Photovoltaics and Electrification in Agriculture

Integration of photovoltaics and electrification in agriculture. Works on the integration of photovoltaics in agriculture, as well as electrification and microgrids in agriculture. In addition, some works on sustainability in agriculture are added

Enhancing Farm-Level Decision Making through Innovation

New information and knowledge are important aspects of innovation in modern farming systems. There is currently an abundance of digital and data-driven solutions that can potentially transform our food systems. At a time when the general public has concerns about how food is produced and the impact of farm production systems on the environment, strategies to increase public acceptance and the sustainability of food production are required more than ever. New tools and technology can provide timely insights into aspects such as nutrient profiles, the tracking of animal or plant wellbeing, and land-use options to enhance inputs and outputs associated with the farm business. Such solutions have the ultimate aim of enhancing production efficiency and contributing to the process of learning about the advantages of the innovation, while ensuring more sustainable food supplies. At the farm level, any new information needs to be in a useful format and beneficial for management and farm decision-making. The papers in this Special Issue evaluate agri-business innovation that can enhance farm-level decision-making

Spreading The Char: The Importance of Local Compatibility in the Diffusion of Biochar Systems to the Smallholder Agriculture Community Context

This thesis enters the context of smallholder agriculture communities in the developing world. It explores the potentials of biochar and what biochar systems could bring to the smallholder communities while simultaneously bringing environmental benefits. It then acknowledges the challenges of diffusion –the spreading of an unfamiliar innovation. It seeks to answer the question of what will make diffusion of biochar systems more successful in the smallholder context, fixating on the characteristic of compatibility as well as the role local community members can play in making a new biochar system more visible to the rest of the communities

Introduction and Table of Contents

The Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education is the official refereed publication of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE). Its purpose is to enhance the research and knowledge base of agricultural and extension education from an international perspective

Analytical Approaches for Identification and Representation of Critical Protection Systems in Transient Stability Studies

abstract: After a major disturbance, the power system response is highly dependent on protection schemes and system dynamics. Improving power systems situational awareness requires proper and simultaneous modeling of both protection schemes and dynamic characteristics in power systems analysis tools. Historical information and ex-post analysis of blackouts reaffirm the critical role of protective devices in cascading events, thereby confirming the necessity to represent protective functions in transient stability studies. This dissertation is aimed at studying the importance of representing protective relays in power system dynamic studies. Although modeling all of the protective relays within transient stability studies may result in a better estimation of system behavior, representing, updating, and maintaining the protection system data becomes an insurmountable task. Inappropriate or outdated representation of the relays may result in incorrect assessment of the system behavior. This dissertation presents a systematic method to determine essential relays to be modeled in transient stability studies. The desired approach should identify protective relays that are critical for various operating conditions and contingencies. The results of the transient stability studies confirm that modeling only the identified critical protective relays is sufficient to capture system behavior for various operating conditions and precludes the need to model all of the protective relays. Moreover, this dissertation proposes a method that can be implemented to determine the appropriate location of out-of-step blocking relays. During unstable power swings, a generator or group of generators may accelerate or decelerate leading to voltage depression at the electrical center along with generator tripping. This voltage depression may cause protective relay mis-operation and unintentional separation of the system. In order to avoid unintentional islanding, the potentially mis-operating relays should be blocked from tripping with the use of out-of-step blocking schemes. Blocking these mis-operating relays, combined with an appropriate islanding scheme, help avoid a system wide collapse. The proposed method is tested on data from the Western Electricity Coordinating Council. A triple line outage of the California-Oregon Intertie is studied. The results show that the proposed method is able to successfully identify proper locations of out-of-step blocking scheme.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 201

Precision Agriculture Technology for Crop Farming

This book provides a review of precision agriculture technology development, followed by a presentation of the state-of-the-art and future requirements of precision agriculture technology. It presents different styles of precision agriculture technologies suitable for large scale mechanized farming; highly automated community-based mechanized production; and fully mechanized farming practices commonly seen in emerging economic regions. The book emphasizes the introduction of core technical features of sensing, data processing and interpretation technologies, crop modeling and production control theory, intelligent machinery and field robots for precision agriculture production

An Analysis of the Non-Adoption of an Introduced Conservation Agriculture (CA) Program by Village Farmers in Sāmoa.

