Sample records for agricultural chemical applications

  1. A Framework for Identifying Selective Chemical Applications for IPM in Dryland Agriculture

    PubMed Central

    Umina, Paul A.; Jenkins, Sommer; McColl, Stuart; Arthur, Aston; Hoffmann, Ary A.

    2015-01-01

    Shifts to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in agriculture are assisted by the identification of chemical applications that provide effective control of pests relative to broad-spectrum pesticides but have fewer negative effects on natural enemy (beneficial) groups that assist in pest control. Here, we outline a framework for identifying such applications and apply this framework to field trials involving the crop establishment phase of Australian dryland cropping systems. Several chemicals, which are not presently available to farmers in Australia, were identified as providing moderate levels of pest control and seedling protection, with the potential to be less harmful to beneficial groups including predatory mites, predatory beetles and ants. This framework highlights the challenges involved in chemically controlling pests while maintaining non-target populations when pest species are present at damaging levels. PMID:26694469

  2. Raman chemical imaging technology for food and agricultural applications

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    This paper presents Raman chemical imaging technology for inspecting food and agricultural products. The paper puts emphasis on introducing and demonstrating Raman imaging techniques for practical uses in food analysis. The main topics include Raman scattering principles, Raman spectroscopy measurem...

  3. Soil chemical sensor and precision agricultural chemical delivery system and method

    DOEpatents

    Colburn, Jr., John W.

    1991-01-01

    A real time soil chemical sensor and precision agricultural chemical delivery system includes a plurality of ground-engaging tools in association with individual soil sensors which measure soil chemical levels. The system includes the addition of a solvent which rapidly saturates the soil/tool interface to form a conductive solution of chemicals leached from the soil. A multivalent electrode, positioned within a multivalent frame of the ground-engaging tool, applies a voltage or impresses a current between the electrode and the tool frame. A real-time soil chemical sensor and controller senses the electrochemical reaction resulting from the application of the voltage or current to the leachate, measures it by resistivity methods, and compares it against pre-set resistivity levels for substances leached by the solvent. Still greater precision is obtained by calibrating for the secondary current impressed through solvent-less soil. The appropriate concentration is then found and the servo-controlled delivery system applies the appropriate amount of fertilizer or agricultural chemicals substantially in the location from which the soil measurement was taken.

  4. Soil chemical sensor and precision agricultural chemical delivery system and method

    DOEpatents

    Colburn, J.W. Jr.

    1991-07-23

    A real time soil chemical sensor and precision agricultural chemical delivery system includes a plurality of ground-engaging tools in association with individual soil sensors which measure soil chemical levels. The system includes the addition of a solvent which rapidly saturates the soil/tool interface to form a conductive solution of chemicals leached from the soil. A multivalent electrode, positioned within a multivalent frame of the ground-engaging tool, applies a voltage or impresses a current between the electrode and the tool frame. A real-time soil chemical sensor and controller senses the electrochemical reaction resulting from the application of the voltage or current to the leachate, measures it by resistivity methods, and compares it against pre-set resistivity levels for substances leached by the solvent. Still greater precision is obtained by calibrating for the secondary current impressed through solvent-less soil. The appropriate concentration is then found and the servo-controlled delivery system applies the appropriate amount of fertilizer or agricultural chemicals substantially in the location from which the soil measurement was taken. 5 figures.

  5. Agricultural chemicals: life changer for mosquito vectors in agricultural landscapes?

    PubMed

    Kibuthu, Tabitha W; Njenga, Sammy M; Mbugua, Amos K; Muturi, Ephantus J

    2016-09-13

    Although many mosquito species develop within agricultural landscapes where they are potentially exposed to agricultural chemicals (fertilizers and pesticides), the effects of these chemicals on mosquito biology remain poorly understood. This study investigated the effects of sublethal concentrations of four agricultural chemicals on the life history traits of Anopheles arabiensis and Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes. Field and laboratory experiments were conducted to examine how sublethal concentrations of four agricultural chemicals: an insecticide (cypermethrin), a herbicide (glyphosate), and two nitrogenous fertilizers (ammonium sulfate and diammonium phosphate) alter oviposition site selection, emergence rates, development time, adult body size, and longevity of An. arabiensis and Cx. quinquefasciatus. Both mosquito species had preference to oviposit in fertilizer treatments relative to pesticide treatments. Emergence rates for An. arabiensis were significantly higher in the control and ammonium sulfate treatments compared to cypermethrin treatment, while emergence rates for Cx. quinquefasciatus were significantly higher in the diammonium phosphate treatment compared to glyphosate and cypermethrin treatments. For both mosquito species, individuals from the ammonium sulfate and diammonium phosphate treatments took significantly longer time to develop compared to those from cypermethrin and glyphosate treatments. Although not always significant, males and females of both mosquito species tended to be smaller in the ammonium sulfate and diammonium phosphate treatments compared to cypermethrin and glyphosate treatments. There was no significant effect of the agrochemical treatments on the longevity of either mosquito species. These results demonstrate that the widespread use of agricultural chemicals to enhance crop production can have unexpected effects on the spatial distribution and abundance of mosquito vectors of malaria and lymphatic filariasis.

  6. The Application of Nano-TiO2 Photo Semiconductors in Agriculture

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Yan; Sun, Changjiao; Zhao, Xiang; Cui, Bo; Zeng, Zhanghua; Wang, Anqi; Liu, Guoqiang; Cui, Haixin

    2016-11-01

    Nanometer-sized titanium dioxide (TiO2) is an environmentally friendly optical semiconductor material. It has wide application value in many fields due to its excellent structural, optical, and chemical properties. The photocatalytic process of nano-TiO2 converts light energy into electrical or chemical energy under mild conditions. In recent years, the study and application of nano-TiO2 in the agricultural sector has gradually attracted attention. The nano-TiO2 applications of degrading pesticides, plant germination and growth, crop disease control, water purification, pesticide residue detection, etc. are good prospects. This review describes all of these applications and the research status and development, including the underlying principles, features, comprehensive applications, functional modification, and potential future directions, for TiO2 in agriculture.

  7. Agricultural Chemicals and Radiation. Ag Ed Environmental Education Series.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tulloch, Rodney W.

    The document is designed to be used as a resource in teaching vocational agriculture high school students about the environment. Agricultural chemicals are the major focus, with some attention to radiation. The importance of safety in agricultural chemical use is stressed, with descriptions of the pesticide label; protective clothing; respiratory…

  8. 40 CFR 455.60 - Applicability; description of repackaging of agricultural pesticides performed by refilling...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... repackaging of agricultural pesticides performed by refilling establishments subcategory. 455.60 Section 455... STANDARDS (CONTINUED) PESTICIDE CHEMICALS Repackaging of Agricultural Pesticides Performed at Refilling Establishments § 455.60 Applicability; description of repackaging of agricultural pesticides performed by...

  9. 40 CFR 455.60 - Applicability; description of repackaging of agricultural pesticides performed by refilling...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... repackaging of agricultural pesticides performed by refilling establishments subcategory. 455.60 Section 455... STANDARDS (CONTINUED) PESTICIDE CHEMICALS Repackaging of Agricultural Pesticides Performed at Refilling Establishments § 455.60 Applicability; description of repackaging of agricultural pesticides performed by...

  10. 40 CFR 455.60 - Applicability; description of repackaging of agricultural pesticides performed by refilling...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... repackaging of agricultural pesticides performed by refilling establishments subcategory. 455.60 Section 455... STANDARDS PESTICIDE CHEMICALS Repackaging of Agricultural Pesticides Performed at Refilling Establishments § 455.60 Applicability; description of repackaging of agricultural pesticides performed by refilling...

  11. 40 CFR 455.60 - Applicability; description of repackaging of agricultural pesticides performed by refilling...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... repackaging of agricultural pesticides performed by refilling establishments subcategory. 455.60 Section 455... STANDARDS (CONTINUED) PESTICIDE CHEMICALS Repackaging of Agricultural Pesticides Performed at Refilling Establishments § 455.60 Applicability; description of repackaging of agricultural pesticides performed by...

  12. 40 CFR 455.60 - Applicability; description of repackaging of agricultural pesticides performed by refilling...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... repackaging of agricultural pesticides performed by refilling establishments subcategory. 455.60 Section 455... STANDARDS PESTICIDE CHEMICALS Repackaging of Agricultural Pesticides Performed at Refilling Establishments § 455.60 Applicability; description of repackaging of agricultural pesticides performed by refilling...

  13. National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS): Agricultural Chemical Use

    Science.gov Websites

    Management Agricultural Chemical Use Database Search Tips Usage Search | US Maps | Graphical Reports effort among USDA, the USDA Regional Pest Management Centers and the NSF Center for Integrated Pest Management (CIPM). All data available have been previously published by NASS and have been consolidated at

  14. Effects of topography on the transport of agricultural chemicals to groundwater in a sand-plain setting

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Delin, Geoffrey N.; Landon, Matthew K.

    2002-08-01

    Geochemical data were collected to investigate the effects of topography and focused recharge on the transport of agricultural chemicals to groundwater through sandy soils. The research was done at a topographically high (upland) site and a depressional (lowland) site within a corn field. Agricultural chemicals that move readily with water were most directly affected by focused recharge to the lowland site. Surface runoff of water to the lowland site was the primary cause for the generally greater flux of chloride, nitrate nitrogen, and sulfate compared with the upland site. Based on data from the unsaturated zone, for example, the average annual fluxes of these chemicals in 1992-1993 were 5.1, 3.4, and 1.7 times greater, respectively, at the lowland site. Study results indicate that consideration should be given to modifying site-specific management farming technology to account for varying recharge rates in different topographic settings. By reducing chemical application rates in topographic depressions, where focused recharge of chemicals occurs because of surface runoff, farmers could improve ground-water quality as well as reduce expenditures for agricultural chemicals.

  15. Effects of topography on the transport of agricultural chemicals to groundwater in a sand-plain setting

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Delin, G.N.; Landon, M.K.

    2002-01-01

    Geochemical data were collected to investigate the effects of topography and focused recharge on the transport of agricultural chemicals to groundwater through sandy soils. The research was done at a topographically high (upland) site and a depressional (lowland) site within a corn field. Agricultural chemicals that move readily with water were most directly affected by focused recharge to the lowland site. Surface runoff of water to the lowland site was the primary cause for the generally greater flux of chloride, nitrate nitrogen, and sulfate compared with the upland site. Based on data from the unsaturated zone, for example, the average annual fluxes of these chemicals in 1992–1993 were 5.1, 3.4, and 1.7 times greater, respectively, at the lowland site. Study results indicate that consideration should be given to modifying site-specific management farming technology to account for varying recharge rates in different topographic settings. By reducing chemical application rates in topographic depressions, where focused recharge of chemicals occurs because of surface runoff, farmers could improve ground-water quality as well as reduce expenditures for agricultural chemicals.

  16. THE USE OF CHEMICALS AS PLANT REGULATORS. AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS TECHNOLOGY, NUMBER 8.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ohio State Univ., Columbus. Center for Vocational and Technical Education.

    ONE OF A SERIES DESIGNED TO ASSIST TEACHERS IN PREPARING POST-SECONDARY STUDENTS FOR AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL OCCUPATIONS, THIS MODULE IS SPECIFICALLY CONCERNED WITH CHEMICALS AS PLANT REGULATORS. IT WAS DEVELOPED BY A NATIONAL TASK FORCE ON THE BASIS OF DATA FROM STATE STUDIES. SECTIONS INCLUDE -- (1) CHEMICALS AS MODIFIERS OF PLANT GROWTH, (2)…

  17. [Ecological agriculture: future of agriculture for Chinese material medica].

    PubMed

    Guo, Lan-Ping; Wang, Tie-Lin; Yang, Wan-Zhen; Zhou, Liang-Yun; Chen, Nai-Fu; Han, Bang-Xing; Huang, Lu-Qi

    2017-01-01

    The ecological agriculture of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is generally acknowledged as the most advanced agricultural mode. However, it's still a doubt whether ecological agriculture could be widely applied in TCM agriculture. In this study, we first analyze both the differences and relationships between ecological and organic agriculture, which suggesting that ecological agriculture does not need all the inputs as traditional agriculture. After introducing the situation of ecological agriculture from all across the world, we analyze the differences and characteristics between ecological and chemical agricultures. Considered with the big challenge caused by chemical agriculture, we pointed out that ecological agriculture could definitely replace chemical agriculture. Last but not the least, combined with the situation and problems of Chinese agriculture, we analyze the distinctive advantages of TCM ecological agriculture from 3 aspects as its unique quality characteristics, its unique habitat requirements in production and its unique application and market characteristics, respectively. In conclusion, ecological agriculture is the straight way of TCM agriculture. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

  18. THE USE OF CHEMICALS AS HERBICIDES. AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS TECHNOLOGY, NUMBER 6.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ohio State Univ., Columbus. Center for Vocational and Technical Education.

    DEVELOPED BY A NATIONAL TASK FORCE ON THE BASIS OF STATE STUDIES, THIS MODULE IS ONE OF A SERIES DESIGNED TO ASSIST TEACHERS IN PREPARING POST-SECONDARY STUDENTS FOR ENTRY AND ADVANCEMENT IN AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL OCCUPATIONS. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF THIS MODULE ARE TO DEVELOP ABILITIES NECESSARY FOR OCCUPATIONS CONCERNED WITH CHEMICAL WEED…

  19. THE USE OF CHEMICALS AS FERTILIZERS. AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS TECHNOLOGY, NUMBER 1.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ohio State Univ., Columbus. Center for Vocational and Technical Education.

    THE PURPOSE OF THIS GUIDE IS TO ASSIST TEACHERS IN PREPARING POST-SECONDARY STUDENTS FOR AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL OCCUPATIONS. ONE OF A SERIES OF EIGHT MODULES, IT WAS DEVELOPED BY A NATIONAL TASK FORCE ON THE BASIS OF DATA FROM STATE STUDIES. SUBJECT MATTER AREAS ARE (1) CHEMICAL NUTRITION OF PLANTS, (2) PLANT GROWTH, (3) TERMINOLOGY,…

  20. Ecologically sustainable chemical recommendations for agricultural pest control?

    PubMed

    Thomson, Linda J; Hoffmann, Ary A

    2007-12-01

    Effective pest control remains an essential part of food production, and it is provided both by chemicals and by natural enemies within agricultural ecosystems. These methods of control are often in conflict because of the negative impact of chemicals on natural enemies. There are already well-established approaches such as those provided by the International Organization for Biological and Integrated Control-Pesticides and Beneficial Organisms for testing, collecting, and publishing information on responses of natural enemies to chemicals based on laboratory responses of specific organisms; however, these tests do not assess the cumulative impact of chemical inputs across an entire season or consider impacts on the complex communities of natural enemies that can provide effective pest control on a farm. Here, we explore the potential of different approaches for assessing the impact of chemicals on agricultural ecosystems and we propose a simple metric for sustainable chemical use on farms that minimizes overall impact on beneficial groups. We suggest ways in which the effectiveness of metrics can be extended to include persistence and habitat features. Such metrics can assist farmers in developing targets for sustainable chemical use as demonstrated in the viticultural industry.

  1. A Whole-System Approach to Understanding Agricultural Chemicals in the Environment

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    ,

    2009-01-01

    The effects of the use of agricultural chemicals and other practices associated with agriculture on the quality of streams and groundwater is well known; however, less is known about how those effects may vary across different geographic regions of the Nation. Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are conducting studies on the transport and fate of agricultural chemicals in diverse agricultural settings across the country using comparable and consistent methodology and study designs (fig. 1; Capel and others, 2004; Capel and others, 2008). Assessments in five study areas have been completed, and the results highlight how environmental processes and agricultural practices interact to affect the movement and transformation of agricultural chemicals in the environment. The studies address major environmental compartments, including surface water, groundwater, the unsaturated zone, the streambed, and the atmosphere, as well as the pathways that interconnect these compartments. The study areas represent major agricultural settings, such as irrigated diverse cropping in the West and corn and soybean row cropping in the Midwest and, therefore, findings are relevant throughout much of the Nation.

  2. Effect of widespread agricultural chemical use on butterfly diversity across Turkish provinces.

    PubMed

    Pekin, Burak K

    2013-12-01

    Although agricultural intensification is thought to pose a significant threat to species, little is known about its role in driving biodiversity loss at regional scales. I assessed the effects of a major component of agricultural intensification, agricultural chemical use, and land-cover and climatic variables on butterfly diversity across 81 provinces in Turkey, where agriculture is practiced extensively but with varying degrees of intensity. I determined butterfly species presence in each province from data on known butterfly distributions and calculated agricultural chemical use as the proportion of agricultural households that use chemical fertilizers and pesticides. I used constrained correspondence analyses and regression-based multimodel inference to determine the effect of environmental variables on species composition and richness, respectively. The variation in butterfly species composition across the provinces was largely explained (78%) by the combination of agricultural chemical use, particularly pesticides, and climatic and land-cover variables. Although overall butterfly richness was primarily explained by climatic and land-cover variables, such as the area of natural vegetation cover, threatened butterfly richness and the relative number of threatened butterfly species decreased substantially as the proportion of agricultural households using pesticides increased. These findings suggest that widespread use of agricultural chemicals, or other components of agricultural intensification that may be collinear with pesticide use, pose an imminent threat to the biodiversity of Turkey. Accordingly, policies that mitigate agricultural intensification and promote low-input farming practices are crucial for protecting threatened species from extinction in rapidly industrializing nations such as Turkey. Efectos del Uso Extensivo de Agroquímicos sobre la Diversidad de Mariposas en Provincias Turcas. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

  3. Proceedings of the frst joint american chemical society agricultural and food chemistry division – american chemical society international chemical sciences chapter in Thailand symposium on agricultural and food chemistry

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    This Proceedings is a compilation of papers from contributed oral and poster presentations presented at the first joint symposium organized by the American Chemical Society Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division and the American Chemical Society International Chemical Sciences Chapter in Thailand ...

  4. Biofibers from agricultural byproducts for industrial applications.

    PubMed

    Reddy, Narendra; Yang, Yiqi

    2005-01-01

    Lignocellulosic agricultural byproducts are a copious and cheap source for cellulose fibers. Agro-based biofibers have the composition, properties and structure that make them suitable for uses such as composite, textile, pulp and paper manufacture. In addition, biofibers can also be used to produce fuel, chemicals, enzymes and food. Byproducts produced from the cultivation of corn, wheat, rice, sorghum, barley, sugarcane, pineapple, banana and coconut are the major sources of agro-based biofibers. This review analyses the production processes, structure, properties and suitability of these biofibers for various industrial applications.

  5. [Application of THz technology to nondestructive detection of agricultural product quality].

    PubMed

    Jiang, Yu-ying; Ge, Hong-yi; Lian, Fei-yu; Zhang, Yuan; Xia, Shan-hong

    2014-08-01

    With recent development of THz sources and detector, applications of THz radiation to nondestructive testing and quality control have expanded in many fields, such as agriculture, safety inspection and quality control, medicine, biochemistry, communication etc. Compared with other detection technique, being a new kind of technique, THz radiation has low energy, good perspectivity, and high signal-to-noise ratio, and thus can obtain physical, chemical and biological information. This paper first introduces the basic concept of THz radiation and the major properties, then gives an extensive review of recent research progress in detection of the quality of agricultural products via THz technique, analyzes the existing shortcomings of THz detection and discusses the outlook of potential application, finally proposes the new application of THz technique to detection of quality of stored grain.

  6. Agricultural aviation application in the USA

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The United States has the most advanced equipment and applications in agricultural aviation. It also has a complete service system in agricultural aviation. This article introduces the current status of aerial application including service, equipment, and aerial application techniques. It has a c...

  7. Impacts of climate change on indirect human exposure to pathogens and chemicals from agriculture.

    PubMed

    Boxall, Alistair B A; Hardy, Anthony; Beulke, Sabine; Boucard, Tatiana; Burgin, Laura; Falloon, Peter D; Haygarth, Philip M; Hutchinson, Thomas; Kovats, R Sari; Leonardi, Giovanni; Levy, Leonard S; Nichols, Gordon; Parsons, Simon A; Potts, Laura; Stone, David; Topp, Edward; Turley, David B; Walsh, Kerry; Wellington, Elizabeth M H; Williams, Richard J

    2009-04-01

    Climate change is likely to affect the nature of pathogens and chemicals in the environment and their fate and transport. Future risks of pathogens and chemicals could therefore be very different from those of today. In this review, we assess the implications of climate change for changes in human exposures to pathogens and chemicals in agricultural systems in the United Kingdom and discuss the subsequent effects on health impacts. In this review, we used expert input and considered literature on climate change; health effects resulting from exposure to pathogens and chemicals arising from agriculture; inputs of chemicals and pathogens to agricultural systems; and human exposure pathways for pathogens and chemicals in agricultural systems. We established the current evidence base for health effects of chemicals and pathogens in the agricultural environment; determined the potential implications of climate change on chemical and pathogen inputs in agricultural systems; and explored the effects of climate change on environmental transport and fate of different contaminant types. We combined these data to assess the implications of climate change in terms of indirect human exposure to pathogens and chemicals in agricultural systems. We then developed recommendations on future research and policy changes to manage any adverse increases in risks. Overall, climate change is likely to increase human exposures to agricultural contaminants. The magnitude of the increases will be highly dependent on the contaminant type. Risks from many pathogens and particulate and particle-associated contaminants could increase significantly. These increases in exposure can, however, be managed for the most part through targeted research and policy changes.

  8. Modelling effects of chemical exposure on birds wintering in agricultural landscapes: The western burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) as a case study

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Engelman, Catherine A.; Grant, William E.; Mora, Miguel A.; Woodin, Marc

    2012-01-01

    We describe an ecotoxicological model that simulates the sublethal and lethal effects of chronic, low-level, chemical exposure on birds wintering in agricultural landscapes. Previous models estimating the impact on wildlife of chemicals used in agro-ecosystems typically have not included the variety of pathways, including both dermal and oral, by which individuals are exposed. The present model contains four submodels simulating (1) foraging behavior of individual birds, (2) chemical applications to crops, (3) transfers of chemicals among soil, insects, and small mammals, and (4) transfers of chemicals to birds via ingestion and dermal exposure. We demonstrate use of the model by simulating the impacts of a variety of commonly used herbicides, insecticides, growth regulators, and defoliants on western burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) that winter in agricultural landscapes in southern Texas, United States. The model generated reasonable movement patterns for each chemical through soil, water, insects, and rodents, as well as into the owl via consumption and dermal absorption. Sensitivity analysis suggested model predictions were sensitive to uncertainty associated with estimates of chemical half-lives in birds, soil, and prey, sensitive to parameters associated with estimating dermal exposure, and relatively insensitive to uncertainty associated with details of chemical application procedures (timing of application, amount of drift). Nonetheless, the general trends in chemical accumulations and the relative impacts of the various chemicals were robust to these parameter changes. Simulation results suggested that insecticides posed a greater potential risk to owls of both sublethal and lethal effects than do herbicides, defoliants, and growth regulators under crop scenarios typical of southern Texas, and that use of multiple indicators, or endpoints provided a more accurate assessment of risk due to agricultural chemical exposure. The model should prove

  9. Biotechnology and Agriculture.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kenney, Martin

    Even at this early date in the application of biotechnology to agriculture, it is clear that agriculture may provide the largest market for new or less expensive biotechnologically manufactured products. The chemical and pharmaceutical industries that hold important positions in agricultural inputs are consolidating their positions by purchasing…

  10. United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service research in application technology for pest management.

    PubMed

    Smith, L A; Thomson, S J

    2003-01-01

    A research summary is presented that emphasizes ARS achievements in application technology over the past 2-3 years. Research focused on the improvement of agricultural pesticide application is important from the standpoint of crop protection as well as environmental safety. Application technology research is being actively pursued within the ARS, with a primary focus on application system development, drift management, efficacy enhancement and remote sensing. Research on application systems has included sensor-controlled hooded sprayers, new approaches to direct chemical injection, and aerial electrostatic sprayers. For aerial application, great improvements in on-board flow controllers permit accurate field application of chemicals. Aircraft parameters such as boom position and spray release height are being altered to determine their effect on drift. Other drift management research has focused on testing of low-drift nozzles, evaluation of pulsed spray technologies and evaluation of drift control adjuvants. Research on the use of air curtain sprayers in orchards, air-assist sprayers for row crops and vegetables, and air deflectors on aircraft has documented improvements in application efficacy. Research has shown that the fate of applied chemicals is influenced by soil properties, and this has implications for herbicide efficacy and dissipation in the environment. Remote sensing systems are being used to target areas in the field where pests are present so that spray can be directed to only those areas. Soil and crop conditions influence propensity for weeds and insects to proliferate in any given field area. Research has indicated distinct field patterns favorable for weed growth and insect concentration, which can provide further assistance for targeted spraying.

  11. Impacts of Climate Change on Indirect Human Exposure to Pathogens and Chemicals from Agriculture

    PubMed Central

    Boxall, Alistair B.A.; Hardy, Anthony; Beulke, Sabine; Boucard, Tatiana; Burgin, Laura; Falloon, Peter D.; Haygarth, Philip M.; Hutchinson, Thomas; Kovats, R. Sari; Leonardi, Giovanni; Levy, Leonard S.; Nichols, Gordon; Parsons, Simon A.; Potts, Laura; Stone, David; Topp, Edward; Turley, David B.; Walsh, Kerry; Wellington, Elizabeth M.H.; Williams, Richard J.

    2009-01-01

    Objective Climate change is likely to affect the nature of pathogens and chemicals in the environment and their fate and transport. Future risks of pathogens and chemicals could therefore be very different from those of today. In this review, we assess the implications of climate change for changes in human exposures to pathogens and chemicals in agricultural systems in the United Kingdom and discuss the subsequent effects on health impacts. Data sources In this review, we used expert input and considered literature on climate change; health effects resulting from exposure to pathogens and chemicals arising from agriculture; inputs of chemicals and pathogens to agricultural systems; and human exposure pathways for pathogens and chemicals in agricultural systems. Data synthesis We established the current evidence base for health effects of chemicals and pathogens in the agricultural environment; determined the potential implications of climate change on chemical and pathogen inputs in agricultural systems; and explored the effects of climate change on environmental transport and fate of different contaminant types. We combined these data to assess the implications of climate change in terms of indirect human exposure to pathogens and chemicals in agricultural systems. We then developed recommendations on future research and policy changes to manage any adverse increases in risks. Conclusions Overall, climate change is likely to increase human exposures to agricultural contaminants. The magnitude of the increases will be highly dependent on the contaminant type. Risks from many pathogens and particulate and particle-associated contaminants could increase significantly. These increases in exposure can, however, be managed for the most part through targeted research and policy changes. PMID:19440487

  12. Applications of DNA Technologies in Agriculture.

    PubMed

    Fang, Jinggui; Zhu, Xudong; Wang, Chen; Shangguan, Lingfei

    2016-08-01

    With the development of molecular biology, some DNA-based technologies have showed great potentiality in promoting the efficiency of crop breeding program, protecting germplasm resources, improving the quality and outputs of agricultural products, and protecting the eco-environment etc., making their roles in modern agriculture more and more important. To better understand the application of DNA technologies in agriculture, and achieve the goals to promote their utilities in modern agriculture, this paper describes, in some different way, the applications of molecular markers, transgenic engineering and gene's information in agriculture. Some corresponding anticipations for their development prospects are also made.

  13. Water and Agricultural-Chemical Transport in a Midwestern, Tile-Drained Watershed: Implications for Conservation Practices

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Baker, Nancy T.; Stone, Wesley W.; Frey, Jeffrey W.; Wilson, John T.

    2007-01-01

    The study of agricultural chemicals is one of five national priority topics being addressed by the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program in its second decade of studies, which began in 2001. Seven watersheds across the Nation were selected for the NAWQA agricultural-chemical topical study. The watersheds selected represent a range of agricultural settings - with varying crop types and agricultural practices related to tillage, irrigation, artificial drainage, and chemical use - as well as a range of landscapes with different geology, soils, topography, climate, and hydrology (Capel and others, 2004). Chemicals selected for study include nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and about 50 commonly used pesticides. This study design leads to an improved understanding of many factors that can affect the movement of water and chemicals in different agricultural settings. Information from these studies will help with decision making related to chemical use, conservation, and other farming practices that are used to reduce runoff of agricultural chemicals and sediment from fields (Capel and others, 2004). This Fact Sheet highlights the results of the NAWQA agricultural chemical study in the Leary Weber Ditch Watershed in Hancock County, Indiana. This watershed was selected to represent a tile-drained, corn and soybean, humid area typical in the Midwest.

  14. Occurrence and Transport of Agricultural Chemicals in Leary Weber Ditch Basin, Hancock County, Indiana, 2003-04

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Baker, Nancy T.; Stone, Wesley W.; Wilson, John T.; Meyer, Michael T.

    2006-01-01

    Leary Weber Ditch Basin, Hancock County, Indiana, is one of seven first-order basins selected from across the United States as part of the Agricultural Chemicals: Source, Transport, and Fate study conducted by the National Water-Quality Assessment Program of the U.S. Geological Survey. The nationwide study was designed to increase the understanding of the links between the sources of water and agricultural chemicals (nutrients and pesticides) and the transport and fate of these chemicals through the environment. Agricultural chemicals were detected in Leary Weber Ditch and in every associated hydrologic compartment sampled during 2003 and 2004. Pesticides were detected more frequently in samples collected from overland flow and from the ditch itself and less frequently in ground-water samples. The lowest concentrations of pesticides and nutrients were detected in samples of rain, soil water, and ground water. The highest concentrations of pesticides and nutrients were detected in samples of tile-drain water, overland flow, and water from Leary Weber Ditch. Samples collected from the tile drain, overland flow and Leary Weber Ditch soon after chemical applications to the fields and coincident with rainfall and increased streamflow had higher concentrations of pesticides and nutrients than samples collected a longer time after the chemicals were applied. A mass-balance mixing analysis based on potassium concentrations indicated that tile drains are the primary contributor of water to Leary Weber Ditch, but overland flow is also an important contributor during periods of high-intensity rainfall. When maximum rainfall intensity was 0.5 inches per hour or lower, overland flow contributed about 10 percent and tile drains contributed about 90 percent of the flow to Leary Weber Ditch. When maximum rainfall intensity was 0.75 inches per hour or greater, overland flow contributed about 40 percent and tile drains contributed about 60 percent of the flow to the ditch. Ground

  15. Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey on sources, transport, and fate of agricultural chemicals

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Capel, Paul D.; Hamilton, Pixie A.; Erwin, Martha L.

    2004-01-01

    Information from these studies will help with decision-making related to chemical use, conservation, and other farming practices that are used to reduce runoff of agricultural chemicals and sediment from fields. This information also will benefit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Agriculture, local and regional water managers, and agricultural chemical manufacturers who are involved in managing chemical use and pesticide registration.

  16. Symposium introduction: the first joint American Chemical Society Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division and the American Chemical Society International Chemical Sciences Chapter in Thailand

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The American Chemical Society (ACS) Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division (AGFD) and the ACS International Chemical Sciences Chapter in Thailand (ICSCT) worked together to stage the “1st Joint ACS AGFD - ACS ICSCT Symposium on Agricultural and Food Chemistry,” which was held in Bangkok, Thailand ...

  17. Commercial Pesticides Applicator Manual: Agriculture - Plant.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fitzwater, W. D.; And Others

    This training manual provides information needed to meet the minimum EPA standards for certification as a commercial applicator of pesticides in the agriculture-plant pest control category. The text discusses identification and control of insects, diseases, nematodes, and weeds of agricultural crops. Proper use of application equipment and safety…

  18. [Application of Raman Spectroscopy Technique to Agricultural Products Quality and Safety Determination].

    PubMed

    Liu, Yan-de; Jin, Tan-tan

    2015-09-01

    The quality and safety of agricultural products and people health are inseparable. Using the conventional chemical methods which have so many defects, such as sample pretreatment, complicated operation process and destroying the samples. Raman spectroscopy as a powerful tool of analysing and testing molecular structure, can implement samples quickly without damage, qualitative and quantitative detection analysis. With the continuous improvement and the scope of the application of Raman spectroscopy technology gradually widen, Raman spectroscopy technique plays an important role in agricultural products quality and safety determination, and has wide application prospects. There have been a lot of related research reports based on Raman spectroscopy detection on agricultural product quality safety at present. For the understanding of the principle of detection and the current development situation of Raman spectroscopy, as well as tracking the latest research progress both at home and abroad, the basic principles and the development of Raman spectroscopy as well as the detection device were introduced briefly. The latest research progress of quality and safety determination in fruits and vegetables, livestock and grain by Raman spectroscopy technique were reviewed deeply. Its technical problems for agricultural products quality and safety determination were pointed out. In addition, the text also briefly introduces some information of Raman spectrometer and the application for patent of the portable Raman spectrometer, prospects the future research and application.

  19. Temporal trends of selected agricultural chemicals in Iowa's groundwater, 1982-1995: Are things getting better?

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Kolpin, D.W.; Sneck-Fahrer, D.; Hallberg, G.R.; Libra, R.D.

    1997-01-01

    Since 1982, the Iowa Groundwater Monitoring (IGWM) Program has been used to sample untreated groundwater from Iowa municipal wells for selected agricultural chemicals. This long-term database was used to determine if concentrations of select agricultural chemicals in groundwater have changed with time. Nitrate, alachlor [2-chloro-2′-6′-diethyl-N-(methoxymethyl)-acetanilide], atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine), cyanazine [2-[[4-chloro-6-(ethylamino)-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl]amino]-2-methylpropionitrile)], and metolachlor [2-chloro-N-(2-ethyl-6-methylphenyl)-N-(2-methoxy-1-methylethyl) acetamide] were selected for this temporal analysis of the data. Conclusive temporal changes in frequency of detection and median chemical concentrations were found only for atrazine (decrease) and metolachlor (increase). The greatest temporal chemical changes occurred in the shallowest wells and in alluvial aquifers—both relating to groups of wells generally having the youngest groundwater age. The temporal patterns found for atrazine and metolachlor are consistent with their patterns of chemical use and/or application rates and are suggestive of a causal relation. Only continued data collection, however, will indicate if the trends in chemical concentrations described here represent long-term temporal patterns or only short-term changes in groundwater. No definitive answers could be made in regards to the question of overall improvements in groundwater quality with respect to agricultural chemical contamination and time, due to the inherent problems with the simplistic measurement of overall severity (summation of alachlor + atrazine + cyanazine + metolachlor concentrations) examined for this study. To adequately determine if there is an actual decreasing trend in the overall severity of contamination (improving groundwater quality), the collection of additional water-chemistry data and the investigation of other measures of severity are needed.

  20. Agricultural chemicals in alluvial aquifers in Missouri after the 1993 flood

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Heimann, D.C.; Richards, J.M.; Wilkison, D.H.

    1997-01-01

    Intense rains produced flooding during the spring and summer of 1993 over much of the midwestern USA including many agricultural areas of Missouri. Because of potential contamination from floodwater, an investigation was conducted to determine the changes in concentrations of agricultural chemicals in water samples from alluvial wells in Missouri after the flood. Water samples from 80 alluvial wells with historical data were collected in March, July, and November 1994, and analyzed for dissolved herbicides, herbicide metabolites, and nitrate (NO3). There were no statistically significant differences in the distribution of alachlor ((2,chloro-2'-6'-diethyl-N-[methoxymethyl]acetanilide), atrazine (2-chloro- 4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-1, 3, 5 triazine), and nitrate concentrations between pre- and postflood samples (?? = 0.05). The detection frequency of alachlor and atrazine in postflood samples was generally lower than the frequency in preflood samples. Analyses of agricultural chemicals in water samples from an intensely sampled well field indicate significant differences between the distribution of dissolved P concentrations in pre- and postflood samples (?? = 0.05). However, no significant differences were detected between the pre- and postflood distributions of NO3 or ammonia concentrations. Because of the numerous sources of temporal variability and the relatively short record of water-quality data for the study wells, a cause-and-effect relation between changes in agricultural chemical concentrations and a single factor of the 1993 flood is difficult to determine. Based on the results of this study, the 1993 flood did not cause widespread or long-term significant changes in concentrations of agricultural chemicals in water from alluvial aquifers in Missouri.

  1. Novel Fabrication of Biodegradable Superabsorbent Microspheres with Diffusion Barrier through Thermo-Chemical Modification and Their Potential Agriculture Applications for Water Holding and Sustained Release of Fertilizer.

    PubMed

    Feng, Diejing; Bai, Bo; Wang, Honglun; Suo, Yourui

    2017-07-26

    Synergistic utilization of water and fertilizer has vital contribution to the modern production of agriculture. This work reports on a simple and facile strategy to prepare biodegradable yeast/sodium alginate/poly(vinyl alcohol) superabsorbent microspheres with a diffusion barrier merit by thermo-chemical modification route. The integrated performances, including water absorbency, water retention, water evaporation ratio, leaching loss control, sustained-release behaviors, and degradation in soil, were systematically investigated. The results revealed that the modified microspheres were a triumphant water and fertilizer manager to effectively hold water and control the unexpected leakage of fertilizer for sustained release. Therefore, this work provides a promising approach to ameliorate the utilization efficiency of water and fertilizer in potential agriculture applications.

  2. AN INNOVATIVE SYSTEM FOR BIOREMEDIATION OF AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

    EPA Science Inventory

    Agricultural chemicals (both inorganic and organic) in drainage discharge from watersheds have raised concerns about the quality of surface water resources. For example, hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico has been related to the nutrients discharging from agricultural watersheds...

  3. Microcomputer Applications in Agriculture.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hilgenberg, Gene; And Others

    This curriculum guide is intended to assist persons teaching a course in microcomputer applications in agriculture. (These applications are designed to be used on Apple IIe or TRS-80 microcomputers.) Addressed in the individual units of instruction are the following topics: microcomputer operating procedures; procedures for evaluating and…

  4. Review of anthraquinone applications for pest management and agricultural crop protection.

    PubMed

    DeLiberto, Shelagh T; Werner, Scott J

    2016-10-01

    We have reviewed published anthraquinone applications for international pest management and agricultural crop protection from 1943 to 2016. Anthraquinone (AQ) is commonly found in dyes, pigments and many plants and organisms. Avian repellent research with AQ began in the 1940s. In the context of pest management, AQ is currently used as a chemical repellent, perch deterrent, insecticide and feeding deterrent in many wild birds, and in some mammals, insects and fishes. Criteria for evaluation of effective chemical repellents include efficacy, potential for wildlife hazards, phytotoxicity and environmental persistence. As a biopesticide, AQ often meets these criteria of efficacy for the non-lethal management of agricultural depredation caused by wildlife. We summarize published applications of AQ for the protection of newly planted and maturing crops from pest birds. Conventional applications of AQ-based repellents include preplant seed treatments [e.g. corn (Zea mays L.), rice (Oryza sativa L.), sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), wheat (Triticum spp.), millet (Panicum spp.), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.), pelletized feed and forest tree species] and foliar applications for rice, sunflower, lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), turf, sugar beets (Beta vulgaris L.), soybean (Glycine max L.), sweet corn and nursery, fruit and nut crops. In addition to agricultural repellent applications, AQ has also been used to treat toxicants for the protection of non-target birds. Few studies have demonstrated AQ repellency in mammals, including wild boar (Sus scrofa, L.), thirteen-lined ground squirrels (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus, Mitchill), black-tailed prairie dogs (Cyomys ludovicainus, Ord.), common voles (Microtus arvalis, Pallas), house mice (Mus musculus, L.), Tristram's jirds (Meriones tristrami, Thomas) and black rats (Rattus rattus L.). Natural sources of AQ and its derivatives have also been identified as insecticides and insect repellents. As a natural or synthetic biopesticide, AQ

  5. THE USE OF CHEMICALS AS INSECTICIDES--PLANTS. AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS TECHNOLOGY, NUMBER 2.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ohio State Univ., Columbus. Center for Vocational and Technical Education.

    THIS GUIDE IS ONE OF A SERIES DESIGNED TO PROVIDE GROUP INSTRUCTION AND INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL EXPERIENCE FOR POST-SECONDARY STUDENTS PREPARING FOR EMPLOYMENT AS AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL TECHNICIANS. IT WAS DEVELOPED BY A NATIONAL TASK FORCE ON THE BASIS OF STATE STUDY DATA. THE OBJECTIVES ARE TO DEVELOP (1) INTEREST, APPRECIATION, AND UNDERSTANDING…

  6. [Application of near-infrared spectroscopy to agriculture and food analysis].

    PubMed

    Wang, Duo-jia; Zhou, Xiang-yang; Jin, Tong-ming; Hu, Xiang-na; Zhong, Jiao-e; Wu, Qi-tang

    2004-04-01

    Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) is the most rapidly developing and the most noticeable spectrographic technique in the 90's (the last century). Its principle and characteristics were explained in this paper, and the development of NIRS instrumentation, the methodology of spectrum pre-processing, as well as the chemical metrology were also introduced. The anthors mainly summarized the applications to agriculture and food, especially in-line analysis methods, which have been used in production procedure by fiber optics. The authors analyzed the NIRS application status in China, and made the first proposal to establish information sharing mode between central database and end-user by using network technology and concentrating valuable resources.

  7. Monodisperse atomizers for agricultural aviation applications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Christensen, L. S.; Steely, S. L.

    1980-01-01

    Conceptual designs of two monodisperse spray nozzles are described and the rationale used in each design is discussed. The nozzles were designed to eliminate present problems in agricultural aviation applications, such as ineffective plant coverage, drift due to small droplets present in the spray being dispersed, and nonuniform swath coverages. Monodisperse atomization techniques are reviewed and a synopsis of the information obtained concerning agricultural aviation spray applications is presented.

  8. Potential Applications of Polyamines in Agriculture and Plant Biotechnology.

    PubMed

    Tiburcio, Antonio F; Alcázar, Rubén

    2018-01-01

    The polyamines putrescine, spermidine and spermine have been implicated in a myriad of biological functions in many organisms. Research done during the last decades has accumulated a large body of evidence demonstrating that polyamines are key modulators of plant growth and development. Different experimental approaches have been employed including the measurement of endogenous polyamine levels and the activities of polyamine metabolic enzymes, the study of the effects resulting from exogenous polyamine applications and chemical or genetic manipulation of endogenous polyamine titers. This chapter reviews the role of PAs in seed germination, root development, plant architecture, in vitro plant regeneration, flowering and plant senescence. Evidence presented here indicates that polyamines should be regarded as plant growth regulators with potential applications in agriculture and plant biotechnology.

  9. Research and Applications of Chemical Sciences in Forestry: Proceedings of the 4th Southern Station Chemical Sciences Meeting

    Treesearch

    J.A. Vozzo; [Compiler

    1994-01-01

    This proceedings is the result of 65 scientists representing 34 facilities reported in 28 presentations. As titled, Research and Applications of Chemical Sciences in Forestry, the contributors represent academic, basic, and applied researchers from universities and U.S. Department of Agriculture. Their presence and experience represent a significant showing toward...

  10. Crop residue stabilization and application to agricultural and degraded soils: A review.

    PubMed

    Medina, Jorge; Monreal, Carlos; Barea, José Miguel; Arriagada, César; Borie, Fernando; Cornejo, Pablo

    2015-08-01

    Agricultural activities produce vast amounts of organic residues including straw, unmarketable or culled fruit and vegetables, post-harvest or post-processing wastes, clippings and residuals from forestry or pruning operations, and animal manure. Improper disposal of these materials may produce undesirable environmental (e.g. odors or insect refuges) and health impacts. On the other hand, agricultural residues are of interest to various industries and sectors of the economy due to their energy content (i.e., for combustion), their potential use as feedstock to produce biofuels and/or fine chemicals, or as a soil amendments for polluted or degraded soils when composted. Our objective is review new biotechnologies that could be used to manage these residues for land application and remediation of contaminated and eroded soils. Bibliographic information is complemented through a comprehensive review of the physico-chemical fundamental mechanisms involved in the transformation and stabilization of organic matter by biotic and abiotic soil components. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Chemicals, birth defects and stillbirths in New Brunswick: associations with agricultural activity.

    PubMed Central

    White, F M; Cohen, F G; Sherman, G; McCurdy, R

    1988-01-01

    We describe a series of investigations that were conducted in support of the Task Force on Chemicals in the Environment and Human Reproductive Problems in New Brunswick. Geographic and temporal analyses and case-control studies, with the use of vital statistics, hospital records, the Canadian Congenital Anomalies Surveillance System and chemical databases, revealed no association between pesticides used in forestry and reproductive problems. Evidence of an association between the potential exposure to agricultural chemicals and three major anomalies combined as well as spina bifida without hydrocephalus was found. More plausible was an association between stillbirths and such exposure during the second trimester of pregnancy. This finding, along with the cyclic patterns of stillbirth in the agricultural Saint John River basin and the somewhat higher stillbirth rates in New Brunswick than in adjacent provinces or in Canada as a whole, suggests that further attention should focus on possible associations between agricultural activity and stillbirths. PMID:3275483

  12. Performance Objectives, Task Analysis, Learning Content, Content Limits, and Domain Referenced Tests for the Agricultural Chemicals Catalog. Final Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hamilton, William; And Others

    This document contains Indiana agricultural chemicals curriculum materials based on the Vocational-Technical Education Consortium of States (VTECS) Agricultural Chemicals Catalog. It is intended to improve preparation of high school and adult students for handling and using agricultural chemicals and for jobs as chemical salespersons or chemical…

  13. THE USE OF CHEMICALS TO CONTROL FIELD RODENTS AND OTHER PREDATORS. AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS TECHNOLOGY, NUMBER 5.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ohio State Univ., Columbus. Center for Vocational and Technical Education.

    THE PURPOSE OF THIS GUIDE IS TO ASSIST TEACHERS IN PREPARING POST-SECONDARY STUDENTS FOR AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL OCCUPATIONS. IT IS ONE OF A SERIES OF MODULES DEVELOPED BY A NATIONAL TASK FORCE ON THE BASIS OF DATA FROM STATE STUDIES. SECTIONS ARE (1) USE OF CHEMICALS FOR RODENT CONTROL AND ERADICATION, (2) TERMINOLOGY AND COMPUTATIONS, (3) RODENT…

  14. DEVELOPMENT OF ADME DATA IN AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL SAFETY ASSESSMENTS

    EPA Science Inventory

    DEVELOPMENT OF ADME DATA IN AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL SAFETY ASSESSMENTS
    Pastoor, Timothy1, Barton, Hugh2
    1 Syngenta Crop Protection, Greensboro, NC, USA.
    2 EPA, Office of Research and Development-NHEERL, RTP, NC, USA.

    A multi-stakeholder series of discussions d...

  15. Holistic Watershed-Scale Approach for Studying Agricultural Chemicals

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Capel, P. D.; Domagalski, J. L.

    2006-05-01

    The USGS National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program studied the water quality of 51 areas across the United States during its first decade (1991-2001). Analyses of results from that phase of the NAWQA Program indicated that detailed studies of the processes affecting water quality could aid in the interpretation of these data, help to determine the direction and scope of future monitoring studies, and add to the understanding of the sources, transport and fate of non-point source chemicals, such as from agriculture. Now in the second decade of investigations, the NAWQA Program has initiated new process-based detailed studies to increase our understanding at the scale of a small watershed (about 3-15 square kilometers), nested within the larger basins studied during the first decade. The holistic, mass-budget approach for small agricultural watersheds that was adopted includes processes, and measures water and chemicals in the atmosphere, surface water, tile drains, overland flow, and within various sub-surface environments including the vadose, saturated, and hyporheic zones. The primary chemicals of interest were nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous), the triazine and acetanilide herbicides, and the organophosphorus insecticides. Extensive field observations were made, and numerical models were developed to simulate important environmental compartments and interfaces associated with the transport and fate of agricultural chemicals. It is well recognized that these field measurements and simulations cannot fully achieve a full mass budget at this scale, but the approach provides a useful means for comparisons of various processes in different environmental settings. The results gained using this approach will add to the general knowledge of environmental transport and fate processes, and have transfer value to unstudied areas and different scales of investigation. The five initial study areas started in 2002, included watersheds in California, Indiana

  16. Zinc oxide nanoparticles for revolutionizing agriculture: synthesis and applications.

    PubMed

    Sabir, Sidra; Arshad, Muhammad; Chaudhari, Sunbal Khalil

    2014-01-01

    Nanotechnology is the most innovative field of 21st century. Extensive research is going on for commercializing nanoproducts throughout the world. Due to their unique properties, nanoparticles have gained considerable importance compared to bulk counterparts. Among other metal nanoparticles, zinc oxide nanoparticles are very much important due to their utilization in gas sensors, biosensors, cosmetics, drug-delivery systems, and so forth. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) also have remarkable optical, physical, and antimicrobial properties and therefore have great potential to enhance agriculture. As far as method of formation is concerned, ZnO NPs can be synthesized by several chemical methods such as precipitation method, vapor transport method, and hydrothermal process. The biogenic synthesis of ZnO NPs by using different plant extracts is also common nowadays. This green synthesis is quite safe and ecofriendly compared to chemical synthesis. This paper elaborates the synthesis, properties, and applications of zinc oxide nanoparticles.

  17. Application of near-infrared image processing in agricultural engineering

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Ming-hong; Zhang, Guo-ping; Xia, Hongxing

    2009-07-01

    Recently, with development of computer technology, the application field of near-infrared image processing becomes much wider. In this paper the technical characteristic and development of modern NIR imaging and NIR spectroscopy analysis were introduced. It is concluded application and studying of the NIR imaging processing technique in the agricultural engineering in recent years, base on the application principle and developing characteristic of near-infrared image. The NIR imaging would be very useful in the nondestructive external and internal quality inspecting of agricultural products. It is important to detect stored-grain insects by the application of near-infrared spectroscopy. Computer vision detection base on the NIR imaging would be help to manage food logistics. Application of NIR imaging promoted quality management of agricultural products. In the further application research fields of NIR image in the agricultural engineering, Some advices and prospect were put forward.

  18. Agricultural Chemical and Pesticide Hazards. Module SH-50. Safety and Health.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Center for Occupational Research and Development, Inc., Waco, TX.

    This student module on agricultural chemical and pesticide hazards is one of 50 modules concerned with job safety and health. This module contains information concerning the safe handling, use, and storage of many chemicals that are frequently used in the control of pests. Following the introduction, 10 objectives (each keyed to a page in the…

  19. A TIERED APPROACH TO LIFE STAGES TESTING FOR AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL SAFETY ASSESSMENT

    EPA Science Inventory

    A proposal has been developed by the Agricultural Chemical Safety Assessment (ACSA) Technical Committee of the ILSI Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI) for an improved approach to assessing the safety of crop protection chemicals. The goal is to ensure that studie...

  20. A TIERED APPROACH TO LIFE STAGES TESTING FOR AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL SAFERY ASSESSMENT

    EPA Science Inventory

    A proposal has been developed by the Agricultural Chemical Safety Assessment (ACSA) Technical Committee of the ILSI Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI) for an improved approach to assessing the safety of crop protection chemicals. The goal is to ensure that studie...

  1. Use of computer models to assess exposure to agricultural chemicals via drinking water.

    PubMed

    Gustafson, D I

    1995-10-27

    Surveys of drinking water quality throughout the agricultural regions of the world have revealed the tendency of certain crop protection chemicals to enter water supplies. Fortunately, the trace concentrations that have been detected are generally well below the levels thought to have any negative impact on human health or the environment. However, the public expects drinking water to be pristine and seems willing to bear the costs involved in further regulating agricultural chemical use in such a way so as to eliminate the potential for such materials to occur at any detectable level. Of all the tools available to assess exposure to agricultural chemicals via drinking water, computer models are one of the most cost-effective. Although not sufficiently predictive to be used in the absence of any field data, such computer programs can be used with some degree of certainty to perform quantitative extrapolations and thereby quantify regional exposure from field-scale monitoring information. Specific models and modeling techniques will be discussed for performing such exposure analyses. Improvements in computer technology have recently made it practical to use Monte Carlo and other probabilistic techniques as a routine tool for estimating human exposure. Such methods make it possible, at least in principle, to prepare exposure estimates with known confidence intervals and sufficient statistical validity to be used in the regulatory management of agricultural chemicals.

  2. Plant protection and growth stimulation by microorganisms: biotechnological applications of Bacilli in agriculture.

    PubMed

    Pérez-García, Alejandro; Romero, Diego; de Vicente, Antonio

    2011-04-01

    The increasing demand for a steady, healthy food supply requires an efficient control of the major pests and plant diseases. Current management practices are based largely on the application of synthetic pesticides. The excessive use of agrochemicals has caused serious environmental and health problems. Therefore, there is a growing demand for new and safer methods to replace or at least supplement the existing control strategies. Biological control, that is, the use of natural antagonists to combat pests or plant diseases has emerged as a promising alternative to chemical pesticides. The Bacilli offer a number of advantages for their application in agricultural biotechnology. Several Bacillus-based products have been marketed as microbial pesticides, fungicides or fertilisers. Bacillus-based biopesticides are widely used in conventional agriculture, by contrast, implementation of Bacillus-based biofungicides and biofertilizers is still a pending issue. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Acute Pesticide Illnesses Associated with Off-Target Pesticide Drift from Agricultural Applications: 11 States, 1998–2006

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Soo-Jeong; Mehler, Louise; Beckman, John; Diebolt-Brown, Brienne; Prado, Joanne; Lackovic, Michelle; Waltz, Justin; Mulay, Prakash; Schwartz, Abby; Mitchell, Yvette; Moraga-McHaley, Stephanie; Gergely, Rita

    2011-01-01

    Background: Pesticides are widely used in agriculture, and off-target pesticide drift exposes workers and the public to harmful chemicals. Objective: We estimated the incidence of acute illnesses from pesticide drift from outdoor agricultural applications and characterized drift exposure and illnesses. Methods: Data were obtained from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks–Pesticides program and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. Drift included off-target movement of pesticide spray, volatiles, and contaminated dust. Acute illness cases were characterized by demographics, pesticide and application variables, health effects, and contributing factors. Results: From 1998 through 2006, we identified 2,945 cases associated with agricultural pesticide drift from 11 states. Our findings indicate that 47% were exposed at work, 92% experienced low-severity illness, and 14% were children (< 15 years). The annual incidence ranged from 1.39 to 5.32 per million persons over the 9-year period. The overall incidence (in million person-years) was 114.3 for agricultural workers, 0.79 for other workers, 1.56 for nonoccupational cases, and 42.2 for residents in five agriculture-intensive counties in California. Soil applications with fumigants were responsible for the largest percentage (45%) of cases. Aerial applications accounted for 24% of cases. Common factors contributing to drift cases included weather conditions, improper seal of the fumigation site, and applicator carelessness near nontarget areas. Conclusions: Agricultural workers and residents in agricultural regions had the highest rate of pesticide poisoning from drift exposure, and soil fumigations were a major hazard, causing large drift incidents. Our findings highlight areas where interventions to reduce off-target drift could be focused. PMID:21642048

  4. Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles for Revolutionizing Agriculture: Synthesis and Applications

    PubMed Central

    Sabir, Sidra; Arshad, Muhammad

    2014-01-01

    Nanotechnology is the most innovative field of 21st century. Extensive research is going on for commercializing nanoproducts throughout the world. Due to their unique properties, nanoparticles have gained considerable importance compared to bulk counterparts. Among other metal nanoparticles, zinc oxide nanoparticles are very much important due to their utilization in gas sensors, biosensors, cosmetics, drug-delivery systems, and so forth. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) also have remarkable optical, physical, and antimicrobial properties and therefore have great potential to enhance agriculture. As far as method of formation is concerned, ZnO NPs can be synthesized by several chemical methods such as precipitation method, vapor transport method, and hydrothermal process. The biogenic synthesis of ZnO NPs by using different plant extracts is also common nowadays. This green synthesis is quite safe and ecofriendly compared to chemical synthesis. This paper elaborates the synthesis, properties, and applications of zinc oxide nanoparticles. PMID:25436235

  5. Agricultural and horticultural chemical poisonings: mortality and morbidity in the United States.

    PubMed

    Klein-Schwartz, W; Smith, G S

    1997-02-01

    To provide a comprehensive analysis of morbidity and mortality from poisoning by agricultural and horticultural chemicals in the United States. Descriptive analysis of national mortality data, National Hospital Discharge Survey data, and American Association of Poison Control Centers national data for 1985 through 1990. There were 341 fatalities from agricultural and horticultural chemicals over the 6-year period, of which 64% were suicides, 28% were unintentional, and 8% were of undetermined intent. There were 25,418 hospitalizations; 78% were reported to be unintentional. Both deaths and hospitalizations occurred more frequently in males, and rates were higher in nonwhites than in whites. There were 338,170 poison exposures reported to poison centers for fungicides, herbicides, pesticides/insecticides, and rodenticides. Life-threatening manifestations or long-term sequelae occurred in 782 cases, and 97 deaths were reported. Pesticides and insecticides accounted for 72% of the poison center cases and 63% of the fatalities. Although they accounted for only 8% of poison exposures, herbicide deaths were disproportionately high (25%). Poisonings with agricultural and horticultural chemicals are an important public health problem. Prevention efforts need to incorporate the fact that many serious cases, such as paraquat poisonings, are suicidal in nature.

