ICT tools for data management and analysis to support decisional process oriented to sustainable agri-food chains

Il settore agroalimentare sta affrontando delle sfide globali. La prima riguarda sfamare la popolazione mondiale che nel 2050, secondo le proiezioni delle Nazioni Unite, raggiungerà quota 9,3 miliardi di persone. La seconda sfida riguarda la richiesta da parte dei consumatori di prodotti ottenuti da filiere agroalimentari sempre più sostenibili, sicure e trasparenti. In particolare, l’Agricoltura sostenibile è una tecnica di gestione in grado di preservare la diversità biologica, la produttività, la capacità di rigenerazione, la vitalità e l’abilità alla funzione di un ecosistema agricolo, assicurandone, oggi e in futuro, le funzioni ecologiche, economiche e sociali a livello locale, nazionale ed globale, senza danneggiare altri ecosistemi. Quindi, per fronteggiare la sfida dell’agricoltura sostenibile, gli agricoltori devono aumentare la qualità e la quantità della produzione, riducendo l’impatto ambientale attraverso nuovi strumenti e nuove strategie di gestione. Questo lavoro analizza l’integrazione nel settore agroalimentare di alcune tecnologie e metodologie ICT per l’acquisizione, gestione e analisi dei dati, come la tecnologia RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification), i FMIS (Farm Management Information Systems), i DW (Data Warehouse) e l’approccio OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing). Infine, l’adozione delle tecnologie ICT da parte di vere aziende è stata valutata attraverso un questionario. Al riguardo dell’adozione delle tecnologie RFID, questo lavoro analizza l’opportunità di trasferimento tecnologico relativo al monitoraggio e controllo dei prodotti agroalimentari tramite l’utilizzo di sensori innovativi, intelligenti e miniaturizzati. Le informazioni riguardanti lo stato del prodotto sono trasferite in tempo reale in wireless, come previsto dalla tecnologia RFID. In particolare, due soluzioni RFID sono state analizzate, evidenziando vantaggi e punti critici in confronto ai classici sistemi per assicurare la tracciabilità e la qualità dei prodotti agroalimentari. Quindi, questo lavoro analizza la possibilità di sviluppare una struttura che combina le tecnologie della Business Intelligence con i principi della Protezione Integrata (IPM) per aiutare gli agricoltori nel processo decisionale, andando a diminuire l’impatto ambientale ed aumentare la performance produttiva. L’IPM richiede di utilizzare simultaneamente diverse tecniche di protezione delle colture per il controllo dei parassiti e patogeni tramite un approccio ecologico ed economico. Il sistema di BI proposto è chiamato BI4IPM e combina l’approccio OLTP (On-Line Transaction Processing) con quello OLAP per verificare il rispetto dei disciplinari di produzione integrata. BI4IPM è stato testato con dati provenienti da vere aziende olivicole pugliesi. L’olivo è una delle principali colture a livello globale e la Puglia è la prima regione produttrice in Italia, con un gran numero di aziende che generano dati sull’IPM. Le strategie di protezione delle colture sono correlate alle condizioni climatiche, considerando la forte relazione tra clima, colture e parassiti. Quindi, in questo lavoro è presentato un nuovo e avanzato modello OLAP che integra il GSI (Growing Season Index), un modello fenologico, per comparare indirettamente le aziende agricole dal punto di vista climatico. Il sistema proposto permette di analizzare dati IPM di diverse aziende agricole che presentano le stesse condizioni fenologiche in un anno al fine di individuare best practices e di evidenziare e spiegare pratiche differenti adottate da aziende che lavorano in differenti condizioni climatiche. Infine, è stata effettuata un’indagine al fine di capire come le aziende agricole della Basilicata si raggruppano in funzione del livello di innovazione adottato. È stato utilizzato un questionario per domandare alle aziende se adottano strumenti ICT, ed eventualmente in quale processo produttivo o di management vengano usati. È stata quindi effettuata un’analisi cluster sui dati raccolti. I risultati mostrano che, usando il metodo di clustering k-means, appaiono due gruppi: gli innovatori e gli altri. Mentre, applicando la rappresentazione boxlot, si ottengono 3 gruppi: innovatori, utilizzatori precoci e ritardatari.The Agri-Food sector is facing global challenges. The first issue concerns feeding a world population that in 2050, according to United Nations projections, will reach 9.3 billion people. The second challenge is the request by consumers for high quality products obtained by more sustainable, safely and clear agri-food chains. In particular, the Sustainable agriculture is a management strategy able to preserve the biological diversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, vitality and ability to function of an agricultural ecosystem, ensuring, today and in the future, significant ecological, economic and social functions at the local, national and global scales, without harming other ecosystems. Therefore, to face the challenge of the sustainable agriculture, farmers need to increase quality and quantity of the production, reducing the environmental impact through new management strategies and tools. This work explores the integration of several ICT technologies and methodologies in the agri-food sector for the data acquisition, management and analysis, such as RFID technology, Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS), Data Warehouse (DW) and On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP). Finally, the adoption of the ICT technologies by real farms is evaluated through a survey. Regarding the adoption of the RFID technology, this work explores an opportunity for technology transfer related to the monitoring and control of agri-food products, based on the use of miniaturized, smart and innovative sensors. The information concerning to the state of the product is transferred in real time in a wireless way, according to the RFID technology. In particular, two technical solutions involving RFID are provided, highlighting the advantages and critical points referred to the normal system used to ensure the traceability and the quality of the agri-food products. Therefore, this work explores the possibility of developing a framework that combines business intelligence (BI) technologies with Integrated Pest Management (IPM) principles to support farmers in the decisional process, thereby decreasing environmental cost and improving production performance. The IPM requires the simultaneous use of different crop protection techniques to control pests through an ecological and economic approach. The proposed BI system is called BI4IPM, and it combines on-line transaction processing (OLTP) with OLAP to verify adherence to the IPM technical specifications. BI4IPM is tested with data from real Apulian olive crop farms. Olive tree is one of the most important crop at global scale and Apulia is the first olive-producing region in Italy, with a huge amount of farms that generate IPM data. The crop protection strategies are correlated to the climate conditions considering the very important relation among climate, crops and pests. Therefore, in this work is presented a new advanced OLAP model integrating the Growing Season Index (GSI), a phenology model, to compare indirectly the farms by a climatic point of view. The proposed system allows analysing IPM data of different farms having the same phenological conditions over a year to understand some best practices and to highlight and explain different practices adopted by farms working in different climatic conditions. Finally, a survey aimed at investigating how Lucania' farms cluster according to the level of innovation adopted was performed. It was used a questionnaire for asking if farms adopt ICTs tools and, in case, what type they involved in managing and/or production processes. It has been done a cluster analysis on collected data. Results show that, using k-means clustering method, appear two clusters: innovators, remaining groups. While, using boxplot representation, clustered three groups: innovators, early adopters and laggards