Ph.D. Thesis. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 2018

Precision Agriculture Technology for Crop Farming

This book provides a review of precision agriculture technology development, followed by a presentation of the state-of-the-art and future requirements of precision agriculture technology. It presents different styles of precision agriculture technologies suitable for large scale mechanized farming; highly automated community-based mechanized production; and fully mechanized farming practices commonly seen in emerging economic regions. The book emphasizes the introduction of core technical features of sensing, data processing and interpretation technologies, crop modeling and production control theory, intelligent machinery and field robots for precision agriculture production

Conversion of subsistence farming to sustainable agroforestry in the Midhills of Nepal : participatory action research in system development

In the Midhills of Nepal, agriculture is practiced mostly as subsistence farming on often small-sized terraces. Nowadays there are often only a few trees left in cultivated areas, which leaves the soil bare for several months of the year, mostly in winter. Degeneration processes by environmental influences on bare terraces, and a deficiency of organic material lead to poor soils and consequently to a reduced harvest. A rising population leads to a fragmentation of farms by spreading estates, thus leading to ever smaller-sized cultivated land areas. These often and increasingly do not produce enough food to feed farmers and their families. The possibilities of work in other income sectors are limited. Consequently, some farmers leave their land and move to Kathmandu. To break this chain it is necessary to develop new survival strategies. One solution is to ensure that existing farms can produce enough food to feed themselves and sell to make a living. This can theoretically be achieved by alternative farming methods and the introduction of new techniques. Agroforestry with its mixed farming styles and aspects of permaculture can eventually help to ameliorate the soils and provide extra nutrition and income through a perennially mixed plant production system that also includes several cash crops. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the actual situation of farmers in the region of Kaule, Nepal, and to assess the system change from subsistence farming to agroforestry. An existing agroforestry farm established in Kaule about 15 years ago will serve as a reference. For the system change to agroforestry several hypotheses were put forward on the assumption of the stated problems. These hypotheses have been tested by several methods such as socioeconomic and ecological field surveys, in combination with qualitative social research methods like interviews, questionnaires, protocols and direct observations. The results were then ordered in case studies per household and later accumulated into comparative group observations. The system change was then contextualised to a situation-based functional theory of adoption and diffusion of innovations in social systems. This study report is the written monitoring result of the three initial project years from 2009 to 2011 in Kaule, and in some cases supplemented by additional data from earlier and later years. Data on income and expenses, work distribution within the families, soil quality and biodiversity have been selected. General descriptions of farming methods and reports on several training sessions are also included, as well as the assessment of terrace sizes and meteorological data. After comparing single household situations in the case studies with those of accumulative group observations, two different livelihood strategies were found that seemed to be sustainable for the current situation in Kaule. One strategy is where several parts of families merge together to create bigger social structures and combine their land in bigger scales to produce their livelihood. Alternatively, like the case of the agroforestry farm, the other strategy is part-time farming with enhanced cultivation methods for nutrition and income production, in addition to external work based on higher education. When agroforestry was compared to a situation-based functional approach to describe its potential for adaption and diffusion, it was found that agroforestry in its complexity is difficult to establish and places high expectations on adopters. For households that cultivate only a few plants for personal consumption, agroforestry is not suitable, although they can adopt single elements of the package. The introduction of new plants and methods into farming systems needs to be preferentially planned by marketing prospects. The potential of diffusion of the innovation depends on the necessary support. Even though agroforestry, in the form it has been promoted by the project, is relatively complex, it allows farmers to choose out of its multitude of elements which ones to adopt. The adoption of further farming methods and plants and also additional components like composting or beekeeping can be further developed over time. The potential of agroforestry to enhance soil quality and to contribute to better crop production