CIGR Newsletter No 52
++ CIGR NEWS ++ CIGR NEWS ++ CIGR NEWS ++
NEWS FROM THE PRESIDIUM
THE XIV MEMORIAL CIGR WORLD CONGRESS 2000
November 28 - December 1, 2000, Tsukuba, Japan
Main Schedule of the Congress
Nov 25 (Sat)
13:30-18.00 Presidium meeting at Tsukuba Dai-ichi Hotel.
Nov 26 (Sun)
9:00-17:00 Club of Bologna meeting at Epochal Tsukuba.
Nov 27 (Mon)
10:00-15:00 Executive Board meeting at Univ. Tsukuba.
15:30-17:30 Technical Board meeting at Univ. Tsukuba.
9:30-17:00 Club of Bologna Technical Tour
Nov 28 (Tue)
9:00-16:00 Technical Tour A of the Tsukuba Research Institutions
14:00-18:00 Registration
16:30-18:00 Section Board meetings and Working Group meetings at Univ. Tsukuba.
18:00-20:00 Welcome reception at Univ. Tsukuba.
Nov 29 (Wed)
9:30-10:00 Opening Session at Univ. Tsukuba.
10:30-12:30 Plenary Session: Special presentations by Dr L. Clarke, "Increasing food production and protecting resources"
Prof. N. Sigrimis, "The 21st century expectations in IT: What to expect, what are the limits?"
14:00-17:00 Special Sessions:
Paddy field agriculture
Life support system
Informatics
Nov 30 (Thu)
10:00-12:00 Oral Sessions
13:00-15:00 Oral Sessions
15:30-17:30 Poster Session
15:30-17:30 Exhibition
15:30-17:30 General Assembly
18:00-20:00 Banquet(with awards presentations)
Dec 1 (Fri)
8:50-13:00 Oral Sessions
14:00-16:00 Poster Sessions
11:00-13:00 Information Technology Panel Discussion
16:15-17:45 CIGR Memorial Ceremony
Special presentation by Prof. P. F. J. Abeels: "CIGR’s past looks towards the future" (with Fellow nominations)
17:45-18:00 Closing Session
Technical Tour A (Date: Nov 28 (Tue))
Technical Tour B1 (Date: Dec 2 (Sat)- 3 (Sun))
Technical Tour B2 (Date: Dec 2 (Sat) - 4 (Mon))
(for details see below)
Special Session B "Paddy Field Agriculture"
1.Environmental issues; agri-environmental practices (integrated management of water, nutrients and pesticides), environmental benefits from paddy field agriculture;
2.Resource conservation; water saving techniques and soil management;
3.Hydrological cycle and modeling for paddy field irrigation;
4.Land development and land consolidation, including road, irrigation and drainage structures;
5.Information, expert and decision support systems;
6.Issues on water management institution; water users' associations.
NEW!!!
Special Session C "Life Support Systems"
November 29, 14:00-17:00
Topics and subtopics will be:
1.Animal Buildings after 2010 (chaired by ir. J. Voermans, S. Pedersen): Environmental Control in Animal Houses (Prof. D. Berckmans), Management and Feeding (Prof. H. Wiktorson), Building and Equipment (Dr. T. van Scheppingen, Ms. drs. Iris Arendzen), Waste Management (Dr. J. Beck)
2.Greenhouses and Plant Factories in the 21st Century (chaired by Prof. H.-J. Tantau, Prof. T. Kozai): New Topics for Greenhouses (Prof. Dr. G. P. A. Bot), Energy-efficient Lighting Strategies for Plant Biomass Production for Bioregenerative Space Life Support (Prof. J. L. Cuello), New Trends in Plant Factories (H. Murase, M. Takatsuji, Y. Hashimoto), New Topice of Closed Transplant Production Systems (Prof. T. Kozai)
Special Session D "Informatics for Agriculture-2000"
A special symposium on "Engineering the Agricultural Production Processes in the Information Age" will be held
during the XIV Memorial CIGR World Congress 2000. Special sessions are organized where international speakers will share their experience and observations about the forthcoming transformations in agriculture. The scope of the symposium is:
Information Technology Developments in
* Computer programs, requirements, acquisition and software development
* Networking agriculture (LANs, Intranets, VPNs)
* Computerized training
* Biological and environmental models
* Decision Support Systems
* Control and management systems
Information Technology Applications
* Intelligent machines and Robotics
* Precision farming
* Plant and animal factories
* Post-harvest process automation
* Resource and environmental management
* Farm and regional management systems
* Informed sustainability
Technical Tours
TECHNICAL TOUR TO TSUKUBA RESEARCH AREA
Full day tour visiting institutes in the Tsukuba Science City. A convenient bus-ride, with lunch. Participants will visit the following research institutes:
* Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
* Environment Agency
* Ministry of International Trade and Industry
* Meteorological Research Institute
* Institute for International Co-operation
Depending on circumstances, the number of institutes may increase or decrease.
Participants who to wish make reservation for the congress after the bus tour should please go to the reservation desk at University Hall. [Tour fare: 8,800 yen/person]
TECHNICAL TOUR TO IBARAKI AND TOCHIGI PREFECTURES
1 night/2 days tour visiting places around Tsukuba Science City and a famous shrine in Japan. Participants leaving for Narita Airport may use the same tour bus.