  6. THE USE OF CHEMICALS AS FUNGICIDES, BACTERICIDES AND NEMATOCIDES. AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS TECHNOLOGY, NUMBER 4.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ohio State Univ., Columbus. Center for Vocational and Technical Education.

    THE PURPOSE OF THIS GUIDE IS TO ASSIST TEACHERS IN PREPARING POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION STUDENTS FOR AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL OCCUPATIONS. ONE OF A SERIES FOR THESE OCCUPATIONS, THIS MODULE WAS DEVELOPED BY A NATIONAL TASK FORCE ON THE BASIS OF DATA FROM STATE STUDIES. SECTIONS ARE (1) PLANT DISEASE AND NEMATODE PREVENTION, CONTROL, OR ERADICATION WITH…

  7. Crop modeling applications in agricultural water management

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Kisekka, Isaya; DeJonge, Kendall C.; Ma, Liwang; Paz, Joel; Douglas-Mankin, Kyle R.

    2017-01-01

    This article introduces the fourteen articles that comprise the “Crop Modeling and Decision Support for Optimizing Use of Limited Water” collection. This collection was developed from a special session on crop modeling applications in agricultural water management held at the 2016 ASABE Annual International Meeting (AIM) in Orlando, Florida. In addition, other authors who were not able to attend the 2016 ASABE AIM were also invited to submit papers. The articles summarized in this introductory article demonstrate a wide array of applications in which crop models can be used to optimize agricultural water management. The following section titles indicate the topics covered in this collection: (1) evapotranspiration modeling (one article), (2) model development and parameterization (two articles), (3) application of crop models for irrigation scheduling (five articles), (4) coordinated water and nutrient management (one article), (5) soil water management (two articles), (6) risk assessment of water-limited irrigation management (one article), and (7) regional assessments of climate impact (two articles). Changing weather and climate, increasing population, and groundwater depletion will continue to stimulate innovations in agricultural water management, and crop models will play an important role in helping to optimize water use in agriculture.

  8. 7 CFR 305.5 - Chemical treatment requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 5 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Chemical treatment requirements. 305.5 Section 305.5... SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE PHYTOSANITARY TREATMENTS § 305.5 Chemical treatment requirements. (a... kill the pest, all chemical applications must be administered in accordance with an Environmental...

  9. 7 CFR 305.5 - Chemical treatment requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 5 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Chemical treatment requirements. 305.5 Section 305.5... SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE PHYTOSANITARY TREATMENTS § 305.5 Chemical treatment requirements. (a... kill the pest, all chemical applications must be administered in accordance with an Environmental...

  10. Data Collection Satellite Application in Precision Agriculture

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Durào, O.

    2002-01-01

    's over Brazilian territory. There were 25 platforms when SCD-1 was launched. However this number is growing rapidly to 400 platforms, at first for measurements of water reservoir levels as well as other hydrology applications (The Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency - ANEEL is the customer), and for many other different applications such as meteorology, oceanography, environmental monitoring sciences, and people and animal tracking. The clear feeling is that users are discovering a satellite system whose benefits were not previously well understood when launched and being able to propose and come up with different and useful applications. A new field in the country that has a great potential to benefit from this system is agriculture. Per se, this is a very important sector of the Brazilian economy and its international trade. Combining it with space technology may justify the investment of new and low cost dedicated satellites. This paper describes a new proposal for use of the SCD-1,2,CBERS-1 satellite system for precision agriculture. New PCD's would be developed for measurements of chemical content of the soil, such as, for example, Nitrogen and others, beyond humidity and solar incidence. This can lead to a more efficient fertilization, harvesting and even the spray of chemical defensives, with the consequence of environment protection. The PCD's ground network so established, along with the information network already available, combined with the space segment of such a system may, as previously said, be able to justify the investment in low cost satellites with this sole purpose.

  11. Effect of Agricultural Amendments on Cajanus cajan (Pigeon Pea) and Its Rhizospheric Microbial Communities--A Comparison between Chemical Fertilizers and Bioinoculants.

    PubMed

    Gupta, Rashi; Bisaria, V S; Sharma, Shilpi

    2015-01-01

    Inoculation of leguminous seeds with bioinoculants has been practiced in agriculture for decades to ameliorate grain yield by enhanced growth parameters and soil fertility. However, effective enhancement of plant growth parameters results not only from the direct effects these bioinoculants impose on them but also from their non-target effects. The ability of bioinoculants to reduce the application of chemicals for obtaining optimum yield of legume appears to be of great ecological and economic importance. In the present study, we compared the influence of seed inoculation of Cajanus cajan with a microbial consortium, comprising Bacillus megaterium, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Trichoderma harzianum, with that of application of chemical fertilizers on plant's growth parameters and its rhizospheric microbial communities. Real-time PCR assay was carried out to target the structure (16S rRNA) and function (nitrogen cycle) of rhizospheric microbiota, using both DNA and RNA as markers. The results showed that the microbial consortium was the most efficient in increasing grain yield (2.5-fold), even better than the recommended dose of chemical fertilizers (by 1.2-fold) and showed enhancement in nifH and amoA transcripts by 2.7- and 2.0-fold, respectively. No adverse effects of bioinoculants' application were observed over the rhizospheric microbial community, rendering the consortium to be safe for release in agricultural fields.

  12. [The discussion of the infiltrative model of chemical knowledge stepping into genetics teaching in agricultural institute or university].

    PubMed

    Zou, Ping; Luo, Pei-Gao

    2010-05-01

    Chemistry is an important group of basic courses, while genetics is one of the important major-basic courses in curriculum of many majors in agricultural institutes or universities. In order to establish the linkage between the major course and the basic course, the ability of application of the chemical knowledge previously learned in understanding genetic knowledge in genetics teaching is worthy of discussion for genetics teachers. In this paper, the authors advocate to apply some chemical knowledge previously learned to understand genetic knowledge in genetics teaching with infiltrative model, which could help students learn and understand genetic knowledge more deeply. Analysis of the intrinsic logistic relationship among the knowledge of different courses and construction of the integral knowledge network are useful for students to improve their analytic, comprehensive and logistic abilities. By this way, we could explore a new teaching model to develop the talents with new ideas and comprehensive competence in agricultural fields.

  13. 7 CFR 305.5 - Chemical treatment requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 5 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Chemical treatment requirements. 305.5 Section 305.5... SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE PHYTOSANITARY TREATMENTS § 305.5 Chemical treatment requirements. (a...) Treatment procedures. (1) To kill the pest, all chemical applications must be administered in accordance...

  14. Unplanned releases and injuries associated with aerial application of chemicals, 1995-2002.

    PubMed

    Rice, Nancy; Messing, Rita; Souther, Larry; Berkowitz, Zahava

    2005-11-01

    For this article, records of the Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance (HSEES) system were reviewed to identify and describe acute, unplanned releases of agricultural chemicals and associated injuries related to aerial application during 1995-2002. Records of aerial-application accidents from the National Transportation Safety Board were also reviewed. Of the 54,090 events in the HSEES system for 1995-2002, 91 were identified as aerial-application events. The most commonly released substance was malathion. There were 56 victims; 12 died, and 34 required treatment at a hospital. A higher percentage of HSEES aerial-applicator events involved injury and death than did other HSEES transportation events. The relatively high number of injuries and fatalities underscores the need for precautions such as monitoring and limiting pilot cumulative exposures to pesticides, and using appropriate personal protective equipment and decontamination equipment. Emergency responders should be educated about the hazards associated with chemicals at aerial-application crash sites.

  15. A novel model for estimating organic chemical bioconcentration in agricultural plants

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hung, H.; Mackay, D.; Di Guardo, A.

    1995-12-31

    There is increasing recognition that much human and wildlife exposure to organic contaminants can be traced through the food chain to bioconcentration in vegetation. For risk assessment, there is a need for an accurate model to predict organic chemical concentrations in plants. Existing models range from relatively simple correlations of concentrations using octanol-water or octanol-air partition coefficients, to complex models involving extensive physiological data. To satisfy the need for a relatively accurate model of intermediate complexity, a novel approach has been devised to predict organic chemical concentrations in agricultural plants as a function of soil and air concentrations, without themore » need for extensive plant physiological data. The plant is treated as three compartments, namely, leaves, roots and stems (including fruit and seeds). Data readily available from the literature, including chemical properties, volume, density and composition of each compartment; metabolic and growth rate of plant; and readily obtainable environmental conditions at the site are required as input. Results calculated from the model are compared with observed and experimentally-determined concentrations. It is suggested that the model, which includes a physiological database for agricultural plants, gives acceptably accurate predictions of chemical partitioning between plants, air and soil.« less

  16. Effect of Agricultural Amendments on Cajanus cajan (Pigeon Pea) and Its Rhizospheric Microbial Communities – A Comparison between Chemical Fertilizers and Bioinoculants

    PubMed Central

    Gupta, Rashi; Bisaria, V. S.; Sharma, Shilpi

    2015-01-01

    Inoculation of leguminous seeds with bioinoculants has been practiced in agriculture for decades to ameliorate grain yield by enhanced growth parameters and soil fertility. However, effective enhancement of plant growth parameters results not only from the direct effects these bioinoculants impose on them but also from their non-target effects. The ability of bioinoculants to reduce the application of chemicals for obtaining optimum yield of legume appears to be of great ecological and economic importance. In the present study, we compared the influence of seed inoculation of Cajanus cajan with a microbial consortium, comprising Bacillus megaterium, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Trichoderma harzianum, with that of application of chemical fertilizers on plant’s growth parameters and its rhizospheric microbial communities. Real-time PCR assay was carried out to target the structure (16S rRNA) and function (nitrogen cycle) of rhizospheric microbiota, using both DNA and RNA as markers. The results showed that the microbial consortium was the most efficient in increasing grain yield (2.5-fold), even better than the recommended dose of chemical fertilizers (by 1.2-fold) and showed enhancement in nifH and amoA transcripts by 2.7- and 2.0-fold, respectively. No adverse effects of bioinoculants' application were observed over the rhizospheric microbial community, rendering the consortium to be safe for release in agricultural fields. PMID:26231030

  17. Potential use and perspectives of nitric oxide donors in agriculture.

    PubMed

    Marvasi, Massimiliano

    2017-03-01

    Nitric oxide (NO) has emerged in the last 30 years as a key molecule involved in many physiological processes in plants, animals and bacteria. Current research has shown that NO can be delivered via donor molecules. In such cases, the NO release rate is dependent on the chemical structure of the donor itself and on the chemical environment. Despite NO's powerful signaling effect in plants and animals, the application of NO donors in agriculture is currently not implemented and research remains mainly at the experimental level. Technological development in the field of NO donors is rapidly expanding in scope to include controlling seed germination, plant development, ripening and increasing shelf-life of produce. Potential applications in animal production have also been identified. This concise review focuses on the use of donors that have shown potential biotechnological applications in agriculture. Insights are provided into (i) the role of donors in plant production, (ii) the potential use of donors in animal production and (iii) future approaches to explore the use and applications of donors for the benefit of agriculture. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

  18. THE USE OF CHEMICALS IN THE FIELD OF FARM ANIMAL HEALTH (NUTRITION, ENTOMOLOGY, PATHOLOGY). AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS TECHNOLOGY, NUMBER 7.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ohio State Univ., Columbus. Center for Vocational and Technical Education.

    DEVELOPED BY A NATIONAL TASK FORCE ON THE BASIS OF STATE STUDIES, THIS MODULE IS ONE OF A SERIES DESIGNED TO ASSIST TEACHERS IN PREPARING POST-SECONDARY STUDENTS FOR AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL OCCUPATIONS. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THIS MODULE IS TO PREPARE TECHNICIANS IN THE FIELD OF THE USE OF CHEMICALS FOR ANIMAL HEALTH. SECTIONS INCLUDE -- (1)…

  19. Application of geophysical methods to agriculture: An overview

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Geophysical methods are becoming an increasingly valuable tool for agricultural applications. Agricultural geophysics investigations are commonly (although certainly not always) focused on delineating small- and/or large-scale objects/features within the soil profile (~ 0 to 2 m depth) over very lar...

  20. 20 CFR 655.1301 - Applications for temporary employment certification in agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Applications for temporary employment certification in agriculture. 655.1301 Section 655.1301 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING... Applications for temporary employment certification in agriculture. (a) Application filing requirements. (1) An...

  1. 20 CFR 655.1301 - Applications for temporary employment certification in agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Applications for temporary employment certification in agriculture. 655.1301 Section 655.1301 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING... Applications for temporary employment certification in agriculture. (a) Application filing requirements. (1) An...

  2. 20 CFR 655.1301 - Applications for temporary employment certification in agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Applications for temporary employment certification in agriculture. 655.1301 Section 655.1301 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING... Applications for temporary employment certification in agriculture. (a) Application filing requirements. (1) An...

  3. 20 CFR 655.1301 - Applications for temporary employment certification in agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Applications for temporary employment certification in agriculture. 655.1301 Section 655.1301 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING... Applications for temporary employment certification in agriculture. (a) Application filing requirements. (1) An...

  4. 20 CFR 655.1301 - Applications for temporary employment certification in agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Applications for temporary employment certification in agriculture. 655.1301 Section 655.1301 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING... Applications for temporary employment certification in agriculture. (a) Application filing requirements. (1) An...

  5. Agricultural applications of insect ecological genomics

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Agricultural entomology is poised to benefit from the application of ecological genomics, in particular the fields of biofuels generation and pest insect control. Metagenomic methods can characterize microbial communities of termites, wood-boring beetles and other insects, and transcriptomic approa...

  6. Diverse Applications of Electronic-Nose Technologies in Agriculture and Forestry

    PubMed Central

    Wilson, Alphus D.

    2013-01-01

    Electronic-nose (e-nose) instruments, derived from numerous types of aroma-sensor technologies, have been developed for a diversity of applications in the broad fields of agriculture and forestry. Recent advances in e-nose technologies within the plant sciences, including improvements in gas-sensor designs, innovations in data analysis and pattern-recognition algorithms, and progress in material science and systems integration methods, have led to significant benefits to both industries. Electronic noses have been used in a variety of commercial agricultural-related industries, including the agricultural sectors of agronomy, biochemical processing, botany, cell culture, plant cultivar selections, environmental monitoring, horticulture, pesticide detection, plant physiology and pathology. Applications in forestry include uses in chemotaxonomy, log tracking, wood and paper processing, forest management, forest health protection, and waste management. These aroma-detection applications have improved plant-based product attributes, quality, uniformity, and consistency in ways that have increased the efficiency and effectiveness of production and manufacturing processes. This paper provides a comprehensive review and summary of a broad range of electronic-nose technologies and applications, developed specifically for the agriculture and forestry industries over the past thirty years, which have offered solutions that have greatly improved worldwide agricultural and agroforestry production systems. PMID:23396191

  7. Diverse applications of electronic-nose technologies in agriculture and forestry.

    PubMed

    Wilson, Alphus D

    2013-02-08

    Electronic-nose (e-nose) instruments, derived from numerous types of aroma-sensor technologies, have been developed for a diversity of applications in the broad fields of agriculture and forestry. Recent advances in e-nose technologies within the plant sciences, including improvements in gas-sensor designs, innovations in data analysis and pattern-recognition algorithms, and progress in material science and systems integration methods, have led to significant benefits to both industries. Electronic noses have been used in a variety of commercial agricultural-related industries, including the agricultural sectors of agronomy, biochemical processing, botany, cell culture, plant cultivar selections, environmental monitoring, horticulture, pesticide detection, plant physiology and pathology. Applications in forestry include uses in chemotaxonomy, log tracking, wood and paper processing, forest management, forest health protection, and waste management. These aroma-detection applications have improved plant-based product attributes, quality, uniformity, and consistency in ways that have increased the efficiency and effectiveness of production and manufacturing processes. This paper provides a comprehensive review and summary of a broad range of electronic-nose technologies and applications, developed specifically for the agriculture and forestry industries over the past thirty years, which have offered solutions that have greatly improved worldwide agricultural and agroforestry production systems.

  8. JPL Robotics Technology Applicable to Agriculture

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Udomkesmalee, Suraphol Gabriel; Kyte, L.

    2008-01-01

    This slide presentation describes several technologies that are developed for robotics that are applicable for agriculture. The technologies discussed are detection of humans to allow safe operations of autonomous vehicles, and vision guided robotic techniques for shoot selection, separation and transfer to growth media,

  9. An Evaluation Tool for Agricultural Health and Safety Mobile Applications.

    PubMed

    Reyes, Iris; Ellis, Tammy; Yoder, Aaron; Keifer, Matthew C

    2016-01-01

    As the use of mobile devices and their software applications, or apps, becomes ubiquitous, use amongst agricultural working populations is expanding as well. The smart device paired with a well-designed app has potential for improving workplace health and safety in the hands of those who can act upon the information provided. Many apps designed to assess workplace hazards and implementation of worker protections already exist. However, the abundance and diversity of such applications also presents challenges regarding evaluation practices and assignation of value. This is particularly true in the agricultural workspace, as there is currently little information on the value of these apps for agricultural safety and health. This project proposes a framework for developing and evaluating apps that have potential usefulness in agricultural health and safety. The evaluation framework is easily transferable, with little modification for evaluation of apps in several agriculture-specific areas.

  10. Use of material dielectric properties in agricultural applications

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The use of dielectric properties of materials for applications in agriculture are reviewed, and research findings on use of dielectric heating of materials and on sensing of product moisture content and other quality factors are discussed. Dielectric heating applications, include treatment of seed...

  11. Rapid analysis of the chemical composition of agricultural fibers using near infrared spectroscopy and pyrolysis molecular beam mass spectrometry

    Treesearch

    Stephen S. Kelley; Roger M. Rowell; Mark Davis; Cheryl K. Jurich; Rebecca Ibach

    2004-01-01

    The chemical composition of a variety of agricultural biomass samples was analyzed with near infrared spectroscopy and pyrolysis molecular beam mass spectroscopy. These samples were selected from a wide array of agricultural residue samples and included residues that had been subjected to a variety of di2erent treatments including solvent extractions and chemical...

  12. Progress and needs in agricultural research, development, and applications programs

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Moore, D. G.; Myers, V. I.

    1977-01-01

    The dynamic nature of agriculture requires repetitive resource assessments such as those from remote sensing. Until recently, the use of remote sensing in agriculture has been limited primarily to site specific investigations without large-scale evaluations. Examples of successful applications at various user levels are provided. The stage of development for applying remote sensing to many agricultural problems is assessed, and goals for planning future data characteristics for increased use in agriculture are suggested.

  13. Biotechnology: Applications in Agriculture. Instructor Guide [and] Student Reference.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nevils, Aaron

    This curriculum guide incorporates the needed components to aid agriculture teachers in the implementation of the Vocational Instructional Management System in biotechnology: applications in agriculture. The guide begins with a list of the competencies/objectives found in the six units; list of references and materials; list of materials and…

  14. Acceleration of chemical weathering related to intensive agriculture: evidence from groundwater dating

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aquilina, Luc; Marçais, Jean; de Dreuzy, Jean-Raynald; Labasque, Thierry; Abbott, Ben; Vergnaud, Virginie; Walter, Christian; Viville, Daniel; Chabaux, François; Pinay, Gilles

    2017-04-01

    Agricultural pollution is a matter of political and scientific concern throughout the world. Intensive agriculture can cause nutrient contamination of groundwater and surface water. Nutrient pollution causes eutrophication in freshwater and estuarine ecosystems. A secondary effect of agricultural intensification is river acidification. Oxidation of chemical fertilizers such as ammonium (NH4+) to nitrate (NO3-) produces H+ ions that cause leaching of cations from soil and deeper material to maintain charge balance. Monitoring of various rivers in Brittany (western France) revealed that agriculture intensification has led to increased cation export starting in the 1980s. From the cation ratios, we deduced that cation increase comes approximately equally from dissolution of carbonate added to soil (liming practices) and silicate dissolution. Cation export represented about 30% of the soil cation exchange potential. If compensated by liming, it may constitute a non-negligible source to atmospheric CO2 (Aquilina et al., 2012). We further investigated the potential for silicate dissolution through the use of groundwater dating in various sites of Brittany. Coupling chemical analyses to groundwater ages in a large range of aquifers and a large range of depths (down to 110m) allowed us to reconstruct a chronicle for the last 50 yrs of the cation concentrations of groundwater. It clearly shows a contemporaneous increase in sodium and nitrate and a decrease in calcium, with the most dramatic changes occurring during the 70s and 80s. Using groundwater dating, we were also able to determine a silica production geochronometer. A tight and linear relationship between silica concentration and groundwater age (Figure) was observed and allowed a production rate in groundwater to be determined. Except for short residence-times (Kerrien), the silica production rate for different granitic catchments was consistent, ranging from 0.3 to 0.4 mg.L-1.yr-1. To assess the role of

  15. Basic principles, methodology, and applications of remote sensing in agriculture

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Moreira, M. A. (Principal Investigator); Deassuncao, G. V.

    1984-01-01

    The basic principles of remote sensing applied to agriculture and the methods used in data analysis are described. Emphasis is placed on the importance of developing a methodology that may help crop forecast, basic concepts of spectral signatures of vegetation, the methodology of the LANDSAT data utilization in agriculture, and the remote sensing program application of INPE (Institute for Space Research) in agriculture.

  16. Prospective aquatic risk assessment for chemical mixtures in agricultural landscapes

    PubMed Central

    Brown, Colin D.; Hamer, Mick; Jones, Russell; Maltby, Lorraine; Posthuma, Leo; Silberhorn, Eric; Teeter, Jerold Scott; Warne, Michael St J; Weltje, Lennart

    2018-01-01

    Abstract Environmental risk assessment of chemical mixtures is challenging because of the multitude of possible combinations that may occur. Aquatic risk from chemical mixtures in an agricultural landscape was evaluated prospectively in 2 exposure scenario case studies: at field scale for a program of 13 plant‐protection products applied annually for 20 yr and at a watershed scale for a mixed land‐use scenario over 30 yr with 12 plant‐protection products and 2 veterinary pharmaceuticals used for beef cattle. Risk quotients were calculated from regulatory exposure models with typical real‐world use patterns and regulatory acceptable concentrations for individual chemicals. The results could differentiate situations when there was concern associated with single chemicals from those when concern was associated with a mixture (based on concentration addition) with no single chemical triggering concern. Potential mixture risk was identified on 0.02 to 7.07% of the total days modeled, depending on the scenario, the taxa, and whether considering acute or chronic risk. Taxa at risk were influenced by receiving water body characteristics along with chemical use profiles and associated properties. The present study demonstrates that a scenario‐based approach can be used to determine whether mixtures of chemicals pose risks over and above any identified using existing approaches for single chemicals, how often and to what magnitude, and ultimately which mixtures (and dominant chemicals) cause greatest concern. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:674–689. © 2017 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC. PMID:29193235

  17. Advanced Manufacturing and Value-added Products from US Agriculture

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Villet, Ruxton H.; Child, Dennis R.; Acock, Basil

    1992-01-01

    An objective of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agriculture Research Service (ARS) is to develop technology leading to a broad portfolio of value-added marketable products. Modern scientific disciplines such as chemical engineering are brought into play to develop processes for converting bulk commodities into high-margin products. To accomplish this, the extremely sophisticated processing devices which form the basis of modern biotechnology, namely, genes and enzymes, can be tailored to perform the required functions. The USDA/ARS is a leader in the development of intelligent processing equipment (IPE) for agriculture in the broadest sense. Applications of IPE are found in the production, processing, grading, and marketing aspects of agriculture. Various biotechnology applications of IPE are discussed.

  18. DETERMINANTS OF PERCEIVED AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL RISK IN THREE WATERSHEDS IN THE MIDWESTERN UNITED STATES. (R825761)

    EPA Science Inventory

    Abstract

    Recent epidemiologic research on the relationship between agricultural chemical use and human health has focused on possible risks to both farmers and nonfarm publics through such avenues as airborne chemical drift and contamination of drinking water. While ag...

  19. Research on the development and preliminary application of Beijing agricultural sci-tech service hotline WebApp in agricultural consulting services

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yu, Weishui; Luo, Changshou; Zheng, Yaming; Wei, Qingfeng; Cao, Chengzhong

    2017-09-01

    To deal with the “last kilometer” problem during the agricultural science and technology information service, we analyzed the feasibility, necessity and advantages of WebApp applied to agricultural information service and discussed the modes of WebApp used in agricultural information service based on the requirements analysis and the function of WebApp. To overcome the existing App’s defects of difficult installation and weak compatibility between the mobile operating systems, the Beijing Agricultural Sci-tech Service Hotline WebApp was developed based on the HTML and JAVA technology. The WebApp has greater compatibility and simpler operation than the Native App, what’s more, it can be linked to the WeChat public platform making it spread easily and run directly without setup process. The WebApp was used to provide agricultural expert consulting services and agriculture information push, obtained a good preliminary application achievement. Finally, we concluded the creative application of WebApp in agricultural consulting services and prospected the development of WebApp in agricultural information service.

  20. Agricultural management impact on physical and chemical functions of European peat soils.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Piayda, Arndt; Tiemeyer, Bärbel; Dettmann, Ullrich; Bechtold, Michel; Buschmann, Christoph

    2017-04-01

    Peat soils offer numerous functions from the global to the local scale: they constitute the biggest terrestrial carbon storage on the globe, form important nutrient filters for catchments and provide hydrological buffer capacities for local ecosystems. Peat soils represent a large share of soils suitable for agriculture in temperate and boreal Europe, pressurized by increasing demands for production. Cultivated peat soils, however, show extreme mineralization rates of the organic substance and turn into hotspots for green house gas emissions, are highly vulnerable to land surface subsidence, soil and water quality deterioration and thus crop failure. The aim of this study is to analyse the impact of past agricultural management on soil physical and chemical functions of peat soils in six European countries. We conducted standardized soil mapping, soil physical/chemical analysis, ground water table monitoring and farm business surveys across 7 to 10 sites in Germany, The Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia, Finland and Sweden. The results show a strong impact of past agricultural management on peat soil functions across Europe. Peat soil under intensive arable land use consistently offer lowest bearing capacities in the upper 10 cm compared to extensive and intensive grassland use, which is a major limiting factor for successful agricultural practice on peat soils. The difference can be explained by root mat stabilization solely, since soil compaction in the upper 25cm is highest under arable land use. A strong decrease of available water capacity and saturated hydraulic conductivity is consequently observed under arable land use, further intensifying hydrological problems like ponding, drought stress and reductions of hydrological buffer capacities frequently present on cultivated peat soils. Soil carbon stocks clearly decrease with increasing land use intensity, showing highest carbon stocks on extensive grassland. This is supported by the degree of decomposition, which

  1. AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL SAFETY ASSESSMENT: A MULTISECTOR APPROACH TO THE MODERNIZATION OF HUMAN SAFETY REQUIREMENTS.

    EPA Science Inventory

    Better understanding of toxicological mechanisms, enhanced testing capabilities, and demands for more sophisticated data for safety and health risk assessment have generated international interest in improving the current testing paradigm for agricultural chemicals. To address th...

  2. Prospective aquatic risk assessment for chemical mixtures in agricultural landscapes.

    PubMed

    Holmes, Christopher M; Brown, Colin D; Hamer, Mick; Jones, Russell; Maltby, Lorraine; Posthuma, Leo; Silberhorn, Eric; Teeter, Jerold Scott; Warne, Michael St J; Weltje, Lennart

    2018-03-01

    Environmental risk assessment of chemical mixtures is challenging because of the multitude of possible combinations that may occur. Aquatic risk from chemical mixtures in an agricultural landscape was evaluated prospectively in 2 exposure scenario case studies: at field scale for a program of 13 plant-protection products applied annually for 20 yr and at a watershed scale for a mixed land-use scenario over 30 yr with 12 plant-protection products and 2 veterinary pharmaceuticals used for beef cattle. Risk quotients were calculated from regulatory exposure models with typical real-world use patterns and regulatory acceptable concentrations for individual chemicals. The results could differentiate situations when there was concern associated with single chemicals from those when concern was associated with a mixture (based on concentration addition) with no single chemical triggering concern. Potential mixture risk was identified on 0.02 to 7.07% of the total days modeled, depending on the scenario, the taxa, and whether considering acute or chronic risk. Taxa at risk were influenced by receiving water body characteristics along with chemical use profiles and associated properties. The present study demonstrates that a scenario-based approach can be used to determine whether mixtures of chemicals pose risks over and above any identified using existing approaches for single chemicals, how often and to what magnitude, and ultimately which mixtures (and dominant chemicals) cause greatest concern. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:674-689. © 2017 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC. © 2017 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.

  3. [Effects of agricultural activities and transgenic crops on agricultural biodiversity].

    PubMed

    Zhang, Xi-Tao; Luo, Hong-Bing; Li, Jun-Sheng; Huang, Hai; Liu, Yong-Bo

    2014-09-01

    Agricultural biodiversity is a key part of the ecosystem biodiversity, but it receives little concern. The monoculture, environmental pollution and habitat fragmentation caused by agricultural activities have threatened agricultural biodiversity over the past 50 years. To optimize agricultural management measures for crop production and environmental protection, we reviewed the effects of agricultural activities, including cultivation patterns, plastic mulching, chemical additions and the cultivation of transgenic crops, on agricultural biodiversity. The results showed that chemical pesticides and fertilizers had the most serious influence and the effects of transgenic crops varied with other factors like the specific transgene inserted in crops. The environmental risk of transgenic crops should be assessed widely through case-by-case methods, particularly its potential impacts on agricultural biodiversity. It is important to consider the protection of agricultural biodiversity before taking certain agricultural practices, which could improve agricultural production and simultaneously reduce the environmental impacts.

  4. Chemical Pesticides and Human Health: The Urgent Need for a New Concept in Agriculture.

    PubMed

    Nicolopoulou-Stamati, Polyxeni; Maipas, Sotirios; Kotampasi, Chrysanthi; Stamatis, Panagiotis; Hens, Luc

    2016-01-01

    The industrialization of the agricultural sector has increased the chemical burden on natural ecosystems. Pesticides are agrochemicals used in agricultural lands, public health programs, and urban green areas in order to protect plants and humans from various diseases. However, due to their known ability to cause a large number of negative health and environmental effects, their side effects can be an important environmental health risk factor. The urgent need for a more sustainable and ecological approach has produced many innovative ideas, among them agriculture reforms and food production implementing sustainable practice evolving to food sovereignty. It is more obvious than ever that the society needs the implementation of a new agricultural concept regarding food production, which is safer for man and the environment, and to this end, steps such as the declaration of Nyéléni have been taken.

  5. Chemical Pesticides and Human Health: The Urgent Need for a New Concept in Agriculture

    PubMed Central

    Nicolopoulou-Stamati, Polyxeni; Maipas, Sotirios; Kotampasi, Chrysanthi; Stamatis, Panagiotis; Hens, Luc

    2016-01-01

    The industrialization of the agricultural sector has increased the chemical burden on natural ecosystems. Pesticides are agrochemicals used in agricultural lands, public health programs, and urban green areas in order to protect plants and humans from various diseases. However, due to their known ability to cause a large number of negative health and environmental effects, their side effects can be an important environmental health risk factor. The urgent need for a more sustainable and ecological approach has produced many innovative ideas, among them agriculture reforms and food production implementing sustainable practice evolving to food sovereignty. It is more obvious than ever that the society needs the implementation of a new agricultural concept regarding food production, which is safer for man and the environment, and to this end, steps such as the declaration of Nyéléni have been taken. PMID:27486573

  6. Toxic fables: the advertising and marketing of agricultural chemicals in the great plains, 1945-1985.

    PubMed

    Vail, David D

    2012-12-01

    This paper examines how pesticides and their technologies were sold to farmers and pilots throughout the midtwentieth century. It principally considers how marketing rhetoric and advertisement strategies used by chemical companies and aerial spraying firms influenced the practices and perspectives of farm producers in the Great Plains. In order to convince landowners and agricultural leaders to buy their pesticides, chemical companies generated advertisements that championed local crop health, mixture accuracy, livestock safety and a chemical-farming 'way of life' that kept fields healthy and productive. Combining notions of safety, accuracy and professionalism with pest eradication messages reinforced the standards that landowners, pilots and agriculturalists would hold regarding toxicity and risk when spraying their fields. As the politics of health changed in the aftermath of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, these companies and aerial spraying outfits responded by keeping to a vision of agricultural health that required poisons for protection through technological accuracy. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Pesticide Use and Cutaneous Melanoma in Pesticide Applicators in the Agricultural Heath Study

    PubMed Central

    Dennis, Leslie K.; Lynch, Charles F.; Sandler, Dale P.; Alavanja, Michael C.R.

    2010-01-01

    Background Melanoma rates continue to increase; however, few risk factors other than sun sensitivity and ultraviolet radiation (including sun exposure) have been identified. Although studies of farmers have shown an excess risk of melanoma and other skin cancers, it is unclear how much of this is related to sun exposure compared with other agricultural exposures. Methods We examined dose–response relationships for 50 agricultural pesticides and cutaneous melanoma incidence in the Agricultural Health Study cohort of licensed pesticide applicators, along with ever use of older pesticides that contain arsenic. Logistic regression was used to examine odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) associated with pesticide exposure adjusted for age, sex, and other potential confounders. Results We found significant associations between cutaneous melanoma and maneb/mancozeb (63 exposure days: OR = 2.4; 95% CI, 1.2–4.9; trend p = 0.006), parathion (≥ 56 exposure days: OR = 2.4; 95% CI, 1.3–4.4; trend p = 0.003), and carbaryl (≥ 56 exposure days: OR = 1.7; 95% CI, 1.1–2.5; trend p = 0.013). Other associations with benomyl and ever use of arsenical pesticides were also suggested. Conclusions Most previous melanoma literature has focused on host factors and sun exposure. Our research shows an association between several pesticides and melanoma, providing support for the hypotheses that agricultural chemicals may be another important source of melanoma risk. PMID:20164001

  8. Water-quality, water-level, and discharge data associated with the Mississippi embayment agricultural chemical-transport study, 2006-2008

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Dalton, Melinda S.; Rose, Claire E.; Coupe, Richard H.

    2010-01-01

    In 2006, the Agricultural Chemicals: Sources, Transport and Fate study team (Agricultural Chemicals Team, ACT) of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program began a study in northwestern Mississippi to evaluate the influence of surface-water recharge on the occurrence of agriculturally related nutrients and pesticides in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer. The ACT study was composed in the Bogue Phalia Basin, an indicator watershed within the National Water-Quality Assessment Program Mississippi Embayment Study Unit and utilized several small, subbasins within the Bogue Phalia to evaluate surface and groundwater interaction and chemical transport in the Basin. Data collected as part of this ACT study include water-quality data from routine and incident-driven water samples evaluated for major ions, nutrients, organic carbon, physical properties, and commonly used pesticides in the area; discharge, gage height and water-level data for surface-water sites, the shallow alluvial aquifer, and hyporheic zone; additionally, agricultural data and detailed management activities were reported by land managers for farms within two subbasins of the Bogue Phalia Basin—Tommie Bayou at Pace, MS, and an unnamed tributary to Clear Creek near Napanee, MS.

  9. OPEN BURNING OF AGRICULTURAL BIOMASS: PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF PARTICLE-PHASE EMISSIONS

    EPA Science Inventory

    This effort presents the physical and chemical characterization of PM2.5 emissions from simulated agricultural fires of surface residuals of two major grain crops, rice (Oryza sativa) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L). The O2 levels and CO/CO

  10. Agricultural and Food Processing Applications of Pulsed Power Technology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Takaki, Koichi; Ihara, Satoshi

    Recent progress of agricultural and food processing applications of pulsed power is described in this paper. Repetitively operated compact pulsed power generators with a moderate peak power have been developed for the agricultural and the food processing applications. These applications are mainly based on biological effects and can be categorized as decontamination of air and liquid, germination promotion, inhabitation of saprophytes growth, extraction of juice from fruits and vegetables, and fertilization of liquid medium, etc. Types of pulsed power that have biological effects are caused with gas discharges, water discharges, and electromagnetic fields. The discharges yield free radicals, UV radiation, intense electric field, and shock waves. Biologically based applications of pulsed power are performed by selecting the type that gives the target objects the adequate result from among these agents or byproducts. For instance, intense electric fields form pores on the cell membrane, which is called electroporation, or influence the nuclei.

  11. Chemical Gas Sensors for Aerospace Applications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hunter, Gary W.; Liu, C. C.

    1998-01-01

    Chemical sensors often need to be specifically designed (or tailored) to operate in a given environment. It is often the case that a chemical sensor that meets the needs of one application will not function adequately in another application. The more demanding the environment and specialized the requirement, the greater the need to adapt exiting sensor technologies to meet these requirements or, as necessary, develop new sensor technologies. Aerospace (aeronautic and space) applications are particularly challenging since often these applications have specifications which have not previously been the emphasis of commercial suppliers. Further, the chemical sensing needs of aerospace applications have changed over the years to reflect the changing emphasis of society. Three chemical sensing applications of particular interest to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) which illustrate these trends are launch vehicle leak detection, emission monitoring, and fire detection. Each of these applications reflects efforts ongoing throughout NASA. As described in NASA's "Three Pillars for Success", a document which outlines NASA's long term response to achieve the nation's priorities in aerospace transportation, agency wide objectives include: improving safety and decreasing the cost of space travel, significantly decreasing the amount of emissions produced by aeronautic engines, and improving the safety of commercial airline travel. As will be discussed below, chemical sensing in leak detection, emission monitoring, and fire detection will help enable the agency to meet these objectives. Each application has vastly different problems associated with the measurement of chemical species. Nonetheless, the development of a common base technology can address the measurement needs of a number of applications.

  12. Agricultural Aircraft Aid

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1982-01-01

    Farmers are increasingly turning to aerial applications of pesticides, fertilizers and other materials. Sometimes uneven distribution of the chemicals is caused by worn nozzles, improper alignment of spray nozzles or system leaks. If this happens, job must be redone with added expense to both the pilot and customer. Traditional pattern analysis techniques take days or weeks. Utilizing NASA's wind tunnel and computer validation technology, Dr. Roth, Oklahoma State University (OSU), developed a system for providing answers within minutes. Called the Rapid Distribution Pattern Evaluation System, the OSU system consists of a 100-foot measurement frame tied in to computerized analysis and readout equipment. System is mobile, delivered by trailer to airfields in agricultural areas where OSU conducts educational "fly-ins." A fly-in typically draws 50 to 100 aerial applicators, researchers, chemical suppliers and regulatory officials. An applicator can have his spray pattern checked. A computerized readout, available in five to 12 minutes, provides information for correcting shortcomings in the distribution pattern.

  13. Agricultural chemicals in groundwater of the midwestern United States: Relations to land use

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Kolpin, D.W.

    1997-01-01

    To determine the relations between land use and concentrations of selected agricultural chemicals (nitrate, atrazine residue [atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine) + deethylatrazinc (2-amino-4-chloro-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine) + deisopropylatrazine (2-amino-4-chloro-6-ethylamino-s-triazine)], and alachlor residue [alachlor, [2-chloro-2′,6′-diethyl-N-(methoxymethyl) acetanilide] + alachlor ethanesulfonic acid (alachlor-ESA; 2-[(2,6-diethylphenyl)(methoxymethyl)amino]-2-oxoethanesulfonic acid)] in groundwater, detailed land use information based on accurate measurements from aerial photographs for the 1991 growing season was obtained within a 2-km radius surrounding 100 wells completed in near-surface unconsolidated aquifers in the midwestern USA. The most significant land use factors to the agricultural chemicals examined were: nitrate (amount of irrigated crop production, positive relation), atrazine residue (amount of irrigated crop production, positive relation), and alachlor residue (amount of highly erodible land, inverse relation). The investigation of smaller buffer sizes (size of circular area around sampled wells) proved insightful for this study. Additional land use factors having significant relations to all three agricultural chemicals were identified using these smaller buffer radii. The most significant correlations (correlation maxima) generally occurred at ≤500-m for nitrate and ≥1000-m for atrazine residue and alachlor residue. An attempt to improve the statistical relations to land use by taking hydrologic considerations into account (removing land outside the estimated most probable recharge area from the statistical analysis) was not as successful as anticipated. Only 45% of the nitrate, 32% of the atrazine residue, and 20% of the alachlor residue correlations were improved by a consideration of the estimated most probable recharge area.

  14. Agriculture and Water Quality. Issues in Agricultural Policy. Agriculture Information Bulletin Number 548.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Crowder, Bradley M.; And Others

    Agriculture generates byproducts that may contribute to the contamination of the United States' water supply. Any effective regulations to ban or restrict agricultural chemical or land use practices in order to improve water quality will affect the farm economy. Some farmers will benefit; some will not. Most agricultural pollutants reach surface…

  15. Physical and chemical characterizations of biochars derived from different agricultural residues

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jindo, K.; Mizumoto, H.; Sawada, Y.; Sanchez-Monedero, M. A.; Sonoki, T.

    2014-08-01

    Biochar has received large attention as a strategy to tackle against carbon emission. Not only carbon fixation has been carried out but also other merits for agricultural application due to unique physical and chemical character such as absorption of contaminated compounds in soil, trapping ammonia and methane emission from compost, and enhancement of fertilizer quality. In our study, different local waste feed stocks (rice husk, rice straw, wood chips of apple tree (Malus Pumila) and oak tree (Quercus serrata)), in Aomori, Japan, were utilized for creating biochar with different temperature (400-800 °C). Concerning to the biochar production, the pyrolysis of lower temperature had more biochar yield than higher temperature pyrolysis process. On the contrary, surface areas and adsorption characters have been increased as increasing temperature. The proportions of carbon content in the biochars also increased together with increased temperatures. Infrared-Fourier spectra (FT-IR) and 13C-NMR were used to understand carbon chemical compositions in our biochars, and it was observed that the numbers of the shoulders representing aromatic groups, considered as stable carbon structure appeared as the temperature came closer to 600 °C, as well as in FT-IR. In rice materials, the peak assigned to SiO2, was observed in all biochars (400-800 °C) in FT-IR. We suppose that the pyrolysis at 600 °C creates the most recalcitrant character for carbon sequestration, meanwhile the pyrolysis at 400 °C produces the superior properties as a fertilizer by retaining volatile and easily labile compounds which promotes soil microbial activities.

  16. What is needed to understand feedback mechanisms from agricultural and climate changes that can alter the hydrological system and the transport of sediments and agricultural chemicals?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Coupe, Richard; Payraudeau, Sylvain; Babcsányi, Izabella; Imfeld, Gwenaël

    2015-04-01

    Modern agriculture activities are constantly changing as producers try to produce a crop, keep their soils fertile, control pests, and prevent contamination of air and water resources. Because most of the world's arable land is already in production we must become more efficient if we are to feed and clothe the world's growing population as well as do this in a sustainable manner; leaving a legacy of fertile soil and clean water resources for our descendants. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the importance of historical datasets and of developing new strategies to understand the effects of changing agricultural systems on the environment. Scientists who study agriculture and its effects on water must constantly adapt their strategies and evaluate how changing agricultural activities impact the environment. As well as understand from historical datasets on hydrology and agriculture how a changing climate or agricultural activity such as a change in tillage method might impact the processes that determine the movement of agricultural chemicals off of the target site. The 42.7 ha Hohrain (Rouffach, Alsace, France) vineyard experimental catchment offers several examples of how scientists have used historical data from this catchment to understand how the transport of agricultural chemicals may change due to a changing climate as well as how new strategies are developed for understanding the transport of agricultural chemicals. Runoff is a major process of pesticide transport from agricultural land to downstream aquatic ecosystems. The impact of rainfall characteristics on the transport of runoff-related pesticides is crucial to understanding how to prevent or minimize their movement now, but also in understanding how climate change might affect runoff. If we understand how rainfall characteristics affect the transport of pesticides, we can use climate change models to predict how those characteristics might change in the future and be better prepared for

  17. The pan-sharpening of satellite and UAV imagery for agricultural applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jenerowicz, Agnieszka; Woroszkiewicz, Malgorzata

    2016-10-01

    Remote sensing techniques are widely used in many different areas of interest, i.e. urban studies, environmental studies, agriculture, etc., due to fact that they provide rapid, accurate and information over large areas with optimal time, spatial and spectral resolutions. Agricultural management is one of the most common application of remote sensing methods nowadays. Monitoring of agricultural sites and creating information regarding spatial distribution and characteristics of crops are important tasks to provide data for precision agriculture, crop management and registries of agricultural lands. For monitoring of cultivated areas many different types of remote sensing data can be used- most popular are multispectral satellites imagery. Such data allow for generating land use and land cover maps, based on various methods of image processing and remote sensing methods. This paper presents fusion of satellite and unnamed aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery for agricultural applications, especially for distinguishing crop types. Authors in their article presented chosen data fusion methods for satellite images and data obtained from low altitudes. Moreover the authors described pan- sharpening approaches and applied chosen pan- sharpening methods for multiresolution image fusion of satellite and UAV imagery. For such purpose, satellite images from Landsat- 8 OLI sensor and data collected within various UAV flights (with mounted RGB camera) were used. In this article, the authors not only had shown the potential of fusion of satellite and UAV images, but also presented the application of pan- sharpening in crop identification and management.

  18. Agricultural Chemical Use and White Male Cancer Mortality in Selected Rural Farm Counties.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stokes, C. Shannon; Brace, Kathy D.

    A study of 1,497 nonmetropolitan counties was conducted to test the possible contribution of agricultural chemical use to cancer mortality rates in rural counties. The dependent variables were 20-year age-adjusted mortality rates for 1950 to 1969 for five categories of cancer: genital, urinary, lymphatic, respiratory, and digestive. Because sex…

  19. The Role of Aerospace Technology in Agriculture. The 1977 Summer Faculty Fellowship Program in Engineering Systems Design

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1977-01-01

    Possibilities were examined for improving agricultural productivity through the application of aerospace technology. An overview of agriculture and of the problems of feeding a growing world population are presented. The present state of agriculture, of plant and animal culture, and agri-business are reviewed. Also analyzed are the various systems for remote sensing, particularly applications to agriculture. The report recommends additional research and technology in the areas of aerial application of chemicals, of remote sensing systems, of weather and climate investigations, and of air vehicle design. Also considered in detail are the social, legal, economic, and political results of intensification of technical applications to agriculture.

  20. Market assessment of photovoltaic power systems for agricultural applications in Nigeria

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Staples, D.; Steingass, H.; Nolfi, J.

    1981-01-01

    The market potential for stand-alone photovoltaic systems in agriculture was studied. Information is presented on technical and economically feasible applications, and assessments of the business, government and financial climate for photovoltaic sales. It is concluded that the market for stand-alone systems will be large because of the availability of captial and the high premium placed on high reliability, low maintenance power systems. Various specific applications are described, mostly related to agriculture.

  1. Market assessment of photovoltaic power systems for agricultural applications in Nigeria

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Staples, D.; Steingass, H.; Nolfi, J.

    1981-10-01

    The market potential for stand-alone photovoltaic systems in agriculture was studied. Information is presented on technical and economically feasible applications, and assessments of the business, government and financial climate for photovoltaic sales. It is concluded that the market for stand-alone systems will be large because of the availability of captial and the high premium placed on high reliability, low maintenance power systems. Various specific applications are described, mostly related to agriculture.

  2. Potential applications of biosurfactant rhamnolipids in agriculture and biomedicine.

    PubMed

    Chen, Jianwei; Wu, Qihao; Hua, Yi; Chen, Jun; Zhang, Huawei; Wang, Hong

    2017-12-01

    Rhamnolipids have recently emerged as promising bioactive molecules due to their novel structures, diverse and versatile biological functions, lower toxicity, higher biodegradability, as well as production from renewable resources. The advantages of rhamnolipids make them attractive targets for research in a wide variety of applications. Especially rhamnolipids are likely to possess potential applications of the future in areas such as biomedicine, therapeutics, and agriculture. The purpose of this mini review is to provide a comprehensive prospective of biosurfactant rhamnolipids as potential antimicrobials, immune modulators, and virulence factors, and anticancer agents in the field of biomedicine and agriculture that may meet the ever-increasing future pharmacological treatment and food safety needs in human health.

  3. Production of bioproducts by endophytic fungi: chemical ecology, biotechnological applications, bottlenecks, and solutions.

    PubMed

    Yan, Lu; Zhao, Haobin; Zhao, Xixi; Xu, Xiaoguang; Di, Yichao; Jiang, Chunmei; Shi, Junling; Shao, Dongyan; Huang, Qingsheng; Yang, Hui; Jin, Mingliang

    2018-05-29

    Endophytes are microorganisms that colonize the interior of host plants without causing apparent disease. They have been widely studied for their ability to modulate relationships between plants and biotic/abiotic stresses, often producing valuable secondary metabolites that can affect host physiology. Owing to the advantages of microbial fermentation over plant/cell cultivation and chemical synthesis, endophytic fungi have received significant attention as a mean for secondary metabolite production. This article summarizes currently reported results on plant-endophyte interaction hypotheses and highlights the biotechnological applications of endophytic fungi and their metabolites in agriculture, environment, biomedicine, energy, and biocatalysts. Current bottlenecks in industrial development and commercial applications as well as possible solutions are also discussed.

  4. Dielectric properties of agricultural materials and their application

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    This book is prepared as a comprehensive source of information on dielectric properties of agricultural materials for scientific researchers and engineers involved in practical application of radio-frequency and microwave energy for potential problem solutions. Dielectric properties of materials det...

  5. Chemical Microsensor Development for Aerospace Applications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Xu, Jennifer C.; Hunter, Gary W.; Lukco, Dorothy; Chen, Liangyu; Biaggi-Labiosa, Azlin M.

    2013-01-01

    Numerous aerospace applications, including low-false-alarm fire detection, environmental monitoring, fuel leak detection, and engine emission monitoring, would benefit greatly from robust and low weight, cost, and power consumption chemical microsensors. NASA Glenn Research Center has been working to develop a variety of chemical microsensors with these attributes to address the aforementioned applications. Chemical microsensors using different material platforms and sensing mechanisms have been produced. Approaches using electrochemical cells, resistors, and Schottky diode platforms, combined with nano-based materials, high temperature solid electrolytes, and room temperature polymer electrolytes have been realized to enable different types of microsensors. By understanding the application needs and chemical gas species to be detected, sensing materials and unique microfabrication processes were selected and applied. The chemical microsensors were designed utilizing simple structures and the least number of microfabrication processes possible, while maintaining high yield and low cost. In this presentation, an overview of carbon dioxide (CO2), oxygen (O2), and hydrogen/hydrocarbons (H2/CxHy) microsensors and their fabrication, testing results, and applications will be described. Particular challenges associated with improving the H2/CxHy microsensor contact wire-bonding pad will be discussed. These microsensors represent our research approach and serve as major tools as we expand our sensor development toolbox. Our ultimate goal is to develop robust chemical microsensor systems for aerospace and commercial applications.

  6. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are an alternative to the application of chemical fertilizer in the production of the medicinal and aromatic plant Coriandrum sativum L.

    PubMed

    Oliveira, Rui S; Ma, Ying; Rocha, Inês; Carvalho, Maria F; Vosátka, Miroslav; Freitas, Helena

    2016-01-01

    The widespread use of agrochemicals is detrimental to the environment and may exert harmful effects on human health. The consumer demand for organic food plants has been increasing. There is thus a rising need for alternatives to agrochemicals that can foster sustainable plant production. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential use of an arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus as an alternative to application of chemical fertilizer for improving growth performance of the medicinal and aromatic plant Coriandrum sativum. Plants were inoculated with the AM fungus Rhizophagus irregularis BEG163 and/or supplemented with a commercial chemical fertilizer (Plant Marvel, Nutriculture Bent Special) in agricultural soil. Plant growth, nutrition, and development of AM fungus were assessed. Plants inoculated with R. irregularis and those supplemented with chemical fertilizer displayed significantly improved growth performances when compared with controls. There were no significant differences in total fresh weight between plants inoculated with R. irregularis or those supplemented with chemical fertilizer. Leaf chlorophyll a + b (82%), shoot nitrogen (44%), phosphorus (254%), and potassium (27%) concentrations increased in plants inoculated with R. irregularis compared to controls. Application of chemical fertilizer inhibited root mycorrhizal colonization and the length of the extraradical mycelium of R. irregularis. Inoculation with R. irregularis was equally or more efficient than application of chemical fertilizer in promoting growth and nutrition of C. sativum. AM fungi may thus contribute to improve biologically based production of food plants and reduce the dependence on agrochemicals in agriculture.

  7. High-frequency surface waves method for agricultural applications

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    A high-frequency surface wave method has been recently developed to explore shallow soil in the vadose zone for agricultural applications. This method is a modification from the conventional multichannel analysis of surface wave (MASW) method that explores near surface soil properties from a couple ...

  8. Chemical regulators of plant hormones and their applications in basic research and agriculture.

    PubMed

    Jiang, Kai; Asami, Tadao

    2018-04-20

    Plant hormones are small molecules that play versatile roles in regulating plant growth, development, and responses to the environment. Classic methodologies, including genetics, analytic chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology, have contributed to the progress in plant hormone studies. In addition, chemical regulators of plant hormone functions have been important in such studies. Today, synthetic chemicals, including plant growth regulators, are used to study and manipulate biological systems, collectively referred to as chemical biology. Here, we summarize the available chemical regulators and their contributions to plant hormone studies. We also pose questions that remain to be addressed in plant hormone studies and that might be solved with the help of chemical regulators.

  9. Agricultural and hydrological applications of radar

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ulaby, F. T.

    1976-01-01

    Program objectives, covering a wide range of disciplines and activities in radar remote sensing, include radar systems development and analysis, data processing and display, and data interpretation in geology, geography and oceanography. Research was focused on the evaluation of radar remote sensing applications in hydrology and agriculture based on data acquired with the Microwave Active Spectrometer (MAS) system. The title, author(s) and abstract of each of the 62 technical reports generated under this contract are appended.

  10. Recent developments in nanotechnology transforming the agricultural sector: a transition replete with opportunities.

    PubMed

    Kim, Dae-Young; Kadam, Avinash; Shinde, Surendra; Saratale, Rijuta Ganesh; Patra, Jayanta; Ghodake, Gajanan

    2018-02-01

    The applications and benefits of nanotechnology in the agricultural sector have attracted considerable attention, particularly in the invention of unique nanopesticides and nanofertilisers. The contemporary developments in nanotechnology are acknowledged and the most significant opportunities awaiting the agriculture sector from the recent scientific and technical literature are addressed. This review discusses the significance of recent trends in nanomaterial-based sensors available for the sustainable management of agricultural soil, as well as the role of nanotechnology in detection and protection against plant pathogens, and for food quality and safety. Novel nanosensors have been reported for primary applications in improving crop practices, food quality, and packaging methods, thus will change the agricultural sector for potentially better and healthier food products. Nanotechnology is well-known to play a significant role in the effective management of phytopathogens, nutrient utilisation, controlled release of pesticides, and fertilisers. Research and scientific gaps to be overcome and fundamental questions have been addressed to fuel active development and application of nanotechnology. Together, nanoscience, nanoengineering, and nanotechnology offer a plethora of opportunities, proving a viable alternative in the agriculture and food processing sector, by providing a novel and advanced solutions. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

  11. Mass balance and swath displacement evaluations from agricultural application field trials

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Spray drift is on an ongoing concern for any agricultural application and continues to be the focus for new developments and research efforts dealing with drift reduction technologies, best management application practices and the development of new decision support systems for applicators. Typical...

  12. Uav for Geodata Acquisition in Agricultureal and Forestal Applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reidelstürz, P.; Schrenk, L.; Littmann, W.

