Academic literature on the topic 'Electronics in horticulture'

Agricultural databases have existed in one form or another from time immemorial. However, their usefulness to horticulturists has not been the greatest. Many databases exist today that one can use to research developments in agriculture. However, none exists that allow a horticulturist to rapidly focus on a subject with the assurance that the information is accurate. Accuracy of information, especially that which can readily be used by Extension horticulture specialists and agents, is not guaranteed. The Cooperative Extension System (CES) through several state specialist and the National Program Leader at USDA developed a list of current and available Extension literature on three distinct subjects during the early 1980s. These lists were compiled by the Specialists and were placed in an electronic format (bulletin board) available through the nascent CES electronic network. This effort was abandoned 3 years after inception due to lack of use by CES staff. One of the reasons for not using these lists so as not to reinvent the wheel was that electronic communication at that time was very expensive. Other reasons were that it was cumbersome and did not include text. There was no quality assurance of any kind. In the case of this primitive database in horticulture, personal contacts were much more useful and convenient. Indeed there are many databases that have horticultural subjects included and many more are being created. These are only marginally useful to us in horticulture. There is a shining nova in our horizon today. HortBase offers the best chance we in horticulture, and especially in Extension horticulture programs, have of being able to use data (written and hopefully in other media) that meet our specific requirements. HortBase will be a peer-reviewed accumulation of our experiences and experiments whether in the classroom or in the field. It has a great potential to become one of our best tools for program development and delivery. We in horticulture, whether at the society, national, state, region, or county level, must help in the development and maintenance of this rising star so that it truly reaches its full potential.

The role of cooperative extension in providing information to amateur and professional horticulturists is being profoundly altered by the availability of vast amounts of horticultural resources on the World Wide Web and other electronic media. Advances in computer-related instructional technologies including the Internet, have coincided with, and to some extent triggered, a burgeoning demand for non-traditional continuing education in practically all fields of knowledge, including landscape horticulture. Although there are numerous Web sites offering a wide range of gardening and related information, there are relatively few opportunities for structured learning in the form of on-line distance learning courses or instructional modules. In Fall 1999, we conducted a survey of the membership of the New York State Nursery/Landscape Association to determine priority-training needs that might be met by computer-mediated distance learning. One-hundred-seven companies, representing horticulture-based businesses throughout New York State, completed the surveys. Results from the survey indicated that 83% of those responding were interested in taking one or more computer-based distance learning course(s), that 67% were willing to provide financial support for continuing education of their employees, and that 95% have access to a personal computer. We have also collected data indicating subject matter preferences, interest in full-course and short-course offerings, levels of computer and Internet experience, and more. It is apparent from the findings in this study that the cooperative extension has a great opportunity to use the World Wide Web as a component of its role as an information provider. This research will contribute to designing effective approaches for teaching hands-on horticultural skills at a distance, thereby expanding the cooperative extension's ability to reach its intended audiences.