Kasumigaura Agricultural Canal, Ibaraki Prefecture, Narita International Airport, and Nikko City, an old and famous city of a beautiful shrine of Toshogu will be places of interest on this tour.
[Tour fare: 34,300 yen/person in the case of two persons occupying one room]
[Tour fare: 41,300 yen/person in the case of one person occupying one room]
TECHNICAL TOUR TO AICHI, SHIGA AND NARA PREFECTURES
2 nights/3 days tour visiting the following places:
* Aichi Agricultural Canal
* Aichi Prefecture
* Water Quality Conservation Program in Yodo River and Biwako Lake
* Kyoto, the previous capital city of Japan (710 - 1868)
* Kansai Science City
* Nara, a former capital city of Japan (710 - 794)
* Kansai International Airport
[Tour fare: 76,500 yen/person in the case of two persons occupying one room]
[Tour fare: 91,700 yen/person in the case of one person occupying one room]
Tour guides will accompany participants on all technical tours.
Inquiries should be directed to the Scientific Secretariat: Fax: +81-3-5841-8174; e-mail:cigr-ipc@bpe.en.a.u-tokyo.ac.jp (preferable); aoshita@hongo.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp. Congress Secretariat: Hiroshige NISHINA; Fax: +81-89-947-8748; e-mail: nishina@agr.ehime-u.jp; Congress homepage: http://bee2.en.a.u-tokyo.ac.jp/cigr2000/
Register now! The deadline for reduced registration is : 31 August 2000!!!
Some Impressions of Agricultural Engineering in Eastern Europe
by President Bill Stout
Agricultural Engineering is a vital discipline supporting world agriculture. Nowhere is the need for agricultural engineering technology greater than in Eastern Europe. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 has had a profound and mostly negative impact in the former Soviet Republics as well as in the surrounding countries. The Russian economy is struggling. Dmitry Strebkov, in a recent invited overview paper in the CIGR electronic journal wrote, "The development process in Russian agriculture has been severely undermined by lack of money for investment, a high inflation rate, and the decline in the output of agriculture and the machinery industry. Since 1991 the volume of agricultural production has decreased by 50%."
Salaries for agricultural engineers and other professionals in Russia are unacceptably low. As an example, one high level agricultural engineer in the Ministry of Agriculture told me that his salary is about $35 U.S./month. His wife, a medical doctor, said that her salary is only slightly higher. The transition from a centrally planned economy to the free enterprise system is painful and the outcome still uncertain.
The problem of low salaries is not limited to Russia. In Estonia a dean told me that his salary is $7000 U.S. per year. Young assistant and associate professors earn perhaps half that. Highly qualified young agricultural engineers can double or triple their salaries in industry. Consequently, there are few young faculty (staff) members, a troublesome fact that almost certainly will limit future development. The situation is similar in Latvia.
The International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR) is helping the Russians and others in the region in this difficult transition period. I found everyone hungry for contacts with the West. At a meeting on "Ecology and Agricultural Machinery" held in St. Petersburg April 26-27, 2000, the Euro-Asian Association of Agricultural Engineers (EAAAE) was formed with charter members – Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. EAAAE will operate under the CIGR global network as its sixth regional association. While the working language of CIGR is English, EAAAE will operate in the Russian language with the goal of serving the Russian-speaking areas of the former Soviet Republics, the Baltic States, and other East European countries. Selected CIGR publications will be translated to Russian language and distributed to members of EAAAE.
Consider the situation in other East European countries. Many of Poland’s exports went to the Soviet Union prior to 1991. Now there is little money available to purchase Polish machinery and other manufactured goods, so Polish exports have dried up causing a devastating impact. Unemployment throughout the region is high. Downsizing of agricultural engineering institutes is common. The situation is similar in Estonia and Latvia.
Information processing and management is receiving great attention in Poland, as it is around the world. I participated in a conference on "Application of Information Technology (IT) in Agriculture," April 18-19, in Kazimierz Dolny. Some 30 papers were presented on a wide range of IT topics.
CIGR is making plans to add a 7th technical section on information technology. A task force is now developing a statement of mission, goals, objectives, and operating procedures. I expect the Executive Board to implement the recommendations of the task force at the CIGR World Congress in Tsukuba City, Japan, in November/December this year. If you would like to be involved, let us hear from you.
Despite the sluggish economy and the frustrations, I found considerable optimism that life will get better. Most everyone wants to forget the hardships of life under communism. Many people told me, "We wasted 50 years of development under communism. We will never regain the position we had prior to World War II." I was told about the chronic shortages of food and other basic necessities. One person described the lines at the supermarket to purchase bread, meat, and even toilet paper. After standing in line for a couple of hours, the supply was often exhausted and the wait was wasted time.
The frustrations sometimes include decisions by local politicians. One Baltic country is seriously considering abandoning domestic agriculture and relying completely on imported food. This plan, if implemented, would merge the agricultural university with older technical or liberal arts universities. The result would very likely mean serious downsizing of agricultural engineering and other agricultural programs. To me such a policy seems highly risky. What happens in the event of a disruption of food imports? If the agricultural infrastructure is abandoned, it will be difficult to rebuild it in the future if wiser politicians have a change of heart. CIGR is working with local agricultural engineers to resist unwise policies that will almost certainly jeopardize food supplies and raise prices in the future.
