Automation of plant care processes based on machine vision technology

This paper presents the results of developments for a robotic agrotechnical complex capable of performing work in the open ground and in greenhouse conditions. Algorithmic solutions and the developed software in the development under consideration include separate blocks that implement the necessary functional options for data collection and analysis of the mineral and biological composition of the soil substrate, its humidity, electrical conductivity and temperature, for data collection and analysis of crop morbidity and vegetation progress. The software and hardware complex using a mobile self-propelled base with sufficient controls and sensors allows processing information on the targeted application of fertilizers and preparations, mechanical removal of weed flora, including in adverse weather conditions, when the introduction of drugs is not feasible, and manual weeding is economically and physically impossible.

The Technology of Precise Application of Herbicides in Onion Field Cultivation

The purpose of the field experiments was to show possible differences in the quality and size of onion yield and the amount of working liquid used in the technology of the precise application of herbicides. The research material was an onion plantation during three growing seasons in 2015/2016, 2016/2017, and 2017/2018. Cultivation conditions were the same for all plots covered by the experiment. Onions were grown in the row-strip method with a spacing of 150 cm. The experimental factor was the method of weed control on the plots: A—without weeding (control); B—manual weeding; C—conventional herbicide application; D—precise herbicide application. Herbicides were used: Agil 100EC, Pendigan 330EC, Roundup 360SL, Galigan 240EC, Goal 480SC, Lontrel 300SL, Emblem 20WP, Fusilade Forte 150EC, Szogun 10EC, and Lentagran 45WP. The total onion yield did not differ statistically within the accepted confidence interval, regardless of the weeding method in the growing seasons studied. The developed technology allows a reduction in herbicide consumption in onion cultivation by 26% compared to conventional technology, which is of great importance in the aspect of introducing chemical substances into the environment and their accumulation in crops.

Knowledge level of castor growing respondents of Sirohi district of Rajasthan

Castor is an important oilseed cash crop. Castor oil obtained from castor seed is non-edible, but is of great industrial importance. India is the largest castor growing country in the world. Gujarat state has highest area and production of castor. In Rajasthan, Sirohi district stands first in terms of area and production of castor. Therefore, a study was undertaken to assess the level of knowledge of respondents about castor production of Sirohi district. The study was conducted in 5 blocks. Further, 100 farmers were selected randomly from 10 villages. The findings of this study revealed that majority (52%) of the castor growers had medium to level of knowledge regarding recommended hybrid castor production technology. Predominantly the hybrid castor growers had good knowledge regarding castor cultivation practices viz., land preparation, harvesting, recommended rates of seed land preparation, manual weeding and FYM application.

Assessment of Rice Producers Cooperative in Ukum Local Government Area, Benue State Nigeria

The study assessed rice producers’ cooperative in Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State. A total of 120 respondents were selected for the study using purposive sampling technique. Data for the study were collected by the use of structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution, percentages mean statistics and Likert scale. The result of the findings revealed that majority (82%) of the respondent were males and 74.2% married. The Major roles performed by rice producers’ cooperatives are facilitating members’ access to land (M = 4.49), Communal manual weeding (M=4.43) and Assists members with farm implements (M=4.30). Poor market infrastructure (M=2.93) and Poor access to extension services (M=2.88) were the major problems affecting respondents. Furthermore, improved market infrastructure (M=3.53) and improved extension contact (M=3.49) were factors revealed that enhance the performance of rice producers. The study therefore recommend that government should provide storage facilities to rice producers in order to store their grains. Good processing facilities should be made available to rice producers cooperative in order to encourage value chain transformation and value addition, government should provide quality extension service delivery that is capable of diffusing technological innovations, as this will improve output of rice producers in the study area.

Ergonomic Evaluation of Women Farm Workers Using Different Manual Weeding Tools in Maize Crop of Udaipur District

Women play a major and crucial role in doing the agricultural operations. The women workers in Udaipur district mostly uses sickle and kudali for doing weeding operations. This study was conducted in 2019-20 at instructional Farm, CTAE, Udaipur with women farm workers during the manual weeding operation by using different traditional tools like hand hoe (kudali) along with technically and ergonomically designed wheel hand hoe. The main objective of the study was to investigate the most drudgery prone tool and to recommend the proper tool for doing weeding operations in maize crop. Use of proper tools not only reduce the drudgery but also improves the operating efficiency along with the comfort, besides improving the productivity of the women farm workers in doing the operation. In view of this, an effort has been made to assess the physical and physiological parameters of women farm workers who are using traditional farm tools along with the improved tools for doing weeding operation in maize crop. The whole study was conducted on ten female farm workers identified from the population of workers in the age group of 18 to 45 years. During the experiment, physiological workload i.e., heart rate, oxygen consumption rate, energy expenditure rate and physical workload i.e., overall discomfort rate, rate of perceived exertion and Musculo-skeletal problems were measured. The Pratap wheel hand hoe saves nearly 36% of the cardiac cost of the worker per unit of output and wheel hand hoe saves nearly 38% of the cardiac cost of the worker per unit of output which is nothing but reduction in drudgery by 36% and 38% by both the weeding tools over kudali. Area covered with Pratap wheel hand hoe and wheel hand hoe were 1.70 and 1.69 times more over kudali.