    2011-09-01

    In the field of precision-farming research, solutions are worked out to combine ecological and economical requirements in a harmonic way. Integrating hightech in agricultural machinery, natural differences in the fields (biodiversity) can be detected and considered to economize agricultural resources and to give respect to natural ecological variability at the same time. Using precision farming resources, machining - and labour time can be economized, productivness can be improved, environmental burden can be discharged and documentation of production processes can be improved. To realize precision farming it is essential to make contemporary large scale data of the biodiversity in the field available. In the last years effectual traktor based equipment for real time precision farming applications was developed. Using remote sensing, biomass diversity of the field can be considered while applicating operating ressources economicly. Because these large scale data aquisition depends on expensive tractor based inspections, capable Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) could complement or in special situations even replace such tractor based data aquisition needed for the realization of precision farming strategies. The specific advantages and application slots of UAVs seems to be ideal for the usage in the field of precision farming. For example the size of even large agricultural fields in germany can be managed even by smaller UAVs. Data can be captured spontaneously, promptly, in large scale, with less respect of weather conditions. In agricultural regions UAV flights can be arranged in visual range as actually the legislator requires in germany, especially because the use of autopilotsystems in fact is nessecary to assure regular area-wide data without gaps but not to fly in non-visible regions. Also a minimized risk of hazard is given, flying UAVs over deserted agricultural areas. In a first stage CIS GmbH cooperated with "Institute For Flightsystems" of the University

  13. Factors influencing Australian agricultural workers' self-efficacy using chemicals in the workplace.

    PubMed

    Blackman, Ian R

    2012-11-01

    A hypothetical model was formulated to explore which factors can simultaneously influence the self-reported ability of agricultural employees to embrace chemical safety practices. Eight variables were considered in the study, including the employees' gender, age, duration of current employment status, and whether they were employed full-time or part-time. The self-efficacy measures of 169 participants were then estimated by measuring their self-rated ability to understand and perform different chemical safety practices. Models identifying employee self-efficacy pathways leading to worker readiness to engage in chemical safety were then tested using Partial Least Squares Path Analysis. Study results suggest that employees' self-efficacy to successfully engage in safe chemical practices in their workplace can be directly predicted by four variables, with additional indirect effects offered by one other variable, which cumulatively account for 41% of the variance of employees' chemical safety self-efficacy scores. The most significant predictor variables that directly influenced employees' self-efficacy in adopting chemical safety practices in the workplace were worker age, gender, years of employment, and concurrent confidence (self-efficacy) arising from prior experience using chemicals in the workplace. The variables of employees' prior knowledge and understanding about the use of administrative controls and personal protective equipment to protect workers from chemical exposure had no direct influence on self-efficacy to handle chemical emergencies. Employees' unfamiliarity with risk control strategies and reliance on material safety data sheets for information suggest that ongoing and targeted training are necessary if chemical safety issues are to be addressed.

  14. Harnessing Insect-Microbe Chemical Communications To Control Insect Pests of Agricultural Systems.

    PubMed

    Beck, John J; Vannette, Rachel L

    2017-01-11

    Insect pests cause serious economic, yield, and food safety problems to managed crops worldwide. Compounding these problems, insect pests often vector pathogenic or toxigenic microbes to plants. Previous work has considered plant-insect and plant-microbe interactions separately. Although insects are well-understood to use plant volatiles to locate hosts, microorganisms can produce distinct and abundant volatile compounds that in some cases strongly attract insects. In this paper, we focus on the microbial contribution to plant volatile blends, highlighting the compounds emitted and the potential for variation in microbial emission. We suggest that these aspects of microbial volatile emission may make these compounds ideal for use in agricultural applications, as they may be more specific or enhance methods currently used in insect control or monitoring. Our survey of microbial volatiles in insect-plant interactions suggests that these emissions not only signal host suitability but may indicate a distinctive time frame for optimal conditions for both insect and microbe. Exploitation of these host-specific microbe semiochemicals may provide important microbe- and host-based attractants and a basis for future plant-insect-microbe chemical ecology investigations.

  15. Solar Energy Applications for Agriculture. A Curriculum Guide.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nebraska Univ., Lincoln. Dept. of Agricultural Education.

    This curriculum guide contains five units for a course in solar energy applications for vocational agriculture. Each unit is organized in a format containing some or all of the following materials: unit objective, specific objectives, suggested instructor and student activities, list of instructional materials, assignment sheets, answers to…

  16. Evaluation of protein safety in the context of agricultural biotechnology.

    PubMed

    Delaney, Bryan; Astwood, James D; Cunny, Helen; Conn, Robin Eichen; Herouet-Guicheney, Corinne; Macintosh, Susan; Meyer, Linda S; Privalle, Laura; Gao, Yong; Mattsson, Joel; Levine, Marci

    2008-05-01

    One component of the safety assessment of agricultural products produced through biotechnology is evaluation of the safety of newly expressed proteins. The ILSI International Food Biotechnology Committee has developed a scientifically based two-tiered, weight-of-evidence strategy to assess the safety of novel proteins used in the context of agricultural biotechnology. Recommendations draw upon knowledge of the biological and chemical characteristics of proteins and testing methods for evaluating potential intrinsic hazards of chemicals. Tier I (potential hazard identification) includes an assessment of the biological function or mode of action and intended application of the protein, history of safe use, comparison of the amino acid sequence of the protein to other proteins, as well as the biochemical and physico-chemical properties of the proteins. Studies outlined in Tier II (hazard characterization) are conducted when the results from Tier I are not sufficient to allow a determination of safety (reasonable certainty of no harm) on a case-by-case basis. These studies may include acute and repeated dose toxicology studies and hypothesis-based testing. The application of these guidelines is presented using examples of transgenic proteins applied for agricultural input and output traits in genetically modified crops along with recommendations for future research considerations related to protein safety assessment.

  17. 21 CFR 1310.13 - Exemption of chemical mixtures; application.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 9 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Exemption of chemical mixtures; application. 1310... REPORTS OF LISTED CHEMICALS AND CERTAIN MACHINES § 1310.13 Exemption of chemical mixtures; application. (a... application of all or any part of the Act a chemical mixture consisting of two or more chemical components, at...

  18. 21 CFR 1310.13 - Exemption of chemical mixtures; application.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 9 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Exemption of chemical mixtures; application. 1310... REPORTS OF LISTED CHEMICALS AND CERTAIN MACHINES § 1310.13 Exemption of chemical mixtures; application. (a... application of all or any part of the Act a chemical mixture consisting of two or more chemical components, at...

  19. 21 CFR 1310.13 - Exemption of chemical mixtures; application.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 9 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Exemption of chemical mixtures; application. 1310... REPORTS OF LISTED CHEMICALS AND CERTAIN MACHINES § 1310.13 Exemption of chemical mixtures; application. (a... application of all or any part of the Act a chemical mixture consisting of two or more chemical components, at...

  20. 21 CFR 1310.13 - Exemption of chemical mixtures; application.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 9 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Exemption of chemical mixtures; application. 1310... REPORTS OF LISTED CHEMICALS AND CERTAIN MACHINES § 1310.13 Exemption of chemical mixtures; application. (a... application of all or any part of the Act a chemical mixture consisting of two or more chemical components, at...

  1. 21 CFR 1310.13 - Exemption of chemical mixtures; application.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 9 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Exemption of chemical mixtures; application. 1310... REPORTS OF LISTED CHEMICALS AND CERTAIN MACHINES § 1310.13 Exemption of chemical mixtures; application. (a... application of all or any part of the Act a chemical mixture consisting of two or more chemical components, at...

  2. National, holistic, watershed-scale approach to understand the sources, transport, and fate of agricultural chemicals

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Capel, P.D.; McCarthy, K.A.; Barbash, J.E.

    2008-01-01

    This paper is an introduction to the following series of papers that report on in-depth investigations that have been conducted at five agricultural study areas across the United States in order to gain insights into how environmental processes and agricultural practices interact to determine the transport and fate of agricultural chemicals in the environment. These are the first study areas in an ongoing national study. The study areas were selected, based on the combination of cropping patterns and hydrologic setting, as representative of nationally important agricultural settings to form a basis for extrapolation to unstudied areas. The holistic, watershed-scale study design that involves multiple environmental compartments and that employs both field observations and simulation modeling is presented. This paper introduces the overall study design and presents an overview of the hydrology of the five study areas. Copyright ?? 2008 by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America. All rights reserved.

  3. An Obstacle Alerting System for Agricultural Application

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    DeMaio, Joe

    2003-01-01

    Wire strikes are a significant cause of helicopter accidents. The aircraft most at risk are aerial applicators. The present study examines the effectiveness of a wire alert delivered by way of the lightbar, a GPS-based guidance system for aerial application. The alert lead-time needed to avoid an invisible wire is compared with that to avoid a visible wire. A flight simulator was configured to simulate an agricultural application helicopter. Two pilots flew simulated spray runs in fields with visible wires, invisible wires, and no wires. The wire alert was effective in reducing wire strikes. A lead-time of 3.5 sec was required for the alert to be effective. The lead- time required was the same whether the pilot could see the wire or not.

  4. Nanotechnology in Sustainable Agriculture: Recent Developments, Challenges, and Perspectives

    PubMed Central

    Prasad, Ram; Bhattacharyya, Atanu; Nguyen, Quang D.

    2017-01-01

    Nanotechnology monitors a leading agricultural controlling process, especially by its miniature dimension. Additionally, many potential benefits such as enhancement of food quality and safety, reduction of agricultural inputs, enrichment of absorbing nanoscale nutrients from the soil, etc. allow the application of nanotechnology to be resonant encumbrance. Agriculture, food, and natural resources are a part of those challenges like sustainability, susceptibility, human health, and healthy life. The ambition of nanomaterials in agriculture is to reduce the amount of spread chemicals, minimize nutrient losses in fertilization and increased yield through pest and nutrient management. Nanotechnology has the prospective to improve the agriculture and food industry with novel nanotools for the controlling of rapid disease diagnostic, enhancing the capacity of plants to absorb nutrients among others. The significant interests of using nanotechnology in agriculture includes specific applications like nanofertilizers and nanopesticides to trail products and nutrients levels to increase the productivity without decontamination of soils, waters, and protection against several insect pest and microbial diseases. Nanotechnology may act as sensors for monitoring soil quality of agricultural field and thus it maintain the health of agricultural plants. This review covers the current challenges of sustainability, food security and climate change that are exploring by the researchers in the area of nanotechnology in the improvement of agriculture. PMID:28676790

  5. Nanotechnology in Sustainable Agriculture: Recent Developments, Challenges, and Perspectives.

    PubMed

    Prasad, Ram; Bhattacharyya, Atanu; Nguyen, Quang D

    2017-01-01

    Nanotechnology monitors a leading agricultural controlling process, especially by its miniature dimension. Additionally, many potential benefits such as enhancement of food quality and safety, reduction of agricultural inputs, enrichment of absorbing nanoscale nutrients from the soil, etc. allow the application of nanotechnology to be resonant encumbrance. Agriculture, food, and natural resources are a part of those challenges like sustainability, susceptibility, human health, and healthy life. The ambition of nanomaterials in agriculture is to reduce the amount of spread chemicals, minimize nutrient losses in fertilization and increased yield through pest and nutrient management. Nanotechnology has the prospective to improve the agriculture and food industry with novel nanotools for the controlling of rapid disease diagnostic, enhancing the capacity of plants to absorb nutrients among others. The significant interests of using nanotechnology in agriculture includes specific applications like nanofertilizers and nanopesticides to trail products and nutrients levels to increase the productivity without decontamination of soils, waters, and protection against several insect pest and microbial diseases. Nanotechnology may act as sensors for monitoring soil quality of agricultural field and thus it maintain the health of agricultural plants. This review covers the current challenges of sustainability, food security and climate change that are exploring by the researchers in the area of nanotechnology in the improvement of agriculture.

  6. A brief review on activated carbon derived from agriculture by-product

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yahya, Mohd Adib; Mansor, Muhammad Humaidi; Zolkarnaini, Wan Amani Auji Wan; Rusli, Nurul Shahnim; Aminuddin, Anisah; Mohamad, Khalidah; Sabhan, Fatin Aina Mohamad; Atik, Arif Abdallah Aboubaker; Ozair, Lailatun Nazirah

    2018-06-01

    A brief review focusing on preparation of the activated carbon derived from agriculture by-products is presented. The physical and chemical activation of activated carbon were also reviewed. The effects of various parameters including types of activating agents, temperature, impregnation ratio, were also discussed. The applications of activated carbon from agricultural by products were briefly reviewed. It is provenly evident in this review, the relatively inexpensive and renewable resources of the agricultural waste were found to be effectively being converted into wealth materials.

  7. Preventing Agricultural Chemical Exposure: A Safety Program Manual. Participatory Education with Farmworkers in Pesticide Safety.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wake Forest Univ., Winston-Salem, NC. Dept. of Family and Community Medicine.

    Preventing Agricultural Chemical Exposure among North Carolina Farmworkers (PACE) is a project designed to describe farmworker pesticide exposure and to develop an educational intervention to reduce farmworker pesticide exposure. The PACE project used a community participation framework to ensure that the community played a significant role in…

  8. A selected bibliography: Remote sensing applications in agriculture

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Draeger, William C.; McClelland, David T.

    1977-01-01

    The bibliography contains nearly 300 citations of selected publications and technical reports dealing with the application of remote-sensing techniques to the collection and analysis of agricultural information. Most of the items included were published between January 1968 and December 1975, although some earlier works of continuing interest are included.

  9. A Nontoxic Polypeptide Oligomer with a Fungicide Potency under Agricultural Conditions Which Is Equal or Greater than That of Their Chemical Counterparts

    PubMed Central

    Monteiro, Sara; Carreira, Alexandra; Freitas, Regina; Pinheiro, Ana Margarida; Ferreira, Ricardo Boavida

    2015-01-01

    There are literally hundreds of polypeptides described in the literature which exhibit fungicide activity. Tens of them have had attempted protection by patent applications but none, as far as we are aware, have found application under real agricultural conditions. The reasons behind may be multiple where the sensitivity to the Sun UV radiation can come in first place. Here we describe a multifunctional glyco-oligomer with 210 kDa which is mainly composed by a 20 kDa polypeptide termed Blad that has been previously shown to be a stable intermediary product of β-conglutin catabolism. This oligomer accumulates exclusively in the cotyledons of Lupinus species, between days 4 and 12 after the onset of germination. Blad-oligomer reveals a plethora of biochemical properties, like lectin and catalytic activities, which are not unusual per si, but are remarkable when found to coexist in the same protein molecule. With this vast range of chemical characteristics, antifungal activity arises almost as a natural consequence. The biological significance and potential technological applications of Blad-oligomer as a plant fungicide to agriculture, its uniqueness stems from being of polypeptidic in nature, and with efficacies which are either equal or greater than the top fungicides currently in the market are addressed. PMID:25849076

  10. Fuzzy rule based estimation of agricultural diffuse pollution concentration in streams.

    PubMed

    Singh, Raj Mohan

    2008-04-01

    Outflow from the agricultural fields carries diffuse pollutants like nutrients, pesticides, herbicides etc. and transports the pollutants into the nearby streams. It is a matter of serious concern for water managers and environmental researchers. The application of chemicals in the agricultural fields, and transport of these chemicals into streams are uncertain that cause complexity in reliable stream quality predictions. The chemical characteristics of applied chemical, percentage of area under the chemical application etc. are some of the main inputs that cause pollution concentration as output in streams. Each of these inputs and outputs may contain measurement errors. Fuzzy rule based model based on fuzzy sets suits to address uncertainties in inputs by incorporating overlapping membership functions for each of inputs even for limited data availability situations. In this study, the property of fuzzy sets to address the uncertainty in input-output relationship is utilized to obtain the estimate of concentrations of a herbicide, atrazine, in a stream. The data of White river basin, a part of the Mississippi river system, is used for developing the fuzzy rule based models. The performance of the developed methodology is found encouraging.

  11. Interactions Among Plants, Insects, and Microbes: Elucidation of Inter-Organismal Chemical Communications in Agricultural Ecology.

    PubMed

    Beck, John J; Alborn, Hans; Block, Anna; Christensen, Shawn A; Hunter, Charles T; Rering, Caitlin C; Seidl-Adams, Irmgard; Stuhl, Charles; Torto, Baldwyn; Tumlinson, James H

    2018-06-12

    The last two decades have witnessed a sustained increase in the study of plant-emitted volatiles and their role in plant-insect, plant-microbe and plant-plant interactions. While each of these binary systems involves complex chemical and biochemical processes between two organisms, the progression of increasing complexity of a ternary system (i.e., plant-insect-microbe), and the study of a ternary system requires non-trivial planning. This planning can include: an experimental design that factors in potential overarching ecological interactions regarding the binary or ternary system; correctly identifying and understanding unexpected observations that may occur during the experiment; and, thorough interpretation of the resultant data. This challenge of planning, performing and interpreting a plant's defensive response to multiple biotic stressors will be even greater when abiotic stressors (i.e., temperature or water) are factored into the system. To fully understand the system, we need to not only continue to investigate and understand the volatile profiles, but also include and understand the biochemistry of the plant's response to these stressors. In this paper, we provide examples and discuss interaction considerations with respect to how readers and future authors of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry can contribute their expertise toward the extraction and interpretation of chemical information exchanged between agricultural commodities and their associated pests. This holistic, multidisciplinary and thoughtful approach to interactions of plants, insects, and microbes, and the resultant response of the plants, can lead to a better understanding of agricultural ecology, in turn leading to practical and viable solutions to agricultural problems.

  12. Chemical Sniffing Instrumentation for Security Applications.

    PubMed

    Giannoukos, Stamatios; Brkić, Boris; Taylor, Stephen; Marshall, Alan; Verbeck, Guido F

    2016-07-27

    Border control for homeland security faces major challenges worldwide due to chemical threats from national and/or international terrorism as well as organized crime. A wide range of technologies and systems with threat detection and monitoring capabilities has emerged to identify the chemical footprint associated with these illegal activities. This review paper investigates artificial sniffing technologies used as chemical sensors for point-of-use chemical analysis, especially during border security applications. This article presents an overview of (a) the existing available technologies reported in the scientific literature for threat screening, (b) commercially available, portable (hand-held and stand-off) chemical detection systems, and (c) their underlying functional and operational principles. Emphasis is given to technologies that have been developed for in-field security operations, but laboratory developed techniques are also summarized as emerging technologies. The chemical analytes of interest in this review are (a) volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associated with security applications (e.g., illegal, hazardous, and terrorist events), (b) chemical "signatures" associated with human presence, and (c) threat compounds (drugs, explosives, and chemical warfare agents).

  13. Formative pre-Hispanic agricultural soils in northwest Argentina

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sampietro Vattuone, María Marta; Roldán, Jimena; Neder, Liliana; Maldonado, Mario Gabriel; Vattuone, Marta Amelia

    2011-01-01

    Our study area is from an early agricultural archaeological site named "El Tolar" (1st to 9th century AD), located in Tafí Valley (Tucumán, northwest Argentina). The objective was to identify geochemical signatures generated by the sustained agrarian use of soils. Chemical and pedological studies were made in different archaeological contexts. Physical and chemical features, such as bulk density, pH, organic and inorganic phosphorus, and available copper, manganese and iron, were taken into account. The results suggested that a buried paleosol identified was contemporary with the occupation of the site. It also showed characteristics clearly related to pre-Hispanic agrarian production. The concentrations of organic phosphorus and iron in agricultural soils probably reflect the use of fertilizers. The application of geoscience techniques allowed us to obtain important information on their behaviour and socio-economic development. This paper constitutes the first pedogeochemical approach to the study of Argentinean pre-Hispanic agricultural soils.

  14. Electrospun nanofibres in agriculture and the food industry: a review.

    PubMed

    Noruzi, Masumeh

    2016-11-01

    The interesting characteristics of electrospun nanofibres, such as high surface-to-volume ratio, nanoporosity, and high safety, make them suitable candidates for use in a variety of applications. In the recent decade, electrospun nanofibres have been applied to different potential fields such as filtration, wound dressing, drug delivery, etc. and a significant number of review papers have been published in these fields. However, the use of electrospun nanofibres in agriculture is comparatively novel and is still in its infancy. In this paper, the specific applications of electrospun nanofibres in agriculture and food science, including plant protection using pheromone-loaded nanofibres, plant protection using encapsulation of biocontrol agents, preparation of protective clothes for farm workers, encapsulation of agrochemical materials, deoxyribonucleic acid extraction in agricultural research studies, pre-concentration and measurement of pesticides in crops and environmental samples, preparation of nanobiosensors for pesticide detection, encapsulation of food materials, fabrication of food packaging materials, and filtration of beverage products are reviewed and discussed. This paper may help researchers develop the use of electrospun nanofibres in agriculture and food science to address some serious problems such as the intensive use of pesticides. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

  15. Wastewater for agriculture: A reuse-oriented planning model and its application in peri-urban China.

    PubMed

    Murray, Ashley; Ray, Isha

    2010-03-01

    The benefits of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) are widely known but its recommendations remain thinly implemented. Designing wastewater treatment plants for reuse in irrigation is a particularly underutilized IWRM opportunity that could potentially increase agricultural yields, conserve surface water, offset chemical fertilizer demand, and reduce the costs of wastewater treatment by eliminating nutrient removal processes. This paper presents a novel planning model, consisting of a reuse-centric performance assessment and optimization model to help design wastewater treatment plants for reuse in agriculture. The performance assessment and optimization model are described, and their coupled application is demonstrated in the peri-urban district of Pixian, China. Based on the results of the performance assessment, two reuse scenarios are evaluated: wastewater to supplement business as usual (BAU) irrigation, and wastewater to replace BAU irrigation. The results indicate that wastewater supplementation could increase profits by $20 million (M) annually; alternatively, wastewater replacement could conserve 35Mm(3) of water in local rivers each year. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Applications of TIMS data in agricultural areas and related atmospheric considerations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Pelletier, R. E.; Ochoa, M. C.

    1986-01-01

    While much of traditional remote sensing in agricultural research was limited to the visible and reflective infrared, advances in thermal infrared remote sensing technology are adding a dimension to digital image analysis of agricultural areas. The Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) an airborne sensor having six bands over the nominal 8.2 to 12.2 m range, offers the ability to calculate land surface emissivities unlike most previous singular broadband sensors. Preliminary findings on the utility of the TIMS for several agricultural applications and related atmospheric considerations are discussed.

  17. Market assessment of photovoltaic power systems for agricultural applications in the Philippines

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cabraal, R. A.; Delasanta, D.; Burrill, G.

    1981-01-01

    The market potential in the Philippines for stand alone photovoltaic (P/V) systems in agriculture was assessed. Applications include: irrigation, postharvest operation, food and fiber processing and storage, and livestock and fisheries operations. Power and energy use profiles for many applications as well as assessments of business, government and financial climate for P/V sales are described. Many characteristics of the Philippine agriculture and energy sector favorably influence the use of P/V systems. However, serious and significant barriers prevent achieving the technically feasible, cost competitive market for P/V systems in the agricultural sector. The reason for the small market is the limited availability capital for financing P/V systems. It is suggested that innovative financing schemes and promotional campaigns should be devised.

  18. Market assessment of photovoltaic power systems for agricultural applications in the Philippines

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cabraal, R. A.; Delasanta, D.; Burrill, G.

    1981-04-01

    The market potential in the Philippines for stand alone photovoltaic (P/V) systems in agriculture was assessed. Applications include: irrigation, postharvest operation, food and fiber processing and storage, and livestock and fisheries operations. Power and energy use profiles for many applications as well as assessments of business, government and financial climate for P/V sales are described. Many characteristics of the Philippine agriculture and energy sector favorably influence the use of P/V systems. However, serious and significant barriers prevent achieving the technically feasible, cost competitive market for P/V systems in the agricultural sector. The reason for the small market is the limited availability capital for financing P/V systems. It is suggested that innovative financing schemes and promotional campaigns should be devised.

  19. Cellulose nanocrystals in nanocomposite approach: Green and high-performance materials for industrial, biomedical and agricultural applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fortunati, E.; Torre, L.

    2016-05-01

    The need to both avoid wastes and find new renewable resources has led to a new and promising research based on the possibility to revalorize the biomass producing sustainable chemicals and/or materials which may play a major role in replacing systems traditionally obtained from non-renewable sources. Most of the low-value biomass is termed lignocellulosic, referring to its main constituent biopolymers: cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. In this context, nanocellulose, and in particular cellulose nanocrystals (CNC), have gain considerable attention as nanoreinforcement for polymer matrices, mainly biodegradable. Derived from the most abundant polymeric resource in nature and with inherent biodegradability, nanocellulose is an interesting nanofiller for the development of nanocomposites for industrial, biomedical and agricultural applications. Due to the high amount of hydroxyl groups on their surface, cellulose nanocrystals are easy to functionalize. Well dispersed CNC are able, in fact, to enhance several properties of polymers, i.e.: thermal, mechanical, barrier, surface wettability, controlled of active compound and/or drug release. The main objective here is to give a general overview of CNC applications, summarizing our recent developments of bio-based nanocomposite formulations reinforced with cellulose nanocrystals extracted from different natural sources and/or wastes for food packaging, medical and agricultural sectors.

  20. Concern with the rural environment: urban views on the use of agricultural pesticides and chemicals

    Treesearch

    Steve Jacob; A. E. Luloff

    1995-01-01

    This paper explores the dimensions of agricultural chemical and pesticide concern, and its correlates. Concern was found to be broad, and not limited to food safety, environmentalism, or altruism. Social bases were found to be the best predictors of concern, followed by rural beliefs and attitudes, and rural visitation behavior.

  1. Biofertilizers: a potential approach for sustainable agriculture development.

    PubMed

    Mahanty, Trishna; Bhattacharjee, Surajit; Goswami, Madhurankhi; Bhattacharyya, Purnita; Das, Bannhi; Ghosh, Abhrajyoti; Tribedi, Prosun

    2017-02-01

    The worldwide increase in human population raises a big threat to the food security of each people as the land for agriculture is limited and even getting reduced with time. Therefore, it is essential that agricultural productivity should be enhanced significantly within the next few decades to meet the large demand of food by emerging population. Not to mention, too much dependence on chemical fertilizers for more crop productions inevitably damages both environmental ecology and human health with great severity. Exploitation of microbes as biofertilizers is considered to some extent an alternative to chemical fertilizers in agricultural sector due to their extensive potentiality in enhancing crop production and food safety. It has been observed that some microorganisms including plant growth promoting bacteria, fungi, Cyanobacteria, etc. have showed biofertilizer-like activities in the agricultural sector. Extensive works on biofertilizers have revealed their capability of providing required nutrients to the crop in sufficient amounts that resulted in the enhancement of crop yield. The present review elucidates various mechanisms that have been exerted by biofertilizers in order to promote plant growth and also provides protection against different plant pathogens. The aim of this review is to discuss the important roles and applications of biofertilizers in different sectors including agriculture, bioremediation, and ecology.

  2. Chemical usage in production agriculture: do crop insurance and off-farm work play a part?

    PubMed

    Chang, Hung-Hao; Mishra, Ashok K

    2012-08-30

    In recent years a growing body of literature in the agricultural policy arena has examined the association between crop insurance and off-farm employment. However, little is known about the extent to which these two activities may be related to environmental quality, in particular their impacts on fertilizer/chemical use of the farm. To fill this gap, this paper examines the effect of crop insurance and off-farm work on fertilizer/chemical expenses within the farm household framework. Quantile regression results from a national representative farm-level data show that off-farm work by the farm operator tends to decrease fertilizer/chemical expenses, and the effect is more pronounced at the higher percentiles of the distribution of fertilizer/chemical expense. In contrast, a positive effect of crop insurance on fertilizer/chemical expenses is evident, and the effect is robust across the entire distribution. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Transition of fertilizer application and agricultural pollution loads: a case study in the Nhue-Day River basin.

    PubMed

    Giang, P H; Harada, H; Fujii, S; Lien, N P H; Hai, H T; Anh, P N; Tanaka, S

    2015-01-01

    Rapid socio-economic development in suburban areas of developing countries has induced changes in agricultural waste and nutrient management, resulting in water pollution. The study aimed at estimating agricultural nutrient cycles and their contribution to the water environment. A material flow model of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) was developed focusing on agricultural activities from 1980 to 2010 in Trai hamlet, an agricultural watershed in Nhue-Day River basin, Vietnam. The model focused on the change in household management of human excreta and livestock excreta, and chemical fertilizer consumption. The results showed that the proportion of nutrients from compost/manure applied to paddy fields decreased from 85 to 41% for both N and P between 1980 and 2010. The nutrient inputs derived from chemical fertilizer decreased 6% between 1980 and 2000 for both N and P. Then, these nutrients increased 1.4 times for N and 1.2 times for P from 2000 to 2010. As of 2010, the total inputs to paddy fields have amounted to 435 kg-N/ha/year and 90 kg-P/ha/year. Of these nutrient inputs, 40% of N and 65% of P were derived from chemical fertilizer. Thirty per cent (30%) of total N input was discharged to the water bodies through agricultural runoff and 47% of total P input accumulated in soil.

  4. Production of Enzymes From Agricultural Wastes and Their Potential Industrial Applications.

    PubMed

    Bharathiraja, S; Suriya, J; Krishnan, M; Manivasagan, P; Kim, S-K

    Enzymatic hydrolysis is the significant technique for the conversion of agricultural wastes into valuable products. Agroindustrial wastes such as rice bran, wheat bran, wheat straw, sugarcane bagasse, and corncob are cheapest and plentifully available natural carbon sources for the production of industrially important enzymes. Innumerable enzymes that have numerous applications in industrial processes for food, drug, textile, and dye use have been produced from different types of microorganisms from agricultural wastes. Utilization of agricultural wastes offers great potential for reducing the production cost and increasing the use of enzymes for industrial purposes. This chapter focuses on economic production of actinobacterial enzymes from agricultural wastes to make a better alternative for utilization of biomass generated in million tons as waste annually. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Chemical application strategies to protect water quality.

    PubMed

    Rice, Pamela J; Horgan, Brian P; Barber, Brian L; Koskinen, William C

    2018-07-30

    Management of turfgrass on golf courses and athletic fields often involves application of plant protection products to maintain or enhance turfgrass health and performance. However, the transport of fertilizer and pesticides with runoff to adjacent surface waters can enhance algal blooms, promote eutrophication and may have negative impacts on sensitive aquatic organisms and ecosystems. Thus, we evaluated the effectiveness of chemical application setbacks to reduce the off-site transport of chemicals with storm runoff. Experiments with water soluble tracer compounds confirmed an increase in application setback distance resulted in a significant increase in the volume of runoff measured before first off-site chemical detection, as well as a significant reduction in the total percentage of applied chemical transported with the storm runoff. For example, implementation of a 6.1 m application setback reduced the total percentage of an applied water soluble tracer by 43%, from 18.5% of applied to 10.5% of applied. Evaluation of chemographs revealed the efficacy of application setbacks could be observed with storms resulting in lesser (e.g. 100 L) and greater (e.g. > 300 L) quantities of runoff. Application setbacks offer turfgrass managers a mitigation approach that requires no additional resources or time inputs and may serve as an alternative practice when buffers are less appropriate for land management objectives or site conditions. Characterizing potential contamination of surface waters and developing strategies to safeguard water quality will help protect the environment and improve water resource security. This information is useful to grounds superintendents for designing chemical application strategies to maximize environmental stewardship. The data will also be useful to scientists and regulators working with chemical transport and risk models. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  6. Applications of CELSS technology to controlled environment agriculture

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bates, Maynard E.; Bubenheim, David L.

    1991-01-01

    Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) is defined as the use of environmental manipulation for the commercial production of organisms, whether plants or animals. While many of the technologies necessary for aquaculture systems in North America is nevertheless doubling approximately every five years. Economic, cultural, and environmental pressures all favor CEA over field production for many non-commodity agricultural crops. Many countries around the world are already dependent on CEA for much of their fresh food. Controlled ecological life support systems (CELSS), under development at ARC, KSC, and JSC expand the concept of CEA to the extent that all human requirements for food, oxygen, and water will be provided regenerated by processing of waste streams to supply plant inputs. The CELSS will likely contain plants, humans, possibly other animals, microorganisms and physically and chemical processors. In effect, NASA will create engineered ecosystems. In the process of developing the technology for CELSS, NASA will develop information and technology which will be applied to improving the efficiency, reliability, and cost effectiveness for CEA, improving its resources recycling capabilities, and lessening its environmental impact to negligible levels.

  7. Application of methane fermentation technology into organic wastes in closed agricultural system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Endo, Ryosuke; Kitaya, Yoshiaki

    Sustainable and recycling-based systems are required in space agriculture which takes place in an enclosed environment. Methane fermentation is one of the most major biomass conversion technologies, because (1) it provides a renewable energy source as biogas including methane, suitable for energy production, (2) the nutrient-rich solids left after digestion can be used as compost for agriculture. In this study, the effect of the application of methane fermentation technology into space agriculture on the material and energy cycle was investigated.

  8. 7 CFR 2900.3 - Essential agricultural uses.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ...). 4971Irrigation Systems. Fertilizer and Agricultural Chemicals (Process and Feedstock Use Only) 1474Potash, Soda.... (Agricultural related only). 2865Cyclic Crudes and Cyclic Intermediates, Dyes and Organic Pigments (Agricutural related only). 2869Industrial Organic Chemicals, n.e.c. (Agricutural related only). 287Agricultural...

  9. Chemical Applications for Enhanced World Security

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Leibman, Christopher Patrick

    The purpose of this project is to reduce complexity of chemical analysis by combining chemical and physical processing steps into on package; develop instrumentation that cost less and is easy to use in a field laboratory by non-experts; and develop this "chemical application" so uranium enrichment can be measured onsite, eliminating the need for radioactive sample transport.

  10. Advances in the development of remote sensing technology for agricultural applications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Powers, J. E.; Erb, R. B.; Hall, F. G.; Macdonald, R. B.

    1979-01-01

    The application of remote sensing technology to crop forecasting is discussed. The importance of crop forecasts to the world economy and agricultural management is explained, and the development of aerial and spaceborne remote sensing for global crop forecasting by the United States is outlined. The structure, goals and technical aspects of the Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment (LACIE) are presented, and main findings on the accuracy, efficiency, applicability and areas for further study of the LACIE procedure are reviewed. The current status of NASA crop forecasting activities in the United States and worldwide is discussed, and the objectives and organization of the newly created Agriculture and Resources Inventory Surveys through Aerospace Remote Sensing (AgRISTARS) program are presented.

  11. Interseasonal precipitation patternsimpact the occurrence of waterborne pathogens in an agricultural watershed

    EPA Science Inventory

    Background/Question/Methods: Runoff from agricultural fields undergoing manure applications or housing livestock operations may carry a variety of chemical and microbial contaminants that compromise water quality and increase the possibility of human exposure to pathogenic microo...

  12. Applications of color machine vision in the agricultural and food industries

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Min; Ludas, Laszlo I.; Morgan, Mark T.; Krutz, Gary W.; Precetti, Cyrille J.

    1999-01-01

    Color is an important factor in Agricultural and the Food Industry. Agricultural or prepared food products are often grade by producers and consumers using color parameters. Color is used to estimate maturity, sort produce for defects, but also perform genetic screenings or make an aesthetic judgement. The task of sorting produce following a color scale is very complex, requires special illumination and training. Also, this task cannot be performed for long durations without fatigue and loss of accuracy. This paper describes a machine vision system designed to perform color classification in real-time. Applications for sorting a variety of agricultural products are included: e.g. seeds, meat, baked goods, plant and wood.FIrst the theory of color classification of agricultural and biological materials is introduced. Then, some tools for classifier development are presented. Finally, the implementation of the algorithm on real-time image processing hardware and example applications for industry is described. This paper also presented an image analysis algorithm and a prototype machine vision system which was developed for industry. This system will automatically locate the surface of some plants using digital camera and predict information such as size, potential value and type of this plant. The algorithm developed will be feasible for real-time identification in an industrial environment.

  13. Does Exposure to Agricultural Chemicals Increase the Risk of Prostate Cancer among Farmers?

    PubMed Central

    Parent, Marie-Élise; Désy, Marie; Siemiatycki, Jack

    2009-01-01

    Several studies suggest that farmers may be at increased risk of prostate cancer. The present analysis, based on a large population-based case-control study conducted among men in the Montreal area in the early 1980’s, aim at identifying occupational chemicals which may be responsible for such increases. The original study enrolled 449 prostate cancer cases, nearly 4,000 patients with other cancers, as well as 533 population controls. Subjects were interviewed about their occupation histories, and a team of industrial hygienists assigned their past exposures using a checklist of some 300 chemicals. The present analysis was restricted to a study base of men who had worked as farmers earlier in their lives. There were a total of 49 men with prostate cancers, 127 with other cancers and 56 population controls. We created a pool of 183 controls combining the patients with cancers at sites other than the prostate and the population controls. We then estimated the odds ratio for prostate cancer associated with exposure to each of 10 agricultural chemicals, i.e., pesticides, arsenic compounds, acetic acid, gasoline engine emissions, diesel engine emissions, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from petroleum, lubricating oils and greases, alkanes with ≥18 carbons, solvents, and mononuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. Based on a model adjusting for age, ethnicity, education, and respondent status, there was evidence of a two-fold excess risk of prostate cancer among farmers with substantial exposure to pesticides [odds ratio (OR)=2.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1–5.1], as compared to unexposed farmers. There was some suggestion, based on few subjects, of increased risks among farmers ever exposed to diesel engine emissions (OR=5.7, 95% CI 1.2–26.5). The results for pesticides are particularly noteworthy in the light of findings from previous studies. Suggestions of trends for elevated risks were noted with other agricultural chemicals, but these are largely novel and

  14. Plant biotechnology patents: applications in agriculture and medicine.

    PubMed

    Hefferon, Kathleen

    2010-06-01

    Recent advances in agricultural biotechnology have enabled the field of plant biology to move forward in great leaps and bounds. In particular, recent breakthroughs in molecular biology, plant genomics and crop science have brought about a paradigm shift of thought regarding the manner by which plants can be utilized both in agriculture and in medicine. Besides the more well known improvements in agronomic traits of crops such as disease resistance and drought tolerance, plants can now be associated with topics as diverse as biofuel production, phytoremediation, the improvement of nutritional qualities in edible plants, the identification of compounds for medicinal purposes in plants and the use of plants as therapeutic protein production platforms. This diversification of plant science has been accompanied by the great abundance of new patents issued in these fields and, as many of these inventions approach commercial realization, the subsequent increase in agriculturally-based industries. While this review chapter is written primarily for plant scientists who have great interest in the new directions being taken with respect to applications in agricultural biotechnology, those in other disciplines, such as medical researchers, environmental scientists and engineers, may find significant value in reading this article as well. The review attempts to provide an overview of the most recent patents issued for plant biotechnology with respect to both agriculture and medicine. The chapter concludes with the proposal that the combined driving forces of climate change, as well as the ever increasing needs for clean energy and food security will play a pivotal role in leading the direction for applied plant biotechnology research in the future.

  15. Nanotechnology Applications and Implications of Agrochemicals toward Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems.

    PubMed

    Scott, Norman R; Chen, Hongda; Cui, Haixin

    2018-06-08

    The first international conference on Nanotechnology Applications and Implications of Agrochemicals toward Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems was held in Beijing, China on November 17-18, 2016 to address and exchange latest knowledge and developments in nanotechnology of agrochemicals toward sustainable agriculture and food systems. World-leading scientists gathered to discuss a wide range of relevant topics. The purposes of this paper are to provide: an introduction to the international conference, summarize in brief the contributions of papers that follow within this special issue of Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, provide a synthesis of conference outcomes, suggest future directions including an important role of converging science and technologies to advance sustainable agriculture, food, and natural resource systems.

  16. 7 CFR 2900.3 - Essential agricultural uses.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ...). 4971Irrigation Systems. Fertilizer and Agricultural Chemicals (Process and Feedstock Use Only) 1474Potash, Soda, and Borate Materials. 1475Phosphate Rock. 1477Sulfur. 2819Industrial Inorganic Chemicals, n.e.c... related only). 2869Industrial Organic Chemicals, n.e.c. (Agricutural related only). 287Agricultural...

  17. 7 CFR 2900.3 - Essential agricultural uses.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ...). 4971Irrigation Systems. Fertilizer and Agricultural Chemicals (Process and Feedstock Use Only) 1474Potash, Soda, and Borate Materials. 1475Phosphate Rock. 1477Sulfur. 2819Industrial Inorganic Chemicals, n.e.c... related only). 2869Industrial Organic Chemicals, n.e.c. (Agricutural related only). 287Agricultural...

  18. 7 CFR 2900.3 - Essential agricultural uses.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ...). 4971Irrigation Systems. Fertilizer and Agricultural Chemicals (Process and Feedstock Use Only) 1474Potash, Soda, and Borate Materials. 1475Phosphate Rock. 1477Sulfur. 2819Industrial Inorganic Chemicals, n.e.c... related only). 2869Industrial Organic Chemicals, n.e.c. (Agricutural related only). 287Agricultural...

  19. 7 CFR 2900.3 - Essential agricultural uses.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ...). 4971Irrigation Systems. Fertilizer and Agricultural Chemicals (Process and Feedstock Use Only) 1474Potash, Soda, and Borate Materials. 1475Phosphate Rock. 1477Sulfur. 2819Industrial Inorganic Chemicals, n.e.c... related only). 2869Industrial Organic Chemicals, n.e.c. (Agricutural related only). 287Agricultural...

  20. Agricultural Residues and Other Carbon-Based Resources as Feedstocks for Supercapacitor Electrodes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Yong

    Agricultural residues are generally considered as renewable, economical and environmental-friendly sources to produce carbon-based nanomaterials with many advanced applications. Agricultural residues and by-products generated from the agricultural industry, such as distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS), are produced every year on a large scale but lack of proper utilization. As a result, seeking high-value applications based on agricultural residues is essential for the promotion of the economy in agricultural producing states like North Dakota, USA. With the fast development of nanotechnology in recent years, carbon-based nanomaterials have attracted intense research interests in the fields of chemistry, materials science and condensed matter physics due to many unique properties (e.g., chemical and thermal stability, electrical conductivity, mechanical strength, etc.). The development of low-cost nanomaterials using agricultural residues as feedstocks can be a promising route for the sustainable development of the agricultural industry. In this dissertation, the preparation of carbon-based materials from agricultural residues is explored. Many advanced applications are investigated, especially in the field of energy storage devices. The development of porous activate carbons were investigated in detail, and their application as electrode materials of supercapacitors was demonstrated. Hydrothermal carbonization of biomass to produce carbonaceous materials was also covered in this dissertation. In addition to traditional raw materials such as cellulose produced from wood industry, novel material sources such as bacterial cellulose were used to prepare nanocomposites that can be used for the electrodes of supercapacitors. This dissertation contributes to the sustainable development of the agricultural industry in North Dakota.

  1. Monitoring tylosin and sulfamethazine in a tile-drained agricultural watershed using polar organic chemical integrative sampler (POCIS)

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The seasonal occurrence, fate, and transport of agricultural emerging contaminants (AECs) was evaluated in the South Fork watershed of the Iowa River (SFIR) using Polar Organic Chemical Integrative Samplers (POCIS) over a three year period. The AECs of concern were tylosin (TYL) and sulfamethazine (...

  2. Agricultural and Food Processing Applications of Pulsed Power and Plasma Technologies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Takaki, Koichi

    Agricultural and food processing applications of pulsed power and plasma technologies are described in this paper. Repetitively operated compact pulsed power generators with a moderate peak power are developed for the agricultural and the food processing applications. These applications are mainly based on biological effects and can be categorized as germination control of plants such as Basidiomycota and arabidopsis inactivation of bacteria in soil and liquid medium of hydroponics; extraction of juice from fruits and vegetables; decontamination of air and liquid, etc. Types of pulsed power that have biological effects are caused with gas discharges, water discharges, and electromagnetic fields. The discharges yield free radicals, UV radiation, intense electric field, and shock waves. Biologically based applications of pulsed power and plasma are performed by selecting the type that gives the target objects the adequate result from among these agents or byproducts. For instance, intense electric fields form pores on the cell membrane, which is called electroporation, or influence the nuclei. This paper mainly describes the application of the pulsed power for the germination control of Basidiomycota i.e. mushroom, inactivation of fungi in the soil and the liquid medium in hydroponics, and extraction of polyphenol from skins of grape.

  3. Chemical and microbiological water quality of subsurface agricultural drains during a field trial of liquid dairy manure effluent application rate and varying tillage practices, Upper Tiffin Watershed, southeastern Michigan

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Haack, Sheridan Kidd; Duris, Joseph W.

    2008-01-01

    A field trial was done in the Upper Tiffin River Watershed, in southeastern Michigan, to determine the influence of liquid dairy manure effluent (LDME) management practices on the quality of agricultural subsurface-drain water. Samples from subsurface drains were analyzed for nutrients, fecal-coliform and Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria, antibiotics, chemicals typically detected in wastewater, and the occurrence of genes indicating the presence of shiga-toxin-producing E. coli, or of bovine-specific Bacteroidetes bacteria. Samples were collected from November 2, 2006, to March 20, 2007, from eight subsurface drains under field plots that received no LDME and no tillage (controls) or received 4,000 or 8,000 gallons per acre (gal/acre) of LDME and either no tillage or two different types of tillage. The two types of tillage tested were (1) ground-driven, rotary, subsurface cultivation and (2) rolling-tine aeration. Samples were collected before LDME application and at 4 hours, and 1, 2, 6, 7, and 14 days post-application. Nutrient concentrations were high in subsurface-drain water throughout the field-trial period and could not be attributed to the field-trial LDME application. Of the 59 drain-water samples, including those collected before LDME application and control samples for each date, 56 had concentrations greater than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Ecoregion VI recommended surface-water criterion for total phosphorus, and all samples had concentrations greater than the recommended total nitrogen criterion. Nitrate + nitrite nitrogen concentration exceeded 20 milligrams per liter for every sample and contributed most to the total nitrogen concentrations. Substantial increases in drain-water concentrations of organic and ammonia nitrogen and total phosphorus were found for all treatments, including controls, at 14 days post-application after 0.84 inch of rainfall over 2 days. E. coli concentrations exceeded the USEPA recreational

  4. Conversion of agricultural residues into activated carbons for water purification: Application to arsenate removal.

    PubMed

    Torres-Perez, Jonatan; Gerente, Claire; Andres, Yves

    2012-01-01

    The conversion of two agricultural wastes, sugar beet pulp and peanut hulls, into sustainable activated carbons is presented and their potential application for the treatment of arsenate solution is investigated. A direct and physical activation is selected as well as a simple chemical treatment of the adsorbents. The material properties, such as BET surface areas, porous volumes, elemental analysis, ash contents and pH(PZC), of these alternative carbonaceous porous materials are determined and compared with a commercial granular activated carbon. An adsorption study based on experimental kinetic and equilibrium data is conducted in a batch reactor and completed by the use of different models (intraparticle diffusion, pseudo-second-order, Langmuir and Freundlich) and by isotherms carried out in natural waters. It is thus demonstrated that sugar beet pulp and peanut hulls are good precursors to obtain activated carbons for arsenate removal.

  5. Remote sensing with unmanned aircraft systems for precision agriculture applications

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The Federal Aviation Administration is revising regulations for using unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the national airspace. An important potential application of UAS may be as a remote-sensing platform for precision agriculture, but simply down-scaling remote sensing methodologies developed usi...

  6. Nastran's Application in Agricultural Engineering

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Vanwicklen, G. L.

    1985-01-01

    Finite element analysis has been recognized as a valuable solution method by agricultural engineers. NASTRAN has been obtained by the Agricultural Engineering Department at the University of Georgia. The NASTRAN Thermal Analyzer has been used in the teaching program for an undergraduate course in heat transfer and will be used for a new graduate course in finite element analysis. The NASTRAN Thermal Analyzer has also been applied to several research problems in the Agricultural Engineering Department.

  7. Spills of Hydraulic Fracturing Chemicals on Agricultural Topsoil: Biodegradation, Sorption, and Co-contaminant Interactions.

    PubMed

    McLaughlin, Molly C; Borch, Thomas; Blotevogel, Jens

    2016-06-07

    Hydraulic fracturing frequently occurs on agricultural land. Yet the extent of sorption, transformation, and interactions among the numerous organic frac fluid and oil and gas wastewater constituents upon environmental release is hardly known. Thus, this study aims to advance our current understanding of processes that control the environmental fate and toxicity of commonly used hydraulic fracturing chemicals. Poly(ethylene glycol) surfactants were completely biodegraded in agricultural topsoil within 42-71 days, but their transformation was impeded in the presence of the biocide glutaraldehyde and was completely inhibited by salt at concentrations typical for oil and gas wastewater. At the same time, aqueous glutaraldehyde concentrations decreased due to sorption to soil and were completely biodegraded within 33-57 days. While no aqueous removal of polyacrylamide friction reducer was observed over a period of 6 months, it cross-linked with glutaraldehyde, further lowering the biocide's aqueous concentration. These findings highlight the necessity to consider co-contaminant effects when we evaluate the risk of frac fluid additives and oil and gas wastewater constituents in agricultural soils in order to fully understand their human health impacts, likelihood for crop uptake, and potential for groundwater contamination.

  8. Mechanisation of large-scale agricultural fields in developing countries - a review.

    PubMed

    Onwude, Daniel I; Abdulstter, Rafia; Gomes, Chandima; Hashim, Norhashila

    2016-09-01

    Mechanisation of large-scale agricultural fields often requires the application of modern technologies such as mechanical power, automation, control and robotics. These technologies are generally associated with relatively well developed economies. The application of these technologies in some developing countries in Africa and Asia is limited by factors such as technology compatibility with the environment, availability of resources to facilitate the technology adoption, cost of technology purchase, government policies, adequacy of technology and appropriateness in addressing the needs of the population. As a result, many of the available resources have been used inadequately by farmers, who continue to rely mostly on conventional means of agricultural production, using traditional tools and equipment in most cases. This has led to low productivity and high cost of production among others. Therefore this paper attempts to evaluate the application of present day technology and its limitations to the advancement of large-scale mechanisation in developing countries of Africa and Asia. Particular emphasis is given to a general understanding of the various levels of mechanisation, present day technology, its management and application to large-scale agricultural fields. This review also focuses on/gives emphasis to future outlook that will enable a gradual, evolutionary and sustainable technological change. The study concludes that large-scale-agricultural farm mechanisation for sustainable food production in Africa and Asia must be anchored on a coherent strategy based on the actual needs and priorities of the large-scale farmers. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

  9. Single application of Sewage Sludge to an Alluvial Agricultural Soil - impacts on Soil Quality

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Suhadolc, M.; Graham, D. B.; Hagn, A.; Doerfler, U.; Schloter, M.; Schroll, R.; Munch, J. C.; Lobnik, F.

    2009-04-01

    Limited information exists on the effects of sewage sludge on soil quality with regard to their ability to maintain soil functions. We studied effects of sewage sludge amendment on soil chemical properties, microbial community structure and microbial degradation of the herbicide glyphosate. Three months soil column leaching experiment has been conducted using alluvial soils (Eutric Fluvisol) with no prior history of sludge application. The soil was loamy with pH 7,4 and organic matter content of 3,5%. Soil material in the upper 2 cm of columns was mixed with dehydrated sewage sludge which was applied in amounts corresponding to the standards governing the use of sewage sludge for agricultural land. Sludge did increase some nutrients (total N, NH4+, available P and K, organic carbon) and some heavy metals contents (Zn, Cu, Pb) in soil. However, upper limits for heavy metals in agricultural soils were not exceeded. Results of heavy metal availability in soil determined by sequential extraction will be also presented. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses of 16s/18s rDNA, using universal fungal and bacterial primers, revealed clear shifts in bacterial and fungal community structure in the upper 2 cm of soils after amendment. Fungal fingerprints showed greater short term effects of sewage sludge, whereas sewage sludge seems to have prolonged effects on soil bacteria. Furthermore, sewage sludge amendment significantly increased glyphosate degradation from 21.6±1% to 33.6±1% over a 2 months period. The most probable reasons for shifts in microbial community structure and increased degradation of glyphosate are beneficial alterations to the physical-chemical characteristics of the soil. Negative effects of potentially toxic substances present in the sewage sludge on soil microbial community functioning were not observed with the methods used in our study.

  10. Designing Intelligent Secure Android Application for Effective Chemical Inventory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shukran, Mohd Afizi Mohd; Naim Abdullah, Muhammad; Nazri Ismail, Mohd; Maskat, Kamaruzaman; Isa, Mohd Rizal Mohd; Shahfee Ishak, Muhammad; Adib Khairuddin, Muhamad

    2017-08-01

    Mobile services support various situations in everyday life and with the increasing sophistication of phone functions, the daily life is much more easier and better especially in term of managing tools and apparatus. Since chemical inventory management system has been experiencing a new revolution from antiquated to an automated inventory management system, some additional features should be added in current chemical inventory system. Parallel with the modern technologies, chemical inventory application using smart phone has been developed. Several studies about current related chemical inventory management using smart phone application has been done in this paper in order to obtain an overview on recent studies in smartphone application for chemical inventory system which are needed in schools, universities or other education institutions. This paper also discuss about designing the proposed secure mobile chemical inventory system. The study of this paper can provide forceful review analysis support for the chemical inventory management system related research.

  11. Application of Medium and Seasonal Flood Forecasts for Agriculture Damage Assessment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fakhruddin, Shamsul; Ballio, Francesco; Menoni, Scira

    2015-04-01

    Early warning is a key element for disaster risk reduction. In recent decades, major advancements have been made in medium range and seasonal flood forecasting. This progress provides a great opportunity to reduce agriculture damage and improve advisories for early action and planning for flood hazards. This approach can facilitate proactive rather than reactive management of the adverse consequences of floods. In the agricultural sector, for instance, farmers can take a diversity of options such as changing cropping patterns, applying fertilizer, irrigating and changing planting timing. An experimental medium range (1-10 day) and seasonal (20-25 days) flood forecasting model has been developed for Thailand and Bangladesh. It provides 51 sets of discharge ensemble forecasts of 1-10 days with significant persistence and high certainty and qualitative outlooks for 20-25 days. This type of forecast could assist farmers and other stakeholders for differential preparedness activities. These ensembles probabilistic flood forecasts have been customized based on user-needs for community-level application focused on agriculture system. The vulnerabilities of agriculture system were calculated based on exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. Indicators for risk and vulnerability assessment were conducted through community consultations. The forecast lead time requirement, user-needs, impacts and management options for crops were identified through focus group discussions, informal interviews and community surveys. This paper illustrates potential applications of such ensembles for probabilistic medium range and seasonal flood forecasts in a way that is not commonly practiced globally today.

  12. Applications of natural zeolites on agriculture and food production.

    PubMed

    Eroglu, Nazife; Emekci, Mevlut; Athanassiou, Christos G

    2017-08-01

    Zeolites are crystalline hydrated aluminosilicates with remarkable physical and chemical properties, which include losing and receiving water in a reverse way, adsorbing molecules that act as molecular sieves, and replacing their constituent cations without structural change. The commercial production of natural zeolites has accelerated during the last 50 years. The Structure Commission of the International Zeolite Association recorded more than 200 zeolites, which currently include more than 40 naturally occurring zeolites. Recent findings have supported their role in stored-pest management as inert dust applications, pesticide and fertilizer carriers, soil amendments, animal feed additives, mycotoxin binders and food packaging materials. There are many advantages of inert dust application, including low cost, non-neurotoxic action, low mammalian toxicity and safety for human consumption. The latest consumer trends and government protocols have shifted toward organic origin materials to replace synthetic chemical products. In the present review, we summarize most of the main uses of zeolites in food and agruculture, along with the with specific paradigms that illustrate their important role. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

  13. Development and Preliminary Application of Multi-channel Agricultural Science and Technology Consulting Service U Disk

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yu, W. S.; Luo, C. S.; Wei, Q. F.; Zheng, Y. M.; Cao, C. Z.

    2017-12-01

    To deal with the “last kilometer” problem during the agricultural science and technology information service, the USB flash disk “Zixuntong”, which integrated five major consulting channels, i.e., telephone consultation, mutual video, message consultation, online customer service and QQ group was developed on the bases of capital experts and date resources. Since the products have the computer and telephone USB interface and are combined with localized information resources, users can obtain useful information on any terminal without the restriction of network. Meanwhile, the cartoon appearance make it friendly and attractive to people. The USB flash disk was used to provide agricultural expert consulting services and obtained a good preliminary application achievement. Finally, we concluded the creative application of USB flash disk in agricultural consulting services and prospected the future development direction of agricultural mobile consultation.

  14. MICROWAVE TECHNOLOGY CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS APPLICATIONS

    EPA Science Inventory

    Microwave-accelerated chemical syntheses in various solvents as well as under solvent-free conditions have witnessed an explosive growth. The technique has found widespread application predominantly exploiting the inexpensive unmodified household microwave (MW) ovens although th...

  15. Not all GMOs are crop plants: non-plant GMO applications in agriculture.

    PubMed

    Hokanson, K E; Dawson, W O; Handler, A M; Schetelig, M F; St Leger, R J

    2014-12-01

    Since tools of modern biotechnology have become available, the most commonly applied and often discussed genetically modified organisms are genetically modified crop plants, although genetic engineering is also being used successfully in organisms other than plants, including bacteria, fungi, insects, and viruses. Many of these organisms, as with crop plants, are being engineered for applications in agriculture, to control plant insect pests or diseases. This paper reviews the genetically modified non-plant organisms that have been the subject of permit approvals for environmental release by the United States Department of Agriculture/Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service since the US began regulating genetically modified organisms. This is an indication of the breadth and progress of research in the area of non-plant genetically modified organisms. This review includes three examples of promising research on non-plant genetically modified organisms for application in agriculture: (1) insects for insect pest control using improved vector systems; (2) fungal pathogens of insects to control insect pests; and (3) virus for use as transient-expression vectors for disease control in plants.

