Testing the application of an automatic milking system on buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)

The automatic milking systems (AMS) have been deeply studied in dairy cows applications, but not in the case of buffaloes; although, a few applications to the species can be found in literature. The objective of this study is to compare some important functional aspects of AMS with the conventional milking systems. Aspects such as adaptation of buffalo to AMS and the possible relationship between milking frequency and daily milk yield were evaluated. Two groups of Bubalus bubalis were reared in the same barn, in a farm located in Piana del Sele (SA) southern Italy. Fourty primiparous buffaloes were milked using an AMS, and at the same time another herd of 40 were milked twice a day using traditional milking system (tandem). The adaptation period of buffaloes to AMS was 2 months. Milking frequency with the AMS was significantly higher compared to the one of traditional methods (2.3±0.17 times/d vs 2 times/d). Daily milk yield with the AMS was observed to be significantly higher than with traditional milking system (7.9±1.3 kg/d vs 6.9±1.06 kg/d). In this study, there was no significant relationship between the increase of daily milking frequency and daily milk yield. We can conclude that a positive AMS effect on daily milk yield and milking frequency is possible and so we can expect successful applications of the AMS to dairy buffalo farms

Testing Different Topographic Indexes to Predict Wetlands Distribution

AbstractRural landscapes are characterized by great heterogeneity, thus for any policy of landscape protection and management, the delineation of landscape structures is a prerequisite and the demand for such information at the scale of large catchments or basins. Focusing on wetlands, different studies proposed indexes to predict their extension, based on topographic and climatic information, mainly within small order catchments. The topic of this paper is to determine the validity of different indexes for different orders of catchments and to propose an improved index predicting the delineation of wetland for large order catchments.The work is based on a 830 km2 basin where the actual extension of wetlands is partially known on the base of a soil map. We checked the efficiency of different topographic and hydrological indexes as the climato-topographic index and others, by comparing the map of predicted and actual wetlands, for different stream orders. Results have showed that we improved the prediction of wetland delineation for large catchments when we took into account the importance of the flatness of the bottomland. We proposed the ordinated climato-topographic index that reflects this effect in including the local downhill difference in level to the stream, weighted by the drained volume by the stream as an indicator of the stream order. Such index allows environmental stakeholders a better prediction of wetlands at the management scale

Experimental tests on a new harvesting system for Burley tobacco

The globalization of the tobacco production has led to a drop in competitiveness of the Italian tobacco on the world market. Burley is the main variety of tobacco cropped in Campania region of Southern Italy. Its leaves have to be sewn, in the curing phase. Aim of this work is to show the results of the implementation of a new harvest machine prototype. Basically, the machine used for Bright tobacco, totally mechanical harvested, which doesn’t need to be sewn because it requires an indirect-fire treatment into the curing furnaces. The machine was modified in order to mechanize harvesting of Burley tobacco, and tested on four cultivars of Burley tobacco under three different planting layouts. The Burley tobacco leaves can be harvested mechanically by pulling individual leaves off the stalk; leaves are then sorted and tied in bundles prior to sewing. A mechanical burley tobacco harvesting system was evaluated. This machine consists in realizing a leaves orientation system based on the different weight between the leaf blade and the stalk enhanced by an air flow. The measurements taken were harvest timing, work capacity, and quality standards of the work carried out. The results, in terms of user time, range from 6.67 h/ha to 7.80 h/ha while in terms of operational efficiency are between 88% and 89%. The average user capacity recorded for the four cultivars is equal to 0.14 ha/h, a value far from the one recorded for the same harvesting machine used for Bright tobacco (0.25 ha/h). The harvest timing capacity, range from 0.51 t/h to 0.99 t/h. The work productivity goes from 0.17 t to 0.33 t per hour of human unit respectively. The average number of detached leaves, depending on the cultivar, has been between 523 and 744. Concerning the leaf orientation, a general percentage of 73% was achieved

Assessment of nitrogen content in buffalo manure and land application costs

Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) livestock for mozzarella cheese production plays a fundamental role in the economy of southern Italy. European and Italian regulations consider nitrogen content in buffalo manure to be the same as that of cattle manure. This study aimed to assess whether this assumption is true. The first aim of the study was to assess nitrogen content in buffalo manure. Samples were taken from 35 farms to analyse nitrogen and phosphorous concentration in the manure. Analysis confirmed a lower nitrogen concentration (2%) in buffalo manure. A secondary aim of the study was to evaluate whether manure application techniques that are apparently less suitable, e.g. splash plate spreader, could be feasible. The cost of different methods of land application of manure and their characteristics were evaluated on the basis of one operational cycle. Considering losses for volatilisation, and taking into account cost assessment, the immediate incorporation of buffalo manure (nitrogen content 2%) is a suitable method of ammonia volatilisation. However, it is expensive and involves high fuel consumption in relation to the environmental benefit

NH3 Emissions From Treated Buffalo Manure Application In Mediterranean climate And Comparison To ALFAM Model

