Current Issue : April-June Volume : 2025 Issue Number : 2 Articles : 5 Articles
The fruit industry is a significant economic sector in China, with modern orchards gradually transitioning to trellis orchards. For mechanized orchard operations, automatic vehicle navigation is essential. However, in trellis orchards, the shading from trees results in low average light intensity and large variations in lighting, posing challenges for path navigation. To address this, a path navigation algorithm for trellis orchards is proposed based on the UNet-CBAM model. The network structures of UNet, FCN, and SegNet are compared to identify and select the optimal structure for further improvement. Among the three attention mechanisms of channel attention, spatial attention, and combined attention, the most effective mechanism is identified. The optimal attention mechanism is incorporated into the optimized network to enhance the model’s ability to detect path edges and improve detection performance. To validate the effectiveness and generalizability of the model, a total of 400 images were collected under varying lighting intensities. The experimental results show that this method achieves an accuracy of 97.63%, a recall of 93.94%, and an Intersection over Union (IoU) of 92.19%. These results significantly enhance path recognition accuracy in trellis orchards, particularly under low light under conditions. Compared to the FCN and SegNet algorithms, this method provides higher detection accuracy and offers a new theoretical foundation and research approach for path recognition in low-light environments....
Chlorella residues are currently underutilized. Therefore, in this study, we analyzed the nutritional components of Chlorella residue, and investigated its potential use as an organic fertilizer/bio-stimulant. Composition analyses revealed that the Chlorella residue contained a substantial amount of nitrogen (97,910 mg/kg), and significant quantities of secondary macronutrients, such as calcium (4300 mg/kg) and magnesium (9700 mg/kg), and micronutrients, such as iron (1850 mg/L) and manganese (359 mg/kg). The application of Chlorella residue to soil resulted in increased soil bacterial biomass. When Chlorella residue was added to the soil at a rate of 0.5% or 1.0% (w/w), the fresh weights of Brassica rapa and Spinacia oleracea were significantly increased. Furthermore, the application of Chlorella residue to the soil of B. rapa suppressed the reduction of the microbiome caused by clubroot disease and decreased the clubroot disease index. Therefore, Chlorella residue can be included in organic fertilizers that effectively improve soil nutrient contents, promote plant growth, and reduce the incidence of disease....
Increasing the recovery of N fertilizer (RNf) is the main challenge in managing nitrogen fertilization in sugarcane. This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of complementary foliar fertilization in managing nitrogen nutrition in sugarcane. Four fertilization managements, combining soil (5.0 and 4.5 g plot−1 of N) and foliar (1.0 and 1.5 g plot−1 of N) fertilization in up to two application events (0.5 + 0.5 and 0.75 + 0.75 g plot−1 of N), were compared with conventional fertilization (6.0 g plot−1 of N in soil). The change from 6.0 g plot−1 to 4.5 g plot−1 of N reduced the RNf by 46% before the first foliar fertilization. The RNf (26%) was similar between managements after the first foliar fertilization. After the second foliar fertilization, the RNf was 38% higher than that for conventional management. The accumulation of N in the aerial part of sugarcane was similar between managements until the first foliar fertilization. After the second foliar fertilization, the accumulation of N increased by 3.5% with foliar fertilization. The biomass accumulated by the managements was similar before and after the first and second foliar fertilization. The splitting of foliar fertilization increased the accumulation of N and RNf by 22% and 24%, respectively. The fertilization management with 4.5 g plot−1 of N applied to the soil, with two applications of 0.75 g plot−1 of N on the leaf, obtained greater accumulations of N and RNf. Foliar fertilization increases the efficiency of fertilization and improves the N nutrition of sugarcane....
This study aims to address the challenges of achieving a high harvesting rate and low flower bud damage rate during the harvesting of camellia fruits. To this end, a dynamic model of the camellia osmantha tree and a self-developed shaker-type harvesting machine were used as research subjects. The first 24 natural frequencies and mode shapes of the camellia tree were solved using the finite element method, and the effects of vibration frequency, excitation position, and vibration duration on the harvesting rate and flower bud damage rate were quantitatively analyzed through an orthogonal experiment. The numerical analysis results indicate that the camellia tree exhibits good response characteristics at vibration frequencies of 10–15.5 Hz and 38.5 Hz. The three-factors orthogonal experiment figured out that the optimal operational parameters for shaker-type harvesting were determined to be a vibration duration of 30 s, a motor output frequency of 12.5 Hz, and a gripping position height of 50 to 60 cm above the ground. Meanwhile, under these operational parameters, the harvesting efficiency reached 96.97%, while the flower bud damage rate was only 6%....
Expanding the utilization of marginal land resources in rural areas is regarded as a significant supplement for the sustainable development of modern agriculture for its yield, economic and ecological good. Marginal areas, due to their natural limitations, are only productive for energy crops with strong resistance and tolerance. Cassava, in its longstanding cultivation practices, has marked its adaptability in tropical and subtropical regions. Farmers are allowed to improve reclaimed soils’ fertility, while plants’ canopy coverage could reduce soil erosion. Besides, cassava tubers to be produced as food or fodder can be counted as soil productivity. Breeding advanced cassava varieties on marginal land under proper intensification management and facilitating policies can indeed increase farmers’ income. Some of the projects implemented outside of China speak quite well on that. Additionally, intercropping modes for cassava bring higher incomes than monocropping mode, which simultaneously improves the ecosystem structure and soil conditions. The interspecific cooperation brought by the intercropping pattern has its buffering function and antagonistic effects to counter against plant diseases, pest attacks and weed infestations. It performs as a natural alternative for pesticides and fertilizers with minimal inputs and safe and productive outputs. Although a complete cassava industrial chain has been formed nationwide, there are still challenges like the inadequate use of marginal areas and risks triggered by unfavorable climate, changeable commodity markets, and the composition of the labor force. However, there will still be ample room for further growth of cassava, for recent years have witnessed the acceleration in the circulation of rural land management rights and the stratification of Chinese farmers, which gives an impetus to household management’s dominance as well as the improvements of rural social welfare systems for the overall agricultural efficiency....
Loading....