  16. Development and application of modern agricultural biotechnology in Botswana: The potentials, opportunities and challenges

    PubMed Central

    Batlang, Utlwang; Tsurupe, Gorata; Segwagwe, Amogelang; Obopile, Motshwari

    2014-01-01

    In Botswana, approximately 40% of the population live in rural areas and derive most of their livelihood from agriculture by keeping livestock and practising arable farming. Due to the nature of their farming practises livestock and crops are exposed to diseases and environmental stresses. These challenges offer opportunities for application of biotechnology to develop adaptable materials to the country's environment. On the other hand, the perceived risk of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has dimmed the promise of the technology for its application in agriculture. This calls for a holistic approach to the application of biotechnology to address issues of biosafety of GMOs. We have therefore assessed the potentials, challenges and opportunities to apply biotechnology with specific emphasis on agriculture, taking cognisance of requirement for its research, development and application in research and teaching institutions. In order to achieve this, resource availability, infrastructure, human and laboratory requirements were analyzed. The analysis revealed that the country has the capacity to carry out research in biotechnology in the development and production of genetically modified crops for food and fodder crops. These will include gene discovery, genetic transformation and development of systems to comply with the world regulatory framework on biosafety. In view of the challenges facing the country in agriculture, first generation biotech crops could be released for production. Novel GM products for development may include disease diagnosis kits, animal disease vaccines, and nutrient use efficiency, drought, and pest and disease resistant food and fodder crops. PMID:25437237

  17. Development and application of modern agricultural biotechnology in Botswana: the potentials, opportunities and challenges.

    PubMed

    Batlang, Utlwang; Tsurupe, Gorata; Segwagwe, Amogelang; Obopile, Motshwari

    2014-07-03

    In Botswana, approximately 40% of the population live in rural areas and derive most of their livelihood from agriculture by keeping livestock and practising arable farming. Due to the nature of their farming practises livestock and crops are exposed to diseases and environmental stresses. These challenges offer opportunities for application of biotechnology to develop adaptable materials to the country's environment. On the other hand, the perceived risk of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has dimmed the promise of the technology for its application in agriculture. This calls for a holistic approach to the application of biotechnology to address issues of biosafety of GMOs. We have therefore assessed the potentials, challenges and opportunities to apply biotechnology with specific emphasis on agriculture, taking cognisance of requirement for its research, development and application in research and teaching institutions. In order to achieve this, resource availability, infrastructure, human and laboratory requirements were analyzed. The analysis revealed that the country has the capacity to carry out research in biotechnology in the development and production of genetically modified crops for food and fodder crops. These will include gene discovery, genetic transformation and development of systems to comply with the world regulatory framework on biosafety. In view of the challenges facing the country in agriculture, first generation biotech crops could be released for production. Novel GM products for development may include disease diagnosis kits, animal disease vaccines, and nutrient use efficiency, drought, and pest and disease resistant food and fodder crops.

  18. Effect of Season on the Persistence of Bacterial Pathogens in Runoff from Agricultural Plots

    EPA Science Inventory

    Runoff from agricultural fields undergoing manure applications may carry a variety of chemical and microbial contaminants that compromise water quality and increase the possibility of human exposure to pathogenic microorganisms when recreational waters are impacted. A series of r...

  19. Current status and future directions of precision agriculture for aerial application in the USA

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Precision aerial application in the USA is less than a decade old since the development of the first variable-rate aerial application system. Many areas of the United States rely on readily available agricultural airplanes or helicopters for pest management. Variable-rate aerial application provides...

  20. Diverse Applications of Electronic-Nose Technologies in Agriculture and Forestry

    Treesearch

    Alphus D. Wilson

    2013-01-01

    Electronic-nose (e-nose) instruments, derived from numerous types of aroma-sensor technologies, have been developed for a diversity of applications in the broad fields of agriculture and forestry. Recent advances in e-nose technologies within the plant sciences, including improvements in gas-sensor designs, innovations in data analysis and pattern-recognition...

  1. Practical application of remote sensing in agriculture

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Phelps, R. A.

    1975-01-01

    Remote sensing program imagery from several types of platforms, from light aircraft to the LANDSAT (ERTS) satellites, have been utilized during the past few years, with preference for inexpensive imagery over expensive magnetic tapes. Emphasis has been on practical application of remote sensing data to increase crop yield by decreasing plant stress, disease, weeds and undesirable insects and by improving irrigation. Imagery obtained from low altitudes via aircraft provides the necessary resolution and complements but does not replace data from high altitude aircraft, Gemini and Apollo spacecraft, Skylab space station and LANDSAT satellites. Federal government centers are now able to supply imagery within about thirty days from data of order. Nevertheless, if the full potential of space imagery in practical agricultural operations is to be realized, the time span from date of imaging to user application needs to be shortened from the current several months to not more than two weeks.

  2. An Empirical Determination of Tasks Essential to Successful Performance as a Chemical Applicator. Determination of a Common Core of Basic Skills in Agribusiness and Natural Resources.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miller, Daniel R.; And Others

    To improve vocational educational programs in agriculture, occupational information on a common core of basic skills within the occupational area of the chemical applicator is presented in the revised task inventory survey. The purpose of the occupational survey was to identify a common core of basic skills which are performed and are essential…

  3. Effects of surface run-off on the transport of agricultural chemicals to ground water in a sandplain setting

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Delin, G.N.; Landon, M.K.

    2002-01-01

    An experiment was conducted at a depressional (lowland) and an upland site in sandy soils to evaluate the effects of surface run-off on the transport of agricultural chemicals to ground water. Approximately 16.5 cm of water was applied to both sites during the experiment, representing a natural precipitation event with a recurrence interval of approximately 100 years. Run-off was quantified at the lowland site and was not detected at the upland site during the experiment. Run-off of water to the lowland site was the most important factor affecting differences in the concentrations and fluxes of the agricultural chemicals between the two sites. Run-off of water to the lowland site appears to have played a dual role by diluting chemical concentrations in the unsaturated zone as well as increasing the concentrations at the water table, compared to the upland site. Concentrations of chloride, nitrate and atrazine plus metabolites were noticeably greater at the water table than in the unsaturated zone at both sites. The estimated mass flux of chloride and nitrate to the water table during the test were 5-2 times greater, respectively, at the lowland site compared to the upland site, whereas the flux of sulfate and atrazine plus metabolites was slightly greater at the upland site. Results indicate that matrix flow of water and chemicals was the primary process causing the observed differences between the two sites. Results of the experiment illustrate the effects of heterogeneity and the complexity of evaluating chemical transport through the unsaturated zone. Copyright ?? 2002 Elsevier Science B.V.

  4. Effects of surface run-off on the transport of agricultural chemicals to ground water in a sandplain setting

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Delin, Geoffrey N.; Landon, Matthew K.

    2002-01-01

    An experiment was conducted at a depressional (lowland) and an upland site in sandy soils to evaluate the effects of surface run-off on the transport of agricultural chemicals to ground water. Approximately 16.5 cm of water was applied to both sites during the experiment, representing a natural precipitation event with a recurrence interval of approximately 100 years. Run-off was quantified at the lowland site and was not detected at the upland site during the experiment. Run-off of water to the lowland site was the most important factor affecting differences in the concentrations and fluxes of the agricultural chemicals between the two sites. Run-off of water to the lowland site appears to have played a dual role by diluting chemical concentrations in the unsaturated zone as well as increasing the concentrations at the water table, compared to the upland site. Concentrations of chloride, nitrate and atrazine plus metabolites were noticeably greater at the water table than in the unsaturated zone at both sites. The estimated mass flux of chloride and nitrate to the water table during the test were 5–2 times greater, respectively, at the lowland site compared to the upland site, whereas the flux of sulfate and atrazine plus metabolites was slightly greater at the upland site. Results indicate that matrix flow of water and chemicals was the primary process causing the observed differences between the two sites. Results of the experiment illustrate the effects of heterogeneity and the complexity of evaluating chemical transport through the unsaturated zone.

  5. A Farming Revolution: Sustainable Agriculture.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Klinkenborg, Verlyn

    1995-01-01

    Growing realization of the economic, social, and environmental costs of conventional agriculture has led many U.S. farmers to embrace and become advocates for agricultural practices that limit the need for pesticides and chemical fertilizers, decrease soil erosion, and improve soil health. Some hope that sustainable agriculture can promote smaller…

  6. Radiation synthesis of superabsorbent CMC based hydrogels for agriculture applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Raafat, Amany I.; Eid, Mona; El-Arnaouty, Magda B.

    2012-07-01

    A series of superabsorbent hydrogel based on carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) crosslinked with gamma irradiation have been proposed for agriculture application. The effect of preparation conditions such as feed solution composition and absorbed irradiation dose on the gelation and swelling degree was evaluated. The structure and the morphology of the superabsorbent CMC/PVP hydrogel were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy technique (FTIR), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Effect of ionic strength and cationic and anionic kinds on the swelling behavior of the obtained hydrogel was investigated. Urea as an agrochemical model was loaded onto the obtained hydrogel to provide nitrogen (N) nutrients. The water retention capability and the urea release behavior of the CMC/PVP hydrogels were investigated. It was found that, the obtained CMC/PVP hydrogels have good swelling degree that greatly affected by its composition and absorbed dose. The swelling was also extremely sensitive to the ionic strength and cationic kind. Owing to its considerable slow urea release, good water retention capacity, being economical, and environment-friendly, it might be useful for its application in agriculture field.

  7. Strigolactones: how far is their commercial use for agricultural purposes?

    PubMed

    Vurro, Maurizio; Prandi, Cristina; Baroccio, Francesca

    2016-11-01

    Strigolactones are a class of natural and synthetic compounds that in the past decade have been exciting the scientific community not only for their intriguing biological properties but also for their potential applications in agriculture. These applications range from their use as hormones to modify and/or manage plant architecture, to their use as stimulants to induce seed germination of parasitic weeds and thus control their infestation by a reduced seed bank, to their use as 'biostimulants' of plant root colonisation by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, improving plant nutritional capabilities, to other still unknown effects on microbial soil communities. More recently, these compounds have also been attracting the interest of agrochemical companies. In spite of their biological attractiveness, practical applications are still greatly hampered by the low product yields obtainable by plant root exudates, by the costs of their synthesis, by the lack of knowledge of their off-target effects and by the not yet specified or properly identified legislation that could regulate the use of these compounds, depending on the agricultural purposes. The aim of this article is to discuss, in the light of current knowledge, the different scenarios that might play out in the near future with regard to the practical application of strigolactones. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

  8. The Microphenotron: a robotic miniaturized plant phenotyping platform with diverse applications in chemical biology.

    PubMed

    Burrell, Thomas; Fozard, Susan; Holroyd, Geoff H; French, Andrew P; Pound, Michael P; Bigley, Christopher J; James Taylor, C; Forde, Brian G

    2017-01-01

    treatments with a detailed analysis of whole-seedling development, and particularly root system development. The Microphenotron should provide a powerful new tool for chemical genetics and for wider chemical biology applications, including the development of natural and synthetic chemical products for improved agricultural sustainability.

  9. Chemical composition of windblown dust emitted from agricultural soils amended with biosolids

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pi, Huawei; Sharratt, Brenton; Schillinger, William F.; Bary, Andrew; Cogger, Craig

    2018-06-01

    Biosolids are frequently applied to agricultural lands in dry regions, but wind erosion of these lands might transport biosolids particulates offsite and impact environmental quality. Our objective was to measure concentrations of EPA-regulated metals as well as macronutrients and micronutrients in soil and windblown sediment from a biosolids field experiment. A wind tunnel was used to generate windblown sediment from experimental plots subject to traditional (disk) or conservation (undercutter) tillage and application of biosolids or synthetic fertilizer on two measurement dates during the summer fallow phase of a winter wheat-summer fallow (WW-SF) rotation at Lind, WA in 2015 and 2016. Application of biosolids or use of undercutter tillage resulted in higher concentrations of heavy metals in the soil. For example, zinc (Zn) concentration in soil was 14% higher for undercutter than disk tillage and 21% higher for biosolids than synthetic fertilizer on the first measurement date in 2015. Differences in metal concentrations between treatments, however, were not as evident in windblown sediment. Similar results were found for nutrient concentrations in soil, but concentrations in windblown sediment were at least 10% lower for biosolids than synthetic fertilizer and undercutter than disk tillage on at least one measurement date. Little difference was found in loss of heavy metals and nutrients in windblown sediment between biosolids and synthetic fertilizer treatments. Our results suggest similar loss of metals and other elements from agriculture land after application of biosolids and synthetic fertilizer. Biosolids, however, are beneficial for increasing C and N content in soil.

  10. Market assessment of photovoltaic power systems for agricultural applications worldwide

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cabraal, A.; Delasanta, D.; Rosen, J.; Nolfi, J.; Ulmer, R.

    1981-11-01

    Agricultural sector PV market assessments conducted in the Phillippines, Nigeria, Mexico, Morocco, and Colombia are extrapolated worldwide. The types of applications evaluated are those requiring less than 15 kW of power and operate in a stand alone mode. The major conclusions were as follows: PV will be competitive in applications requiring 2 to 3 kW of power prior to 1983; by 1986 PV system competitiveness will extend to applications requiring 4 to 6 kW of power, due to capital constraints, the private sector market may be restricted to applications requiring less than about 2 kW of power; the ultimate purchase of larger systems will be governments, either through direct purchase or loans from development banks. Though fragmented, a significant agriculture sector market for PV exists; however, the market for PV in telecommunications, signalling, rural services, and TV will be larger. Major market related factors influencing the potential for U.S. PV Sales are: lack of awareness; high first costs; shortage of long term capital; competition from German, French and Japanese companies who have government support; and low fuel prices in capital surplus countries. Strategies that may aid in overcoming some of these problems are: setting up of a trade association aimed at overcoming problems due to lack of awareness, innovative financing schemes such as lease arrangements, and designing products to match current user needs as opposed to attempting to change consumer behavior.

  11. Market assessment of photovoltaic power systems for agricultural applications worldwide

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cabraal, A.; Delasanta, D.; Rosen, J.; Nolfi, J.; Ulmer, R.

    1981-01-01

    Agricultural sector PV market assessments conducted in the Phillippines, Nigeria, Mexico, Morocco, and Colombia are extrapolated worldwide. The types of applications evaluated are those requiring less than 15 kW of power and operate in a stand alone mode. The major conclusions were as follows: PV will be competitive in applications requiring 2 to 3 kW of power prior to 1983; by 1986 PV system competitiveness will extend to applications requiring 4 to 6 kW of power, due to capital constraints, the private sector market may be restricted to applications requiring less than about 2 kW of power; the ultimate purchase of larger systems will be governments, either through direct purchase or loans from development banks. Though fragmented, a significant agriculture sector market for PV exists; however, the market for PV in telecommunications, signalling, rural services, and TV will be larger. Major market related factors influencing the potential for U.S. PV Sales are: lack of awareness; high first costs; shortage of long term capital; competition from German, French and Japanese companies who have government support; and low fuel prices in capital surplus countries. Strategies that may aid in overcoming some of these problems are: setting up of a trade association aimed at overcoming problems due to lack of awareness, innovative financing schemes such as lease arrangements, and designing products to match current user needs as opposed to attempting to change consumer behavior.

  12. A sustainable biorefinery to convert agricultural residues into value-added chemicals.

    PubMed

    Liu, Zhiguo; Liao, Wei; Liu, Yan

    2016-01-01

    Animal wastes are of particular environmental concern due to greenhouse gases emissions, odor problem, and potential water contamination. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is an effective and widely used technology to treat them for bioenergy production. However, the sustainability of AD is compromised by two by-products of the nutrient-rich liquid digestate and the fiber-rich solid digestate. To overcome these limitations, this paper demonstrates a biorefinery concept to fully utilize animal wastes and create a new value-added route for animal waste management. The studied biorefinery includes an AD, electrocoagulation (EC) treatment of the liquid digestate, and fungal conversion of the solid fiber into a fine chemical-chitin. Animal wastes were first treated by an AD to produce methane gas for energy generation to power the entire biorefinery. The resulting liquid digestate was treated by EC to reclaim water. Enzymatic hydrolysis and fungal fermentation were then applied on the cellulose-rich solid digestate to produce chitin. EC water was used as the processing water for the fungal fermentation. The results indicate that the studied biorefinery converts 1 kg dry animal wastes into 17 g fungal biomass containing 12 % of chitin (10 % of glucosamine), and generates 1.7 MJ renewable energy and 8.5 kg irrigation water. This study demonstrates an energy positive and freshwater-free biorefinery to simultaneously treat animal wastes and produce a fine chemical-chitin. The sustainable biorefinery concept provides a win-win solution for agricultural waste management and value-added chemical production.

  13. Biochar-based functional materials in the purification of agricultural wastewater: Fabrication, application and future research needs.

    PubMed

    Wei, Dongning; Li, Bingyu; Huang, Hongli; Luo, Lin; Zhang, Jiachao; Yang, Yuan; Guo, Jiajun; Tang, Lin; Zeng, Guangming; Zhou, Yaoyu

    2018-04-01

    Nowadays, agricultural contamination is becoming more and more serious due to the rapid growth of agricultural industry, which discharged antibiotics, pesticides or toxic metals into farmlands. A large number of researchers have applied biochar-based functional materials to the treatment of agricultural wastewater contamination. Meanwhile, biochar has also proved to be a very promising and effective technology in water purification field due to its various beneficial properties (e.g., cost effective, high specific surface area, and surface reactive groups). The focus of this review is to highlight the fabrication methods and application of biochar-based functional materials with the removal of different agricultural contaminants, and discuss the underlying mechanisms. However, the application of biochar-based functional materials is currently under its infancy, with the main hindrance is identified as the gap between laboratory scale and field application, immaturity of engineered biochar production technologies, and lack of quality standards. In order to fill these knowledge gaps, more efforts should be made to pay for the relevant research in future studies. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. An application to model traffic intensity of agricultural machinery at field scale

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Augustin, Katja; Kuhwald, Michael; Duttmann, Rainer

    2017-04-01

    Several soil-pressure-models deal with the impact of agricultural machines on soils. In many cases, these models were used for single spots and consider a static machine configuration. Therefore, a statement about the spatial distribution of soil compaction risk for entire working processes is limited. The aim of the study is the development of an application for the spatial modelling of traffic lanes from agricultural vehicles including wheel load, ground pressure and wheel passages at the field scale. The application is based on Open Source software, application and data formats, using python programming language. Minimum input parameters are GPS-positions, vehicles and tires (producer and model) and the tire inflation pressure. Five working processes were distinguished: soil tillage, manuring, plant protection, sowing and harvest. Currently, two different models (Diserens 2009, Rücknagel et al. 2015) were implemented to calculate the soil pressure. The application was tested at a study site in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 2015, field traffic were recorded by RTK-GPS and used machine set ups were noted. Using these input information the traffic lanes, wheel load and soil pressure were calculated for all working processes. For instance, the maize harvest in 2016 with a crop chopper and one transport vehicle crossed about 55 % of the total field area. At some places the machines rolled over up to 46 times. Approximately 35 % of the total area was affected by wheel loads over 7 tons and soil pressures between 163 and 193 kPa. With the information about the spatial distribution of wheel passages, wheel load and soil pressure it is possible to identify hot spots of intensive field traffic. Additionally, the use of the application enables the analysis of soil compaction risk induced by agricultural machines for long- and short-term periods.

  15. A novel application for concentrator photovoltaic in the field of agriculture photovoltaics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Luqing; Guan, Chenggang; Zhang, Fangxin; Li, Ming; Lv, Hui; Liu, Yang; Yao, Peijun; Ingenhoff, Jan; Liu, Wen

    2017-09-01

    Agriculture photovoltaics is a trend setting area which has already led to a new industrial revolution. Shortage of land in some countries and desertification of land where regular solar panels are deployed are some of the major problems in the photovoltaic industry. Concentrator photovoltaics experienced a decline in applicability after the cost erosion of regular solar panels at the end of the last decade. We demonstrate a novel and unique application for concentrator photovoltaics tackling at a same time the issue of conventional photovoltaics preventing the land being used for agricultural purpose where ever solar panels are installed. We leverage the principle of diffractive and interference technology to split the sun light into transmitted wavelengths necessary for plant growth and reflected wavelengths useful for solar energy generation. The technology has been successfully implemented in field trials and sophisticated scientific studies have been undertaken to evaluate the suitability of this technology for competitive solar power generation and simultaneous high-quality plant growth. The average efficiency of the agriculture photovoltaic system has reached more than 8% and the average efficiency of the CPV system is 6.80%.

  16. Chemical Compounds Toxic to Invertebrates Isolated from Marine Cyanobacteria of Potential Relevance to the Agricultural Industry

    PubMed Central

    Essack, Magbubah; Alzubaidy, Hanin S.; Bajic, Vladimir B.; Archer, John A. C.

    2014-01-01

    In spite of advances in invertebrate pest management, the agricultural industry is suffering from impeded pest control exacerbated by global climate changes that have altered rain patterns to favour opportunistic breeding. Thus, novel naturally derived chemical compounds toxic to both terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates are of interest, as potential pesticides. In this regard, marine cyanobacterium-derived metabolites that are toxic to both terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates continue to be a promising, but neglected, source of potential pesticides. A PubMed query combined with hand-curation of the information from retrieved articles allowed for the identification of 36 cyanobacteria-derived chemical compounds experimentally confirmed as being toxic to invertebrates. These compounds are discussed in this review. PMID:25356733

  17. Chemical compounds toxic to invertebrates isolated from marine cyanobacteria of potential relevance to the agricultural industry.

    PubMed

    Essack, Magbubah; Alzubaidy, Hanin S; Bajic, Vladimir B; Archer, John A C

    2014-10-29

    In spite of advances in invertebrate pest management, the agricultural industry is suffering from impeded pest control exacerbated by global climate changes that have altered rain patterns to favour opportunistic breeding. Thus, novel naturally derived chemical compounds toxic to both terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates are of interest, as potential pesticides. In this regard, marine cyanobacterium-derived metabolites that are toxic to both terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates continue to be a promising, but neglected, source of potential pesticides. A PubMed query combined with hand-curation of the information from retrieved articles allowed for the identification of 36 cyanobacteria-derived chemical compounds experimentally confirmed as being toxic to invertebrates. These compounds are discussed in this review.

  18. Developing a New Wireless Sensor Network Platform and Its Application in Precision Agriculture

    PubMed Central

    Aquino-Santos, Raúl; González-Potes, Apolinar; Edwards-Block, Arthur; Virgen-Ortiz, Raúl Alejandro

    2011-01-01

    Wireless sensor networks are gaining greater attention from the research community and industrial professionals because these small pieces of “smart dust” offer great advantages due to their small size, low power consumption, easy integration and support for “green” applications. Green applications are considered a hot topic in intelligent environments, ubiquitous and pervasive computing. This work evaluates a new wireless sensor network platform and its application in precision agriculture, including its embedded operating system and its routing algorithm. To validate the technological platform and the embedded operating system, two different routing strategies were compared: hierarchical and flat. Both of these routing algorithms were tested in a small-scale network applied to a watermelon field. However, we strongly believe that this technological platform can be also applied to precision agriculture because it incorporates a modified version of LORA-CBF, a wireless location-based routing algorithm that uses cluster-based flooding. Cluster-based flooding addresses the scalability concerns of wireless sensor networks, while the modified LORA-CBF routing algorithm includes a metric to monitor residual battery energy. Furthermore, results show that the modified version of LORA-CBF functions well with both the flat and hierarchical algorithms, although it functions better with the flat algorithm in a small-scale agricultural network. PMID:22346622

  19. Developing a new wireless sensor network platform and its application in precision agriculture.

    PubMed

    Aquino-Santos, Raúl; González-Potes, Apolinar; Edwards-Block, Arthur; Virgen-Ortiz, Raúl Alejandro

    2011-01-01

    Wireless sensor networks are gaining greater attention from the research community and industrial professionals because these small pieces of "smart dust" offer great advantages due to their small size, low power consumption, easy integration and support for "green" applications. Green applications are considered a hot topic in intelligent environments, ubiquitous and pervasive computing. This work evaluates a new wireless sensor network platform and its application in precision agriculture, including its embedded operating system and its routing algorithm. To validate the technological platform and the embedded operating system, two different routing strategies were compared: hierarchical and flat. Both of these routing algorithms were tested in a small-scale network applied to a watermelon field. However, we strongly believe that this technological platform can be also applied to precision agriculture because it incorporates a modified version of LORA-CBF, a wireless location-based routing algorithm that uses cluster-based flooding. Cluster-based flooding addresses the scalability concerns of wireless sensor networks, while the modified LORA-CBF routing algorithm includes a metric to monitor residual battery energy. Furthermore, results show that the modified version of LORA-CBF functions well with both the flat and hierarchical algorithms, although it functions better with the flat algorithm in a small-scale agricultural network.

  20. Agricultural sources of contaminants of emerging concern and adverse health effects on freshwater fish

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Tillitt, Donald E.; Buxton, Herbert T.

    2011-01-01

    Agricultural contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) are generally thought of as certain classes of chemicals associated with animal feeding and production facilities. Veterinary pharmaceuticals used in animal food production systems represent one of the largest groups of CECs. In our review, we discuss the extensive increase in use of antibiotics in animal feeding operations (AFOs) around the world. AFOs are a major consumer of antibiotics and other veterinary pharmaceuticals and over the past decade there has been growing information on the occurrence, release, and fate of CECs from animal food production operations, including the application of pharmaceutical-containing manure to agricultural fields and releases from waste lagoons. Concentrations of CECs in surface and ground water in proximity to AFOs correspond to their presence in the AFO wastes. In many cases, the environmental concentrations of agriculturally-derived CECs are below toxicity thresholds. Hormones and hormone replacement compounds are a notable exception, where chemical concentrations near AFOs can exceed concentrations known to cause adverse effects on endocrine-related functions in fish. In addition, some agricultural pesticides, once thought to be safe to non-target organisms, have demonstrated endocrine-related effects that may pose threats to fish populations in agricultural regions. That is, we have pesticides with emerging concerns, thus, the concern is emerging and not necessarily the chemical. In this light, one must consider certain agricultural pesticides to be included in the list of CECs. Even though agricultural pesticides are routinely evaluated in regulatory testing schemes which have been used for decades, the potential hazards of some pesticides have only recently been emerging. Emerging concerns of pesticides in fish include interference with hormone signaling pathways; additive (or more than additive) effects from pesticide mixtures; and adverse population-level effects at

  1. Fungicide application practices and personal protective equipment use among orchard farmers in the agricultural health study.

    PubMed

    Hines, C J; Deddens, J A; Coble, J; Alavanja, M C R

    2007-04-01

    Fungicides are routinely applied to deciduous tree fruits for disease management. Seventy-four private orchard applicators enrolled in the Agricultural Health Study participated in the Orchard Fungicide Exposure Study in 2002-2003. During 144 days of observation, information was obtained on chemicals applied and applicator mixing, application, personal protective, and hygiene practices. At least half of the applicators had orchards with <100 trees. Air blast was the most frequent application method used (55%), followed by hand spray (44%). Rubber gloves were the most frequently worn protective equipment (68% mix; 59% apply), followed by respirators (45% mix; 49% apply), protective outerwear (36% mix; 37% apply), and rubber boots (35% mix; 36% apply). Eye protection was worn while mixing and applying on only 35% and 41% of the days, respectively. Bivariate analyses were performed using repeated logistic or repeated linear regression. Mean duration of mixing, pounds of captan applied, total acres sprayed, and number of tank mixes sprayed were greater for air blast than for hand spray (p < 0.05). Spraying from a tractor/vehicle without an enclosed cab was associated with wearing some type of coverall (p < 0.05). Applicators often did not wash their hands after mixing (77%), a finding not explained by glove use. Glove use during mixing was associated with younger age, while wearing long-sleeve shirts was associated with older age (p < 0.05 each). Self-reported unusually high fungicide exposures were more likely on days applicators performed repairs (p < 0.05). These data will be useful for evaluating fungicide exposure determinants among orchard applicators.

  2. Applications of satellite 'hyper-sensing' in Chinese agriculture: Challenges and opportunities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Onojeghuo, Alex Okiemute; Blackburn, George Alan; Huang, Jingfeng; Kindred, Daniel; Huang, Wenjiang

    2018-02-01

    Ensuring adequate food supplies to a large and increasing population continues to be the key challenge for China. Given the increasing integration of China within global markets for agricultural products, this issue is of considerable significance for global food security. Over the last 50 years, China has increased the production of its staple crops mainly by increasing yield per unit land area. However, this has largely been achieved through inappropriate agricultural practices, which have caused environmental degradation, with deleterious consequences for future agricultural productivity. Hence, there is now a pressing need to intensify agriculture in China using practices that are environmentally and economically sustainable. Given the dynamic nature of crops over space and time, the use of remote sensing technology has proven to be a valuable asset providing end-users in many countries with information to guide sustainable agricultural practices. Recently, the field has experienced considerable technological advancements reflected in the availability of 'hyper-sensing' (high spectral, spatial and temporal) satellite imagery useful for monitoring, modelling and mapping of agricultural crops. However, there still remains a significant challenge in fully exploiting such technologies for addressing agricultural problems in China. This review paper evaluates the potential contributions of satellite 'hyper-sensing' to agriculture in China and identifies the opportunities and challenges for future work. We perform a critical evaluation of current capabilities in satellite 'hyper-sensing' in agriculture with an emphasis on Chinese sensors. Our analysis draws on a series of in-depth examples based on recent and on-going projects in China that are developing 'hyper-sensing' approaches for (i) measuring crop phenology parameters and predicting yields; (ii) specifying crop fertiliser requirements; (iii) optimising management responses to abiotic and biotic stress in crops

  3. Pesticide Applicator Certification Training, Manual No. 1a: Agricultural Pest Control. a. Plant.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Allen, W. A.; And Others

    This manual provides information needed to meet the minimum standards for certification as an applicator of pesticides in the agricultural plant pest control category. Adapted for the State of Virginia, the text discusses: (1) the basics of insecticides; (2) insect pests; (3) selection and calibration of applicator equipment; and (4) the proper…

  4. Biofertilizers and sustainable agriculture: exploring arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.

    PubMed

    Igiehon, Nicholas O; Babalola, Olubukola O

    2017-06-01

    Worldwide agricultural food production has to double in 2050 so as to feed the global increasing population while reducing dependency on conventional chemical fertilizers plus pesticides. To accomplish this objective, there is the need to explore the several mutualistic interactions between plant roots and rhizosphere microbiome. Biofertilization is the process of boosting the abundance of microorganisms such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in the natural plant rhizosphere which depicts a beneficial alternative to chemical fertilization practices. Mineral nutrients uptake by AMF are plausible by means of transporters coded for by different genes and example include phosphate transporter. These fungi can be produced industrially using plant host and these, including the possibility of AMF contamination by other microorganism, are factors militating against large scale production of AMF. AMF isolates can be inoculated in the greenhouse or field, and it has been shown that AMF survival and colonization level were enhanced in soybeans grown on land that was previously cultivated with the same plant. Next generation sequencing (NGS) is now used to gain insight into how AMF interact with indigenous AMF and screen for beneficial microbial candidates. Besides application as biofertilizers, novel findings on AMF that could contribute to maintenance of agricultural development include AMF roles in controlling soil erosion, enhancing phytoremediation, and elimination of other organisms that may be harmful to crops through common mycelia network. The combination of these potentials when fully harnessed under agricultural scenario will help to sustain agriculture and boost food security globally.

  5. USE OF AGRICULTURAL PESTICIDES AND PROSTATE CANCER RISK IN THE AGRICULTURAL HEALTH STUDY COHORT

    EPA Science Inventory

    The role of specific agricultural chemicals in relation to prostate cancer risk has not been firmly established due to the lack of precise exposure data. We examined the relationship between 45 common agricultural pesticides and prostate cancer incidence in a prospective cohor...

  6. Distribution and speciation of metals (Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb) in agricultural and non-agricultural soils near a stream upriver from the Pearl River, China.

    PubMed

    Yang, Silin; Zhou, Dequn; Yu, Huayong; Wei, Rong; Pan, Bo

    2013-06-01

    The distribution and chemical speciation of typical metals (Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb) in agricultural and non-agricultural soils were investigated in the area of Nanpan River, upstream of the Pearl River. The investigated four metals showed higher concentrations in agricultural soils than in non-agricultural soils, and the site located in factory district contained metals much higher than the other sampling sites. These observations suggested that human activities, such as water irrigation, fertilizer and pesticide applications might have a major impact on the distribution of metals. Metal speciation analysis presented that Cu, Zn and Cd were dominated by the residual fraction, while Pb was dominated by the reducible fraction. Because of the low mobility of the metals in the investigated area, no remarkable difference could be observed between upstream and downstream separated by the factory site. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. 7 CFR 58.529 - Chemical requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Chemical requirements. 58.529 Section 58.529 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards... Cheese Bearing Usda Official Identification § 58.529 Chemical requirements. (a) Moisture. See § 58.505(b...

  8. 7 CFR 58.529 - Chemical requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Chemical requirements. 58.529 Section 58.529 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards... Cheese Bearing Usda Official Identification § 58.529 Chemical requirements. (a) Moisture. See § 58.505(b...

  9. 7 CFR 58.529 - Chemical requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 3 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Chemical requirements. 58.529 Section 58.529 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards... Cheese Bearing Usda Official Identification § 58.529 Chemical requirements. (a) Moisture. See § 58.505(b...

  10. 7 CFR 58.529 - Chemical requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 3 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Chemical requirements. 58.529 Section 58.529 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards... Cheese Bearing Usda Official Identification § 58.529 Chemical requirements. (a) Moisture. See § 58.505(b...

  11. 7 CFR 58.529 - Chemical requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 3 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Chemical requirements. 58.529 Section 58.529 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards... Cheese Bearing Usda Official Identification § 58.529 Chemical requirements. (a) Moisture. See § 58.505(b...

  12. Fabrication of Scalable Indoor Light Energy Harvester and Study for Agricultural IoT Applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Watanabe, M.; Nakamura, A.; Kunii, A.; Kusano, K.; Futagawa, M.

    2015-12-01

    A scalable indoor light energy harvester was fabricated by microelectromechanical system (MEMS) and printing hybrid technology and evaluated for agricultural IoT applications under different environmental input power density conditions, such as outdoor farming under the sun, greenhouse farming under scattered lighting, and a plant factory under LEDs. We fabricated and evaluated a dye- sensitized-type solar cell (DSC) as a low cost and “scalable” optical harvester device. We developed a transparent conductive oxide (TCO)-less process with a honeycomb metal mesh substrate fabricated by MEMS technology. In terms of the electrical and optical properties, we achieved scalable harvester output power by cell area sizing. Second, we evaluated the dependence of the input power scalable characteristics on the input light intensity, spectrum distribution, and light inlet direction angle, because harvested environmental input power is unstable. The TiO2 fabrication relied on nanoimprint technology, which was designed for optical optimization and fabrication, and we confirmed that the harvesters are robust to a variety of environments. Finally, we studied optical energy harvesting applications for agricultural IoT systems. These scalable indoor light harvesters could be used in many applications and situations in smart agriculture.

  13. Webinar Presentation: Prenatal Residential Proximity to Agricultural Pesticide Applications and IQ in Children

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This presentation, Prenatal Residential Proximity to Agricultural Pesticide Applications and IQ in Children, was given at the NIEHS/EPA Children's Centers 2015 Webinar Series: Brain Health held on Aug. 12, 2015.

  14. Thermodynamics and sorption characteristics of Zn(II) onto natural and chemically modified zeolites for agricultural and environmental using

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saltali, K.; Tazebay, N.; Kaya, M.

    2017-10-01

    Zeolites with high porous and cation exchange capacity have been widely used for agricultural and environmental purposes. This study was conducted to assess the thermodynamics and sorption characteristics of chemically modified zeolite (CMZ) from obtained natural zeolite (NZ), and to compare its properties. At first step of the sorption experiment, effects of pH, slurry concentration, stirring time, and heat on Zn removal were determined. Linear Langmuir isotherm was well fitted to data, and maximum sorption capacities ( q max) were calculated as 20.87 and 33.44 mg/g for NZ and CMZ, respectively. Dubinin-Redushkevich (D-R) isotherm showed that the adsorption process was probably controlled by chemical ion-exchange mechanism. The solubility of zinc DTPA should be so directly related to the model of D-R model. Therefore, zeolites can be used as carrier Zn in soils with insufficient zinc arid and semiarid regions. Enthalpy (Δ H°) and entropy (Δ S°) values were positive. The change values of Gibbs free energy (Δ G°) illustrated that the sorption of Zn ions onto zeolites was feasible and spontaneous. From the obtained results, it could be concluded that chemical modification increased q max value of NZ, and the findings indicate clearly the possibility of using NZ and CMZ as Zn carrier in agricultural and also environmental treatments.

  15. The applications of chemical thermodynamics and chemical kinetics to planetary atmospheres research

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fegley, Bruce, Jr.

    1990-01-01

    A review of the applications of chemical thermodynamics and chemical kinetics to planetary atmospheres research during the past four decades is presented with an emphasis on chemical equilibrium models and thermochemical kinetics. Several current problems in planetary atmospheres research such as the origin of the atmospheres of the terrestrial planets, atmosphere-surface interactions on Venus and Mars, deep mixing in the atmospheres of the gas giant planets, and the origin of the atmospheres of outer planet satellites all require laboratory data on the kinetics of thermochemical reactions for their solution.

  16. Handbook of Agricultural Geophysics

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Geophysical methods continue to show great promise for use in agriculture. The term “agricultural geophysics” denotes a subdiscipline of geophysics that is focused only on agricultural applications. The Handbook of Agricultural Geophysics was compiled to include a comprehensive overview of the geoph...

  17. Airborne Remote Sensing (ARS) for Agricultural Research and Commercialization Applications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Narayanan, Ram; Bowen, Brent D.; Nickerson, Jocelyn S.

    2002-01-01

    Tremendous advances in remote sensing technology and computing power over the last few decades are now providing scientists with the opportunity to investigate, measure, and model environmental patterns and processes with increasing confidence. Such advances are being pursued by the Nebraska Remote Sensing Facility, which consists of approximately 30 faculty members and is very competitive with other institutions in the depth of the work that is accomplished. The development of this facility targeted at applications, commercialization, and education programs in the area of precision agriculture provides a unique opportunity. This critical area is within the scope of NASA goals and objectives of NASA s Applications, Technology Transfer, Commercialization, and Education Division and the Earth Science Enterprise. This innovative integration of Aerospace (Aeronautics) Technology Enterprise applications with other NASA enterprises serves as a model of cross-enterprise transfer of science with specific commercial applications.

  18. Plasma-activation of tap water using DBD for agronomy applications: Identification and quantification of long lifetime chemical species and production/consumption mechanisms.

    PubMed

    Judée, F; Simon, S; Bailly, C; Dufour, T

    2018-04-15

    Cold atmospheric plasmas are weakly ionized gases that can be generated in ambient air. They produce energetic species (e.g. electrons, metastables) as well as reactive oxygen species, reactive nitrogen species, UV radiations and local electric field. Their interaction with a liquid such as tap water can hence change its chemical composition. The resulting "plasma-activated liquid" can meet many applications, including medicine and agriculture. Consequently, a complete experimental set of analytical techniques dedicated to the characterization of long lifetime chemical species has been implemented to characterize tap water treated using cold atmospheric plasma process and intended to agronomy applications. For that purpose, colorimetry and acid titrations are performed, considering acid-base equilibria, pH and temperature variations induced during plasma activation. 16 species are quantified and monitored: hydroxide and hydronium ions, ammonia and ammonium ions, orthophosphates, carbonate ions, nitrite and nitrate ions and hydrogen peroxide. The related consumption/production mechanisms are discussed. In parallel, a chemical model of electrical conductivity based on Kohlrausch's law has been developed to simulate the electrical conductivity of the plasma-activated tap water (PATW). Comparing its predictions with experimental measurements leads to a narrow fitting, hence supporting the self-sufficiency of the experimental set, I.e. the fact that all long lifetime radicals of interest present in PATW are characterized. Finally, to evaluate the potential of cold atmospheric plasmas for agriculture applications, tap water has been daily plasma-treated to irrigate lentils seeds. Then, seedlings lengths have been measured and compared with untreated tap water, showing an increase as high as 34.0% and 128.4% after 3 days and 6 days of activation respectively. The interaction mechanisms between plasma and tap water are discussed as well as their positive synergy on

  19. Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and Occupational Exposure to Agricultural Pesticide Chemical Groups and Active Ingredients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

    PubMed Central

    Schinasi, Leah; Leon, Maria E.

    2014-01-01

    This paper describes results from a systematic review and a series of meta-analyses of nearly three decades worth of epidemiologic research on the relationship between non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and occupational exposure to agricultural pesticide active ingredients and chemical groups. Estimates of associations of NHL with 21 pesticide chemical groups and 80 active ingredients were extracted from 44 papers, all of which reported results from analyses of studies conducted in high-income countries. Random effects meta-analyses showed that phenoxy herbicides, carbamate insecticides, organophosphorus insecticides and the active ingredient lindane, an organochlorine insecticide, were positively associated with NHL. In a handful of papers, associations between pesticides and NHL subtypes were reported; B cell lymphoma was positively associated with phenoxy herbicides and the organophosphorus herbicide glyphosate. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma was positively associated with phenoxy herbicide exposure. Despite compelling evidence that NHL is associated with certain chemicals, this review indicates the need for investigations of a larger variety of pesticides in more geographic areas, especially in low- and middle-income countries, which, despite producing a large portion of the world’s agriculture, were missing in the literature that were reviewed. PMID:24762670

  20. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and occupational exposure to agricultural pesticide chemical groups and active ingredients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

    PubMed

    Schinasi, Leah; Leon, Maria E

    2014-04-23

    This paper describes results from a systematic review and a series of meta-analyses of nearly three decades worth of epidemiologic research on the relationship between non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and occupational exposure to agricultural pesticide active ingredients and chemical groups. Estimates of associations of NHL with 21 pesticide chemical groups and 80 active ingredients were extracted from 44 papers, all of which reported results from analyses of studies conducted in high-income countries. Random effects meta-analyses showed that phenoxy herbicides, carbamate insecticides, organophosphorus insecticides and the active ingredient lindane, an organochlorine insecticide, were positively associated with NHL. In a handful of papers, associations between pesticides and NHL subtypes were reported; B cell lymphoma was positively associated with phenoxy herbicides and the organophosphorus herbicide glyphosate. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma was positively associated with phenoxy herbicide exposure. Despite compelling evidence that NHL is associated with certain chemicals, this review indicates the need for investigations of a larger variety of pesticides in more geographic areas, especially in low- and middle-income countries, which, despite producing a large portion of the world's agriculture, were missing in the literature that were reviewed.

  1. Progress of Mimetic Enzymes and Their Applications in Chemical Sensors.

    PubMed

    Yang, Bin; Li, Jianping; Deng, Huan; Zhang, Lianming

    2016-11-01

    The need to develop innovative and reformative approaches to synthesize chemical sensors has increased in recent years because of demands for selectivity, stability, and reproducibility. Mimetic enzymes provide an efficient and convenient method for chemical sensors. This review summarizes the application of mimetic enzymes in chemical sensors. Mimetic enzymes can be classified into five categories: hydrolases, oxidoreductases, transferases, isomerases, and induced enzymes. Potential and recent applications of mimetic enzymes in chemical sensors are reviewed in detail, and the outlook of profound development has been illustrated.

  2. Apply Pesticides Correctly, A Guide for Commercial Applicators: Agricultural Pest Control -- Animal.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wamsley, Mary Ann, Ed.; Vermeire, Donna M., Ed.

    This guide contains basic information to meet specific standards for pesticide applicators. The text is concerned with the common pests of agricultural animals such as flies, ticks, bots, lice and mites. Methods for controlling these pests and appropriate pesticides are discussed. (CS)

  3. Using Chemical Tracers to Estimate Pesticide Mass Discharge in an Agricultural Watershed

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Simmons, A. N.; Allen-King, R. M.; Van Biersel, T. P.; Keller, C. K.; Smith, J. L.

    2001-12-01

    The goal of this research is to use environmental tracers to quantify the contributions of subsurface and surface runoff to predict the mass discharge of non-point source agricultural pollutants to rivers at multiple scales of study. Easily measured chemical tracers, such as electrical conductivity (EC), are used to distinguish ground and surface water contributions to the river system. The study area is the Missouri Flat Creek watershed, a 14,400 ha semi-arid dryland agricultural setting located near Pullman, WA. Ground and surface water samples are collected at approximately two-week intervals from an ephemeral stream and a tile drain located in actively farmed and topographically constrained fields ( ~20 ha), and from seven stream-gaging stations. Surface water discharge is monitored continuously. Samples are routinely analyzed for two pesticides (the insecticide lindane or gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and the herbicide triallate, S-(2,3,3-trichloroallyl) diisopropylthiocarbamate), a nutrient (nitrate), and the tracers EC and silica. Lindane is applied as a seed coating on most spring and fall crops in the region. Observed lindane concentrations in the different hydrologic reservoirs ranged over approximately two orders of magnitude, from typically less than the detection limit ( ~0.005 μ g/L) in most soil pore water and groundwater samples to a weighted mean of 0.25 μ g/L in field (ephemeral stream) surface runoff. A two-component, ground and surface water, hydrograph separation was performed using tile drain and ephemeral stream tracer concentrations from field plots to represent groundwater and surface runoff end-members. The hydrograph separation was used to predict lindane discharge. Reasonable agreement between model and observed lindane discharge timing and trend supports the hypothesis that in-stream pesticide is derived from annual surface runoff. During the high flow winter months, the model predictions are two to five times greater than

  4. The Effect of the Agricultural Carbon Sequestration and Agrochemical Reduction on the Regional Water Environment Quality

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Leyi, Wang; Baoli, Zhang; Xin, Li; Juan, Du

    2018-05-01

    This paper analysed the impact of the agricultural carbon reduction and emission reduction measures implementation on the environmental quality of surface water and groundwater in winter and summer in Henan and Anhui Province project areas by using entropy weight fuzzy matter element analysis method. The result showed that the reduction in the application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides had a certain impact on the improvement of the water environment by using agricultural carbon sequestration technologies.

  5. Properties and applications of chemically functionalized graphene.

    PubMed

    Craciun, M F; Khrapach, I; Barnes, M D; Russo, S

    2013-10-23

    The vast and yet largely unexplored family of graphene materials has great potential for future electronic devices with novel functionalities. The ability to engineer the electrical and optical properties in graphene by chemically functionalizing it with a molecule or adatom is widening considerably the potential applications targeted by graphene. Indeed, functionalized graphene has been found to be the best known transparent conductor or a wide gap semiconductor. At the same time, understanding the mechanisms driving the functionalization of graphene with hydrogen is proving to be of fundamental interest for energy storage devices. Here we discuss recent advances on the properties and applications of chemically functionalized graphene.

  6. Using hyperspectral data in precision farming applications

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Precision farming practices such as variable rate applications of fertilizer and agricultural chemicals require accurate field variability mapping. This chapter investigated the value of hyperspectral remote sensing in providing useful information for five applications of precision farming: (a) Soil...

  7. Recent advances in radar applications to agriculture

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Morain, S. A.

    1970-01-01

    A series of remote radar sensing studies are summarized. These efforts comprise geoscience interpretations of such complex phenomena as those manifested in agricultural patterns. Considered are basic remote sensing needs in agriculture and the design and implementation of radar keys in the active microwave region as well as fine resolution radar imagery techniques for agriculture determinations and soil mapping.

  8. Recent developments in biochar as an effective tool for agricultural soil management: a review.

    PubMed

    Laghari, Mahmood; Naidu, Ravi; Xiao, Bo; Hu, Zhiquan; Mirjat, Muhammad Saffar; Hu, Mian; Kandhro, Muhammad Nawaz; Chen, Zhihua; Guo, Dabin; Jogi, Qamardudin; Abudi, Zaidun Naji; Fazal, Saima

    2016-12-01

    In recent years biochar has been demonstrated to be a useful amendment to sequester carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emission from the soil to the atmosphere. Hence it can help to mitigate global environment change. Some studies have shown that biochar addition to agricultural soils increases crop production. The mechanisms involved are: increased soil aeration and water-holding capacity, enhanced microbial activity and plant nutrient status in soil, and alteration of some important soil chemical properties. This review provides an in-depth consideration of the production, characterization and agricultural use of different biochars. Biochar is a complex organic material and its characteristics vary with production conditions and the feedstock used. The agronomic benefits of biochar solely depend upon the use of particular types of biochar with proper field application rate under appropriate soil types and conditions. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

  9. 7 CFR 305.5 - Chemical treatment requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 5 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Chemical treatment requirements. 305.5 Section 305.5 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE PHYTOSANITARY TREATMENTS § 305.5 Chemical treatment requirements. (a...

  10. Role of nanotechnology in agriculture with special reference to management of insect pests.

    PubMed

    Rai, Mahendra; Ingle, Avinash

    2012-04-01

    Nanotechnology is a promising field of interdisciplinary research. It opens up a wide array of opportunities in various fields like medicine, pharmaceuticals, electronics and agriculture. The potential uses and benefits of nanotechnology are enormous. These include insect pests management through the formulations of nanomaterials-based pesticides and insecticides, enhancement of agricultural productivity using bio-conjugated nanoparticles (encapsulation) for slow release of nutrients and water, nanoparticle-mediated gene or DNA transfer in plants for the development of insect pest-resistant varieties and use of nanomaterials for preparation of different kind of biosensors, which would be useful in remote sensing devices required for precision farming. Traditional strategies like integrated pest management used in agriculture are insufficient, and application of chemical pesticides like DDT have adverse effects on animals and human beings apart from the decline in soil fertility. Therefore, nanotechnology would provide green and efficient alternatives for the management of insect pests in agriculture without harming the nature. This review is focused on traditional strategies used for the management of insect pests, limitations of use of chemical pesticides and potential of nanomaterials in insect pest management as modern approaches of nanotechnology.

  11. Application and further development of diffusion based 2D chemical imaging techniques in the rhizosphere

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hoefer, Christoph; Santner, Jakob; Borisov, Sergey; Kreuzeder, Andreas; Wenzel, Walter; Puschenreiter, Markus

    2015-04-01

    Two dimensional chemical imaging of root processes refers to novel in situ methods to investigate and map solutes at a high spatial resolution (sub-mm). The visualization of these solutes reveals new insights in soil biogeochemistry and root processes. We derive chemical images by using data from DGT-LA-ICP-MS (Diffusive Gradients in Thin Films and Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) and POS (Planar Optode Sensors). Both technologies have shown promising results when applied in aqueous environment but need to be refined and improved for imaging at the soil-plant interface. Co-localized mapping using combined DGT and POS technologies and the development of new gel combinations are in our focus. DGTs are smart and thin (<0.4 mm) hydrogels; containing a binding resin for the targeted analytes (e.g. trace metals, phosphate, sulphide or radionuclides). The measurement principle is passive and diffusion based. The present analytes are diffusing into the gel and are bound by the resin. Thereby, the resin acts as zero sink. After application, DGTs are retrieved, dried, and analysed using LA-ICP-MS. The data is then normalized by an internal standard (e.g. 13C), calibrated using in-house standards and chemical images of the target area are plotted using imaging software. POS are, similar to DGT, thin sensor foils containing a fluorophore coating depending on the target analyte. The measurement principle is based on excitation of the flourophore by a specific wavelength and emission of the fluorophore depending on the presence of the analyte. The emitted signal is captured using optical filters and a DSLR camera. While DGT analysis is destructive, POS measurements can be performed continuously during the application. Both semi-quantitative techniques allow an in situ application to visualize chemical processes directly at the soil-plant interface. Here, we present a summary of results from rhizotron experiments with different plants in metal

  12. Chemical-Help Application for Classification and Identification of Stormwater Constituents

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Granato, Gregory E.; Driskell, Timothy R.; Nunes, Catherine

    2000-01-01

    A computer application called Chemical Help was developed to facilitate review of reports for the National Highway Runoff Water-Quality Data and Methodology Synthesis (NDAMS). The application provides a tool to quickly find a proper classification for any constituent in the NDAMS review sheets. Chemical Help contents include the name of each water-quality property, constituent, or parameter, the section number within the NDAMS review sheet, the organizational levels within a classification hierarchy, the database number, and where appropriate, the chemical formula, the Chemical Abstract Service number, and a list of synonyms (for the organic chemicals). Therefore, Chemical Help provides information necessary to research available reference data for the water-quality properties and constituents of potential interest in stormwater studies. Chemical Help is implemented in the Microsoft help-system interface. (Computer files for the use and documentation of Chemical Help are included on an accompanying diskette.)

  13. Application of the WEPS and SWEEP models to non-agricultural disturbed lands.

    PubMed

    Tatarko, J; van Donk, S J; Ascough, J C; Walker, D G

    2016-12-01

    Wind erosion not only affects agricultural productivity but also soil, air, and water quality. Dust and specifically particulate matter ≤10 μm (PM-10) has adverse effects on respiratory health and also reduces visibility along roadways, resulting in auto accidents. The Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS) was developed by the USDA-Agricultural Research Service to simulate wind erosion and provide for conservation planning on cultivated agricultural lands. A companion product, known as the Single-Event Wind Erosion Evaluation Program (SWEEP), has also been developed which consists of the stand-alone WEPS erosion submodel combined with a graphical interface to simulate soil loss from single (i.e., daily) wind storm events. In addition to agricultural lands, wind driven dust emissions also occur from other anthropogenic sources such as construction sites, mined and reclaimed areas, landfills, and other disturbed lands. Although developed for agricultural fields, WEPS and SWEEP are useful tools for simulating erosion by wind for non-agricultural lands where typical agricultural practices are not employed. On disturbed lands, WEPS can be applied for simulating long-term (i.e., multi-year) erosion control strategies. SWEEP on the other hand was developed specifically for disturbed lands and can simulate potential soil loss for site- and date-specific planned surface conditions and control practices. This paper presents novel applications of WEPS and SWEEP for developing erosion control strategies on non-agricultural disturbed lands. Erosion control planning with WEPS and SWEEP using water and other dust suppressants, wind barriers, straw mulch, re-vegetation, and other management practices is demonstrated herein through the use of comparative simulation scenarios. The scenarios confirm the efficacy of the WEPS and SWEEP models as valuable tools for supporting the design of erosion control plans for disturbed lands that are not only cost-effective but also incorporate

  14. Phosphorus recovery and reuse by pyrolysis: Applications for agriculture and environment.

    PubMed

    Sun, Daquan; Hale, Lauren; Kar, Gourango; Soolanayakanahally, Raju; Adl, Sina

    2018-03-01

    Phosphorus ore extraction for soil fertilization supports the demand of modern agriculture, but extractable resource limitations, due to scarcity, impose a P reuse and recycling research agenda. Here we propose to integrate biochar production (pyrogenic carbon) with municipal and agricultural waste management systems, to recover and reuse phosphorous that would otherwise be lost from the ecological food web. A meta-analysis and available data on total P in biochar indicated that P-enriched feedstocks include animal manure, human excreta, and plant-biomass collected from P-polluted sites. Phosphorus in biochar could participate in P equilibriums in soils and is expected to supply P. The release, sorption and desorption of P by biochar will codetermine the potential of P replenishment by biochar and P loss from biochar-amended soils. Abiotic and biotic factors are expected to affect sorption/desorption of P between biochar and soil aggregates, and P acquisition by plants. Chemical extraction, using acid or alkaline solutions, is considered as a means for P retrieval from high P biochar, especially for biochar with high heavy metal contents. To bridge the gap between academia and practice, this paper proposes future development for phosphorus acclamation by pyrolysis: 1) identification of high-P bio-waste for pyrolysis; 2) retrieval of P by using biochar as soil amendment or by chemical leaching; 3) biochar modification by inorganic nutrients, P solubilizing microorganisms and other organic matter; and 4) compatible pyrolysis equipment fit to the current waste management context, such as households, and waste water treatment plants. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Sustainable agriculture and protection of the environment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Siemianowska, Ewa; Wesołowski, Andrzej; Skibniewska, Krystyna A.; Tyburski, Józef; Gurzyński, Marcin

    2017-10-01

    The economic, environmental and social development should not degrade the environment but it should leave it for the next generations in the state that it is presently or even better. The principle of sustainable agriculture is to cover the human needs for food without damage to the environment. The aim of the article was to research the farmers' awareness of the principle of sustainable agriculture and balanced fertilization and their influence on the environment. Among 100 farmers of the Tczew district (Poland) there was done questionnaire research on the determination rates of nitrogen fertilizers and on the regulation of fertilizers usage in Poland. Most of farmers declared a good knowledge of good agricultural practices and of balanced fertilization and the awareness of threats issuing from their activities. At the same time in Poland since the announcement of the Nitrate Directive of the former European Common Market (1992) up till now (2013) the application of nitrogen fertilizers doubled and the yield of wheat increased only by 15%, which means the increase of environmental burden with this chemical element.

  16. A regional monitoring network to investigate the occurrence of agricultural chemicals in near-surface aquifers of the midcontinental USA

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Kolpin, D.W.; Goolsby, D.A.

