CIGR Newsletter No 63
CIGR NEWS
News from the President
According to the structure of the relations between CIGR and its members (cf. Newsletter no. 61), I would first like to mention some improvements in CIGR Services and then come to Events.
CIGR SERVICES
The CIGR-FAO Global Network is organized in seven sections that reflect the CIGR Technical Sections. It offers the opportunity for every subscriber (free of charge, of course) to share their ideas with all the other subscribers in the same section, to ask questions, to discuss new results, to announce meetings, etc. In particular, the network is very well suited for communication within the CIGR Sections. The actual traffic on the network varies from section to section – so far, Section I (Land and Water Engineering) has made the most intensive use of these facilities.
In order to intensify the use of the network, the CIGR Presidium and FAO responded very positively to an initiative of EurAgEng and signed a contract giving this regional member society the status of a co-sponsor of the network. This agreement was signed during my stay in Rome, where I was invited to attend the EurAgEng Executive Meeting on April 11/12, 2003. The contractors hope that this is the opening phase of a more intensive use of the network. Of course, other member societies are invited to co-sponsorship, too. For details, please see the text of the agreement below (p. 3f).
The CIGR Website (www.cigr.org) is the entry to many of the CIGR services and a link to a lot of useful information. The website was created and installed by Professor Da-Wen Sun, University of Dublin, Ireland. CIGR owes it to him that we presently have such a well-visited website. However, the site needs regular maintenance and – from time to time – a larger update. We have agreed that the General Secretariat performs the day-to-day work, whereas Da-Wen is responsible for the bigger changes. I think this is an adequate distribution of the workload that gives us the warranty for a quality website with up-to-date information.
In this regard, the work of the former "Webmaster Working Group" of CIGR, which escorted the start of the website and was a big support during its first steps, was finished. Thank you for your support, Fred Bakker Arkema, Bent Bennedsen, Bikash Kumar Pathak, and Geir Tutturen!
The CIGR E-Journal has been publishing for over 4 years. During this time 67 peer reviewed original research papers and 39 invited overviews (reviewed only by Professor Bill Stout) have been published. This is a great success, which is due to the enormous work of Bill as coordinator and Chief Editor Dr. Rosana Moreira. Besides the two above-mentioned categories, a third category has been proposed recently: peer reviewed software papers. These papers should deal with application software programs designed to give practical solutions to real world problems. Please read the text provided by Bill Stout (see below, p. 3).
By the way: recently published articles are now regularly listed in the CIGR Newsletter under "Publications".
The CIGR Handbook of Agricultural Engineering is still selling well, as far as the already published volumes I to V are concerned. Volume VI "Information Technology" is in preparation yet; many contributions have been submitted so far, but some are still missing so that the publication is being delayed – a fact that I regret very much.
CIGR CURRENT EVENTS
I had the chance to participate in the CIGR Section II Board meeting in the Research Centre Bygholm, Horsens, Denmark, on June 1, 2003. Many board members were present, some coming from Australia or the USA. Proposals for forthcoming events were discussed in detail, and decisions were formulated. That Section II is one of the very active Technical Sections of CIGR was also demonstrated during the following two days, when the CIGR conference “Gaseous and Odour Emissions from Animal Production Facilities” was held. Today, it cannot usually be taken for granted that all (40) oral presenters actually show up – at this conference they did. In conjunction with 22 posters presented, this led to a very intensive working and discussion atmosphere. Thanks to Søren Pedersen, his organizing team and the scientific committee! Read the report below (p.4).
CIGR FUTURE EVENTS
2004: CIGR International Conference, Beijing, Oct. 11-14
Preparations for this event are on their way, and the call for papers will be distributed this summer. The conference profile includes:
· Modern agricultural equipment and facilities (plant and animal production)
· Soil, water and environment
· Post harvest technology and biomass engineering
· Information technology for agriculture
Let us all hope that the SARS epidemic will be under control soon – a wish for humankind and, in particular, for our Chinese colleagues and their families.
