OPEN INNOVATION PLATFORM FOR SMART AGRICULTURE

The paper presented the importance of innovation platforms and especially those intended for the agriculture domain. The structure and architecture of digital tools for an online platform such as "OPEN INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM" or "OPEN INNOVATION 2.0" for trading the demand and supply of research-development-innovation in agriculture and related fields will be detailed. The concept of the innovation platform was used in the field of agriculture to allow research, learning and interactions between stakeholders and to jointly exploit opportunities and address solutions that lead to promoting innovation in agriculture, from idea to production and capitalization of good

INNOVATIVE AND CROSS-SECTORAL CLUSTERS AS FACILITATORS OF VALUE ADDED CHAINS IN AGRICULTURE - SMART AGRO CLUSTERS IN ROMANIA

Clusters play an important role in driving competitiveness, innovation and jobs creation in the EU. Romania currently has successful clusters in various economic sectors and services, including 7 clusters in agro-food. Agriculture has been and remains the support of the human existence, which is an important pillar of the Romanian rural economy. The agro-food sector had oscillating evolutions in the post-accession period, mainly generated by the need to get in line with the EU requirements. Stimulating smart technology assimilation across all economic sectors including agro-food value chains, promoting enterprise growth and clusters 4.0 is critical to many EU Member States. Partnerships between countries, regions, cities and clusters are essential in the next industrial modernization process, based on innovation. Clusters 4.0 calls for development of a generation of advanced cluster policies to respond to these new industrial challenges by facilitating cross-sectoral value chains, fostering internationalization, stimulating inter-regional investment and accelerating entrepreneurship and skills in digital production, environmental production, circular economy, service innovation and creative economy. In order to be ready for the future, clusters must be geared towards creating a smart value chains, international cooperation and cross-sectoral partnerships. This research paper proposes a model  as a tool for agro-clusters to become “smart”, also this proposal providing information on the most important steps in the creation and development of smart agro-clusters. The used research methodology was based on analysis and synthesis of the information on the economic and social aspects of the development of the agro-food sector and of clusters in Romania. In conclusion, the authors of this paper wanted to emphasize the necessity of the development of smart agro-clusters for the future smart specialization of the regions

STUDY ON THE DEVELOPMENT, PRODUCTIVITY AND PROFITABILITY OF ARIZONA AND BELLAROSA POTATO VARIETIES

The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a herbaceous plant that belongs to the nightshade family. They are edible, rich in starch so they are used in human nutrition in various forms, serve as animal feed, but can also be used as a raw material in various industries (Toader and Roman, 2014). Originally from South America, more precisely from the Andes Mountains region, potatoes are the 4th largest source of food energy after corn, rice and wheat (https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istoria_cartofului_%C3%AEn_imperiul_inca%C8%99). At maturity, the tubers have a dry matter composed of 70% starch, 2-4% cellulose, 2.5% pectins, 0.5-2% reducing carbohydrates and 0.5-1% sugars (Berindei, 1984). The objective was represented by the study of two potato varieties, namely Arizona (white potato) and Bellarosa (red potato) grown on two different plots analyzing both their productivity and profitability, both being two early varieties. The crops were studied during the entire vegetation period, also following the economic analysis and implicitly the profit of each variety. The first determination was related to planting density, respectively to the number of nests per hectare. All the technological works that were undertaken within the studied plots were noted, the vegetation phases from the moment of execution of each work with the help of the BBCH scale, the consumption of materials, time and fuel that each intervention involved. In the end, we also found out the costs of the works performed in order to be able to establish the profit obtained from the sale of each variety in order to be able to establish which of the two is more profitable. Prior to harvesting, two sets of samples representing 10 potato nests were extracted from the two plots in order to analyze the productivity of each variety. These determinations were performed under laboratory conditions and involved the following: number of tubers / nest, weight of tubers / nest (g), stem height (cm), largest tuber / nest (g), smallest tuber / nest (g), their diameter in section (cm)

Investigating Hydrogen Separation in a Novel Rotating Carbon Nanotube–Carbon Nanocone Setup Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Hydrogen fuel cells rely on the purity of the hydrogen gas for maintaining a high performance. This study investigates a novel nanostructure design for its effectiveness in separating H2 molecules from a mixture of gases containing H2, CH4, CO2, N2, CO and H2O molecules using Molecular Dynamics simulations. Based on an open-ended (28, 0) rotating carbon nanotube with one carbon nanocone at each of its two extremes, this device is predicted through Molecular Dynamics simulations to be able to separate hydrogen from a gas mixture contained within. The nanocones were placed with their tips inside the nanotube and the size of the open channel created between the two was controlled to find a configuration that allows hydrogen to pass while restricting the other gases. Although in need of optimization, we find it capable of high selectivity and highlight captivating gas behavior insights to help advance rational gas separation device development

Considerations on the importance of the main chemical properties of the soil in agrochemical studies

Information on soil nutrition level or soil pollution level can lead to the establishment of some recommendations or a strategic decision-making program for the reference area development. The specific soil analysis is essential both from an economic point of view and from an environmental point of view. To achieve an adequate management of the nutrients into an agricultural field, it is necessary to conduct an agrochemical study at an interval of 3–5 years, in which, the relevant agrochemical indicators for the evaluation of the nutrient supply state must be analysed, to determine fertilizer doses and/or recommended amendments for the expected crops. The agrochemical study must contain the analysis bulletin that provides the following information: pH value, humus and total nitrogen content, phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) content, C/N ratio (carbon / nitrogen), nitrogen index (NI), as well as the main microelements