    1995-01-01

    Previous state and national surveys conducted in the mid-continental USA have produced a wide range in results regarding the occurrence of agricultural chemicals in groundwater. At least some of these differences can be attributed to inconsistencies between the surveys, such as different analytical reporting limits. The US Geological Survey has designed a sampling network that is geographically and hydrogeologically representative of near-surface aquifers in the corn- and soybean-producing region of the midcontinental USA. More than 800 water quality samples have been collected from the network since 1991. Six of the seven most frequently detected compounds from this study were herbicide metabolites. A direct relation was determined between tritium content to herbicide and nitrate contamination. The unconsolidated aquifers sampled were found to be more susceptible to herbicide and nitrate contamination than the bedrock aquifers. Knowledge of the regional occurrence and distribution of agricultural chemicals acquired through the study of data collected at network sites will assist policy makers and planners with decisions regarding the protection of drinking-water supplies.

  17. Monitoring and Analysis of Nonpoint Source Pollution - Case study on terraced paddy fields in an agricultural watershed

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Shih-Kai; Jang, Cheng-Shin; Yeh, Chun-Lin

    2013-04-01

    The intensive use of chemical fertilizer has negatively impacted environments in recent decades, mainly through water pollution by nitrogen (N) and phosphate (P) originating from agricultural activities. As a main crop with the largest cultivation area about 0.25 million ha per year in Taiwan, rice paddies account for a significant share of fertilizer consumption among agriculture crops. This study evaluated the fertilization of paddy fields impacting return flow water quality in an agricultural watershed located at Hsinchu County, northern Taiwan. Water quality monitoring continued for two crop-periods in 2012, around subject to different water bodies, including the irrigation water, drainage water, and shallow groundwater. The results indicated that obviously increasing of ammonium-N, nitrate-N and TP concentrations in the surface drainage water were observed immediately following three times of fertilizer applications (including basal, tillering, and panicle fertilizer application), but reduced to relatively low concentrations after 7-10 days after each fertilizer application. Groundwater quality monitoring showed that the observation wells with the more shallow water depth, the more significant variation of concentrations of ammonium-N, nitrate-N and TP could be observed, which means that the contamination potential of nutrient of groundwater is related not only to the impermeable plow sole layer but also to the length of percolation route in this area. The study also showed that the potential pollution load of nutrient could be further reduced by well drainage water control and rational fertilizer management, such as deep-water irrigation, reuse of return flow, the rational application of fertilizers, and the SRI (The System of Rice Intensification) method. The results of this study can provide as an evaluation basis to formulate effective measures for agricultural non-point source pollution control and the reuse of agricultural return flow. Keywords:Chemical

  18. Remote sensing and implications for variable-rate application using agricultural aircraft

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thomson, Steven J.; Smith, Lowrey A.; Ray, Jeffrey D.; Zimba, Paul V.

    2004-01-01

    Aircraft routinely used for agricultural spray application are finding utility for remote sensing. Data obtained from remote sensing can be used for prescription application of pesticides, fertilizers, cotton growth regulators, and water (the latter with the assistance of hyperspectral indices and thermal imaging). Digital video was used to detect weeds in early cotton, and preliminary data were obtained to see if nitrogen status could be detected in early soybeans. Weeds were differentiable from early cotton at very low altitudes (65-m), with the aid of supervised classification algorithms in the ENVI image analysis software. The camera was flown at very low altitude for acceptable pixel resolution. Nitrogen status was not detectable by statistical analysis of digital numbers (DNs) obtained from images, but soybean cultivar differences were statistically discernable (F=26, p=0.01). Spectroradiometer data are being analyzed to identify narrow spectral bands that might aid in selecting camera filters for determination of plant nitrogen status. Multiple camera configurations are proposed to allow vegetative indices to be developed more readily. Both remotely sensed field images and ground data are to be used for decision-making in a proposed variable-rate application system for agricultural aircraft. For this system, prescriptions generated from digital imagery and data will be coupled with GPS-based swath guidance and programmable flow control.

  19. Application of excilamps in agriculture and animal breeding (review)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sosnin, Eduard A.; Chudinova, Yulia V.; Victorova, Irina A.; Volotko, Ivan I.

    2015-12-01

    The paper provides a review of research data on applications of XeCl excilamps in agriculture and animal breeding. The data demonstrate a favorable effect of radiation produced by the excilamps on the fertility of animals (outbred mice and pigs) and on the growth of plants (flaxes, potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, conifers). Excilamp models adapted specially for use in stock-raising and grain storage complexes are now available. The research data obtained in 2012-2015 suggest that XeCl excilamps hold promise for prevention of diseases in indoor-housed pigs and for pre-sowing seed preparation.

  20. Laser applications to chemical analysis: an introduction by the feature editors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jeffries, Jay B.; Ramsey, J. Michael; Lucht, Robert P.

    1995-06-01

    This issue of Applied Optics features papers on the application of laser technology to chemical analysis. Many of the contributions, although not all, result from papers presented at the Fourth OSA Topical Meeting on Laser Applications to Chemical Analysis, which was held at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, March, 1994. This successful meeting, with nearly one hundred participants, continued the tradition of earlier LACA meetings to focus on the optical science of laser-based measurements of temperature and trace chemical assays in a wide variety of practical applications.

  1. Potential of Biological Agents in Decontamination of Agricultural Soil

    PubMed Central

    Javaid, Muhammad Kashif; Ashiq, Mehrban; Tahir, Muhammad

    2016-01-01

    Pesticides are widely used for the control of weeds, diseases, and pests of cultivated plants all over the world, mainly since the period after the Second World War. The use of pesticides is very extensive to control harm of pests all over the globe. Persistent nature of most of the synthetic pesticides causes serious environmental concerns. Decontamination of these hazardous chemicals is very essential. This review paper elaborates the potential of various biological agents in decontamination of agricultural soils. The agricultural crop fields are contaminated by the periodic applications of pesticides. Biodegradation is an ecofriendly, cost-effective, highly efficient approach compared to the physical and chemical methods which are expensive as well as unfriendly towards environment. Biodegradation is sensitive to the concentration levels of hydrogen peroxide and nitrogen along with microbial community, temperature, and pH changes. Experimental work for optimum conditions at lab scale can provide very fruitful results about specific bacterial, fungal strains. This study revealed an upper hand of bioremediation over physicochemical approaches. Further studies should be carried out to understand mechanisms of biotransformation. PMID:27293964

  2. Potential of Biological Agents in Decontamination of Agricultural Soil.

    PubMed

    Javaid, Muhammad Kashif; Ashiq, Mehrban; Tahir, Muhammad

    2016-01-01

    Pesticides are widely used for the control of weeds, diseases, and pests of cultivated plants all over the world, mainly since the period after the Second World War. The use of pesticides is very extensive to control harm of pests all over the globe. Persistent nature of most of the synthetic pesticides causes serious environmental concerns. Decontamination of these hazardous chemicals is very essential. This review paper elaborates the potential of various biological agents in decontamination of agricultural soils. The agricultural crop fields are contaminated by the periodic applications of pesticides. Biodegradation is an ecofriendly, cost-effective, highly efficient approach compared to the physical and chemical methods which are expensive as well as unfriendly towards environment. Biodegradation is sensitive to the concentration levels of hydrogen peroxide and nitrogen along with microbial community, temperature, and pH changes. Experimental work for optimum conditions at lab scale can provide very fruitful results about specific bacterial, fungal strains. This study revealed an upper hand of bioremediation over physicochemical approaches. Further studies should be carried out to understand mechanisms of biotransformation.

  3. Home | National Agricultural Library

    Science.gov Websites

    Skip to main content Home National Agricultural Library United States Department of Agriculture Ag /items/collectionKey.... 5/2/2018: Data Science and Agriculture Webinar Join us for our next webinar on Akshat Pant discuss applications and aspects of data science as it relates to agriculture. Read further

  4. 40 CFR 430.60 - Applicability; description of the semi-chemical subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ...-chemical subcategory. 430.60 Section 430.60 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY...-Chemical Subcategory § 430.60 Applicability; description of the semi-chemical subcategory. The provisions... paper at semi-chemical mills. ...

  5. 40 CFR 430.60 - Applicability; description of the semi-chemical subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ...-chemical subcategory. 430.60 Section 430.60 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY...-Chemical Subcategory § 430.60 Applicability; description of the semi-chemical subcategory. The provisions... paper at semi-chemical mills. ...

  6. Design and development of guar gum based novel, superabsorbent and moisture retaining hydrogels for agricultural applications.

    PubMed

    Thombare, Nandkishore; Mishra, Sumit; Siddiqui, M Z; Jha, Usha; Singh, Deodhari; Mahajan, Gopal R

    2018-04-01

    The novel hydrogels were synthesized by grafting guar gum with acrylic acid and cross-linking with ethylene glycol di methacrylic acid (EGDMA). The synthesis of hydrogel was confirmed by characterization through 13 C NMR, FTIR spectroscopy, SEM micrography, thermo-gravimetric analysis and water absorption studies under different solutions. Synthesized hydrogel (GG-AA-EGDMA) was confirmed to be biodegradable with half-life period of 77 days through soil burial biodegradation studies. The effects of hydrogel treatment on soil were evaluated by studying various physico-chemical properties of soil like bulk density, porosity, water absorption and retention capacity etc. The hydrogel which could absorb up to 800 ml water per gram, after addition to soil, improved its porosity, moisture absorption and retention capacity significantly. Water holding capacity of water increased up to 54% of its original and porosity also increased up to 9% of its original. The synthesized hydrogel revealed tremendous potential as soil conditioning material for agricultural applications. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Chemical Sensing Applications of ZnO Nanomaterials

    PubMed Central

    Chaudhary, Savita; Umar, Ahmad; Bhasin, K. K.

    2018-01-01

    Recent advancement in nanoscience and nanotechnology has witnessed numerous triumphs of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanomaterials due to their various exotic and multifunctional properties and wide applications. As a remarkable and functional material, ZnO has attracted extensive scientific and technological attention, as it combines different properties such as high specific surface area, biocompatibility, electrochemical activities, chemical and photochemical stability, high-electron communicating features, non-toxicity, ease of syntheses, and so on. Because of its various interesting properties, ZnO nanomaterials have been used for various applications ranging from electronics to optoelectronics, sensing to biomedical and environmental applications. Further, due to the high electrochemical activities and electron communication features, ZnO nanomaterials are considered as excellent candidates for electrochemical sensors. The present review meticulously introduces the current advancements of ZnO nanomaterial-based chemical sensors. Various operational factors such as the effect of size, morphologies, compositions and their respective working mechanisms along with the selectivity, sensitivity, detection limit, stability, etc., are discussed in this article. PMID:29439528

  8. 40 CFR 430.60 - Applicability; description of the semi-chemical subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ...-chemical subcategory. 430.60 Section 430.60 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... CATEGORY Semi-Chemical Subcategory § 430.60 Applicability; description of the semi-chemical subcategory... of pulp and paper at semi-chemical mills. ...

  9. The application of GMOs in agriculture and in food production for a better nutrition: two different scientific points of view.

    PubMed

    Buiatti, M; Christou, P; Pastore, G

    2013-05-01

    This commentary is a face-to-face debate between two almost opposite positions regarding the application of genetic engineering in agriculture and food production. Seven questions on the potential benefits of the application of genetic engineering in agriculture and on the potentially adverse impacts on the environment and human health were posed to two scientists: one who is sceptical about the use of GMOs in Agriculture, and one who views GMOs as an important tool for quantitatively and qualitatively improving food production.

  10. Determinants of captan air and dermal exposures among orchard pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study.

    PubMed

    Hines, Cynthia J; Deddens, James A; Coble, Joseph; Kamel, Freya; Alavanja, Michael C R

    2011-07-01

    To identify and quantify determinants of captan exposure among 74 private orchard pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study (AHS). To adjust an algorithm used for estimating pesticide exposure intensity in the AHS based on these determinants and to compare the correlation of the adjusted and unadjusted algorithms with urinary captan metabolite levels. External exposure metrics included personal air, hand rinse, and dermal patch samples collected from each applicator on 2 days in 2002-2003. A 24-h urine sample was also collected. Exposure determinants were identified for each external metric using multiple linear regression models via the NLMIXED procedure in SAS. The AHS algorithm was adjusted, consistent with the identified determinants. Mixed-effect models were used to evaluate the correlation between the adjusted and unadjusted algorithm and urinary captan metabolite levels. Consistent determinants of captan exposure were a measure of application size (kilogram of captan sprayed or application method), wearing chemical-resistant (CR) gloves and/or a coverall/suit, repairing spray equipment, and product formulation. Application by airblast was associated with a 4- to 5-fold increase in exposure as compared to hand spray. Exposure reduction to the hands, right thigh, and left forearm from wearing CR gloves averaged ∼80%, to the right and left thighs and right forearm from wearing a coverall/suit by ∼70%. Applicators using wettable powder formulations had significantly higher air, thigh, and forearm exposures than those using liquid formulations. Application method weights in the AHS algorithm were adjusted to nine for airblast and two for hand spray; protective equipment reduction factors were adjusted to 0.2 (CR gloves), 0.3 (coverall/suit), and 0.1 (both). Adjustment of application method, CR glove, and coverall weights in the AHS algorithm based on our exposure determinant findings substantially improved the correlation between the AHS

  11. Ammonia emissions from the agriculture sector in Argentina; 2000-2012

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Castesana, Paula S.; Dawidowski, Laura E.; Finster, Laura; Gómez, Darío R.; Taboada, Miguel A.

    2018-04-01

    Agriculture is one of the key economic sectors in Argentina and, in the last decades, the increase in prices and competitiveness of some grains has imposed important changes. In this process, crop cultivation occupied significant extensions of land areas previously dedicated to livestock farming, which in turn have experienced intensification in terms of production through an increasing share of feedlot systems. The agriculture sector is the main NH3 emitter in Argentina, however no inventory developed locally has been thus far available. We estimated the time series 2000-2012 of NH3 emissions, both at national and spatially disaggregated levels. National NH3 emissions in 2012 amounted to 0.31 ± 0.08 Tg, with the use of mineral fertilizers accounting for 43.0%, manure in pasture 32.5%, manure management 23.0% and agricultural waste burning 1.5%. Urea use was the major source of NH3 emissions and its application on wheat and corn crops dominated the trend. Emissions from open biomass burning were estimated but not included in the national totals because of the difficulties in differentiating between agricultural (i.e., prescribed burning of savannas) and non-agricultural emission sources. Compared to this work, NH3 emissions reported by EDGAR were 83% higher than our estimates. The time series of spatially distributed NH3 emission estimates clearly showed the effect of the expansion of cropland, the displacement of planted areas of N-fertilizes crops by competing soybean cultivation and the relocation and intensification of beef cattle production. This new inventory constitutes a tool for policies concerning the impact of agricultural activities on air quality and contributes with more accurate and updated information useful for atmospheric chemical transport modeling. The accuracy and applicability of the inventory may be improved by local studies aimed at refining the spatial disaggregation by focusing in specific areas of fertilizer application, reflecting

  12. Lifetime Organophosphorous Insecticide Used among Private Pesticide Applicators in the Agricultural Health Study

    EPA Science Inventory

    Organophosphorous insecticides (OPs) are the most commonly used insecticides in US agriculture, but little information is available regarding specific OP use by individual farmers. We describe OP use for licensed private pesticide applicators from Iowa and North Carolina in the Ag...

  13. DIETARY EXPOSURE FROM PESTICIDE APPLICATION ON FARMS IN THE AGRICULTURAL HEALTH PILOT STUDY

    EPA Science Inventory

    As part of total human exposure measurements performed on six farms in Iowa and North Carolina during the Agricultural Health Pilot Study, a household duplicate diet, several locally grown foods, an applicator meal, a child duplicate diet, and drinking water samples were collecte...

  14. Occurrence of chemical contaminants in peri-urban agricultural irrigation waters and assessment of their phytotoxicity and crop productivity.

    PubMed

    Margenat, Anna; Matamoros, Víctor; Díez, Sergi; Cañameras, Núria; Comas, Jordi; Bayona, Josep M

    2017-12-01

    Water scarcity and water pollution have increased the pressure on water resources worldwide. This pressure is particularly important in highly populated areas where water demand exceeds the available natural resources. In this regard, water reuse has emerged as an excellent water source alternative for peri-urban agriculture. Nevertheless, it must cope with the occurrence of chemical contaminants, ranging from trace elements (TEs) to organic microcontaminants. In this study, chemical contaminants (i.e., 15 TEs, 34 contaminants of emerging concern (CECs)), bulk parameters, and nutrients from irrigation waters and crop productivity (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. Bodar and Lactuca sativa L. cv. Batavia) were seasonally surveyed in 4 farm plots in the peri-urban area of the city of Barcelona. A pristine site, where rain-groundwater is used for irrigation, was selected for background concentrations. The average concentration levels of TEs and CECs in the irrigation water impacted by treated wastewater (TWW) were 3 (35±75μgL -1 ) and 13 (553±1050ngL -1 ) times higher than at the pristine site respectively. Principal component analysis was used to classify the irrigation waters by chemical composition. To assess the impact of the occurrence of these contaminants on agriculture, a seed germination assay (Lactuca sativa L) and real field-scale study of crop productivity (i.e., lettuce and tomato) were used. Although irrigation waters from the peri-urban area exhibited a higher frequency of detection and concentration of the assessed chemical contaminants than those of the pristine site (P1), no significant differences were found in seed phytotoxicity or crop productivity. In fact, the crops impacted by TWW showed higher productivity than the other farm plots studied, which was associated with the higher nutrient availability for plants. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Chemical and biological characterization of products of incomplete combustion from the simulated field burning of agricultural plastic.

    PubMed

    Linak, W P; Ryan, J V; Perry, E; Williams, R W; DeMarini, D M

    1989-06-01

    Chemical and biological analyses were performed to characterize products of incomplete combustion emitted during the simulated open field burning of agricultural plastic. A small utility shed equipped with an air delivery system was used to simulate pile burning and forced-air-curtain incineration of a nonhalogenated agricultural plastic that reportedly consisted of polyethylene and carbon black. Emissions were analyzed for combustion gases; volatile, semi-volatile, and particulate organics; and toxic and mutagenic properties. Emission samples, as well as samples of the used (possibly pesticide-contaminated) plastic, were analyzed for the presence of several pesticides to which the plastic may have been exposed. Although a variety of alkanes, alkenes, and aromatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds were identified in the volatile, semi-volatile, and particulate fractions of these emissions, a substantial fraction of higher molecular weight organic material was not identified. No pesticides were identified in either combustion emission samples or dichloromethane washes of the used plastic. When mutagenicity was evaluated by exposing Salmonella bacteria (Ames assay) to whole vapor and vapor/particulate emissions, no toxic or mutagenic effects were observed. However, organic extracts of the particulate samples were moderately mutagenic. This mutagenicity compares approximately to that measured from residential wood heating on a revertant per unit heat release basis. Compared to pile burning, forced air slightly decreased the time necessary to burn a charge of plastic. There was not a substantial difference, however, in the variety or concentrations of organic compounds identified in samples from these two burn conditions. This study highlights the benefits of a combined chemical/biological approach to the characterization of complex, multi-component combustion emissions. These results may not reflect those of other types of plastic that may be used

  16. Measurement of natural radioactivity in chemical fertilizer and agricultural soil: evidence of high alpha activity.

    PubMed

    Ghosh, Dipak; Deb, Argha; Bera, Sukumar; Sengupta, Rosalima; Patra, Kanchan Kumar

    2008-02-01

    People are exposed to ionizing radiation from the radionuclides that are present in different types of natural sources, of which phosphate fertilizer is one of the most important sources. Radionuclides in phosphate fertilizer belonging to 232Th and 238U series as well as radioisotope of potassium (40K) are the major contributors of outdoor terrestrial natural radiation. The study of alpha activity in fertilizers, which is the first ever in West Bengal, has been performed in order to determine the effect of the use of phosphate fertilizers on human health. The data have been compared with the alpha activity of different types of chemical fertilizers. The measurement of alpha activity in surface soil samples collected from the cultivated land was also performed. The sampling sites were randomly selected in the cultivated land in the Midnapore district, which is the largest district in West Bengal. The phosphate fertilizer is widely used for large agricultural production, mainly potatoes. The alpha activities have been measured using solid-state nuclear track detectors (SSNTD), a very sensitive detector for alpha particles. The results show that alpha activity of those fertilizer and soil samples varies from 141 Bq/kg to 2,589 Bq/kg and from 109 Bq/kg to 660 Bq/kg, respectively. These results were used to estimate environmental radiation exposure on human health contributed by the direct application of fertilizers.

  17. Application of a geographic information system in analyzing the occurrence of atrazine in groundwater of the mid-continental United States

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Burkart, M.R.; Kolpin, D.W.

    1993-01-01

    The US Geological Survey, US Department of Agriculture, and US Environmental Protection Agency are conducting research and regional assessments in support of policy alternatives intended to protect water resources from agricultural chemical contamination. The mid-continent was selected because of the intense row crop agriculture and associated herbicide application in this region. An application of a geographic information system is demonstrated for analyzing and comparing the distribution of estimated atrazine use to the detection rate of atrazine in groundwater. Understanding the relations between atrazine use and detection in groundwater is important in policy deliberations to protect water resources. Relational analyses between measures of chemical use and detection rate by natural resource units may provide insight into critical factors controlling the processes that result in groundwater contamination from agricultural chemicals

  18. Off-farm applications of solar energy in agriculture

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Berry, R.E.

    1980-01-01

    Food processing applications make up almost all present off-farm studies of solar energy in agriculture. Research, development and demonstration projects on solar food processing have shown significant progress over the past 3 years. Projects have included computer simulation and mathematical models, hardware and process development for removing moisture from horticultural or animal products, integration of energy conservation with solar energy augmentation in conventional processes, and commercial scale demonstrations. The demonstration projects include solar heated air for drying prunes and raisins, soy beans and onions/garlic; and solar generated steam for orange juice pasteurization. Several new and planned projects hold considerable promisemore » for commerical exploitation in future food processes.« less

  19. Developing Ubiquitous Sensor Network Platform Using Internet of Things: Application in Precision Agriculture.

    PubMed

    Ferrández-Pastor, Francisco Javier; García-Chamizo, Juan Manuel; Nieto-Hidalgo, Mario; Mora-Pascual, Jerónimo; Mora-Martínez, José

    2016-07-22

    The application of Information Technologies into Precision Agriculture methods has clear benefits. Precision Agriculture optimises production efficiency, increases quality, minimises environmental impact and reduces the use of resources (energy, water); however, there are different barriers that have delayed its wide development. Some of these main barriers are expensive equipment, the difficulty to operate and maintain and the standard for sensor networks are still under development. Nowadays, new technological development in embedded devices (hardware and communication protocols), the evolution of Internet technologies (Internet of Things) and ubiquitous computing (Ubiquitous Sensor Networks) allow developing less expensive systems, easier to control, install and maintain, using standard protocols with low-power consumption. This work develops and test a low-cost sensor/actuator network platform, based in Internet of Things, integrating machine-to-machine and human-machine-interface protocols. Edge computing uses this multi-protocol approach to develop control processes on Precision Agriculture scenarios. A greenhouse with hydroponic crop production was developed and tested using Ubiquitous Sensor Network monitoring and edge control on Internet of Things paradigm. The experimental results showed that the Internet technologies and Smart Object Communication Patterns can be combined to encourage development of Precision Agriculture. They demonstrated added benefits (cost, energy, smart developing, acceptance by agricultural specialists) when a project is launched.

  20. Developing Ubiquitous Sensor Network Platform Using Internet of Things: Application in Precision Agriculture

    PubMed Central

    Ferrández-Pastor, Francisco Javier; García-Chamizo, Juan Manuel; Nieto-Hidalgo, Mario; Mora-Pascual, Jerónimo; Mora-Martínez, José

    2016-01-01

    The application of Information Technologies into Precision Agriculture methods has clear benefits. Precision Agriculture optimises production efficiency, increases quality, minimises environmental impact and reduces the use of resources (energy, water); however, there are different barriers that have delayed its wide development. Some of these main barriers are expensive equipment, the difficulty to operate and maintain and the standard for sensor networks are still under development. Nowadays, new technological development in embedded devices (hardware and communication protocols), the evolution of Internet technologies (Internet of Things) and ubiquitous computing (Ubiquitous Sensor Networks) allow developing less expensive systems, easier to control, install and maintain, using standard protocols with low-power consumption. This work develops and test a low-cost sensor/actuator network platform, based in Internet of Things, integrating machine-to-machine and human-machine-interface protocols. Edge computing uses this multi-protocol approach to develop control processes on Precision Agriculture scenarios. A greenhouse with hydroponic crop production was developed and tested using Ubiquitous Sensor Network monitoring and edge control on Internet of Things paradigm. The experimental results showed that the Internet technologies and Smart Object Communication Patterns can be combined to encourage development of Precision Agriculture. They demonstrated added benefits (cost, energy, smart developing, acceptance by agricultural specialists) when a project is launched. PMID:27455265

  1. APPROACHES FOR MEASURING APPLICATOR EXPOSURE IN THE AGRICULTURAL HEALTH STUDY/PESTICIDE EXPOSURE STUDY

    EPA Science Inventory

    The Agricultural Health Study (AHS) is a prospective epidemiologic study of a large cohort of pesticide applicators and their spouses in Iowa and North Carolina. The Pesticide Exposure Study is a sub-study to evaluate exposure factors and to provide data to assess exposure cla...

  2. Revitalization of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria for sustainable development in agriculture.

    PubMed

    Gouda, Sushanto; Kerry, Rout George; Das, Gitishree; Paramithiotis, Spiros; Shin, Han-Seung; Patra, Jayanta Kumar

    2018-01-01

    The progression of life in all forms is not only dependent on agricultural and food security but also on the soil characteristics. The dynamic nature of soil is a direct manifestation of soil microbes, bio-mineralization, and synergistic co-evolution with plants. With the increase in world's population the demand for agriculture yield has increased tremendously and thereby leading to large scale production of chemical fertilizers. Since the use of fertilizers and pesticides in the agricultural fields have caused degradation of soil quality and fertility, thus the expansion of agricultural land with fertile soil is near impossible, hence researchers and scientists have sifted their attention for a safer and productive means of agricultural practices. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) has been functioning as a co-evolution between plants and microbes showing antagonistic and synergistic interactions with microorganisms and the soil. Microbial revitalization using plant growth promoters had been achieved through direct and indirect approaches like bio-fertilization, invigorating root growth, rhizoremediation, disease resistance etc. Although, there are a wide variety of PGPR and its allies, their role and usages for sustainable agriculture remains controversial and restricted. There is also variability in the performance of PGPR that may be due to various environmental factors that might affect their growth and proliferation in the plants. These gaps and limitations can be addressed through use of modern approaches and techniques such as nano-encapsulation and micro-encapsulation along with exploring multidisciplinary research that combines applications in biotechnology, nanotechnology, agro biotechnology, chemical engineering and material science and bringing together different ecological and functional biological approaches to provide new formulations and opportunities with immense potential. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  3. 40 CFR 63.747 - Standards: Chemical milling maskant application operations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 11 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Standards: Chemical milling maskant... Standards: Chemical milling maskant application operations. (a) Each owner or operator of a new or existing chemical milling maskant operation subject to this subpart shall comply with the requirements specified in...

  4. Application of Terrestrial Microwave Remote Sensing to Agricultural Drought Monitoring

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Crow, W. T.; Bolten, J. D.

    2014-12-01

    Root-zone soil moisture information is a valuable diagnostic for detecting the onset and severity of agricultural drought. Current attempts to globally monitor root-zone soil moisture are generally based on the application of soil water balance models driven by observed meteorological variables. Such systems, however, are prone to random error associated with: incorrect process model physics, poor parameter choices and noisy meteorological inputs. The presentation will describe attempts to remediate these sources of error via the assimilation of remotely-sensed surface soil moisture retrievals from satellite-based passive microwave sensors into a global soil water balance model. Results demonstrate the ability of satellite-based soil moisture retrieval products to significantly improve the global characterization of root-zone soil moisture - particularly in data-poor regions lacking adequate ground-based rain gage instrumentation. This success has lead to an on-going effort to implement an operational land data assimilation system at the United States Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) to globally monitor variations in root-zone soil moisture availability via the integration of satellite-based precipitation and soil moisture information. Prospects for improving the performance of the USDA FAS system via the simultaneous assimilation of both passive and active-based soil moisture retrievals derived from the upcoming NASA Soil Moisture Active/Passive mission will also be discussed.

  5. Application of the Doppler lidar system to agricultural burning and air-sea interactions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fitzjarrald, D.

    1980-01-01

    The Doppler lidar system is potentially a very powerful measurement system. Three areas concerning the system are discussed: (1) error analysis of the system to verify the results; (2) application of the system to agricultural burning in California central valley; and (3) oceanographic possibilities of the system.

  6. 29 CFR 780.509 - Agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Agriculture. 780.509 Section 780.509 Labor Regulations... INTERPRETATION NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO REGULATIONS EXEMPTIONS APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE, PROCESSING OF... Section 13(a)(14) Shade-Grown Tobacco § 780.509 Agriculture. The definition of “agriculture,” as contained...

  7. 29 CFR 780.509 - Agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Agriculture. 780.509 Section 780.509 Labor Regulations... INTERPRETATION NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO REGULATIONS EXEMPTIONS APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE, PROCESSING OF... Section 13(a)(14) Shade-Grown Tobacco § 780.509 Agriculture. The definition of “agriculture,” as contained...

  8. 29 CFR 780.509 - Agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Agriculture. 780.509 Section 780.509 Labor Regulations... INTERPRETATION NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO REGULATIONS EXEMPTIONS APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE, PROCESSING OF... Section 13(a)(14) Shade-Grown Tobacco § 780.509 Agriculture. The definition of “agriculture,” as contained...

  9. 29 CFR 780.509 - Agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Agriculture. 780.509 Section 780.509 Labor Regulations... INTERPRETATION NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO REGULATIONS EXEMPTIONS APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE, PROCESSING OF... Section 13(a)(14) Shade-Grown Tobacco § 780.509 Agriculture. The definition of “agriculture,” as contained...

  10. 29 CFR 780.509 - Agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Agriculture. 780.509 Section 780.509 Labor Regulations... INTERPRETATION NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO REGULATIONS EXEMPTIONS APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE, PROCESSING OF... Section 13(a)(14) Shade-Grown Tobacco § 780.509 Agriculture. The definition of “agriculture,” as contained...

  11. Sustainability of Agricultural Systems: Concept to Application

    EPA Science Inventory

    Agriculture not only feeds the planet, it also is the biggest overall factor affecting the environment. Thus, innovative sustainable farming systems that produce healthy food and protect the environment at the same time are very much needed. We, as agricultural engineers, need ...

  12. Nanoagroparticles emerging trends and future prospect in modern agriculture system.

    PubMed

    Baker, Syed; Volova, Tatiana; Prudnikova, Svetlana V; Satish, S; Prasad M N, Nagendra

    2017-07-01

    Increment of technical knowledge has remarkably uplifted logical thinking among scientific communities to shape the theoretical concepts into near product-oriented research. The concept of nanotechnology has overwhelmed almost all forms of lives and has traded its applications in myriad fields. Despite rapid expansion of nanotechnology, sustainable competitions still do exist in the field of agriculture. In current scenario, agriculture is a manifestation demand to provide adequate nutrition for relentless growing global population. It is estimated that nearly one-third of the global crop production is destroyed annually. The loss owes to various stresses such as pest infestation, microbial pathogens, weeds, natural calamities, lack of soil fertility and much more. In order to overcome these limitations, various technological strategies are implemented but a majority of these have their own repercussions. Hence there is a scrawling progress on the evaluation of nanoparticles into agriculture sector which can reform the modern agricultural system. Applications of these nanomaterials can add tremendous value in the current scenario of a global food scarcity. Nanotechnology can address the adverse effects posed by the abundant use of chemical agrochemicals which are reported to cause biomagnification in an ecosystem. Based on these facts and consideration, present review envisages on nanoparticles as nanoherbicides, nanopesticides, onsite detection agro-pathogens and nanoparticles in post harvest management. The review also elucidates on the importance of nanoparticles in soil fertility, irrigation management and its influence on improving crop yield. With scanty reports available on nanotechnology in agriculture system, present review attributes toward developing nanoagroparticles as the future prospect which can give new facelift for existing agriculture system. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Evaluation of DeNitrification DeComposition Model to Estimate Ammonia Fluxes from Chemical Fertilizer Application

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Balasubramanian, S.; Nelson, A. J.; Koloutsou-Vakakis, S.; Lin, J.; Myles, L.; Rood, M. J.

    2016-12-01

    Biogeochemical models such as DeNitrification DeComposition (DNDC) are used to model greenhouse and other trace gas fluxes (e.g., ammonia (NH3)) from agricultural ecosystems. NH3 is of interest to air quality because it is a precursor to ambient particulate matter. NH3 fluxes from chemical fertilizer application are uncertain due to dependence on local weather and soil properties, and farm nitrogen management practices. DNDC can be advantageously implemented to model the underlying spatial and temporal trends to support air quality modeling. However, such implementation, requires a detailed evaluation of model predictions, and model behavior. This is the first study to assess DNDC predictions of NH3 fluxes to/from the atmosphere, from chemical fertilizer application, during an entire crop growing season, in the United States. Relaxed eddy accumulation (REA) measurements over corn in Central Illinois, in year 2014, were used to evaluate magnitude and trends in modeled NH3 fluxes. DNDC was able to replicate both magnitude and trends in measured NH3 fluxes, with greater accuracy during the initial 33 days after application, when NH3 was mostly emitted to the atmosphere. However, poorer performance was observed when depositional fluxes were measured. Sensitivity analysis using Monte Carlo simulations indicated that modeled NH3 fluxes were most sensitive to input air temperature and precipitation, soil organic carbon, field capacity and pH and fertilizer loading rate, timing, and application depth and tilling date. By constraining these inputs for conditions in Central Illinois, uncertainty in annual NH3 fluxes was estimated to vary from -87% to 61%. Results from this study provides insight to further improve DNDC predictions and inform efforts for upscaling site predictions to regional scale for the development of emission inventories for air quality modeling.

  14. Application of Unmanned Aerial Systems in Spatial Downscaling of Landsat VIR imageries of Agricultural Fields

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Torres, A.; Hassan Esfahani, L.; Ebtehaj, A.; McKee, M.

    2016-12-01

    While coarse space-time resolution of satellite observations in visible to near infrared (VIR) is a serious limiting factor for applications in precision agriculture, high resolution remotes sensing observation by the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) systems are also site-specific and still practically restrictive for widespread applications in precision agriculture. We present a modern spatial downscaling approach that relies on new sparse approximation techniques. The downscaling approach learns from a large set of coincident low- and high-resolution satellite and UAS observations to effectively downscale the satellite imageries in VIR bands. We focus on field experiments using the AggieAirTM platform and Landsat 7 ETM+ and Landsat 8 OLI observations obtained in an intensive field campaign in 2013 over an agriculture field in Scipio, Utah. The results show that the downscaling methods can effectively increase the resolution of Landsat VIR imageries by the order of 2 to 4 from 30 m to 15 and 7.5 m, respectively. Specifically, on average, the downscaling method reduces the root mean squared errors up to 26%, considering bias corrected AggieAir imageries as the reference.

  15. Identification of high payoff research for more efficient applicator helicopters in agriculture and forestry

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Waters, K. T.

    1979-01-01

    The results of a study of the uses of helicopters in agriculture and forestry in the United States are discussed. Comparisons with agricultural airplanes are made in terms of costs of aerial application to the growers. An analysis of cost drivers and potential improvements to helicopters that will lower costs is presented. Future trends are discussed, and recommendations for research are outlined. Operational safety hazards and accident records are examined, and problem areas are identified. Areas where research and development are needed to provide opportunities for lowering costs while increasing productivity are analyzed.

  16. A steady state model of agricultural waste pyrolysis: A mini review.

    PubMed

    Trninić, M; Jovović, A; Stojiljković, D

    2016-09-01

    Agricultural waste is one of the main renewable energy resources available, especially in an agricultural country such as Serbia. Pyrolysis has already been considered as an attractive alternative for disposal of agricultural waste, since the technique can convert this special biomass resource into granular charcoal, non-condensable gases and pyrolysis oils, which could furnish profitable energy and chemical products owing to their high calorific value. In this regard, the development of thermochemical processes requires a good understanding of pyrolysis mechanisms. Experimental and some literature data on the pyrolysis characteristics of corn cob and several other agricultural residues under inert atmosphere were structured and analysed in order to obtain conversion behaviour patterns of agricultural residues during pyrolysis within the temperature range from 300 °C to 1000 °C. Based on experimental and literature data analysis, empirical relationships were derived, including relations between the temperature of the process and yields of charcoal, tar and gas (CO2, CO, H2 and CH4). An analytical semi-empirical model was then used as a tool to analyse the general trends of biomass pyrolysis. Although this semi-empirical model needs further refinement before application to all types of biomass, its prediction capability was in good agreement with results obtained by the literature review. The compact representation could be used in other applications, to conveniently extrapolate and interpolate these results to other temperatures and biomass types. © The Author(s) 2016.

  17. Remote sensing applied to agriculture: Basic principles, methodology, and applications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dejesusparada, N. (Principal Investigator); Mendonca, F. J.

    1981-01-01

    The general principles of remote sensing techniques as applied to agriculture and the methods of data analysis are described. the theoretical spectral responses of crops; reflectance, transmittance, and absorbtance of plants; interactions of plants and soils with reflectance energy; leaf morphology; and factors which affect the reflectance of vegetation cover are dicussed. The methodologies of visual and computer-aided analyses of LANDSAT data are presented. Finally, a case study wherein infrared film was used to detect crop anomalies and other data applications are described.

  18. 40 CFR 430.80 - Applicability; description of the non-wood chemical pulp subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ...-wood chemical pulp subcategory. 430.80 Section 430.80 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Non-Wood Chemical Pulp Subcategory § 430.80 Applicability; description of the non-wood chemical pulp subcategory. The provisions of this subpart are applicable to discharges resulting...

  19. 40 CFR 430.80 - Applicability; description of the non-wood chemical pulp subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ...-wood chemical pulp subcategory. 430.80 Section 430.80 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Non-Wood Chemical Pulp Subcategory § 430.80 Applicability; description of the non-wood chemical pulp subcategory. The provisions of this subpart are applicable to discharges resulting...

  20. 40 CFR 430.80 - Applicability; description of the non-wood chemical pulp subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ...-wood chemical pulp subcategory. 430.80 Section 430.80 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... POINT SOURCE CATEGORY Non-Wood Chemical Pulp Subcategory § 430.80 Applicability; description of the non-wood chemical pulp subcategory. The provisions of this subpart are applicable to discharges resulting...

  1. Prostate cancer incidence and agriculture practices in Georgia, 2000-2010.

    PubMed

    Welton, Michael; Robb, Sara W; Shen, Ye; Guillebeau, Paul; Vena, John

    2015-01-01

    Georgia has prostate cancer incidence rates consistently above the national average. A notable portion of Georgia's economy is rooted in agricultural production, and agricultural practices have been associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer. Statistical analyses considered county age-adjusted prostate cancer incidence rates as the outcome of interest and three agricultural variables (farmland as percent of county land, dollars spent per county acre on agriculture chemicals, and dollars spent per county acre on commercial fertilizers) as exposures of interest. Multivariate linear regression models analyzed for each separately. Data were obtained from National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) 2000-2010, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 1987 Agriculture Survey, and 2010 US Census. In counties with equal to or greater than Georgia counties' median percent African-American population (27%), dollars per acre spent on agriculture chemicals was significantly associated (P = 0.04) and dollars spent of commercial fertilizers was moderately associated (P = 0.07) with elevated prostate cancer incidence rates. There was no association between percent of county farmland and prostate cancer rates. This study identified associations between prostate cancer incidence rates, agriculture chemical expenditure, and commercial fertilizer expenditure in Georgia counties with a population comprised of more than 27% of African Americans.

  2. Chemical probes targeting epigenetic proteins: Applications beyond oncology

    PubMed Central

    Ackloo, Suzanne; Brown, Peter J.; Müller, Susanne

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT Epigenetic chemical probes are potent, cell-active, small molecule inhibitors or antagonists of specific domains in a protein; they have been indispensable for studying bromodomains and protein methyltransferases. The Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC), comprising scientists from academic and pharmaceutical laboratories, has generated most of the current epigenetic chemical probes. Moreover, the SGC has shared about 4 thousand aliquots of these probes, which have been used primarily for phenotypic profiling or to validate targets in cell lines or primary patient samples cultured in vitro. Epigenetic chemical probes have been critical tools in oncology research and have uncovered mechanistic insights into well-established targets, as well as identify new therapeutic starting points. Indeed, the literature primarily links epigenetic proteins to oncology, but applications in inflammation, viral, metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases are now being reported. We summarize the literature of these emerging applications and provide examples where existing probes might be used. PMID:28080202

  3. Chemical preparation of graphene-based nanomaterials and their applications in chemical and biological sensors.

    PubMed

    Jiang, Hongji

    2011-09-05

    Graphene is a flat monolayer of carbon atoms packed tightly into a 2D honeycomb lattice that shows many intriguing properties meeting the key requirements for the implementation of highly excellent sensors, and all kinds of proof-of-concept sensors have been devised. To realize the potential sensor applications, the key is to synthesize graphene in a controlled way to achieve enhanced solution-processing capabilities, and at the same time to maintain or even improve the intrinsic properties of graphene. Several production techniques for graphene-based nanomaterials have been developed, ranging from the mechanical cleavage and chemical exfoliation of high-quality graphene to direct growth onto different substrates and the chemical routes using graphite oxide as a precusor to the newly developed bottom-up approach at the molecular level. The current review critically explores the recent progress on the chemical preparation of graphene-based nanomaterials and their applications in sensors. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  4. Occurrence of Agricultural Chemicals in Shallow Ground Water and the Unsaturated Zone, Northeast Nebraska Glacial Till, 2002-04

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Stanton, Jennifer S.; Steele, Gregory V.; Vogel, Jason R.

    2007-01-01

    Agricultural chemicals applied at the land surface in northeast Nebraska can move downward, past the crop root zone, to ground water. Because agricultural chemicals applied at the land surface are more likely to be observed in the shallowest part of an aquifer, an assessment of shallow ground-water and unsaturated zone quality in the northeast Nebraska glacial till was completed between 2002 and 2004. Ground-water samples were collected at the first occurrence of ground water or just below the water table at 32 sites located in areas likely affected by agriculture. Four of the 32 sites were situated along a ground-water flow path with its downgradient end next to Maple Creek. Twenty-eight sites were installed immediately adjacent to agricultural fields throughout the glacial-till area. In addition to those 32 sites, two sites were installed in pastures to represent ground-water conditions in a non-cropland setting. Ground-water samples were analyzed for physical properties and concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus compounds, selected pesticides and pesticide degradates, dissolved solids, major ions, trace elements, and dissolved organic carbon. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) or sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) concentrations were analyzed at about 70 percent of the monitoring wells to estimate the residence time of ground water. Borehole-core samples were collected from 28 of the well boreholes. Sediment in the unsaturated zone was analyzed for nitrate, chloride, and ammonia concentrations. Analytical results indicated that the agricultural chemicals most often detected during this study were nitrates and herbicides. Nitrate as nitrogen (nitrate-N) concentrations (2003 median 9.53 milligrams per liter) indicated that human activity has affected the water quality of recently recharged ground water in approximately two-thirds of the wells near corn and soybean fields. The principal pesticide compounds that were detected reflect the most-used pesticides in the area and

  5. Phenylurea herbicide sorption to biochars and agricultural soil

    PubMed Central

    WANG, DAOYUAN; MUKOME, FUNGAI N. D.; YAN, DENGHUA; WANG, HAO; SCOW, KATE M.; PARIKH, SANJAI J.

    2016-01-01

    Biochar is increasingly been used as a soil amendment to improve water holding capacity, reduce nutrient leaching, increase soil pH and also as a means to reduce contamination through sorption of heavy metals or organic pollutants. The sorption behavior of three phenylurea herbicides (monuron, diuron, linuron) on five biochars (Enhanced Biochar, Hog Waste, Turkey Litter, Walnut Shell and Wood Feedstock) and an agricultural soil (Yolo silt loam) was investigated using a batch equilibration method. Sorption isotherms of herbicides to biochars were well described by the Freundlich model (R2 = 0.93 -- 0.97). The adsorption KF values ranged from 6.94 to 1306.95 mg kg−1 and indicated the sorption of herbicides in the biochars and Yolo soil was in the sequence of linuron > diuron > monuron and walnut shell biochar > wood feedstock biochar > turkey litter biochar > enhanced biochar > hog waste biochar > Yolo soil. These data show that sorption of herbicides to biochar can have both positive (reduced off-site transport) and negative (reduced herbicide efficacy) implications and specific biochar properties, such as H/C ratio and surface area, should be considered together with soil type, agriculture chemical and climate condition in biochar application to agricultural soil to optimize the system for both agricultural and environmental benefits. PMID:26065514

  6. Radiological Impact of Phosphogypsum Application in Agriculture

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Dias, Nivea M. P.; Caires, Eduardo F.; Pires, Luiz F.

    2010-08-04

    Phosphogypsum (PG) contains radionuclides from {sup 238}U and {sup 232}Th decay series. Due to the presence of these radionuclides, many countries restricted the use of PG in agriculture, however there is not such restriction in Brazil. The main objective of this work was to evaluate the impact of PG application on {sup 226}Ra ({sup 238}U) and {sup 228}Ra ({sup 232}Th) concentrations in soil. Gamma-spectrometry was carried out using HPGe detector. No increment of {sup 226}Ra and {sup 228}Ra was observed for increasing PG doses. Average values found for {sup 226}Ra and {sup 228}Ra were respectively 37 Bq kg{sup -1} andmore » 57 Bq kg{sup -1}. The results showed that the increasing PG doses in the specific conditions of the experiment did not cause a significant increment of radionuclides.« less

  7. Ecological and health risk-based characterization of agricultural soils contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the vicinity of a chemical plant in China.

    PubMed

    Liu, Geng; Niu, Junjie; Guo, Wenjiong; An, Xiangsheng; Zhao, Long

    2016-11-01

    Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from chemical plants can cause serious pollution of surrounding agricultural soils. A comprehensive study of agricultural soils was conducted in the vicinity of a chemical plant in China to characterize the soil PAH concentration, as well as their composition and sources. Human health and a screening-level ecological risk assessment were conducted for PAH contamination in agricultural soils. The results showed that the total concentrations of 16 priority PAHs ranged from 250.49 to 9387.26 ng g(-1), with an average of 2780.42 ng g(-1). High molecular weight PAHs (four to six rings) were the dominant component, accounting for more than 60% of all PAHs. Principal component analysis (PCA) and positive matrix factorization model (PMF) suggested that diesel emissions, coal combustion, coke ovens, and fuel combustion and gasoline emissions were the main sources of PAHs in agricultural soils. The ecological risk assessment results based on the effects range-low (ERL), the effects range-median (ERM), and the ecological screening levels (ESL) indicated that the exposure to ∑PAH16 was >ERL, >ERM, and ≥ERL and ESL at 78.1% of the soil sampling stations, and could induce biological effects in mammals. The Bapeq concentrations posed a potential carcinogenic risk to humans. Further risk management and control of soil PAHs in these agricultural soils is required to ensure the safety of the biocoenosis and human health. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Application of Sludges and Wastewaters on Agricultural Land: A Planning and Educational Guide, MCD-35. Research Bulletin 1090.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Knezek, Bernard D., Ed.; Miller, Robert H., Ed.

    This report addresses the application of agricultural processing wastes, industrial and municipal wastes on agricultural land as both a waste management and resource recovery and reuse practice. The document emphasizes the treatment and beneficial utilization of sludge and wastewater as opposed to waste disposal. These objectives are achieved…

  9. Unexpected stimulation of soil methane uptake as emergent property of agricultural soils following bio-based residue application.

    PubMed

    Ho, Adrian; Reim, Andreas; Kim, Sang Yoon; Meima-Franke, Marion; Termorshuizen, Aad; de Boer, Wietse; van der Putten, Wim H; Bodelier, Paul L E

    2015-10-01

    Intensification of agriculture to meet the global food, feed, and bioenergy demand entail increasing re-investment of carbon compounds (residues) into agro-systems to prevent decline of soil quality and fertility. However, agricultural intensification decreases soil methane uptake, reducing, and even causing the loss of the methane sink function. In contrast to wetland agricultural soils (rice paddies), the methanotrophic potential in well-aerated agricultural soils have received little attention, presumably due to the anticipated low or negligible methane uptake capacity in these soils. Consequently, a detailed study verifying or refuting this assumption is still lacking. Exemplifying a typical agricultural practice, we determined the impact of bio-based residue application on soil methane flux, and determined the methanotrophic potential, including a qualitative (diagnostic microarray) and quantitative (group-specific qPCR assays) analysis of the methanotrophic community after residue amendments over 2 months. Unexpectedly, after amendments with specific residues, we detected a significant transient stimulation of methane uptake confirmed by both the methane flux measurements and methane oxidation assay. This stimulation was apparently a result of induced cell-specific activity, rather than growth of the methanotroph population. Although transient, the heightened methane uptake offsets up to 16% of total gaseous CO2 emitted during the incubation. The methanotrophic community, predominantly comprised of Methylosinus may facilitate methane oxidation in the agricultural soils. While agricultural soils are generally regarded as a net methane source or a relatively weak methane sink, our results show that methane oxidation rate can be stimulated, leading to higher soil methane uptake. Hence, even if agriculture exerts an adverse impact on soil methane uptake, implementing carefully designed management strategies (e.g. repeated application of specific residues) may

  10. Recovery of agricultural nutrients from biorefineries.

    PubMed

    Carey, Daniel E; Yang, Yu; McNamara, Patrick J; Mayer, Brooke K

    2016-09-01

    This review lays the foundation for why nutrient recovery must be a key consideration in design and operation of biorefineries and comprehensively reviews technologies that can be used to recover an array of nitrogen, phosphorus, and/or potassium-rich products of relevance to agricultural applications. Recovery of these products using combinations of physical, chemical, and biological operations will promote sustainability at biorefineries by converting low-value biomass (particularly waste material) into a portfolio of higher-value products. These products can include a natural partnering of traditional biorefinery outputs such as biofuels and chemicals together with nutrient-rich fertilizers. Nutrient recovery not only adds an additional marketable biorefinery product, but also avoids the negative consequences of eutrophication, and helps to close anthropogenic nutrient cycles, thereby providing an alternative to current unsustainable approaches to fertilizer production, which are energy-intensive and reliant on nonrenewable natural resource extraction. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. 7 CFR 305.11 - Miscellaneous chemical treatments.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Miscellaneous chemical treatments. 305.11 Section 305... INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE PHYTOSANITARY TREATMENTS Chemical Treatments § 305.11 Miscellaneous chemical treatments. (a) CC1 for citrus canker. The fruit must be thoroughly wetted for at least 2...

  12. Applications of the Cambridge Structural Database in chemical education.

    PubMed

    Battle, Gary M; Ferrence, Gregory M; Allen, Frank H

    2010-10-01

    The Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) is a vast and ever growing compendium of accurate three-dimensional structures that has massive chemical diversity across organic and metal-organic compounds. For these reasons, the CSD is finding significant uses in chemical education, and these applications are reviewed. As part of the teaching initiative of the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC), a teaching subset of more than 500 CSD structures has been created that illustrate key chemical concepts, and a number of teaching modules have been devised that make use of this subset in a teaching environment. All of this material is freely available from the CCDC website, and the subset can be freely viewed and interrogated using WebCSD, an internet application for searching and displaying CSD information content. In some cases, however, the complete CSD System is required for specific educational applications, and some examples of these more extensive teaching modules are also discussed. The educational value of visualizing real three-dimensional structures, and of handling real experimental results, is stressed throughout.

  13. Research and application of method of oxygen isotope of inorganic phosphate in Beijing agricultural soils.

    PubMed

    Tian, Liyan; Guo, Qingjun; Zhu, Yongguan; He, Huijun; Lang, Yunchao; Hu, Jian; Zhang, Han; Wei, Rongfei; Han, Xiaokun; Peters, Marc; Yang, Junxing

    2016-12-01

    Phosphorus (P) in agricultural ecosystems is an essential and limited element for plants and microorganisms. However, environmental problems caused by P accumulation as well as by P loss have become more and more serious. Oxygen isotopes of phosphate can trace the sources, migration, and transformation of P in agricultural soils. In order to use the isotopes of phosphate oxygen, appropriate extraction and purification methods for inorganic phosphate from soils are necessary. Here, we combined two different methods to analyze the oxygen isotopic composition of inorganic phosphate (δ 18 O P ) from chemical fertilizers and different fractions (Milli-Q water, 0.5 mol L -1 NaHCO 3 (pH = 8.5), 0.1 mol L -1 NaOH and 1 mol L -1 HCl) of agricultural soils from the Beijing area. The δ 18 O P results of the water extracts and NaHCO 3 extracts in most samples were close to the calculated equilibrium value. These phenomena can be explained by rapid P cycling in soils and the influence of chemical fertilizers. The δ 18 O P value of the water extracts and NaHCO 3 extracts in some soil samples below the equilibrium value may be caused by the hydrolysis of organic P fractions mediated by extracellular enzymes. The δ 18 O P values of the NaOH extracts were above the calculated equilibrium value reflecting the balance state between microbial uptake of phosphate and the release of intracellular phosphate back to the soil. The HCl extracts with the lowest δ 18 O P values and highest phosphate concentrations indicated that the HCl fraction was affected by microbial activity. Hence, these δ 18 O p values likely reflected the oxygen isotopic values of the parent materials. The results suggested that phosphate oxygen isotope analyses could be an effective tool in order to trace phosphate sources, transformation processes, and its utilization by microorganisms in agricultural soils.

  14. Application of Convolutional Neural Network in Classification of High Resolution Agricultural Remote Sensing Images

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yao, C.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, Y.; Liu, H.

    2017-09-01

    With the rapid development of Precision Agriculture (PA) promoted by high-resolution remote sensing, it makes significant sense in management and estimation of agriculture through crop classification of high-resolution remote sensing image. Due to the complex and fragmentation of the features and the surroundings in the circumstance of high-resolution, the accuracy of the traditional classification methods has not been able to meet the standard of agricultural problems. In this case, this paper proposed a classification method for high-resolution agricultural remote sensing images based on convolution neural networks(CNN). For training, a large number of training samples were produced by panchromatic images of GF-1 high-resolution satellite of China. In the experiment, through training and testing on the CNN under the toolbox of deep learning by MATLAB, the crop classification finally got the correct rate of 99.66 % after the gradual optimization of adjusting parameter during training. Through improving the accuracy of image classification and image recognition, the applications of CNN provide a reference value for the field of remote sensing in PA.

  15. Recent advances in chemical modification and processing of cotton fibers for specific end-use applications

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The Cotton Chemistry and Utilization Research Unit is part of the Agricultural Research Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency. The Research Unit develops new processes, applications and product enabling technologies which facilitate the expanded use ...

  16. Applications of the chemical oxygen-iodine laser

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Latham, W. Pete; Kendrick, Kip R.; Quillen, Brian

    2000-01-01

    The Chemical Oxygen-Iodine Laser (COIL) has been developed at the Air Force Research Laboratory for military applications. For example, the COIL is to be use as the laser device for the ABL. A high power laser is useful for applications that require the delivery of a substantial amount of energy to a very small focused laser spot. The COIL is a member of the class of high power lasers that are also useful for industrial applications, including the materials processing task of high speed cutting and drilling. COIL technology has received considerable interest over the last several years due to its short, fiber- deliverable wavelength, scalability to very high powers, and demonstrated nearly diffraction-limited optical quality. These unique abilities make it an ideal candidate for nuclear reactor decommissioning and nuclear warhead dismantlement. Japanese researchers envision using a COIL for disaster cleanup and survivor rescue. It is also being studied by the oil and gas industry for well drilling. Any commercial or industrial application that requires very rapid, precise, and noninvasive cutting or drilling, could be readily accomplished with a COIL. Because of the substantial power levels available with a COIL, the laser could also be used for broad area applications such as paint stripping. This paper includes a collection of experiments accomplished at the Air Force Research Laboratory Chemical Laser Facility, including metal cutting, hole drilling, high power fiber optic transmission, and rock crushing.

  17. Addressing the complexity and diversity of agricultural plant volatiles: a call for the integration of laboratory- and field-based analyses

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    As the sophistication and sensitivity of chemical instrumentation increases so do the number of applications. Correspondingly, new questions and opportunities for systems previously studied also arise. As with most plants, the emission of volatiles from agricultural products is complex and varies am...

  18. Chemical composition of wildland and agricultural biomass burning particles measured downwind during the BBOP study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Onasch, T. B.; Shilling, J. E.; Wormhoudt, J.; Sedlacek, A. J., III; Fortner, E.; Pekour, M. S.; Chand, D.; Zhou, S.; Collier, S.; Zhang, Q.; Kleinman, L. I.; Lewis, E. R.; Yokelson, R. J.; Adachi, K.; Buseck, P. R.; Freedman, A.; Williams, L. R.