The article presents an overview of currently used greenhouse lighting systems. It does not apply to traditional sodium lighting systems, but only to the most modern LEDs. The publication presents descriptions of lamp designs, both foreign and Polish. The aim of the work is not only to review solutions, but also to identify the reasons for the low transfer of scientific and technical solutions to business. There are several barriers to overcome, mainly subjective ones, so that new solutions can be implemented and developed. Full Text: PDF ReferencesS. Ki-Ho, J. Yu-Min, O. Myung-Min, "Application of supplementary white and pulsed light-emitting diodes to lettuce grown in a plant factory with artificial lighting", Springer 57(6), 561 (2016). CrossRef M. Gilewski, "The role of light in the plants world", Phot. Lett. Poland 11, 4 (2019). CrossRef K.J. McCree, Agricultural Meteorology (Elsevier Publishing Company 1972). CrossRef G. Trouwborst, J. Oosterkamp, S. Hogewoning, V. Ieperen, "The application of LEDs as assimilation light source in greenhouse horticulture: A simulation study", the 6th Int. Symposium on Light in Horticulture. Tsukuba. Japan, Nov. 2009. CrossRef K. Jaworski, A. Szmidt-Jaworska, J. Kopcewicz, " Two calcium dependent protein kinases are differently regulated by light and have different activity patterns during seedling growth in Pharbitis nil", Springerlink.com, Journal: 10725, Article: 9609, 2011. CrossRef Philips Lighting, Horticultural LED lighting applications, 2020: https://www.lighting.philips.com/main/products/horticulture. DirectLink E. de Beer, P.H. van Baar, 3 reasons why intercanopy lighting is effective for high-wire vegetables, 2020: www.lighting.philips.com. DirectLink HLG, Refurbished HLG 550, 2020, https://horticulture-lightinggroup.com/collections/lamps/products/refurbished-hlg-550-v1 DirectLink Neonica Polska, 2020, www.growy.eu CrossRef I. Fryc, T. Dimitrova-Grekow, "An automated system for evaluation of the quality of light sources", 6th IEEE Lighting Conference of the Visegrad Countries : LUMEN V4, Sept. 2016. CrossRef EconoLux Ind. Ltd., "What Light do Plants Need", Hong Kong, 2016, http://econoluxindustries.com/light-plants-need.html. DirectLink Heliospectra AB, heliospectra DYNA, 2020, https://www.heliospectra.com/led-grow-lights/dyna. DirectLink Plantlux, Horticulture LED SMD lamp Plantalux XX640W, 2020, https://plantalux.pl/en/plantalux-xx640w-en/. DirectLink M. Gilewski, "An Adaptive and Monoculture Oriented LEDs Lamp", 978-1-5386-7924-1/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE, 2018. CrossRef

Through a CyberServe Grant, a WWW Home Page and student/community listserve were established as core communication tools for a special study taught Spring 1997, Hort 4984, Horticulture and the Community: Professional Growth through Volunteering. It incorporated the Blacksburg Electronic Village to easily put student volunteers and the community programs they worked with in direct contact with each other, allowing an exchange of ideas that made them equal partners in their endeavors. It provided direct access to valuable information to understand the principles and philosophy behind programming efforts for both students and community sites where they volunteered. It also was a recruiting tool to involve other students and the Horticulture Club in service-learning projects because students in the class could post “help” notices to entice classmates to participate in defined projects. It provided students with knowledge and experience in the role of the Internet in enhancing the quality of life in their communities. Information installed on the site included reading materials on Horticultural Therapy, children's gardening, community gardening, science education through gardening, and volunteering in these areas; community site descriptions and slides, program activities, goals of program participants, and materials from the program (i.e., selected first-grade drawings of their garden); students participating in the class and information about them; goals, objectives, and management information on the course; and links to relevant information from around the world to put the activities of the students in an international framework.

The article presents a control system for a robotic platform for horticulture. The electronic control system consists of a running engine control unit, a stepper motor steering unit, an electronic differential control unit, a power plant automatic on / off control unit, and battery charging balancing. The developed control system of the robotic vehicle contains a central computer that collects information from sensors and sensors, processes it and transmits control signals to the drives of the machine movement. The movement of the robotic platform is carried out both by a radio signal with a remote control, and in offline mode on a pre-set map of the area according to data from the GLONASS/GPS differential receiver of the satellite navigation system. It is also possible to independently control the movement of a robotic platform using a vision system. The autonomy of the robotic platform provides 10 hours of continuous operation in low-light conditions in various weather conditions.

The global population is increasing rapidly, together with the demand for healthy fresh food. The greenhouse industry can play an important role, but encounters difficulties finding skilled staff to manage crop production. Artificial intelligence (AI) has reached breakthroughs in several areas, however, not yet in horticulture. An international competition on “autonomous greenhouses” aimed to combine horticultural expertise with AI to make breakthroughs in fresh food production with fewer resources. Five international teams, consisting of scientists, professionals, and students with different backgrounds in horticulture and AI, participated in a greenhouse growing experiment. Each team had a 96 m2 modern greenhouse compartment to grow a cucumber crop remotely during a 4-month-period. Each compartment was equipped with standard actuators (heating, ventilation, screening, lighting, fogging, CO2 supply, water and nutrient supply). Control setpoints were remotely determined by teams using their own AI algorithms. Actuators were operated by a process computer. Different sensors continuously collected measurements. Setpoints and measurements were exchanged via a digital interface. Achievements in AI-controlled compartments were compared with a manually operated reference. Detailed results on cucumber yield, resource use, and net profit obtained by teams are explained in this paper. We can conclude that in general AI performed well in controlling a greenhouse. One team outperformed the manually-grown reference.