I asked one agricultural engineer in Estonia, "What is the number one problem your institute is addressing?" His answer – "the lack of profitability of agricultural production!" How often have I heard this answer! It applies around the world. When will governments learn that a policy of cheap food (to please urban voters) is bad policy? Every link in the food chain must be profitable if food supplies are to be adequate for everyone.
The need for a professional organization supporting agricultural engineers in Eastern Europe and around the world has never been greater. I found great interest in CIGR services such as the 5-volume handbook recently published by ASAE, the peer reviewed CIGR electronic journal, and the CIGR/FAO global e-mail network.
I am pleased to report that CIGR is doing well. We are improving services to members, and consequently there is much interest in CIGR. And we are growing. New member countries in the past year or so include Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Czech Republic, Iran, Mexico, Philippines, and Turkey. The Euro-Asian Regional Association of Agricultural Engineers is expected to attract additional Russian-speaking countries in the future. The electronic journal is being well received. Eleven technical articles and four invited overview papers have been published, and approximately twenty-five technical manuscripts are now being peer reviewed by members of the editorial board and several invited overview papers are being prepared. The CIGR/FAO global e-mail network is gaining momentum as another way to exchange technical information. For further information about CIGR and to join our dynamic global network, see our website at www.ucd.ie/cigr/.
The author, ASAE Fellow Bill A. Stout, P.E., is President of CIGR and a professor at Texas A&M University, Agricultural Engineering Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-2117, USA. E-mail: stout@tamu.edu. This article is based on a recent five-week visit to Hungary, Poland, Russia, Finland, Estonia, and Latvia.
Report on the Presidium Meeting on
8 July 2000 in Amsterdam
Following the AgEng Conference in Warwick,UK, CIGR held a Presidium meeting on Saturday, July 8th 2000, in Amsterdam. The main issue of the meeting was the preparation of future World Congresses, namely 2000 in Tsukuba, 2002 in Chicago, jointly held with ASAE, and 2006 in Europe, together with EurAgEng.
The XIV Memorial World Congress’s final announcement has been printed and will be sent out soon. The Presidium appreciates receiving financial support by several industrial companies to give awards to recognized members of CIGR. The scientific committee received more than 400 paper proposals from 50 countries, which will ensure both a diverse coverage and a wide dissemination of scientific topics.
Preparation for the XV World Congress in Chicago, which will be a joint congress with the annual ASAE meeting, began on occasion of the 93rd ASAE Annual International Meeting, which took place from 9 to 12 July 2000 in Milwaukee, USA.
The Presidium of CIGR received the decision of the EurAgEng Council meeting that the favoured congress venue for the joint conference of the XVI CIGR World Congress and the AgEng Conference is Bonn, Germany in July 2006. The final decision will be made by the Executive Board of CIGR in Tsukuba on 27 November 2000.
President Prof. Bill Stout and Past President Prof. Egil Berge (1995-96) attended the foundation meeting of the Euro-Asian Association of Agricultural Engineers (AESEE), held in Petersburg,Russia. (cf. the section "New Members of CIGR" in this Newsletter). At the moment, this association is developinga plan to become a regional society member of CIGR.
The General Assembly of CGR will come together on 30 November 2000. One preparational activity will be a ballot election of the board members of the Sections, which will be conducted prior to the General Assembly. During the General Assembly the statutes, which have been revised to take into account current necessities, will be submitted for approval.
Peter Schulze Lammers
CIGR Secretary-General
A letter to President Bill Stout from Prof. Dr. hab. inz. Robert Stefan Rowinski
Dear Professor Stout,
I would like to share with you, the President of CIGR, some observations concerning our organization. The first issue I would like to mention regards CIGR Congresses. I have been observing these Congresses since 1984, though I did not participate in all of them. It seems to me that the number of papers presented is too high, while still many of them are of fragmentary character, often closely bound to some specific problems of a given region and of little interest to most Congress participants. This may be shown the best on the example of the Rabat Congress materials, although this also concerns papers presented at the earlier CIGR Congresses. Moreover, there is no time to discuss the papers. So much criticism, but what remedy can be found?
In my opinion, as the main Congress, a meeting of the world scientific society in the area of agricultural engineering, it should be mainly, though not only, devoted to the basic problems: global issues regarding widely understood agricultural engineering, including future tendencies and trends as well as threats. I imagine the main paper presented in CIGR Congress Sections and 3-5 sub-papers concerning a given topic, e.g. "Problems of farming mechanization in developing countries" and a longer discussion of experts in this topic, with conclusions elaborated for United Nations agencies and other international organizations.
This system limits the opportunities for papers to be presented by mainly young scholars but they may present their ideas at continental conferences, seminars, workshops or other scientific meetings.