    2017-12-01

    The Biomass Burning Observation Project (BBOP), a Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored study, measured emissions from wildland fires in the Pacific Northwest and agricultural burns in the Central Southeastern US from the DOE Gulfstream-1 airborne platform over a four month period in 2013. Rapid physical, chemical and optical changes in biomass burning particles were measured downwind (< 3 hours temporally) from wildland fires. The chemical composition of the particulate emissions was characterized using an Aerodyne Soot Particle Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (SP-AMS) and a Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) and the measurement results will be presented in the context of the fire location, combustion conditions, and optical property measurements, including extinction and single scattering albedos. The SP-AMS was operated with both laser and resistively heated tungsten vaporizers, alternating between laser on and off. With the laser vaporizer off, the instrument operated as a standard high resolution AMS. Under these sampling conditions, the non-refractory chemical composition, including the level of oxidation (i.e., O:C, H:C, and organic mass/organic carbon ratios, OM:OC), of the biomass burning particles was characterized as a function of the fuel type burned, modified combustion efficiency, and degree of oxidation during downwind transport. With the laser vaporizer on, the SP-AMS was also sensitive to the refractory black carbon (rBC) content, in addition to the non-refractory components. The chemical measurements will be correlated with simultaneous optical measurements. We will also present preliminary results from laboratory studies on tar balls and SP-AMS OA quantification while operating with both laser and tungsten vaporizers.

  19. 40 CFR 414.60 - Applicability; description of the commodity organic chemicals subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... commodity organic chemicals subcategory. 414.60 Section 414.60 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS ORGANIC CHEMICALS, PLASTICS, AND SYNTHETIC FIBERS Commodity Organic Chemicals § 414.60 Applicability; description of the commodity organic chemicals...

  20. 40 CFR 414.80 - Applicability; description of the specialty organic chemicals subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... specialty organic chemicals subcategory. 414.80 Section 414.80 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS ORGANIC CHEMICALS, PLASTICS, AND SYNTHETIC FIBERS Specialty Organic Chemicals § 414.80 Applicability; description of the specialty organic chemicals...

  1. 40 CFR 414.80 - Applicability; description of the specialty organic chemicals subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... specialty organic chemicals subcategory. 414.80 Section 414.80 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS ORGANIC CHEMICALS, PLASTICS, AND SYNTHETIC FIBERS Specialty Organic Chemicals § 414.80 Applicability; description of the specialty organic chemicals...

  2. 40 CFR 414.80 - Applicability; description of the specialty organic chemicals subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... specialty organic chemicals subcategory. 414.80 Section 414.80 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS ORGANIC CHEMICALS, PLASTICS, AND SYNTHETIC FIBERS Specialty Organic Chemicals § 414.80 Applicability; description of the specialty organic chemicals...

  3. 40 CFR 414.60 - Applicability; description of the commodity organic chemicals subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... commodity organic chemicals subcategory. 414.60 Section 414.60 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS ORGANIC CHEMICALS, PLASTICS, AND SYNTHETIC FIBERS Commodity Organic Chemicals § 414.60 Applicability; description of the commodity organic chemicals...

  4. 40 CFR 414.60 - Applicability; description of the commodity organic chemicals subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... commodity organic chemicals subcategory. 414.60 Section 414.60 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS ORGANIC CHEMICALS, PLASTICS, AND SYNTHETIC FIBERS Commodity Organic Chemicals § 414.60 Applicability; description of the commodity organic chemicals...

  5. 40 CFR 414.60 - Applicability; description of the commodity organic chemicals subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... commodity organic chemicals subcategory. 414.60 Section 414.60 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS ORGANIC CHEMICALS, PLASTICS, AND SYNTHETIC FIBERS Commodity Organic Chemicals § 414.60 Applicability; description of the commodity organic chemicals...

  6. 40 CFR 414.80 - Applicability; description of the specialty organic chemicals subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... specialty organic chemicals subcategory. 414.80 Section 414.80 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS ORGANIC CHEMICALS, PLASTICS, AND SYNTHETIC FIBERS Specialty Organic Chemicals § 414.80 Applicability; description of the specialty organic chemicals...

  7. 40 CFR 414.60 - Applicability; description of the commodity organic chemicals subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... commodity organic chemicals subcategory. 414.60 Section 414.60 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS ORGANIC CHEMICALS, PLASTICS, AND SYNTHETIC FIBERS Commodity Organic Chemicals § 414.60 Applicability; description of the commodity organic chemicals...

  8. 40 CFR 414.80 - Applicability; description of the specialty organic chemicals subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... specialty organic chemicals subcategory. 414.80 Section 414.80 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS ORGANIC CHEMICALS, PLASTICS, AND SYNTHETIC FIBERS Specialty Organic Chemicals § 414.80 Applicability; description of the specialty organic chemicals...

  9. GEMAS: Unmixing magnetic properties of European agricultural soil

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fabian, Karl; Reimann, Clemens; Kuzina, Dilyara; Kosareva, Lina; Fattakhova, Leysan; Nurgaliev, Danis

    2016-04-01

    High resolution magnetic measurements provide new methods for world-wide characterization and monitoring of agricultural soil which is essential for quantifying geologic and human impact on the critical zone environment and consequences of climatic change, for planning economic and ecological land use, and for forensic applications. Hysteresis measurements of all Ap samples from the GEMAS survey yield a comprehensive overview of mineral magnetic properties in European agricultural soil on a continental scale. Low (460 Hz), and high frequency (4600 Hz) magnetic susceptibility k were measured using a Bartington MS2B sensor. Hysteresis properties were determined by a J-coercivity spectrometer, built at the paleomagnetic laboratory of Kazan University, providing for each sample a modified hysteresis loop, backfield curve, acquisition curve of isothermal remanent magnetization, and a viscous IRM decay spectrum. Each measurement set is obtained in a single run from zero field up to 1.5 T and back to -1.5 T. The resulting data are used to create the first continental-scale maps of magnetic soil parameters. Because the GEMAS geochemical atlas contains a comprehensive set of geochemical data for the same soil samples, the new data can be used to map magnetic parameters in relation to chemical and geological parameters. The data set also provides a unique opportunity to analyze the magnetic mineral fraction of the soil samples by unmixing their IRM acquisition curves. The endmember coefficients are interpreted by linear inversion for other magnetic, physical and chemical properties which results in an unprecedented and detailed view of the mineral magnetic composition of European agricultural soils.

  10. Physical and chemical characterization of biochars derived from different agricultural residues

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jindo, K.; Mizumoto, H.; Sawada, Y.; Sanchez-Monedero, M. A.; Sonoki, T.

    2014-12-01

    Biochar is widely recognized as an efficient tool for carbon sequestration and soil fertility. The understanding of its chemical and physical properties, which are strongly related to the type of the initial material used and pyrolysis conditions, is crucial to identify the most suitable application of biochar in soil. A selection of organic wastes with different characteristics (e.g., rice husk (RH), rice straw (RS), wood chips of apple tree (Malus pumila) (AB), and oak tree (Quercus serrata) (OB)) were pyrolyzed at different temperatures (400, 500, 600, 700, and 800 °C) in order to optimize the physicochemical properties of biochar as a soil amendment. Low-temperature pyrolysis produced high biochar yields; in contrast, high-temperature pyrolysis led to biochars with a high C content, large surface area, and high adsorption characteristics. Biochar obtained at 600 °C leads to a high recalcitrant character, whereas that obtained at 400 °C retains volatile and easily labile compounds. The biochar obtained from rice materials (RH and RS) showed a high yield and unique chemical properties because of the incorporation of silica elements into its chemical structure. The biochar obtained from wood materials (AB and OB) showed high carbon content and a high absorption character.

  11. Application of aerobic composting system for space agriculture

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Oshima, Tairo; Yoshii, Takahiro; Moriya, Toshiyuki; Yamashita, Masamichi

    Composting is a classical technique to decompose organic wastes such as animal bodies, straw, paper, raw sludge, and so on. Compared with burning of wastes, the composting method has many advantages. It is an inexpensive and safer method because of its self-heating without spending extra energy resources. It does not emit toxic pollutants such as dioxin, NOx , and SOx . The composting products can be used as organic fertilizers for agricultural production. Composting is a promising way for digesting organic wastes safely on spaceships or manned exploration on extraterrestrial planets. We have developed a small scale high-temperature composter in order to examine its feasobility to operate food waste disposing facility and fertilizer production in space. This composter has a heated reaction vessel containing compost soil (seed bacteria) provided by a compost factory. To determine the optimal condition for its operation, we analyzed the effect of temperature on metabolic activity (CO2 production rate), and water content. The dynamics of microbial community was studied by polymerase chain reaction - denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE). Water content was maintained to a range between 27% and 40% by continuously adding water. The highest CO2 emission was observed at around 70° C. PCR-DGGE analysis shows that the bacterial community of the compost soil is dramatically changed by changing reaction temperature. We will discuss the application of the composter in space in order to establish the closed recycling loop of bio-elements in space agriculture.

  12. Applications of UAVs in row-crop agriculture: advantages and limitations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Basso, B.; Putnam, G.; Price, R.; Zhang, J.

    2016-12-01

    The application of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to monitor agricultural fields has increased over the last few years due to advances in the technology, sensors, post-processing software for image analysis, along with more favorable regulations that allowed UAVs to be flown for commercial use. UAV have several capabilities depending on the type of sensors that are mounted onboard. The most widely used application remains crop scouting to identify areas within fields where the crops underperform for various reasons (nutritional status and water stress, presence of weeds, poor stands etc). In this talk, we present the preliminary results of UAVs field based research to better understand spatial and temporal variability of crop yield. Their advantage in providing timely information is critical, but adaptive management requires a system approach to account for the interactions occurring between genetics, environment and management.

  13. Determinants of Captan Air and Dermal Exposures among Orchard Pesticide Applicators in the Agricultural Health Study

    PubMed Central

    Hines, Cynthia J.; Deddens, James A.; Coble, Joseph; Kamel, Freya; Alavanja, Michael C. R.

    2011-01-01

    Objectives: To identify and quantify determinants of captan exposure among 74 private orchard pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study (AHS). To adjust an algorithm used for estimating pesticide exposure intensity in the AHS based on these determinants and to compare the correlation of the adjusted and unadjusted algorithms with urinary captan metabolite levels. Methods: External exposure metrics included personal air, hand rinse, and dermal patch samples collected from each applicator on 2 days in 2002–2003. A 24-h urine sample was also collected. Exposure determinants were identified for each external metric using multiple linear regression models via the NLMIXED procedure in SAS. The AHS algorithm was adjusted, consistent with the identified determinants. Mixed-effect models were used to evaluate the correlation between the adjusted and unadjusted algorithm and urinary captan metabolite levels. Results: Consistent determinants of captan exposure were a measure of application size (kilogram of captan sprayed or application method), wearing chemical-resistant (CR) gloves and/or a coverall/suit, repairing spray equipment, and product formulation. Application by airblast was associated with a 4- to 5-fold increase in exposure as compared to hand spray. Exposure reduction to the hands, right thigh, and left forearm from wearing CR gloves averaged ∼80%, to the right and left thighs and right forearm from wearing a coverall/suit by ∼70%. Applicators using wettable powder formulations had significantly higher air, thigh, and forearm exposures than those using liquid formulations. Application method weights in the AHS algorithm were adjusted to nine for airblast and two for hand spray; protective equipment reduction factors were adjusted to 0.2 (CR gloves), 0.3 (coverall/suit), and 0.1 (both). Conclusions: Adjustment of application method, CR glove, and coverall weights in the AHS algorithm based on our exposure determinant findings substantially

  14. Geologic research in support of sustainable agriculture

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Gough, L.P.; Herring, J.R.

    1993-01-01

    The importance and role of the geosciences in studies of sustainable agriculture include such traditional research areas as, agromineral resource assessments, the mapping and classification of soils and soil amendments, and the evaluation of landscapes for their vulnerability to physical and chemical degradation. Less traditional areas of study, that are increasing in societal importance because of environmental concerns and research into sustainable systems in general, include regional geochemical studies of plant and animal trace element deficiencies and toxicities, broad-scale water quality investigations, agricultural chemicals and the hydrogeologic interface, and minimally processed and ion-exchange agrominerals. We discuss the importance and future of phosphate in the US and world based on human population growth, projected agromineral demands in general, and the unavailability of new, high-quality agricultural lands. We also present examples of studies that relate geochemistry and the hydrogeologic characteristics of a region to the bioavailability and cycling of trace elements important to sustainable agricultural systems. ?? 1993.

  15. Fuels and chemicals from biomass using solar thermal energy

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Giori, G.; Leitheiser, R.; Wayman, M.

    1981-01-01

    The significant nearer term opportunities for the application of solar thermal energy to the manufacture of fuels and chemicals from biomass are summarized, with some comments on resource availability, market potential and economics. Consideration is given to the production of furfural from agricultural residues, and the role of furfural and its derivatives as a replacement for petrochemicals in the plastics industry.

  16. Applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stern, Arthur M.

    1986-07-01

    Economic incentives have spurred numerous applications of genetically engineered organisms in manufacture of pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals. These successes, involving a variety of methods of genetic manipulation, have dispelled early fears that genetic engineering could not be handled safely, even in the laboratory. Consequently, the potential for applications in the wider environment without physical containment is being considered for agriculture, mining, pollution control, and pest control. These proposed applications range from modest extensions of current plant breeding techniques for new disease-resistant species to radical combinations of organisms (for example, nitrogen-fixing corn plants). These applications raise concerns about potential ecological impacts (see chapter 5), largely because of adverse experiences with both deliberate and inadvertent introductions of nonindigenous species.

  17. Advances in research on structural characterisation of agricultural products using atomic force microscopy.

    PubMed

    Liu, Dongli; Cheng, Fang

    2011-03-30

    Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has many unique features compared with other conventional microscopies, such as high magnification with high resolution, minimal sample preparation, acquiring 2D and 3D images at the same time, observing ongoing processes directly, the possibility of manipulating macromolecules, etc. As a nanotechnology tool, AFM has been used to investigate the nanostructure of materials in many fields. This mini-review focuses mainly on its latest application to characterise the macromolecular nanostructure and surface topography of agricultural products. First the fundamentals of AFM are briefly explained. Then the macromolecular nanostructure information on agricultural products from AFM images is introduced by exploring the structure-function relationship in three aspects: agricultural product processing, agricultural product ripening and storage, and genetic and environmental factors. The surface topography characterisation of agricultural products using AFM is also discussed. The results reveal that AFM could be a powerful nanotechnology tool to acquire a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of structure and quality variations of agricultural products, which could be instructive in improving processing and storage technologies, and AFM is also helpful to reveal the essential nature of a product at nanoscale. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.

  18. Agricultural Supplies and Services. Program Planning Guide: Volume 2.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Welton, Richard; Marks, Michael

    The program planning guide for agricultural supplies and services was written to assist Applied Biological and Agricultural Occupations (ABAO) teachers in enriching existing programs and/or to provide the basis for expansion of offerings to include additional materials for the cluster areas of agricultural chemicals, feeds, seeds, fertilizers, and…

  19. Chemical hydrogen storage material property guidelines for automotive applications

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Semelsberger, Troy; Brooks, Kriston P.

    2015-04-01

    Chemical hydrogen storage is the sought after hydrogen storage media for automotive applications because of the expected low pressure operation (<20 atm), moderate temperature operation (<200 C), system gravimetric capacities (>0.05 kg H2/kg system), and system volumetric capacities (>0.05 kg H2/L system). Currently, the primary shortcomings of chemical hydrogen storage are regeneration efficiency, fuel cost and fuel phase (i.e., solid or slurry phase). Understanding the required material properties to meet the DOE Technical Targets for Onboard Hydrogen Storage Systems is a critical knowledge gap in the hydrogen storage research community. This study presents a set of fluid-phase chemical hydrogen storagemore » material property guidelines for automotive applications meeting the 2017 DOE technical targets. Viable material properties were determined using a boiler-plate automotive system design. The fluid phase chemical hydrogen storage media considered in this study were neat liquids, solutions, and non-settling homogeneous slurries. Material properties examined include kinetics, heats of reaction, fuel-cell impurities, gravimetric and volumetric hydrogen storage capacities, and regeneration efficiency. The material properties, although not exhaustive, are an essential first step in identifying viable chemical hydrogen storage material propertiesdand most important, their implications on system mass, system volume and system performance.« less

  20. Chemical hydrogen storage material property guidelines for automotive applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Semelsberger, Troy A.; Brooks, Kriston P.

    2015-04-01

    Chemical hydrogen storage is the sought after hydrogen storage media for automotive applications because of the expected low pressure operation (<20 atm), moderate temperature operation (<200 °C), system gravimetric capacities (>0.05 kg H2/kgsystem), and system volumetric capacities (>0.05 kg H2/Lsystem). Currently, the primary shortcomings of chemical hydrogen storage are regeneration efficiency, fuel cost and fuel phase (i.e., solid or slurry phase). Understanding the required material properties to meet the DOE Technical Targets for Onboard Hydrogen Storage Systems is a critical knowledge gap in the hydrogen storage research community. This study presents a set of fluid-phase chemical hydrogen storage material property guidelines for automotive applications meeting the 2017 DOE technical targets. Viable material properties were determined using a boiler-plate automotive system design. The fluid-phase chemical hydrogen storage media considered in this study were neat liquids, solutions, and non-settling homogeneous slurries. Material properties examined include kinetics, heats of reaction, fuel-cell impurities, gravimetric and volumetric hydrogen storage capacities, and regeneration efficiency. The material properties, although not exhaustive, are an essential first step in identifying viable chemical hydrogen storage material properties-and most important, their implications on system mass, system volume and system performance.

  1. Graphene Chemical Sensor for Heliophysics Applications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sultana, Mahmooda; Herrero, Fred; Khazanov, George

    2013-01-01

    Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms that offer a unique set of advantages as a chemical sensor due to a number of its inherent properties. Graphene has been explored as a gas sensor for a variety of gases, and molecular sensitivity has been demonstrated by measuring the change in electrical properties due to the adsorption of target species. In this paper, we discuss the development of an array of chemical sensors based on graphene and its relevance to plasma physics due to its sensitivity to radical species such as oxonium, hydron and the corresponding neutrals. We briefly discuss the great impact such sensors will have on a number of heliophysics applications such as ground-based manifestations of space weather.

  2. Nanotechnologies in agriculture and food - an overview of different fields of application, risk assessment and public perception.

    PubMed

    Grobe, Antje; Rissanen, Mikko E

    2012-12-01

    Nanomaterials in agriculture and food are key issues of public and regulatory interest. Over the past ten years, patents for nanotechnological applications in the field of food and agriculture have become abundant. Uncertainty prevails however regarding their current development status and presence in the consumer market. Thus, the discussion on nanotechnologies in the food sector with its specific public perception of benefits and risks and the patterns of communication are becoming similar to the debate on genetically modified organisms. The food industry's silence in communication increased mistrust of consumer organisations and policy makers. The article discusses the background of the current regulatory debates, starting with the EU recommendation for defining nanomaterials, provides an overview of possible fields of application in agriculture and food industries and discusses risk assessment and the public debate on benefits and risks. Communicative recommendations are directed at researchers, the food industry and regulators in order to increase trust both in stakeholders, risk management and regulatory processes.

  3. Development of test methods for scale model simulation of aerial applications in the NASA Langley Vortex Research Facility. [agricultural aircraft

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jordan, F. L., Jr.

    1980-01-01

    As part of basic research to improve aerial applications technology, methods were developed at the Langley Vortex Research Facility to simulate and measure deposition patterns of aerially-applied sprays and granular materials by means of tests with small-scale models of agricultural aircraft and dynamically-scaled test particles. Interactions between the aircraft wake and the dispersed particles are being studied with the objective of modifying wake characteristics and dispersal techniques to increase swath width, improve deposition pattern uniformity, and minimize drift. The particle scaling analysis, test methods for particle dispersal from the model aircraft, visualization of particle trajectories, and measurement and computer analysis of test deposition patterns are described. An experimental validation of the scaling analysis and test results that indicate improved control of chemical drift by use of winglets are presented to demonstrate test methods.

  4. Agriculture, summary

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Baldwin, R.

    1975-01-01

    Applications of remotely sensed data in agriculture are enumerated. These include: predictions of forage for range animal consumption, forest management, soil mapping, and crop inventory and management.

  5. Environmental behavior and analysis of agricultural sulfur.

    PubMed

    Griffith, Corey M; Woodrow, James E; Seiber, James N

    2015-11-01

    Sulfur has been widely used for centuries as a staple for pest and disease management in agriculture. Presently, it is the largest-volume pesticide in use worldwide. This review describes the sources and recovery methods for sulfur, its allotropic forms and properties and its agricultural uses, including development and potential advantages of nanosulfur as a fungicide. Chemical and microbial reactivity, interactions in soil and water and analytical methods for determination in environmental samples and foodstuffs, including inexpensive analytical methods for sulfur residues in wine, beer and other food/beverage substrates, will be reviewed. The toxicology of sulfur towards humans and agriculturally important fungi is included, with some restrictions on use to promote safety. The review concludes with areas for which more research is warranted. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

  6. Agriculture: Laws and Regulations that Apply to Your Agricultural Operation by Farm Activity

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    A general description of EPA’s requirements applicable to agriculture, and should only be used as a guide. Since rules and regulations may change use this information is a starting place to determine which regulations apply to your agricultural operation.

  7. Identifying Hydrologic Processes in Agricultural Watersheds Using Precipitation-Runoff Models

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Linard, Joshua I.; Wolock, David M.; Webb, Richard M.T.; Wieczorek, Michael

    2009-01-01

    Understanding the fate and transport of agricultural chemicals applied to agricultural fields will assist in designing the most effective strategies to prevent water-quality impairments. At a watershed scale, the processes controlling the fate and transport of agricultural chemicals are generally understood only conceptually. To examine the applicability of conceptual models to the processes actually occurring, two precipitation-runoff models - the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and the Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Model (WEBMOD) - were applied in different agricultural settings of the contiguous United States. Each model, through different physical processes, simulated the transport of water to a stream from the surface, the unsaturated zone, and the saturated zone. Models were calibrated for watersheds in Maryland, Indiana, and Nebraska. The calibrated sets of input parameters for each model at each watershed are discussed, and the criteria used to validate the models are explained. The SWAT and WEBMOD model results at each watershed conformed to each other and to the processes identified in each watershed's conceptual hydrology. In Maryland the conceptual understanding of the hydrology indicated groundwater flow was the largest annual source of streamflow; the simulation results for the validation period confirm this. The dominant source of water to the Indiana watershed was thought to be tile drains. Although tile drains were not explicitly simulated in the SWAT model, a large component of streamflow was received from lateral flow, which could be attributed to tile drains. Being able to explicitly account for tile drains, WEBMOD indicated water from tile drains constituted most of the annual streamflow in the Indiana watershed. The Nebraska models indicated annual streamflow was composed primarily of perennial groundwater flow and infiltration-excess runoff, which conformed to the conceptual hydrology developed for that watershed. The hydrologic

  8. Nanotechnology and its applications in the food sector.

    PubMed

    Sozer, Nesli; Kokini, Jozef L

    2009-02-01

    Nanoscience and nanotechnology are new frontiers of this century. Their applications to the agriculture and food sector are relatively recent compared with their use in drug delivery and pharmaceuticals. Smart delivery of nutrients, bioseparation of proteins, rapid sampling of biological and chemical contaminants and nanoencapsulation of nutraceuticals are some of the emerging topics of nanotechnology for food and agriculture. Advances in technologies, such as DNA microarrays, microelectromechanical systems and microfluidics, will enable the realization of the potential of nanotechnology for food applications. In this review, we intended to summarize the applications of nanotechnology relevant to food and nutraceuticals together with identifying the outstanding challenges.

  9. Research advances of antimicrobial peptides and applications in food industry and agriculture.

    PubMed

    Meng, Shuo; Xu, Huanli; Wang, Fengshan

    2010-06-01

    Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are produced by a wide range of organisms and serve as their natural defenses against infection caused by bacteria, viruses and fungi. Because of the positively charge and amphipathic structure, AMPs kill target cells through diverse and complex mechanisms once in a target membrane and these special mechanisms are considered to be the critical factors for the less tendency of drug resistance development. Thus AMPs may become a new generation of promising antimicrobial agents in future anti-infection application. Additionally, AMPs can also be used in food industry and agriculture. On the basis of discussing the structural features, action mechanisms and sources, the applications of AMPs were reviewed in this paper, including in food industry, feedstuff, cultivation of disease-resistant transgenic plant, cultivation of transgenic animal, and aquaculture, especially the patented applications.

  10. [Application of biodegradable plastic film to reduce plastic film residual pollution in Chinese agriculture].

    PubMed

    Yan, Changrong; He, Wenqing; Xue, Yinghao; Liu, Enke; Liu, Qin

    2016-06-25

    Plastic film has become an important agriculture production material in recent years. Over the past three decades, the amount and application area of plastic film have increased steadily, and in 2014, which are 1.4 million tons and more than 180 million hm² respectively. It plays a key role for ensuring the supply of agricultural goods in China. Meanwhile, plastic film residual pollution becomes more and more serious, and in some regions, the amount of plastic film residues has reached over 250 kg/hm². In part of the Northwest region, soil structure of farmland has been destroyed by plastic film residues and then crop growth and farming operations were suppressed. It is recognized as a good choice to replace plastic film with biodegradable plastic film, an effective measure to solve the plastic film residue pollution. Now, it is in a critical stage of study and assessment of biodegradable plastic film in China and fortunately some biodegradable plastic films show effects in the production of potatoes, peanuts and tobacco. Overall, a series of challenges has still been faced by the biodegradable plastic film, mainly including improving the quality of biodegradable plastic products, such as tensile strength, flexibility, improving the controllability of rupture and degradation, enhancing the ability of increasing soil temperature and preserving soil moisture, and to satisfy the demand of crops production with mulching. In addition, it is essential to reduce the cost of the biodegradable film and promote the application of biodegradable film on large-scale. With the development of biodegradable plastic technology and agricultural production environment, the application of the biodegradable film will have a good future.

  11. RETINAL DEGENERATION AND OTHER EYE DISORDERS IN WIVES OF FARMER PESTICIDE APPLICATORS ENROLLED IN THE AGRICULTURAL HEALTH STUDY.

    EPA Science Inventory

    This manuscript describes an epidemiological investigation of the wives of licensed pesticide applicators who are enrolled in the Agricultural Health Study, a large ongoing epidemiological study of pesticide applicators and their families in North Carolina and Iowa. The Agricult...

  12. A conceptual framework for effectively anticipating water-quality changes resulting from changes in agricultural activities

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Capel, Paul D.; Wolock, David M.; Coupe, Richard H.; Roth, Jason L.

    2018-01-10

    Agricultural activities can affect water quality and the health of aquatic ecosystems; many water-quality issues originate with the movement of water, agricultural chemicals, and eroded soil from agricultural areas to streams and groundwater. Most agricultural activities are designed to sustain or increase crop production, while some are designed to protect soil and water resources. Numerous soil- and water-protection practices are designed to reduce the volume and velocity of runoff and increase infiltration. This report presents a conceptual framework that combines generalized concepts on the movement of water, the environmental behavior of chemicals and eroded soil, and the designed functions of various agricultural activities, as they relate to hydrology, to create attainable expectations for the protection of—with the goal of improving—water quality through changes in an agricultural activity.The framework presented uses two types of decision trees to guide decision making toward attainable expectations regarding the effectiveness of changing agricultural activities to protect and improve water quality in streams. One decision tree organizes decision making by considering the hydrologic setting and chemical behaviors, largely at the field scale. This decision tree can help determine which agricultural activities could effectively protect and improve water quality in a stream from the movement of chemicals, or sediment, from a field. The second decision tree is a chemical fate accounting tree. This decision tree helps set attainable expectations for the permanent removal of sediment, elements, and organic chemicals—such as herbicides and insecticides—through trapping or conservation tillage practices. Collectively, this conceptual framework consolidates diverse hydrologic settings, chemicals, and agricultural activities into a single, broad context that can be used to set attainable expectations for agricultural activities. This framework also enables

  13. Neurotoxicity of Legacy and Emerging Persistent Organic Chemicals: A Proteomic Approach to Understand Adverse Outcome Pathways

    EPA Science Inventory

    During the past century, a vast number of persistent organic chemicals (POCs) have been manufactured and used in industrial, agricultural, public health, consumer products and other applications. Widespread use of legacy POCs, including chlorinated, brominated and fluorinated com...

  14. Risk-based prioritization method for the classification of groundwater pesticide pollution from agricultural regions.

    PubMed

    Yang, Yu; Lian, Xin-Ying; Jiang, Yong-Hai; Xi, Bei-Dou; He, Xiao-Song

    2017-11-01

    Agricultural regions are a significant source of groundwater pesticide pollution. To ensure that agricultural regions with a significantly high risk of groundwater pesticide contamination are properly managed, a risk-based ranking method related to groundwater pesticide contamination is needed. In the present paper, a risk-based prioritization method for the classification of groundwater pesticide pollution from agricultural regions was established. The method encompasses 3 phases, including indicator selection, characterization, and classification. In the risk ranking index system employed here, 17 indicators involving the physicochemical properties, environmental behavior characteristics, pesticide application methods, and inherent vulnerability of groundwater in the agricultural region were selected. The boundary of each indicator was determined using K-means cluster analysis based on a survey of a typical agricultural region and the physical and chemical properties of 300 typical pesticides. The total risk characterization was calculated by multiplying the risk value of each indicator, which could effectively avoid the subjectivity of index weight calculation and identify the main factors associated with the risk. The results indicated that the risk for groundwater pesticide contamination from agriculture in a region could be ranked into 4 classes from low to high risk. This method was applied to an agricultural region in Jiangsu Province, China, and it showed that this region had a relatively high risk for groundwater contamination from pesticides, and that the pesticide application method was the primary factor contributing to the relatively high risk. The risk ranking method was determined to be feasible, valid, and able to provide reference data related to the risk management of groundwater pesticide pollution from agricultural regions. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:1052-1059. © 2017 SETAC. © 2017 SETAC.

  15. Urinary Biomarker, Dermal, and Air Measurement Results for 2,4-D and Chlorpyrifos Farm Applicators in the Agricultural Health Study

    EPA Science Inventory

    A subset of private pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study (AHS) epidemiological cohort was monitored around the time of their agricultural use of 2,4-D and chlorpyrifos to assess exposure levels and potential determinants of exposure. Measurements included pre- a...

  16. Review of chemical separation techniques applicable to alpha spectrometric measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Regge, P.; Boden, R.

    1984-06-01

    Prior to alpha-spectrometric measurements several chemical manipulations are usually required to obtain alpha-radiating sources with the desired radiochemical and chemical purity. These include sampling, dissolution or leaching of the elements of interest, conditioning of the solution, chemical separation and preparation of the alpha-emitting source. The choice of a particular method is dependent on different criteria but always involves aspects of the selectivity or the quantitative nature of the separations. The availability of suitable tracers or spikes and modern high resolution instruments resulted in the wide-spread application of isotopic dilution techniques to the problems associated with quantitative chemical separations. This enhanced the development of highly elective methods and reagents which led to important simplifications in the separation schemes. The chemical separation methods commonly used in connection with alpha-spectrometric measurements involve precipitation with selected scavenger elements, solvent extraction, ion exchange and electrodeposition techniques or any combination of them. Depending on the purpose of the final measurement and the type of sample available the chemical separation methods have to be adapted to the particular needs of environment monitoring, nuclear chemistry and metrology, safeguards and safety, waste management and requirements in the nuclear fuel cycle. Against the background of separation methods available in the literature the present paper highlights the current developments and trends in the chemical techniques applicable to alpha spectrometry.

  17. The role of precision agriculture for improved nutrient management on farms.

    PubMed

    Hedley, Carolyn

    2015-01-01

    Precision agriculture uses proximal and remote sensor surveys to delineate and monitor within-field variations in soil and crop attributes, guiding variable rate control of inputs, so that in-season management can be responsive, e.g. matching strategic nitrogen fertiliser application to site-specific field conditions. It has the potential to improve production and nutrient use efficiency, ensuring that nutrients do not leach from or accumulate in excessive concentrations in parts of the field, which creates environmental problems. The discipline emerged in the 1980s with the advent of affordable geographic positioning systems (GPS), and has further developed with access to an array of affordable soil and crop sensors, improved computer power and software, and equipment with precision application control, e.g. variable rate fertiliser and irrigation systems. Precision agriculture focusses on improving nutrient use efficiency at the appropriate scale requiring (1) appropriate decision support systems (e.g. digital prescription maps), and (2) equipment capable of varying application at these different scales, e.g. the footprint of a one-irrigation sprinkler or a fertiliser top-dressing aircraft. This article reviews the rapid development of this discipline, and uses New Zealand as a case study example, as it is a country where agriculture drives economic growth. Here, the high yield potentials on often young, variable soils provide opportunities for effective financial return from investment in these new technologies. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

  18. Nitrogen fluxes through unsaturated zones in five agricultural settings across the USA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Green, C. T.; Fisher, L. H.; Bekins, B. A.

    2006-12-01

    The main controls on nitrogen (N) fluxes between the root zone and the water table were determined for agricultural sites in California, Washington, Nebraska, Indiana, and Maryland in 2004 and 2005. Sites included irrigated and non-irrigated fields; soil textures ranging from clay to sand; crops including corn, soybeans, almonds, and pasture; and unsaturated zone thicknesses ranging from 0.5 to 20 m. Chemical analyses of water from lysimeters, shallow wells, and sediment cores indicate that advective transport of nitrate is the dominant process affecting the rate of N transport below the root zone. Vertical profiles of (1) N species, (2) stable N and O isotopes, and (3) oxygen gas in unsaturated zone air and shallow ground water, and correlations between N and other agricultural chemicals indicate that reactions do not greatly affect N concentrations between the root zone and the capillary fringe. Relatively stable concentrations at depths greater than a few meters allow calculation of nitrogen fluxes to the saturated zone. These fluxes are equivalent to 14 - 64% of the N application rates. At the same locations, median vertical fluxes of N in ground water are generally lower, ranging from 4 - 37% of N application rates. The lower nitrate fluxes in ground water reflect processes including lateral flow to tile drains and denitrification in the capillary fringe, as well as historical changes in N inputs.

  19. Applications of the Cambridge Structural Database in chemical education1

    PubMed Central

    Battle, Gary M.; Ferrence, Gregory M.; Allen, Frank H.

    2010-01-01

    The Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) is a vast and ever growing compendium of accurate three-dimensional structures that has massive chemical diversity across organic and metal–organic compounds. For these reasons, the CSD is finding significant uses in chemical education, and these applications are reviewed. As part of the teaching initiative of the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC), a teaching subset of more than 500 CSD structures has been created that illustrate key chemical concepts, and a number of teaching modules have been devised that make use of this subset in a teaching environment. All of this material is freely available from the CCDC website, and the subset can be freely viewed and interrogated using WebCSD, an internet application for searching and displaying CSD information content. In some cases, however, the complete CSD System is required for specific educational applications, and some examples of these more extensive teaching modules are also discussed. The educational value of visualizing real three-dimensional structures, and of handling real experimental results, is stressed throughout. PMID:20877495

  20. CANCER INCIDENCE IN THE AGRICULTURAL HEALTH STUDY

    EPA Science Inventory

    The Agricultural Health Study (AHS) was undertaken to ascertain the etiology of cancers observed to be elevated in agricultural populations. Methods: The AHS is a large prospective, cohort study of private applicators and commercial applicators licensed to apply restricted use ...

  1. Incorporating a constrained optimization algorithm into remote sensing/precision agriculture methodology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moreenthaler, George W.; Khatib, Nader; Kim, Byoungsoo

    2003-08-01

    For two decades now, the use of Remote Sensing/Precision Agriculture to improve farm yields while reducing the use of polluting chemicals and the limited water supply has been a major goal. With world population growing exponentially, arable land being consumed by urbanization, and an unfavorable farm economy, farm efficiency must increase to meet future food requirements and to make farming a sustainable, profitable occupation. "Precision Agriculture" refers to a farming methodology that applies nutrients and moisture only where and when they are needed in the field. The real goal is to increase farm profitability by identifying the additional treatments of chemicals and water that increase revenues more than they increase costs and do no exceed pollution standards (constrained optimization). Even though the economic and environmental benefits appear to be great, Remote Sensing/Precision Agriculture has not grown as rapidly as early advocates envisioned. Technology for a successful Remote Sensing/Precision Agriculture system is now in place, but other needed factors have been missing. Commercial satellite systems can now image the Earth (multi-spectrally) with a resolution as fine as 2.5 m. Precision variable dispensing systems using GPS are now available and affordable. Crop models that predict yield as a function of soil, chemical, and irrigation parameter levels have been developed. Personal computers and internet access are now in place in most farm homes and can provide a mechanism for periodically disseminating advice on what quantities of water and chemicals are needed in specific regions of each field. Several processes have been selected that fuse the disparate sources of information on the current and historic states of the crop and soil, and the remaining resource levels available, with the critical decisions that farmers are required to make. These are done in a way that is easy for the farmer to understand and profitable to implement. A "Constrained

  2. Xylitol: a review on bioproduction, application, health benefits, and related safety issues.

    PubMed

    Ur-Rehman, Salim; Mushtaq, Zarina; Zahoor, Tahir; Jamil, Amir; Murtaza, Mian Anjum

    2015-01-01

    Xylitol is a pentahydroxy sugar-alcohol which exists in a very low quantity in fruits and vegetables (plums, strawberries, cauliflower, and pumpkin). On commercial scale, xylitol can be produced by chemical and biotechnological processes. Chemical production is costly and extensive in purification steps. However, biotechnological method utilizes agricultural and forestry wastes which offer the possibilities of economic production of xylitol by reducing required energy. The precursor xylose is produced from agricultural biomass by chemical and enzymatic hydrolysis and can be converted to xylitol primarily by yeast strain. Hydrolysis under acidic condition is the more commonly used practice influenced by various process parameters. Various fermentation process inhibitors are produced during chemical hydrolysis that reduce xylitol production, a detoxification step is, therefore, necessary. Biotechnological xylitol production is an integral process of microbial species belonging to Candida genus which is influenced by various process parameters such as pH, temperature, time, nitrogen source, and yeast extract level. Xylitol has application and potential for food and pharmaceutical industries. It is a functional sweetener as it has prebiotic effects which can reduce blood glucose, triglyceride, and cholesterol level. This review describes recent research developments related to bioproduction of xylitol from agricultural wastes, application, health, and safety issues.

  3. Groundwater recharge and agricultural contamination

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Böhlke, J.K.

    2002-01-01

    Agriculture has had direct and indirect effects on the rates and compositions of groundwater recharge and aquifer biogeochemistry. Direct effects include dissolution and transport of excess quantities of fertilizers and associated materials and hydrologic alterations related to irrigation and drainage. Some indirect effects include changes in water–rock reactions in soils and aquifers caused by increased concentrations of dissolved oxidants, protons, and major ions. Agricultural activities have directly or indirectly affected the concentrations of a large number of inorganic chemicals in groundwater, for example NO3–, N2, Cl, SO42–, H+, P, C, K, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Ra, and As, as well as a wide variety of pesticides and other organic compounds. For reactive contaminants like NO3–, a combination of chemical, isotopic, and environmental-tracer analytical approaches might be required to resolve changing inputs from subsequent alterations as causes of concentration gradients in groundwater. Groundwater records derived from multi-component hydrostratigraphic data can be used to quantify recharge rates and residence times of water and dissolved contaminants, document past variations in recharging contaminant loads, and identify natural contaminant-remediation processes. These data indicate that many of the world's surficial aquifers contain transient records of changing agricultural contamination from the last half of the 20th century. The transient agricultural groundwater signal has important implications for long-term trends and spatial heterogeneity in discharge.

  4. 40 CFR 721.11 - Applicability determination when the specific chemical identity is confidential.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... specific chemical identity is confidential. 721.11 Section 721.11 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... General Provisions § 721.11 Applicability determination when the specific chemical identity is...: SNUR Bonafide submissions. (1) The specific chemical identity of the chemical substance that the person...

  5. 40 CFR 721.11 - Applicability determination when the specific chemical identity is confidential.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... specific chemical identity is confidential. 721.11 Section 721.11 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... General Provisions § 721.11 Applicability determination when the specific chemical identity is...: SNUR Bonafide submissions. (1) The specific chemical identity of the chemical substance that the person...

  6. 40 CFR 721.11 - Applicability determination when the specific chemical identity is confidential.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... specific chemical identity is confidential. 721.11 Section 721.11 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... General Provisions § 721.11 Applicability determination when the specific chemical identity is...: SNUR Bonafide submissions. (1) The specific chemical identity of the chemical substance that the person...

  7. 40 CFR 721.11 - Applicability determination when the specific chemical identity is confidential.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... specific chemical identity is confidential. 721.11 Section 721.11 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... General Provisions § 721.11 Applicability determination when the specific chemical identity is...: SNUR Bonafide submissions. (1) The specific chemical identity of the chemical substance that the person...

  8. 40 CFR 721.11 - Applicability determination when the specific chemical identity is confidential.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... specific chemical identity is confidential. 721.11 Section 721.11 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... General Provisions § 721.11 Applicability determination when the specific chemical identity is...: SNUR Bonafide submissions. (1) The specific chemical identity of the chemical substance that the person...

  9. Nitrogen fluxes through unsaturated zones in five agricultural settings across the United States

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Green, C.T.; Fisher, L.H.; Bekins, B.A.

    2008-01-01

    The main physical and chemical controls on nitrogen (N) fluxes between the root zone and the water table were determined for agricultural sites in California, Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska, and Washington from 2004 to 2005. Sites included irrigated and nonirrigated fields; soil textures ranging from clay to sand; crops including corn, soybeans, almonds, and pasture; and unsaturated zone thicknesses ranging from 1 to 22 m. Chemical analyses of water from lysimeters and shallow wells indicate that advective transport of nitrate is the dominant process affecting the flux of N below the root zone. Vertical profiles of (i) nitrogen species, (ii) stable isotopes of nitrogen and oxygen, and (iii) oxygen, N, and argon in unsaturated zone air and correlations between N and other agricultural chemicals indicate that reactions do not greatly affect N concentrations between the root zone and the capillary fringe. As a result, physical factors, such as N application rate, water inputs, and evapotranspiration, control the differences in concentrations among the sites. Concentrations of N in shallow lysimeters exhibit seasonal variation, whereas concentrations in lysimeters deeper than a few meters are relatively stable. Based on concentration and recharge estimates, fluxes of N through the deep unsaturated zone range from 7 to 99 kg ha-1 yr-1. Vertical fluxes of N in ground water are lower due to spatial and historical changes in N inputs. High N fluxes are associated with coarse sediments and high N application rates. Copyright ?? 2008 by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America. All rights reserved.

  10. Agricultural Science--Striving for Excellence.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Budke, Wesley E.; And Others

    1991-01-01

    Six articles examine several of the critical components of program and personnel development in agricultural science including linkages between agriscience and natural resources teachers and high school science teachers, science in agriculture, biological science applications, and hydroponics. (JOW)

  11. The use of LANDSAT digital data and computer-implemented techniques for an agricultural application

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Joyce, A. T.; Griffin, R. H., II

    1978-01-01

    Agricultural applications procedures are described for use of LANDSAT digital data and other digitalized data (e.g., soils). The results of having followed these procedures are shown in production estimates for cotton and soybeans in Washington County, Mississippi. Examples of output products in both line printer and map formats are included, and a product adequacy assessment is made.

  12. URINARY LEVELS OF 2,4-D AND 3,5,6-TRICHLORO-2-PYRIDINOL FOR SPOUSES AND CHILDREN OF PESTICIDE APPLICATORS IN THE AGRICULTURAL HEALTH STUDY

    EPA Science Inventory

    The Agricultural Health Study (AHS) is a prospective epidemiologic study of pesticide applicators and their spouses in Iowa and North Carolina. Exposure to targeted pesticides, 2,4-D or chlorpyrifos, was measured in conjunction with agricultural applications for a subset of appl...

  13. Chemical changes in agricultural soils of Korea: data review and suggested countermeasures.

    PubMed

    Jo, I S; Koh, M H

    2004-01-01

    The monitoring of chemical properties, including heavy metals, in soils is necessary if better management and remediation practices are to be established for polluted soils. The National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology initiated a monitoring study that investigated fertility and heavy metal contents of the benchmarked soils. The study covered paddy soils, upland soils, and horticultural soils in the plastic film houses, and orchard soils throughout the Korea from 1990 to 1998. Likewise, 4047 samples of paddy and 2534 samples of plastic house in 1999 and 2000 were analyzed through the Soil Environment Conservation Act. Soil chemical properties such as pH, organic matter, available phosphate and extractable calcium, magnesium and potassium contents, and heavy metal contents such as cadmium, copper, lead, zinc, arsenic, mercury, and cobalt contents were analyzed. The study showed that the average contents of organic matter, available phosphate, and extractable potassium rapidly increased in plastic house soils than in upland or paddy soils. Two kinds of fertilizer recommendation systems were established for the study: the standard levels by national soil average data for 77 crops and the recommendation by soil test for 70 crops. Standard nitrogen fertilizer application levels for cereal crops changed from 94 kg/ha in 1960s, 99 kg/ha in 1970s, 110 kg/ha in 1980s to 90 kg/ha in 1990s. The K2O-fertilizer also changed from 67 kg/ha in 1960s, 76 kg/ha in 1970s, 92 kg/ha in 1980s, and only 44 kg/ha in 1990s. In rice paddy fields, the average contents of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn in surface soils (0-15 cm depth) were 0.11 mg kg(-1) (ranged from 0 to 1.01), 4.70 mg kg(-1) (0-41.59), 4.84 mg kg(-1) (0-66.44), and 4.47 mg kg(-1) (0-96.70), respectively. In the uplands, the average contents of Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, and As in surface soils (0-15 cm depth) were 0.135 mg kg(-1) (ranged from 0 to 0.660), 2.77 mg kg(-1) (0.07-78.24), 3.47 mg kg(-1) (0-43.00), 10.70 mg kg(-1) (0

  14. Compact chemical energy system for seismic applications

    DOEpatents

    Engelke, Raymond P.; Hedges, Robert O.; Kammerman, Alan B.; Albright, James N.

    1998-01-01

    A chemical energy system is formed for producing detonations in a confined environment. An explosive mixture is formed from nitromethane (NM) and diethylenetriamine (DETA). A slapper detonator is arranged adjacent to the explosive mixture to initiate detonation of the mixture. NM and DETA are not classified as explosives when handled separately and can be safely transported and handled by workers in the field. In one aspect of the present invention, the chemicals are mixed at a location where an explosion is to occur. For application in a confined environment, the chemicals are mixed in an inflatable container to minimize storage space until it is desired to initiate an explosion. To enable an inflatable container to be used, at least 2.5 wt % DETA is used in the explosive mixture. A barrier is utilized that is formed of a carbon composite material to provide the appropriate barrel geometry and energy transmission to the explosive mixture from the slapper detonator system.

  15. [Towards a renewable and sustainable agriculture. Biological agriculture: from marginal vanguard to spearhead of the agriculture of the future].

    PubMed

    Diek Van Mansvelt, J

    1992-01-01

    . The adoption of alternative agricultural practices will require new attitudes and new training for agricultural workers and extension agents. Organic agriculture was highly marginal until the 1970s, but several European universities have created department or sections for organic agriculture, and governmental or quasi-governmental organizations have been created in several countries. Negative prejudices regarding results of organic agriculture remain a major obstacle to their wider acceptance. Detailed research is needed on the positive and negative effects of a change from current chemically based agriculture to an alternative form more attuned to the principles of organic agriculture.

  16. Nanotechnology in Agriculture

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    An overview is given of the application of nanotechnology to agriculture. This is an active field of R&D, where a large number of findings and innovations have been reported. For example, in soil management, applications reported include nanofertilizers, soil binders, water retention aids, and nut...

  17. Text Mining for Drugs and Chemical Compounds: Methods, Tools and Applications.

    PubMed

    Vazquez, Miguel; Krallinger, Martin; Leitner, Florian; Valencia, Alfonso

    2011-06-01

    Providing prior knowledge about biological properties of chemicals, such as kinetic values, protein targets, or toxic effects, can facilitate many aspects of drug development. Chemical information is rapidly accumulating in all sorts of free text documents like patents, industry reports, or scientific articles, which has motivated the development of specifically tailored text mining applications. Despite the potential gains, chemical text mining still faces significant challenges. One of the most salient is the recognition of chemical entities mentioned in text. To help practitioners contribute to this area, a good portion of this review is devoted to this issue, and presents the basic concepts and principles underlying the main strategies. The technical details are introduced and accompanied by relevant bibliographic references. Other tasks discussed are retrieving relevant articles, identifying relationships between chemicals and other entities, or determining the chemical structures of chemicals mentioned in text. This review also introduces a number of published applications that can be used to build pipelines in topics like drug side effects, toxicity, and protein-disease-compound network analysis. We conclude the review with an outlook on how we expect the field to evolve, discussing its possibilities and its current limitations. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  18. The Concept of Sustainable Agriculture: Challenges and Prospects

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abubakar, M. S.; Attanda, M. L.

    2013-12-01

    Agriculture has changed dramatically, especially since the end of World War II. Food and fibre productivity raised due to new technologies, mechanization, increased chemical use, specialization and government policies that favoured maximizing production. Sustainable agriculture is a subject of great interest and lively debate in many parts of the world. Most agriculturalists agree that the concept of sustainable agriculture is of paramount importance to the sustainability of our biosphere and its ever increasing human population. This paper is an effort to identify the ideas, practices and policies that constitute concept of sustainable agriculture.

  19. Merging Applicability Domains for in Silico Assessment of Chemical Mutagenicity

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-02-04

    molecular fingerprints as descriptors for developing quantitative structure−activity relationship ( QSAR ) models and defining applicability domains with...used to define and quantify an applicability domain for either method. The importance of using applicability domains in QSAR modeling cannot be...domain from roughly 80% to 90%. These results indicated that the proposed QSAR protocol constituted a highly robust chemical mutagenicity prediction

  20. Effects of pre-harvest chemical application on rice desiccation and seed quality*

    PubMed Central

    HE, Yong-qi; CHENG, Jin-ping; LIU, Liang-feng; LI, Xiao-dan; YANG, Bin; ZHANG, Hong-sheng; WANG, Zhou-fei

    2015-01-01

    Pre-harvest desiccation may increase the efficiency of seed production. Field studies were conducted to determine the effects of diquat, paraquat, and ethephon applications on grain moisture, grain weight, and seed germination of hybrid rice Yanliangyou 88 (Oryza sativa ssp. indica) and conventional rice Wuyunjing 7 (Oryza sativa ssp. japonica). In 2013, we tested 12 treatments applied at four weeks (Yanliangyou 88) and six weeks (Wuyunjing 7) after heading. Results showed that reductions in moisture content were significant two and four days after chemical application. Chemical applications had no adverse effects on 1000-grain weight, germination percentage, or germination index, but there were negative effects on the percentage of normal seedlings. Desiccation effects increased with increase in the period after application, while the effect of ethephon combined with diquat or paraquat on desiccation was limited compared with that of diquat or paraquat alone in a short period after application. In 2013, chemical applications reduced the moisture content by from 0.5% to 6.4%, the germination percentage by from 0% to 3.3%, and the percentage of normal seedlings by from 13.3% to 100.0%. Among the treatments, diquat applied at 120 g/ha resulted in effective desiccation with fewer negative effects on grain weight and seed germination in 2013 and 2014. Therefore, diquat may have potential as a pre-harvest chemical desiccation treatment for rice. These results may provide a basis for developing and implementing protocols for large scale field trials. PMID:26465129

  1. Effects of pre-harvest chemical application on rice desiccation and seed quality.

    PubMed

    He, Yong-qi; Cheng, Jin-ping; Liu, Liang-feng; Li, Xiao-dan; Yang, Bin; Zhang, Hong-sheng; Wang, Zhou-fei

    2015-10-01

    Pre-harvest desiccation may increase the efficiency of seed production. Field studies were conducted to determine the effects of diquat, paraquat, and ethephon applications on grain moisture, grain weight, and seed germination of hybrid rice Yanliangyou 88 (Oryza sativa ssp. indica) and conventional rice Wuyunjing 7 (Oryza sativa ssp. japonica). In 2013, we tested 12 treatments applied at four weeks (Yanliangyou 88) and six weeks (Wuyunjing 7) after heading. Results showed that reductions in moisture content were significant two and four days after chemical application. Chemical applications had no adverse effects on 1000-grain weight, germination percentage, or germination index, but there were negative effects on the percentage of normal seedlings. Desiccation effects increased with increase in the period after application, while the effect of ethephon combined with diquat or paraquat on desiccation was limited compared with that of diquat or paraquat alone in a short period after application. In 2013, chemical applications reduced the moisture content by from 0.5% to 6.4%, the germination percentage by from 0% to 3.3%, and the percentage of normal seedlings by from 13.3% to 100.0%. Among the treatments, diquat applied at 120 g/ha resulted in effective desiccation with fewer negative effects on grain weight and seed germination in 2013 and 2014. Therefore, diquat may have potential as a pre-harvest chemical desiccation treatment for rice. These results may provide a basis for developing and implementing protocols for large scale field trials.

  2. Incorporating a Constrained Optimization Algorithm into Remote- Sensing/Precision Agriculture Methodology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Morgenthaler, George; Khatib, Nader; Kim, Byoungsoo

    with information to improve their crop's vigor has been a major topic of interest. With world population growing exponentially, arable land being consumed by urbanization, and an unfavorable farm economy, the efficiency of farming must increase to meet future food requirements and to make farming a sustainable occupation for the farmer. "Precision Agriculture" refers to a farming methodology that applies nutrients and moisture only where and when they are needed in the field. The goal is to increase farm revenue by increasing crop yield and decreasing applications of costly chemical and water treatments. In addition, this methodology will decrease the environmental costs of farming, i.e., reduce air, soil, and water pollution. Sensing/Precision Agriculture has not grown as rapidly as early advocates envisioned. Technology for a successful Remote Sensing/Precision Agriculture system is now available. Commercial satellite systems can image (multi-spectral) the Earth with a resolution of approximately 2.5 m. Variable precision dispensing systems using GPS are available and affordable. Crop models that predict yield as a function of soil, chemical, and irrigation parameter levels have been formulated. Personal computers and internet access are in place in most farm homes and can provide a mechanism to periodically disseminate, e.g. bi-weekly, advice on what quantities of water and chemicals are needed in individual regions of the field. What is missing is a model that fuses the disparate sources of information on the current states of the crop and soil, and the remaining resource levels available with the decisions farmers are required to make. This must be a product that is easy for the farmer to understand and to implement. A "Constrained Optimization Feed-back Control Model" to fill this void will be presented. The objective function of the model will be used to maximize the farmer's profit by increasing yields while decreasing environmental costs and decreasing

  3. 40 CFR 430.80 - Applicability; description of the non-wood chemical pulp subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ...-wood chemical pulp subcategory. 430.80 Section 430.80 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... CATEGORY Non-Wood Chemical Pulp Subcategory § 430.80 Applicability; description of the non-wood chemical... production of pulp and paper at non-wood chemical pulp mills. This subcategory includes, but is not limited...

  4. 40 CFR 430.80 - Applicability; description of the non-wood chemical pulp subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ...-wood chemical pulp subcategory. 430.80 Section 430.80 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... CATEGORY Non-Wood Chemical Pulp Subcategory § 430.80 Applicability; description of the non-wood chemical... production of pulp and paper at non-wood chemical pulp mills. This subcategory includes, but is not limited...

  5. Occupational Health and Safety for Agricultural Workers in Thailand: Gaps and Recommendations, with a Focus on Pesticide Use

    PubMed Central

    Kaewboonchoo, Orawan; Kongtip, Pornpimol; Woskie, Susan

    2018-01-01

    Over 16.7 million workers in Thailand (42 percent of the working population) are engaged in agriculture, disproportionately from the lower socioeconomic strata of Thai society. Most agricultural workers (over 93 percent) work in the informal sector without the protections of regulations or enforcement of labor or health and safety laws or enrollment in a social security system. Although Thailand’s use of herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides is growing, there is little regulation of the sale, use, or application of these potentially toxic chemicals. This paper summarizes the research to date on occupational health and safety for Thai agricultural workers, identifies gaps in pesticide regulations and the current systems for occupational health and safety and social support for Thai agricultural workers, and makes recommendations for future policy and research initiatives to fill the identified gaps. PMID:25815744

  6. Present and potential applications of cellulases in agriculture, biotechnology, and bioenergy.

    PubMed

    Phitsuwan, Paripok; Laohakunjit, Natta; Kerdchoechuen, Orapin; Kyu, Khin Lay; Ratanakhanokchai, Khanok

    2013-03-01

    Cellulase (CEL) presently constitutes a major group of industrial enzyme based on its diverse ranges of utilization. Apart from such current and well-established applications-as in cotton processing, paper recycling, detergent formulation, juice extraction, and animal feed additives-their uses in agricultural biotechnology and bioenergy have been exploited. Supplementation of CELs to accelerate decomposition of plant residues in soil results in improved soil fertility. So far, applying CELs/antagonistic cellulolytic fungi to crops has shown to promote plant growth performance, including enhanced seed germination and protective effects. Their actions are believed mainly to trigger plant defense mechanisms and/or to act as biocontrol agents that mediate disease suppression. However, the exact interaction between the enzymes/fungi and plants has not been clearly elucidated. Under mild conditions, removal of plant cell wall polysaccharides by CELs for protoplast preparation results in reduced protoplast damage and increased viability and yields. CELs have recently shown great potential in enzyme aid extraction of bioactive compounds from plant materials before selective extraction through enhancing release of target molecules, especially those associated with the wall matrix. To date, attempts have been made to formulate CEL preparation for cellulosic-based bioethanol production. The high cost of CELs has created a bottleneck, resulting in an uneconomic production process. The utilization of low-cost carbohydrates, strain improvement, and gene manipulations has been alternatively aimed at reducing the cost of CEL production. In this review, we focus on and discuss current knowledge of CELs and their applications in agriculture, biotechnology, and bioenergy.

