This book, based on research carried out at the Academia Sinica over the past 30 years, explains the basic difference between the variable charge soils of tropical and subtropical regions, and the constant charge soils of temperate regions. It will focus on the chemical properties of the variable charge soils--properties which have important bearing on soil management practices, including maximizing soil productivity and combating soil pollution.

The agricultural industry is dealing with enormous challenges across the globe, including the limited availability of arable lands and fresh water, as well as the effect of climate change. Machinery plays a crucial role in agriculture and farming systems, in order to feed the world's growing population. In the last decade, we have witnessed major advances in agricultural machinery and technologies, particularly as manufacturers and researchers develop and apply various novel ways of automation as well as the data and information gathering and analyzing capabilities of their machinery. This book presents the state-of-the-art information on the important innovations in the agricultural and horticultural industry. It reviews and presents different novel technologies and implementation of these technologies to optimize farming processes and food production. There are four sections, each addressing a specific area of development. Section I discusses the recent development of farm machinery and technology. Section II focuses on water and irrigation engineering. Section III covers harvesting and post-harvest technology. Section IV describes computer modelling and simulation. Each section highlights current industry trends and latest research progress. This book is ideal for those working in or are associated with the fields of agriculture, agri-food chain and technology development and promotion.

This book is for use in introductory courses in colleges of agriculture and in other applications requiring a problematic approach to agriculture. It is intended as a replacement for an Introduction to Agricultural Engineering by Roth, Crow, and Mahoney. Parts of the previous book have been revised and included, but some sections have been removed and new ones has been expanded to include a chapter added. Problem solving on techniques, and suggestions are incorporated throughout the example problems. The topics and treatment were selected for three reasons: (1) to acquaint students with a wide range of applications of engineering principles to agriculture, (2) to present a selection of independent but related, topics, and (3) to develop and enhance the problem solving ability of the students. Each chapter contains educational objectives, introductory material, example problems (where appropriate), and sample problems, with answers, that can be used for self-assessment. Most chapters are self-contained and can be used independently of the others. Those that are sequential are organiZed in a logical order to ensure that the knowledge and skills needed are presented in a previous chapter. As principal author I wish to express my gratitude to Dr. Lawrence O. Roth for his contributions of subject matter and gUidance. I also wish to thank Professor Earl E. Baugher for his expertise as technical editor, and my wife Marsha for her help and patience. HARRY FIELD v 1 Problem Solving OBJECTIVES 1. Be able to define problem solving.

The aim of the book is to introduce the state-of-the-art technologies in the field of robotics, mechatronics and automation in agriculture in order to summarize and review the improvements in the methodologies in agricultural robotics. Advances made in the past decades are described, including robotics for agriculture, mechatronics for agriculture, kinematics, dynamics and control analysis of agricultural robotics, and a wide range of topics in the field of robotics, mechatronics and automation for agricultural applications.

Despite the fact that the farmer spends more on machinery than anything else except the land and despite the fact that he spends more on tractors than on any other machine, there are few books on the choice and operation of tractors to fit modern farming conditions. Most of this book is about farming and how to fit tractors to the individual situation. Those sections are completely unbiased and Case are happy to sponsor such a book in the wider interests of sensible, more productive and safer use of tractors and machinery. Where the Company's views are expressed it is clearly stated as such. This is mainly in the area of design detail and then only for the sake of being concise and brief. The first part of the book is concerned with relating the needs of the individual farm to specific details of tractor performance. Later chapters deal with policy on size, numbers and replacement. This section is a major development specifically about tractors. It is developed from the author's work Farm Mechanisationfor Prl fitwhich deals with machinery in the wider sense. Later chapters of this book are related to profes sionalism in operation, maintenance and care."

Know Your Farm Machinery follows on from the successful publication of Know Your Tractors, Know Your Combines and Know Your Classic Tractors.This pocket-sized book details 43 types of farm machinery most commonly seen on farms today including ploughs, cultivators, drills, spreaders and balers. A photograph of each machine is included.Chris Lockwood is a Suffolk based freelance agricultural journalist and producer of a long list of farming and farm machinery DVDs. This is his fourth book in the popular Know Your series.

