水稻灭茬机扶茬机构设计与试验

【目的】解决水稻灭茬机作业时,驱动轮容易将高留茬压倒,引起轮辙处倒茬多,导致水稻秸秆粉碎效果不理想的问题。【方法】研发了一种具有扶禾功能的水稻灭茬机,利用固接于扶茬轮轴上的"L"型扶指,采用扶茬轮轴和粉碎轮轴双侧带轮分流传动方式,实现前置扶茬系统与后置粉碎系统配合作业,使水稻秸秆倒伏的留茬被扶起后立即喂入粉碎室。采用正交设计试验验证灭茬机的田间性能。【结果】水稻灭茬机的前进速度、扶辊转速和扶指宽度均对水稻秸秆粉碎率有显著影响。田间试验的结果表明,机具工作参数的最佳组合为前进速度5.38 km·h~(–1)、扶辊转速160 r·min~(–1)和扶指宽度50 mm,该组合的水稻秸秆粉碎效果最好,粉碎率达到92.52%。【结论】该扶茬机结构简单,对水稻秸秆的扶茬粉碎效果好,在实际生产中能够提升高留茬稻秆的粉碎效率。     

Genetic diversity and population structure of Striga hermonthica populations from Kenya and Nigeria

Striga hermonthica is a parasitic weed that poses a serious threat to the production of economically important cereals in sub‐Saharan Africa. The existence of genetic diversity within and between S. hermonthica populations presents a challenge to the successful development and deployment of effective control technologies against this parasitic weed. Understanding the extent of diversity between S. hermonthica populations will facilitate the design and deployment of effective control technologies against the parasite. In the present study, S. hermonthica plants collected from different locations and host crops in Kenya and Nigeria were genotyped using single nucleotide polymorphisms. Statistically significant genetic differentiation (F_ST = 0.15, P = 0.001) was uncovered between populations collected from the two countries. Also, the populations collected in Nigeria formed three distinct subgroups. Unique loci undergoing selection were observed between the Kenyan and Nigerian populations and among the three subgroups found in Nigeria. Striga hermonthica populations parasitising rice in Kenya appeared to be genetically distinct from those parasitising maize and sorghum. The presence of distinct populations in East and West Africa and in different regions in Nigeria highlights the importance of developing and testing Striga control technologies in multiple locations, including locations representing the geographic regions in Nigeria where genetically distinct subpopulations of the parasite were found. Efforts should also be made to develop relevant control technologies for areas infested with ‘rice‐specific’ Striga spp. populations in Kenya.     

基于有限单元法的芦蒿茎秆力学特性分析

【目的】建立芦蒿Artemisia selengensis茎秆柔性体模型。【方法】根据芦蒿茎秆的物性参数,通过ANSYS有限元分析软件建立茎秆力学模型,对芦蒿茎秆在不同生长部位的轴向、径向压缩力学特性进行研究,分析比较模型计算值和试验测试值。【结果】模型计算值和试验测试值最大偏差为14.46%。芦蒿茎秆具有各向异性特征,其轴向压缩力学特性远大于径向;在3种不同位置段,径向压缩时,茎秆破碎出现在加载面的两端边缘位置,轴向压缩时,茎秆破碎出现在加载面,且应力由接近加载区域向周围逐渐减弱。【结论】可以运用模型仿真分析芦蒿茎秆力学特性,结果可为减少芦蒿在收获、运输、加工、储藏过程中的机械损伤和芦蒿收获机具的研制提供理论依据和参考。     

Comparative Analysis of Metal Concentrations and Sediment Accumulation Rates in Two Virginian Reservoirs,USA: Lakes Moomaw and Pelham

Water, Air, &; Soil Pollution - Agricultural chemicals from nonpoint sources in groundwater are present in the major provinces of the High Plains aquifer in Nebraska. Nitrate and...     