An analysis of commonly asked horticultural questions is being conducted by the Office of Environmental Horticulture at Virginia Tech in order to improve the question and answer process between Master Gardeners and the public. Records of questions received by Master Gardeners from a sampling of Extension offices representing all growing areas of the state are being sorted and categorized to identify the most frequently asked questions and develop a electronic resource to assist in answering those questions quickly and with consistent IPM based information. More than 4000 questions have been analyzed and organized in to the following categories: Plant Questions (specific type or species of plant), General Gardening Questions (composting and fertilizing, herbicides and pesticides, soil testing etc.), Program Questions (Extension programs, Master Gardener program), and Animal and Insect Questions. The plants questions have been further divided into the sub-categories. The animal and insect questions have been sorted by species type with the percentage asked of each calculated. This information is posted on a web site and is linked to additional resources for answers. The address is www.hort.vt.edu/mastergardener/Q&A.html. The site contains useful information, links, and opportunities for feedback via e-mail.

Orientador: Marcos David Ferreira
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Agricola
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-07T02:04:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ferrari_PauloRoberto_M.pdf: 2682736 bytes, checksum: 1234e4cfee02d4d64bcd7f8c5707982f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005
Resumo: A tomaticultura de mesa nos últimos seis anos evoluiu com a implantação de unidades de beneficiamento, classificando os tomates através de equipamentos com sistema eletrônico e mecânico de classificação. A avaliação da classificação foi desenvolvida em duas unidades de beneficiamento de tomates de mesa, sistema de classificação eletrônica e mecânica, e em dois períodos de produção, safras de verão e inverno. O cultivar utilizado foi Carmen. Para cada safra foram realizadas três etapas: (1) Avaliar a conformidade de classificação por diâmetro e coloração dos equipamentos com sistema eletrônico e mecânico de classificação com o PROGRAMA BRASILEIRO PARA A MODERNIZAÇÃO DA HORTICULTURA (2003), (2) Verificar a conformidade de classificação por diâmetro obtida dos equipamentos, com a regulagem programada pela unidade de beneficiamento e (3) Acompanhamento da vida pós-colheita dos tomates provenientes da classificação nesses equipamentos em laboratório da Faculdade de Engenharia Agrícola ¿ UNICAMP, onde os tomates ficaram armazenados em câmara de refrigeração a temperatura ambiente de 24 ± 1ºC e umidade relativa de 75 ± 5% por um período de 20 dias. Foram realizadas análises como, perda de massa, qualidade visual, evolução da coloração, firmeza e químicas (pH, sólido solúvel, acidez titulável) e cálculo da relação sólido solúvel/acidez titulável. Dentre os resultados, não houve conformidade de classificação por diâmetro e coloração, dos equipamentos, com a norma de classificação do Programa. A conformidade de classificação obtida com a programada apresentou somente para classe de maior diâmetro, em ambos os equipamentos. Na avaliação da qualidade visual, os frutos sadios após armazenamento por 20 dias não apresentaram diferença significativa entre os equipamentos. Como razão de descarte, na safra de verão, enrugamento foi mais freqüente no equipamento eletrônico e a podridão no mecânico, na safra de inverno os descartes foram mais freqüentes no equipamento mecânico. A perda de massa foi maior no equipamento mecânico em ambas as safras. A evolução da coloração dos tomates foi mais intensa na safra de verão no equipamento mecânico e menor intensidade no inverno para o mesmo equipamento. Não houve diferenças significativas para a variação do índice de firmeza entre os equipamentos. As análises das características químicas, não foram significativas. O equipamento eletrônico apresentou melhor desempenho sobre o equipamento mecânico, em relação à classificação e na qualidade da vida pós-colheita dos frutos provenientes desta classificação. Embora utilize alta tecnologia, este equipamento deverá ser monitorado constantemente em suas atividades visando sua eficiência e viabilização do seu investimento. Pelos resultados apresentados, recomenda-se para o sistema mecânico, rever o sistema de classificação de correia de lona furada para que atenda a legislação de classificação do Programa Brasileiro para a Modernização da Horticultura, e garanta melhor desempenho nas etapas de lavagem, secagem e polimento
Abstract: The fresh market tomato industry has been evolved, in the last six years, with the implantation of tomato grade machines, electronical and mechanical equipments. Evaluation of the grading performance electronical and mechanical equipments was done at summer and winter seasons. The cultivar studied was Carmen. For each season, three main points were studied: (1) Evolution of the size and color grading conformity with the BRAZILIAN PROGRAM FOR HORTICULTURE MODERNIZATION standards. (2) Evaluation of size grading conformity with the one established by the packer. (3) Post harvest shelf life and grading quality of tomatoes during for 20 days in controlled environment at 24ºC ± 1ºC and 75% ± 5% RH, FEAGRI/UNICAMP. During storage, visual quality evaluation and physical and physical chemical analysis were done: weight loss, color evolution, firmness, pH, soluble solids, tritratable acidity and ratio. There was no grade conformity with the fresh tomato quality standards of the BRAZILIAN PROGRAM FOR HORTICULTURE MODERNIZATION. There was conformity with the grading programmed by the packer, only for large size, in both equipments. After storage for 20 days, there were not any significant statistic difference on fruit quality sorted by electronical and mechanical equipments. For summer season, the major cause for fruit discharge was shrunken fruits in electronical equipment and decay in mechanical equipment. For winter season there were high post harvest losses at the mechanical equipment. The highest weight loss was found on fruits sorted at the mechanical equipment at the two seasons. The mechanical equipment showed the most intense color evolution at summer season and the less intense at winter season. There were not statistical differences between the equipments for firmness loss. There were also not statistical differences, between the equipments for chemical analyses. The electronical equipment has presented better performance, compared to the mechanical equipment, considering grading performance and post-harvest fruits quality. Despite of its high technology the electronical equipment must be constantly monitored to achieve efficiency and return of the investment. The mechanical system must review its size grading, to achieve grade standards stablished by the BRAZILIAN PROGRAM FOR HORTICULTURE MODERNIZATION and must improve its cleaning operation
Mestrado
Tecnologia Pós-Colheita
Mestre em Engenharia Agrícola