A comprehensive, edited volume pulling together research on manipulation of the crop microbiome for climate resilient agriculture Microbes for Climate Resilient Agriculture provides a unique collection of data and a holistic view of the subject with quantitative assessment of how agricultural systems will be transformed in coming decades using hidden treasure of microbes. Authored by leaders in the field and edited to ensure conciseness and clarity, it covers a broad range of agriculturally important crops, discusses the impact of climate change on crops, and examines biotechnologically and environmentally relevant microbes. The book encapsulates the understanding of microbial mediated stress management at field level, and will serve as a springboard for novel research findings and new applications in the field. Chapter coverage includes: the role of the phytomicrobiome in maintaining biofuel crop production in a changing climate; the impact of agriculture on soil microbial community composition and diversity in southeast Asia; climate change impact on plant diseases; microalgae; photosynthetic microorganisms and bioenergy prospects; amelioration of abiotic stresses in plants through multi-faceted beneficial microorganisms; role of methylotrophic bacteria in climate change mitigation; conservation agriculture for climate change resilience; archaeal community structure; mycorrhiza-helping plants to navigate environmental stresses; endophytic microorganisms; bacillus thuringiensis; and microbial nanotechnology for climate resilient agriculture. Clear and succinct chapters contributed and edited by leaders in the field Covers microbes' beneficial and detrimental roles in the microbiome, as well as the functions they perform under stress Discusses the crop microbiome, nutrient cycling microbes, endophytes, mycorrhizae, and various pests and diseases, and their roles in sustainable farming Places research in larger context of climate change's effect on global agriculture Microbes for Climate Resilient Agriculture is an important text for scientists and researchers studying microbiology, biotechnology, environmental biology, agronomy, plant physiology, and plant protection.

Small Dams: Planning, Construction and Maintenance has been written to provide a practical approach and guide to determining catchment yield and the amount of water required in a dam, advising on selecting and working with engineers and contractors, as well as outlining the cause of dam failures and how to remedy problems quickly. It also covers relevant legislation, environmental and ecological issues. Employing the principles in this book, in conjunction with heeding the advice of suitably experienced and qualifi ed engineers and contractors, will reduce the risk of failure and help to ensure the long term success of any small dam in question. Small Dams will be an invaluable resource for anyone who owns a dam, and a useful reference for agencies, contractors and engineers. The author, Barry Lewis, has over forty years of experience as an engineer and has written extensively on farm dams, soil conservation, catchment management and the environmental impact of dams both on and off streams. He was also directly involved in the licensing and regulating of small dams in Australia.

This book discusses the development of useful models and their applications in soil and water engineering. It covers various modeling methods, including groundwater recharge estimation, rainfall-runoff modeling using artificial neural networks, development and application of a water balance model and a HYDRUS-2D model for cropped fields, a multi-model approach for stream flow simulation, multi-criteria analysis for construction of groundwater structures in hard rock terrains, hydrologic modeling of watersheds using remote sensing, and GIS and AGNPS.

Agricultural automation is the core technology for computer-aided agricultural production management and implementation. An integration of equipment, infotronics, and precision farming technologies, it creates viable solutions for challenges facing the food, fiber, feed, and fuel needs of the human race now and into the future. Agricultural Automation: Fundamentals and Practices provides a comprehensive introduction of automation technologies for agriculture. From basics to applications, topics in this volume include: Agricultural vehicle robots and infotronic systems Precision agriculture, with its focus on efficiency and efficacy of agricultural inputs and the spatial and temporal management of agricultural systems Specific agricultural production systems, including those related to field crops, cotton, orchards and vineyards, and animal housing and production Automation relative to specific inputs in agricultural production systems, such as nutrition management and automation, automation of pesticide application systems, and automated irrigation management with soil and canopy sensing Liability issues with regard to surrounding awareness and worksite management Postharvest automation-perhaps the most advanced component of agricultural production in terms of automation and an important factor in global agriculture Agricultural mechanization, one of the top ranked engineering accomplishments in the past century, has created revolutionary change in crop production technology and made it possible to harvest sufficient products to meet the population's continuously growing needs. Continued progress is essential to the future of agriculture. This book provides an up-to-date overview of the current state of automated agriculture and important insight into its upcoming challenges.

This book is a volume in the Penn Press Anniversary Collection. To mark its 125th anniversary in 2015, the University of Pennsylvania Press rereleased more than 1,100 titles from Penn Press's distinguished backlist from 1899-1999 that had fallen out of print. Spanning an entire century, the Anniversary Collection offers peer-reviewed scholarship in a wide range of subject areas.

Farmers, ranchers, and homesteaders who know how to weld can repair and even fabricate some equipment on their own, saving both time and money. Basic Welding for Farm and Ranch introduces this crucial skill and covers the most popular techniques used by the home hobbyist and DIY devotee, with chapters and detailed illustrations dedicated to oxyacetylene welding (or gas welding), stick welding, MIG, and arc welding, as well as brazing and soldering. Along with guidance on equipment selection and use, and safety precautions, this book offers 12 projects and repairs commonly faced on the small farm or homestead, with step-by-step photography guiding readers through building a wall-mount hay feeder, repairing a garden rake, making horseshoe hooks, and more.

This textbook surveys hydraulics and fluid power systems technology, with new chapters on system modeling and hydraulic systems controls now included.The text presents topics in a systematic way, following the course of energy transmission in hydraulic power generation, distribution, deployment, modeling, and control in fluid power systems.