On the magnitude and dynamics of eddy covariance system residual energy (energy balance closure error) in subsurface drip-irrigated maize field during growing and non-growing (dormant) seasons

We investigated the magnitude and dynamics of the eddy covariance system (ECS) residual energy (energy balance closure error) for a subsurface drip-irrigated maize (Zea mays L.) field in 2005 and 2006 growing and non-growing (dormant) seasons. The corrections for coordinate rotation, oxygen, frequency, and Webb–Pearman–Leuning corrections improved the slope of the total convective energy (latent heat + sensible heat) with respect to the net available energy (from 0.68 to 0.84), but the data filtering (for horizontal and frictional wind speeds higher than 2 m s^?1 and lower than 0.2 m s^?1) had little effect on the slope. Also, the number of data points available for the analyses was reduced by 53 % after filtering. Overall, the daytime residual energy varied between ?100 and 200 W m^?2 during the dormant seasons and between ?500 and 600 W m^?2 during the growing seasons. Most of the nighttime residual energy ranged within ±40 W m^?2 during the calendar year in 2005 and within ?60 and 20 W m^?2 in 2006. During nighttime, the total convective energy is vertically distributed with respect to (R _n ? G), indicating that the total convective energy is independent of the variations in (R _n ? G). Secondly, it was observed that nighttime residual energy did not show any seasonal variation patterns throughout the two consecutive years and confined mostly within a narrow range of ±40 W m^?2, showing no dependency on seasonal changes in surface conditions. The maximum variation in residual energy was usually around frictional wind speed of 0.3–0.5 m s^?1 (varying between ?150 and 300 W m^?2) and then decreasing to a range of ±100 W m^?2 at higher frictional wind speeds. On average, the residual energy decreased by about 33 W m^?2 (after the intercept) for every 1.0 m s^?1 increase in frictional wind speed, whereas the residual energy decreased by about 4 W m^?2 (after the intercept) for every 1.0 m s^?1 increase in horizontal wind speed. Similar diurnal residual energy distribution patterns, with different magnitudes, were observed during growing and dormant seasons. Even though a slight decrease in residual energy was observed with increase in leaf area index (LAI) in both growing seasons, LAI did not have considerable influence on the seasonal variation in the residual energy. The residual energy was also evaluated by separating the data into morning and afternoon hours. We observed that the root-mean-squared difference value is slightly greater for the morning data than the afternoon, indicating greater residual energy in the morning hours due to weaker turbulent mixing than the afternoon. Overall, significant reduction in the available evapotranspiration data after applying a series of corrections possess challenges in terms of utilization of ECS for in-season irrigation management and crop water requirement determinations that needs to be further researched and addressed.     

Native rhizobium strains are lacking in some agricultural soils in NE South Africa

ABSTRACT

Rhizobia is a group of gram-negative soil-borne bacteria with several beneficial strains for biological nitrogen fixation in legume crops. Rhizobium strains are found native in the soil but where they are absent, commercial strains are inoculated on crops. We assessed the availability of native rhizobia in chickpea fields at two sites, with contrasting soil types, in NE South Africa. Serial dilutions were used to identify bacteria from soil samples and chickpea nodules sampled before sowing and at flowering, respectively. Our results indicated the absence of rhizobia strains at both sites. Burkholderia cenocepacia, Klebsiella variicola, Bacillus subtilis and Ochrobactrum spp, which are not important in agriculture but are often reported in clinical environments, were identified. Therefore, inoculating chickpea with compatible rhizobia strains may be necessary in some soils in this region.     

施药机器人对行施药系统的设计与试验

【目的】设计一种能在作物行间自主导航的施药机器人,实现移动机器人在温室中自动行走并均匀施药。【方法】针对导航路径识别受光线变化影响较大的问题,在Kinect摄像机获取的彩色图像中选取了HIS空间,并对K-means算法的聚类中心和聚类数目的选取进行了优化,随后采用改进的K-means算法对与光照信息无关的H、S分量联合分割,获得完整道路信息,并采用Candy算子检测边缘及改进的Hough变化方法拟合导航路径。采用模糊控制方法通过实时调整转角和转向,对车体行走偏移进行矫正。同时,为满足不同农作物的施药需求,在喷药系统上选用了自整定模糊PID控制算法。【结果】该系统可有效适应不同光照条件,提取作物行中心线平均耗时12.36 ms,导航偏差不超过5 cm,植株叶片正面的上、中、下层覆盖率分别为63.26%、50.89%和75.82%,单位面积(1 cm~2)雾滴数平均为55、42和78个。【结论】本系统可以满足温室移动机器人自主施药防治病虫害的需求。     