2006: CIGR World Congress, Bonn, Sept. 3-7
The preparations for this big event are already in the starting phase. It will comprise the CIGR Congress, the EurAgEng AgEng Conference, and the VDI International Conference on Agricultural Engineering. During my stay in Rome, I had a meeting with L. Clarke, Th. Friedrich and G.C. Mrema of FAO. We agreed that the world-wide character of our Congress could profit from co-sponsorship of FAO, and from inclusion of a workshop on Future Development, organized by FAO.
Other CIGR-Sponsored Events
Due to active work in the CIGR Technical Sections, a lot of conferences and workshops are scheduled for the near future. Section I organizes three conferences in 2003, Sections II, III and V one each. Further events are scheduled for 2004. For details, see below. I thank the respective Section Boards and their Chairs for their contribution to the international Agricultural Engineering Science Community, and I would like to encourage all other Sections to consider organizing events, too. It is in the Sections where the scientific output of CIGR is produced.
Axel Munack
CIGR President 2003-2004
CIGR E-Journal / Agricultural Engineering International:
The CIGR Journal of Scientific Research and Development
Fourth Year Completed
Under the aegis of Editor-in-Chief Dr. Rosana Moreira, the CIGR electronic journal has completed its fourth year of publication. It has grown from a modest beginning and is now attracting many quality manuscripts. Here is a summary of the number of papers published to date:
Technical papers in Volumes I to IV (total-76):
I-7, II-10, III-23, IV-25, V-(2003 through May)-11
Invited overview papers Volumes I to IV (total-40):
I-2, II-4, III-8, IV-20, V-(2003 through May)-6
The published papers come from a broad international base:
Technical papers: Australia-2, Belgium-2, Brazil-1, Cameroon-1, China-1, Czech Republic-2, Denmark-1, Estonia-1, Germany-5, Greece-4, Ireland-1, Israel-2, Italy-2, Japan-17, Lithuania-2, Netherlands-1, Nigeria-1, Poland-6, Portugal-2, Spain-5, Turkey-1, USA-5.
Invited overview papers (Including Club of Bologna keynote presentations): Australia-1, Brazil-3, Canada-1, FAO-3, France-1, Germany-3, Greece-1, India-1, Italy-4, Japan-1, Netherlands-2, Nigeria-1, Oman-1, Palestine-1, Poland-1, Russia-1, USA-10, Zimbabwe-1.
Check it out by accessing the website at http://cigr-ejournal.tamu.edu/ under "published papers". I invite all readers to submit manuscripts for peer review and publication. There is no cost to publish or to access and print papers. The website has all the details regarding manuscript format, submission instructions, etc. If you have any questions, please send me an email at stout@tamu.edu. Send manuscripts for peer review to the same address.
Proposed New Category—Software Papers: Guidelines for Review
We propose to add a third category to the Ejournal: peer reviewed software papers.
These papers would not necessarily describe original research, but would deal with application software programs designed to give practical solutions to real world problems. All papers and the accompanying software documentation must be written in English. The papers would describe the purpose of the software, its features and limits, scope of application, and would give some examples (with results) that can be used to check whether the downloaded software performs well on computers in other parts of the world. The reviewer should read the paper, run the software with the examples provided by the authors and answer the following questions:
1. Does the paper adequately provide the above information? Is it clear what the software program will do and its limitations? Are adequate guidelines given for interpretation of the output? Is the English clear and understandable?
2. In your judgment is the program technically correct and scientifically sound?
3. Does this program fulfill an important need? Regional? Global? How unique and original is it?
4. Is it user friendly? Did the examples provided by the authors run on your computer with no problems?(Ideally it would be good if the reviewer could provide his own examples, but this is considered too big a burden for most reviewers)
5. Is the audience for the software adequately defined?
6. To what extent has it been validated from published literature and/or field tests?
7. How is it distributed? By CD-ROM? By website? What is the cost?
8. General comments:
9. Recommendations for the descriptive paper:
-Publish as is with no revisions.
-Publish with minor revisions.
-Publish with major revisions.
-Reject. Give reasons.
Disclaimer
The responsibility for this software program rests solely with the authors. CIGR bears no responsibility for the accuracy of the program or its applicability to any given situation.
