 mm/s, a frame lifting speed of 284.2 mm/s, and a transverse cutter height of 20 mm. Under these parameters, the leaf harvesting rate reached 71.24%, and the MBTL damage rate was 2.26%. The proposed mulberry leaf harvesting machine has significant practical implications and reference value for improving the mechanisation level of mulberry gardens, promoting cost reduction, and enhancing efficiency in the sericulture industry.

Bożena Kusz

The rapid development of electronic commerce and the growing popularity of digital distribution channels increasingly influence consumer purchasing behaviour, including how grocery products are bought. This article aims to analyse and assess the impact of selected socio-demographic characteristics on consumers’ propensity to purchase groceries online in Poland. The study examines online grocery purchasing behaviour with respect to gender, age, education level, place of residence, and financial situation. Data were collected from November 2024 to January 2025 using an online survey and a non-probability snowball sampling method, and relationships between variables were analysed using Pearson’s chi-square test. The sample comprised 362 valid responses. The results indicate that age and place of residence significantly differentiate consumers’ propensity to shop for groceries online. No statistically significant differences were found with respect to gender, education level, or financial situation, which is consistent with the tendency described in the literature toward a gradual weakening of traditional socio-economic barriers as electronic commerce develops. The findings provide empirical support for the concept of the democratization of digital consumption, whereby access to online channels is becoming increasingly widespread and progressively less dependent on consumers’ socio-economic status.

Haoqi Zhou, Yong Chen, X. Yue et al.

Industry in ancient mining areas caused significant heavy metal pollution (HMP) in agricultural soils. This study measured the hazards of specific sources of heavy metals (HMs) in an ancient mining areas agricultural soil. Firstly, we identified the major pollution sources based on the PMF model. Then, the proposed single-factor pollution load index (SPLIzone) and ecological load index (SELIzone) analyzed the integrated pollution and ecological risks of various elements. Finally, the source-specific soil contamination levels and ecological risks were quantified by combining the source assignment and single-factor assessment processes. SPLIzone and SELIzone showed that Cu and Cd were the most contaminated elements. Five factors were determined as the major sources of HMs, including mining, natural, smelting industry, agricultural and traffic sources. The mining sources contributed the most soil contamination (33.73%). However, the largest contributor to ecological risk was the smelting industrial (42.18%). Lower soil contamination may contain higher ecological risk. Smelting industrial and traffic are the most critical sources that need to be controlled at present. This study proposes a quantitative method for assessing the hazards of HM sources, which provides a beneficial reference for the study and management of HMP.

Merry Caparas, Maria Tabada

As the climate emergency intensifies in the Philippines, extreme weather events increasingly threaten key economic sectors. In response, the government has prioritised infrastructure development, driving up demand for sand and gravel from the extractive industry. This article shares the story of a small agricultural village that was devastated by a super typhoon, forcing rice farmers to sell their land and leading to a rapid expansion of sand and gravel extraction. This situation now endangers the village’s irrigation system, its lifeline for farming. The narrative highlights a critical dilemma: while rebuilding after climate disasters necessitates urgent infrastructure development, extractive industries can exacerbate the vulnerabilities of rural communities.

Jinxin Liang, Zhiyu Yuan, Xinhui Luo et al.

Under the intensive sheep farming model, traditional monitoring and management methods face issues such as outdated equipment and low efficiency, which cannot fully meet the requirements for refined and intelligent management in breeding. This paper reviews the application of non-invasive monitoring technology in intensive sheep farms, analyzing the differences and application scenarios between contact and non-contact sensors. The results show that contact sensors have advantages such as relatively precise, continuous, and accurate monitoring of individual animals with minimal stress responses during use. However, they also have drawbacks, including wear and tear caused by stress and high equipment maintenance costs. Non-contact sensors, on the other hand, offer advantages such as scalability for group use, high accuracy, non-interference with sheep behavior, and no disruption of flock habits. Non-invasive monitoring technology demonstrates good accuracy and applicability in individual identification, behavior analysis, body measurement parameters, and physiological indicators. In the future, through in-depth integration of multidisciplinary and multi-field approaches and deep learning of multiple algorithms, non-invasive monitoring technology is expected to develop towards low cost and intelligence, providing a comprehensive solution for smart animal husbandry.

Ying Wen, Mingbao Feng, Peng Zhang et al.

Increasing demand for food due to rapid population growth has exerted unprecedented pressure on the global agricultural industry. Agrochemicals are widely used to ensure productivity, leading to th...

Tan Wang, Xianbao Xu, Cong Wang et al.

Agriculture is the most important industry for human survival and solving the hunger problem worldwide. With the growth of the global population, the demand for food is increasing, which needs more agriculture labor. However, the number of people willing to engage in agricultural work is decreasing, causing a severe shortage of agricultural labor. Therefore, it is necessary to study the mode of agricultural production without labor force participation. With the rapid development of the Internet of Things, Big Data, artificial intelligence, robotics and fifth-generation (5G) communication technology, robots can replace humans in agricultural operations, thus enabling the establishment of unmanned farms in the near future. In this review, we have defined unmanned farms, introduced the framework of unmanned farms, analyzed the current state of the technology and how these technologies can be used in unmanned farms, and finally discuss all the technical challenges. We believe that this review will provide guidance for the development of unmanned farms and provide ideas for further investigation of these farms.

Xueqian Fu, Haosen Niu

Hongxu Shi, Ming Chang

Min-Ching Hong, Mengjie Tian, Ji Wang

Based on the Peking University Digital Financial Inclusion Index and 2011–2018 provincial panel data, this paper discusses the mechanism of digital financial inclusion on agricultural green total factor productivity from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. The result shows that digital financial inclusion can significantly increase China’s agricultural green total factor productivity, and the optimization of the agricultural industry structure can bring a significant “structural growth effect”. A total of 8.42% of the positive effects of digital financial inclusion on agricultural green total factor productivity are realized through the intermediary effect of agricultural industrial structure optimization. Through further research, it is found that digital financial inclusion has regional heterogeneity in the improvement of agricultural green total factor productivity. At the same time, digital financial inclusion of different dimensions will also have a differential impact on the improvement of agricultural green total factor productivity. In order to promote the green development of agriculture, it is necessary to further improve the financial development environment, optimize the structure of the agricultural industry, and formulate development policies for digital inclusive finance in accordance with local conditions.