Mathematical modelling and numerical simulation of linear electro-hydraulic servomechanism with stepper motor

The paper presents the results of research on the performance of linear electro-hydraulic servomechanisms with stepper motor, evaluated by mathematical modelling and numerical simulation with the AMESIM software package. These servomechanisms have a great potential for application, including for agricultural technical equipment. Servomechanisms of various types are used for the rapid and high precision operation of the various systems. In practice, electro-hydraulic servomechanisms have been required in the case of the systems requiring high forces or moments. These equipment are automatic hydraulic tracking systems and can be analysed with methods specific to automatic systems. The paper contains a structural description of an electro-mechanical servomechanism with stepper motor, its operation, mathematical model and its performances obtained by numerical simulation. The mathematical modelling of the electro-hydraulic servomechanism is based on the relations between the input sizes and output sizes of the equipment in its structure as well as the connection relations between these equipment. Based on the obtained results it is demonstrated that the analysis and synthesis of electro-hydraulic servomechanisms with stepper motor can be determined by numerical simulation using the AMESIM simulation software

Towards Performant Design of Carbon-Based Nanomotors for Hydrogen Separation through Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Clean energy technologies represent a hot topic for research communities worldwide. Hydrogen fuel, a prized alternative to fossil fuels, displays weaknesses such as the poisoning by impurities of the precious metal catalyst which controls the reaction involved in its production. Thus, separating H2 out of the other gases, meaning CH4, CO, CO2, N2, and H2O is essential. We present a rotating partially double-walled carbon nanotube membrane design for hydrogen separation and evaluate its performance using molecular dynamics simulations by imposing three discrete angular velocities. We provide a nano-perspective of the gas behaviors inside the membrane and extract key insights from the filtration process, pore placement, flux, and permeance of the membrane. We display a very high selectivity case (ω = 180° ps−1) and show that the outcome of Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations can be both intuitive and counter-intuitive when increasing the ω parameter (ω = 270° ps−1; ω = 360° ps−1). Thus, in the highly selective, ω = 180° ps−1, only H2 molecules and 1–2 H2O molecules pass into the filtrate area. In the ω = 270° ps−1, H2, CO, CH4, N2, and H2O molecules were observed to pass, while, perhaps counter-intuitively, in the third case, with the highest imposed angular velocity of 360° ps−1 only CH4 and H2 molecules were able to pass through the pores leading to the filtrate area

Innovative and cross-sectoral clusters as facilitators of value added chains in agriculture – smart agro clusters in Romania

Clusters play an important role in driving competitiveness, innovation and jobs creation in the EU. Romania currently has successful clusters in various economic sectors and services, including 7 clusters in agro-food. Agriculture has been and remains the support of the human existence, which is an important pillar of the Romanian rural economy.The agro-food sector had oscillating evolutions in the post-accession period, mainly generated by the need to get in line with the EU requirements. Stimulating smart technology assimilation across all economic sectors including agro-food value chains, promoting enterprise growth and clusters 4.0 is critical to many EU Member States. Partnerships between countries, regions, cities and clusters are essential in the next industrial modernization process, based on innovation. Clusters 4.0 calls for development of a generation of advanced cluster policies to respond to these new industrial challenges by facilitating cross-sectoral value chains, fostering internationalization, stimulating inter-regional investment and accelerating entrepreneurship and skills in digital production, environmental production, circular economy, service innovation and creative economy. In order to be ready for the future, clusters must be geared towards creating a smart value chains, international cooperation and cross-sectoral partnerships. This research paper proposes a model as a tool for agro-clusters to become “smart”, also this proposal providing information on the most important steps in the creation and development of smart agro-clusters. The used research methodology was based on analysis and synthesis of the information on the economic and social aspects of the development of the agro-food sector and of clusters in Romania. In conclusion, the authors of this paper wanted to emphasize the necessity of the development of smart agro-clusters for the future smart specialization of the regions

Drones and windbreaks

The article presents a possibility of applying the techniques specific to the drones (UAV) in order to estimate the efficiency, and optimize the windbreaks (vegetative barriers, forest curtains).In the first part the article presents a variant of determination of the dynamic and optical porosities of forest protection curtains using one or two drones simultaneously. In the second part, ascertaining some language inaccuracies, it observes that the issue of the efficiency of the forest curtains became a problem of mitigation of wind intensity. Finally, the last proposed application shows that using the drones, you can estimate the protected volumes behind the curtains, basically giving up the optical porosity. In order to achieve these applications, there is an essential condition: records of the magnitude of the wind speed and of the coordinates must not be excessively affected by the wind

Soil moisture influence in the soil tillage operations

This article presents results obtained by the author in an attempt to introduce new parameters that influence the working process of agricultural soil working machines, in the classical formulas that mathematically model the tillage draft force. This article naturally introduces soil moisture. To introduce soil moisture into the calculation formulas of the tillage draft force, other physical parameters affected by soil moisture were used: density, cohesion, adhesion, etc. In this article, is explicitly describes, only the variation of soil density with its moisture. Considering some phenomena such as soil swelling or shrinkage, required the development of an adequate mathematical model of the expression of the density of soil-water mixture, concerning the concentration of water and the densities of dry soil and water. The final formulas obtained are tested to experimental results from the literature. Finally, the author sets out his opinion regarding the use of the results in design calculations and regarding the elevation to the rank of physical law of a mathematical model represented by a formula with a large number of parameters, which in turn are still dependent on many others parameters