نشریه مکانیزاسیون کشاورزی
سال نهم شماره 1 (بهار 1403)

Mechanization is one of the transition ways from traditional agriculture to sustainable agriculture. Facing with limited resources in production and inputs on the one hand and increasing rate of population growth on the other hand demonstrate position and the importance of mechanization in the development of food security in the country more than ever. because seed, fertilizer, poison, and even soil and water inputs can be managed with its help, and sustainable production can also be achieved. multi-criteria decision making techniques were discussed to rank these parameters. The parameters were ranked by three common methods including simple additive weighting (SAW), TOPSIS and ELECTER. The results of the ranking were different in the three methods, which were integrated with the triple integration, and a uniform ranking was obtained for the parameters. After the triple merger, small and scattered agriculture holdings, worn out of agriculture machinery and the lack of a coherent and codified operational plan were in the first rank. Subsequently, lack of technical skills of the farmer, variability of raw material prices, lack of on-site repair, employment and unemployment problems, lack of best mechanization, lack of control and production of agricultural inputs, poor quality agricultural machinery produced internally and Lack of communication between agricultural machinery users and owners of these industries ranks second to ninth. Finally, according to the concordance of the results of TOPSIS method and the results of triple integration, TOPSIS method was approved as a suitable method for ranking.

Every year, a significant part of fruit and vegetable products is lost due to the country's inappropriate transportation systems and storage facilities. The waste of strawberry and apple products in Iran is estimated at 40% and 31%, respectively; which can be considered as a source of biomass in bioenergy production. Despite the good biogas production potential, fruit waste requires pretreatment due to lignocellulosic matter to reduce biological decomposition time. This research investigated the effect of mechanical, chemical and thermal pretreatments on the degradability of fruit waste and the amount of biogas production from its co-digestion with cow manure. Mechanical pretreatment was by crushing apple and strawberry waste into pieces of 5, 10 and 15 mm, chemical pretreatment was by placing fruit waste in sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH) at concentrations of 6, 8 and 10% for 3 hours and heat treatment was done by putting waste together with distilled water inside the microwave at 800 watts for 10, 20 and 30 minutes. The pretreated wastes were co-digested with cow manure and were fed into the batch digesters under anaerobic digestion conditions for 25 days. The results showed that the pretreatments of crushing, sodium hydroxide and the microwave increased biogas production compared to the control by 5%, 50.9% and 27.3%, respectively. Chemical pretreatment can be suggested as a preferred method of pretreatment of the identified wastes.

This research aims to explore the energy usage and environmental impact of cultivating soybean and peanut, with a specific focus on a case study. The cultivation of these crops is crucial for agricultural production, and understanding their energy use and potential damage is essential for sustainable farming. The results of this study will be valuable for farmers, policymakers, and researchers working towards sustainable agricultural production. The study reveals that soybean production in Ardabil province of total energy was 43170.20 MJ ha-1, also, output energy was 40417.28 MJ ha-1, while peanut production requires 28677.36 MJ ha-1 of total energy and produces 28677.36 MJ ha-1 of output energy. The results of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) show that emissions on farms are closely related to the inputs used in soybean and peanut production. Diesel fuel and chemical fertilizers are the main sources of emissions in both systems, with soybean farming showing higher levels of diesel fuel pollutants due to reduced usage compared to peanuts. The distribution of emissions from different sources in soybean and peanut production is highlighted in the study. Both methods of production have a significant impact on human health, with soybean responsible for 70% of emissions and peanuts contributing 65%. Diesel fuel and nitrogen fertilizer have the most significant environmental impact, accounting for over 50% of the overall impact. Proper management of nitrogen fertilizer is essential for maximizing crop growth and yield, making it a top priority for researchers and farmers.

To realize the current state of mechanization, defined and meaningful indices and standards are needed. Evaluation of these indices can be used for correct estimation and optimal use of agricultural machines. In this study, by collecting data through questionnaires and available statistical sources, the indices determining the status of rice mechanization (including the degree, level and capacity of mechanization, executive level), working days and farm productivity were calculated. The number of agricultural machines needed to perform mechanized operations in different stages of rice production were estimated using the time opportunity method. The results showed that in the eastern and western regions the degree of mechanization was 74.8 and 66.9%, the level of mechanization was 3.95 and 3.54 horsepower per hectare, the average mechanization capacity was 390.48 and 391.80 horsepower per hectare, respectively. Also, there were a tractor for every 29 and 27 hectares, a tiller for 3 and 4 hectares, a transplanter for 29 and 25 hectares, a weeder for 81 and 189 hectares, and a combine for every 39 and 77 hectares, on average. The number of machines available in the eastern regions in tillage are 81.5%, Transplanting 2.5%, spraying 71%, and harvesting 38.5% more and in weeding 9% less than the estimated number. the number of machines available in the western regions in tillage are 80.6%, Transplanting 15.9%, spraying 70.8%, weeding 42.3% and harvesting 51.5 % more than the estimated number.

Plants with green leaves are seasonal and perishable due to high humidity. Proper maintenance can prevent the wastage of these products and increase their availability outside the production season. With controlled and proper drying, nutrients as well as aroma and color can be preserved in the dried leaves. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of drying Falcaria with an infrared dryer with the help of ultrasound pre-treatment on drying kinetics, color changes, reabsorption of moisture, and thermodynamic properties. Falcaria leaves were dried in an infrared dryer at three temperatures of 40, 45, and 50 C and three ultrasonic pre-treatment times of zero, 5, and 10 minutes until reaching a moisture content of 10% wet based. The results showed that increasing the temperature and duration of ultrasound pre-treatment increases the drying rate. The effective moisture diffusion coefficient for Falcaria in all samples has a direct relationship with the ultrasonic pre-treatment and temperature. Hence, the effective moisture diffusivity increased with the increase in temperature and ultrasonic pre-treatment. The activation energy during drying is reduced with the increased duration of ultrasound pre-treatment. The changes in color and brown index of Falcaria leaves increased with increasing temperature and decreasing duration of ultrasound pre-treatment, while the amount of chroma decreased. Enthalpy and entropy decreased with increasing drying temperature and ultrasound pre-treatment time, while Gibbs free energy enhanced.

One of the agricultural approaches in the world to deal with various environmental challenges and erosion is the development of conservation agriculture with the aim of achieving sustainable production and management of water and soil resources. The main approach of conservation agriculture is to emphasize not to use insecticides, chemical fertilizers, and herbicides, to use fewer mechanical methods and to use only natural methods. The current research is part of qualitative research in terms of application. Three steps were determined to conduct this research. In the first step, the barriers to the development of conservation agriculture are identified. This work was done by analyzing the qualitative content of sources and conducting interviews with experts and experts from 22 semi-structured interviews in the province. In the second step, the inhibitors were ranked and grouped. In the third step of patterns, interpretive structural patterning method was used to determine the level of the main inhibitors and the internal relationships between the inhibitors. A comprehensive model of barriers was designed and after the formation of a technical committee consisting of 6 people with experts in the barriers analysis department, as a result of the content analysis of the interviews in the coding stage, 27 barriers were divided into seven barrier groups (financial, credit, service). supportive, educational and knowledge, attitudinal, policy making and planning, structural and institutional, technical and management were divided, structural and institutional factors and policy making and planning are the bases of the model of inhibitors and structural and institutional factors,