Food safety plan of Catalonia 2017-2021

Seguretat alimentària; Pla estratègic; Política de seguretat alimentàriaSeguridad alimentaria; Plan estratégico; Política de seguridad alimentariaFood Safety; Strategic plan; Food security policyEl Pla de seguretat alimentària de Catalunya 2017-2021 constitueix una nova etapa del projecte que va començar l’any 2007 amb el primer Pla de seguretat alimentària de Catalunya. Aquest Pla dóna compliment al mandat que suposa la Llei 18/2009, de 22 d’octubre, de salut pública, l’article 43 de la qual estableix que el Pla de seguretat alimentària és el marc de referència per a les accions públiques de l’Administració de la Generalitat i dels ens locals en aquest àmbit. La Llei de salut pública preveu que el Pla de seguretat alimentària de Catalunya inclogui els objectius de seguretat alimentària en els àmbits de la innocuïtat dels aliments; la sanitat, la nutrició i el benestar dels animals; la sanitat vegetal; els productes zoosanitaris i fitosanitaris, i la contaminació ambiental, si afecten directament la seguretat alimentària, així com el conjunt dels serveis, programes i actuacions que s’han de desenvolupar, i els mecanismes d’avaluació i de seguiment. Així mateix, s’estableix que el procediment d’elaboració ha de garantir la intervenció de les administracions, les institucions, les societats científiques i els professionals relacionats amb la seguretat alimentària, i també de la societat civil.El Plan de seguridad alimentaria de Cataluña 2017-2021 constituye una nueva etapa del proyecto que comenzó en 2007 con el primer Plan de seguridad alimentaria de Cataluña. Este Plan da cumplimiento al mandato que supone la Ley 18/2009, de 22 de octubre, de salud pública, el artículo 43 de la que establece que el Plan de seguridad alimentaria es el marco de referencia para las acciones públicas de la Administración de la Generalidad y los entes locales en este ámbito. La Ley de salud pública prevé que el Plan de seguridad alimentaria de Cataluña incluya los objetivos de seguridad alimentaria en los ámbitos de la inocuidad de los alimentos; la sanidad, la nutrición y el bienestar de los animales; la sanidad vegetal; los productos zoosanitarios y fitosanitarios, y la contaminación ambiental, si afectan directamente a la seguridad alimentaria, así como el conjunto de los servicios, programas y actuaciones a desarrollar, y los mecanismos de evaluación y de seguimiento. Asimismo, se establece que el procedimiento de elaboración debe garantizar la intervención de las administraciones, las instituciones, las sociedades científicas y los profesionales relacionados con la seguridad alimentaria, y también de la sociedad civil.The Food Safety Plan of Catalonia 2017-2021 is a new phase of the project that began in 2007 with the first Food Safety Plan of Catalonia. This Plan fulfills the mandate of Law 18/2009, of October 22, on public health, article 43 of which states that the Food Security Plan is the reference framework for public actions of the Administration of the Generalitat and local authorities in this area. The Public Health Act provides that the Food Safety Plan of Catalonia include the objectives of food security in the areas of food safety; the health, the nutrition and the welfare of the animal; vegetal health; Sanitary and phytosanitary products, and environmental pollution, if they directly affect food safety, as well as all the services, programs and actions to be carried out, and the evaluation and monitoring mechanisms. Likewise, it is established that the elaboration procedure must guarantee the intervention of the administrations, institutions, scientific societies and professionals related to food safety, as well as of civil society