The other issue concerns a perhaps even more important matter, namely the research carried on in agricultural engineering. At present, though perhaps tendencies in this direction could have been observed for years, we can see ever stronger overlapping of agricultural and technical fields. It is agriculture that starts supporting industry in some respects, e.g. fuels. This requires developing activities directed at interdisciplinary scientific research and wider cooperation of scientific fields and disciplines, including mathematics, physics and technology. I have never been to the United States of America; neither do I know the systems applied there. In Europe, we do not have a long tradition in interdisciplinary research, and in some countries formal and legal factors limit wide research of this type to some degree. It seems to me that the most important issue is inviting other scholars to broader cooperation and creating good interdisciplinary teams. This is difficult due to different a proaches, different research methods applied and habits of scholars working in agronomy and physics. Nonetheless, after some adaptation, as has been our experience in Poland, outstanding scientific teams can be created.
I consider this issue extremely important, as this will raise scientific work in agricultural engineering to a higher level. I personally accuse many of our works of lacking effort to generalize theoretically the results achieved experimentally. It is obvious that experiments carried out are naturally limited by their scope and method applied. For example, at the recent energy meeting in Athens, listening to all papers presented in one of the sections, I heard only one speech that presented a mathematical model and where results of an analysis achieved by solving some not even too complicated differential equations were compared to experimental research. Interdisciplinary teams would be very helpful in this respect.
This is also connected to the fact that activities in this respect may limit to some degree realization of works that are well advanced in technical sciences in many areas, and repeating them we may unnecessarily waste time and resources.
Presenting my above observations to you as President of CIGR, I would very much appreciate your opinion thereon. At the same time, if you consider it appropriate, I have no reservations as to your presenting them to your colleagues or publishing them.
Yours sincerely, Robert S. Rowinski
Faculty of Mechanics
University of Agriculture and Technology
Olsztyn, Poland
New Members of CIGR
The Society for Engineering in Agriculture, Australia
History
The Society for Engineering in Agriculture had its origins in the Agricultural Engineering Society (Australia) (AESA), which was formed in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1950. Over the years, branches have been formed in all States except Tasmania. The Society was formed to provide a meeting place for the exchange of views and the gathering and dissemination of the latest information relating to farm mechanisation and agricultural engineering.
AESA functioned until 1991, when it was disbanded and the Society for Engineering in Agriculture (SEAg) was formed. SEAg is a Technical Society of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, and was formed to promote and support the application of engineering in agriculture.
Aims
The aims of the Society are to:
improve the communication among those with an interest in engineering in agriculture; extend appropriate technical information to Society members and others involved in agriculture; raise awareness of the role of engineering in agriculture.
SEAg sponsors a national biennial conference on engineering in agriculture, which is usually held in a regional area of significant agricultural interest.
Membership
Membership of SEAg is open to all persons who can benefit from or contribute to the Society's objectives, and who has an active interest in engineering in agriculture. Members represent a wide range of occupations - engineers, scientists, primary producers, researchers, consultants, academics, machinery manufacturers, economists and journalists – all with a common interest in the application of engineering principles to agriculture.
Publications
The Society’s journal, 'Agricultural Engineering Australia', was launched in March 1970, and continued publication until 1996. In more recent years, research reports and topics of interest to SEAg members have been disseminated through the publication "Leading Edge", which is a joint venture with the Australian Centre for Precision Agriculture. "Leading Edge" appears as a feature insert in three rural magazines (Australian Grain, Australian Sugarcane and Australian Cotton) which are published six times per year.
Organisational Structure
A National Committee of 6 elected members manages the affairs of the Society on a national basis. State Branches have committees responsible for the organisation of events, such as meetings, seminars etc. at a regional level. The Chairperson of each State Branch holds an ex-officio position on the National Committee. The Society receives administrative support from the Institution of Engineers, Australia, but the work of the National and State committees is carried out by volunteers.
Members of the National Committee
The current Chairperson of the National Committee is John McPhee, who works with the Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment, in Tasmania. In his day job, he leads a small multi-disciplinary group involved in aspects of sustainable and profitable production in the vegetable industry, with the main thrust of the work being irrigation, use of recycled organic materials and technology transfer.
The National Committee currently has 3 members, John Fielke, David Moser and Michael Slattery, who work with the Australian Machinery Research and Design Centre at the University of South Australia, in Adelaide, South Australia. The Centre undertakes R&D in, among other things, tillage and seeding machinery, horticultural products processing and handling and food processing waste management.
The other elected members of the National Committee are Grant Roberts, who works in R&D at the National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture, based at the University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, and Chas Holmes, who is private irrigation consultant based in Perth, Western Australia.
Further information about SEAg can be found at http://www.ncea.org.au/seag/seag.htm.
John McPhee
Chair, SEAg National Commeíttee
The Philippines: A Group of Individuals
The Institute of Agricultural Engineering (IAE) of the UPLB College of Engineering and Agro-industrial Technology (CEAT) is widely considered as the national leader and recently as the center of excellence in the discipline because of its strong faculty and diverse academic offerings which include baccalaureate, masteral and doctoral programs. The faculty, which consists of 16 Ph.D, 13 MS and 2 BS degree holders in various specialization fields of agricultural engineering, is not only into the management of the various curricular offerings but has deep and extensive involvement in research and technology dissemination. The diversified, experience/expertise-generating activities of the faculty have strengthened its instructional capabilities to a steady population of 250+ students, graduating 20+ BS and 5+ MS/PhD students per year. In addition, the IAE regularly garners 3 or more top ten places in the annual Board Examinations for agricultural engineers while achieving a c nsistent 100% passing rate.