became apparent when it was compared to other project farms. The potential of diffusion of agroforestry to other farms in the area is possible, as long as suitable local structures like demonstration farms and locally organized project structures are established and continual trainings are organized. A mixture of self-help and external support is therefore favorable.In den Midhills von Nepal wird Landwirtschaft meist auf kleinen Terrassenfeldern in Form von Subsistenzlandwirtschaft praktiziert. Heutzutage sind auf landwirtschaftlich genutzten Flächen nur noch wenige Bäume vorhanden und die Felder liegen vor allem während der Wintermonate brach und unbedeckt. Umwelteinflüsse sowie ein Mangel an zugeführtem organischem Material tragen zu Degenerationsprozessen und einer Verarmung der Böden bei. Dies resultiert wiederum in reduzierten Ernteerträgen. Erbteilung trägt in den Midhills fortwährend zur Landfragmentierung bei, und führt in Kombination mit einer zunehmenden Bevölkerungsdichte zu immer kleineren landwirtschaftlichen Nutzflächen pro Haushalt. Diese Flächen produzieren häufig nicht mehr genügend Ernteerträge um die Familien zu ernähren. Die Möglichkeiten auf andere Arbeitsfelder, als alternative Einnahmequelle zur Lebenserhaltung auszuweichen, sind begrenzt. Daraus resultiert, dass einige Familien ihr Land verlassen und nach Kathmandu ziehen. Um dieser Entwicklung entgegen zu wirken, müssen Familien neue Überlebensstrategien entwickeln. Eine Lösung könnte zunächst eine erhöhte Nahrungsproduktion auf den vorhandenen Landflächen sein. Dies kann theoretisch durch alternative Anbau-, und Kultivierungs- Methoden erreicht werden. Agroforstwirtschaft, mit ihren Misch-, und Dauerkulturen, kann zu einer Verbesserung der Böden und so langfristig zu einer gesteigerten Bodenproduktivität beitragen, und mit Cash Crops zusätzliche finanzielle Einnahmen erzielen. Die hier vorgelegte Studie evaluiert die grundlegende Situation von Landwirten in Kaule und beschreibt die Projektbemühungen zur Verbreitung der Agroforstwirtschaft. Ein bereits seit über 15 Jahre bestehender Agroforstbetrieb in Kaule dient dabei als Vergleich. Für die Systemumstellung zur Agroforstwirtschaft wurden durch die Annahme von Problemstellungen verschiedene Hypothesen formuliert. Diese Hypothesen wurden mit Daten von unterschiedlichen Indikatoren, aus dem sozial-ökonomischen und ökologischen Bereich, durch Messungen und mit qualitativen sozialwissenschaftlichen Methoden wie Befragungen, Gesprächs-Protokollen und persönlichen Beobachtungen geprüft. Dazu wurden diese Daten zunächst in Fallstudien pro Haushalt zusammengeführt und dann zu einer vergleichenden Gruppenbetrachtung der Projektteilnehmer verwendet. Die Systemumstellung wurde anschließend im Rahmen einer situationsfunktionalen Theorie der Übernahme und Verbreitung von Neuerrungen in sozialen Systemen betrachtet. Die hier vorgelegte Studie bezieht sich im Kern auf die ersten drei Projektjahre von 2009 bis 2011. In manchen Fällen sind, zum besseren Verständnis, zusätzlich Daten von früheren oder späteren Jahren beigefügt. Daten zu Einnahmen und Ausgaben der Betriebe, zur Arbeitsverteilung innerhalb der Familien, zu Bodenbeschaffenheit und zur Biodiversität wurden erhoben. Daneben wurden generelle Beschreibungen des Pflanzenanbaus, sowie verschiedenen Schulungsberichte erstellt und die Vermessung der Terrassenflächen sowie meteorologische Daten ausgewertet. Nach der fallweisen Beschreibung der Betriebe und der darauffolgenden Eingruppierung wurden letztendlich zwei Strategien identifiziert, die für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung von Familie und Betrieb in Kaule vielversprechend erscheinen. Entweder schließen sich Familien zu größeren Einheiten zusammen und erwirtschaften ihren Lebensunterhalt auf den vereinigten größeren Landflächen. Alternativ, wie im Beispiel des bestehenden Agroforstbetriebs, kann die Nebenerwerbslösung bei verbessertem Anbau für die Produktion von Nahrung und Einkommen, und mit zusätzlicher möglichst qualifizierter außerbetrieblicher Arbeit zum Erfolg führen. Die Betrachtung des Agroforstprojekts, im Rahmen eines situationsfunktionalen Ansatzes, zur Bewertung des Adoptions-, und Verbreitungspotentials, zeigte, dass Agroforstwirtschaft eine sehr komplexe Neuerung ist, die hohe Anforderungen an die Übernehmer stellt. Für Zuerwerbsbetriebe oder solche mit auslaufender Landwirtschaft ist sie ungeeignet, jedoch können diese einzelne Elemente des Pakets übernehmen. Die Einführung der neuen Pflanzenarten in das Betriebssystem muss vorrangig von der Vermarktung her geplant werden. Nur bei geeigneter Unterstützung gibt es ein Potential für die Verbreitung dieser Neuerung. Auch wenn die Agroforstwirtschaft, in der Form wie sie durch das Projekt vermittelt wurde, relativ kompliziert ist, ermöglicht sie durch eine Vielzahl von Elementen letztendlich den Landwirten die Wahl, welche davon angenommen werden und welche nicht. Die Annahme von Anbautechniken und Pflanzen aber auch von zusätzlichen Komponenten wie z.B. Kompost oder Bienenzucht kann mit der Zeit weiter ausgebaut werden. Deutlich wurde auch, dass durch das Potential der Agroforstwirtschaft, die verarmten Böden anzureichern, auf längere Sicht eine Erhöhung der Ernteerträge zu erwarten ist