Topic Review
Mechanisms behind the Guar Drought Tolerance
Guar is an unpretentious plant and grows on both sandy and well-drained clay soils. Guar is self-pollinating with a negligible level of cross-pollination. The plants considerably vary in height (from 50 cm to 1.5 m). The stem is sturdy, becoming woody by the plant maturation. The main root is thick and tapering in its distal parts, deeply penetrating into the soil. Due to this, guar can perfectly sustain short-term drought. 
  • 94
  • 15 Mar 2024
Topic Review
The Aging of Polymers under Electromagnetic Radiation
Polymeric materials degrade as they react with environmental conditions such as temperature, light, and humidity. Electromagnetic radiation from the Sun’s ultraviolet rays weakens the mechanical properties of polymers, causing them to degrade.
  • 34
  • 15 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Digital Twins Concept Integration in Livestock Farming
The potential application of the digital twins concept and its principles to all industries, including agriculture, has been the subject of considerable research interest. Since livestock farming is one of the mainstays of the agricultural industry, contributing to food security as well as employment and income generation, digital twins appear to be a promising technology to address issues related to the intensive nature of livestock production systems, which are typically characterized by high levels of input and output.
  • 50
  • 11 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Noise Exposure, Prevention, and Control in Agriculture
Noise is a major physical hazard in agricultural activities, and numerous research activities have managed to detect its effects, resulting in surveys and measurements which help to define exposure limits, prevention methods, and control strategies.
  • 163
  • 08 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Orange-Fruit Detection in a Dynamic Environment
Agricultural robots play a crucial role in ensuring the sustainability of agriculture. Fruit detection is an essential part of orange-harvesting robot design. Ripe oranges need to be detected accurately in an orchard so they can be successfully picked. Accurate fruit detection in the orchard is significantly hindered by the challenges posed by the illumination and occlusion of fruit. Hence, it is important to detect fruit in a dynamic environment based on real-time data.
  • 43
  • 04 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Control Algorithms of Agriculture Autonomous All-Terrain Vehicles
This review paper discusses the development trends of agricultural autonomous all-terrain vehicles (AATVs) from four cornerstones, such as (1) control strategy and algorithms, (2) sensors, (3) data communication tools and systems, and (4) controllers and actuators, based on 221 papers published in peer-reviewed journals for 1960–2023. The paper highlights a comparative analysis of commonly employed control methods and algorithms by highlighting their advantages and disadvantages. It gives comparative analyses of sensors, data communication tools, actuators, and hardware-embedded controllers. In recent years, many novel developments in AATVs have been made due to advancements in wireless and remote communication, high-speed data processors, sensors, computer vision, and broader applications of AI tools. Technical advancements in fully autonomous control of AATVs remain limited, requiring research into accurate estimation of terrain mechanics, identifying uncertainties, and making fast and accurate decisions, as well as utilizing wireless communication and edge cloud computing. Furthermore, most of the developments are at the research level and have many practical limitations due to terrain and weather conditions.  
  • 40
  • 21 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Benefits of Non-Commercial Urban Agricultural Practices
Urban agriculture refers to any type of activity located within or around a city designed to provide ecosystem services. Given the rapid population growth and urbanization, urban agriculture is seen as a potential alternative route to a more sustainable urban food system. Indeed, it has multiple functions, contributing to a variety of outcomes associated with localized urban food systems, including food access, food and agriculture education, community building, and civic engagement. Moreover, implementing non-commercial urban agricultural practices has multifaced social, economic, and environmental benefits, such as improving people’s health, reducing expenditure on food and creating sustainable cities, highlighting the need to recognize the multifaceted role of non-commercial urban agricultural practices in promoting a more sustainable lifestyle and strengthening local communities and engagement.
  • 69
  • 04 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Autonomous Navigation of Agricultural Robots
Regarding agricultural harvesting robots, they typically consist of mobile platforms carrying robotic arms. These robots require advanced vision systems, employing adaptive thresholding algorithms, as well as texture-based methods and color shape characteristic extraction, to identify target fruits.
  • 58
  • 23 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Use of Biofuels and (Bio)lubricants in Compression-Ignition Engines
The environmental sustainability of agricultural and industrial vehicles, as well as of the transportation sector, represents one of the most critical challenges to the sustainable development of a nation. In recent decades, compression-ignition engines have been widely used in on-road and off-road vehicles due to their better fuel economy, autonomy, compactness, and mechanical performance (spec. the high torque values). Due to the consistent environmental impact of fossil fuels, scientists are searching for alternative energy sources while preserving the beneficial features of diesel engines. The utilization of blends of diesel fuel, biodiesel, and bioethanol fuel (referred to as “ternary blends”) is among the most promising solutions for replacing fossil fuels in the near term, allowing, at the same time, us to continue using existing vehicles until new technologies are developed, consolidated and adapted to the agricultural and industrial sector. These ternary blends can lower exhaust emissions without creating major problems for existing fuel-feeding systems, typically designed for low-viscosity fossil fuels. One of the concerns in using liquid biofuels, specifically biodiesel, is the high chemical affinity with conventional and bio-based lubricants, so the main parameters of lubricants can vary significantly after a long operation of the engine. The technical challenges and the main research pathways are presented herein.
  • 94
  • 18 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Water Nutrient Management in Soilless Plant Cultivation
Under-cover soilless cultivation is an important technique of crop production. Due to the lack of contact with soil and precipitation, the root system of crops grown must be provided with water and all necessary nutrients in the form of a solution (nutrient medium). This nutrient medium needs to be fed in excess to ensure proper plant development and the expected qualitative and quantitative parameters of the crop yield, which means that in the case of, e.g., tomato cultivation, 20–80% of the supplied medium must be removed from the root system and managed. Uncontrolled discharge of this drainage water poses a significant threat to the environment, causing contamination of surface waters and groundwaters. 
  • 157
  • 05 Jan 2024
  • Page
  • of
  • 18