Browsing by discipline "Agroteknologi"

Tutkimuksessa selvitettiin ISOBUS-työkonemarkkinoiden nykytilaa. Tutkimuksen pääkysymyksinä olivat yhteensopivuusongelmien yleisyys, ISOBUS-teknologian ja ominaisuuksien tunnettavuus, sekä tulevaisuudennäkymät ISOBUS-työkoneiden osalta. Tunnettavuuden osalta keskityttiin erityisesti työkoneen käyttäjän ja myyjän myyjä-asiakassuhteeseen sekä asiantuntijamyyjän palvelukykyyn uuden teknologian osalta. Tutkimus toteutettiin laadullisena haastattelututkimuksena haastattelemalla työkoneiden käyttäjiä, myyjiä sekä työkonealan asiantuntijoita. Käyttäjien, eli työkonekaupan asiakkaiden osalta keskityttiin erityisesti keskikokoa suurempiin asiakkaisiin. ISOBUS-väylää hyödyntäviä työkoneita on ollut markkinoilla jo melko pitkään, mutta aihealue on vielä kohtuullisen tuntematon laajemmin työkonesektorilla. Tietoisuus väylän toimintatavasta, tai varsinkin sen eri toiminnallisuuksista ja niiden luomista mahdollisuuksista on vasta kehittymässä, jolloin ristiriitoja voi syntyä helposti. Myös markkinoilla olevat, eri vuotiset ja eri ISOBUS-toiminnallisuuksia tukevat työkoneet aiheuttavat haasteita erityisesti käytettyjen työkoneiden kauppiaille. Eri versioiden yhteensovittamisessa esiin nousseista yhteensopivuusongelmista voi myös helposti nousta koko ohjausväylää koskeva epäluotettavuuden leima, vaikka ongelmalle olisikin selkeä syy. ISOBUS-väylää hyödyntävien työkoneiden määrä on kuitenkin jatkuvasti kasvussa, ja samalla myös täsmäviljelyn lisääntyessä laajaa tietomäärää kerääville ja käsitteleville työkoneille on selkeä kysyntä, joka puoltaa ISOBUS-väylän paikkaa ja mahdollisuuksia työkonealalla. ISOBUS-väylä rakentuu tarkasti standardisoidun rakenteen lisäksi myös standardisoituihin toiminnallisuuksiin. Näitä toiminnallisuuksia ovat esimerkiksi työkoneen hallintaan käytetty universaaliterminaali, tai työsuoritteen tietojen keräämiseen ja hallitsemiseen liittyvä tehtäväohjain. Työsuoritteen tietojen keräämisen lisäksi tehtäväohjain on myös oleellisessa roolissa täsmäviljelyssä, sillä esimerkiksi paikkakohtainen määränsäätö rakentuu sen ympärille. Vaikka tuloksissa nousi esille useampia yhteensopivuusongelmia ISOBUS-traktoreiden ja työkoneiden välillä, ei niiden koettu kuitenkaan leimaavan järjestelmää. Useilla loppuasiakkaille nousi tuloksissa esille aiheen vieraus työkonemyyjille, mutta toisaalta myös vaihtelu koettiin suureksi. Vastaavasti kokonaisuudessaan ISOBUS-ominaisuuksia painottavia asiakkaita koettiin olevan vielä vähän kokonaisuuteen nähden. Joka tapauksessa väyläominaisuuksien merkityksen koettiin kasvavan tulevaisuudessa huomattavasti, niin työkoneiden käyttäjien kuin myös myyjien mielestä.

Mulching, as a cultivation technique, has been adopted since the early twentieth century in agriculture for improving various aspects of crop production. However, the use of mulching was boosted by the introduction of plastic mulch, which has been reported as a harmful substance to the farm environment. Therefore, the need for an environmentally benign mulch material is obvious. The present study investigated the effects of paper and biodegradable plastic mulches on the cucumber yield, soil temperature and moisture content (at 10 cm depth), and the control of weed growth in an agricultural field located at the University of Helsinki in Southern Finland. The degradability of mulches was also investigated. The null hypothesis was that all the mulches would have a similar effect on the abovementioned aspects. Four paper mulches, i.e., BP, KB, CK, and OB, accompanied by biodegradable mulch (BIO) and a bare soil (BG) treatment were under investigation. Each of these treatments had 4 replicates, and a randomized complete block design (RCBD) was adopted. Sensors were installed at 10 cm depth in each study plot to measure the soil temperature and moisture content. In addition, the experimental plots were watered by drip irrigation. All the attained data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software. The results of the study revealed noteworthy positive effects (P<0.05) of mulch application on cucumber yields together with soil temperature, early fruiting, and weed growth regulation compared to the un-mulched bare ground, exclusive of soil moisture content. The daytime soil temperature (DST) was higher than at night (NST), indicating a positive association of the mulch effect with plant growth and crop earliness. However, no suggestive improvement in soil moisture was found through mulch application during the study period. Edge degradation was only found for paper mulches during the study period, suggesting their environment friendliness. The CK and KB papers were the most effective and most environmentally positive mulch materials, and could be a suitable choice for Finnish vegetable growers. The findings of this study could assist paper manufacturers in improving the qualities of mulch papers regarding vegetable production. Future research aims at assessing the effects of mulches on the physiology of plants studied under mulched techniques together with the development of cheaper and more environmentally benign mulch materials.