  7. Utilization of Live Localized Weather Information for Sustainable Agriculture

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anderson, J.; Usher, J.

    2010-09-01

    Authors: Jim Anderson VP, Global Network and Business Development WeatherBug® Professional Jeremy Usher Managing Director, Europe WeatherBug® Professional Localized, real-time weather information is vital for day-to-day agronomic management of all crops. The challenge for agriculture is twofold in that local and timely weather data is not often available for producers and farmers, and it is not integrated into decision-support tools they require. Many of the traditional sources of weather information are not sufficient for agricultural applications because of the long distances between weather stations, meaning the data is not always applicable for on-farm decision making processes. The second constraint with traditional weather information is the timeliness of the data. Most delivery systems are designed on a one-hour time step, whereas many decisions in agriculture are based on minute-by-minute weather conditions. This is especially true for decisions surrounding chemical and fertilizer application and frost events. This presentation will outline how the creation of an agricultural mesonet (weather network) can enable producers and farmers with live, local weather information from weather stations installed in farm/field locations. The live weather information collected from each weather station is integrated into a web-enabled decision support tool, supporting numerous on-farm agronomic activities such as pest management, or dealing with heavy rainfall and frost events. Agronomic models can be used to assess the potential of disease pressure, enhance the farmer's abilities to time pesticide applications, or assess conditions contributing to yield and quality fluctuations. Farmers and industry stakeholders may also view quality-assured historical weather variables at any location. This serves as a record-management tool for viewing previously uncharted agronomic weather events in graph or table form. This set of weather tools is unique and provides a

  8. A spatially explicit representation of conservation agriculture for application in global change studies.

    PubMed

    Prestele, Reinhard; Hirsch, Annette L; Davin, Edouard L; Seneviratne, Sonia I; Verburg, Peter H

    2018-05-10

    Conservation agriculture (CA) is widely promoted as a sustainable agricultural management strategy with the potential to alleviate some of the adverse effects of modern, industrial agriculture such as large-scale soil erosion, nutrient leaching and overexploitation of water resources. Moreover, agricultural land managed under CA is proposed to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation through reduced emission of greenhouse gases, increased solar radiation reflection, and the sustainable use of soil and water resources. Due to the lack of official reporting schemes, the amount of agricultural land managed under CA systems is uncertain and spatially explicit information about the distribution of CA required for various modeling studies is missing. Here, we present an approach to downscale present-day national-level estimates of CA to a 5 arcminute regular grid, based on multicriteria analysis. We provide a best estimate of CA distribution and an uncertainty range in the form of a low and high estimate of CA distribution, reflecting the inconsistency in CA definitions. We also design two scenarios of the potential future development of CA combining present-day data and an assessment of the potential for implementation using biophysical and socioeconomic factors. By our estimates, 122-215 Mha or 9%-15% of global arable land is currently managed under CA systems. The lower end of the range represents CA as an integrated system of permanent no-tillage, crop residue management and crop rotations, while the high estimate includes a wider range of areas primarily devoted to temporary no-tillage or reduced tillage operations. Our scenario analysis suggests a future potential of CA in the range of 533-1130 Mha (38%-81% of global arable land). Our estimates can be used in various ecosystem modeling applications and are expected to help identifying more realistic climate mitigation and adaptation potentials of agricultural practices. © 2018 The Authors. Global

  9. The effect of the 2011 flood on agricultural chemical and sediment movement in the lower Mississippi River Basin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Welch, H.; Coupe, R.; Aulenbach, B.

    2012-04-01

    Extreme hydrologic events, such as floods, can overwhelm a surface water system's ability to process chemicals and can move large amounts of material downstream to larger surface water bodies. The Mississippi River is the 3rd largest River in the world behind the Amazon in South America and the Congo in Africa. The Mississippi-Atchafalaya River basin grows much of the country's corn, soybean, rice, cotton, pigs, and chickens. This is large-scale modern day agriculture with large inputs of nutrients to increase yields and large applied amounts of crop protection chemicals, such as pesticides. The basin drains approximately 41% of the conterminous United States and is the largest contributor of nutrients to the Gulf of Mexico each spring. The amount of water and nutrients discharged from the Mississippi River has been related to the size of the low dissolved oxygen area that forms off of the coast of Louisiana and Texas each summer. From March through April 2011, the upper Mississippi River basin received more than five times more precipitation than normal, which combined with snow melt from the Missouri River basin, created a historic flood event that lasted from April through July. The U.S. Geological Survey, as part of the National Stream Quality Accounting Network (NASQAN), collected samples from six sites located in the lower Mississippi-Atchafalaya River basin, as well as, samples from the three flow-diversion structures or floodways: the Birds Point-New Madrid in Missouri and the Morganza and Bonnet Carré in Louisiana, from April through July. Samples were analyzed for nutrients, pesticides, suspended sediments, and particle size; results were used to determine the water quality of the river during the 2011 flood. Monthly loads for nitrate, phosphorus, pesticides (atrazine, glyphosate, fluometuron, and metolachlor), and sediment were calculated to quantify the movement of agricultural chemicals and sediment into the Gulf of Mexico. Nutrient loads were

  10. Nanostructured conjugated polymers in chemical sensors: synthesis, properties and applications.

    PubMed

    Correa, D S; Medeiros, E S; Oliveira, J E; Paterno, L G; Mattoso, Luiz C

    2014-09-01

    Conjugated polymers are organic materials endowed with a π-electron conjugation along the polymer backbone that present appealing electrical and optical properties for technological applications. By using conjugated polymeric materials in the nanoscale, such properties can be further enhanced. In addition, the use of nanostructured materials makes possible miniaturize devices at the micro/nano scale. The applications of conjugated nanostructured polymers include sensors, actuators, flexible displays, discrete electronic devices, and smart fabric, to name a few. In particular, the use of conjugated polymers in chemical and biological sensors is made feasible owning to their sensitivity to the physicochemical conditions of its surrounding environment, such as chemical composition, pH, dielectric constant, humidity or even temperature. Subtle changes in these conditions bring about variations on the electrical (resistivity and capacitance), optical (absorptivity, luminescence, etc.), and mechanical properties of the conjugated polymer, which can be precisely measured by different experimental methods and ultimately associated with a specific analyte and its concentration. The present review article highlights the main features of conjugated polymers that make them suitable for chemical sensors. An especial emphasis is given to nanostructured sensors systems, which present high sensitivity and selectivity, and find application in beverage and food quality control, pharmaceutical industries, medical diagnosis, environmental monitoring, and homeland security, and other applications as discussed throughout this review.

  11. 40 CFR 455.20 - Applicability; description of the organic pesticide chemicals manufacturing subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... organic pesticide chemicals manufacturing subcategory. 455.20 Section 455.20 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS (CONTINUED) PESTICIDE CHEMICALS Organic Pesticide Chemicals Manufacturing Subcategory § 455.20 Applicability; description of the organic...

  12. 40 CFR 455.20 - Applicability; description of the organic pesticide chemicals manufacturing subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... organic pesticide chemicals manufacturing subcategory. 455.20 Section 455.20 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS PESTICIDE CHEMICALS Organic Pesticide Chemicals Manufacturing Subcategory § 455.20 Applicability; description of the organic pesticide...

  13. 40 CFR 455.20 - Applicability; description of the organic pesticide chemicals manufacturing subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... organic pesticide chemicals manufacturing subcategory. 455.20 Section 455.20 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS PESTICIDE CHEMICALS Organic Pesticide Chemicals Manufacturing Subcategory § 455.20 Applicability; description of the organic pesticide...

  14. A comparison of forest and agricultural shallow groundwater chemical status a century after land use change.

    PubMed

    Kellner, Elliott; Hubbart, Jason A; Ikem, Abua

    2015-10-01

    Considering the increasing pace of global land use change and the importance of groundwater quality to humans and aquatic ecosystems, studies are needed that relate land use types to patterns of groundwater chemical composition. Piezometer grids were installed in a remnant bottomland hardwood forest (BHF) and a historic agricultural field (Ag) to compare groundwater chemical composition between sites with contrasting land use histories. Groundwater was sampled monthly from June 2011 to June 2013, and analyzed for 50 physiochemical metrics. Statistical tests indicated significant differences (p<0.05) between the study sites for 32 out of 50 parameters. Compared to the Ag site, BHF groundwater was characterized by significantly (p<0.05) lower pH, higher electrical conductivity, and higher concentrations of total dissolved solids and inorganic carbon. BHF groundwater contained significantly (p<0.05) higher concentrations of all nitrogen species except nitrate, which was higher in Ag groundwater. BHF groundwater contained significantly (p<0.05) higher concentrations of nutrients such as sulfur, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and sodium, relative to the Ag site. Ag groundwater was characterized by significantly (p<0.05) higher concentrations of trace elements such as arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, copper, molybdenum, nickel, and titanium. Comparison of shallow groundwater chemical composition with that of nearby receiving water suggests that subsurface concentration patterns are the result of contrasting site hydrology and vegetation. Results detail impacts of surface vegetation alteration on subsurface chemistry and groundwater quality, thereby illustrating land use impacts on the lithosphere and hydrosphere. This study is among the first to comprehensively characterize and compare shallow groundwater chemical composition at sites with contrasting land use histories. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Nanoparticle-plant interaction: Implications in energy, environment, and agriculture.

    PubMed

    Rai, Prabhat Kumar; Kumar, Vanish; Lee, SangSoo; Raza, Nadeem; Kim, Ki-Hyun; Ok, Yong Sik; Tsang, Daniel C W

    2018-06-14

    In the recent techno-scientific revolution, nanotechnology has gained popularity at a rapid pace in different sectors and disciplines, specifically environmental, sensing, bioenergy, and agricultural systems. Controlled, easy, economical, and safe synthesis of nanomaterials is desired for the development of new-age nanotechnology. In general, nanomaterial synthesis techniques, such as chemical synthesis, are not completely safe or environmentally friendly due to harmful chemicals used or to toxic by-products produced. Moreover, a few nanomaterials are present as by-product during washing process, which may accumulate in water, air, and soil system to pose serious threats to plants, animals, and microbes. In contrast, using plants for nanomaterial (especially nanoparticle) synthesis has proven to be environmentally safe and economical. The role of plants as a source of nanoparticles is also likely to expand the number of options for sustainable green renewable energy, especially in biorefineries. Despite several advantages of nanotechnology, the nano-revolution has aroused concerns in terms of the fate of nanoparticles in the environment because of the potential health impacts caused by nanotoxicity upon their release. In the present panoramic review, we discuss the possibility that a multitudinous array of nanoparticles may find applications convergent with human welfare based on the synthesis of diverse nanoparticles from plants and their extracts. The significance of plant-nanoparticle interactions has been elucidated further for nanoparticle synthesis, applications of nanoparticles, and the disadvantages of using plants for synthesizing nanoparticles. Finally, we discuss future prospects of plant-nanoparticle interactions in relation to the environment, energy, and agriculture with implications in nanotechnology. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Technology Of Controlled-Environment Agriculture

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bubenheim, David L.; Bates, Maynard E.

    1995-01-01

    Report discusses controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) for commercial production of organisms, whether plants or animals. Practiced in greenhouses to produce food on nonarable lands. Describes conceptual regenerative system that incorporates biological, physical, and chemical processes to support humans in extraterrestrial environments.

  17. Modules in Agricultural Education for Agricultural Resources.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New York State Education Dept., Albany. Bureau of Occupational and Career Curriculum Development.

    Each of the 31 curriculum modules in this packet for agricultural resources instruction contains a brief description of the module content, a list of the major division or units, the overall objective, objectives by units, content outline and suggested teaching methods, student application activities, and evaluation procedures. A list of resource…

  18. Modules in Agricultural Education for Agricultural Mechanics.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New York State Education Dept., Albany. Bureau of Occupational and Career Curriculum Development.

    Each of the 38 curriculum modules in this packet for agricultural mechanics instruction contains a brief description of the module content, a list of the major divisions or units, the overall objectives, objectives by unit, content outline and suggested teaching methods, student application activities, and evaluation procedures. A listing of…

  19. The use of poplar during a two-year induced phytoextraction of metals from contaminated agricultural soils.

    PubMed

    Komárek, Michael; Tlustos, Pavel; Száková, Jirina; Chrastný, Vladislav

    2008-01-01

    The efficiency of poplar (Populus nigra L.xPopulus maximowiczii Henry.) was assessed during a two-year chemically enhanced phytoextraction of metals from contaminated soils. The tested metal mobilizing agents were EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) and NH4Cl. EDTA was more efficient than chlorides in solubilizing metals (especially Pb) from the soil matrix. The application of chlorides only increased the solubility of Cd and Zn. However, the increased uptake of metals after the application of higher concentrations of mobilizing agents was associated with low biomass yields of the poplar plants and the extraction efficiencies after the two vegetation periods were thus comparable to the untreated plants. Additionally, the application of mobilizing agents led to phytotoxicity effects and increased mobility of metals. Higher phytoextraction efficiencies were observed for Cd and Zn compared to Pb and Cu. Poplars are therefore not suitable for chemically enhanced phytoextraction of metals from severely contaminated agricultural soils.

  20. Agricultural waste material as potential adsorbent for sequestering heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions - a review.

    PubMed

    Sud, Dhiraj; Mahajan, Garima; Kaur, M P

    2008-09-01

    Heavy metal remediation of aqueous streams is of special concern due to recalcitrant and persistency of heavy metals in environment. Conventional treatment technologies for the removal of these toxic heavy metals are not economical and further generate huge quantity of toxic chemical sludge. Biosorption is emerging as a potential alternative to the existing conventional technologies for the removal and/or recovery of metal ions from aqueous solutions. The major advantages of biosorption over conventional treatment methods include: low cost, high efficiency, minimization of chemical or biological sludge, regeneration of biosorbents and possibility of metal recovery. Cellulosic agricultural waste materials are an abundant source for significant metal biosorption. The functional groups present in agricultural waste biomass viz. acetamido, alcoholic, carbonyl, phenolic, amido, amino, sulphydryl groups etc. have affinity for heavy metal ions to form metal complexes or chelates. The mechanism of biosorption process includes chemisorption, complexation, adsorption on surface, diffusion through pores and ion exchange etc. The purpose of this review article is to provide the scattered available information on various aspects of utilization of the agricultural waste materials for heavy metal removal. Agricultural waste material being highly efficient, low cost and renewable source of biomass can be exploited for heavy metal remediation. Further these biosorbents can be modified for better efficiency and multiple reuses to enhance their applicability at industrial scale.

  1. 40 CFR 455.30 - Applicability; description of the metallo-organic pesticide chemicals manufacturing subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... metallo-organic pesticide chemicals manufacturing subcategory. 455.30 Section 455.30 Protection of...) PESTICIDE CHEMICALS Metallo-Organic Pesticide Chemicals Manufacturing Subcategory § 455.30 Applicability; description of the metallo-organic pesticide chemicals manufacturing subcategory. The provisions of this...

  2. 40 CFR 455.30 - Applicability; description of the metallo-organic pesticide chemicals manufacturing subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... metallo-organic pesticide chemicals manufacturing subcategory. 455.30 Section 455.30 Protection of...) PESTICIDE CHEMICALS Metallo-Organic Pesticide Chemicals Manufacturing Subcategory § 455.30 Applicability; description of the metallo-organic pesticide chemicals manufacturing subcategory. The provisions of this...

  3. 40 CFR 455.30 - Applicability; description of the metallo-organic pesticide chemicals manufacturing subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... metallo-organic pesticide chemicals manufacturing subcategory. 455.30 Section 455.30 Protection of...) PESTICIDE CHEMICALS Metallo-Organic Pesticide Chemicals Manufacturing Subcategory § 455.30 Applicability; description of the metallo-organic pesticide chemicals manufacturing subcategory. The provisions of this...

  4. USE OF AGRICULTURAL PESTICIDES AND LUNG CANCER RISK IN THE AGRICULTURAL HEALTH STUDY COHORT

    EPA Science Inventory

    We examined the relationship between 45 common agricultural pesticides and lung cancer incidence in a prospective cohort study of 52,395 private pesticide applicators, 4,916 commercial pesticide applicators and 32,347 spouses of farmer applicators from Iowa and North Carolina w...

  5. Using Microbial Source Tracking to Enhance Environmental Stewardship of Agriculture

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Martin, Sherry; Rose, Joan; Flood, Matthew; Aw, Tiong; Hyndman, David

    2016-04-01

    Large scale agriculture relies on the application of chemical fertilizers and animal manure. It is well known that nutrients in excess of a plant's uptake and soil retention capacity can travel to nearby waterways via surface run-off and groundwater pathways, indirectly fertilizing these aquatic ecosystems. It has not yet been possible to distinguish water quality impacts of fertilizer from those derived from human and animal waste sources. However, new microbial source tracking (MST) tools allow specific identification of fecal pollution. Our objective was to examine pollution risks at the regional scale using MST, mapping and classification and regression tree analysis. We present results Bovine M2 genetic marker data from three flow regimes (baseflow, snow melt, and post-planting rain). Key landscape characteristics were related to the presence of the bovine markers and appear to be related to fate and transport. Impacts at this regional watershed scale will be discussed. Our research aims to identify the impacts of agricultural management practices on water quality by linking nutrient concentrations with fecal pollution sources. We hope that our research will provide guidance that will help improve water quality through agricultural best management practices to reduce pathogen contamination.

  6. Rhinitis Associated with Pesticide Exposure among Commercial Pesticide Applicators in the Agricultural Health Study

    PubMed Central

    Slager, Rebecca E.; Poole, Jill A.; LeVan, Tricia D.; Sandler, Dale P.; Alavanja, Michael C. R.; Hoppin, Jane A.

    2010-01-01

    Objectives Rhinitis is common, but the risk factors are not well described. To investigate the association between current rhinitis and pesticide use, we used data from 2,245 Iowa commercial pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study. Methods Using logistic regression models adjusted for age, education, and growing up on a farm, we evaluated the association between current rhinitis and 34 pesticides used in the past year. Results Seventy-four percent of commercial pesticide applicators reported at least one episode of rhinitis in the past year (current rhinitis). Five pesticides used in the past year were significantly positively associated with current rhinitis: the herbicides 2,4-D, glyphosate and petroleum oil, the insecticide diazinon and the fungicide benomyl. The association for 2,4-D and glyphosate was limited to individuals who used both in the past year (Odds Ratio = 1.42, 95% Confidence Interval: 1.14, 1.77). Both petroleum oil and diazinon showed consistent evidence of an association with rhinitis, based on both current use and exposure-response models. We saw no evidence of confounding by common agricultural rhinitis triggers such as handling grain or hay. Conclusions Exposure to pesticides may increase the risk of rhinitis. PMID:19289390

  7. Development and application of an agricultural intensity index to invertebrate and algal metrics from streams at two scales

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Waite, Ian R.

    2013-01-01

    Research was conducted at 28-30 sites within eight study areas across the United States along a gradient of nutrient enrichment/agricultural land use between 2003 and 2007. Objectives were to test the application of an agricultural intensity index (AG-Index) and compare among various invertebrate and algal metrics to determine indicators of nutrient enrichment nationally and within three regions. The agricultural index was based on total nitrogen and phosphorus input to the watershed, percent watershed agriculture, and percent riparian agriculture. Among data sources, agriculture within riparian zone showed significant differences among values generated from remote sensing or from higher resolution orthophotography; median values dropped significantly when estimated by orthophotography. Percent agriculture in the watershed consistently had lower correlations to invertebrate and algal metrics than the developed AG-Index across all regions. Percent agriculture showed fewer pairwise comparisons that were significant than the same comparisons using the AG-Index. Highest correlations to the AG-Index regionally were −0.75 for Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera richness (EPTR) and −0.70 for algae Observed/Expected (O/E), nationally the highest was −0.43 for EPTR vs. total nitrogen and −0.62 for algae O/E vs. AG-Index. Results suggest that analysis of metrics at national scale can often detect large differences in disturbance, but more detail and specificity is obtained by analyzing data at regional scales.

  8. Urinary Biomarker, Dermal, and Air Measurement Results for 2,4-D and Chlorpyrifos Farm Applicators in the Agricultural Health Study

    PubMed Central

    Thomas, Kent; Dosemeci, Mustafa; Hoppin, Jane A.; Sheldon, Linda; Croghan, Carry; Gordon, Sydney; Jones, Martin; Reynolds, Stephen; Raymer, James; Akland, Gerald; Lynch, Charles F.; Knott, Charles; Sandler, Dale P.; Blair, Aaron; Alavanja, Michael

    2010-01-01

    Epidemiologic studies increasingly rely on improved exposure assessments to characterize pesticide exposures in agricultural populations. A subset of private pesticide applicators in the AHS epidemiological cohort was monitored around the time of their agricultural use of 2,4-D and chlorpyrifos to assess exposure levels and potential exposure factors. Measurements included pre- and post-application urine samples, and patch, hand wipe, and personal air samples. Broadcast or hand spray application methods were used by applicators for 2,4-D products. Chlorpyrifos products were applied using spray applications and in-furrow application of granular products. Geometric mean (GM) values for 69 2,4-D applicators were 7.8 and 25 µg/L in pre- and post-application urine, respectively (p < 0.05 for difference); 0.39 mg for estimated hand loading; 2.9 mg for estimated body loading; and 0.37 µg/m3 for concentration in personal air. Significant correlations were found between all media for 2,4-D. GM values for 17 chlorpyrifos applicators were 11 µg/L in both pre- and post-application urine for the 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol metabolite, 0.28 mg for body loading, and 0.49 µg/m3 for air concentration. Only 53% of the chlorpyrifos applicators had measureable hand loading results; their median hand loading was 0.02 mg. Factors associated with differences in 2,4-D measurements included application method and glove use; and, for hand spray applicators, use of adjuvants, equipment repair, duration of use, and contact with treated vegetation. Spray applications of liquid chlorpyrifos products were associated with higher measurements than in-furrow granular product applications. This study provides information on exposures and possible exposure determinants for several application methods commonly used by farmers in the cohort and will provide information to assess and refine exposure classification in the Agricultural Health Study. Results may also be of use in pesticide safety

  9. Genotoxicity in native fish associated with agricultural runoff events

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Whitehead, Andrew; Kuivila, Kathryn; Orlando, James L.; Kotelevtsev, S.; Anderson, Susan L.

    2004-01-01

    The primary objective of the present study was to test whether agricultural chemical runoff was associated with in-stream genotoxicity in native fish. Using Sacramento sucker (Catostomus occidentalis), we combined field-caging experiments in an agriculturally dominated watershed with controlled laboratory exposures to field-collected water samples, and we coupled genotoxicity biomarker measurements in fish with bacterial mutagenicity analysis of water samples. We selected DNA strand breakage as a genotoxicity biomarker and Ames Salmonella mutagenicity tests as a second, supporting indicator of genotoxicity. Data from experiments conducted during rainfall runoff events following winter application of pesticides in 2000 and 2001 indicated that DNA strand breaks were significantly elevated in fish exposed to San Joaquin River (CA, USA) water (38.8, 28.4, and 53.6% DNA strand breakage in year 2000 field, year 2000 lab, and year 2001 field exposures, respectively) compared with a nearby reference site (15.4, 8.7, and 12.6% DNA strand breakage in year 2000 field, year 2000 lab, and year 2001 field exposures, respectively). Time-course measurements in field experiments supported a linkage between induction of DNA strand breakage and the timing of agricultural runoff. San Joaquin River water also caused significant reversion mutation in two Ames Salmonella tester strains. Salmonella mutagenicity corroborated in-stream effects, further strengthening a causal relationship between runoff events and genotoxicity. Potentially responsible agents are discussed in the context of timing of runoff events in the field, concordance between laboratory and field exposures, pesticide application patterns in the drainage, and analytical chemistry data.

  10. Absorption of mercuric cation by tannins in agricultural residues

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Waiss, A.C. Jr.; Wiley, M.E.; Kuhnle, J.A.

    1973-01-01

    Two common environmental pollutants are agricultural residues (skins, pits, husks, tannin bark, grape pomace) and waste streams of water containing only traces of heavy metals (such as mercury at 10 or more ppb) from mining or manufacturing operations. Agricultural residues contain tannins, polyphenolic substances, pectin, and other polymers-all with chemically reactive groups that can chelate, reduce, oxidize, demonstrate ion exchange properties, and aid in removing traces of heavy metals from dilute waste water streams at low cost. Finely ground and water-washed agricultural residues were slurried in water and packed into columns for absorption tests with heavy metals. Solutions of knownmore » concentrations of heavy metals were passed through the packed columns which were then eluted with water or with alkaline or acidic solutions. The fractions and the column absorbents were then analyzed by standard atomic absorption methods. The nature of the physical and chemical forces that are effective in metal absorption from agricultural residues is not clear.« less

  11. Peptide protected gold clusters: chemical synthesis and biomedical applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yuan, Qing; Wang, Yaling; Zhao, Lina; Liu, Ru; Gao, Fuping; Gao, Liang; Gao, Xueyun

    2016-06-01

    Bridging the gap between atoms and nanoparticles, noble metal clusters with atomic precision continue to attract considerable attention due to their important applications in catalysis, energy transformation, biosensing and biomedicine. Greatly different to common chemical synthesis, a one-step biomimetic synthesis of peptide-conjugated metal clusters has been developed to meet the demand of emerging bioapplications. Under mild conditions, multifunctional peptides containing metal capturing, reactive and targeting groups are rationally designed and elaborately synthesized to fabricate atomically precise peptide protected metal clusters. Among them, peptide-protected Au Cs (peptide-Au Cs) possess a great deal of exceptional advantages such as nanometer dimensions, high photostability, good biocompatibility, accurate chemical formula and specific protein targeting capacity. In this review article, we focus on the recent advances in potential theranostic fields by introducing the rising progress of peptide-Au Cs for biological imaging, biological analysis and therapeutic applications. The interactions between Au Cs and biological systems as well as potential mechanisms are also our concerned theme. We expect that the rapidly growing interest in Au Cs-based theranostic applications will attract broader concerns across various disciplines.

  12. Recent advancement on chemical arsenal of Bt toxin and its application in pest management system in agricultural field.

    PubMed

    Chattopadhyay, Pritam; Banerjee, Goutam

    2018-04-01

    Bacillus thuringiensis ( Bt ) is a Gram-positive, spore-forming, soil bacterium, which is very popular bio-control agent in agricultural and forestry. In general, B. thuringiensis secretes an array of insecticidal proteins including toxins produced during vegetative growth phase (such as secreted insecticidal protein, Sip; vegetative insecticidal proteins, Vip), parasporal crystalline δ-endotoxins produced during vegetative stationary phase (such as cytolytic toxin, Cyt; and crystal toxin, Cry), and β-exotoxins. Till date, a wide spectrum of Cry proteins has been reported and most of them belong to three-domain-Cry toxins, Bin-like toxin, and Etx_Mtx2-like toxins. To the best of our knowledge, neither Bt insecticidal toxins are exclusive to Bt nor all the strains of Bt are capable of producing insecticidal Bt toxins. The lacuna in their latest classification has also been discussed. In this review, the updated information regarding the insecticidal Bt toxins and their different mode of actions were summarized. Before applying the Bt toxins on agricultural field, the non-specific effects of toxins should be investigated. We also have summarized the problem of insect resistance and the strategies to combat with this problem. We strongly believe that this information will help a lot to the budding researchers in the field of modern pest control biotechnology.

  13. Ecological mechanisms underlying the sustainability of the agricultural heritage rice-fish coculture system.

    PubMed

    Xie, Jian; Hu, Liangliang; Tang, Jianjun; Wu, Xue; Li, Nana; Yuan, Yongge; Yang, Haishui; Zhang, Jiaen; Luo, Shiming; Chen, Xin

    2011-12-13

    For centuries, traditional agricultural systems have contributed to food and livelihood security throughout the world. Recognizing the ecological legacy in the traditional agricultural systems may help us develop novel sustainable agriculture. We examine how rice-fish coculture (RF), which has been designated a "globally important agricultural heritage system," has been maintained for over 1,200 y in south China. A field survey demonstrated that although rice yield and rice-yield stability are similar in RF and rice monoculture (RM), RF requires 68% less pesticide and 24% less chemical fertilizer than RM. A field experiment confirmed this result. We documented that a mutually beneficial relationship between rice and fish develops in RF: Fish reduce rice pests and rice favors fish by moderating the water environment. This positive relationship between rice and fish reduces the need for pesticides in RF. Our results also indicate a complementary use of nitrogen (N) between rice and fish in RF, resulting in low N fertilizer application and low N release into the environment. These findings provide unique insights into how positive interactions and complementary use of resource between species generate emergent ecosystem properties and how modern agricultural systems might be improved by exploiting synergies between species.

  14. Chemical leasing: cooperative business models for sustainable chemicals management. Summary of research projects commissioned by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management.

    PubMed

    Perthen-Palmisano, Barbara; Jakl, Thomas

    2005-01-01

    Chemicals play a vital role in the day-to-day life of industrialised societies. Their use is not restricted to the chemical enterprises per se, but is a crucial part of production processes in a lot of industrial sectors. Traditional instruments of environmental policy (such as bans, restrictions) can only deal with the most hazardous substances. The Johannesburg Implementation Plan of 2002 calls for more sustainable patterns of production and consumption, and sets the year of 2020 as a goal to use chemicals in a way that human health and the environment are not endangered. Political instruments should not only gather more knowledge about the properties of chemicals, but should also stimulate the environmentally sound use of chemicals. Existing business models should therefore be reviewed in relation to this strategic approach to encourage marketing options with respect to the environmental focus. Business models were examined for their effects on the consumption of chemicals and amount of waste emissions in relation to their economic potential. Different possibilities for cooperation of supplier, user and disposal companies were elaborated and examined with a view to the specific situation in Austria. A range of cooperative models--summarised under the term 'chemical leasing'--was identified, which can contribute to a more efficient use of resources. 12 main possible application areas (cleaning, lubrication, paint stripping and others) have been identified in Austria. If chemical leasing models were applied in these areas, the amounts of chemicals currently used could be reduced by one third (53,000 tonnes per year). Cost reductions of up to 15% can be expected. The application of chemical leasing models can contribute considerably to achieving more sustainable and resource-efficient patterns of production. The Austrian Ministry for Environment has therefore decided to subsidise the further practical implementation of these new service-oriented business models

  15. Occupational health and safety for agricultural workers in Thailand: gaps and recommendations, with a focus on pesticide use.

    PubMed

    Kaewboonchoo, Orawan; Kongtip, Pornpimol; Woskie, Susan

    2015-05-01

    Over 16.7 million workers in Thailand (42 percent of the working population) are engaged in agriculture, disproportionately from the lower socioeconomic strata of Thai society. Most agricultural workers (over 93 percent) work in the informal sector without the protections of regulations or enforcement of labor or health and safety laws or enrollment in a social security system. Although Thailand's use of herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides is growing, there is little regulation of the sale, use, or application of these potentially toxic chemicals. This paper summarizes the research to date on occupational health and safety for Thai agricultural workers, identifies gaps in pesticide regulations and the current systems for occupational health and safety and social support for Thai agricultural workers, and makes recommendations for future policy and research initiatives to fill the identified gaps. © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

  16. The Development Model Electronic Commerce of Regional Agriculture

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kang, Jun; Cai, Lecai; Li, Hongchan

    With the developing of the agricultural information, it is inevitable trend of the development of agricultural electronic commercial affairs. On the basis of existing study on the development application model of e-commerce, combined with the character of the agricultural information, compared with the developing model from the theory and reality, a new development model electronic commerce of regional agriculture base on the government is put up, and such key issues as problems of the security applications, payment mode, sharing mechanisms, and legal protection are analyzed, etc. The among coordination mechanism of the region is discussed on, it is significance for regulating the development of agricultural e-commerce and promoting the regional economical development.

  17. 29 CFR 780.605 - Employment in agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Employment in agriculture. 780.605 Section 780.605 Labor... POLICY OR INTERPRETATION NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO REGULATIONS EXEMPTIONS APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE... Agriculture and Livestock Auction Operations Under the Section 13(b)(13) Exemption Requirements for Exemption...

  18. 29 CFR 780.605 - Employment in agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Employment in agriculture. 780.605 Section 780.605 Labor... POLICY OR INTERPRETATION NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO REGULATIONS EXEMPTIONS APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE... Agriculture and Livestock Auction Operations Under the Section 13(b)(13) Exemption Requirements for Exemption...

  19. 29 CFR 780.605 - Employment in agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Employment in agriculture. 780.605 Section 780.605 Labor... POLICY OR INTERPRETATION NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO REGULATIONS EXEMPTIONS APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE... Agriculture and Livestock Auction Operations Under the Section 13(b)(13) Exemption Requirements for Exemption...

  20. 29 CFR 780.605 - Employment in agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Employment in agriculture. 780.605 Section 780.605 Labor... POLICY OR INTERPRETATION NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO REGULATIONS EXEMPTIONS APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE... Agriculture and Livestock Auction Operations Under the Section 13(b)(13) Exemption Requirements for Exemption...

  1. 29 CFR 780.605 - Employment in agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Employment in agriculture. 780.605 Section 780.605 Labor... POLICY OR INTERPRETATION NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO REGULATIONS EXEMPTIONS APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE... Agriculture and Livestock Auction Operations Under the Section 13(b)(13) Exemption Requirements for Exemption...

  2. Genetic Technology and Agricultural Development

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Staub, William J.; Blase, Melvin G.

    1971-01-01

    Examines the nature, application, limits and potential of applied genetics in plant breeding as a factor in South Asian agricultural development. Concludes other factors were also present in recent agricultural growth, and indicates some economic implications of continued growth, including problems of employment of displaced rural workers. (AL)

  3. Application of chemical arrays in screening elastase inhibitors.

    PubMed

    Gao, Feng; Du, Guan-Hua

    2006-06-01

    Protein chip technology provides a new and useful tool for high-throughput screening of drugs because of its high performance and low sample consumption. In order to screen elastase inhibitors on a large scale, we designed a composite microarray integrating enzyme chip containing chemical arrays on glass slides to screen for enzymatic inhibitors. The composite microarray includes an active proteinase film, screened chemical arrays distributed on the film, and substrate microarrays to demonstrate change of color. The detection principle is that elastase hydrolyzes synthetic colorless substrates and turns them into yellow products. Because yellow is difficult to detect, bromochlorophenol blue (BPB) was added into substrate solutions to facilitate the detection process. After the enzyme had catalyzed reactions for 2 h, effects of samples on enzymatic activity could be determined by detecting color change of the spots. When chemical samples inhibited enzymatic activity, substrates were blue instead of yellow products. If the enzyme retained its activity, the yellow color of the products combined with blue of BPB to make the spots green. Chromogenic differences demonstrated whether chemicals inhibited enzymatic activity or not. In this assay, 11,680 compounds were screened, and two valuable chemical hits were identified, which demonstrates that this assay is effective, sensitive and applicable for high-throughput screening (HTS).

  4. Research on agricultural ecology and environment analysis and modeling based on RS and GIS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Wensheng; Chen, Hongfu; Wang, Mingsheng

    2009-07-01

    Analysis of agricultural ecology and environment is based on the data of agricultural resources, which are obtained by RS monitoring. The over-exploitation of farmlands will cause structural changes of the soil composition, and damage the planting environment and the agro-ecosystem. Through the research on the dynamic monitoring methods of multitemporal RS images and GIS technology, the crop growth status, crop acreage and other relevant information in agricultural production are extracted based on the monitor and analysis of the conditions of the fields and crop growth. The agro-ecological GIS platform is developed with the establishment of the agricultural resources management database, which manages spatial data, RS data and attribute data of agricultural resources. Using the RS, GIS analysis results, the reasons of agro-ecological destruction are analyzed and the evaluation methods are established. This paper puts forward the concept of utilization capacity of farmland, which describes farmland space for development and utilization that is influenced by the conditions of the land, water resources, climate, pesticides and chemical fertilizers and many other agricultural production factors. Assessment model of agricultural land use capacity is constructed with the help of Fuzzy. Assessing the utilization capacity of farmland can be helpful to agricultural production and ecological protection of farmland. This paper describes the application of the capacity evaluation model with simulated data in two aspects, namely, in evaluating the status of farmland development and utilization and in optimal planting.

  5. Science Laboratory Exercises for Vocational Agriculture Students.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thompson, Dale E.

    This manual provides learning activities for use in two vocational agriculture courses--ornamental horticulture I and agricultural technology I. These activities are intended as aids in the teaching of application of science principles. An introductory chart gives a summary of how vocational agriculture objectives match objectives of specific…

  6. Closing the gap: global potential for increasing biofuel production through agricultural intensification

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Johnston, Matt; Licker, R.; Foley, J.; Holloway, T.; Mueller, N. D.; Barford, C.; Kucharik, C.

    2011-07-01

    Since the end of World War II, global agriculture has undergone a period of rapid intensification achieved through a combination of increased applications of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, the implementation of best management practice techniques, mechanization, irrigation, and more recently, through the use of optimized seed varieties and genetic engineering. However, not all crops and not all regions of the world have realized the same improvements in agricultural intensity. In this study we examine both the magnitude and spatial variation of new agricultural production potential from closing of 'yield gaps' for 20 ethanol and biodiesel feedstock crops. With biofuels coming under increasing pressure to slow or eliminate indirect land-use conversion, the use of targeted intensification via established agricultural practices might offer an alternative for continued growth. We find that by closing the 50th percentile production gap—essentially improving global yields to median levels—the 20 crops in this study could provide approximately 112.5 billion liters of new ethanol and 8.5 billion liters of new biodiesel production. This study is intended to be an important new resource for scientists and policymakers alike—helping to more accurately understand spatial variation of yield and agricultural intensification potential, as well as employing these data to better utilize existing infrastructure and optimize the distribution of development and aid capital.

  7. Pesticide regulations for agriculture: Chemically flawed regulatory practice.

    PubMed

    Gamble, Donald S; Bruccoleri, Aldo G

    2016-08-02

    Two categories of pesticide soil models now exist. Government regulatory agencies use pesticide fate and transport hydrology models, including versions of PRZM.gw. They have good descriptions of pesticide transport by water flow. Their descriptions of chemical mechanisms are unrealistic, having been postulated using the universally accepted but incorrect pesticide soil science. The objective of this work is to report experimental tests of a pesticide soil model in use by regulatory agencies and to suggest possible improvements. Tests with experimentally based data explain why PRZM.gw predictions can be wrong by orders of magnitude. Predictive spreadsheet models are the other category. They are experimentally based, with chemical stoichiometry applied to integral kinetic rate laws for sorption, desorption, intra-particle diffusion, and chemical reactions. They do not account for pesticide transport through soils. Each category of models therefore lacks what the other could provide. They need to be either harmonized or replaced. Some preliminary tests indicate that an experimental mismatch between the categories of models will have to be resolved. Reports of pesticides in the environment and the medical problems that overlap geographically indicate that government regulatory practice needs to account for chemical kinetics and mechanisms. Questions about possible cause and effect links could then be investigated.

  8. Process heat in California: Applications and potential for solar energy in the industrial, agricultural and commercial sectors

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Barbieri, R. H.; Bartera, R. E.; Davis, E. S.; Hlavka, G. E.; Pivirotto, D. S.; Yanow, G.

    1978-01-01

    A summary of the results of a survey of potential applications of solar energy for supplying process heat requirements in the industrial, agricultural, and commercial sectors of California is presented. Technical, economic, and institutional characteristics of the three sectors are examined. Specific applications for solar energy are then discussed. Finally, implications for California energy policy are discussed along with recommendations for possible actions by the State of California.

  9. Fate of phosphorus in Everglades agricultural soils after fertilizer application

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wright, Alan L.; Hanlon, Edward A.; McCray, J. Mabry

    2012-07-01

    Land use changes, agricultural drainage and conventional cultivation of winter vegetables and sugarcane cropping in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) may alter soil conditions and organic matter decomposition and ultimately influence the fate of phosphorus (P). Theses agricultural practices promote soil subsidence, reduce the soil depth to bedrock limestone and increase the potential for incorporation of limestone into the root zone of crops. The incorporation of limestone into surface soil has significantly increased soil pH which in turns causes greater fixation of P fertilizer into unavailable forms for plant growth. Additional P fertilization is thus required to satisfy crop nutrientmore » requirements in plant-available P form. It is important to determine how the mixing of bedrock limestone into soils influences the behavior of P fertilizers after their application. To accomplish this task, P fertilizers were applied to (1) typical cultivated soils and to (2) soils that have never been fertilized or extensively tilled. The changes in P concentrations over time were then compared between the two land uses, with differences being attributable to the impacts of cultivation practices. The P distribution in soil varied between land uses, with sugarcane having more P in inorganic pools while the uncultivated soil had more in organic pools. Water-soluble P concentrations in soil increased with increasing fertilizer application rates for all sampling times and both land uses. However, concentrations in uncultivated soil increased proportionally to P-fertilized soil due to organic P mineralization. At all sampling times, plant-available P concentrations remained higher for uncultivated than sugarcane soil. Lower P concentrations for sugarcane were related to adsorption by mineral components (e.g. limestone). Cultivated soils have higher calcium concentrations resulting from incorporation of bedrock limestone into soil by tillage, which increased pH and fostered

  10. Toward a new generation of agricultural system data, models, and knowledge products: State of agricultural systems science.

    PubMed

    Jones, James W; Antle, John M; Basso, Bruno; Boote, Kenneth J; Conant, Richard T; Foster, Ian; Godfray, H Charles J; Herrero, Mario; Howitt, Richard E; Janssen, Sander; Keating, Brian A; Munoz-Carpena, Rafael; Porter, Cheryl H; Rosenzweig, Cynthia; Wheeler, Tim R

    2017-07-01

    We review the current state of agricultural systems science, focusing in particular on the capabilities and limitations of agricultural systems models. We discuss the state of models relative to five different Use Cases spanning field, farm, landscape, regional, and global spatial scales and engaging questions in past, current, and future time periods. Contributions from multiple disciplines have made major advances relevant to a wide range of agricultural system model applications at various spatial and temporal scales. Although current agricultural systems models have features that are needed for the Use Cases, we found that all of them have limitations and need to be improved. We identified common limitations across all Use Cases, namely 1) a scarcity of data for developing, evaluating, and applying agricultural system models and 2) inadequate knowledge systems that effectively communicate model results to society. We argue that these limitations are greater obstacles to progress than gaps in conceptual theory or available methods for using system models. New initiatives on open data show promise for addressing the data problem, but there also needs to be a cultural change among agricultural researchers to ensure that data for addressing the range of Use Cases are available for future model improvements and applications. We conclude that multiple platforms and multiple models are needed for model applications for different purposes. The Use Cases provide a useful framework for considering capabilities and limitations of existing models and data.

  11. Toward a New Generation of Agricultural System Data, Models, and Knowledge Products: State of Agricultural Systems Science

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jones, James W.; Antle, John M.; Basso, Bruno; Boote, Kenneth J.; Conant, Richard T.; Foster, Ian; Godfray, H. Charles J.; Herrero, Mario; Howitt, Richard E.; Janssen, Sander; hide

    2016-01-01

    We review the current state of agricultural systems science, focusing in particular on the capabilities and limitations of agricultural systems models. We discuss the state of models relative to five different Use Cases spanning field, farm, landscape, regional, and global spatial scales and engaging questions in past, current, and future time periods. Contributions from multiple disciplines have made major advances relevant to a wide range of agricultural system model applications at various spatial and temporal scales. Although current agricultural systems models have features that are needed for the Use Cases, we found that all of them have limitations and need to be improved. We identified common limitations across all Use Cases, namely 1) a scarcity of data for developing, evaluating, and applying agricultural system models and 2) inadequate knowledge systems that effectively communicate model results to society. We argue that these limitations are greater obstacles to progress than gaps in conceptual theory or available methods for using system models. New initiatives on open data show promise for addressing the data problem, but there also needs to be a cultural change among agricultural researchers to ensure that data for addressing the range of Use Cases are available for future model improvements and applications. We conclude that multiple platforms and multiple models are needed for model applications for different purposes. The Use Cases provide a useful framework for considering capabilities and limitations of existing models and data.

  12. Toward a new generation of agricultural system data, models, and knowledge products: State of agricultural systems science

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Jones, James W.; Antle, John M.; Basso, Bruno

    We review the current state of agricultural systems science, focusing in particular on the capabilities and limitations of agricultural systems models. We discuss the state of models relative to five different Use Cases spanning field, farm, landscape, regional, and global spatial scales and engaging questions in past, current, and future time periods. Contributions from multiple disciplines have made major advances relevant to a wide range of agricultural system model applications at various spatial and temporal scales. Although current agricultural systems models have features that are needed for the Use Cases, we found that all of them have limitations and needmore » to be improved. We identified common limitations across all Use Cases, namely 1) a scarcity of data for developing, evaluating, and applying agricultural system models and 2) inadequate knowledge systems that effectively communicate model results to society. We argue that these limitations are greater obstacles to progress than gaps in conceptual theory or available methods for using system models. New initiatives on open data show promise for addressing the data problem, but there also needs to be a cultural change among agricultural researchers to ensure that data for addressing the range of Use Cases are available for future model improvements and applications. We conclude that multiple platforms and multiple models are needed for model applications for different purposes. The Use Cases provide a useful framework for considering capabilities and limitations of existing models and data.« less

  13. Annotated ESTs from various tissues of the brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens: a genomic resource for studying agricultural pests.

    PubMed

    Noda, Hiroaki; Kawai, Sawako; Koizumi, Yoko; Matsui, Kageaki; Zhang, Qiang; Furukawa, Shigetoyo; Shimomura, Michihiko; Mita, Kazuei

    2008-03-03

    The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens (Hemiptera, Delphacidae), is a serious insect pests of rice plants. Major means of BPH control are application of agricultural chemicals and cultivation of BPH resistant rice varieties. Nevertheless, BPH strains that are resistant to agricultural chemicals have developed, and BPH strains have appeared that are virulent against the resistant rice varieties. Expressed sequence tag (EST) analysis and related applications are useful to elucidate the mechanisms of resistance and virulence and to reveal physiological aspects of this non-model insect, with its poorly understood genetic background. More than 37,000 high-quality ESTs, excluding sequences of mitochondrial genome, microbial genomes, and rDNA, have been produced from 18 libraries of various BPH tissues and stages. About 10,200 clusters have been made from whole EST sequences, with average EST size of 627 bp. Among the top ten most abundantly expressed genes, three are unique and show no homology in BLAST searches. The actin gene was highly expressed in BPH, especially in the thorax. Tissue-specifically expressed genes were extracted based on the expression frequency among the libraries. An EST database is available at our web site. The EST library will provide useful information for transcriptional analyses, proteomic analyses, and gene functional analyses of BPH. Moreover, specific genes for hemimetabolous insects will be identified. The microarray fabricated based on the EST information will be useful for finding genes related to agricultural and biological problems related to this pest.

  14. Annotated ESTs from various tissues of the brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens: A genomic resource for studying agricultural pests

    PubMed Central

    Noda, Hiroaki; Kawai, Sawako; Koizumi, Yoko; Matsui, Kageaki; Zhang, Qiang; Furukawa, Shigetoyo; Shimomura, Michihiko; Mita, Kazuei

    2008-01-01

    Background The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens (Hemiptera, Delphacidae), is a serious insect pests of rice plants. Major means of BPH control are application of agricultural chemicals and cultivation of BPH resistant rice varieties. Nevertheless, BPH strains that are resistant to agricultural chemicals have developed, and BPH strains have appeared that are virulent against the resistant rice varieties. Expressed sequence tag (EST) analysis and related applications are useful to elucidate the mechanisms of resistance and virulence and to reveal physiological aspects of this non-model insect, with its poorly understood genetic background. Results More than 37,000 high-quality ESTs, excluding sequences of mitochondrial genome, microbial genomes, and rDNA, have been produced from 18 libraries of various BPH tissues and stages. About 10,200 clusters have been made from whole EST sequences, with average EST size of 627 bp. Among the top ten most abundantly expressed genes, three are unique and show no homology in BLAST searches. The actin gene was highly expressed in BPH, especially in the thorax. Tissue-specifically expressed genes were extracted based on the expression frequency among the libraries. An EST database is available at our web site. Conclusion The EST library will provide useful information for transcriptional analyses, proteomic analyses, and gene functional analyses of BPH. Moreover, specific genes for hemimetabolous insects will be identified. The microarray fabricated based on the EST information will be useful for finding genes related to agricultural and biological problems related to this pest. PMID:18315884

  15. Chemical Reaction Rate Coefficients from Ring Polymer Molecular Dynamics: Theory and Practical Applications

    DOE PAGES

    Suleimanov, Yury V.; Aoiz, F. Javier; Guo, Hua

    2016-09-14

    This Feature Article presents an overview of the current status of ring polymer molecular dynamics (RPMD) rate theory. We first analyze the RPMD approach and its connection to quantum transition-state theory. We then focus on its practical applications to prototypical chemical reactions in the gas phase, which demonstrate how accurate and reliable RPMD is for calculating thermal chemical reaction rate coefficients in multifarious cases. This review serves as an important checkpoint in RPMD rate theory development, which shows that RPMD is shifting from being just one of recent novel ideas to a well-established and validated alternative to conventional techniques formore » calculating thermal chemical rate coefficients. We also hope it will motivate further applications of RPMD to various chemical reactions.« less

  16. The Application of Metal Oxide Nanomaterials for Chemical Sensor Development

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Xu, Jennifer C.; Hunter, Gary W.; Evans, Laura J.; VanderWal, Randy L.; Berger, Gordon M.

    2007-01-01

    NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) has been developing miniature chemical sensors for a variety of applications including fire detection, emissions monitoring, fuel leak detection, and environmental monitoring. Smart Lick and Stick sensor technology which integrates a sensor array, electronics, telemetry, and power into one microsystem are being developed. These microsystems require low power consumption for long-term aerospace applications. One approach to decreasing power consumption is the use of nanotechnology. Nanocrystalline tin oxide (SnO2) carbon monoxide (CO) sensors developed previously by this group have been successfully used for fire detection and emissions monitoring. This presentation will briefly review the overall NASA GRC chemical sensor program and discuss our further effort in nanotechnology applications. New carbon dioxide (CO2) sensing material using doped nanocrystalline SnO2 will be discussed. Nanocrystalline SnO2 coated solid electrolyte CO2 sensors and SnO2 nanorod and nanofiber hydrogen (H2) sensors operated at reduced or room temperatures will also be discussed.

  17. Agricultural Impacts on Water Resources: Recommendations for Successful Applied Research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harmel, D.

    2014-12-01

    We, as water resource professionals, are faced with a truly monumental challenge - that is feeding the world's growing population and ensuring it has an adequate supply of clean water. As researchers and educators it is good for us to regularly remember that our research and outreach efforts are critical to people around the world, many of whom are desperate for solutions to water quality and supply problems and their impacts on food supply, land management, and ecosystem protection. In this presentation, recommendations for successful applied research on agricultural impacts on water resources will be provided. The benefits of building multidisciplinary teams will be illustrated with examples related to the development and world-wide application of the ALMANAC, SWAT, and EPIC/APEX models. The value of non-traditional partnerships will be shown by the Soil Health Partnership, a coalition of agricultural producers, chemical and seed companies, and environmental advocacy groups. The results of empowering decision-makers with useful data will be illustrated with examples related to bacteria source and transport data and the MANAGE database, which contains runoff nitrogen and phosphorus data for cultivated, pasture, and forest land uses. The benefits of focusing on sustainable solutions will be shown through examples of soil testing, fertilizers application, on-farm profit analysis, and soil health assessment. And the value of welcoming criticism will be illustrated by the development of a framework to estimate and publish uncertainty in measured discharge and water quality data. The good news for researchers is that the agricultural industry is faced with profitability concerns and the need to wisely utilize soil and water resources, and simultaneously state and federal agencies crave sound-science to improve decision making, policy, and regulation. Thus, the audience for and beneficiaries of agricultural research are ready and hungry for applied research results.

  18. Myconanotechnology in agriculture: a perspective.

    PubMed

    Kashyap, Prem Lal; Kumar, Sudheer; Srivastava, Alok Kumar; Sharma, Arun Kumar

    2013-02-01

    Myconanotechnology is an emerging field, where fungi can be harnessed for the synthesis of nanomaterials or nanostructures with desirable shape and size. Though myconanotechnology is in its infancy, potential applications provide exciting waves of transformation in agriculture and fascinate microbiologists and other researchers to contribute in providing incremental solutions through green chemistry approaches for advancing food security. In this article, we provide a brief overview of the research efforts on the mycogenic synthesis of nanoparticles with particular emphasis on mechanisms and potential applications in agriculture and allied sectors.

  19. Aerospace toxicology overview: aerial application and cabin air quality.

    PubMed

    Chaturvedi, Arvind K

    2011-01-01

    Aerospace toxicology is a rather recent development and is closely related to aerospace medicine. Aerospace toxicology can be defined as a field of study designed to address the adverse effects of medications, chemicals, and contaminants on humans who fly within or outside the atmosphere in aviation or on space flights. The environment extending above and beyond the surface of the Earth is referred to as aerospace. The term aviation is frequently used interchangeably with aerospace. The focus of the literature review performed to prepare this paper was on aerospace toxicology-related subject matters, aerial application and aircraft cabin air quality. Among the important topics addressed are the following: · Aerial applications of agricultural chemicals, pesticidal toxicity, and exposures to aerially applied mixtures of chemicals and their associated formulating solvents/surfactants The safety of aerially encountered chemicals and the bioanalytical methods used to monitor exposures to some of them · The presence of fumes and smoke, as well as other contaminants that may generally be present in aircraft/space vehicle cabin air · And importantly, the toxic effects of aerially encountered contaminants, with emphasis on the degradation products of oils, fluids, and lubricants used in aircraft, and finally · Analytical methods used for monitoring human exposure to CO and HCN are addressed in the review, as are the signs and symptoms associated with exposures to these combustion gases. Although many agricultural chemical monitoring studies have been published, few have dealt with the occurrence of such chemicals in aircraft cabin air. However, agricultural chemicals do appear in cabin air; indeed, attempts have been made to establish maximum allowable concentrations for several of the more potentially toxic ones that are found in aircraft cabin air. In this article, I emphasize the need for precautionary measures to be taken to minimize exposures to aerially

  20. Agricultural Conservation Planning Toolbox User's Manual

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework (ACPF) comprises an approach for applying concepts of precision conservation to watershed planning in agricultural landscapes. To enable application of this approach, USDA/ARS has developed a set of Geographic Information System (GIS) based software tools...

  1. 40 CFR 455.30 - Applicability; description of the metallo-organic pesticide chemicals manufacturing subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... metallo-organic pesticide chemicals manufacturing subcategory. 455.30 Section 455.30 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS PESTICIDE CHEMICALS Metallo-Organic Pesticide Chemicals Manufacturing Subcategory § 455.30 Applicability; description of the...

  2. 40 CFR 455.30 - Applicability; description of the metallo-organic pesticide chemicals manufacturing subcategory.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... metallo-organic pesticide chemicals manufacturing subcategory. 455.30 Section 455.30 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) EFFLUENT GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS PESTICIDE CHEMICALS Metallo-Organic Pesticide Chemicals Manufacturing Subcategory § 455.30 Applicability; description of the...

