Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.8
3.9
Journals
Sustainability
Special Issues
Precision Agriculture and Sustainability
sustainability-logo
Submit to Sustainability Review for Sustainability Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Precision Agriculture and Sustainability

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 11279

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Simone Pascuzzi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Soil, Plant and Food Science, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy
Interests: agricultural robotics; unmanned ground vehicles; unmanned aerial vehicles; remote sensing; sensors; agricultural automation; small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS); agricultural robotics; machine-vision; renewable energies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The aim of the current interactions among the agricultural-forestry and livestock sectors and technological innovation, automation, energy aspects, environment and agro-forestry territory is sustainability, based on the development and integration of knowledge and technologies across the entire agro-industrial system. Precision agriculture fits well within this context, encapsulating the innovative drive towards the development of agronomic and technological skills aimed at sustainability, i.e., respectful of natural resources such as water, soil fertility and biodiversity, and rejecting the use of polluting chemical products. Sustainability is also advantageous for farmers, because it favors a fair income, safeguards workers’ health, and improves the quality life of society as a whole. New research is then needed in order to meet the following global challenges: increasing the efficient use of resources; reducing waste and emissions; safeguarding the health and wellbeing of plants and animals; improving food security; improving the quality of working conditions in agriculture, livestock farming, and forestry. The topics to be explored are diversified and mainly concern: (i) farming systems that enhance biodiversity and natural biological processes contributing to increased efficiency in the use of water and nutrients and improved crop production; (ii) new economic policies concerning farm management; (iii) safeguarding environmental and territory; and (iv) new digital technologies that are useful in the agricultural-forestry and livestock sectors.

Prof. Simone Pascuzzi
Guest Editor

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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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

  • environmental monitoring and control
  • multisource data
  • remote and proximal sensing
  • conservation agriculture
  • hydroponic
  • farm management
  • crop protection
  • vegetable and livestock biodiversity