Plants can be characterised by a range of attributes, and measuring these attributes accurately and reliably is a major challenge for the horticulture industry. The measurement of those plant characteristics that are most relevant to a grower has previously been tackled almost exclusively by a combination of manual measurement and visual inspection. The purpose of this work is to propose an automated image analysis approach in order to provide an objective measure of plant attributes to remove subjective factors from assessment and to reduce labour requirements in the glasshouse. This thesis describes a stereopsis approach for estimating plant height, since height information cannot be easily determined from a single image. The stereopsis algorithm proposed in this thesis is efficient in terms of the running time, and is more accurate when compared with other algorithms. The estimated geometry, together with colour information from the image, are then used to build a statistical plant surface model, which represents all the information from the visible spectrum. A self-organising map approach can be adopted to model plant surface attributes, but the model can be improved by using a probabilistic model such as a mixture model formulated in a Bayesian framework. Details of both methods are discussed in this thesis. A Kalman filter is developed to track the plant model over time, extending the model to the time dimension, which enables smoothing of the noisy measurements to produce a development trend for a crop. The outcome of this work could lead to a number of potentially important applications in horticulture.

Thesis (M.B.A.)-Business Studies Unit, Durban Institute of Technology, 2005 vii, 108 leaves
The South African nursery industry has faced many challenges over the last ten years. Excess in both demand and supply occur in any given year. The cost of maintaining a plant beyond its ideal ‘sell-by-date’ erodes profit and after time, results in complete wastage. The seedling nursery industry cannot afford to throw away large quantities of surplus seedlings or those that have become root-bound. The size of the wastage problem was unknown. It was believed that a website for trading surplus stock of seedlings might be the answer to the oversupply experienced by individual nurseries. The literature was consulted to establish what had made large companies successful. The advantages and disadvantages of E-business were investigated.

Abstract This chapter provides information on significant contribution of various advances in horticultural production technologies, including electronic sensing, autonomous orchard equipment, machine learning and artificial intelligence and robotics to future cherry production trends. New challenges due to invasive species, climate change and the ever unpredictable geopolitical landscape are also discussed.