Comments on these Guidelines and paper submissions are welcome. Send to stout@tamu.edu
Dr. B.A. Stout, Coordinator
The CIGR-FAO Global Network on Agricultural Engineering
- cosponsored by EurAgEng
The CIGR-FAO Global Network on Agricultural Engineering has become operational in January 1999. This global network is jointly operated by the International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR), the Agricultural and Food Engineering Technologies Service of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO-AGST) as global players and the European Society of Agricultural Engineers (EurAgEng) as first regional society which has joined the network. The network consists of seven e-mail discussion groups corresponding to the seven sections of CIGR.
The global network has a controlled subscription, the listowner is AGST of FAO. Each single list in the network is moderated by the chairperson of the respective section or a moderator appointed by him/her. This shall guarantee the quality of the lists and stimulate the professional discussions. At the same time the groups are used as communication tool for the respective fields of interest and special interest groups of EurAgEng in collaboration and co-ordination with the CIGR section heads.
The 7 e-mail discussion groups of the CIGR-FAO Global Network are:
CIGR-FAO-LanWat-L
covers the technical area of the CIGR Section I, LAND AND WATER ENGINEERING, which is in particular Agricultural Engineering as applied to soil and water management such as: soil protection, improvement and conservation, drainage and irrigation systems; to land improvement and land reclamation, to rural planning and management and to rural roads and infrastructure.
CIGR-FAO-Build-L
covers the technical area of the CIGR Section II, FARM BUILDINGS, EQUIPMENT, STRUCTURES AND ENVIRONMENT, which is in particular optimisation and design of animal, crop and horticultural buildings and related equipment, climate control and environmental protection, farm planning, waste management.
CIGR-FAO-EquipPlant-L
covers the technical area of the ClGR Section III, EQUIPMENT ENGINEERING FOR PLANT PRODUCTION, which tries to develop exchanges in the field of know-how, technical study, scientific research and practical experiences between designers of machinery (researchers in private and public sector, technical boards), manufacturers, advisers, teachers and trainers at different levels, and final users of these machines (farmers, contractors, ...).
CIGR-FAO-Energy-L
covers the technical area of the CIGR Section IV, RURAL ELECTRICITY AND OTHER ENERGY SOURCES, which is in particular rural electrification and other renewable energies in developing countries strategy, profiles and techniques; renewable energies especially from organic wastes and residues - exploitation and environmental impact; measuring, control and automation in agricultural electrical applications. The topics try to cover the fields of interest of industrial countries as well as developing countries.
CIGR-FAO-SystMngm-L
covers the technical area of the CIGR Section V, MANAGEMENT, ERGONOMICS AND SYSTEMS ENGINEERING. Particularly, the list is an open discussion forum for all experts interested in system engineering, work science, management and ergonomics.
CIGR-FAO-ProcQual-L
covers the technical area of the CIGR Section VI, PROCESSING, which is in particular physical properties of raw (food and non-food) materials, quality of final products, processing technologies, processing management and engineering.
CIGR-FAO-InfoSyst-L
covers the technical area of the CIGR Section VII, INFORMATION SYSTEMS, which is in particular to advance the use of Information Systems for improving the production cost, processing and quality of agricultural products. This will be done in co-ordination with other Sections of CIGR and Information Technology associations throughout the world.
For subscription to the CIGR-FAO Global Network following procedure is suggested:
Please select from the 7 technical lists those of your interest and subscribe to these lists. To subscribe to a list, send a message to mailserv@mailserv.fao.org leaving the subject blank and entering the one-line message:
SUBSCRIBE CIGR-FAO-...-L
Multiple subscriptions are possible in one message, using one separate line for each group.
News from Sections and Working Groups
Report on International Symposium
“Gaseous and Odour Emissions From Animal Production Facilities”
During the days of 1-4 June, 2003 an international symposium on “Gaseous and Odour Emissions from Animal Production Facilities” was held in Denmark. In some ways, the symposium was a continuation of the symposium on “Ammonia and Odour Control from Animal Production Facilities” held in 1997 in Vinkeloord, The Netherlands. To give all 96 participants (from 17 countries) the opportunity to attend the presentations on both gases and odours, the symposium was carried out in one track. A total of 40 oral papers and 22 posters were presented during two days. All poster presenters were allowed five minutes for presentation in plenum, which functioned well. Details about the symposium content will not be given here, but it was clear that some standardization on units expressing gas and odour emission is welcome.