Simulation of nitrate distribution under drip irrigation using artificial neural networks

Accurate knowledge of nitrate distribution in the soil under fertigation through drip-irrigation systems is fundamentally important for system design and management. The determination of nitrate distribution through modeling represents a highly complex nonlinear problem that includes adsorption, transformation, convection, and dispersion. For this reason, an alternative methodology is proposed, which combines artificial neural networks (ANN) and laboratory experiments. Seventeen experiments with apparent discharge rates varying from 0.6 to 7.8 l/h, the apparent cylindrical applied volume from 6 to 15 l, and the input concentration from 100 to 700 mg/l were conducted to provide a database for establishing the ANN architecture. The model input parameters were initial soil water content, initial nitrate concentration in the soil, discharge rate, input concentration of fertilizer (NH₄NO₃), applied volume, and final soil water content. The model output was nitrate concentration in the soil after fertigation. A total of 298 vectors were used to train the ANN model, and 212 independent vectors were used to test the model. Results of the test show a good correspondence with a determination coefficient (r ²) of 0.83 between the model-estimated nitrate concentration in the soil and laboratory-measured nitrate concentration in the soil. These results show that the optimized ANN models are reasonably accurate and can provide an easy and efficient means of estimating nitrate distribution in the soil under fertigation through drip-irrigation systems.Communicated by J.E. Ayars     

Intravaginal administration of lactic acid bacteria modulated the incidence of purulent vaginal discharges,plasma haptoglobin concentrations,and milk production in dairy cows

This investigation studied the effects of intravaginal administration of a mixture of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) on the incidence of purulent vaginal discharges (PVD), plasma haptoglobin concentrations, and milk production in dairy cows. A total of 82 pregnant primiparous and multiparous Holstein dairy cows were used in this study. Half of the cows received intravaginally 1 mL of LAB at 10¹⁰–10¹² cfu/mL and the other half 1 mL of reconstituted skim milk (i.e., carrier) (controls). Administration of LAB was conducted once per wk during 2 and 1 wk before the expected day of calving and at 1, 2, 3, and 4 wk postpartum. Data demonstrated that intravaginal administration of LAB decreased the occurrence of PVD at 3 wk postpartum (P < 0.05). Concentrations of plasma haptoglobin, an acute phase protein often associated with uterine infections, was lower in cows treated with the LAB mixture at 2 wk (P < 0.001) and 3 wk (P < 0.05) postpartum. Treatment with LAB did not improve overall pregnancy rate, but the treated multiparous cows produced more milk than their control counterparts (P < 0.05), whereas no difference was observed in primiparous cows regarding milk yield (P > 0.05). Overall, this is the first study demonstrating that intravaginal LAB administration lowers the incidence of PVD and enhances milk production in dairy cows. Further research is warranted to evaluate the effects of LAB on reproductive performance in a larger cohort of cows.     

Effect of biochar and phosphorus fertilizer application on soil fertility: soil physical and chemical properties

This study evaluated the effect of biochar and phosphorus fertilizer application on selected soil physical and chemical properties in two contrasting soil types: Rhodic Ferralsols (clay) in Thohoyandou and Leptic Cambisols (loamy sand) in Nelspruit, South Africa. Field experiments were conducted in summer and winter. Treatments consisted of a factorial combination of four biochar levels (0, 5, 10 and 20 t ha^?1) and two phosphorus fertilizer levels (0 and 90 kg ha^?1) arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replicates. Chickpea was the test crop. Soil bulk density, aggregate stability, porosity, total C, total N, C:N ratio, K and Mg were determined. Biochar (10 t ha^?1) and phosphorus increased bulk density and decreased porosity at 0–5 and 15–20 cm soil depth on a loamy sand soil in both seasons. The interaction between biochar and phosphorus increased total C and total N on a clay soil in the summer sowing. However, in the loamy sand soil, biochar (10 t ha^?1) increased total C, C:N ratio, K and Mg in the summer sowing. The effect of biochar was more evident in the loamy sand soil than the clay soil suggesting that the influence of biochar may be soil-specific.