scholarly journals THE ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF AGRICULTURAL FARMS IN RELATION TO THEIR SECTOR AND PRODUCTION SYSTEM

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (Suppl.1) ◽  
pp. 555-561
Author(s):  
Mariya Topchieva

Greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen and phosphorus emissions to water, air and soil are agriculture’s main environmental externalities, which contribute to significant negative impacts, such as climate change, water and terrestrial eutrophication and loss of biodiversity, among others. The environmental performance of agricultural farms differs significantly depending on the sector, on the production system, and on the applied production practices. Therefore, the potential for reduction of the farms’ negative environmental impacts varies significantly. By means of literature review and analysis, the article aims to present an overview of the environmental impacts of the agricultural farms, considering their sector and production system. As a result, an outline of farms with the lowest to highest negative environmental impact is presented. This distinction allows for further analysis of the factors contributing to the most polluting and resource-intensive production practices in agriculture. In conclusion, mitigation potentials and opportunities for improving the environmental performance of farms are given, with relevance to the specific sectors and production systems.

2018 ◽  
Vol 159 ◽  
pp. 01028
Author(s):  
Pertiwi Andarani ◽  
Winardi Dwi Nugraha ◽  
Desinta Sawitri ◽  
Wiwik Budiawan

The Crude Palm Oil industry has now become the largest agricultural industry in Indonesia. Nevertheless, the growth of CPO industry could also bring negative impacts on the environment if the company does not control their emissions and discharges properly. Life-cycle Assessment (LCA) is one of the tools that can assess the environmental impacts due to CPO production activities. This study aims to assess the potential environmental impacts arising from the CPO production system at Mill J, PT XYZ, Sumatera Island by using Eco-indicator 99. Based on this study, in 2015, the process in plantation and mill contributed to climate change category was 0.013 DALY or after normalized 202 Pt. Meanwhile, the land use category has 395 PDF*m2yr or 30.8 Pt. Meanwhile, all of the other categories were less than 30.8 Pt, hence, the highest impact of this CPO production system is climate change at the activities in industrial estate (fertilizers usage) and industry (emitted from waste water of palm oil mill).


1992 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
George J. Hochmuth

Efficient N management practices usually involve many potential strategies, but always involve choosing the correct amount of N and the coupling of N management to efficient water management. Nitrogen management strategies are integral parts of improved production practices recommended by land-grant universities such as the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Univ. of Florida. This paper, which draws heavily on research and experience in Florida, outlines the concepts and technologies for managing vegetable N fertilization to minimize negative impacts on the environment.


1993 ◽  
Vol 28 (3-5) ◽  
pp. 691-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Craig ◽  
R. R. Weil

In December, 1987, the states in the Chesapeake Bay region, along with the federal government, signed an agreement which called for a 40% reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus loadings to the Bay by the year 2000. To accomplish this goal, major reductions in nutrient loadings associated with agricultural management practices were deemed necessary. The objective of this study was to determine if reducing fertilizer inputs to the NT system would result in a reduction in nitrogen contamination of groundwater. In this study, groundwater, soil, and percolate samples were collected from two cropping systems. The first system was a conventional no-till (NT) grain production system with a two-year rotation of corn/winter wheat/double crop soybean. The second system, denoted low-input sustainable agriculture (LISA), produced the same crops using a winter legume and relay-cropped soybeans into standing wheat to reduce nitrogen and herbicide inputs. Nitrate-nitrogen concentrations in groundwater were significantly lower under the LISA system. Over 80% of the NT groundwater samples had NO3-N concentrations greater than 10 mgl-1, compared to only 4% for the LISA cropping system. Significantly lower soil mineral N to a depth of 180 cm was also observed. The NT soil had nearly twice as much mineral N present in the 90-180 cm portion than the LISA cropping system.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-172
Author(s):  
Shankar G. Shanmugam ◽  
Normie W. Buehring ◽  
Jon D. Prevost ◽  
William L. Kingery

Our understanding on the effects of tillage intensity on the soil microbial community structure and composition in crop production systems are limited. This study evaluated the soil microbial community composition and diversity under different tillage management systems in an effort to identify management practices that effectively support sustainable agriculture. We report results from a three-year study to determine the effects on changes in soil microbial diversity and composition from four tillage intensity treatments and two residue management treatments in a corn-soybean production system using Illumina high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. Soil samples were collected from tillage treatments at locations in the Southern Coastal Plain (Verona, Mississippi, USA) and Southern Mississippi River Alluvium (Stoneville, Mississippi, USA) for soil analysis and bacterial community characterization. Our results indicated that different tillage intensity treatments differentially changed the relative abundances of bacterial phyla. The Mantel test of correlations indicated that differences among bacterial community composition were significantly influenced by tillage regime (rM = 0.39, p ≤ 0.0001). Simpson’s reciprocal diversity index indicated greater bacterial diversity with reduction in tillage intensity for each year and study location. For both study sites, differences in tillage intensity had significant influence on the abundance of Proteobacteria. The shift in the soil bacterial community composition under different tillage systems was strongly correlated to changes in labile carbon pool in the system and how it affected the microbial metabolism. This study indicates that soil management through tillage intensity regime had a profound influence on diversity and composition of soil bacterial communities in a corn-soybean production system.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1036 ◽  
pp. 864-868 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin Zemczak ◽  
Damian Krenczyk

