Ipsita Das

""Availability of  water for agriculture is a global challenge for the upcoming years. According to a recent study by the International Programme for Technology & Research, water resources are rapidly deteriorating in terms of volume and quality, especially in the semi-arid areas devoted to agriculture. The problem of agricultural water management is often linked with development issues. Considerable volumes of water are wasted (almost 70%) due to inadequate irrigation management. It is by now recognized that reliable local metrological data and knowledge of soil moisture and other soil parameter can improve agricultural water management. Over the past few decades a new method of irrigation called precision irrigation is rapidly emerging. Precision irrigation deals with sustainable management of water resources involving application of water to the crop at the right time, right amount, right place and right manner thereby it helps to accommodate the field variability and helps enhance the water use efficiency along with reduction in energy cost on irrigation. It has been reported that precision irrigation (Drip and Sprinkler) can improve application efficiency of water up to tune of 80-90% as against 40-45% in surface irrigation method. Wireless sensor networks are a network of small sensing devices which collaborate with each other to gather process and communicate over wireless channel information about some physical phenomena. Wireless sensor technology (WST) has a big potential for representing the inherent soil variability present in fields with accuracy. Wireless sensors can be more densely deployed to provide local detailed data. The chapter presents the method through a case-study on development and deployment of wireless senor network  in a vineyard for estimation for crop water requirement. Vine soil-water status constitutes one of the main driving factors which affect plant vegetative growth, yield and wine quality. Providing the methods and tools for continuous measurement of soil and crop parameters to characterize the variability of soil water status emerged as a strong tool  to the grape growers. The potential for precision irrigation using WST is yet to be adequately evaluated.
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This monograph deals with the use of wireless sensor network (WSN) and its application in precision farming (PF). The subject is introduced by reviewing the global and Indian agricultural systems in general and identifies a niche for deployment of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) through WSN. A case study built through a 2 year research project on deployment of WSN in green house at pilot scale and at grapevine in NASHIK district (India) has enabled testing its robustness and permitting to evaluate the input requirement i.e. water requirement and need of pesticides. The monograph delineates the WSN components (hardware and software) and demonstrates the infection index prediction through tabulated and graphical results. Also the technical and social challenges of precision farming systems in India using WSN have been discussed. This Monograph will be useful for both practitioners of precision farming as well as academicians engaged in conducting applied research in the area of WSN and ICT in agriculture.

Infrared (IR) is one of the most widely used heating techniques in various industries. IR radiation is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that is predominantly responsible for the heating effect of sunlight. This chapter describes the theory and mechanism of IR heating and its application to different foods and processing industries. Applications of IR radiation in specific food processing operations are also presented. The list of foods that could be treated with IR heating includes fruits, vegetables, spices, juices, milk, nuts, etc; the list is also increasing. In order to achieve high efficiency in the IR heating process, emitters with a peak radiation band matching the absorption band of water in food should be employed. IR heating is a complex phenomenon in achieving inactivation of different groups of microorganisms. A proper model simulating simultaneous kinetics in the combined mode of heating is highly desirable. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118406281.ch19/summary

The presence of insects/pests in stored food products, such as, grains, nuts and spices is a major factor causing quantitative and qualitative losses. Annual losses of food products due to insects and pests have been estimated to be around 10% in North America and 30% in Africa and Asia. To move food grains/spices from an infested area to a non-infested market, the produce must first be treated with an acceptable quarantine treatment procedure. Since 1950s, chemical insecticides have been used extensively in stored food grain facilities to control insects and pests. However, regulatory issues, insect resistance, environmental concerns and increase of the organic market require non-chemical alternatives. The present and potential non-chemical treatments for both domestic and international markets include Ionizing Radiation, Controlled Atmosphere, Cold Storage, Thermal Treatment (Hot air and Hot water) and Dielectric Heating using Radio Frequency and Microwave (MW) energy. Every metho...

The objective of this work is to investigate the effect of microwave power levels (240, 360, and 480 W) and exposure time (30, 60, 90, 120, 180, and 240 s) on various properties of cashew nuts being used for disinfestation. The nuts were analyzed for moisture content, temperature rise, colour, free fatty acid (FFA) and peroxide value (PV). Experiments were conducted according to the response surface methodology. Increase in microwave power level and exposure time caused a decrease in moisture content, increase in temperature, and change in colour. Microwave treatment to target temperatures of 50–55∘C (unfavorable for insect survival) made the PV of cashew nut decrease to 1.10 to 1.66 meq O2/Kg (from an initial value of 2.08 ± 0.05) and FFA value to 0.11 to 0.51% (from an initial value of 0.68 ± 0.03). Though PV and FFA values of microwave treated cashew nut were found to increase after 6 months of storage at room conditions, the values were within the limits for acceptable quality. Microwave treated cashew nuts were free from infestation and rancidity even after 6 months of storage while the untreated nuts were found to be heavily infested at the end of 1 month of storage.

Insect infestation is the major cause of losses in many stored products such as grains, seeds, cereals and
nuts. The use of chemicals to control insect infestation has widely been adopted but now is a cause of
concern because of hazardous side effects. Alternative quarantine methods such as ionizing radiation,
controlled atmosphere, conventional hot air treatment and dielectric heating have been suggested.
Recent studies have indicated that microwave treatment is a potential means of replacing other techniques because of selective heating, absence of pollution in the environment, the achieving of equivalent
or better quality retention and energy minimization. However improper application of microwaves can
cause irreversible changes in the quality of the final product. The main objective of this research is to
evaluate the effect of microwave power level and exposure time on the quality of walnuts. The quality
parameters studied were water activity, colour change, temperature rise, peroxide value (PV) and free
fatty acid levels (FFA). It was found that microwave power level and exposure time significantly affected
colour change and temperature rise. Untreated walnut kernels exhibited significantly higher (p<0.05)
peroxide and FFA values than treated walnut kernels. Microwave treatment to target temperatures of 50-55 C (which is unfavorable for insect survival) made the PV of walnut drop down to between 1.35 and
1.42 meqO2/Kg (from the initial value of 2.89±0.048) and FFA value to 0.63-0.69% (from 1.08±0.037).

The authors are solely responsible for the content of this technical presentation. The technical presentation does not necessarily reflect the official position of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE), and its printing and distribution does not constitute an endorsement of ...