Sloping land use affects the complexity of soil moisture and temperature changes in the loess hilly region of China

Various land use types have been implemented by the government in the loess hilly region of China to facilitate sustainable land use. Understanding the variability in soil moisture and temperature under various sloping land use types can aid the ecological restoration and sustainable utilization of sloping land resources. The objective of this study was to use approximate entropy (ApEn) to reveal the variations in soil moisture and temperature under different land use types, because ApEn only requires a short data series to obtain robust estimates, with a strong anti-interference ability. An experiment was conducted with four typical land use scenarios (i.e., soybean sloping field, maize terraced field, jujube orchard, and grassland) over two consecutive plant growing seasons (2014 and 2015), and the time series of soil moisture and temperature within different soil depth layers of each land use type were measured in both seasons. The results showed that the changing amplitude, degree of variation, and active layer of soil moisture in the 0–160 cm soil depth layer, as well as the changing amplitude and degree of variation of soil temperature in the 0–100 cm soil layer increased in the jujube orchard over the two growing seasons. The changing amplitude, degree of variation, and active layer of soil moisture all decreased in the maize terraced field, as did the changing amplitude and degree of variation of soil temperature. The ApEn of the soil moisture series was the lowest in the 0–160 cm soil layer in the maize terraced field, and the ApEn of the soil temperature series was the highest in the 0–100 cm layer in the jujube orchard in the two growing seasons. Finally, the jujube orchard soil moisture and temperature change process were more variable, whereas the changes in the maize terraced field were more stable, with a stable soil moisture and temperature. This work highlights the usefulness of ApEn for revealing soil moisture and temperature changes and to guide the management and development of sloping fields.

Research on Green Transformation of Campus Sponge and Energy Saving Facilities on Sloping Land

Based on the renovation of sponge and energy-saving facilities in a middle school in Nanning, this paper systematically studies the overall elevation of the campus, the composition of the drainage system and the layout of space functions, and formulates a characteristic scheme for the renovation of sponge and energy-saving facilities according to the characteristics of the sloping campus. In order to control the total amount of rainwater runoff, the sponge transformation mainly adopts the transformation methods of partition catchment, upper storage and lower use, multi-stage detection and classification treatment. For the purpose of solar energy and wind energy utilization, solar photovoltaic panels and small-scale wind power generation system are adopted. The application effects of sponge and energy-saving facilities are estimated and evaluated.

Algorithm of Ecocompensation in Sloping Land Conversion Program Based on Heckman’s Two-Step Model

In this paper, we broadly generalize the assignment auction algorithm to solve linear minimum cost network flow problems. It is significant to establish a market-based compensation mechanism by way of conservation auctions based on peasant households’ willingness, which can promote the innovation of ecocompensation policies, green development, and balanced growth. Using the survey data collected from 453 households within 3 national pilot counties in ecologically fragile regions in northwest Liaoning for the Sloping Land Conversion Programme, measuring peasant households’ willingness to accept ecocompensation through sealed auctions, we built a database through cloud computing to realize information collation and query and applied the Heckman’s Two-Step Model to study the impact of risk preference, social capital, cognitive preference, land parcel characteristics, and family endowments on farmers’ willingness to participate in protection auctions and their bid prices. The results reveal that the average bid price of peasant households in the ecologically fragile region in northwest Liaoning for the Sloping Land Conversion Programme is annually 274.5 yuan per mu and that risk preference and social capital have positive impacts on peasant households’ willingness to participate in conservation auctions and on their bid prices, cognitive preference has a positive impact on peasant households’ bid prices in conservation auctions, and land plot characteristics have a negative impact on peasant households’ bid prices in conservation auctions. It is suggested that ecocompensation policies should be optimized with such methods as lowering peasant households’ perception of high risks, setting role models for them to follow, and strengthening their perception of the environment, income, and property rights.

