Technical vision system for apple defects recognition: justification, development, testing

The most rational method for identifying the quality of fruits is the optical method using PPE, which has the accuracy and stability of measurement, as well as distance and high productivity. The paper presents classification of fruit quality recognition systems and substantiates the design and technological scheme of the vision system for sorting them, consisting of an optical module with installed structural illumination and a video camera, an electronic control unit with an interface and actuators for the sorter and conveyor for fruits. In the course of the study, a single-stream type of fruit flow in PPE with forced rotation was substantiated, a structural and technological scheme of an STZ with a feeding conveyor, an optical module and a control unit, an algorithm for functioning of the STZ software was developed based on algorithm for segmentation of fruit colors, tracking algorithm, etc. deep learning ANN, which provide recognition of the size and color of fruits, as well as damage from mechanical stress, pests and diseases. The developed STZ has been introduced into the processing line for sorting and packing apples, LSP-4 has successfully passed preliminary tests and production tests at OJSC Ostromechevo. In the course of preliminary tests of the LSP-4 line, it was found that it provided fruit recognition with a probability of at least 95%, while the labor productivity made 2.5 t/h.

Evaluation of breeding bulls based on quality of offspring considering crossing options

Breeding takes the main place in the complex of measures for intensification of dairy cattle breeding. A characteristic feature of breeding work is identification of the most valuable genotypes and their further use in cattle population. The Holstein breed is considered one of the most highly productive breeds, in many countries of the world it is used for the genetic improvement of local breeds. In this regard, a comparative assessment of methods for determining the breeding value of bulls of different genotypes obtained by interbreeding is relevant. The results of assessment of genetic superiority of the used breeding bulls in terms of milk productivity of daughters for the first lactation through interannual deviations of the homogeneous peers are presented, the best producers in all the studied herds are identified, it is established which breeds the best and worst breeding bulls belong to. The research revealed that 18% of bulls had genetic superiority at controlled farms (9% - Holstein breed, 6% - Yaroslavl crossbreeding bulls, 3% - Mikhailovsky type’s bulls), a negative value - 24% including 9% - Yaroslavl crossbreeding bulls, 9% - Mikhailovsky type’s bulls and 6% - Holstein bulls. A comparative evaluation of the two methods showed a high reliable positive correlation between results of Mikhailovsky type bulls and Yaroslavl crossbreeding bulls equal to 0.82 and 0.56, respectively, which indicates a high reliability of the method of genetic superiority index, which can be used to evaluate bulls during crossbreeding. It is possible to increase the genetic potential of herds by excluding producers with a negative genetic index. The obtained results are recommended to be used when mating bulls and for development of breeding programs for individual herds or entire population

The Institute of System Researches in the Agro-Industrial Complex of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus

Information of the real cost price of milk and cattle meat production directly affects the accuracy and timeliness of management decisions in agricultural organizations. This led to the main objective of this study - with the help of an inclusive approach of calculating costs, to display the actual situation with costs and efficiency in cattle breeding, to develop a methodology for applying this approach in practice. The second objective of this longitudinal study is to look at the dynamics of the evolution of costs and prices for milk and cattle meat, since their change is closely related to understanding the past and present problems faced by agricultural producers. The paper describes the method developed by the author to distribution of costs in cattle breeding, the scale for determining the residual value of animal has been presented, depending on the period of its useful use. The method is based on a more accurate distribution of the company’s expenses by types of products obtained and complements the current cost price calculation methodology. Approbation of the developed inclusive approach to calculating costs in cattle breeding made it possible to assess the actual situation in the industry: cattle fattening is not that unprofitable (calculations have shown that fattening is effective in one third of the thousand surveyed agricultural organizations), and milk production is not as efficient as it is commonly believed (only a quarter of enterprises receive actual profits from milk sale).

Study of acid-alkaline conditions of different-age arable soils of landscape catens of Central Forest-Steppe