High quality milk is an important thing for dairy industry and the most important determinator for milk price paid to the producer. The quality of milk is measured with somatic cell and bacteria count. Milks somatic cell count doesn’t change after milking that emphasizes the importance of udder health and successful milking. The total annual cost of the mastitis in an 100 head of cattle was estimated to be 21 000 – 25 000 euros in Finland (calculated with price level in 2010). Liner is the only part of the milking machine that contacts cow’s teat and the only way of bacteria into udder is through teat canal. Many bacterial infections occur in teat injuries and due to the teat-end roughness that makes teat canal closure slower, which makes bacteria access easier into udder. The aim of this thesis was to study the effects of CloverTM -liner on milking. Results were compared to the traditional HarmonyTM -liner. Cross section of a CloverTM -liner looks like clover whereas the shape of traditional liner cross section is round. Udder health and milking characteristics were measured attributes for comparison of the two liner models in this thesis. Udder health was evaluated by measuring somatic cell count, teat-end health and short-term changes in teat condition after milking. Milking characteristics were evaluated by measuring milk yield, milking duration and milk flow. The measurements were taken in two farms in summer 2015. The results of this study were estimated with line and bar charts as well as statistical significances were estimated with appropriate models. The differences between groups were small in teat-end health and there was a lot of deviation in the results so there were no statistically significant differences between groups. Total number of teats with short-term changes in teat condition after milking was so small that statistical testing was not appropriate. There were no differences in milk yield, milk flow, milking duration or somatic cell count between groups. The only statistically significant difference was peak flow that was lower for ClowerTM -liner.

The aim of this research was to measure energy consumption and energy loss through ventilation in the Viikki research farm, as well as to find possible targets to decrease energy consumption. In order to properly achieve an efficient use of energy it is important to first know how much energy is being used and where. In the literature review I found that the greatest energy consumption comes from ventilation, milking, cooling the milk, warming the water, lightning, taking of the manure and feeding. Previous research has shown that most of the energy is used for feeding and milking. Feeding took 133–650 kWh/year/cow. The energy consumption of milking was 380–570 kWh/year/cow. Milking the cows, cooling the milk and washing up the tank were included in energy consumption of milking. If internal combustion engines are used for feeding the overall energy consumption is higher than when electrical engines are used. To determine energy consumption in the Viikki research farm`s barn, measuring devices were installed. Due to the limited number of devises I concentrated on the sources of the highest energy consumption, as was determined from previous research. The reliability of the results from the chosen targets was acceptable, however, measurement of the total consumption of energy of the entire barn was very challenging and its measurement was eventually abandoned. The barn used for this research is an old renovated stone barn where cows are kept unchained. There are 60 to 70 cows, a couple of heifers and 0 to 30 calves in the barn. The total energy consumption of the barn as measured by the devices is 197 475 kWh/year or 0,267 kWh/kg of milk/year. Most of the energy is used for lightning (56 132 kWh per annum) or 0,076 kWh/kg of milk and 823 kWh/cow per annum. Feeding accounted for 42 000 kWh/year or 0,050 kWh/kg/year. The feeding of one cow required 615 kWh a year of energy. The amount of energy used for one kilo of milk was: milking, 0,047; warming 0,041; manure disposal 0,029; and ventilation 0,018 kWh/year. According to my calculations the amount of energy passing through the ventilation system was 580 000 kWh/year.