Good Microbes in Medicine, Food Production, Biotechnology, Bioremediation, and Agriculture Discover the positive and helpful contributions made by microorganisms to various areas of human health, food preservation and production, biotechnology, industry, environmental clean-up and sustainable agriculture. In Good Microbes in Medicine, Food Production, Biotechnology, Bioremediation, and Agriculture, a team of distinguished researchers delivers a comprehensive and eye-opening look at the positive side of bacteria and other microbes. The book explores the important and positive roles played by microorganisms. Divided into five sections, Good Microbes examines the use of microorganisms and the microbiome in human health, food production, industrial use, bioremediation, and sustainable agriculture. Coverage spans from food allergies, skin disorders, microbial food preservation and fermentation of various beverages and food products, and from an ethical point of view to the beneficial use of microbes in biotechnology, industry, bioeconomy, environmental remediation such as resource recovery, microbial-based environmental clean-up, plant-microbe interactions in biorestauration, biological control of plant diseases, and biological nitrogen fixation. Provides basic knowledge on bacterial biology, biochemistry, genetics, and genomics of beneficial microbes Includes practical discussions of microbial biotechnology, including the contribution of microbial biotechnology to sustainable development goals Features a comprehensive introduction and extensive index to facilitate the search for key terms. Perfect for scientists, researchers and anyone with an interest in beneficial microbes, Good Microbes in Medicine, Food Production, Biotechnology, Bioremediation, and Agriculture is also an indispensable resource for microbiology graduate students, applied microbiologists and policy makers.

Automation in agriculture is made possible by the integration of advanced agricultural technology and precision agriculture management. This book, uniquely, will focus on applications of automation to the important industry of tree fruit production. Written by experts in agricultural automation technology from around the world, chapters in this book cover topics such as automated tree fruit production systems, plant stress sensing and high-throughput phenotyping in precision horticulture, the economics of automation in tree fruit production, light interception sensing systems for canopy management, precision irrigation and water management, precision technologies for pest and disease management, opportunities for the application of robotics in tree fruit production, and the mechanical harvesting and handling of fruit crops. The book is a representative, concise overview of the variety of technologies currently being applied to tree fruit crops around the world and the challenges faced by engineers and farmers that these technologies raise. It is aimed at researchers and graduate students of agriculture systems, agricultural and biological engineering, crop and soil sciences, horticulture, precision agriculture, and other relevant disciplines. It will also be of use to agriculture consultants, engineers, and other professionals such as agricultural equipment manufacturers and management professionals who use precision agriculture technologies. Key Features: - Takes a systematic approach to how to apply precision and automation technologies to fruit production. - Combines the disciplines of economics, horticulture, and engineering. - Illustrated by case studies throughout describing actual applications of automation technology.

The definitive visual history of the tractor The complete history of farm machinery, from steam and vintage tractors to the latest combine harvesters is showcased in this lavishly illustrated volume. Packed with images and tractor data on more than 200 iconic machines, The Tractor Book explores the entire range of tractors and farming machines from around the world, such as Fordson Model F and Massey-Harris GP. Histories of famous marques, such as John Deere and Massey Ferguson, sit alongside immersive visual tours of celebrated machines. The Tractor Book covers how tractors work, their history, major marques and catalogues tractors from every era making this a must-have for anyone fascinated by these extraordinary machines.

By the end of the twentieth century there were some half-million tractors on British farms - more machines than people to drive them. Brian Bell's encyclopaedic book traces the evolution of the farm tractor from the days of starting handle and pan seat to current 4-wheel drive machines with air-conditioned cabs and computer management systems. He deals in particular with developments of the classic period from the 1950s to the 1990s. The book is arranged alphabetically by manufacturer from Allis-Chalmers to Zetor, one hundred marques in total. These are all machines to be found on British farms irrespective of their country of manufacture. Brian runs concisely through the histories of the companies and their major models, illustrated with a wealth of photographs and extracts from sales literature. He adds some special features on items such as hydraulic systems and cold-starting aids. He includes a glossary and full index. This book replaces the author's earlier, successful, Fifty Years of Farm Tractors. Many of the photographs are new and the text has been brought up to date to include developments of the early twenty-first century.

This book presents the progress, changes, and evolvement for apple mechanical harvest during the past decades, which include, but not limited to, bulky harvest method, harvest platform, apple infield sorting, and harvest robotics. Though there are significant progresses in apple harvest robotics, there still is a long way ahead before its practical applications, with existing and potential bottlenecks described in this book. Hence, other researchers would take advantage of this book to have a hint of the apple mechanical harvest history and state-of-the-art progress, so that they can find the room for their new research. This book targets senior undergraduates and more importantly graduate students in the field of agricultural engineering, sensing, automatic, and robotics.