Ergonomics study on pivot-type trailer operation for two-wheel tractor on sloping land

The operation of the pivot type trailer on a two-wheeled tractor on flat land shows that it is more ergonomic than conventional trailers, but for testing on sloping land it has never been tested. Therefore, this study aims to analyze ergonomics, especially the operator’s workload on the operation of a pivot-type trailer on a two-wheel tractor on a sloping land. The calculation of the operator’s workload is based on heart rate measurements, where three operators have their heart rate data taken during the activity of operating a two-wheeled tractor in pulling a trailer. The workloads analyzed are qualitative and quantitative workloads. The results showed that the operation of conventional trailers for land slopes of 0°, 10°, and 30° respectively showed IRHR values of 1.23, 1.24, and 1.31 or the level of work “light”, “light”, and “light”. While using a pivot type trailer, the IRHR values are 1.20, 1.27, and 1.55 or the work levels are “light”, “light”, and “medium”. The average energy consumption rate of operating a conventional trailer is 2.54 kcal/hour.kg-bb (kilocalories per hour per operator’s weight), while using a pivot type trailer 2.60 kcal/hour.kg-bb. The high level of operator workload is largely determined by the skill of the operator in operating the trailer, which requires training in its operation. This causes the operator’s workload to operate on pivot type trailers higher than conventional trailers. However, from the aspect of operator comfort and safety, pivot-type trailers are superior, especially when turning.

Functional and performance test of modified lug wheel on two wheels tractor with pivot type trailer

Palm oil fields with slopes require special wheels for transportation for transporting fresh fruit bunches (FFB), the special wheels in question are modified wheels from the existing cage wheel, the modified wheels can adjust the slope conditions on the land with the lug angle adjustment mechanism. The objective of this study was to test the functional and performance of the modified lug wheel as a means of transporting FFB on sloping land using a hand tractor on a pivot type trailer. Functional testing on the modified lug wheel was carried out by observing changes in the angle of the lugs (0, 15, 30, 45)0 by lifting one of the tractor shafts first using a jack, after which the locking pins were released. The angle change rim can be moved clockwise or anticlockwise by hand according to the desired lug angle. Performance testing on the modified lug wheel is carried out by observing and calculating the slip on the wheel. Functional testing on trailer pivots is carried out by observing all components of the towing system when installed and operated, to determine whether the trailer towing system can function properly. Performance testing on the pivot trailer is done by observing and calculating the turning radius when the tractor turns. Performance testing is also carried out by observing the stability of the two-wheel tractor and trailer. The slope of the land and the angle of the lugs greatly affect wheel slip, the higher the slope on a land, the higher the possibility of wheel slippage during operation. The test results show that the use of modified lug wheels shows better performance at 30° lug angle, as seen from the smaller slip value at 30° lug angle.

Evaluation between the year of pruning and land slope on nutrient uptake and availability in tea plantation

In tea plantations, pruning to rejuvenate the plant is regularly carried out. The cutting age that is also known as pruning year determines the estimated production of tea plantations. The land slope is thought to affect the absorption of nutrients, which have implications on yields. This study aimed to explore the interaction between the pruning year and land slopes in nutrients uptake in tea plantations and to obtain the correlation between soil fertility and nutrients content in tea plants at different land slopes. A field experiment was carried out from December 2020 to February 2021 at The Research Centre for Tea and Cinchona, Gambung. A Split Plot design was conducted to observe between pruning year (PY) that consisted of pruning year 1 (PY-1), pruning year 2 (PY-2), pruning year 3 (PY-3) and pruning year 4 (PY-4) with two different slopes in each block that consisted of flat land (slope = 0-8%) and sloping land (slope = 15%-25%). Results of the study showed that there was no interaction between PY and slope on the uptake and nutrient content in the tea plant, but there was an independent effect from each factor, where the PY factor affected all nutrients uptake, while the slope factor only affected P content. There was no significant difference between flat and sloping land on soil nutrients, but there was a correlation between plant nutrients and tea plant nutrient content. P content had a strong correlation with K content (r = 0.657); and K content had a strong correlation with Mg content (r = 0.891).