Crop prediction using machine learning

For most developing countries, agriculture is their primary source of revenue. Modern agriculture is a constantly growing approach for agricultural advances and farming techniques. It becomes challenging for the farmers to satisfy our planet’s evolving requirements and the expectations of merchants, customers, etc. Some of the challenges the farmers face are-(i) Dealing with climatic changes because of soil erosion and industry emissions (ii) Nutrient deficiency in the soil, caused by a shortage of crucial minerals such as potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus can result in reduced crop growth. (iii) Farmers make a mistake by cultivating the same crops year after year without experimenting with different varieties. They add fertilizers randomly without understanding the inferior quality or quantity. The paper aims to discover the best model for crop prediction, which can help farmers decide the type of crop to grow based on the climatic conditions and nutrients present in the soil. This paper compares popular algorithms such as K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Decision Tree, and Random Forest Classifier using two different criterions Gini and Entropy. Results reveal that Random Forest gives the highest accuracy among the three.

Climate Changes and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources: Challenges for Agriculture

During the last few decades, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has increased. Estimates are showing that the agriculture, forestry and other land use emits less than a quarter of the total anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases globally and in this way endangers resources. Observing from the point of the European Union, agriculture emits 436.7 million tons of CO2 equivalents, corresponding to 9.8% of total greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, agricultural production is accompanied by the creation of residues, whose amount often exceeds the weight of the main product, which can be used as a source of renewable energy. About 25% of the harvest residues can be used for energy purposes, without compromising the population food safety, nor adversely affecting the fertility of the land. The aim of this article is to point out on the consequences of the harmful effects of modern agriculture on the environment, but also on the fact that agriculture can offer solutions to the challenges of climate change.

Ab initio of Broadband NIR Garnet Phosphor Ca4ZrGe3O12: Cr3+, Yb3+ for NIR pc-LEDs Applications

Near-infrared phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes (NIR pc-LEDs) have outstanding application prospects in many fields such as non-destructive detection, bioimaging and modern agriculture, in which the development of NIR emitting phosphor with...

RESEARCH STATUS AND DEVELOPMENT TREND OF MECHANIZED STRAW RETURNING TECHNOLOGY. A REVIEW

As the application of agricultural mechanized production technology becomes more and more extensive, the application of mechanized straw returning technology has become more and more valuable. The mechanized return of straw to the field is a time-saving and labor-saving technology. It is an effective way to achieve sustainable agricultural development and is of great significance to the development and progress of modern agriculture. This article analyzes the current research status of mechanized straw returning to the field, discusses the process structure and characteristics of different mechanized straw returning methods, and focuses on the analysis of the composite technology of straw returning to the field. At the same time, the key problems of straw returning to the field, such as the length of straw not meeting the standard, the shallow depth of straw returning to the field, and the uneven distribution of straw, are put forward and analyzed. By taking the cover and burial rate of straw on the soil surface and the spatial distribution uniformity of straw in the soil as the performance evaluation indexes of straw mechanized field return, each index is elaborated. Finally, two major development trends are proposed: the development of mechanized straw returning to the field from a single process to a composite process, and the effect of straw returning to the field towards uniform mixed burying and precise control.

Аgricultural cooperation from a historical perspective

The purpose of the article is to show that cooperation conducted in a «voluntary-compulsory» manner only discredits the idea of cooperation in rural areas and leads to food crises in society. The research uses the method of historical analogies. The article examines the processes of agricultural concentration, including in the form of cooperation, from a historical perspective; an assessment of current trends is given by comparing them with similar processes that took place in the Soviet era in the conditions of the administrative economy. Statistical materials from official sources, party-Soviet documents were used for the analysis. The content of V.I. Lenin's article «On Cooperation», to which the former and current ideologists of the cooperation of the peasantry refer, allows for a very twofold interpretation of the ideas of the leader of the revolution. On the one hand, Lenin's position presupposes a link between the city and the countryside on the basis of a new economic policy. On the other hand, his remark that «the system of civilized cooperators with public ownership of the means of production... – this is the system of socialism,» clearly indicates that Lenin considered the collective farm form as the highest form of peasant cooperation. This form of cooperation objectively leads to the use of the state coercive apparatus with all the ensuing consequences. This form of cooperation objectively leads to the use of the state coercive apparatus with all the ensuing consequences. It is shown that the basis of failures in the development of cooperation in modern agriculture of Kazakhstan is the prevalence of administrative and bureaucratic methods of solving the problem. Author summarizes that only reliance on the initiative of the peasants themselves, their personal interests and motivation are the main condition for the successful promotion of ideas of cooperation in rural areas.