Fertility of soils is largely determined by their physical and chemical properties. Response of soil environment is a mobile indicator of soil fertility. Direction and intensity of almost all soil processes that provide nitrogen, phosphorus and potassi- um regimes of soils, as well as availability of macro- and microelements for plants, depend on it. The paper presents the result of a field study of acid-alkaline conditions of profiles of black soil of typical and leached different terms of agricultural use of soil cat- ens of the meadow-steppe section of the Belgorod region in 2019. The research object was different-age arable areas with an age of agricultural development of 140 and 240 years, respectively. The steepness of surface in areas corresponding to the meadow-steppe zonal landscape of the forest-steppe did not exceed 4-6 °. As a result of field studies, 32 incisions were studied in the mead- ow-steppe section (6 incisions on background catens and 12 incisions on open catens). Each incision was provided with layered values of morphometric indicators of soil horizons. For background steppe soils, shade slopes are characterized by more alkaline conditions, in comparison with southern slopes. For 140-year-old arable land, the situation is opposite: shadow slopes have a more acidic reaction of the medium, in comparison with insoluble ones; for 240-year-old arable land, alkaline-acid conditions on the slopes of opposite expositions did not differ significantly. In the first 140 years of plowing, acidification of the soil profile occurs; the difference in the pH value between the background and arable land values of 140 years of age on the slope of the northern ex- position reaches 1.6 on the surface, gradually decreasing to 0.2 at depth. Further plowing leads to alkalization of the soil profile by 0.6-0.9 pH units. The research results can be used in development of agricultural systems in crop industries.

Creation of autosex chicken breeds for organic poultry farming

Recently, the demand for organic products has been increasing in the world. Organic poultry farming requires additional costs due to the extensive method of poultry housing, low planting density, availability of paddocks and other requirements for production of organic products. Therefore, creation of specialized breeds is especially relevant today. The paper presents the experience of creating an autosex population of the Leningrad Golden-Gray (LZS) in the bioresource collection “Genetic collection of rare and endangered breeds of chickens” RRIFAGB - Branch of the L.K. Ernst Federal Research Center for Animal Husbandry. The accuracy of separation by sex of day-old chickens reaches 98%. To create autosex chicken breed, we used breeds and populations of the bioresource collection that have marker genes of plumage color linked to the gender in the genotype. To obtain the breed status, a genome-wide study of the LZS population was conducted. Assessment of the genome homozygosity level showed compliance with the average level characteristic of consolidated groups. The study of genetic variability characterizes the population of LZS as numerous. The inbreeding coefficient of LZS chickens is at a safe level and is a consequence of intensive selection. As a result, an autosex population of LZS was created and tested, which meets the conditions for obtaining the status of a breed and allows to meet the increased requirements of organic poultry farming in the best way. The expediency of using autosex breeds for organic poultry farming has been 478 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, agrarian Series, 2021, vol. 59, no. 4 рр. 477–487 substantiated by saving feed and growing areas. The principles of creating an autosex breed from the genetic material of gene pool herds can be applied in other breeding programs.

Ensuring food security of the Republic of Belarus in the context of global trends

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the food security problem in many countries around the world. Although agri-food systems were more resilient to shocks than other sectors of the economy, the global economic downturn caused by the pandemic increased unemployment, lowered overall incomes and purchasing power, forcing consumers to switch to cheaper diets. The identified problems are exacerbated by the continuing increase in land degradation and biodiversity and increasingly frequent adverse weather events. In this regard, taking into account the increasing degree of involvement of states in international processes, it seems relevant to study the provision of national food security of the Republic of Belarus in the context of global trends for the timely identification and anticipation of risks and threats. The paper presents the results of study of modern aspects of ensuring food security at the global and national levels. The tendencies of physical and economic accessibility of food in the domestic market are revealed, the assessment of level of nutrition and quality of life of population is presented. Prospective directions for improving the state policy in the field of food security are substantiated, aimed at the optimal use of production potential, maintaining supply of food to population at a level sufficient for healthy nutrition, eliminating dependence on unjustified imports, protecting the interests of domestic producers, as well as enhancing foreign economic activity. Acknowledgments. The research was carried out within the framework of the State Research Program “Agricultural Technologies and Food Security” (subprogram 9.7 “Economy of agro-industrial complex”).

Improving modes of germination of seeds of mung bean, chickpea and soybeans for obtaining high-protein concentrates

There is nearly no production of legume seedlings rich in protein, aminoacids, crude fiber, micro- and macro-elements, bioactive agents as well as the derived balanced foodstuffs in Belarus. Due to this fact, the local market is dominated by the imported premium price commodities. The purpose of the research is to develop optimal temperature and humidity conditions for germinating seeds of mung bean, chickpea and soybeans, obtaining high-protein concentrates and assessing their consumer properties. Mathematical modeling experiments have enabled to optimize temperature and humidity parameters of scarcely studied seed germination process of mung bean (Vigna radiata (L.) R.Wilczek), chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) organoleptic, physicochemical, biochemical characteristics, and microbiology safety of sprouts were evaluated. Laboratory resource-saving technology of producing protein enriched concentrates from legume grain feedstock has been developed, and it may lay the basis for large-scale manufacture thereof. Germinated seed concentrates of mung bean, 502 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, agrarian Series, 2021, vol. 59, no. 4 рр. 501–512 chickpea and soybean are likely to be in sharp demand as ingredients of novel healthy nutrition recipes and natural cosmetic formulas intended to enlarge the range of offered commercial products. Acknowledgments. The research was carried out as part of the state program of scientific research “Biotechnologies” (2016-2020), subprogram “Microbial biotechnology”

