Introducing EDEN ISS - A European project on advancing plant cultivation technologies and operations

Plant cultivation in large-scale closed environments is challenging and several key technologies necessary for space-based plant production are not yet space-qualified or remain in early stages of development. The EDEN ISS project foresees development and demonstration of higher plant cultivation technologies, suitable for future deployment on the International Space Station and from a long-term perspective, within Moon and Mars habitats. The EDEN ISS consortium will design and test essential plant cultivation technologies using an International Standard Payload Rack form factor cultivation system for potential testing on-board the International Space Station. Furthermore, a Future Exploration Greenhouse will be designed with respect to future planetary bio-regenerative life support system deployments. The technologies will be tested in a laboratory environment as well as at the highly-isolated German Antarctic Neumayer Station III. A small and mobile container-sized test facility will be built in order to provide realistic mass flow relationships. In addition to technology development and validation, food safety and plant handling procedures will be developed. This paper describes the goals and objectives of EDEN ISS and the different project phases and milestones. Furthermore, the project consortium will be introduced and the role of each partner within the project is explained

Assessing the Performance of a Subsurface Water Retention System (SWRS) Prototype: First Evaluation of Work Productivity and Costs

The potential to use Subsurface Water Retention Systems (SWRSs) to combat desertification and improve agriculture in arid and semiarid areas has already been investigated and proved promising. Nevertheless, a lack of specific machinery has prevented this technology from demonstrating its effectiveness on vast areas. In the present study, a specific prototype is presented along with the results obtained from a preliminary study conducted to assess effectiveness, performance and associated cost. During the test, the machinery permitted the construction of a SWRS 100 cm belowground using a 140 kW tractor. The effective field capacity (EFC) averaged at 0.19 ha h−1 whilst total cost was estimated to be as high as 4800.00 € ha−1. However, 93% of the cost was associated with the purchase cost of the removable impermeable film. A removal operation was also investigated using a 42 kW excavator for evaluating the EFC and cost which averaged at 0.2 ha h−1 and 655.79 € ha−1, respectively

Factors Influencing Italian Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Eggs Enriched with Omega-3-Fatty Acids

This paper focused on eggs enriched with omega-3-fatty acids with the aim of understanding if functional eggs were of interest to Italian consumers, and analyzing which characteristics of table egg quality, consumers’ attitudes and socio-demographic characteristics affect the consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) a premium price for eggs enriched with omega-3-fatty acids. We performed an online survey on 312 Italian consumers. The analysis was based on the Tobit regression model. The findings showed that unmarried females were more willing to pay a premium price for functional eggs than male consumers. Furthermore, the probability of showing a higher WTP for functional eggs increased among consumers reporting a higher income. Moreover, the WTP for functional eggs increased with the growing importance that people attributed to items such as the size of eggs, rearing type, feed given to chickens, and the provenience and brand of eggs. These results suggested that consumers need to have clear information about functional eggs. As expected, WTP for functional eggs decreased with increasing neophobia and food techno-neophobia factors. In conclusion, the findings showed an interesting potential for eggs enriched with omega-3-fatty acids, which seems to be a product with high possibility to be greatly appreciated on the market, especially if accompanied by a good, informative campaign for increasing people’s knowledge level

Italian Consumer Preferences for Eucalyptus Honey: An Exploratory Study

The growing concern for environmental issues has underlined the need to promote sustainable consumption and production. Taking into consideration the three pillars of sustainability, honey should be seen as an important food from a sustainability perspective. Among honey varieties, the eucalyptus one is becoming increasingly popular with people for its aroma and the plant’s therapeutic properties. However, the beekeeping sector in Italy does not yet have sufficient knowledge and understanding of consumer needs with a view to increasing earnings. This paper aimed to analyze the drivers that make people pick eucalyptus honey and tries to investigate which extrinsic and intrinsic quality attributes affect consumer behavior. Data came from an online survey of 403 Italian honey consumers. An ordered Probit model was applied. The results show that consumers consider the taste, viscosity, therapeutic properties, brand reputation, variety, geographical indication, Italian origin, and organic certification of honey as the most important factors that drive the consumption of eucalyptus honey. The findings of the study should help the beekeepers and provide them with the right tools of communication, such as quality or sustainability labeling, thereby increasing their competitiveness

Opuntia ficus-indica as an Ingredient in New Functional Pasta: Consumer Preferences in Italy