Ammonia volatilization is widely recognized as one of the major environmental European problems, due to the increase in livestock farming activities. As a consequence, accurate ammonia assessment is needed in order to control ammonia emissions and to update national emission inventories. Besides some uncertainties still related to the measurement methods, another important issue is the necessity of investigating a different kind of fertilizers. In the last few years, considerable attention has been paid to many manure treatments prior to field application. This study aims to assess ammonia emissions from the field application of separated buffalo manure digestate in the Mediterranean climate, in order to improve the emission inventory for this animal species, reared mostly in South Italy. Two measuring methods were used: wind tunnel (WT) and Integrated Horizontal flux (IHF). Moreover, ammonia emission measured were compared to those obtained running the statistical regression model ALFAM. This model based on Michaelis-Menten type equation is often used to predict cumulative ammonia loss and since it is based on a significant dataset is useful to discuss the effectiveness of the emission measured. The total ammonia losses measured in 7 days were 26.39 and 49.24 kg N ha-1, for WT and IHF, respectively. Although the predicted total emissions were 40.99 and 36.56 kg N ha-1, for IHF and WT, respectively, it is possible to observe the good accordance of the ALFAM model with the temporal pattern of both methods

Indirect field technology for detecting areas object of illegal spills harmful to human health: application of drones, photogrammetry and hydrological models

The accumulation of heavy metals in agricultural soils is a serious environmental problem. The Campania region in southern Italy has higher levels of cancer risk, presumably due to the accumulation of geogenic and anthropogenic soil pollutants, some of which have been incorporated into organic matter. The aim of this study was to introduce and test an innovative, field-applicable methodology to detect heavy metal accumulation using drone-based photogrammetry and microrill network modelling, specifically to generate wetlands wetlands prediction indices normally applied at large catchment scales, such as a large geographic basin. The processing of aerial photos taken using a hexacopter equipped with fifth-generation software for photogrammetry allowed the generation of a digital elevation model (DEM) with a resolution as high as 30 mm. Not only this provided a high potential for the study of micro-rill processes, but it was also useful for testing and comparing the capability of the topographic index (TI) and the clima-topographic index (CTI) to predict heavy metal sedimentation points at scales from 0.1 to 10 ha. Our results indicate that the TI and CTI indices can be used to predict points of heavy metal accumulation for small field catchments

Ammonia Emission Assessment After Buffalo Manure And Digestate Application

Quite recently, considerable attention has been paid to the effect of anaerobic digestion on ammonia emissions from digestate spreading in the field, due to the growing interest in NH3 emission monitoring. Unfortunately, there are still some different studies finding about the effect of anaerobic digestion on ammonia emissions. Thus, more research into this topic is still necessary before obtaining a definitive answer to the increment or not in emission. For this purpose, this paper proposes comparison study between ammonia emissions from buffalo raw (Farmyard) manure and digestate on bare soil under Mediterranean climate, using the wind tunnel equipped with acid traps, to assess the ammonia emission fluxes. The sampling campaign, in three replicates, lasted each time, for 6 days to ensure that most of the ammonia has been emitted before the end of each campaign. The results obtained indicate that a diurnal correlation between emission and external temperature occurs, especially during the first days. Specifically for both fertilizers, ammonia volatilization increased with air temperature raising. Overall, the total digestate cumulative NH3 emission is 54% higher than raw manure emission. This is certainly due to the Total NH4+-N rate, which was 55,8kg ha-1 for the raw manure and 107 kg ha-1 for the digestate, around 1,9 times higher for the digestate TAN content. Finding suggests the need for adjusting digestate application rate based on TAN content, in order to reduce the impact on the environment

Predicting land use change on a broad area: Dyna-CLUE model application to the Litorale Domizio-Agro Aversano (Campania, South Italy)

The long-standing awareness of the environmental impact of land-use change (LUC) has led scientific community to develop tools able to predict their amount and to evaluate their effect on environment, with the aim supporting policy makers in their planning activities. This paper proposes an implementation of the Dyna-CLUE (Dynamic Conversion of Land Use and its Effects) model applied to the Litorale Domizio-Agro Aversano, an area of Campania region, which needs interventions for environmental remediation. Future land use changes were simulated in two different scenarios developed under alternative strategies of land management: scenario 1 is a simple projection of the recent LUC trend, while scenario 2 hypothesises the introduction of no-food crops, such as poplar (Populus nigra L.) and giant reed (Arundo donax L.), in addition to a less impactful urban sprawl, which is one of the main issues in the study area. The overall duration of simulations was 13 years, subdivided into yearly time steps. CORINE land cover map of 2006 was used as baseline for land use change detection in the study area. Competition between different land use types is taken into account by setting the conversion elasticity, a parameter ranging from 0 to 1, according to their capital investment level. Location suitability for each land use type is based on logit model. Since no actual land use already exists for the alternative crops investigated in scenario 2, a suitability map realised through a spatial multicriteria decision analysis was used as a proxy for its land use pattern. The comparison of the land use in 2012 and scenario 1, evaluated through the application of Kappa statistics, showed a general tendency to expansion of built-up areas, with an increase of about 2400 ha (1.5% of the total surface), at the expense of agricultural land and those covered by natural vegetation. The comparison of the land use in 2012 and scenario 2 showed a less significant spread of built-up areas, affecting approximately 750 ha (0.5% of the total surface). Moreover, the introduction of alternative crops on about 10,000 ha, that is 6.8% of the total surface, would result in a significant decrease of arable land and a lower decrease of permanent crops, respectively equal to 6800 ha and 2900 ha. This work highlighted the importance and the potential of predicting land-use change models as valid tools supporting decisions, especially in those regions needing interventions aimed to environmental remediation, as in the case study examined in this paper