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

20 pages, 1587 KiB  
Article
Life Cycle Assessment of Spinach Produced in Central and Southern Italy
by Ester Foppa Pedretti, Kofi Armah Boakye-Yiadom, Elena Valentini, Alessio Ilari and Daniele Duca
Sustainability 2021, 13(18), 10001; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su131810001 - 07 Sep 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3036
Abstract
Environmental sustainability continues to attract global interest, especially due to the issue of climate change. The agri-food sector is considered a major contributor to climate change as processes and activities within the sector can negatively impact the environment. The recent changing dietary pattern [...] Read more.
Environmental sustainability continues to attract global interest, especially due to the issue of climate change. The agri-food sector is considered a major contributor to climate change as processes and activities within the sector can negatively impact the environment. The recent changing dietary pattern towards increased vegetable consumption implies a consequent increase in production to meet demand. This study assessed the environmental performance of 1 kg of spinach/FU (Functional Unit) cultivated by different producers in Italy under integrated and organic farming systems. The life cycle assessment was used following the CML_IA impact assessment method. The data used was mainly primary, related to 2019/2020 (harvest period), and representative of the cultivation systems of central and southern Italy. From the results obtained, impact scores for central Italy were higher (e.g., for global warming 0.56 and 0.47 kg CO2 eq. for central and southern respectively). There was high variability among the scores obtained. However, no statistically significant differences were observed at a confidence level of 95% (p < 0.05). Integrated farming was also more impacting than organic for most categories (e.g., for global warming 0.20 kg CO2 eq. for integrated and 0.075 kg CO2 eq. for organic) in Cerignola, Puglia region. Emissions from fertilizer, pesticide, tillage, and combine harvesting were major contributors to impact shares. The results of this study will be helpful to ensure sustainable spinach production and consumption. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precision Agriculture and Sustainability)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 3609 KiB  
Article
A New Spiral Potato Cleaner to Enhance the Removal of Impurities and Soil Clods in Potato Harvesting
by Volodymyr Bulgakov, Simone Pascuzzi, Semjons Ivanovs, Zinoviy Ruzhylo, Ivan Fedosiy and Francesco Santoro
Sustainability 2020, 12(23), 9788; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12239788 - 24 Nov 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2550
Abstract
Sustainability in the agricultural field suggests the conservation and maintenance of a natural environment of soil. Nevertheless, in the potato production chain, the mechanized harvest is carried out with the concurring removal of impurities and fertile soil. The authors have developed a new [...] Read more.
Sustainability in the agricultural field suggests the conservation and maintenance of a natural environment of soil. Nevertheless, in the potato production chain, the mechanized harvest is carried out with the concurring removal of impurities and fertile soil. The authors have developed a new spiral potato cleaner which is able to capture and efficiently remove soil lumps of various sizes and shapes, as well as various plant residues. Theoretical and experimental studies have been performed on this soil clod cleaner to determine the structural and kinematic parameters that provide efficient capturing, motion and sifting down of the soil, through the gaps between the helices of its cleaning spirals. An analytical description of the motion of the clod of soil has been made and a system of differential equations has been compiled, whose numerical solution made it possible to determine the indicated reasonable operative parameters of the developed spiral potato cleaner. The results of the experimental research confirmed those ones obtained through the numerical solution of the mathematical model, i.e., rational angular speed ω of the rotation of the spirals from 20.0 to 30.0 rad s−1 and the radius R of spirals between 0.12 and 0.15 m. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precision Agriculture and Sustainability)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 2349 KiB  
Article
A Study on the Drift of Spray Droplets Dipped in Airflows with Different Directions
by Simone Pascuzzi, Volodymyr Bulgakov, Francesco Santoro, Alexandros Sotirios Anifantis, Semjons Ivanovs and Ivan Holovach
Sustainability 2020, 12(11), 4644; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12114644 - 06 Jun 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2161
Abstract
The European Directive concerning pesticide sustainable use establishes regulations to reduce the environmental drift throughout treatments to agricultural crops, particularly in nearby sensitive areas, such as water bodies, natural reserves and urban areas. The drift represents the fraction of mixture delivered by the [...] Read more.
The European Directive concerning pesticide sustainable use establishes regulations to reduce the environmental drift throughout treatments to agricultural crops, particularly in nearby sensitive areas, such as water bodies, natural reserves and urban areas. The drift represents the fraction of mixture delivered by the sprayer that is not caught by the crop, and is the clearest cause of environmental pollution. Anti-drift nozzles are usually employed, and buffer zones are also maintained along the edges of the sprayed field to reduce drift production. The aim of this work was the theoretical study of the motion of the spray droplets delivered by a nozzle, dipped in downwards and/or lateral forced air flows. A mathematical model has been developed, consisting of a system of 2nd order differential equations, to simulate the motion of water droplets of different diameters within simultaneous different directions of air flow. The graphs, obtained by means of the numerical solution of the model, allow us to analyze the level of the droplets’ drift, according to their diameter and to the speed of the lateral and the downward air flows, respectively. A lateral airflow at a speed of 5 m · s − 1 produced a drift in its direction until 1.70 m for droplets from 100 to 500 μm in diameter. For larger drops, the impact of the downward airflow is not very significant. The results obtained by the numerical solution of the mathematical model have been compared with the results of experimental tests carried out to evaluate the drift of spray produced by different nozzles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precision Agriculture and Sustainability)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 3553 KiB  
Article
Quantitative Analysis and Correction of Temperature Effects on Fluorescent Tracer Concentration Measurement
by Zhihong Zhang, Heping Zhu and Huseyin Guler
Sustainability 2020, 12(11), 4501; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12114501 - 02 Jun 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2773
Abstract
To ensure an accurate evaluation of pesticide spray application efficiency and pesticide mixture uniformity, reliable and accurate measurements of fluorescence concentrations in spray solutions are critical. The objectives of this research were to examine the effects of solution temperature on measured concentrations of [...] Read more.
To ensure an accurate evaluation of pesticide spray application efficiency and pesticide mixture uniformity, reliable and accurate measurements of fluorescence concentrations in spray solutions are critical. The objectives of this research were to examine the effects of solution temperature on measured concentrations of fluorescent tracers as the simulated pesticides and to develop models to correct the deviation of measurements caused by temperature variations. Fluorescent tracers (Brilliant Sulfaflavine (BSF), Eosin, Fluorescein sodium salt) were selected for tests with the solution temperatures ranging from 10.0 °C to 45.0 °C. The results showed that the measured concentrations of BSF decreased as the solution temperature increased, and the decrement rate was high at the beginning and then slowed down and tended to become constant. In contrast, the concentrations of Eosin decreased slowly at the beginning and then noticeably increased as temperatures increased. On the other hand, the concentrations of Fluorescein sodium salt had little variations with its solution temperature. To ensure the measurement accuracy, correction models were developed using the response surface methodology to numerically correct the measured concentration errors due to variations with the solution temperature. Corrected concentrations using the models agreed well with the actual concentrations, and the overall relative errors were reduced from 42.36% to 2.91% for BSF, 11.72% to 1.55% for Eosin, and 2.68% to 1.17% for Fluorescein sodium salt. Thus, this approach can be used to improve pesticide sprayer performances by accurately quantifying droplet deposits on target crops and off-target areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precision Agriculture and Sustainability)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop