CIGR Newsletter No 33
NEWS OF THE SECTIONS, WORKING GROUPS AND MEMBERS
CIGR in China - A great inspiration
Report of a visit by Secretary-General J Daelemans
Prof J Daelemans, Secretary-General of CIGR, was invited as guest speaker at the '95 International Symposium on Non-Pollution Vegetable and Green Food Engineering, which was held in Beijing on 14-17 November 1995. This event was organized by the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering, CSAE and the China Green Food Development Center. This proved an ideal opportunity to meet CSAE Staff and to learn more about the objectives and history of CSAE.
The Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering is an academic organization of agricultural engineering professionals. It is affiliated with the China Association for Science and Technology. CSAE has its headquarters at Nong Zhan Guan Nan Lu, 100026 Beijing, China.
The objectives of the Society are:
*to unite agricultural engineering professionals;
*to promote the prosperity of agricultural engineering science and technology in China;
*to offer professional training to young Chinese agricultural engineers;
*to accelerate the modernization of agriculture in China and
*to contribute to the development of friendly relations with foreign and international organizations related to agricultural engineering.
The Society was first organized in Stockton, California, USA in 1948 by nineteen people who had just finished their graduate studies in agricultural engineering at various American universities. It was formally established in Zhejiang Province in 1979. In 1989, it merged with the Chinese Society of Agricultural Machinery and became member of CIGR in the same year.
CSAE sponsors and organizes the following activities:
- Annual meetings;
- Academic symposia on specific or comprehensive topics in agricultural engineering;
- Various kinds of training courses in agricultural engineering;
- Technical consultation and services;
- Exhibition of new products, new technology and other achievements related to agricultural engineering;
- Meetings between scientists and entrepreneurs, meetings for technical and economic cooperation;
- Publication of different periodicals, popular pamphlets, posters, slides and videos;
- Supporting and developing related associations with
foreign and international agricultural engineering societies and maintaining liaison among them.
The Society has appointed working and professional committees as listed below to conduct specific activities:
Working Committees
Academic activity exchange
International exchange
Popularization of Agricultural Engineering Science and Technology
Consultative Center of Agricultural Engineering
Professional Committees
Education
Agricultural Building and Environmental Engineering
Rural Energy Engineering
Land Utilization Engineering
Agricultural Products Processing and Storage Engineering
Horticultural Installation Engineering
Agricultural Systems Engineering
Application of Electronic Technology and Computer Science to Agriculture
Animal Husbandry Engineering
Application of Remote Sensing Technology to Agriculture
Agricultural Mechanization and Electrification
Development Strategy of Reclamation Economy
Information Network of Agricultural Engineering
Agricultural Engineering Economy and Management
Agricultural Mechanization Education to Adults
Agricultural Engineering in Mountain Areas
Editorial Board for the 'Transactions of Agricultural Engineering'
At present, 24 provinces and autonomous regions have set up local branches of CSAE.
The Society has approximately 7,000 individual members all over the country. Group, corresponding (foreign), honorary and student memberships are also available.
CSAE publishes the 'Transactions of Agricultural Engineering', first published in 1985 and now circulated both in China and abroad. 'Applied Engineering Technology in Rural Areas' is a monthly magazine designed for agricultural engineering technicians and research groups on techniques used by farmers. The 'Journal of Agricultural Engineering' is published and distributed by the Society to strengthen relations among branches, specialized committees and members. CSAE also produces collections of agricultural engineering forum papers and popular scientific pamphlets about agricultural engineering.
In the future CSAE will strengthen the contacts and exchanges with foreign institutes, enterprises and experts and would like to contribute to the development of the technical and economic cooperation in the field of agricultural engineering.
New Associations of Agricultural Engineering in Africa
Associations of Agricultural Engineering have been founded in Cameroon and the Central African Republic while the Ghana Society of Agricultural Engineering has recently been revitalized.
CIGR congratulates these associations and wishes them a successful future.
The next National Conference of the Ghana Society of Agricultural Engineering is scheduled for 22-26 September 1996 at the University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
Mechanization of field plot experiments: A novel application in our profession
Egil Øyjord, President of IAMFE, reports on IAMFE
The International Association on Mechanization of Field Experiments (IAMFE) was established at the world's first international conference, exhibition and demonstration of scientific equipment for field experiments, arranged at the Norwegian Institute of Agricultural Engineering at Aas in 1964.
The objectives of the organization are to inform agronomists and plant breeders about new machinery, equipment and instruments and to increase the capacity and the accuracy of experimental work. International cooperation is very efficient and a reasonable way for promoting development and production of scientific equipment for field experiments.
IAMFE has branches in France (AFMEX) as well as in P.R. China, India and the Baltic countries.
