CIGR Newsletter No 59
CIGR C o-S p o n s o r e d A c t i v i t i e s
International Conference on
"Soils under Global Change - a Challenge for the 21st Century"
This conference, co-sponsored by CIGR-Section I, will be held 3-6 September 2002, in Constanta, Romania. It is organised by the Research Institute for Soil Science and Agrochemistry (Bucharest, Romania) in co-operation with various research institutions, university institutes, etc., from various European countries.
The soil cover of the Earth, the main natural resource for supplying and increasing population with food, timber and other products and an essential part of the environment, is suffering degradation due to man-made impacts: extent of agriculture, inappropriate management practices, impact of industry, mining, transportation and urban concentrations, effect of adverse weather events as drought or flooding, climatic global changes, etc. Development of a sustainable agriculture and environment should take into account these processes.
A growing interest in problems of soil degradation demands oppurtunities for world-wide scientists to meet, present and discuss up-to-date results, exchange views, prepare conclusions and disseminate these conclusions to policy makers, to farmers and other practical workers and to the large public. The conference at Constanta attempts to offer such an opportunity. Its main topics wil include:
- physical degradation: water and wind erosion, compaction, structure deterioration, crusting, aridification, waterlogging, etc.
- chemical degradation processes: pollution, salinity, sodicity, acidification, humus and nutrient deficiencies, toxicity
- desertification in arid and dry-subhumid environments
- drought under various soil and management conditions, inter-relations with farming and environment
- global climatic changes, contribution of land use to emission of greenhouse gases from soils, effects of climatic changes on soils, farming practices and environment, carbon sequestration.
The conference will consist of four days of invited, volunteer oral and poster presentations . A mid-conference tour will visit the Valu lui Traian Research Station with field experiments on reduced tillage, soil compaction, irrigation, and use of sewage for fertilisation a.o.; a post-conference tour will include a 800 km bus trip from Constanta to Tulcea (with a one full day trip by boat in the Danube Delta, one of the few natural wetlands still existing in Europe), then to Braila (saline soil reclamation) and Perieni (erosion control), with return by the same bus to Bucharest.
For further information, contact: Research Institute for Soil Science and Agrochemistry, Bd. Marasti 61, Bucharest 71331, Romania; Tel.: +40 1 2241790, extension 268; Fax: +40 1 222 5979; E-mail: r.enache@icpa.ro
AUS AgEng 2002 - International Conference on Agricultural Engineering: "Does Australia still Need Agricultural Engineers?"
The Society for Engineering in Agriculture (SEAg) of Australia will hold its next biennial conference from 26 to 29 September 2002 at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia. The conference language will be English. The conference will immediately follow one of Australia's largest agricultural machinery field days (The Henty Machinery Field Days) and will include a visit to the field days for early registrants who arrive on the Thursday. Topics will be broad ranging in the Ag Eng fields and will include a debate on the need or otherwise for Australia to maintain training and jobs for Agricultural Engineers. The topics discussed will include:
Power and Machinery, Soil and Water, Food and Process Engineering, Structures and Environment, Organic waste management, Information and Electrical Technologies, Agricultural Engineering Heritage, Forestry Engineering, and Education and Training.
For further information, consult the conference web page at http://www.csu.edu.au/special/ageng2002 or contact the Conference Secretariat, 2002 Conference on Engineering in Agriculture, CSU, Locked Bag 699, Wagga Wagga NSW 2678 AUSTRALIA. Tel: 61 2 6933 4975; Fax: 61 2 6933 4977; E-mail: mwin@csu.edu.au.
AMMA 2002 - National Conference with International Participation on "Automobile, Environment, and Agricultural Machinery"
This conference will be held on 10 and 11 October, 2002, in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Organised by the Technical University of Cuj-Napoca, and under the patronage of CIGR, SIAR, FISITA, and SIMAR, it will deal with "The Automobile and the Environment." The official languages of the Conference are Romanian, English, German, French. The papers written in English will be published on the FISITA website. Further information is available from the Conference Secretariat: Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Mechanics, Department of Automobiles and Agricultural Machinery, 103-105 Muncii Street, 3400 Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Tel: +40 64 415 486/051/ 134/136/177, Fax: +40 64 415 490; E-mail: amma2002@clujnapoca.ro
8th International Congress on "Mechanization and Energy in Agriculture" in Kusadasi
The congress will be held on 15-17 October, 2002 in Kusadasi, Turkey. It is organized by the Department of Agricultural Machinery of the Faculty of Agriculture of Ege University in Izmir, Turkey. The congress co-sponsors are CIGR, the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), the Turkish Association of Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Manufacturers (TARMAKBIR). Topics include:
- Recent Developments in Agricultural Machinery
- Future Oriented Aspects of Tractors & System Vehicles
- Advances in Instrumentation and Controls
- Post Harvest Technologies
- New Energy Technology for Agricultural Mechanization
- Planning & Management in Agricultural Mechanization
Turkish and English will be the conference languages. For further information consult the internet at http://www.ageng.ege.edu.tr and contact: Prof. Dr. Ediz ULUSOY, The Congress Secretariat, Ege University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Machinery, 35100 Bornova-Izmir, TURKEY. Tel/Fax: +90-232 3427642, e-mail: ageng@ageng.ege.edu.tr
International Conference on Crop Harvesting and Processing in Louisville
This conference, subtitled "A Global Symposium on Engineering Aspects of Harvesting, Handling, and Processing of Grains, Hay, Forage, Biomass, and Other Crops," will be held in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, from 10 to 12 February, 2003. It is organised by ASAE and co-sponsored by CIGR, among others.