The paper presents the task scheduling issue, which main aim is to establish a proper sequence of tasks, that would maximize the utilization of companys production capacity. According to the literature sources, the presented sequencing problem, denoted as CSP (Car Sequencing Problem) belongs to the NP-hard class, as has been proven by simple reduction from Hamiltonians Path problem. Optimal method of solution has not yet been found, only approximate solutions have been offered, especially from the range of evolutionary algorithms. Regardless of specific production system, while considering reception of new tasks into the system, current review of the state of the system is required in order to decide whether and when a new order can be accepted for execution. In this paper, the problem of task scheduling is limited to the specific existing mixed-model production system. The main goal is to determine the effective method of creation of task sequence. Through the use of computational algorithms, and automatic analysis of the resulting sequence, rates of production are able to be checked in a real time, and so improvements can be proposed and implemented.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 60-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sławomir Kłos ◽  
Peter Trebuna

Abstract This paper proposes the application of computer simulation methods to support decision making regarding intermediate buffer allocations in a series-parallel production line. The simulation model of the production system is based on a real example of a manufacturing company working in the automotive industry. Simulation experiments were conducted for different allocations of buffer capacities and different numbers of employees. The production system consists of three technological operations with intermediate buffers between each operation. The technological operations are carried out using machines and every machine can be operated by one worker. Multi-work in the production system is available (one operator operates several machines). On the basis of the simulation experiments, the relationship between system throughput, buffer allocation and the number of employees is analyzed. Increasing the buffer capacity results in an increase in the average product lifespan. Therefore, in the article a new index is proposed that includes the throughput of the manufacturing system and product life span. Simulation experiments were performed for different configurations of technological operations.


2009 ◽  
Vol 62-64 ◽  
pp. 275-292
Author(s):  
R.H. Weston

With increased product dynamics world-wide, the average economic lifetime of production systems is falling. Industrial robots are widely assumed to be inherently flexible and therefore that they can function as a programmable building block of response production systems. This paper reviews common capabilities of contemporary industrial robotic systems and investigates their capability to extend the useful lifetime of production system by coping with different types of product dynamic. Also considered are relative capabilities of conventional programmable robots and an emerging generation of programmable and configurable component-based machines.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jagan Mohan Reddy K. ◽  
Neelakanteswara Rao A. ◽  
Krishnanand Lanka ◽  
PRC Gopal

Purpose Pull production systems have received much attention in the supply chain management environment. The number of Kanbans is a key decision variable in the pull production system as it affects the finished goods inventory (FGI) and backorders of the system. The purpose of this study is to compare the performance of the fixed and dynamic Kanban systems in terms of operational metrics (FGI and backorders) under the demand uncertainty. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the system dynamics (SD) approach was used to model the performance of fixed and dynamic Kanban based production systems. SD approach has enabled the feedback mechanism and is an appropriate tool to incorporate the dynamic control during the simulation. Initially, a simple Kanban based production system was developed and then compared the performance of production systems with fixed and dynamic controlled Kanbans at the various demand scenarios. Findings From the present study, it is observed that the dynamic Kanban system has advantages over the fixed Kanban system and also observed that the variation in the backorders with respect to the demand uncertainty under the dynamic Kanban system is negligible. Research limitations/implications In a just-in-time production system, the number of Kanbans is a key decision variable. The number of Kanbans is mainly depended on the demand, cycle time, safety stock factor (SSF) and container size. However, this study considered only demand uncertainty to compare the fixed and dynamic Kanban systems. This paper further recommends researchers to consider other control variables which may influence the number of Kanbans such as cycle time, SSF and container size. Originality/value This study will be useful to decision-makers and production managers in the selection of the Kanban systems in uncertain demand applications.


Soil Research ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (8) ◽  
pp. 778
Author(s):  
G. S. A. Castro ◽  
C. A. C. Crusciol ◽  
C. A. Rosolem ◽  
J. C. Calonego ◽  
K. R. Brye

This work aimed to evaluate the effects of crop rotations and soil acidity amelioration on soil physical properties of an Oxisol (Rhodic Ferralsol or Red Ferrosol in the Australian Soil Classification) from October 2006 to September 2011 in Botucatu, SP, Brazil. Treatments consisted of four soybean (Glycine max)–maize (Zea mays)–rice (Oryza sativa) rotations that differed in their off-season crop, either a signal grass (Urochloa ruziziensis) forage crop, a second crop, a cover crop, or fallow. Two acid-neutralising materials, dolomitic lime (effective calcium carbonate equivalent (ECCE) = 90%) and calcium-magnesium silicate (ECCE = 80%), were surface applied to raise the soil’s base saturation to 70%. Selected soil physical characteristics were evaluated at three depths (0–0.1, 0.1–0.2, and 0.2–0.4 m). In the top 0.1 m, soil bulk density was lowest (P < 0.05) and macroporosity and aggregate stability index were greatest (P < 0.05) in the forage crop compared with all other production systems. Also, bulk density was lower (P < 0.05) and macroporosity was greater (P < 0.05) in the acid-neutralising-amended than the unamended control soil. In the 0.1–0.2-m interval, mean weight diameter and mean geometric diameter were greater (P < 0.05) in the forage crop compared with all other production systems. All soil properties evaluated in this study in the 0.2–0.4-m interval were unaffected by production system or soil amendment after five complete cropping cycles. Results of this study demonstrated that certain soil physical properties can be improved in a no-tillage soybean–maize–rice rotation using a forage crop in the off-season and with the addition of acid-neutralising soil amendments. Any soil and crop management practices that improve soil physical properties will likely contribute to sustaining long-term soil and crop productivity in areas with highly weathered, organic matter-depleted, acidic Oxisols.


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