At the symposium dinner, CIGR President Axel Munack, Germany, gave an informative and thorough presentation of what CIGR (est. 1930) stands for. He also encouraged the presenters to publish their papers in the CIGR E-journal.
After the two symposium days, there was a one-day excursion. In the morning, two thirds of the participants visited Research Centre Bygholm, which is a part of the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences and located next to the symposium site. In the afternoon, a slightly reduced number of participants visited Research Centre Foulum in close competition with a visit to Tivoli in Copenhagen, from where many had to catch their plane. The 62 papers presented are published in a book of proceedings (549 pages) which can be ordered from Research Centre Bygholm for 60 Euro, at the email address mariannepontoppidan.thygesen@agrsci.dk
It is planned to make at least two international papers from the symposium: one that will be based on the papers on gases and another one on the papers on odours. The next CIGR Section II symposium on “New Trends in Farm Buildings” will be in held in Portugal from 2-6 June 2004.
Søren Pedersen
Chair CIGR Section II
NEWS FROM Regional and National Societies
Conference Report “Land Reclamation and Water Resources Development”
This international conference, which was held in Mantua, Italy, from 27 to 29 May, 2003, attracted more than 200 participants. It was organized by the Lombardia Region and the Italian Association of Irrigation and Land Reclamation Agencies (ANBI), with the patronage and scientific support of CIGR, ICID, WWC and EurAgEng.
The world’s population is expected to grow from 6 billion today to at least 8 billion by the year 2025. It is therefore clear that expanding agricultural production in a sustainable manner will be crucial in responding to these challenges. In this context, drainage and land reclamation of agricultural lands are essential for an efficient use and management of land and water.
Proper control of groundwater table, alleviation of waterlogging, reduction of soil salinity, flood management and control and environmental protection are some of the benefits achieved by drainage and land reclamation of both irrigated and rainfed lands.
In the past, drainage systems and land reclamation works were designed for a long life, on the assumption that climatic conditions would not change in the future. This will not be so in the years to come, due to global warming and the greenhouse effect. Therefore, planners and designers need to systematically re-examine planning principles, design criteria, operating rules and management policies for new infrastructures.
These themes were dealt with in Mantua in an Open Session, two Topic Sessions and a Closing Round Table discussion. The Conference focused on the following subjects:
· Water resource management for agricultural purposes;
· Planning and design of drainage and land reclamation systems;
· Financial and institutional aspects of drainage and land reclamation frameworks;
· Capacity building in drainage and land reclamation.
In the Opening Session, the Chief of the Organizing Committee, G. Negri, highlighted the scope, the goals and the aims of the conference; B. Schultz, D. Zimmer and D. De Wrachien brought the greetings, respectively, of ICID, WWC, CIGR and EurAgEng. Six keynote lectures followed, delivered by B. Schultz (Hon President ICID), D. De Wrachien (President EurAgEng), D. Zimmer (Executive Director WWC), C. Fasso (Hon Vice President ICID), M. Martuccelli (Director ANBI) and M. Bruschini (Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management of the Po Valley).
In the Topic Sessions, starting with invited review reports delivered by L. Natale and M. Tamponi, 40 papers were presented, 25 in oral presentation and 15 as posters. The Closing Round Table of the conference agreed on the following statements:
• Drainage and land reclamation are crucial measures for achieving sustainable development of both irrigated and rainfed agriculture throughout the world.
• In irrigated agriculture, drainage and land reclamation are essential to combat waterlogging, salinity and flooding. Groundwater monitoring, water balance studies and investigations, and conjunctive use of surface and groundwater should be encouraged. Pilot projects in waterlogged and salinized areas need to be set up in order to verify and test available technologies and provide training for personnel.
• In rainfed agriculture, drainage and land reclamation are required to increase and sustain agricultural production by preventing temporary waterlogging and flooding of lowlands. It is estimated that about one-third of the world’s rainfed cropland would benefit from investments in improved drainage.