The commodities under consideration range from grain crops to timber to forage, biomass and fuel crops, to industrial fibers and biochemicals, to fruits and vegetables. Presentations are invited in the following areas relating to the harvesting of crops:
- Crop Harvesting (Common Concerns)
- Crop Properties
- Crop and Commodity Quality Issues
- Harvester Design, Development and Testing
- Densification of Biomaterials
- Product Storage at Central Processing Facilities
- Safety and Industry Standards
- Crop Processing, Biorefineries
- Biomass and Biochemicals to the Farm Gate
- Improved Labor Productivity
- Marketing and Servicing Harvesting Equipment
- Automation and the Man-Machine Interface
- Turning Harvest Problems into Opportunities
- Evolution of New Products in Crop Harvesting,
- Handling and Processing
- Software Support and Information Technologies Relevant to Crop Harvesting
Deadlines:
Abstracts 30 August, 2002
Notification of acceptance 30 September, 2002
Pre-registration deadline 25 January, 2003
Full camera-ready manuscripts due 15 March, 2003
Abstracts should emphasize objectives and results and are not to exceed 500 words. Proceedings are planned to be published by ASAE. Included in the full meeting conference registration is the cost of a copy of the proceedings.
Further information is available from: Dr Graeme R Quick, Conference Coordinator, Iowa State University, Agr & Biosystems Eng Dept 200 Davidson Hall, Ames, IA50011-3080 Phone 515.294.1320 Fax: 515.294.6633 Email: grquick@iastate.edu; or from: Brenda West, Director, ASAE Meetings & Conferences 2950 Niles Road, St. Joseph, MI 4908, Phone: 616-428-6327 Fax: 616-429-3852, Email: west@asae.org. Internet: http://www.asae.org/meetings/harvest03/index.html
6th International Conference on "Construction, Technology and Environment in Livestock Farming" in Vechta
Organised by the The Society of German Engineers (VDI-MEG), the Committee for Technology and Structures in Agriculture (KTBL) and the Georg-August-University of Goettingen, this conference will take place from 25 - 27 March 2003 in Vechta, Germany. In the research of various agricultural disciplines dealing with animal production and housing, a holistic approach merging specialized knowledge is gaining in importance, in particular with respect to animal welfare and environment. At the conference, the latest scientific results on technical and environmental developments in livestock farming and biosystems will be presented. The plenary sessions are hoped to attract international experts on animal welfare, animal production systems, and process technology who will introduce their subjects. There will be three parallel sessions of about 10 oral presentations each, a poster session, and video sessions.
Manifacturers, scientists, and experts in agricultural engineering are invited to give oral, poster or video presentations dealing with innovative developments or solutions in the following subject areas:
- Innovative housing systems related to animal welfare, on farm assessment
- Tools for precision livestock farming
- Emissions, factors, reduction, modelling
- Treatment of animal wastes, bioconversion
- Feeding technology for pigs and poultry
- Management and Labour
- Sustainable animal production systems
- Quality assurance and safety
The proceedings, printing the articles in English or in German with an English abstract, will be available at the congress. The congress languages will be German and English. The final programme will be available in November 2002. The conference fee will be ca. 400 Euro.
Deadlines:
Abstracts (400 words) 10 August 2002
Full pspers 30 November 2002
Notification of acceptance October 2002
Further information and registration material is available on the internet at http://www.int-conf-Vechta2003.uni-goettingen.de or http://www.gwdg.de/~fosvwe , or from: Prof. Dr. Ir. Herman Van den Weghe; Research Centre for Animal Production and Technology; Georg-August-University Goettingen; Universitätsstr. 7; D-49377 Vechta, GERMANY. Tel.: +49-4441-15 436 or 435 or Fax: +49-4441-15 448; Email: herman.vandenweghe@agr.uni-goettingen.de
4th European Conference on Precision Agriculture & 1st European Conference on Precision Livestock Farming
These two parallel Conferences will be held from 15 to 19 June 2003 in Berlin, Germany. The combination of the 4th ECPA and the 1st ECPLF will allow a comprehensive analysis of the state of precision agriculture in both fieldcrop and animal production. It will also, for the first time, give the chance of drawing up perspectives for a coordinated development and for creating visions for an integration of plant production and animal husbandry on the farm of the future, in terms of sustainable and "transparent" production.