The author describes the adoption of the mule as the major agricultural resource in the American South and its later displacement by the mechanical tractor. After describing the surprising slowness of southern farmers to realize the superiority of the mule over the horse for agricultural labor, Ellenberg strives to capture the symbiosis that emerged between animal and man to illuminate why and how the mule became a standard feature in Southern folk culture. Having been slow to adopt the mule, southern farmers were then reluctant to set it aside in favor of the tractor. Ellenberg describes the transformation as the tractor gradually displaced the mule and the role of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in this process. The work not only becomes a survey of the development of southern agriculture as revealed through an examination of this premier work animal but also follows the emergence of the animal as a cultural icon, as it figures in southern literature, folklore, and music.

Conservation agriculture is a sustainable production model that not only optimizes crop yields, but also reaps economic and environmental benefits as well. The adoption of successful conservation agriculture methods has resulted in energy savings, higher organic matter content and biotic activity in soil, increased crop-water availability and thus resilience to drought, improved recharge of aquifers, less erosion, and reduced impacts from the weather associated with climate change in general. This two-volume set, Agricultural Impacts of Climate Change and Applied Agricultural Practices for Mitigating Climate Change, examines several important aspects of crop production, such as climate change, soil management, farm machinery, and different methods for sustainable conservation agriculture. It presents the latest techniques in crop modeling, best practices for irrigation under water deficit conditions, and other approaches for sustainable conservation agriculture that consider the environmental effects of climate change. It also discusses solar energy-based greenhouse modeling, precision farming using remote sensing and GIS, and various types of machinery used for conservation agriculture. Features: Examines the effects of climate change on agriculture and the related strategies for mitigation through practical, real-world examples Explores innovative on-farm technology options to increase system efficiency resulting in improved water usage Presents examples of precision farming using climate-resilient technologies

Resource-intensive practices of yesterday can no longer sustain the world. The future of our planet hinges on timely transitions to efficiency of resource-use across ecosystems of people, products, and processes. This will happen through transitions to low-carbon global energy systems. Against this, it is vital to take a closer look at the ongoing transitions in India. India is a country faced with the triple challenges of raising a substantial amount of its population out of poverty, shifting to a low-carbon economy, and fighting climate change. It is unquestionable that India's energy demand and consumption will only continue to rise in the decades to come; nonetheless, with multiple synchronized steps in the right direction, India can set the wheel in motion to achieve its development goals while containing its carbon footprint. This book brings together the valued perspectives from key stakeholders in these transitions. Experts and practitioners from the mobility, clean energy, agriculture and energy efficiency sectors, among others, have shared their outlook on challenges that lie in the way of energy transitions in India, and offered solutions and next steps to move the country forward on the decarbonisation pathway. The overarching message is clear: the Indian energy sector of the future will be noticeably different from what it is today. Please note: This book is co-published with TERI Press, India. Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

How much water does the world need to support growing human populations? What are the potential effects of climate change on the world's water resources? These questions and more are discussed in this thoroughly updated and expanded new edition. Written at the undergraduate level, this accessible textbook covers the fundamentals of water resources, water law, allocation, quality and quantity, health issues, and provides examples of potential personal actions and solutions. There is a keener focus on climate change, as many of the predictions made in the first edition have now come to pass. This new edition features improved artwork, more active learning prompts, more positive examples of beneficial changes, basic introductions to scientific approaches and a discussion of emerging contaminants and LiDAR technology. It contains strong teaching features, with new 'In Depth' and 'Think About It' sections to encourage class discussion, and homework questions to test students' understanding.

The third edition of this book exposes the reader to a wide array of engineering principles and their application to agriculture. It presents an array of more or less independent topics to facilitate daily assessments or quizzes, and aims to enhance the students' problem solving ability. Each chapter contains objectives, worked examples and sample problems are included at the end of each chapter. This book was first published in the late 60's by AVI. It remains relevant for post secondary classes in Agricultural Engineering Technology and Agricultural Mechanics, and secondary agriculture teachers.

This book examines the possibility of automating pasture care by fusing conventional technologies with modern sensor technologies, including the accompanying electrification. It subsequently explores the feasibility and benefits of such a system on the basis of a prototype. The overall challenge in fodder production, and in milk and meat production, is to shift the focus away from the economic aspects and toward achieving a better balance with ecological and societal aspects. In the future, pastureland will become an increasingly valuable resource. Good pasture turf is the basis of high grazing performance and an efficient grazing farm; reduced quantity and quality of pasture forage are chiefly due to insufficient pasture care. The prototype developed and discussed here, based on a commercially available remote-controlled mulcher, performs the selective pasture maintenance needed for precision farming. The vehicle has been upgraded with a GPS system for automatic guidance, while a 2D laser scanner is used to localise relevant spots in real-time. The pasture maintenance operations include mulching of un-grazed spots and reseeding of damage done by footsteps. The book presents the results of field tests on effective spot detection and the fuel-saving benefits of selective mulching.