MAKING BOUNDARIES AND LINKING GLOBALLY: “MATERIAL POLITICS” OF PHYTOSANITARY REGULATION ON MEXICAN MANGOS

This dissertation illuminates how phytosanitary (PS) regulations enable mango exportation from Mexico to the United States. PS regulations are technical and legal measures to prevent plant pests from proliferating or being transported to other places and are important regulatory mechanisms enabling the globalization of agriculture. My case study investigates how PS regulations enable Mexican mango exportation as an aspect of the globalization of agriculture, illustrating the consequences of PS regulations to humans and non-humans. More specifically, three research questions are posed: (1) How does the PS regulation network operate to draw distinctions between pest/non-pest, thereby enabling the export of Mexican mangos to the United States? (2) What values are associated with the PS regulation network, and what are the normative, moral, or ethical implications of the regulations? And, (3) How are the PS regulations in transition in the state of Sinaloa changing economic prospects for mango growers and packers to tap into global mango markets? Theoretically, the analysis draws on a concept called “material politics,” which claims that politics is enacted through not only discursive measures, such as statutes, but also physical embodiment by material beings. Thus, PS regulations are conceptualized as a materially heterogeneous network that establishes boundaries between pest/non-pest, thereby connecting distinct places, such as mango orchards and consumers. The material politics concept also suggests the emergence of socio-material “ordering” effects by regulations, such as values, morals, and norms, as well as unequal economic opportunities. Nine months of ethnographic fieldwork in Mexico, which employed in-depth interviews, (participant) observations, and documentary research, yielded the following findings: (1) PS regulations as a network of governance (re)configured the production of the commodity, “disciplining” humans and non-humans to conform to the global regulatory order; (2) in this network, non-governmental entities played critical roles, fitting squarely with the recent neoliberal political-economic orientation in Mexico; and (3) although the government’s pest eradication program could improve market chances for growers, local political-economic circumstances, including small-scale growers’ dependence on packers for marketing, still left substantial challenges for such economic prospects to materialize

Salient Trends in Organic Standards: Opportunities and Challenges for Developing Countries

This paper presents an overview of the fundamental issues in the production, trade and regulation of organic products. It notes the changing consumer and trade environments that are driving organics beyond the realm of niche products toward an increasingly relevant position among other important agricultural standards. Rather than a comprehensive analysis it outlines key elements that are most relevant to developing country producers including the likely impacts of adopting organics and the salient trends drawing from recent empirical research and the current literature on the subject. Finally, this document briefly assesses the significant constraints and opportunities facing the sector in order to draw some practical policy and investment conclusions

Influence of the structural and functional characteristics of the seeding material on the yield structure elements and resistance to leaf diseases of spring soft wheat

Received: January 25th, 2021 ; Accepted: November 5th, 2021 ; Published: November 15th, 2021 ; Correspondence: [email protected] high-quality grain use when sowing is a necessary condition for obtaining a high yield. Along with the standard tests regulated by the ISTA (International Seed Testing Association), there are promising introscopic techniques for the seed material quality controlling - methods of microfocus radiography and gas discharge visualization (electrophotography). The effect of structural and functional characteristics of the seeding material on the wheat productivity and diseases resistance was studied out on the experimental field of the Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources. Ten accessions of soft wheat with the ‘parametric passport’ (including more than thirty optical parameters, including gas discharge images, morpho- and densitometric analysis of X-ray patterns) were used as an experimental seeding material. Unviable wheat seeds, in comparison with healthy ones, were characterized mainly by a smaller area, form coefficient, standard deviation of three-dimensional fractality by isoline, entropy by isoline, higher brightness and standard deviation of the isoline radius of the gas discharge images. Morpho- and densitometric indices of unviable seeds differed in reduced values of the circle factor, roundness, minimum and maximum average brightness, but in greater elongation and optical density of the X-ray patterns projection. The intensity of wheat affection by diseases has varied depending on the structural and functional characteristics of seeds. It was noted, that the brown rust development decreased with an increase in the entropy by isoline, the contour irregularity and the average radius of the isoline

Salient Trends in Organic Standards: the Opportunities and Challenges for Developing Countries

An overview of the fundamental issues in the production, trade and regulation of organic products. It notes the changing consumer and trade environments that are driving organics beyond the realm of niche products toward an increasingly relevant position among other important agricultural standards. Rather than a comprehensive analysis it outlines key elements that are most relevant to developing country producers including the likely impacts of adopting organics and the salient trends drawing from recent empirical research and the current literature on the subject. Finally, this document briefly assesses the significant constraints and opportunities facing the sector in order to draw some practical policy and investment conclusionsstandards; trade; certification; accreditation; barriers, environment