• It is estimated that by 2025 drainage development will increase the world’s food production by some 1.0%. This, compared to a projected 50% increase due to irrigation development, means that drainage will no longer play the important role in the food production process that it played in the past. The infrastructure, however, remains crucial to maintaining present food production levels as without drainage, yields from much of the most productive rainfed land would fall drastically, while an estimated third of irrigated land in the arid zone is predicted to turn into waterlogged/salinized wasteland.
• Most of the world’s drainage and land reclamation facilities were developed on a step-by-step basis over the centuries and were designed for a long life (50 years or more), on the assumption that climatic conditions would not change in the future. This will not be so in the years to come, due to global warming and the greenhouse effect. Therefore, engineers and decision-makers need to systematically review planning principles and design criteria, operating rules, contingency plans and water management policies.
• Uncertainties as to how the climate will change and how drainage systems and land reclamation work will have to adapt to these changes are issues that water authorities are compelled to cope with. The challenge is to identify short-term strategies to face long-term uncertainties. The question is not what is the best course for a project over the next 50 years or more, but rather, what is the best direction for the next few years, knowing that a prudent hedging strategy will allow time to learn and change course.
• The planning and design process needs to be sufficiently flexible to incorporate consideration of and responses to many possible climate impacts. The main factors that will influence the worth of incorporating climate change into the process are the level of planning, the reliability of the forecasting models, the hydrological conditions and the time horizon of the plan or the life of the project.
• The development of a comprehensive approach that integrates all these factors into drainage and land reclamation project selection, requires further research of the processes governing climate changes, the impacts of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide on vegetation and runoff, the effect of climate variables on water demand for irrigation and the impacts of climate on infrastructure performance.
The International Conference concluded with a field trip to the irrigation and drainage systems, land reclamation works and flood protection projects in the province of Mantua
Prof. Daniele De Wrachien
Chairman of the Scientific Committee
President of EurAgEng
R&D on Conjunctive Use of Surface and Groundwater: A Joint ICID – EurAgEng Global Investigation
Water resource management should preserve or enhance the buffering capacity of the environment to withstand unexpected stress or negative long-term trends. Environmental vulnerability increases along with the pressure which the growing needs of the population and an improper use of resources exert on the carrying capacity of the environment. Giving proper regard to this unsustainable trend, the Second World Water Forum acknowledged the pivotal role of conjunctive use in the process of sustainable development.
The term “conjunctive use” embraces the planning and management of both surface and subsurface water resources, and of land. It takes into account social, economic, and environmental factors and considers the ecosystems through which surface and ground water flow. Moreover, it recognizes the importance of water quality issues.
The effective conjunctive use of surface and subsurface water resources depends on cooperation at all levels, from individual to governmental and non-governmental, national and international organizations that have a common political, scientific and ethical commitment to water security and to an optimization of water resource planning and management. To this end, research must be directed towards gaining a better understanding of the hydrodynamic and hydrochemical processes involved and towards enhancing water productivity. This process requires a large variety of tools ranging from field techniques to advanced technology for water control and regulation. All these tools have to be considered in a broad and integrated approach which addresses the use, planning, conservation and protection of both surface and subsurface water resources and which takes proper account of the environmental impacts and socio-economic effects of development.
In 1999, during the 17th Congress on Irrigation and Drainage held in Granada, ICID and EurAgEng committed themselves to working together in an endeavour to select priority issues for tackling the root causes of the major problems encountered in this field of knowledge. The mission was to enhance the standards of research at a world-wide level, to examine planning, design, construction and management as the main aspects and problems of the conjunctive use of surface and subsurface water resources, and to analyze its environmental impacts as well as the constraints to sustainable development. The importance and role of research thrust, technology transfer, institutional strengthening, effective partnerships between governments and stakeholders, and sound financial frameworks have been investigated. Finally, the challenges and benchmarks for future actions which the scientific community and planners have to face and deal with have also been analyzed.
The main findings and results of this cooperation were recently published by the Authors in the ICID Journal Irrigation and Drainage (vol 51:1, 2002, pp 1-15). They are available online in Wiley Interscience (http://www.interscience.wiley.com)
Daniele De Wrachien, President of EurAgEng
Costantino A. Fasso, Honorary Vice President of ICID