The IAE was established in 1997 assimilating four departments as academic units and one big research and extension program. These are 1) Land and Water Resources Division (LWRD); 2) Agrometeorology and Farm Structures Division (AFSD); 3) Agricultural and Bio-Process Division (ABPROD); 4) Agricultural Machinery Division (AMD); and 5) the Agricultural Mechanization Development Program (AMDP). The latter is the official research and extension program of the College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology as the national representative institution to the UN-ESCAP Regional Network for Agricultural Machinery (RNAM). The IAE is headed by a Director who is also the Assistant Project Manager of the AMDP. The four academic units are each headed by a Division Chair.
The IAE offers the Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering program with specializations fields in a) land and water resources; b) agricultural structures and environment; c) agricultural and bio-processing and d) agricultural power and machinery. Through the UPLB Graduate School, it also offers the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural Engineering programs with major fields in a) land and water resources; b) agricultural and bio-processing and c) agricultural power and machinery. In addition the IAE also offers the Master of Science in the Agrometeorology program.
The IAE is involved in numerous applied research and extension programs in all the major areas of agricultural engineering. Among these major research and extension activities are : a) the Agricultural Mechanization Development Program; b) the Comprehensive Irrigation Research and Development Program; c) the Shallow Tubewell Irrigation Project and d) the Biomass Waste Resources Assessment Project. Its faculty and staff has published papers in reputable local and foreign journals. It publishes on a semi-annual basis a) the Philippine Journal of Agricultural and Bio-systems Engineering (PJABE), a refereed journal and b) the non-refereed Philippine Agricultural Mechanization Bulletin (PAMB).
For further information contact:
Institute of Agricultural Engineering (IAE)
College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology
University of the Philippines Los Baños
College, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines 4031
FAX : 049-536-3606
Prof. Danielito T. Franco
Director, IAE Institute of Agricultural Engineering
Euro-Asia Association of
Agricultural Engineering (EAAAE)
In Russia, Saint-Petersburg, on April 25-26, 2000 the President of CIGR, Bill Stout, and Honorary President of CIGR Egil Berge in cooperation with the leadership of the Russian Federation National Committee on Agricultural Engineering (RF NCAE) organized the meeting of the representatives of Russian, Ukraine and Republic of Belarus agricultural engineers with the aim of forming the Euro-Asian Regional Association on Agricultural Engineering (EAAAE) under the auspices of CIGR for CIS countries, also open for representatives from Eastern European countries and others.
Since the initiative in 1994 the CIGR leaders have been supporting the proposal to form the Euro-Asian Regional Association of CIGR using both the Russian and English languages aimed at a wider involvement of agricultural engineers from CIS and other countries interested in the CIGR activities and in the use of the CIGR Global Network to exchange information on the recent achievements of the world science and engineering practice in agriculture.
The proposals have been heard and discussed by the participants including official representatives of Russia, the Ukraine and the Republic of Belarus, and the EAAAE was formed. Also the Working Group consisting of representatives of these countries was elected for the development of a detailed proposal for the formal organization of the EAAAE to be ready before October 1, 2000 and for the formation of National Associations of CIGR in the Ukraine, Belarus and other CIS countries.
It was recommended that the Working Group seeks support from the Executive Committee of CIS countries and the Interparliament Assembly of CIS countries for the formation of EAAAE, and that it uses assistance of RF NCAE as needed in support of the formation of National Associations of CIGR in interested countries.
Communicated by Prof. Oleg Marchenko
Secretary-General of RF NCAE
NEWS FROM SECTIONS AND WORKING GROUPS
CIGR Section IV: Report on the Conference "Rational Use of Renewable Energy Sources in Agriculture"
The conference took place from 10 - 15 April 2000 in Budapest, Hungary. It was organized by the Hungarian Electrotechnical Association, with co-operation from the Hungarian Society for Agrarian Sciences.
110 Participants from 24 countries, who were to present 92 papers, were announced in advance. Finally, 75 persons from 21 countries turned up at the conference. 56 papers had been submitted, 40 of which were finally presented.
Overall, the papers were followed by very active dis-cussions, and very valuable experiments were presented by researchers from the different countries on several themes. It is certain that the results presented at the conference facilitate a better use of renewable energies sources in the future. It is also likely that the attempt to produce more energy on agricultural farms will make decisive advancements in the next couple of years.
The papers of the conference dealt with sun-, wind-, water- and geothermic energy use, the utilization of biomass, and some with the use of heat-pumps.
The opening speech was held by the Hungarian Minister of Agriculture. The President of CIGR, Professor Bill Stout, gave a speech on the role of CIGR in the globalisation. Professor Ramdani from Morocco, President of CIGR Section IV, also took part in the conference.
The Board meeting of CIGR Section IV took place in the afternoon of the second day. The conference was followed by a one-day and another two-days excursion.
Dr Zoltan Sibalszky
Honorary Vice-President of CIGR
President of the Organizing Committee
Section I Co-operation With ESSC
Thanks to the efforts of Prof. Luis Santos Pereira, a closer co-operation between the European Society for Soil Conservation (ESSC) and CIGR has been agreed on. In the future, the President of ESSC, Dr. Jose L. Rubio, will be invited to participate in the CIGR Section I Bureau, while the Chairman of CIGR Section I, Prof. Luis Santos Pereira, will be invited to take part in the ESSC Board. See the next article for a report on the latest ESSC Meeting.