Organizers of the Conferences are the Institute of Agricultural Engineering (ATB), Potsdam-Bornim/Germany, and the Centre for Agricultural Landscape and Land Use Research (ZALF), Müncheberg/Germany. Co-organizers are professional societies and institutions of agricultural engineering, such as VDI-MEG, EurAgEng and CIGR, and of Agronomy, Crop- and Soil Sciences and Animal Sciences, such as DLG, DGFZ, EAAP
The Conferences, held in English, will deal with the following topics:
4th ECPA, focused on precision agriculture:
- Systems research and modelling
- Methods and tools for analysing spatial variability
- Crop management strategies
- Decision support tools
- Sensors and their application for decision support
- Yield formation, nutrient dynamics and energy flow
- Long term effects on site and environment
- Information management on field and farm level
- Impact on economics and management of crop production
- Statistics, data analysis and research design
- Teaching, extension and training
- Social aspects and impact on national economy
1st ECPLF, focused on precision livestock farming:
- Systems research and modelling
- Decision support tools for process and product quality; chain management
- Effects on animal welfare and environment
- Telemetric measurement and monitoring of animal welfare parameters
- Sensors and their application for air quality and pollution control
- Sensors and their application for decision support in milking processes
- Sensors and their application for measurement and control of feed production processes
- Sensors and their application for decision support in animal feeding, health management and reproduction
- New technologies for individual identification of farm animals
- Documentation for quality assurance and safety
Excursions and sightseeing tours will familiarise participants with the Region of Brandenburg, the state surrounding the German capital Berlin. Brandenburg is known for its rich cultural heritage including the famous parks and palaces of Potsdam, and for the quiet landscape with numerous lakes along the rivers Spree and Havel. Equally, Brandenburg stands for professional largescale farming, typical for the whole North-Eastern part of Germany. Contributions accepted for oral or poster presentation will be published as full papers in the proceedings of the conferences.
Deadlines:
Abstracts of oral presentation: 16 August 2002
Notification of acceptance: 30 November 2002
Abstracts of poster presentations: 17 February 2003
Please use the form at http//www.ecpa-berlin.org/abstract to make your submission.
For further information please contact: Conference office 4th ECPA and 1st ECPLF, Dipl.-Ing. agr. Andreas Jarfe, Centre for Agricultural Landscape and Land Use Research (ZALF), Department of Land Use Systems and Landscape Ecology, Eberswalder Strasse 84, D-15374 Muencheberg, Germany. Tel: ++ 49 (0) 33432 / 82-257; Fax:++ 49 (0) 33432 / 82-389; E-Mail: ajarfe@zalf.de . URL: http://www.ecpa-berlin.org
4th EFITA Conference 2003
This conference of the European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture, Food, and the Environment (EFITA) will be held in Debrecen and Budapest, Hungary, from 5 - 9 July 2003. It will deal with the following topics:
- Expert and Decision Support Systems
- Internet/Networking Applications, E-services
- E-commerce/E-business
- Information Systems
- IT Economics
- Production Chain Support
- GIS/RS applications
- Extension support systems
- Strategies/Policy
- Farm management
- Education/Training
- Sustainable Agriculture and IT
- Precision Agriculture
- Quality Management and Food Safety Control
The conference consists of EFITA Workshops (July 5) on the one hand and, on the other hand, a combination of the following two elements (July 7-9):
The "mainstream conference" gives room for a broad spectrum of themes related to the design development and use of IT systems in and for the agri-food sector. It will include plenary sessions, parallel working group sessions, poster sessions, and computer demonstrations.
The "conference symposia" are small conferences within the EFITA conference. They address specific interest groups and focus on applications of information and communication systems in specific areas. They will be organised according to up-to-date matters of interest.
Deadlines:
Abstracts October 15, 2002
Full papers January 30, 2003
Early registration April 30, 2003
Late poster abstract registration May 15, 2003
The conference language will be English. Papers and posters are requested for all listed subject areas and related fields. Participants wishing to make refereed or oral presentations are requested to send abstracts of 300 to 600 words. Please use the form supplied on the Conference Web site.
Early registrations are welcome to be sent electronically through the conference web site or by e-mail. The conference fee (Euro 380 before / 450 after 30 April 2003 for EFITA members; Euro 190 / 220 for students) includes workshop costs, conference materials, welcome reception, lunches, dinners, coffee, tea and scheduled excursions during the conference.
Further information is availabe from the conference secretariat: E-mail: efita2003@date.hu; URL: http://www.date.hu/efita2003/.

