Influence of production methods and transport distances on the Greenhouse Gas-Balance of organic apple juice

Organic farming is the most adequate system for the production of food and other agricultural 9 products to sustain ecological and environmental sources. Ecologically produced foods are 10 becoming more and more popular; accordingly, the demand for organic products is growing. In 11 addition to the renunciation of the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, the philosophy of 12 this type of food production includes as well the benefits of seasonal and regional goods such 13 as short ways of production and distribution. 14 In the present study the total emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the production of 15 organic apple juice from two different regions were investigated. The goal of the analysis is to 16 clarify whether extensive agricultural production methods in terms of the degree of 17 mechanisation used in the cultivation of apples have a greater influence on the total emissions 18 produced by the apple juice value-added chain in comparison to potentially longer 19 transportation distances to the fruit processing company. For this reason organic apples from 20 Germany’s “Altes Land” region were compared with organic apples from the Southern 21 Carpathians (Romania) under the restriction that the pressing of the fruits takes place in a 22 German facility. The apples from “Altes Land” region are produced with highly mechanised 23 production methods and are due to the restriction comparatively nearby to the fruit processing 24 plant. In contrast the apples from the Southern Carpathians are produced primarily by hand, but 25 need long-distance transports to the German fruit processing plant. 26 The scope of the investigation was the whole value-added chain from the cultivation of the 27 apples to the delivery of the juice to the retailer, whereby the emissions of the respective 28 upstream chain were analysed in addition to the direct emissions. Despite the very extensive 29 agricultural cultivation methods used in the Southern Carpathians, which could be assumed not 2 30 to produce any GHG emissions, the apple juice from these apples were associated with higher 31 total emissions (782 g CO2e/l apple juice) than apples from the “Altes Land“ region 32 (630 g CO2e/l apple juice). The reason for this is the long distance over which the Romanian 33 apples needed to be transported to the fruit processing plant, which exceeded the GHG 34 emissions saved during the apple cultivation in this region. Another result of this study made 35 clear that the post-harvest processing produced the greatest amount of GHG emissions in the 36 apple juice value-added chain (more than 50%.apple juice production, greenhouse gas balance, transportation, organic farming, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis,

News about plant protection technology

In der Pflanzenschutztechnik hat es auch in diesem Jahr wieder viele technische Innovationen gegeben, die zukünftig Einzug in die Praxis halten werden. Die Anzahl an sensorgesteuerten Funktionen, die den Anwender bei der Applikation unterstützen, nimmt weiterhin zu. Mit dem System "Connected Crop Protection" ist zudem erstmals die Verknüpfung von Internet, Software und Gerätekomponenten im Bereich der Pflanzenschutztechnik erfolgt. Des Weiteren gibt es ein neues und vielversprechendes Konzept zur Direkteinspeisung, mit dem bislang bekannte Probleme dieser Systeme gelöst werden konnten. Neben weiteren technischen Neuerungen wie z.B. die Pulsweitenmodulation informiert der Artikel auch über ein neues Prüfverfahren zur Gestängesteuerung sowie über grundlegende Erkenntnisse zum Einflussverhalten technischer Parameter auf die Verteilungsqualität von Raumsprühgeräten.Within the field of application technology a lot of innovations could be seen during this year which will be more and more available on the market in future. The numbers of sensor-controlled features supporting the operator are increasing. For the first time in the field of crop protection an instrument called "Connected Crop Protection" was presented which connects internet, software and spraying hardware within one system. Moreover a new concept for the direct injection of plant protection products on field sprayers was introduced having solved all the known difficulties of such systems in the past. Besides other technical innovations like e.g. puls with modulation the article informs about a new test procedure for automatic spray boom control systems as well as basic finding about the influence of technical parameters and their impact on the quality of spray liquid distribution in vertical crops

Development of application techniques in plant protection in the past, today and tomorrow

In Deutschland wird seit ca. 160 Jahren chemischer Pflanzenschutz betrieben. In diesem Zeitraum hat es zahlreiche technische Entwicklungen und Innovationen gegeben. Der Artikel gibt einen Überblick über die Entwicklung der Pflanzenschutztechnik in Deutschland, beleuch­tet den aktuellen Stand der Technik und weist auf mögliche zukünftige Entwicklungen hin.Since ca. 160 years chemical plant protection is carried out in Germany. Within this timeframe many developments and innovations were established. The article gives an overview about the progress of plant protection equipment in Germany in the past, the state of the art and its possible future

Larger, faster and even more precise

Bei der Pflanzenschutztechnik ist der Trend zur Nutzung größerer Arbeitsbreiten und moderat höherer Arbeitsgeschwindigkeiten weiter ungebrochen. Dabei unterstützen zahlreiche technische Lösungen den Anwender in unterschiedlicher Art und Weise, z.B. bei der Einsparung von Pflanzenschutzmitteln, bei der Einhaltung gesetzlicher Auflagen, beim Gerätemanagement sowie beim Anwenderschutz. Neue Entwicklungen sind zudem im Bereich der Abdriftminderung zu verzeichnen. Das Konzept des auf 25 cm verringerten Düsenabstandes wurde durch eine verbesserte Gestängeaufhängung weiterentwickelt. Darüber hinaus gibt es für diese Gerätekonfiguration erstmals eine JKI anerkannte Düse.The trend within the field of spraying technology is still towards the use of larger working width and a moderately higher working speed. Hereby, a lot of technical solutions are assisting the operator while spraying in different ways, for example with the aim of saving pesticides, the compliance of legal regulations, the management of sprayer´s handling as well as the protection of the operator. New tendencies can be found in the field of drift control. The concept of reducing the distance between nozzles and crop target area down to 25 cm was enhanced by better boom suspension. Furthermore, a specific nozzle for this configuration was accredited by JKI for the first time

More flexible and precise – trends of plant protection techniques

In der Pflanzenschutztechnik hat es auch in diesem Jahr wieder viele technische Innovationen gegeben, die zukünftig Einzug in die Praxis halten könnten. Im Schatten des Trends zum „Hacken“ ist auch das Thema Bandspritzung wieder aktuell und mit neuen Optionen vertreten. Die Anzahl an Systemen zur Pulsweitenmodulation auf dem deutschen Markt nimmt weiterhin zu und dient als Basis zur Etablierung von Funktionalitäten wie der Anpassung der Ausbringungsmenge in Kurvenfahrten oder zur teilflächenspezifischen Applikation in der Praxis. Des Weiteren gibt es neue und vielversprechende Systeme zur digitalen Unterstützung der Anwender, bei denen der gesamte Prozess im Fokus steht. Auch völlig neue Ansätze wie die Fahrgassenabschaltung zeigen auf, dass die Möglichkeiten zur Pflanzenschutzmitteleinsparung noch nicht ausgereizt sind.In crop protection technology, there were again many technical innovations this year that could find their way into practice in the future. In the shadow of the "hoeing" trend, row spraying is also a topical issue again and is represented with new options. The number of systems for pulse width modulation on the German market continues to increase and serves as the basis for establishing functionalities such as adjusting the application rate in curves or for side-specific application in practice. Furthermore, there are new and promising systems for digital assistance of users, in which the entire process is in focus. Completely new approaches such as tramline deactivation also show that the opportunities for saving pesticides are not yet exhausted