Third International ESSC Congress:
Man and Soil at the Third Millennium
Valencia (Spain), 28 March–1 April 2000
May I remind you that the theme of the Third International Congress of our European Society for Soil Conservation is 'Man and soil at the Third Millennium'. This means that we have to look in the future and we are given thousand years to do this. This means also that we have been given a task to predict what will happen in the future. May I refer to our 'prediction models' to do this? Some of you asked for more research and this on a long-term basis. Let's call it better 'on a continuous basis' because we need solutions now, we have to conserve our soil now!
May I also remind you that we are members of a society for soil conservation. We have to conserve the soil. We have to care the soil. We have to preserve the soil. For what? For a better soil quality? Or for maintaining the soil quality at a certain level? Or for a better water quality? Or for a better environmental quality taking into account the crops and the plants? I was using the expression term 'we' on purpose. 'We' means also that 'we' like to share 'responsibilities'. 'We' refers to a society, a club, a region. The term 'we' was used on a number of occasions during this week. 'We' need more research. 'We' have to design strategies for soil conservation. 'We' have to reclaim land. But who is who, who is 'we'? Do 'we' have to construct the terraces? Do 'we' have to plow along the contours? Do 'we' have to reclaim saline and alkaline soils? 'We' tell people (farmers) what should be done, 'we' are not doing it ourselves but in fact 'we' hope that somebody else will do the work.
It was remarked that we are not only a society for soil conservation but also a society for soil and water conservation. In the session of soil and water cycle there was ample discussion on the soil loss by water erosion mainly because the majority of the participants are working in that field. We missed almost completely the wind erosion problems. Also we did not consider enough the hydrological aspects in the water erosion process.
A point was made if we are not concentrating too much and only on agricultural aspects. There is soil loss and soil movement outside the agricultural world. And then we come to the important session and discussion on soil quality and soil quality indicators. It was said that there is a need to educate politicians and decision-makers into the importance of soil quality. But quality of soil for what? For multi-uses? To fulfil the soil functions? The soil potential for carbon sequestration? The soil to produce food? The resistance of the soil to disturbance? The resistance of soils to climatic change? The question was asked if we can quantify the quality of soil in terms of soil conservation? We have to promote and sell our soil and selling good quality soil. In fact people care more about the quality of water than about the quality of the soil. For water there are already quality indicators also in terms of water functions : drinking water, irrigation water… In fact at this moment people ar more concerned with the quality of the water and air because this affects directly the society and the environment. We have to keep in mind: no soil conservation without water conservation.
Soil conservation has on-site effects but sometimes more off-site affects. And what about the socio-economic factors? They were not enough recognised as being important in explaining land degradation and desertification. Apparently they operate differently in for example northern as opposed to southern Mediterranean areas. In the northern Mediterranean the population decline is causing abandonment of land, which in many cases leads to enhanced erosion. On the other hand, in southern Mediterranean areas it is the increase in population pressures that is the main contribution in the land degradation. The abandonment, transformation or substitution of traditional agricultural systems has lead to land degradation and loss of soil productivity in Eastern European countries. I think we have to be careful with this statement. But the increasing range of factors, both physical, economical and socio-economic explaining land degradation can become so complicated that it can be used as an excuse for not providing.
With this in mind, a point was made to produce not only very thick reports but illustrative descriptions such as maps be it erosion risk map, soil quality, salinity/alkalinity and this at different scales: field scale, small catchments, large catchment, eventually accompanied with simple models of which we have sufficient reliable data. Because the weakest link in the model is not the construction of the model itself but the data we are putting in it.
Some made the point to use nature-like methodologies for soil conservation and restoration and fight against contamination in accordance with the mechanics in the entire ecosystem. Also more consideration should be given to improve soil structure and to soil renewal rates because we also have to think in positive terms. Soil is not that bad. Let's keep both feet on the soil.
Proposals for soil sustainability:
1.Soil conservation should be linked with water conservation
2.Soil quality should be linked with land quality and environmental quality
3.Research should be encouraged, supported and oriented to assess processes of land degradation on different scales: from the field to the small and large catchment to an environmental unit
4.Attention should be given to the heritage and landscape value of traditional soil and water conservation systems
5.Socio-economical and political aspects at different levels (field, watershed, community, region, …) should be integrated
6.Politician, decision-makers, land use planners should be educated and informed about soil quality, soil functions and the importance of soil and water conservation
7.The ESSC can act as key-actor in a campaign for the EU and national governments to adopt a convention on soil quality, soil care, soil restoration, soil protection and soil and water conservation
ESSC Board
NEWS FROM REGIONAL AND NATIONAL SOCIETIES
Results from the International Conference on Agricultural Engineering of
Central and Eastern European Countries
in Potsdam-Bornim
The conference took place on November 11/12 1999 at the Institute of Agricultural Engineering Bornim (ATB) in Potsdam-Bornim, Germanmy. Two topics were at the centre of the event: a) the transformational process of Central and Eastern Europe triggered by the liberization of world trade and political change and b) the production and use of renewable energies in agriculture
The conference was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft/German Research Community (DFG), the Deutsche Landwirtschaftsgesellschaft/German Agricultural Society (DLG), the European Union and EurAgEng financially as well as with ideas.
