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Agronomy
Special Issues
Agricultural Equipment and Mechanization in Crop Production
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Agricultural Equipment and Mechanization in Crop Production

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Precision and Digital Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 3924

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Fei Dai

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Guest Editor
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, China
Interests: mechanism of mulching; film–soil–machine–crop interaction system in northwest arid region of China
Prof. Dr. Wuyun Zhao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, China
Interests: crop production equipment in northwest arid region of China
Dr. Roberto Marani

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Intelligent Industrial Technologies and Systems for Advanced Manufacturing (STIIMA), National Research Council of Italy, Via Amendola 122D/O, 70126 Bari, Italy
Interests: computer vision; Artificial Intelligence; deep learning; hardware/software integration in complex systems for in-field agricultural monitoring; inspection; decision support
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the diverse impacts of global climate change and the continuing pandemic, food security has attracted widespread attention worldwide. Improving the food production capacity is an important means to ensure food security. It is necessary to accurately grasp the factors affecting the food production capacity of major producing areas and formulate scientific strategies to improve it. Developing field agricultural equipment, sensory systems and mechanization is the premise and foundation of modern agricultural construction, which is conducive to promoting agricultural production, even reducing labor intensity and increasing sustainability. With the continuous development of modern agricultural science and technology and the widespread availability of cost-effective sensors, the improvement of the field crop agricultural mechanization production level significantly impacts the food production capacity.

In this Special Issue, we aim to exchange knowledge on any aspect related to agricultural equipment, sensor platforms and mechanization that can facilitate the performance of farm machinery and improve crop production.

Prof. Dr. Fei Dai 
Prof. Dr. Wuyun Zhao
Dr. Roberto Marani
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • agricultural equipment
  • agricultural mechanization
  • computer test and control
  • sensory systems
  • simulation and analysis
  • working performance
  • agronomy
  • crop production
  • field experiment

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 5678 KiB  
Article
Design and Testing of an Automatic Strip-Till Machine for Conservation Tillage of Corn
by Qi Wang, Bo Wang, Mingjun Sun, Xiaobo Sun, Wenqi Zhou, Han Tang and Jinwu Wang
Agronomy 2023, 13(9), 2357; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy13092357 - 11 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1023
Abstract
Successive years of straw mulching and returning straw to the fields in Northeast China have made strip-tillage necessary, and reasonable strip-tillage operations can create conditions for crop growth. However, there are limited research studies on the related equipment applicable to this area. In [...] Read more.
Successive years of straw mulching and returning straw to the fields in Northeast China have made strip-tillage necessary, and reasonable strip-tillage operations can create conditions for crop growth. However, there are limited research studies on the related equipment applicable to this area. In this paper, an automatic control strip-tillage machine is designed. According to the conventional planting pattern of maize in this region, the operative processes of the machine were determined, and a suitable strip seedbed structure could then be constructed under straw mulching conditions. The type of coulters and the structural parameters of the V-type soil-crushing wheel were determined through theoretical analysis. Based on the air spring and electric linear actuator, the plowing depth control system and the straw width control system were developed, respectively, so as to improve the stability of the machine operation. Field tests showed that when the forward speed, tillage depth, and theoretical width were 6–12 km/h, 6–12 cm, and 18–24 cm, respectively, the straw clearing rate, soil crushing rate, and tillage depth and breadth stability were higher than 90%, and the soil flatness was less than 2 cm. All the indexes satisfied the agronomic and technological requirements of corn cultivation. The results of this study can provide equipment and technical support for the further popularization of conservation tillage technology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Equipment and Mechanization in Crop Production)
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33 pages, 6258 KiB  
Article
Determination of Characteristics and Establishment of Discrete Element Model for Whole Rice Plant
by Changsu Xu, Fudong Xu, Han Tang and Jinwu Wang
Agronomy 2023, 13(8), 2098; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy13082098 - 10 Aug 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1283
Abstract
In order to accurately establish a discrete element model for the whole plant flexibility of upright rice during the harvesting period, several physical characteristics, such as geometric features, moisture content, and density, of the entire rice plant were measured, along with frictional properties, [...] Read more.
In order to accurately establish a discrete element model for the whole plant flexibility of upright rice during the harvesting period, several physical characteristics, such as geometric features, moisture content, and density, of the entire rice plant were measured, along with frictional properties, such as the static and rolling friction coefficients, and mechanical properties, including the elastic modulus and restitution coefficient. A flexible and upright discrete element model of the rice plant was established using the DEM method based on the Hertz–Mindlin (no slip) and Hertz–Mindlin with bonding mechanical models. The parameters were optimized through Plackett–Burman screening experiments, steepest ascent experiments, and Box–Behnken optimization experiments to accurately determine the discrete element model parameters of each component of the rice plant. The calibration process of the contact parameters between rice grains and steel was analyzed in detail as an example, resulting in a calibration error of 0.68% for the natural repose angle. Taking the calibration of the contact parameters between the main stem and steel as an example, a detailed analysis of the calibration process was conducted. The calibration resulted in a calibration error of 2.76% for the natural repose angle and 2.33% for deflection. This study lays the foundation for understanding the mechanical response of rice and machinery when they are coupled together. Additionally, it provides valuable references for establishing discrete element models of plant species other than rice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Equipment and Mechanization in Crop Production)
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16 pages, 4441 KiB  
Article
Research on the Construction of a Finite Element Model and Parameter Calibration for Industrial Hemp Stalks
by Jicheng Huang, Kunpeng Tian, Aimin Ji, Bin Zhang, Cheng Shen and Haolu Liu
Agronomy 2023, 13(7), 1918; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy13071918 - 20 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 838
Abstract
Finite element numerical simulations provide a visual and quantitative approach to studying the interaction between rigid mechanical components and flexible agricultural crops. This method is an important tool for the design of modern agricultural production equipment. Obtaining accurate material model parameters for crops [...] Read more.
Finite element numerical simulations provide a visual and quantitative approach to studying the interaction between rigid mechanical components and flexible agricultural crops. This method is an important tool for the design of modern agricultural production equipment. Obtaining accurate material model parameters for crops is a prerequisite for ensuring the reliability and accuracy of numerical simulations. To address the issue of unclear mechanical constitutive model parameters for industrial hemp stalks, this study utilized the theory of composite materials to establish a mechanical constitutive relationship model for industrial hemp stalks. Compression, tensile, and bending tests on different components of the stalk were conducted, using a computer-controlled universal testing machine, to obtain their elastic parameters. Combined with the measured basic material parameters and contact parameters of industrial hemp stalks, a finite-element numerical simulation model of industrial hemp stalks was established. By conducting Plackett–Burman and central composite experiments, it was determined that among the six measured parameters, the anisotropic plane Poisson’s ratio of the phloem and the isotropic plane Poisson’s ratio of the xylem have a significant influence on the maximum bending force of the stalk. Parameter optimization was carried out, using the relative error of the maximum bending force as the optimization objective, resulting in an anisotropic plane Poisson’s ratio of 0.054 for the phloem and an isotropic plane Poisson’s ratio of 0.28 for the xylem of industrial hemp stalks. To validate the accuracy and reliability of the optimized parameters, a numerical simulation was conducted and compared with the physical experiments. The simulated value obtained was 405.81 N while the actual measured value was 392.55 N. The error between the simulated and measured values was only 3.4%, confirming the effectiveness of the model. The precise parameters for the mechanical characteristics of industrial hemp stalk material obtained in this study can provide a parameter basis for future research on the numerical simulation of mechanized industrial hemp harvesting and retting. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Equipment and Mechanization in Crop Production)
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