Influences of farming practices on the development and phenological cycles of the major weeds of irrigated rice in Central Côte d’Ivoire

The influence of farming practices on the development and the phenological cycles of the main weeds of irrigated rice was studied in Central Côte d'Ivoire. The objective of this study was to assess the influences of weeding operations on the development and phenological states of major weeds in irrigated rice. The tests were carried out in a cultivated environment over two consecutive farming cycles. Four elementary plots of 100 m2 each were delimited for the observations. On each elementary plot, the usual cropping practices in rice cultivation was practised. Two weeks after transplanting, chemical weed control was performed with 3 selective post-emergence herbicides. The different herbicides were applied at 14-day intervals. Manual weeding took place 49 days after transplanting. The weekly observations consisted in noting the different stages of development of the major weeds according to the weeding operations. The results showed that chemical and manual weed control 14 and 49 days after planting out, respectively, reduce weeds harmfulness. In view of these results, the use of herbicides coupled with manual weeding can be recommended to rice growers. L’influence des pratiques culturales sur le développement et les cycles phénologiques des adventices majeures du riz irrigué a été étudiée au centre de la Côte d’Ivoire. Cette étude avait pour objectif d’évaluer les influences des opérations de désherbage sur le développement et les états phénologiques des adventices majeures du riz irrigué. Les essais ont été réalisés en milieu cultivé sur deux cycles culturaux consécutifs. Quatre parcelles élémentaires de 100 m2 chacune ont été délimitées pour les observations. Sur chaque parcelle élémentaire, l’itinéraire technique habituel de la culture du riz a été pratiqué. A 14 jours après le repiquage, le désherbage chimique a été effectué avec trois herbicides sélectifs de post-levée. Les différents herbicides ont été appliqués à intervalle de 14 jours chacun. Le désherbage manuel a eu lieu 49 jours après le repiquage. Les observations hebdomadaires ont consisté à noter les différents stades de développement des adventices majeures en fonction des opérations de désherbage. Les résultats ont montré que les désherbages chimiques et manuel effectués respectivement 14 et 49 jours après le repiquage réduisent la nuisibilité des adventices étudiées. Au regard de ces résultats, l’utilisation des herbicides couplée à un désherbage manuel peut être recommandé aux riziculteurs.

Response of Blackgram (Phaseolus mungo L.) Varieties to Weed Competition and to Pre and Post Emergence Herbicide Application during Rabi

Background: Blackgram (Phaseolus mungo L.), a major pulse crop of Andhra Pradesh grown in an area of 3.52 lakh ha with a production of 2.93 lakh tons during rabi season (Anonymous, 2019). One of the major characteristics for selection of blackgram varieties for rabi season under conditions of receding soil moisture in black soils is their early vigour and good weed smothering capability. Early varieties due to their early growth habit can cover the land and thus can smother weeds better than late maturing varieties. Further some variations are observed to be more tolerant to post emergence herbicide application. Hence, there is need to evaluate the promising blackgram varieties for their weed competitiveness and tolerance to pre and post emergence herbicidal application.Methods: A field experiment was carried out at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Lam, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, with an objective to find out the competitive ability of blackgram varieties to smother weeds during rabi season of 2015-16 and 2016-17 under upland conditions. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications. The treatments consisted of five methods of weed control as main plots, viz., pendimethalin 1.0 kg ha-1 PE, imazethapyr 50 g ha-1 PoE, pendimethalin 1.0 kg ha-1 PE fb imazethapyr 50 g ha-1, PoE, manual weeding at 20 and 40 days after sowing (DAS) along with inter cultivation at 30 DAS and unweeded; four blackgram varieties, viz., GBG 1, PU 31, LBG 787, LBG 752, as sub treatments which were replicated thrice.Result: Weed dry matter recorded at 45 days was lower and weed control efficiency (WCE) was higher with pendimethalin 1.0 kg ha-1 PE fb imazethapyr 50 g ha-1 PoE and was on par with manual weeding with inter cultivation. All the varieties were comparable and equally effective in controlling weed dry matter. Yield of variety GBG 1 was higher due to higher yield attributes viz., no. of pods per plant and 100 seed weight. Among the weed control methods manual weeding treatment with inter cultivation recorded significantly higher yield followed by a combination of pendimethalin 1.0 kg ha-1 PE fb imazethapyr 50 g ha-1 PoE. Further, varieties GBG 1 and PU 31 performed better in manual weeding treatment with intercultivation and without any herbicide use.