Opuntia ficus-indica is a source of minerals and vitamins and has recently been used as ingredient to make a new functional variety of pasta. Italy was the first country in the world to produce pasta and is also the second largest producer of Opuntia in the world. According to an Italian sample, this study considers the main factors that could influence consumers when choosing functional pasta (featuring Opuntia) and characterizes distinct hypothetical consumer segments in terms of their food habits, pasta choices, and perceptions toward functional pasta featuring Opuntia. Data were collected using a web-based survey and with 328 respondents. Factor analysis (FA) with orthogonal rotation (varimax) was used to simplify the observed variables and hierarchical cluster analysis was performed with the FA results. Seven clusters were identified and the main results show that the level of education plays an important role in the perception of functional pasta. In fact, the perceptions of well-educated people differed from poorly-educated people. Moreover, the results showed significant respondent interest regarding health benefits and the nutritional and environmental aspects of functional pasta, which should encourage people’s acceptance and consumption of this new functional food. In addition, the respondent preferences reflect a value of experience towards the pasta, i.e., the belief of cooking typical Italian pasta. This means that Opuntia used for the production of functional pasta should maintain the organoleptic and physical properties of durum wheat-based pasta. In addition, respondent preferences for pasta featuring Opuntia could also be driven by its price

Assessing the Performance of a Subsurface Water Retention System (SWRS) Prototype: First Evaluation of Work Productivity and Costs

The potential to use Subsurface Water Retention Systems (SWRSs) to combat desertification and improve agriculture in arid and semiarid areas has already been investigated and proved promising. Nevertheless, a lack of specific machinery has prevented this technology from demonstrating its effectiveness on vast areas. In the present study, a specific prototype is presented along with the results obtained from a preliminary study conducted to assess effectiveness, performance and associated cost. During the test, the machinery permitted the construction of a SWRS 100 cm belowground using a 140 kW tractor. The effective field capacity (EFC) averaged at 0.19 ha h−1 whilst total cost was estimated to be as high as 4800.00 € ha−1. However, 93% of the cost was associated with the purchase cost of the removable impermeable film. A removal operation was also investigated using a 42 kW excavator for evaluating the EFC and cost which averaged at 0.2 ha h−1 and 655.79 € ha−1, respectively

Variations of Soil Physico-Chemical and Biological Features after Logging Using Two Different Ground-Based Extraction Methods in a Beech High Forest—A Case Study

Considering that forests are crucial in the ecosystem of our planet and that forests provide timber products as well as several ecosystem services, it is evident that the application of sustainable forest operations (SFOs) is of substantial importance to achieve sustainable forest management (SFM). One of the most important issues to be evaluated when dealing with SFOs is limiting the disturbance and impacts related to logging. Harvesting activities can indeed alter the conditions of soil through compaction and litter removal which can also lead to modifications from the biological point of view, for example, diminishing the presence of soil microarthropods. While keeping these objectives in focus, the aim of the present study was to evaluate physico-chemical and biological impacts on forest soil in Mediterranean beech forests after forest logging with two different extraction systems, which are forestry-fitted farm tractors equipped with winch and forwarder. Specifically, authors aimed to investigate: (i) soil disturbance levels of ground-based extraction methods; (ii) soil disturbance levels of the applied forestry intervention; (iii) soil disturbance levels between winching-skidding and forwarding. Findings showed that the physical, chemical, and biological soil features were slightly disturbed by the forestry itself. In addition, forest operations and machine traffic showed clear soil disturbance, resulting in a substantial alteration of the characteristics. Between the two extraction techniques tested, winching caused less disturbance while forwarding had stronger impacts. However, it should be noted that these impact levels are found only on approximately 28% of the surface where operations were carried out. From the evidence gathered in this study, winching seems a less impactful extraction method in the studied context. On the other hand, to decrease the impact of forwarding, some technical adjustments such as bogie-tracks, as well as improved operator training, should be applied

Equipping a Combine Harvester with Turbine Technology Increases the Recovery of Residual Biomass from Cereal Crops via the Collection of Chaff

In cereal crops, chaff is a valuable lignocellulosic by-product that accounts for more than 50 Mt y−1 in Europe and is suitable for bioenergy purposes. Chaff is usually not collected due to the lack of combine harvesters that have the capability to handle it properly. The present two years experimental study investigated the hypothesis that the overall biomass collected in wheat crop can be increased by equipping the combine harvester with an aftermarket device. Chaff, discharged from the combine harvester-cleaning system, is collected by the turbine that delivers it either on the swath or on a lateral trailer towed by a tractor. The performance of all machines involved in the harvesting (combine harvester, tractor, baler, and trailer) were assessed. The chaff was collected in bales with the straw (A mode) and separately on a trailer (C mode). Comparisons with non-collected treatment (B mode) were performed in order to estimate the total chaff collected and the biomass losses. The results showed that 1.79 t FM ha−1 per year of chaff could be collected when baled with the straw, whereas 1.27 t FM ha−1 were collected separately on a trailer. Both field and material capacity were not negatively affected by the chaff collection. Therefore, our study confirmed the hypothesis that turbine technology is a valid solution for increasing the total residual biomass collected in cereal cropping for energy purposes