Development of a low-cost electromechanical penetrometer to verify resistance to soil penetration

Soil compaction is one of the great obstacles in modern agriculture. With the increase in size, weight and intensity of use of machines in crops in recent decades, the soil has suffered damage to its structure, compromising the productivity of vegetable crops. One of the ways to indirectly obtain the compaction state of the soil is through the resistance to penetration imposed by it on a standardized metal rod. Invariably, commercial equipment for this purpose is expensive. The objective of this study was to develop a low-cost system for evaluating the resistance to soil penetration, using a prototyping platform and specific sensors. The developed equipment, when compared with a calibrated standard equipment, presented a high correlation in the results of resistance to penetration in two soil conditions. The development cost of the proposed equipment was 800% lower than the average value of commercial equipment available on the market, so the measurements met the purpose of the project, showing the possibility of developing low-cost solutions through prototyping platforms, for the assessment of resistance to soil penetration.

The Effect of Music on Livestock: Cattle, Poultry and Pigs

The welfare of animals, especially those kept in intensive production systems, is a priority for modern agriculture. This stems from the desire to keep animals healthy, to obtain a good-quality final product, and to meet the demands of today’s consumers, who have been increasingly persuaded to buy organic products. As a result, new sound-based methods have been pursued to reduce external stress in livestock. Music therapy has been known for thousands of years, and sounds were believed to improve both body and spirit. Today, they are mostly used to distract patients from their pain, as well as to treat depression and cardiovascular disorders. However, recent studies have suggested that appropriately selected music can confer some health benefits, e.g., by increasing the level and activity of natural killer cells. For use in livestock, the choice of genre, the loudness of the music and the tempo are all important factors. Some music tracks promote relaxation (thus improving yields), while others have the opposite effect. However, there is no doubt that enriching the animals’ environment with music improves their welfare and may also convince consumers to buy products from intensively farmed animals. The present paper explores the effects of music on livestock (cattle, poultry and pigs) on the basis of the available literature.

Chitosan in modern agriculture production

In the perspective of return to nature, using scientific and technical progress for improved living standards, people began to search for solutions to alleviate environmental pollution. Researchers intend to make clean, affordable products that are gentle yet effective. Chitosan derived from the exoskeleton of crustaceans, cuticles of insects, cell walls of fungi, and some algae are renowned for many decades to exhibit biotic properties, especially anti-microbial characteristics. Here we review each ingredient for sourcing organic chitosan, with clean raw materials that can make pure, rich, and powerful products working naturally. Our study elaborates advances and utilisation of chitosan for industrial control-release fertilisers by physical, chemical, and multifaceted formulations such as water-retaining super absorbent, polyacrylic acid, and resins. Plant growth-promoting properties of chitosan as a growth regulator, pest/disease resistance, signalling regulation, effect on nuclear deformation, and apoptosis. Chitosan can improve the plant defence mechanism by stimulating photochemistry and enzymes related to photosynthesis. Furthermore, electrophysiological modification induced by chitosan can practically enable it to be utilised as a herbicide. Chitosan has an excellent role in improving soil fertility and plant growth as well as plant growth promoters. It is concluded, chitosan can play a key role in modern agriculture production and could be a valuable source promoting agricultural ecosystem sustainability. Future suggestions will be based on current achievements and also notable gaps. In addition, chitosan has a huge contribution to reducing fertilisers pollution, managing agricultural pests and pathogens in modern-day agriculture.

Seaweed and microalgae as major actors of blue biotechnology to achieve plant stimulation and pest and pathogen biocontrol – a review of the latest advances and future prospects

Modern agriculture needs proper solutions to face the current trend of pesticides and fertilizers reduction. One of the available leverages to support this transition is the use of bioproducts that are more environmentally friendly and less hazardous for human health. Among them, blue biotechnology and more precisely seaweed and microalgae gain interest every year in the scientific community. In agriculture, seaweeds (Macroalgae) have been used in the production of plant biostimulants while microalgae still remain unexploited. Microalgae are widely described as renewable sources of biofuels, bioingredients and biologically active compounds, such as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), carotenoids, phycobiliproteins, sterols, vitamins and polysaccharides, which attract considerable interest in both scientific and industrial communities. They affect agricultural crops for enhancement of plant growth, seedling growth. They can also improve nutrient incorporation, fruit setting, resistance properties against pests and diseases, improving stress management (drought, salinity and temperature). The present review aimed at the interest of blue biotechnology in agronomy, with a specific focus on microalgae, their biological activities and their possible application in agriculture as a potentially sustainable alternative for enhanced crop performance, nutrient uptake and resilience to environmental stress. This review does not only present a comprehensive study of microalgae as plant biostimulants but also as biofertilizers, with a particular emphasis on future challenges these solutions will have to deal with, microalgae being able to synthesize secondary metabolites with potential biopesticidal action.