Before an audience of about 90 delegates, Dr Bentrup, Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture of the State of Brandenburg, and Mr Schulze-Weslarn, a high ranking representative of the German Federal Ministry of Agriculture, emphasized the importance of the European unification process. The speakers also stressed the importance of using the experience made in the new German Federal States for the transformation of Eastern Europe, even though this process would take place in a different way die to the different circumstances in each country. It was especially this item that became obvious in the delegates' reports on the development of agriculture, agricultural technology and research in the different countries.
The foremost goal of agricultural technology and the associated industry in Central and Eastern Europe should be the development and supply of technologies to provide a competitive and environmentally compatible agricultural production while guaranteeing as many jobs as possible. In this context alternative sources of income such as the production and use of renewable energies in rural areas also plays an important role.
The participants decided to provide a more solid basis for the exchange of experience by creating a research network within the framework of the expansion of the EU. It was also decided to further explore opportunities within the EU to Provide funding especially in the area of renewable raw materials and renewable energies to help and speed up the development of Central and Eastern European economies. The leadership of the ATB as the initiator of the event and as the liaison institution between Central and Eastern European countries on the one hand and Western European countries on the other was generally recognized.
The institution to host the next event within the planned series of conferences and workshops will be the Polish Centre for Agricultural Engineering IBMER.
The complete text of all contributions to the conference can be purchased for a fee of DM 25.00 at: Institut für Agrartechnik Bornim e.V., Max-Eyth-Allee 100, 14469 Potsdam, Germany. Also visit www.atb-potsdam.de
Department of Public Relations of
the Institut für Agrartechnik Bornim e.V
A Quarter of a Century of the Conferences on Physical Methods in Agriculture
The first attempts to use physical methods in agriculture can be found in nineteenth century as a necessary component of farm and food machinery. There were the areas of mechanics, electricity and physical chemistry that were the first physical disciplines used in agriculture and food industry. The twentieth century was a century of physical properties of agromaterials. The physical properties of agromaterials have been studied and used since the 1920s, mainly in the USA, where a big role has been played by ASAE, and in the Soviet Union, where the special institute on agrophysics was founded by Ioffe in the 1930s.The activity of ASAE in this area was enlarged in the 1960s and 70s, especially with the role playing by the Mohsenin’s group and its followers. At that time the Institute of Agrophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences was founded in Lublin, and conferences on physical methods in agriculture began to be organised. This is a short review of the conferences:
1.Physical Properties of Plant Materials and their Influence on Technological Processes, held in Lublin (Poland) on September 13-18, 1976, organiser Professor B. Szot, Institute of Agrophysics PAS, Proceedings contain 60 contributions on 534 pages.
2.Physical Properties of Agricultural Materials and their Influence on Technological Processes, held in Gödöllö (Hungary) on August 26-28, 1980, organiser Professor I. Huszár, University of Agricultural Sciences Gödöllö, Proceedings contain 167 contributions.
3.Physical Properties of Agricultural Materials and their Influence on Design and Performance of Agricultural Machines and Technologies, held in Prague (Czechoslovakia) on August 19-23, 1985, organiser Professor R. Rezní… ek, University of Agriculture, Prague, Proceedings contain 158 contributions.
4.Physical Properties of Agricultural Materials and their Influence on Technological Processes, held in Rostock (GDR) on September 4-8, 1989, organiser Professor H.J. Hellebrand, University of Agricultural Engineering Berlin-Wartenberg, Proceedings contain 204 contributions.
5.Physical Properties of Agricultural Materials, held in Bonn (Germany) on September 6-8, 1993, organiser Professor K.H. Kromer, Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Proceedings contain 113 contributions.
6.International Conference on Agrophysics, held in Lublin (Poland) on September 15-18, 1997, organiser Professor J. Glinski, Institute of Agrophysics PAS, Book of Abstracts contain 153 contributions.
Twenty-four years of the conferences on the physical methods in agriculture represent also the years of deep changes in this discipline. At the beginning of this period the main domain of the discipline consisted mainly in improving agricultural machinery, development of automation and robotics. Now, the main role of the physical methods consists in the detection of the product quality and in developing agricultural technologies which are more precise and environmentally friendly. Organisers of the next, the seventh conference "Physical Methods in Agriculture", welcome the possibility to organise the conference in their institution, the Czech University of Agriculture in Prague. Physical methods in agriculture have been studied at Czech University of Agriculture since the 1960s by a scientific group founded by Professor Rezní… ek. These activities have been strongly supported by further "agrophysical" gr ups active in Slovakia (founded by Professor Tomovík) and other parts of Czechoslovakia (in Brno, at the Research Institute of Agricultural Engineering Prague etc.), groups which studied physical properties of fruits and vegetables at Lednice and Hurbanovo (Professors Kopec and Goliáš), by special groups concerned with soil physics (Professors Kutílek and Pavel), and by activities in the study of physical properties of foods (founded by Professor Šesták, Dr. Adam and others).