Selection of productive hybrid oil flax plants by methods of multivariate analysis

Use of computer technology allows to quickly analyze and use subject, technological, analytical and other information. Biometric statistics in plant breeding is aimed at optimizing (increasing efficiency, reliability, acceleration and cheapening) the process of breeding varieties of agricultural crops. Therefore, creation and study of new varieties of oil flax requires widespread introduction of modern computer information technologies that provide information support of the breeding process at all its stages. Methods of multi-criteria mathematical statistics - factor and cluster analyses - were used in the studies for a comprehensive assessment of hybrid populations of oil flax by productivity elements (plant height, technical length, inflorescence length, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per plant, number of seeds in a box, weight of 100 seeds, and oil content in seeds). Effectiveness of selection of hybrids of the third cycle of breeding has been evaluated, and also the distinctive features of hybrid combinations in a number of generations have been established. As a result of selection and technological cycle of the analysis, 31 highly productive hybrids (or 6.9%) were identified for further reproduction. Despite the high level of the breeding differential determined in hybrid combinations during the F2-F3 generation change, their response to traits based selection according to “number of seeds in a box” and “weight of 100 seeds” was weak, and selection by the number of boxes and seeds from the plant turned out to be ineffective. The selection method used makes it possible to cull low-yielding plants that have fallen into the worst groups of clusters. Culling by the method of multidimensional analysis should be used in later generations (fourth-fifth cycle of selection) as homozygosity of traits is established.

Bioinformatic analysis of genomes of commercial breeds of domestic pigs for identification of breed-specific SNPs

Determining the purebredity of farm animals in a breeding system is of key importance for the entire livestock industry. Purebred breeding of plant breeds is designed to ensure the production of high-value improving breeding material for commercial livestock breeding. Determination of purebredity of pigs can be carried out using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP). The multiplexing technology today has reached a level that makes it possible to characterize tens and hundreds of thousands of polymorphic variants simultaneously for hundreds of animals in one run of the device. For the first time, using bioinformatics methods, an analysis of genome-wide projects was carried out for 264 individuals of the species Sus scrofa located in the Sequence Read Archive (NCBI-SRA). The in silico genotype was determined for 692 SNPs, of which 59 SNPs showed a significant potential for differentiation of four commercial breeds: large white (the most significant SNPs are Chr. 6: g.85845403T> G and Chr.16: g.74053569T> C), duroc (Chr. 4: g.55661608A> G, Chr. 14: g.107689091T> C and Chr. 14: g.107939105T> C), landrace (Chr. 5: g.99925204A> G, Chr. 18: g .40100481A> G and Chr. 18: g.7664624A> G) and pietrain (Chr. 13: g.136017764T> C and Chr.17: g.47595840A> G). For breeds of duroc and pietrain pigs, the accuracy of differentiation was at least 99%, for breeds of large white and landrace pigs - over 80%, however, the sensitivity indicator characterizing the percentage of false positive results of classification was slightly over 65%. Creation of models for molecularand-genetic studies of these breeds will allow for a genetic examination of their purebredity, which will contribute to an increase in their breeding value and preservation of the national gene pool.

Impact of lactic acid product on quality indices of raw meat for the smoked sausages production

Conducted research pertains to technologies of animal products processing and the development of biotechnological methods for stabilizing microbial and enzymatic biological leaven for meat.Materials and Methods. The studies were conducted in the conditions of the Research Institute of Food and Animal Processing Technologies and Laboratory of Microbiological Research Methods, Department of Microbiology of Bila Tserkva National Agrarian University. Moisture retaining capacity and bacterial contamination of beef and pork were determined.Results. The effect of processing raw meat with lactic acid product – yogurt on the moisture retaining capacity was experimentally established. With the highest titratable acidity of yoghurt of 100-110 °T, the moisture retaining capacity of pork and beef was inferior to control on 2.13 and 1.29 % and amounted to 51.88 and 62.73 %. Under a titratable acidity of lactic acid beverage of 100-110 °T with total number of lactic acid bacteria on the surface of raw meat, it was 8.1×108 and 8.5×108, which prevailed samples with acidity level of 60-70 °T on 24.5 and 24.3 %.Conclusions. The results of studies have revealed the effect of processing raw meat by yogurt with different titratable acidity on moisture retaining capacity and bacterial contamination.