This study provides the green (the share of rain water in crop production) and blue (the share of surface and groundwater in crop production) water footprint (WF) of four annual crops in Finland and five annual crops in Iran for the growing period 2007?2012. It aims to present more recent water footprint accounting on annual crops in this study. Due to the large scale water footprint accounting (country level), the calculation for grey water footprint was omitted from this study. The green and blue water footprints of barley, maize, oilseed rape, soybeans and wheat for Iran and barley, oats, oilseed rape, and wheat for Finland were calculated over the annual growing period 2007 to 2012. Crops were selected upon the availability of crop production in each country. WF values were estimated based on crop water use (CWU) and crop yield, where CWU was estimated upon the accumulative ET over the growing season of the crops. For daily evapotranspiration values AQUACROP model was used. For running the AQUACROP model, different parameters were needed such as climatic parameters (including minimum and maximum temperature, rainfall and potential evapotranspiration), soil type, land management, irrigation practice, groundwater and initial condition for sowing, sowing and harvesting dates. This data were mined from databases. Due to the fact that crop production in Finland is rain-fed, only green WF of the selected crops were calculated for Finland. In Finland oilseed rape had the highest average green water footprint per ton of production, which was 2471 m^3 t¯¹yr¯^1 and it was followed by oats (1036 m^3 t¯¹yr¯^1), wheat (944? m?^3 t¯¹yr¯^1), and barley (838? m?^3 t¯¹yr¯^1). Considering the annual crop production, the average total green water footprint of selected crops was 3669 Mm^3 yr¯^1 in Finland. Water saving through crop trade was estimated -294 Mm^3 yr¯^1. The negative saving water amount showed the virtual water loss through crop trade of selected crops in Finland. The highest export crop in Finland was oats during 2007?2012. In Iran the major share of annual crop production comes from irrigated crop lands and that shows the importance of blue water footprint accounting beside green water footprint. The sum of green and blue water footprints of the growing crops in Iran was considered as water footprint of the crops. Water footprint per ton of crops in Iran increased from maize (696 m^3 t¯¹yr¯^1), wheat (1235 m^3 t¯¹yr¯^1), barley (1350 m^3 t¯¹yr¯^1), soybeans (2210 m^3 t¯¹yr¯^1) to oilseed rape (3503 m^3 t¯¹yr¯^1). Total average water footprint of the selected crops in Iran considering their production in the country was estimated 22816? Mm?^3 yr¯^1. Regarding the crop trade balances in Iran, the country saved 8902? Mm?^3 yr¯^1 water by importing the crops. Wheat was the major import crop during 2007?2012. WF can be a strong tool for assessing the consumptive water use of the agricultural systems in place and time according to different agricultural and water managements. It can bring a ground for comparing the production sites for certain crops or products considering the lower WF of the produced items. This study aimed at producing recent calculations of water footprint of crops in Finland and Iran, using local data.

Tutkielman tavoitteena oli selvittää kirjallisuustutkimuksena ISOBUS-väylän hyödyntämismahdollisuuksia. Hyödyntämismahdollisuuksia etsittiin sekä peltotöidenteon aikaisista hyödyistä, että jälkikäteen työn analysoinnin hyödyistä sekä hyödyistä valmistauduttaessa seuraavaan työtapahtumaan ja seuraaviin vuosiin. Työn aikaiset hyödyt jakautuvat kahteen eri luokkaan. Sellaisiin, mistä on apua viljelijälle sekä työkoneen ja traktorin autonomisen toiminnan lisäämisen hyötyihin. Viljelijälle apua on mm. polttoaineenkulutusmittarista, joka näyttää reaaliaikaista polttoaineenkulutusta myös hehtaaria kohti, työkoneen toimintaa mittaavista anturitiedoista tai pienestä mutta tärkeästä asiasta eli työkoneen työtuntilaskuriin perustuvasta huoltomuistutuksista. Työkoneen ja traktorin autonomisuuden lisäämisellä on mahdollista tehdä jopa täysin ilman ihmistä toimiva traktori. Väylän avulla työkone voi ohjata traktoria mm. muuttamaan työnopeutta tai työsyvyyttä ja kun väylälle lisätään vielä GPS-ajouraopastin niin traktori osaa myös ohjata itseään pellon sisällä gps-paikkatiedon perusteella. Työn analysoinnissa väylän isoimmat hyödyt ovat tietojen siirtäminen suoraan tietokoneelle viljelykirjanpitoon, jolloin viljelijän ei tarvitse pitää paperisia muistiinpanoja työsuorituksista sekä analysoitavien tietojen määrän runsas kasvu. Viljelijä pystyy runsaan tietomäärän avulla kotonaan etsimään pellolta ongelmakohtia ja selvittämään johtuuko pellon vajavainen kasvu pellon huonosta kasvukunnosta vai viljelytoimenpiteistä. Tietokoneella pystyy myös valmistelemaan työtä tekemällä esimerkiksi paikkakohtaisen lannoituskartan esimerkiksi satokartan avulla tai määrittämällä ajourat pellolle niin, että pelto saadaan työstettyä mahdollisimman nopeasti ja tehokkaasti ilman päällekkäisajoa. Tietoja voi siirtää tietokoneelle ja sieltä takaisin väylälle joko reaaliaikaisesti mobiilidatan tai langattoman internetin avulla tai määräajoin laittamalla muistitikun väylälle ja siirtämällä tiedot sen avulla tietokoneelle. Väylän standardisointi on vielä kesken, mutta joka tapauksessa se mahdollistaa monipuolisen teknologian käytön ja hyödyt viljelyssä.