The effect of herbicides on the yield structure elements and the productivity of oil flax

The article provides the research results concerning the effect of antidicotyledonous herbicide Sekator Turbo, OD (a.i. amidosulfuron + iodosulfuron-methyl-sodium + mefenpyr-diethyl) in a tank mixture with various graminicides Quickstep, FEM (a.i. clethodim + haloxyfop-P-methyl), Bagheera, EC (a.i. quizalofop-P-tefuryl), Fuzilad Forte, EC (a.i. fluazifop-P-butyl), Miura, EC (a.i. quizalofop-P-ethyl), and Zellek-super, EC (a.i. haloxyfop-P-methyl) on the yield structure elements and the productivity of lowlinolenic (Nilin) and linolenic (FLIZ) varieties of oil flax on leached chernozem of the Western Ciscaucasia. We have found that the treatment of sowings with herbicides did not have a significant effect on the yield structure elements (thousand-seed weight and bulk weight of seeds). The treatment of sowings of the variety Nilin with the composition of Sekator Turbo + Bagheera or Sekator Turbo + Miura, and the variety FLIZ with Sekator Turbo + Bagheera, Sekator Turbo + Quickstep, Sekator Turbo + Fuzilad Forte, Sekator Turbo + Miura contributes to the receiving of oil flax yield at the level of the control with manual weeding. Tank mixtures of Sekator Turbo + Bagheera, Sekator Turbo + Miura decreased the oil content of seeds of the variety Nilin by 0.5 %. The application of herbicides Sekator Turbo, OD (0.1 l/ha) + Bagheera, EC (1.5 l/ha) provided the highest oil yield of the variety Nilin – 0.34 t/ha, and of the variety FLIZ – 0.54 t/ha. The composition of Sekator Turbo + Zellek-super led to a significant decrease in the productivity and oil content of seeds of the variety FLIZ – by 0.15 t/ha and 0.6 %, respectively.

The unit for the trunk processing of seedlings

The article presents the materials of scientific developments on the local introduction of herbicides into the trunk zone of seedlings based on the cultivator KCHG-2.4, which replaces manual weeding of rows of plants, excluding the ingress of herbicide on the leaf-stem apparatus. The unit allows you to save stubble up to 51%, which reliably protects the soil from water erosion when destroying weed vegetation up to 94%.

The realization of the genetic potential of seed productivity of new oil flax varieties considering the modern resource-saving technologies of the Southern Federal District of the Russian Federation

Due to the development of new promising varieties of oil flax, the role or research aimed at developing zonal technologies for crop cultivation that contribute to the full realization of its genetic potential is increasing. The objects of research were the varieties of breeding of V.S. Pustovoit All-Russian Research Institute of Oil Crops (VNIIMK 620, Rucheyok, FLIZ, VNIIMK 620 FN, RFN) and its branches: the Don experimental station (Nebesny, Raduga, Avangard, Svetlyachok) and the Siberian experimental station (Sokol, Avgust). The work is aimed at developing the application methods of herbicides permitted for the use on oil flax in the zone of insufficient moistening in the Southern Federal District of Russia in resourcesaving technologies. In the course of research, we revealed that the varieties of the Don experimental station Raduga, Avangard and Svetlyachok were the most adapted to the cultivation conditions of the zone of insufficient moistening. We established that in most cases the separate application of herbicides contributes to obtaining a higher yield of oil flax variety Raduga than when using the tank mixture of herbicides. We obtained the best results with the separate application of herbicides Secator Turbo and Miura (1.52 t/ha) and Tifi and Miura (1.51 t/ha), when the crop yield was comparable to the control under manual weeding (1.54 t/ha). Regardless of the application method, the herbicides contributed to a decrease in the oil content of flax seeds, to the greatest degree while using the tank mixtures, especially in case of application of Magnum and Herbitox in combination with Miura – by 0.9-1.2 %. Therefore, to increase the yield and quality of oil flax seeds in a zone of insufficient moistening in the south of Russia, it is necessary to use the separate application of herbicides Secator Turbo, OD (0.1 l/ha) and Miura, EC (1.2 l/ha) or Tifi, WDG (0.025 kg/ha) and Miura, EC (1.2 l/ha) on the crop sowings in the phase of leaf development.