In cooperation with ministries of agriculture, national and international organizations, universities and institutes, IAMFE has organized international conferences and exhibitions on mechanization of field experiments in the following countries: Norway (64), West Germany (68), Czechoslovakia (72), USA (76), The Netherlands (80), Ireland (84), Hungary (88), Germany (92) and P.R. China (94).
IAMFE has cooperated in the arrangements of Regional IAMFE conferences and exhibitions in Sweden (77), India (85), Syria (87) and Lithuania (95).
The intention of the IAMFE conferences, exhibitions and demonstrations is to give the interested scientists a survey of new field and laboratory machinery, equipment and instruments for field experiments. The scientists need new ideas and study machines and equipment from the various manufacturers, and the manufacturers need to meet the scientists from different countries to develop ideas for new equipment and to learn about the experiences made with their own machinery and equipment and with those of the competitors.
Since 1972 the papers at the IAMFE Conferences have been published in the 'Proceedings' which are available for anyone interested.
Upon a kind invitation from the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), the INRA Centre in Versailles, in cooperation with AFMEX (the French branch of IAMFE) IAMFE will organize IAMFE/FRANCE '96 from July 8-12, 1996. The main topic for IAMFE / FRANCE '96 will be accuracy of observations of field plot data with various equipment in various crops.
CIGR - A center for cooperation - Strong connections formed with ICID
During the meeting of the Board of CIGR Section I on the occasion of the congress in Milano, it was agreed that a cooperation between CIGR Section I 'Soil and Water Use' and the ICID Working Group on 'Sustainable Crops and Water Use' would be advantageous for both parties. This decision was made because the activities of this ICID Working Group were close to the objectives identified by CIGR Section I. This cooperation can now be facilitated because the Chairman of the ICID Working Group, Prof Dr Luis S Pereira became member of the Board of Section I of CIGR after the Milano Congress. It was then decided that the 1995 Board Meeting of Section I would take place in Rome on the occasion of the 46th International Executive Council (IEC) of ICID in September 1995. The Board also decided to spread information about the realization of the Workshop on 'Irrigation Scheduling: From Theory to Practice' to be held in Rome on the same occasion.
A similar decision was taken by the EurAgEng Interest Group on Soil and Water.
The meetings of the Board of Section I of CIGR and of the EurAgEng Interest Group were therefore included in the programme of activities of the 46th IEC meeting of ICID and had the audience of several participants of the ICID activities.
To assure continuity in the desired collaboration, the Chairman of CIGR Section I, Prof H van Lier and the Chairman of the EurAgEng Special Interest Group on Soil and Water have been nominated permanent observers of the ICID Working Group on Sustainable Crops and Water Use. In reciprocity, the Chairman of this last Working Group has been nominated permanent observer of the Board of Section I of CIGR. It was also decided that CIGR Section I shall co-sponsor an ICID Workshop on 'Sustainable Irrigation in Water Scarcity Regions' to be held at Oxford in September 1997 on the occasion of the 48th IEC meeting of ICID, and that the above-mentioned ICID Working Group shall co-sponsor a CIGR Workshop to be held in Spain (programme and date to be better defined).
CIGR was represented in the IEC Assembly by Prof Luis S Pereira who could underline the collaboration now started. Both the President of ICID, Mr Shahrizaila Abdullah, and the President of the Technical Activities Committee, Dr M Abu Zeid confirmed their willingness to support any reinforcement in the cooperation between ICID and CIGR.
(communicated by Prof Luis S Pereira)
Minutes of the Board Meeting of Section I 'Land and Water Use' of CIGR
The Board of Section I 'Land and Water Use' met in Roma on September 14, 1995.
Present were: Prof van Lier (President), Prof Greppi (Secretary), Prof de Santa Olalla, Prof Pereira, Dr Peltomaa, Prof De Wrachien (permanent observer), Prof Hargreaves & Prof Hara (hearers).
Absent were: Miyazaki, Amir, Amsler, Debbahr, Monteil, Mulik.
1. The Chairman opens the discussion on the report of the Milano meeting. No remarks were made.
2. The Chairman proposed that Prof De Wrachien (Chairman of EurAgEng SIG. 'Soil and Water' could be a permanent observer in the Board. The participants agreed with pleasure to that proposition.
3.1. The president presented the draft of the next workshop 'Sustainable Land Use Planning' which will be held at Gödöllö University, Hungary on 4-6 September 1996.
3.2. The topics of the workshop that will be held in Albacete (1997) are discussed. Prof de Santa Olalla presented a document with a proposal of some subjects of study. Prof Pereira proposed to add the topic on water quality. Prof de Santa Olalla replied that this topic was not added because there were no persons interested in his staff. Some contributions of the members of the newly formed Working Group are expected. The Chairman suggested the topic 'Water uses related to environmental problems at a regional scale' (instead of the field scale from which we are used to get experimental data). Prof de Santa Olalla agreed with this suggestion and expected to find some contributions and results for the meeting in Albacete.