The representatives of these different research schools accepted to participate in the Local Organisation Committee and are ready to prepare the best conditions for the 7th conference on "Physical Methods in Agriculture", which is co-sponsored by CIGR and which will take place in August 2001 in Prague. For details, see p. 17 of this newsletter.
Prof. Jiri Blahovec
Chairman of the Scientific Board of the Conference "Physical Methods in Agriculture"
Report on EurAgEng's Open Meeting, held on 6 July 2000 at University of Warwick, UK
1. Report on EurAgEng activities 1998-2000 The outgoing President, Jaime Ortiz-Cañavate reported on the achievements of the last two years including the new Industry Innovation Award, the reorganisation of the SIGs into Fields of Interest and the establishment of a new SIG on Standardisation, the merger with ENGAGE, the increasing number of members and the inclusion of Poland and Portugal into full membership. He went on to mention the Members' Directory, the Newsletters, the web site, the link with JAER, and the good relations with CIGR. He thanked Bill Day for his willingness to take on the job of Convenor of AgEng2000. Finally, he expressed his appreciation for the support he had received during his term as President and asked for continued support to be given to the new President, Bent Bennedsen.
2. Membership and Financial Reports Mike Hurst, Secretary General, briefly described the three types of membership and the way they had increased over the last two years to the present total of some 2400. He continued with a report on the financial results for 1998 and 1999. He indicated that 80% of the income comes from members' subscriptions supplemented in conference years by the conference levy. He also mentioned the sponsorship of the Directory by New Holland. On the expenditure side the two main items are publications and the secretariat, followed by the contribution to CIGR and the cost of providing the web site. The result was a surplus of 10,668 euro in 1998 and a deficit of 3152 euro in 1999. Whilst a deficit is not ideal it is not uncommon in non-conference years.
3. Industry Innovation Awards Jaime Ortiz-Cañavate explained that 14 abstracts had been received from entrants for the award from which ten were accepted. The ten authors were then invited to submit full papers. Eight were received and six were selected for presentation in two parallel sessions at the Industry Innovation Event at the AgEng2000 conference. Assessors decided on the winners:
* Peter Hieronymus of Claas 'Automatic Steering for Cereal Harvesters' and
* Johan Sterken of Terra Care 'New soil serving method for transport and application of slurry'.
All six presenters were given a certificate of nomination for the award and the two winners each received a winners' certificate and a memento bearing the words Presented by EurAgEng for Excellence in Innovation.
4. President and Officers for 2000-2002 Jaime Ortiz-Cañavate announced that the President for 2000-2002 chosen from among the members of Council would be Bent Bennedsen of Denmark. The three existing Vice Presidents, Daniele De Wrachien, Walter Meier and Axel Munack would continue and the vacant post of Vice President would be taken by Bill Day.
5. Recognitions The new President, Bent Bennedsen spoke of the Society's gratitude to people who had worked hard for the Society. He especially wished to recognise the contributions made by Brian Legg who had been the driving force in bringing AgEng2000 to the UK, to Fred Meier who was a Founder Member and President in 1994/95, and to Brian Witney who was a Founder Member and President in 1993/94, and who had done much to establish the Society in the first place. All three were presented with a memento bearing the inscription Presented by EurAgEng in Recognition of Service.
6. Report on AgEng2000 Bill Day, the conference convenor, expressed his thanks to the many people who had helped to make it a success. He mentioned that there had been plenty of challenges to meet but the organisers had risen to them. He declared that the AgEng series of conferences is in good heart.
7. Presentation of Best Paper and Poster Awards The awards for the best paper and poster by authors aged 30 or under were sponsored by BBSRC, whilst the awards without an age limit were sponsored by the Douglas Bomford Trust. Dick Godwin, the awards co-ordinator made the following presentations:
* Best paper by an author aged 30 or under to N De Belie 'Firmness Changes for pear fruit on the tree with the acoustic impulse response technique'
* Best poster by an author aged 30 or under to E C Correa 'A procedure for optimal calibration for a QCM electronic nose, relation with specifications for pear quality'
* Best paper (without age limit) to E Hartung, G J Monteny 'Optimization of the dryeing/composting process of manure from poultry facilities'
* Best poster (without age limit) to S J Setford, M Arif, I E Tothill, J Shields, K S Burton 'Evaluation of Horticultural Produce Quality using a Biosensor Array'
Each award consisted of a monetary prize and a certificate.
8. Invitation to AgEng2002 The AgEng2002 conference will be held in Budapest in Hungary on 30 June-4 July 2002. The convenor, Zoltán Láng, on behalf of the Hungarian agricultural engineers in the Scientific Society of Mechanical Engineering, gave an outline of the scientific and social events being planned. He urged everyone present to register their interest by returning the form in the AgEng2002 leaflet, and looked forward to seeing them in Budapest.
9. Closing remarks by the Incoming President Bent Bennedsen congratulated the outgoing President, Jaime Ortiz-Cañavate on his successful term of office. He intended during his term to continue to improve the services to members and to strengthen the relationships among agricultural engineers. He concluded by reiterating CIGR President Bill Stout's contention that we must make efforts to convince people of the importance of the agricultural engineering profession to the wellbeing and prosperity of society.
Mike Hurst
Secretary General EurAgEng