  3. Molecule database framework: a framework for creating database applications with chemical structure search capability

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Research in organic chemistry generates samples of novel chemicals together with their properties and other related data. The involved scientists must be able to store this data and search it by chemical structure. There are commercial solutions for common needs like chemical registration systems or electronic lab notebooks. However for specific requirements of in-house databases and processes no such solutions exist. Another issue is that commercial solutions have the risk of vendor lock-in and may require an expensive license of a proprietary relational database management system. To speed up and simplify the development for applications that require chemical structure search capabilities, I have developed Molecule Database Framework. The framework abstracts the storing and searching of chemical structures into method calls. Therefore software developers do not require extensive knowledge about chemistry and the underlying database cartridge. This decreases application development time. Results Molecule Database Framework is written in Java and I created it by integrating existing free and open-source tools and frameworks. The core functionality includes: • Support for multi-component compounds (mixtures) • Import and export of SD-files • Optional security (authorization) For chemical structure searching Molecule Database Framework leverages the capabilities of the Bingo Cartridge for PostgreSQL and provides type-safe searching, caching, transactions and optional method level security. Molecule Database Framework supports multi-component chemical compounds (mixtures). Furthermore the design of entity classes and the reasoning behind it are explained. By means of a simple web application I describe how the framework could be used. I then benchmarked this example application to create some basic performance expectations for chemical structure searches and import and export of SD-files. Conclusions By using a simple web application it was

  4. Molecule database framework: a framework for creating database applications with chemical structure search capability.

    PubMed

    Kiener, Joos

    2013-12-11

    Research in organic chemistry generates samples of novel chemicals together with their properties and other related data. The involved scientists must be able to store this data and search it by chemical structure. There are commercial solutions for common needs like chemical registration systems or electronic lab notebooks. However for specific requirements of in-house databases and processes no such solutions exist. Another issue is that commercial solutions have the risk of vendor lock-in and may require an expensive license of a proprietary relational database management system. To speed up and simplify the development for applications that require chemical structure search capabilities, I have developed Molecule Database Framework. The framework abstracts the storing and searching of chemical structures into method calls. Therefore software developers do not require extensive knowledge about chemistry and the underlying database cartridge. This decreases application development time. Molecule Database Framework is written in Java and I created it by integrating existing free and open-source tools and frameworks. The core functionality includes:•Support for multi-component compounds (mixtures)•Import and export of SD-files•Optional security (authorization)For chemical structure searching Molecule Database Framework leverages the capabilities of the Bingo Cartridge for PostgreSQL and provides type-safe searching, caching, transactions and optional method level security. Molecule Database Framework supports multi-component chemical compounds (mixtures).Furthermore the design of entity classes and the reasoning behind it are explained. By means of a simple web application I describe how the framework could be used. I then benchmarked this example application to create some basic performance expectations for chemical structure searches and import and export of SD-files. By using a simple web application it was shown that Molecule Database Framework

  5. Rheumatoid Arthritis in Agricultural Health Study Spouses: Associations with Pesticides and Other Farm Exposures.

    PubMed

    Parks, Christine G; Hoppin, Jane A; De Roos, Anneclaire J; Costenbader, Karen H; Alavanja, Michael C; Sandler, Dale P

    2016-11-01

    Farming has been associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but the role of pesticides is not known. We examined associations between RA and pesticides or other agricultural exposures among female spouses of licensed pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study. Women were enrolled between 1993 and 1997 and followed through 2010. Cases (n = 275 total, 132 incident), confirmed by a physician or by self-reported use of disease modifying antirheumatic drugs, were compared with noncases (n = 24,018). Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using logistic regression models adjusted for age, state, and smoking pack-years. Overall, women with RA were somewhat more likely to have reported lifetime use of any specific pesticide versus no pesticides (OR = 1.4; 95% CI: 1.0, 1.6). Of the 15 pesticides examined, maneb/mancozeb (OR = 3.3; 95% CI: 1.5, 7.1) and glyphosate (OR = 1.4; 95% CI: 1.0, 2.1) were associated with incident RA compared with no pesticide use. An elevated, but non-statistically significant association with incident RA was seen for DDT (OR = 1.9; 95% CI: 0.97, 3.6). Incident RA was also associated with the application of chemical fertilizers (OR = 1.7; 95% CI: 1.1, 2.7) and cleaning with solvents (OR = 1.6; 95% CI: 1.1, 2.4), but inversely associated with lifetime livestock exposure as a child and adult (OR = 0.48; 95% CI: 0.24, 0.97) compared with no livestock exposure. Our results suggest that specific agricultural pesticides, solvents, and chemical fertilizers may increase the risk of RA in women, while exposures involving animal contact may be protective. Citation: Parks CG, Hoppin JA, De Roos AJ, Costenbader KH, Alavanja MC, Sandler DP. 2016. Rheumatoid arthritis in Agricultural Health Study spouses: associations with pesticides and other farm exposures. Environ Health Perspect 124:1728-1734; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP129.

  6. Rheumatoid Arthritis in Agricultural Health Study Spouses: Associations with Pesticides and Other Farm Exposures

    PubMed Central

    Parks, Christine G.; Hoppin, Jane A.; De Roos, Anneclaire J.; Costenbader, Karen H.; Alavanja, Michael C.; Sandler, Dale P.

    2016-01-01

    Background: Farming has been associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but the role of pesticides is not known. Objectives: We examined associations between RA and pesticides or other agricultural exposures among female spouses of licensed pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study. Methods: Women were enrolled between 1993 and 1997 and followed through 2010. Cases (n = 275 total, 132 incident), confirmed by a physician or by self-reported use of disease modifying antirheumatic drugs, were compared with noncases (n = 24,018). Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using logistic regression models adjusted for age, state, and smoking pack-years. Results: Overall, women with RA were somewhat more likely to have reported lifetime use of any specific pesticide versus no pesticides (OR = 1.4; 95% CI: 1.0, 1.6). Of the 15 pesticides examined, maneb/mancozeb (OR = 3.3; 95% CI: 1.5, 7.1) and glyphosate (OR = 1.4; 95% CI: 1.0, 2.1) were associated with incident RA compared with no pesticide use. An elevated, but non-statistically significant association with incident RA was seen for DDT (OR = 1.9; 95% CI: 0.97, 3.6). Incident RA was also associated with the application of chemical fertilizers (OR = 1.7; 95% CI: 1.1, 2.7) and cleaning with solvents (OR = 1.6; 95% CI: 1.1, 2.4), but inversely associated with lifetime livestock exposure as a child and adult (OR = 0.48; 95% CI: 0.24, 0.97) compared with no livestock exposure. Conclusions: Our results suggest that specific agricultural pesticides, solvents, and chemical fertilizers may increase the risk of RA in women, while exposures involving animal contact may be protective. Citation: Parks CG, Hoppin JA, De Roos AJ, Costenbader KH, Alavanja MC, Sandler DP. 2016. Rheumatoid arthritis in Agricultural Health Study spouses: associations with pesticides and other farm exposures. Environ Health Perspect 124:1728–1734; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP129 PMID:27285288

  7. Chemical modification of graphene aerogels for electrochemical capacitor applications.

    PubMed

    Hong, Jin-Yong; Wie, Jeong Jae; Xu, Yu; Park, Ho Seok

    2015-12-14

    Graphene aerogel is a relatively new type of aerogel that is ideal for energy storage applications because of its large surface area, high electrical conductivity and good chemical stability. Also, three dimensional interconnected macropores offer many advantages such as low density, fast ion and mass transfer, and easy access to storage sites. Such features allow graphene aerogels to be intensively applied for electrochemical capacitor applications. Despite the growing interest in graphene aerogel-based electrochemical capacitors, however, the graphene aerogels still suffer from their low capacitive performances and high fragility. Both relatively low capacitance and brittleness of physically crosslinked graphene aerogels remain a critical challenge. Until now, a number of alternative attempts have been devoted to overcome these shortcomings. In this perspective, we summarize the recent research progress towards the development of advanced graphene aerogel-based electrochemical capacitors according to the different approaches (e.g. porosity, composition and structure controls). Then, the recently proposed chemical strategies to improve the capacitive performances and mechanical durability of graphene aerogels for practical applications are highlighted. Finally, the current challenges and perspectives in this emerging material are also discussed.

  8. Pectic oligosaccharides from agricultural by-products: production, characterization and health benefits.

    PubMed

    Babbar, Neha; Dejonghe, Winnie; Gatti, Monica; Sforza, Stefano; Elst, Kathy

    2016-08-01

    Pectin containing agricultural by-products are potential sources of a new class of prebiotics known as pectic oligosaccharides (POS). In general, pectin is made up of homogalacturonan (HG, α-1,4-linked galacturonic acid monomers) and rhamnogalacturonan (RG, alternate galacturonic acid and rhamnose backbone with neutral side chains). Controlled hydrolysis of pectin containing agricultural by-products like sugar beet, apple, olive and citrus by chemical, enzymatic and hydrothermal can be used to produce oligo-galacturonides (GalpOS), galacto-oligosaccharides (GalOS), rhamnogalacturonan-oligosaccharides (RGOS), etc. However, extensive research is needed to establish the role of POS, both as a prebiotic as well as therapeutic agent. This review comprehensively covers different facets of POS, including the nature and chemistry of pectin and POS, potential agricultural residual sources of pectin, pre-treatment methods for facilitating selective extraction of pectin, identification and characterization of POS, health benefits and important applications of POS in food and feed. This review has been compiled to establish a platform for future research in the purification and characterization of POS and for in vivo and in vitro studies of important POS, so that they could be commercially exploited.

  9. Irradiation of northwest agricultural products

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eakin, D. E.; Tingey, G. I.

    1985-02-01

    Irradiation of food for disinfestation and preservation is increasing in importance because of increasing restrictions on various chemical treatments. Irradiation treatment is of particular interest in the Northwest because of a growing supply of agricultural products and the need to develop new export markets. Several products have, or could potentially have, significant export markets if stringent insect ocntrol procedures are developed and followed. Due to the recognized potential benefits of irradiation, this program was conducted to evaluate the benefits of using irradiation on Northwest agricultural products. Commodities currently included in the program are cherries, apples, asparagus, spices, hay, and hides.

  10. Development and Application of Microfabricated Chemical Gas Sensors For Aerospace Applications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hunter, G. W.; Neudeck, P. G.; Fralick, G.; Thomas, V.; Liu, C. C.; Wu, Q. H.; Sawayda, M. S.; Jin, A.; Hammond, J.; Makel, D.; hide

    1990-01-01

    Aerospace applications require the development of chemical sensors with capabilities beyond those of commercially available sensors. In particular, factors such as minimal sensor size, weight, and power consumption are particularly important. Development areas which have potential aerospace applications include launch vehicle leak detection, engine health monitoring and control, and fire detection. Sensor development for these applications is based on progress in three types of technology: 1) Micromachining and microfabrication (Microsystem) technology to fabricate miniaturized sensors. 2) The use of nanocrystalline materials to develop sensors with improved stability combined with higher sensitivity. 3) The development of high temperature semiconductors, especially silicon carbide. Sensor development for each application involves its own challenges in the fields of materials science and fabrication technology. This paper discusses the needs of space applications and the point-contact sensor technology being developed to address these needs. Sensors to measure hydrogen, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides (Nox, carbon monoxide, oxygen, and carbon dioxide are being developed. A description is given of each sensor type and its present stage of development. Demonstration and application these sensor technologies will be described. The demonstrations range from use of a microsystem based hydrogen sensor on the Shuttle to engine demonstration of a nanocrystalline based sensor for NO, detection. It is concluded that microfabricated sensor technology has significant potential for use in a range of aerospace applications.

  11. Market assessment of photovoltaic power systems for agricultural applications in Morocco

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Steingass, H.; Asmon, I.

    1981-09-01

    Results of a month-long study in Morocco aimed at assessing the market potential for stand-alone photovoltaic systems in agriculture and rural service applications are presented. The following applications, requiring less than 15 kW of power, are described: irrigation, cattle watering, refrigeration, crop processing, potable water and educational TV. Telecommunications and transportation signalling applications, descriptions of power and energy use profiles, assessments of business environment, government and private sector attitudes towards photovoltaics, and financing were also considered. The Moroccan market presents both advantages and disadvantages for American PV manufacturers. The principle advantages of the Moroccan market are: a limited grid, interest in and present use of PV in communications applications, attractive investment incentives, and a stated policy favoring American investment. Disadvantages include: lack of government incentives for PV use, general unfamiliarity with PV technology, high first cost of PV, a well-established market network for diesel generators, and difficulty with financing. The market for PV in Morocco (1981-1986), will be relatively small, about 340 kwp. The market for PV is likely to be more favorable in telecommunications, transport signalling and some rural services. The primary market appears to be in the public (i.e., government) rather than private sector, due to financial constraints and the high price of PV relative to conventional power sector.

  12. Market assessment of photovoltaic power systems for agricultural applications in Morocco

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Steingass, H.; Asmon, I.

    1981-01-01

    Results of a month-long study in Morocco aimed at assessing the market potential for stand-alone photovoltaic systems in agriculture and rural service applications are presented. The following applications, requiring less than 15 kW of power, are described: irrigation, cattle watering, refrigeration, crop processing, potable water and educational TV. Telecommunications and transportation signalling applications, descriptions of power and energy use profiles, assessments of business environment, government and private sector attitudes towards photovoltaics, and financing were also considered. The Moroccan market presents both advantages and disadvantages for American PV manufacturers. The principle advantages of the Moroccan market are: a limited grid, interest in and present use of PV in communications applications, attractive investment incentives, and a stated policy favoring American investment. Disadvantages include: lack of government incentives for PV use, general unfamiliarity with PV technology, high first cost of PV, a well-established market network for diesel generators, and difficulty with financing. The market for PV in Morocco (1981-1986), will be relatively small, about 340 kwp. The market for PV is likely to be more favorable in telecommunications, transport signalling and some rural services. The primary market appears to be in the public (i.e., government) rather than private sector, due to financial constraints and the high price of PV relative to conventional power sector.

  13. Agricultural Geophysics: Past, present, and future

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Geophysical methods are becoming an increasingly valuable tool for agricultural applications. Agricultural geophysics investigations are commonly (although certainly not always) focused on delineating small- and/or large-scale objects/features within the soil profile (~ 0 to 2 m depth) over very lar...

  14. Nanotechnology in agriculture: Opportunities, toxicological implications, and occupational risks.

    PubMed

    Iavicoli, Ivo; Leso, Veruscka; Beezhold, Donald H; Shvedova, Anna A

    2017-08-15

    Nanotechnology has the potential to make a beneficial impact on several agricultural, forestry, and environmental challenges, such as urbanization, energy constraints, and sustainable use of resources. However, new environmental and human health hazards may emerge from nano-enhanced applications. This raises concerns for agricultural workers who may become primarily exposed to such xenobiotics during their job tasks. The aim of this review is to discuss promising solutions that nanotechnology may provide in agricultural activities, with a specific focus on critical aspects, challenging issues, and research needs for occupational risk assessment and management in this emerging field. Eco-toxicological aspects were not the focus of the review. Nano-fertilizers, (nano-sized nutrients, nano-coated fertilizers, or engineered metal-oxide or carbon-based nanomaterials per se), and nano-pesticides, (nano-formulations of traditional active ingredients or inorganic nanomaterials), may provide a targeted/controlled release of agrochemicals, aimed to obtain their fullest biological efficacy without over-dosage. Nano-sensors and nano-remediation methods may detect and remove environmental contaminants. However, limited knowledge concerning nanomaterial biosafety, adverse effects, fate, and acquired biological reactivity once dispersed into the environment, requires further scientific efforts to assess possible nano-agricultural risks. In this perspective, toxicological research should be aimed to define nanomaterial hazards and levels of exposure along the life-cycle of nano-enabled products, and to assess those physico-chemical features affecting nanomaterial toxicity, possible interactions with agro-system co-formulants, and stressors. Overall, this review highlights the importance to define adequate risk management strategies for workers, occupational safety practices and policies, as well as to develop a responsible regulatory consensus on nanotechnology in agriculture

  15. Reducing the Use of Pesticides with Site-Specific Application: The Chemical Control of Rhizoctonia solani as a Case of Study for the Management of Soil-Borne Diseases

    PubMed Central

    Le Cointe, Ronan; Simon, Thomas E.; Delarue, Patrick; Hervé, Maxime; Leclerc, Melen; Poggi, Sylvain

    2016-01-01

    Reducing our reliance on pesticides is an essential step towards the sustainability of agricultural production. One approach involves the rational use of pesticides combined with innovative crop management. Most control strategies currently focus on the temporal aspect of epidemics, e.g. determining the optimal date for spraying, regardless of the spatial mechanics and ecology of disease spread. Designing innovative pest management strategies incorporating the spatial aspect of epidemics involves thorough knowledge on how disease control affects the life-history traits of the pathogen. In this study, using Rhizoctonia solani/Raphanus sativus as an example of a soil-borne pathosystem, we investigated the effects of a chemical control currently used by growers, Monceren® L, on key epidemiological components (saprotrophic spread and infectivity). We tested the potential “shield effect” of Monceren® L on pathogenic spread in a site-specific application context, i.e. the efficiency of this chemical to contain the spread of the fungus from an infected host when application is spatially localized, in our case, a strip placed between the infected host and a recipient bait. Our results showed that Monceren® L mainly inhibits the saprotrophic spread of the fungus in soil and may prevent the fungus from reaching its host plant. However, perhaps surprisingly we did not detect any significant effect of the fungicide on the pathogen infectivity. Finally, highly localized application of the fungicide—a narrow strip of soil (12.5 mm wide) sprayed with Monceren® L—significantly decreased local transmission of the pathogen, suggesting lowered risk of occurrence of invasive epidemics. Our results highlight that detailed knowledge on epidemiological processes could contribute to the design of innovative management strategies based on precision agriculture tools to improve the efficacy of disease control and reduce pesticide use. PMID:27668731

  16. Application of Electro Chemical Machining for materials used in extreme conditions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pandilov, Z.

    2018-03-01

    Electro-Chemical Machining (ECM) is the generic term for a variety of electrochemical processes. ECM is used to machine work pieces from metal and metal alloys irrespective of their hardness, strength or thermal properties, through the anodic dissolution, in aerospace, automotive, construction, medical equipment, micro-systems and power supply industries. The Electro Chemical Machining is extremely suitable for machining of materials used in extreme conditions. General overview of the Electro-Chemical Machining and its application for different materials used in extreme conditions is presented.

  17. Remote sensing with simulated unmanned aircraft imagery for precision agriculture applications

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Hunt, E. Raymond; Daughtry, Craig S.T.; Mirsky, Steven B.; Hively, W. Dean

    2014-01-01

    An important application of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) may be remote-sensing for precision agriculture, because of its ability to acquire images with very small pixel sizes from low altitude flights. The objective of this study was to compare information obtained from two different pixel sizes, one about a meter (the size of a small vegetation plot) and one about a millimeter. Cereal rye (Secale cereale) was planted at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center for a winter cover crop with fall and spring fertilizer applications, which produced differences in biomass and leaf chlorophyll content. UAS imagery was simulated by placing a Fuji IS-Pro UVIR digital camera at 3-m height looking nadir. An external UV-IR cut filter was used to acquire true-color images; an external red cut filter was used to obtain color-infrared-like images with bands at near-infrared, green, and blue wavelengths. Plot-scale Green Normalized Difference Vegetation Index was correlated with dry aboveground biomass ( ${mbi {r}} = 0.58$ ), whereas the Triangular Greenness Index (TGI) was not correlated with chlorophyll content. We used the SamplePoint program to select 100 pixels systematically; we visually identified the cover type and acquired the digital numbers. The number of rye pixels in each image was better correlated with biomass ( ${mbi {r}} = 0.73$ ), and the average TGI from only leaf pixels was negatively correlated with chlorophyll content ( ${mbi {r}} = -0.72$ ). Thus, better information for crop requirements may be obtained using very small pixel sizes, but new algorithms based on computer vision are needed for analysis. It may not be necessary to geospatially register large numbers of photographs with very small pixel sizes. Instead, images could be analyzed as single plots along field transects.

  18. Physico-chemical characterization of functionalized polypropylenic fibers for prosthetic applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nisticò, Roberto; Faga, Maria Giulia; Gautier, Giovanna; Magnacca, Giuliana; D'Angelo, Domenico; Ciancio, Emanuele; Piacenza, Giacomo; Lamberti, Roberta; Martorana, Selanna

    2012-08-01

    Polypropylene (PP) fibers can be manufactured to form nets which can find application as prosthesis in hernioplasty. One of the most important problem to deal with when nets are applied in vivo consists in the reproduction of bacteria within the net fibers intersections. This occurs right after the application of the prosthesis, and causes infections, thus it is fundamental to remove bacteria in the very early stage of the nets application. This paper deals with the physico-chemical characterization of such nets, pre-treated by atmospheric pressure plasma dielectric barrier discharge apparatus (APP-DBD) and functionalized with an antibiotic drug such as chitosan. The physico-chemical characterization of sterilized nets, before and after the functionalization with chitosan, was carried out by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with EDS spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, drop shape analysis (DSA), X-ray diffraction and thermal analyses (TGA and DSC). The aim of the work is to individuate a good strategy to characterize this kind of materials, to understand the effects of polypropylene pre-treatment on functionalization efficiency, to follow the materials ageing in order to study the effects of the surface treatment for in vivo applications.

  19. [Effects of agricultural practices on community structure of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in agricultural ecosystem: a review].

    PubMed

    Sheng, Ping-Ping; Li, Min; Liu, Run-Jin

    2011-06-01

    Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are rich in diversity in agricultural ecosystem, playing a vital role based on their unique community structure. Host plants and environmental factors have important effects on AM fungal community structure, so do the agricultural practices which deserve to pay attention to. This paper summarized the research advances in the effects of agricultural practices such as irrigation, fertilization, crop rotation, intercropping, tillage, and pesticide application on AM fungal community structure, analyzed the related possible mechanisms, discussed the possible ways in improving AM fungal community structure in agricultural ecosystem, and put forward a set of countermeasures, i.e., improving fertilization system and related integrated techniques, increasing plant diversity in agricultural ecosystem, and inoculating AM fungi, to enhance the AM fungal diversity in agricultural ecosystem. The existing problems in current agricultural practices and further research directions were also proposed.

  20. Application of food industry waste to agricultural soils mitigates green house gas emissions.

    PubMed

    Rashid, M T; Voroney, R P; Khalid, M

    2010-01-01

    Application of organic waste materials such as food processing and serving industry cooking oil waste (OFW) can recycle soil nitrate nitrogen (NO(3)-N), which is otherwise prone to leaching after the harvest of crop. Nitrogen (N) recycling will not only reduce the amount of N fertilizer application for corn crop production but is also expected to mitigate green house gas (GHG) emissions by saving energy to be used for the production of the same amount of industrial fertilizer N required for the growth of corn crop. Application of OFW at 10Mg solid ha(-1)y(-1) conserved 68 kg N ha(-1)y(-1) which ultimately saved 134 L diesel ha(-1)y(-1), which would otherwise be used for the production of fertilizer N as urea. Average fossil energy substitution value (FESV) of N conserved/recycled was calculated to be 93 US$ ha(-1)y(-1), which is about 13 million US$y(-1). Potential amount of GHG mitigation through the application of OFW to agricultural soils in Canada is estimated to be 57 Gg CO(2)Eq y(-1).

  1. Rapid computation of chemical equilibrium composition - An application to hydrocarbon combustion

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Erickson, W. D.; Prabhu, R. K.

    1986-01-01

    A scheme for rapidly computing the chemical equilibrium composition of hydrocarbon combustion products is derived. A set of ten governing equations is reduced to a single equation that is solved by the Newton iteration method. Computation speeds are approximately 80 times faster than the often used free-energy minimization method. The general approach also has application to many other chemical systems.

  2. 7 CFR 1.26 - Representation before the Department of Agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Representation before the Department of Agriculture. 1.26 Section 1.26 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS Departmental Proceedings § 1.26 Representation before the Department of Agriculture. (a) Applicability. This...

  3. 7 CFR 1.26 - Representation before the Department of Agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Representation before the Department of Agriculture. 1.26 Section 1.26 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS Departmental Proceedings § 1.26 Representation before the Department of Agriculture. (a) Applicability. This...

  4. 7 CFR 1.26 - Representation before the Department of Agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Representation before the Department of Agriculture. 1.26 Section 1.26 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS Departmental Proceedings § 1.26 Representation before the Department of Agriculture. (a) Applicability. This...

  5. 7 CFR 1.26 - Representation before the Department of Agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Representation before the Department of Agriculture. 1.26 Section 1.26 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS Departmental Proceedings § 1.26 Representation before the Department of Agriculture. (a) Applicability. This...

  6. 7 CFR 1.26 - Representation before the Department of Agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Representation before the Department of Agriculture. 1.26 Section 1.26 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS Departmental Proceedings § 1.26 Representation before the Department of Agriculture. (a) Applicability. This...

  7. Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Velocity Mapping in Chemical Engineering Applications.

    PubMed

    Gladden, Lynn F; Sederman, Andrew J

    2017-06-07

    This review aims to illustrate the diversity of measurements that can be made using magnetic resonance techniques, which have the potential to provide insights into chemical engineering systems that cannot readily be achieved using any other method. Perhaps the most notable advantage in using magnetic resonance methods is that both chemistry and transport can be followed in three dimensions, in optically opaque systems, and without the need for tracers to be introduced into the system. Here we focus on hydrodynamics and, in particular, applications to rheology, pipe flow, and fixed-bed and gas-solid fluidized bed reactors. With increasing development of industrially relevant sample environments and undersampling data acquisition strategies that can reduce acquisition times to <1 s, magnetic resonance is finding increasing application in chemical engineering research.

  8. 75 FR 38092 - The Dow Chemical Company; Application for Blanket Authorization To Export Liquefied Natural Gas

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-07-01

    ... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY [FE Docket No. 10-57-LNG] The Dow Chemical Company; Application for Blanket... receipt of an application (Application), filed on May 26, 2010, by The Dow Chemical Company (Dow... the United States from foreign sources in an amount up to the equivalent of 390 billion cubic feet...

  9. Utilization of FGD gypsum in agriculture for environmental benefits

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    This paper will discuss the utilization of FGD gypsum in agriculture for environmental benefits. Gypsum (CaSO4 .2H2O) has been used as an agricultural soil amendment for over 250 years. It is a soluble source of calcium and sulfur for crops and has been shown to improve soil physical and chemical pr...

  10. Practicing Conservation Agriculture to mitigate and adapt to Climate Change in Jordan.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Khresat, Saeb

    2016-04-01

    Climate change scenarios indicate that Jordan and the Middle East could suffer from reduced agricultural productivity and water availability among other negative impacts. Based on the projection models for the area, average temperature in Jordan is projected to increase between 1.2 and 1.6 °C by 2050. Projections for precipitation trends are projected to decrease by 16% by the year 2050. Evaporation is likely to increase due to higher temperatures. This is likely to increase the incidence of drought potential since precipitation is projected to decrease. The dominant form of agriculture system in Jordan is based on intensive tillage. This form of tillage has resulted in large losses of organic soil carbon, weaker soil structure, and cause compaction. It has negative effects on soil aeration, root development and water infiltration among other factors. There is a need to transform farming practices to conservation agriculture to sequester carbon so that climate change mitigation becomes an inherent property of future farming systems. Conservation Agriculture, a system avoiding or minimizing soil disturbance, combined with soil cover and crop diversification, is considered to be a sustainable production system that can also sequester carbon unlike tillage agriculture. Conservation agriculture promotes minimal disturbance of the soil by tillage (zero tillage), balanced application of chemical inputs and careful management of residues and wastes. This study was conducted to develop a clear understanding of the impacts and benefits of the two most common types of agriculture, traditional tillage agriculture and conservation agriculture with respect to their effects on land productivity and on soil carbon pools. The study results indicated that conservation agriculture contributed to the reduction of the farming systems' greenhouse gas emissions and enhance its role as carbon sinks. Also, it was found that by shifting to conservation agriculture labor cost needed for

  11. Soil biota and agriculture production in conventional and organic farming

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schrama, Maarten; de Haan, Joj; Carvalho, Sabrina; Kroonen, Mark; Verstegen, Harry; Van der Putten, Wim

    2015-04-01

    Sustainable food production for a growing world population requires a healthy soil that can buffer environmental extremes and minimize its losses. There are currently two views on how to achieve this: by intensifying conventional agriculture or by developing organically based agriculture. It has been established that yields of conventional agriculture can be 20% higher than of organic agriculture. However, high yields of intensified conventional agriculture trade off with loss of soil biodiversity, leaching of nutrients, and other unwanted ecosystem dis-services. One of the key explanations for the loss of nutrients and GHG from intensive agriculture is that it results in high dynamics of nutrient losses, and policy has aimed at reducing temporal variation. However, little is known about how different agricultural practices affect spatial variation, and it is unknown how soil fauna acts this. In this study we compare the spatial and temporal variation of physical, chemical and biological parameters in a long term (13-year) field experiment with two conventional farming systems (low and medium organic matter input) and one organic farming system (high organic matter input) and we evaluate the impact on ecosystem services that these farming systems provide. Soil chemical (N availability, N mineralization, pH) and soil biological parameters (nematode abundance, bacterial and fungal biomass) show considerably higher spatial variation under conventional farming than under organic farming. Higher variation in soil chemical and biological parameters coincides with the presence of 'leaky' spots (high nitrate leaching) in conventional farming systems, which shift unpredictably over the course of one season. Although variation in soil physical factors (soil organic matter, soil aggregation, soil moisture) was similar between treatments, but averages were higher under organic farming, indicating more buffered conditions for nutrient cycling. All these changes coincide with

  12. Microfluidics for food, agriculture and biosystems industries.

    PubMed

    Neethirajan, Suresh; Kobayashi, Isao; Nakajima, Mitsutoshi; Wu, Dan; Nandagopal, Saravanan; Lin, Francis

    2011-05-07

    Microfluidics, a rapidly emerging enabling technology has the potential to revolutionize food, agriculture and biosystems industries. Examples of potential applications of microfluidics in food industry include nano-particle encapsulation of fish oil, monitoring pathogens and toxins in food and water supplies, micro-nano-filtration for improving food quality, detection of antibiotics in dairy food products, and generation of novel food structures. In addition, microfluidics enables applications in agriculture and animal sciences such as nutrients monitoring and plant cells sorting for improving crop quality and production, effective delivery of biopesticides, simplified in vitro fertilization for animal breeding, animal health monitoring, vaccination and therapeutics. Lastly, microfluidics provides new approaches for bioenergy research. This paper synthesizes information of selected microfluidics-based applications for food, agriculture and biosystems industries. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2011

  13. Phosphorus saturation and superficial fertilizer application as key parameters to assess the risk of diffuse phosphorus losses from agricultural soils in Brazil.

    PubMed

    Fischer, P; Pöthig, R; Gücker, B; Venohr, M

    2018-07-15

    In Brazil, a steady increase in phosphorus (P) fertilizer application and agricultural intensification has been reported for recent decades. The concomitant P accumulation in soils potentially threatens surface water bodies with eutrophication through diffuse P losses. Here, we demonstrated the applicability of a soil type-independent approach for estimating the degree of P saturation (DPS; a risk parameter of P loss) by a standard method of water-soluble phosphorus (WSP) for two major soil types (Oxisols, Entisols) of the São Francisco catchment in Brazil. Subsequently, soil Mehlich-1P (M1P) levels recommended by Brazilian agricultural institutions were transformed into DPS values. Recommended M1P values for optimal agronomic production corresponded to DPS values below critical thresholds of high risks of P losses (DPS=80%) for major crops of the catchment. Higher risks of reaching critical DPS values due to P accumulation were found for Entisols due to their total sorption capacities being only half those of Oxisols. For complementary information on soil mineralogy and its influence on P sorption and P binding forms, Fourier transformation infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic analyses were executed. FTIR analyses suggested the occurrence of the clay minerals palygorskite and sepiolite in some of the analyzed Entisols and the formation of crandallite as the soil specific P binding form in the investigated Oxisols. Palygorskite and sepiolite can enhance P solubility and hence the risk of P losses. In contrast, the reshaping of superphosphate grains into crandallite may explain the chemical processes leading to previously observed low dissolved P concentrations in surface runoff from Oxisols. To prevent high risk of P losses, we recommend avoiding superficial fertilizer application and establishing environmental thresholds for soil M1P based on DPS. These measures could help to prevent eutrophication of naturally oligotrophic surface waters, and subsequent adverse effects

  14. THE ACQUISITION AND APPLICATION OF ABSORPTION, DISTRIBUTION, METABOLISM, AND EXCRETION (ADME) DATA IN AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL SAFETY ASSESSMENTS

    EPA Science Inventory

    A multi-sector international group of government, academic, and industry scientists has developed a proposal for an improved testing scheme for assessing the safety of crop protection chemicals. Incorporation of pharmacokinetic studies describing the absorption, distribution, me...

  15. Chemical Modification of Boron-Doped Diamond Electrodes for Applications to Biosensors and Biosensing.

    PubMed

    Svítková, Jana; Ignat, Teodora; Švorc, Ľubomír; Labuda, Ján; Barek, Jiří

    2016-05-03

    Boron-doped diamond (BDD) is a prospective electrode material that possesses many exceptional properties including wide potential window, low noise, low and stable background current, chemical and mechanical stability, good biocompatibility, and last but not least exceptional resistance to passivation. These characteristics extend its usability in various areas of electrochemistry as evidenced by increasing number of published articles over the past two decades. The idea of chemically modifying BDD electrodes with molecular species attached to the surface for the purpose of creating a rational design has found promising applications in the past few years. BDD electrodes have appeared to be excellent substrate materials for various chemical modifications and subsequent application to biosensors and biosensing. Hence, this article presents modification strategies that have extended applications of BDD electrodes in electroanalytical chemistry. Different methods and steps of surface modification of this electrode material for biosensing and construction of biosensors are discussed.

  16. 29 CFR 780.128 - General statement on “secondary” agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false General statement on âsecondaryâ agriculture. 780.128... APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE, PROCESSING OF AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES, AND RELATED SUBJECTS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT General Scope of Agriculture Practices Exempt Under âsecondaryâ Meaning of Agriculture...

  17. 29 CFR 780.128 - General statement on “secondary” agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false General statement on âsecondaryâ agriculture. 780.128... APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE, PROCESSING OF AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES, AND RELATED SUBJECTS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT General Scope of Agriculture Practices Exempt Under âsecondaryâ Meaning of Agriculture...

  18. 29 CFR 780.128 - General statement on “secondary” agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false General statement on âsecondaryâ agriculture. 780.128... APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE, PROCESSING OF AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES, AND RELATED SUBJECTS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT General Scope of Agriculture Practices Exempt Under âsecondaryâ Meaning of Agriculture...

  19. 29 CFR 780.128 - General statement on “secondary” agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false General statement on âsecondaryâ agriculture. 780.128... APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE, PROCESSING OF AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES, AND RELATED SUBJECTS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT General Scope of Agriculture Practices Exempt Under âsecondaryâ Meaning of Agriculture...

  20. 29 CFR 780.128 - General statement on “secondary” agriculture.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false General statement on âsecondaryâ agriculture. 780.128... APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE, PROCESSING OF AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES, AND RELATED SUBJECTS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT General Scope of Agriculture Practices Exempt Under âsecondaryâ Meaning of Agriculture...

  1. Drug and chemical residues in domestic animals.

    PubMed

    Mussman, H C

    1975-02-01

    Given the large number of chemical substances that may find their way into the food supply, a system is needed to monitor their presence. The U. S. Department of Agriculture's Meat and Poultry Inspection Program routinely tests for chemical residues in animals coming to slaughter. Pesticides, heavy metals, growth promotants (hormones and hormonelike agents), and antibiotics are included. Samples are taken statistically so that inferences as to national incidence of residues can be drawn. When a problem is identified, a more selective sampling is designed to help follow up on the initial regulatory action. In testing for pesticides, only DDT and dieldrin are found with any frequency and their levels are decreasing; violative residues of any chlorinated hydrocarbon are generally a result of an industrial accident rather than agricultural usage. Analyses for heavy metals have revealed detectable levels of mercury, lead, and others, but none at levels that are considered a health hazard. Of the hormone or hormonelike substances, only diethylstilbestrol has been a residue problem and its future is uncertain. The most extensive monitoring for veterinary drugs is on the antimicrobials, including sulfonamides, streptomycin, and the tetracycline group of antibiotics that constitute the bulk of the violations; their simultaneous use prophylactically and therapeutically has contributed to the problem in certain cases. A strong, well-designed user education program on proper application of pesticides, chemicals, and veterinary drugs appears to be one method of reducing the incidence of unwanted residues.

  2. Modules in Agricultural Education for Agricultural Supplies and Services.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New York State Education Dept., Albany. Bureau of Occupational and Career Curriculum Development.

    Each of the 22 curriculum modules in this packet for instruction in agricultural supplies and services contains a brief description of the module content, a list of the major division or units, the overall objectives, objectives by units, content outline, and suggested teaching methods, student application activities, and evaluation procedures. A…

  3. The use of body condition and haematology to detect widespread threatening processes in sleepy lizards (Tiliqua rugosa) in two agricultural environments.

    PubMed

    Smyth, Anita K; Smee, Elizabeth; Godfrey, Stephanie S; Crowther, Mathew; Phalen, David

    2014-12-01

    Agricultural practices, including habitat alteration and application of agricultural chemicals, can impact wildlife resulting in their decline. Determining which of these practices are contributing to declines is essential if the declines are to be reversed. In this study, the health of two geographically separated sleepy lizard (Tiliqua rugosa) populations was compared between a rangeland environment and cropping environment using linear body size index (LBSI) and haematology. Animals in the cropping site were smaller, suggesting genetic differences as the result of geographical isolation. The animals in the cropping site had a lower LBSI and many were experiencing a regenerative anaemia. The anaemia was postulated to be the cause of the low LBSI. The anaemia appeared to be the result of haemolysis and was likely to be caused by exposure to agricultural chemicals applied in the cropping site but not the rangeland site. Elevated white blood cell counts in lizards in the rangeland site suggested that they were experiencing an inflammatory disease of possible ecological significance. Together, these results demonstrate the value of combining physical and haematological parameters when studying the impact of agricultural practices on wildlife. They also show that reptiles may be useful as sentinel species for livestock and humans.

  4. Runoff of pharmaceuticals and personal care products following application of dewatered municipal biosolids to an agricultural field.

    PubMed

    Sabourin, Lyne; Beck, Andrew; Duenk, Peter W; Kleywegt, Sonya; Lapen, David R; Li, Hongxia; Metcalfe, Chris D; Payne, Michael; Topp, Edward

    2009-08-01

    Municipal biosolids are a useful source of nutrients for crop production, and commonly used in agriculture. In this field study, we applied dewatered municipal biosolids at a commercial rate using broadcast application followed by incorporation. Precipitation was simulated at 1, 3, 7, 21 and 34 days following the application on 2 m(2) microplots to evaluate surface runoff of various pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), namely atenolol, carbamazepine, cotinine, caffeine, gemfibrozil, naproxen, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, sulfamethoxazole, triclosan and triclocarban. There was little temporal coherence in the detection of PPCPs in runoff, various compounds being detected maximally on days 1, 3, 7 or 36. Maximum concentrations in runoff ranged from below detection limit (gemfibrozil) to 109.7 ng L(-1) (triclosan). Expressing the total mass exported as a percentage of that applied, some analytes revealed little transport potential (<1% exported; triclocarban, triclosan, sulfamethoxazole, ibuprofen, naproxen and gemfibrozil) whereas others were readily exported (>1% exported; acetaminophen, carbamazepine, caffeine, cotinine, atenolol). Those compounds with little transport potential had log K(ow) values of 3.18 or greater, whereas those that were readily mobilized had K(ow) values of 2.45 or less. Maximal concentrations of all analytes were below toxic concentrations using a variety of endpoints available in the literature. In summary, this study has quantified the transport potential in surface runoff of PPCPs from land receiving biosolids, identified that log K(ow) may be a determinant of runoff transport potential of these analytes, and found maximal concentrations of all chemicals tested to be below toxic concentrations using a variety of endpoints.

  5. Exposure to organophosphate (OP) pesticides and health conditions in agricultural and non-agricultural workers from Maule, Chile

    PubMed Central

    Muñoz-Quezada, María Teresa; Lucero, Boris; Iglesias, Verónica; Levy, Karen; Muñoz, María Pía; Achú, Eduardo; Cornejo, Claudia; Concha, Carlos; Brito, Ana María; Villalobos, Marcos

    2017-01-01

    The objective was to evaluate the characteristics of exposure to OP pesticides and health status in Chilean farm workers from the Maule Region. An occupational health questionnaire was administered in 207 agricultural and non-agricultural workers. For the group of agricultural workers we asked about specific occupational exposure history and symptoms of OP pesticide poisoning. The main health problem of the exposed group was previous OP pesticide poisoning (p <0.001). Fifty-six percent of agricultural workers reported symptoms consistent with acute OP pesticide poisoning. The use of respiratory personal protective equipment and younger age were protective against these symptoms, and number of years of OP pesticide exposure was positively associated with reporting symptoms of poisoning. Of the pesticide applicators 47% reported using chlorpyrifos. The regulations regarding use and application of pesticides should be strengthened, as should training and intervention with workers to improve the use of personal protective equipment. PMID:28002976

  6. Exposure to organophosphate (OP) pesticides and health conditions in agricultural and non-agricultural workers from Maule, Chile.

    PubMed

    Muñoz-Quezada, María Teresa; Lucero, Boris; Iglesias, Verónica; Levy, Karen; Muñoz, María Pía; Achú, Eduardo; Cornejo, Claudia; Concha, Carlos; Brito, Ana María; Villalobos, Marcos

    2017-02-01

    The objective was to evaluate the characteristics of exposure to OP pesticides and health status in Chilean farm workers from the Maule Region. An occupational health questionnaire was administered in 207 agricultural and non-agricultural workers. For the group of agricultural workers, we asked about specific occupational exposure history and symptoms of OP pesticide poisoning. The main health problem of the exposed group was previous OP pesticide poisoning (p < 0.001). Fifty-six percent of agricultural workers reported symptoms consistent with acute OP pesticide poisoning. The use of respiratory personal protective equipment and younger age were protective against these symptoms, and number of years of OP pesticide exposure was positively associated with reporting symptoms of poisoning. Of the pesticide applicators 47 % reported using chlorpyrifos. The regulations regarding use and application of pesticides should be strengthened, as should training and intervention with workers to improve the use of personal protective equipment.

  7. DRINKING WATER FROM AGRICULTURALLY CONTAMINATED GROUNDWATER

    EPA Science Inventory

    Sharp increases in fertilizer and pesticide use throughout the 1960s and 1970s along with generally less attachment to soil particles may result in more widespread contamination of drinking water supplies. he purpose of this study was to highlight the use of agricultural chemical...

  8. Chemical and biological work-related risks across occupations in Europe: a review.

    PubMed

    Montano, Diego

    2014-01-01

    Work-related health inequalities are determined to some extent by an unequal exposure to chemical and biological risk factors of disease. Although their potential economic burden in the European Union (EU-25) might be substantial, comprehensive reviews focusing on the distribution of these risks across occupational groups are limited. Thus, the main objective of this review is to provide a synopsis of the exposure to chemical and biological hazards across occupational groups. In addition, main industrial applications of hazardous substances are identified and some epidemiological evidence is discussed regarding societal costs and incidence rates of work-related diseases. Available lists of carcinogens, sensitisers, mutagens, reprotoxic substances and biological hazards were consulted. For each work-related hazard the main industrial application was identified in order to assess which ISCO occupational groups may be associated with direct exposure. Where available, information on annual tonnage production, risk assessment of the substances and pathogens, and other relevant data were collected and reported. Altogether 308 chemical and biological hazards were identified which may account to at least 693 direct exposures. These hazards concentrate on the following major occupational groups: technicians (ISCO 3), operators (ISCO 8), agricultural workers (ISCO 6) and workers in elementary occupations (ISCO 9). Common industrial applications associated with increased exposure rates relate among others to: (1) production or application of pigments, resins, cutting fluids, adhesives, pesticides and cleaning products, (2) production of rubber, plastics, textiles, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and (3) in agriculture, metallurgy and food processing industry, Societal costs of the unequal distribution of chemical and biological hazards across occupations depend on the corresponding work-related diseases and may range from 2900 EUR to 126000 EUR per case/year. Risk of exposure

  9. Chemical and biological work-related risks across occupations in Europe: a review

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background Work-related health inequalities are determined to some extent by an unequal exposure to chemical and biological risk factors of disease. Although their potential economic burden in the European Union (EU-25) might be substantial, comprehensive reviews focusing on the distribution of these risks across occupational groups are limited. Thus, the main objective of this review is to provide a synopsis of the exposure to chemical and biological hazards across occupational groups. In addition, main industrial applications of hazardous substances are identified and some epidemiological evidence is discussed regarding societal costs and incidence rates of work-related diseases. Methods Available lists of carcinogens, sensitisers, mutagens, reprotoxic substances and biological hazards were consulted. For each work-related hazard the main industrial application was identified in order to assess which ISCO occupational groups may be associated with direct exposure. Where available, information on annual tonnage production, risk assessment of the substances and pathogens, and other relevant data were collected and reported. Results Altogether 308 chemical and biological hazards were identified which may account to at least 693 direct exposures. These hazards concentrate on the following major occupational groups: technicians (ISCO 3), operators (ISCO 8), agricultural workers (ISCO 6) and workers in elementary occupations (ISCO 9). Common industrial applications associated with increased exposure rates relate among others to: (1) production or application of pigments, resins, cutting fluids, adhesives, pesticides and cleaning products, (2) production of rubber, plastics, textiles, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and (3) in agriculture, metallurgy and food processing industry, Societal costs of the unequal distribution of chemical and biological hazards across occupations depend on the corresponding work-related diseases and may range from 2900 EUR to 126000 EUR per

  10. Responses of physical, chemical, and biological indicators of water quality to a gradient of agricultural land use in the Yakima River Basin, Washington

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Cuffney, T.F.; Meador, M.R.; Porter, S.D.; Gurtz, M.E.

    2000-01-01

    The condition of 25 stream sites in the Yakima River Basin, Washington, were assessed by the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program. Multimetric condition indices were developed and used to rank sites on the basis of physical, chemical, and biological characteristics. These indices showed that sites in the Cascades and Eastern Cascades ecoregions were largely unimpaired. In contrast, all but two sites in the Columbia Basin ecoregion were impaired, some severely. Agriculture (nutrients and pesticides) was the primary factor associated with impairment and all impaired sites were characterized by multiple indicators of impairment. All indices of biological condition (fish, invertebrates, and algae) declined as agricultural intensity increased. The response exhibited by invertebrates and algae suggested a threshold response with conditions declining precipitously at relatively low levels of agricultural intensity and little response at moderate to high levels of agricultural intensity. This pattern of response suggests that the success of mitigation will vary depending upon where on the response curve the mitigation is undertaken. Because the form of the community condition response is critical to effective water-quality management, the National Water-Quality Assessment Program is conducting studies to examine the response of biota to gradients of land-use intensity and the relevance of these responses to water-quality management. These land-use gradient pilot studies will be conducted in several urban areas starting in 1999.

  11. Data Cubes Integration in Spatial OLAP for Agricultural Commodities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Putri, A. I.; Sitanggang, I. S.

    2017-03-01

    Ministry of Agriculture Indonesia collects data of agricultural commodities in Indonesia in the annual period. Agricultural commodities data include food crops, horticulture, plantations, and livestock. The data are available in the spreadsheet format. This study developed data cubes for food crops, plantations, and livestock using the galaxy schema of data warehouse and integrated the data cubes into the SOLAP Horticulture using SpagoBI. SOLAP is useful for data analysis and data visualization. The application displays agricultural commodities data in form of crosstab and chart. This study also developed the location intelligence module that visualizes agricultural commodities data on the map. The system was tested using the black box approach. The result showed that main functions including roll up, drill down, slice, dice, and pivot work properly. This application is expected to enable users to easily obtain data summaries of agricultural commodities.

  12. Electron beam agrobionanotechnologies for agriculture and food industry enabled by electron accelerators

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pavlov, Y. S.; Revina, A. A.; Souvorova, O. V.; Voropaeva, N. L.; Chekmar, D. V.; Abkhalimov, E. V.; Zavyalov, M. A.; Filippovich, V. P.

    2017-12-01

    Electron beam (EB) radiation technologies have been employed to increase efficiency of biologically active nanochips developed for agricultural plants seed pre-treatment with purpose of enhancing crop yield and productivity. Iron-containing nanoparticles (NPs), synthesized in reverse micelles following known radiation-chemical technique, have served as a multifunctional biologically active and phytosanitary substance of the chips. Porous chip carriers activation has been performed by EB ionization (doze 20kGy) of the active carbons (AC) prepared from agricultural waste and by-products: Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) straw, rape (Brassica napus L. ssp. oleifera Metzg) straw, camelina (Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz) straw, wheat (Triticum aestivum) straw. Three methods, UV-VIS spectrophotometry, Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry (CV) have been used for process control and characterization of radiation-activated and NPs-modified ACs. The results show a notable effect of ACs activation by electron beam radiation, evidenced by FeNPs-adsorption capacity increase. Studies of the impact of Fe NPs-containing nanochip technology on enhancement of seeds germination rate and seedlings vigour suggest that reported electron beam radiation treatment techniques of the ACs from selected agricultural residues may be advantageous for industrial application.

  13. A novel and simple model of the uptake of organic chemicals by vegetation from air and soil.

    PubMed

    Hung, H; Mackay, D

    1997-09-01

    A novel and simple three-compartment fugacity model has been developed to predict the kinetics and equilibria of the uptake of organic chemicals in herbaceous agricultural plants at various times, including the time of harvest using only readily available input data. The chemical concentration in each of the three plant compartments leaf, stem which includes fruits and seeds, and root) is expressed as a function of both time and chemical concentrations in soil and air. The model was developed using the fugacity concept; however, the final expressions are presented in terms of concentrations in soil and air, equilibrium partition coefficients and a set of transport and transformation half-lives. An illustrative application of the model is presented which describes the uptake of bromacil by a soybean plant under hydroponic conditions. The model, which is believed to give acceptably accurate prediction of the distribution of chemicals among plant tissues, air and soil, may be used for the assessment of exposure to, and risk from contaminants consumed either directly from vegetation or indirectly in natural and agricultural food chains.

  14. Chemical Gas Sensors for Aeronautic and Space Applications 2

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hunter, Gary W.; Chen, Liong-Yu; Neudeck, Phil G.; Knight, Dale; Liu, C. C.; Wu, Q. H.; Zhou, H. J.; Makel, Darby; Liu, M.; Rauch, W. A.

    1998-01-01

    Aeronautic and space applications require the development of chemical sensors with capabilities beyond those of commercially available sensors. Areas of interest include launch vehicle safety monitoring, emission monitoring, and fire detection. This paper discusses the needs of aeronautic and space applications and the point-contact sensor technology being developed to address these needs. The development of these sensors is based on progress in two types of technology: 1) Micromachining and microfabrication technology to fabricate miniaturized sensors. 2) The development of high temperature semiconductors, especially silicon carbide. Sensor development for each application involves its own challenges in the fields of materials science and fabrication technology. The number of dual-use commercial applications of this microfabricated gas sensor technology make this area of sensor development a field of significant interest.

  15. Chemical Gas Sensors for Aeronautics and Space Applications III

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hunter, G. W.; Neudeck, P. G.; Chen, L. Y.; Liu, C. C.; Wu, Q. H.; Sawayda, M. S.; Jin, Z.; Hammond, J.; Makel, D.; Liu, M.; hide

    1999-01-01

    Aeronautic and space applications require the development of chemical sensors with capabilities beyond those of commercially available sensors. Areas of interest include launch vehicle safety monitoring, emission monitoring, and fire detection. This paper discusses the needs of aeronautic and space applications and the point-contact sensor technology being developed to address these needs. The development of these sensors is based on progress in two types of technology: 1) Micromachining and microfabrication technology to fabricate miniaturized sensors. 2) The development of high temperature semiconductors, especially silicon carbide. Sensor development for each application involves its own challenges in the fields of materials science and fabrication technology. The number of dual-use commercial applications of this microfabricated gas sensor technology make this area of sensor development a field of significant interest.

  16. Chemical Gas Sensors for Aeronautic and Space Applications 2

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hunter, G. W.; Chen, L. Y.; Neudeck, P. G.; Knight, D.; Liu, C. C.; Wu, Q. H.; Zhou, H. J.; Makel, D.; Liu, M.; Rauch, W. A.

    1998-01-01

    Aeronautic and Space applications require the development of chemical sensors with capabilities beyond those of commercially available sensors. Areas of most interest include launch vehicle safety monitoring emission monitoring and fire detection. This paper discusses the needs of aeronautic and space applications and the point-contact sensor technology being developed to address these needs. The development of these sensor is based on progress two types of technology: 1) Micro-machining and micro-fabrication technology to fabricate miniaturized sensors. 2) The development of high temperature semiconductors, especially silicon carbide. Sensor development for each application involves its own challenges in the fields of materials science and fabrication technology. The number of dual-use commercial applications of this micro-fabricated gas sensor technology make this area of sensor development a field of significant interest.

  17. On Study of Application of Micro-reactor in Chemistry and Chemical Field

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Yunshen

    2018-02-01

    Serving as a micro-scale chemical reaction system, micro-reactor is characterized by high heat transfer efficiency and mass transfer, strictly controlled reaction time and good safety performance; compared with the traditional mixing reactor, it can effectively shorten reaction time by virtue of these advantages and greatly enhance the chemical reaction conversion rate. However, problems still exist in the process where micro-reactor is used for production in chemistry and chemical field, and relevant researchers are required to optimize and perfect the performance of micro-reactor. This paper analyzes specific application of micro-reactor in chemistry and chemical field.

  18. Microfabricated Chemical Sensors for Aerospace Fire Detection Applications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hunter, Gary W.; Neudeck, Philip G.; Fralick, Gustave; Thomas, Valarie; Makel, D.; Liu, C. C.; Ward, B.; Wu, Q. H.

    2001-01-01

    The detection of fires on-board commercial aircraft is extremely important for safety reasons. Although dependable fire detection equipment presently exists within the cabin, detection of fire within the cargo hold has been less reliable and susceptible to false alarms. A second, independent method of fire detection to complement the conventional smoke detection techniques, such as the measurement of chemical species indicative of a fire, will help reduce false alarms and improve aircraft safety. Although many chemical species are indicative of a fire, two species of particular interest are CO and CO2. This paper discusses microfabricated chemical sensor development tailored to meet the needs of fire safety applications. This development is based on progress in three types of technology: 1) Micromachining and microfabrication (Microsystem) technology to fabricate miniaturized sensors. 2) The use of nanocrystalline materials to develop sensors with improved stability combined with higher sensitivity. 3) The development of high temperature semiconductors, especially silicon carbide. The individual sensor being developed and their level of maturity will be presented.

  19. Effects of Surfactants on Cryptosporidium parvum Mobility in Agricultural Soils from Illinois and Utah

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Darnault, C. J.; Koken, E.; Jacobson, A. R.; Powelson, D.

    2011-12-01

    The occurence of the parasitic protozoan Cryptosporidium parvum in rural and agricultural watersheds due to agricultural activities and wildlife is inevitable. Understanding the behavior of C. parvum oocysts in the environment is critical for the protection of public health and the environment. To better understand the mechanisms by which the pathogen moves through soils and contaminates water resources, we study their mobility under conditions representative of real-world scenarios, where both C. parvum and chemicals that affect their fate are present in soils. Surfactants occur widely in soils due to agricultural practices such as wastewater irrigation and the application of pesticides or soil wetting agents. They affect water tension and, consequently, soil infiltration processes and the air-water interfaces in soil pores where C. parvum may be retained. We investigate the effects of surfactants on the mobility of C. parvum oocysts in agricultural soils from Illinois and Utah under unsaturated flow conditions. As it is critical to examine C. parvum in natural settings, we also developed a quantification method using RT-PCR for monitoring C. parvum oocysts in environmental soil and water samples. We optimized physico-chemical parameters to disrupt C. parvum oocysts and extract their DNA, and developed isolation methods to separate C. parvum oocysts from colloids in natural soil samples. The results of this research will lead to the development of an accurate and sensitive molecular method for the monitoring of C. parvum oocysts in environmental soil and water samples, and will further our understanding of the mechanisms controlling the behavior of C. parvum oocysts in soils, in particular the role of vadose zone processes, sorption to soil and surfactants.

  20. Applications of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in the modelling and design of ventilation systems in the agricultural industry: a review.

    PubMed

    Norton, Tomás; Sun, Da-Wen; Grant, Jim; Fallon, Richard; Dodd, Vincent

    2007-09-01

    The application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in the agricultural industry is becoming ever more important. Over the years, the versatility, accuracy and user-friendliness offered by CFD has led to its increased take-up by the agricultural engineering community. Now CFD is regularly employed to solve environmental problems of greenhouses and animal production facilities. However, due to a combination of increased computer efficacy and advanced numerical techniques, the realism of these simulations has only been enhanced in recent years. This study provides a state-of-the-art review of CFD, its current applications in the design of ventilation systems for agricultural production systems, and the outstanding challenging issues that confront CFD modellers. The current status of greenhouse CFD modelling was found to be at a higher standard than that of animal housing, owing to the incorporation of user-defined routines that simulate crop biological responses as a function of local environmental conditions. Nevertheless, the most recent animal housing simulations have addressed this issue and in turn have become more physically realistic.