The aim of the thesis was to make customer satisfaction research about change of the logistical structure in aftermarket of Agritek Oy. Customer satisfaction survey was made for retailers of Agritek Oy. Year 2012 Agritek Oy started piloting straight deliveries from factory to retailers. Shortly the new model deliveries started to be normal routine of some retailers. Thesis was made to find out how these straight deliveries impact retailers day to day business. The research was divided in several periods. In first and second periods retailers answered to customer satisfaction surveys. Both of these first and second period surveys was made as open-ended and closed-ended question surveys. Delivery times were researched in third period. Delivery time data was collected during one and a half years. Satisfaction surveys indicated that there is a need for development in tracking of delivery, delivery times, order process and order deadline. Delivery time research indicated that there is a need for development of delivery times for several retailers. For several retailers the delivery time is minimum three days. In spare part business this kind of delivery time is too long. The most important targets of development are availability of traceability information, modification of ordering process and shortening of delivery times. Agritek Oy has opportunity to significantly increase customer satisfaction by improving company’s operational model. There is a need of assistance from CNH if company wants to improve delivery times. CNH has opportunity to improve the delivery times to retailers by remodeling the freight contracts. Cooperation between CNH and Agritek Oy is needed for increasing the reliability of delivery and customer satisfaction level of aftermarket.

Nowadays there is a lot of discussion about climate change and climate change affects everyone. In agriculture when studying the carbon cycle, it is essential to know and understand what is happening underground. Organic carbon bound to the soil is about 1500 Gt when measured from a depth of 1 m. According to the datasets in topsoil, at a depth of 0–30 cm, the amount of organic carbon is about 50 % of the total amount of organic carbon. For surface and subsoil examination the minirhizotron system provides an inexpensive and simple way to examine the roots of plants without destroying the plants examined. The objective of this study is to build and test a minirhizotron camera and scanner as well as to become familiar with image processing and its automation. The construction of the camera was started from an old minirhizotron camera which could be used as parts for a new one. The parts which could not be used from the old camera were designed with 3D modeling software and manufactured with 3D printer. For image acquisition an electronic microscope was bought. For the scanner system a normal USB powered flatbed scanner was purchased and a protective case was built for it. Imaging with a minirhizotron camera transparent tubes must be installed to the ground and they are usually installed vertically, horizontally, or at an angle of 30 ° to 45 °. The way that a scanner is installed is usually determined by what the purpose of the imaging is. The obtained image material showed that the self-built minirhizotron system is a suitable tool for root research and its relatively inexpensive price allows a wide distribution of the system, even among ordinary farmers. A prerequisite for the success of the images is close contact between the ground and the tubes or scanner. It allows the images to be accurately thresholded and gives reliable results when analyzing the images. Highlighting the roots by hand is very time consuming which is the reason that development of automatic analyzing is needed. Successful thresholding is also a prerequisite for the automation and it should be noted in the future. Viability of machine vision and machine learning in root studies should be studied.

