Heavy metals in soils

The Biometry of Plant Growth

Impacts of agricultural practices on soil and water quality in the Mediterranean region and proposed assessment methodology

Internet of Things (IoT) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are two hot technologies utilized in cultivation fields, which transform traditional farming practices into a new era of precision agriculture. In this paper, we perform a survey of the last research on IoT and UAV technology applied in agriculture. We describe the main principles of IoT technology, including intelligent sensors, IoT sensor types, networks and protocols used in agriculture, as well as IoT applications and solutions in smart farming. Moreover, we present the role of UAV technology in smart agriculture, by analyzing the applications of UAVs in various scenarios, including irrigation, fertilization, use of pesticides, weed management, plant growth monitoring, crop disease management, and field-level phenotyping. Furthermore, the utilization of UAV systems in complex agricultural environments is also analyzed. Our conclusion is that IoT and UAV are two of the most important technologies that transform traditional cultivation practices into a new perspective of intelligence in precision agriculture.

Internet of Things (IoT) and Agricultural Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in smart farming: A comprehensive review

Agriculture provides for the most basic needs of humankind: food and fiber. The introduction of new farming techniques in the past century (e.g., during the Green Revolution) has helped agriculture keep pace with growing demands for food and other agricultural products. However, further increases in food demand, a growing population, and rising income levels are likely to put additional strain on natural resources. With growing recognition of the negative impacts of agriculture on the environment, new techniques and approaches should be able to meet future food demands while maintaining or reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture. Emerging technologies, such as geospatial technologies, Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data analysis, and artificial intelligence (AI), could be utilized to make informed management decisions aimed to increase crop production. Precision agriculture (PA) entails the application of a suite of such technologies to optimize agricultural inputs to increase agricultural production and reduce input losses. Use of remote sensing technologies for PA has increased rapidly during the past few decades. The unprecedented availability of high resolution (spatial, spectral and temporal) satellite images has promoted the use of remote sensing in many PA applications, including crop monitoring, irrigation management, nutrient application, disease and pest management, and yield prediction. In this paper, we provide an overview of remote sensing systems, techniques, and vegetation indices along with their recent (2015–2020) applications in PA. Remote-sensing-based PA technologies such as variable fertilizer rate application technology in Green Seeker and Crop Circle have already been incorporated in commercial agriculture. Use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has increased tremendously during the last decade due to their cost-effectiveness and flexibility in obtaining the high-resolution (cm-scale) images needed for PA applications. At the same time, the availability of a large amount of satellite data has prompted researchers to explore advanced data storage and processing techniques such as cloud computing and machine learning. Given the complexity of image processing and the amount of technical knowledge and expertise needed, it is critical to explore and develop a simple yet reliable workflow for the real-time application of remote sensing in PA. Development of accurate yet easy to use, user-friendly systems is likely to result in broader adoption of remote sensing technologies in commercial and non-commercial PA applications.

Applications of Remote Sensing in Precision Agriculture: A Review

The effect of sodium chloride (NaCl) and gibberillic acid (GA3) on seed germination and seedling growth of 11 medicinal and aromatic crops was studied under controlled conditions. For this various aqueous solutions of NaCl (0.05, 0.5 and 1.5 mol/l NaCl) and GA3 (50, 100, 200, 400 ppm GA3) were used solely or combined as germination and growth substrates. Two of the aqueous solutions of NaCl (0.5 and 1.5 mol/l NaCl) negatively affected seed germination of all 11 species even when combined with GA3. One NaCl aqueous solution (0.5 mol/l) impeded germination of rosemary, dill, lavender and oregano seeds, whereas it did not affect germination of spearmint, anise, coriander, parsley, sage, basil and cress. The highest seed germination was recorded in cress and basil (6.6 and 5.7%, respectively) and the lowest in mint and rosemary (1.7 and 0.6%, respectively). The treatment with 0.5 mol/l NaCl significantly increased the seedling length in mint, oregano, coriander, parsley, dill, anise and lavender. The highest relative growth rate was observed in dill, rosemary, anise and parsley, and the lowest in mint, sage and cress. The results suggest that germination and seedling growth of the 11 species responded differently to low and moderate levels of NaCl.

	 

	Key words: Salinity, germination velocity, relative growth rate.

Effect of NaCl and GA3 on seed germination and seedling growth of eleven medicinal and aromatic crops

The effect of chitin soil amendment was studied in the characteristics of organic glasshouse cultivation of the lemon balm and tarragon plants. Chitin in the peat substrate did not affect the length and weight of the lemon balm plant, while at the peat-sand substrate it increased the corresponding sizes and the total chlorophyll content. In the peat-sand and chitin substrate the increase of the characteristics of the aboveground parts of tarragon was higher than in the peat and chitin substrate. Chitin affected the tarragon leaves resulting in the increase of the total chlorophyll content.

	 

	Key words: Chitin, growth, chlorophyll, Melissa officinalis, Artemisia dracunculus, peat, sand.

Effect of chitin on growth and chlorophyll content of two medicinal plants

The seed germination observation of chervil ( Anthriscus cerefolium ) lasted 35 days at a temperature of 20 � C. The effect of sodium chloride (NaCl), chitin and gibberillic acid (GA 3) on seed germination of chervil was studied for 35 days at a temperature of 22 � C under controlled growth chamber conditions. For this, various aqueous solutions of NaCl (80, 120, 180, 240 mM NaCl), chitin (1, 2, 3, 4% ) and GA 3 (100, 200, 500, 1000 ppm GA 3) were used as germination substrates. The above solutions used solely or combined and added on Petri dishes containing fifty chervil seeds. The seed germination of chervil in the control (H 2O) was 44%. In the 80 mM NaCl concentration there was an increase in the germination (64%) while in higher NaCl concentrations the germination reduced. The seed germination percentage of the chervil in the substrates with 1% and 2% chitin as the 200, 500 and 1000 ppm GA 3 was increased than the corresponding one in H 2O. With increasing rate of chitin and GA3 the seed germination of the chervil was reduced. In the combinations of 80 mM NaCl+ 1% Chitin, 120 NaCl + 1% chitin, 120 NaCl + 100 GA 3, 180 NaCl + 2% chitin and 180 NaCl + 200 GA 3 germination increased and the Timson Index of germination velocity was higher than the corresponding velocity in H 2O.

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Aglaia Liopa-Tsakalidi

Papers

Internet of Things (IoT) and Agricultural Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in smart farming: A comprehensive review

Effect of NaCl and GA3 on seed germination and seedling growth of eleven medicinal and aromatic crops

Effect of chitin on growth and chlorophyll content of two medicinal plants

Salinity, chitin and GA3 effects on seed germination of chervil ('Anthriscus cerefolium')

Application of Mobile Technologies through an Integrated Management System for Agricultural Production