The number of drones has increased in both the private and corporate sectors. There is also an interest in the use of drones in agriculture since by using them the large fields can be monitored easily. Automatic flight systems of drones are simple to use. More accurate overview of the field can be got by utilizing the drones than by making observations from the side of the field. With aerial photographs the measures for the field can be planned further. For example, based on the photos pesticide spraying or fertilize spreading can be planned for the field. Drones can also be used to estimate crop biomasses. With drones the development of the crops is possible to observe as a timeseries during the growing season. The aim of this study was to explore the use of multispectral images and 3D models in crop monitoring. Crop leaf area index (LAI), biomass and chlorophyll content were measured. There were 8 different plants/fertilization levels in this study. In this study, a multispectral camera and a RGB-camera were used to estimate crops features. With a multispectral camera the reflectance values of the vegetation, which described how much of the incoming sun radiation was reflected back from the vegetation, were able to determine. The multispectral camera had five spectral bands (blue, green, red, red edge and NIR). Based on these bands NDVI vegetation index was calculated. The reflectance values and vegetation indices were compared to the dry matter mass, LAI, and chlorophyll content determinations of the vegetation. From the images of the RGB-camera 3D-models were created to calculate crop volumes. Calculated volumes were compared to crop dry matter mass and LAI measurements. Linear regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between the variables calculated from the images and the parameters determined from the crops on the field. According to these results, the variables determined from the multispectral images explained the dry matter mass and leaf area index of the crop slightly less than the 3D-models determined from the RGB images. The strongest determined dependence of the data recorded by the multispectral camera was between the faba bean LAI and NDVI (R2 = 0,85). The relationship between the reflection/index data of multispectral camera and crop parameter was weak: average coefficient of determination for dry matter mass of the crop was 0.15, for chlorophyll content 0.14, and for LAI 0,21. The highest coefficient of determination for 3D model of crop volume was between the dry matter mass of oats (R2 = 0.91). The mean coefficient of dependence was 0.69 for the relationship between the plant dry matter masses and 3D model volumes. The mean coefficient of determination for the relationship between the leaf area index of plants and the 3D model volumes was 0.57. Based on these results, from the multispectral camera data, the NDVI index was best suited to determine the crops dry matter mass, leaf area index, and chlorophyll content. However, there were differences in the dependencies between different spectral bands/NDVI index and plant properties determined from different crops. 3D models produced stronger dependences for estimating crop dry matter mass and leaf area index than the quantities determined from multispectral images. Analyzing the data with more sophisticated calculation methods utilizing the values of several spectral bands and the indices in the same time would probably have been a more efficient method to analyzing the data than the current used linear regression used in this study. Removing errors, caused by external factors, from multispectral images was found to be very difficult. Especially reflectance values of dry soil differed clearly from vegetations values. Further studies are needed to develop vegetation indices that can reduce errors caused by external factors. In addition, data processing of images should be developed to utilize multiple spectral bands and vegetation indices to determine the relationship between crop characteristics and variables measured from images. In addition, different plant species imaging techniques should be investigated, as different plants have different reflection values.

Tutkielman päätavoitteena on ehkäistä ja vähentää leikkuupuimurin käytössä tapahtuvia tapaturmia. Lisäksi tavoitteena on selvittää, minkä tyyppisiä tapaturmia leikkuupuimurin kanssa tapahtuu eniten sekä mitkä syyt johtivat tapaturmaan. Aihe on tärkeä, koska maatalouskonetapaturmista leikkuupuimuri on viidenneksi yleisin tapaturmien aiheuttaja Melan tapaturma-aineiston (2004–2013) perusteella. Tällä aikavälillä Suomessa sattui 515 leikkuupuimurin aiheuttamaa tapaturmaa, joista kaksi johti isännän menehtymiseen. Tutkielmassa hyödynnettiin Melan kymmenen vuoden (2004–2013) tapaturmatilastoa leikkuupuimurin aiheuttamien tapaturmien osalta. Lisäksi tehtiin 13 tilakäyntiä, jossa tarkasteltiin tilan leikkuupuimureita konekohtaisen tarkistuslistan avulla. Näiden tietojen sekä kirjallisuuden avulla pyrittiin saamaan mahdollisimman kattava kuva leikkuupuimurien tapaturmista sekä tiloilla huomatuista turvallisuusriskeistä leikkuupuimurin osalta. Melan tapaturma-aineiston perusteella 39 prosenttia leikkuupuimurin aiheuttamista tapaturmista sattui huollon ja korjauksen yhteydessä. Kaikista tapaturmista 40 prosenttia aiheutti avohaavoja ja 40 prosentille vamma aiheutui sormiin. Keskimääräinen sairaslomapäivien pituus on leikkuupuimuritapaturmissa 36 päivää ja 29 prosenttia tapaturmista luokitellaan vakaviksi. Koska huolto ja korjaus aiheuttavat selkeästi eniten tapaturmia ja tilakäyntien perusteella huolto ja korjaus koetaan hankalimmaksi työvaiheeksi, pitäisi jo tehtaalla miettiä leikkuupuimurin turvallista huollettavuutta. Usein esimerkiksi osa rasvausnipoista sijaitsevat korkealla tai ahtaissa paikoissa, mikä aiheuttaa riskejä viljelijälle. Tutkielma on osa Luonnonvarakeskuksen Maatalouskoneiden tapaturmien ehkäisyn ja koneturvallisuusriskien hallinnan kehittäminen-hanketta (Koneturva-hanke). Hankkeen rahoittajina ovat Maatalousyrittäjien eläkelaitos (Mela) ja Maatalouskoneiden Tutkimussäätiö.