3.3. Concerning the workshop 'Minor Rural Roads' that will be held in Switzerland the Chairman proposed the items:
-Planning of rural roads in development countries;
-Planning of rural roads in transition countries
(Eastern Europe);
and Prof Pereira proposed:
-Appropriate technologies for minor rural roads.
The Chairman will discuss this with Dr Amsler and Dr Jaarsma.
3.4. On the workshop 'Soil Improvement' the chairman records the meeting with Prof W Coates who offers to organise it in the USA (June 1998).
3.5. Prof Pereira proposed a possible workshop in Cairo during the XVIth International Congress of ICID on the topic 'Crop water environmental models'.
4. The Chairman presented the future CIGR Handbook in particular Vol. I on 'Land and Water Engineering'.
It is agreed that:
-The Chairman and Prof Steiner will make a framework for Chapter I;
-The Chairman will contact Dr Amsler and Dr Jaarsma to ask the same for Chapter II;
-Prof De Wrachien will prepare the framework for Chapter III and will seek help from a soil scientist;
-Prof Pereira, Prof de Santa Olalla, Prof Greppi and Dr Peltomaa will prepare the framework of Chapter IV.
The Chairman will contact Prof Kitamura to find clear answers to: what is the difference between editor / co-editor (how many of them?), how many authors and what each of them will receive (money, one or more books ?) etc.
Prof Hargreaves thanks for the invitation to the Board Meeting and underlines the utility of the handbook, remarking that it could be included in the American Society and Agricultural Engineering to get published.
Prof De Wrachien presented a draft of the contents of sub-theme 1.3a and 1.3c. The Chairman thanks Prof De Wrachien and presents the list as an example for the other editors.
5. It is proposed and accepted that Prof Pereira also acts as permanent observer of the ICID Working Group on 'Sustainable Crop and Water Use'.
6. Prof Hara assures his willingness to inform Prof Miyazaki on the subjects discussed in the meeting.
7. The next meeting will be held in Gödöllö, Hungary during the workshop on September 4-6, 1996.
(comm. by Prof Greppi, Secr. S.I)
Successful conference of CIGR Section IV in Hohenheim, Germany
The 19th Conference of Section IV took place in Hohenheim on 25-29 September 1995 and was attended by 140 delegates from 22 countries. In total 48 lectures and 22 posters were delivered about the following topics:
Energy Production
- Renewable raw materials (harvesting, dressing, transport, combustion);
- Oil from vegetable seeds (harvesting, dressing, transport, combustion, motor power);
- Energy from agricultural waste materials (exploitation, dressing and use).
Energy Management
- Solar energy and other renewable energies for agricultural use (electricity and others);
- Environmentally safe and low energy animal production;
- Electrification in developing countries.
A poster session allowed a discussion with the authors. A one-day and two-day excursion completed the programme.
The conference papers (about 700 pp) contain the lectures in German or English. They can be ordered at the price of 60 DM plus postage at the following address:
Universität Hohenheim, Dipl Ing P Epinatjeff, Institut für Agrartechnik, 70593 Stuttgart, Germany.
Kobe after the earthquake: A successful symposium in November on 'Automation and Robotics in Bioproduction and Processing'
This international symposium was held in Kobe, Japan on November 3-6, 1995 but was originally scheduled for April 4-7, 1995. It was postponed as a result of the disastrous earthquake in Kobe.
The symposium dealt with the technology for automation and robotics in crop production, animal production, biotechnological and agricultural processing. It was organised by the Japanese Society of Agricultural Machinery and co-sponsored by ASAE, AAAE, CSAM (China), KSAM (Korea), The Science Council of Japan, JAICAE, CIGR, and others. The symposium was attended by some 270 experts including 70 from overseas, representing 31 countries. During the symposium 121 papers were presented in the following sessions: Robotics I & II, Vehicle Development I & II, Machinery Development I - IV, Machine Vision I - III, Neural Networks, Planting Machines, Harvesting Machines, Greenhouse Automation, Phytotechnology and Automation, Advances in Processing I - III, Quality Evaluation I & II.
In the opening session the attendants were addressed by Prof Minoru Yamazaki, President of JSAM and Prof Osamu Kitani, Incoming President of CIGR, who represented CIGR.
A keynote lecture was given by Prof F Sevila, CEMAGREF, France on 'Multi-disciplinary design in robotics for bio-processing'. The technical quality of the symposium is testified by the proceedings: 3 volumes with 940 pages in total.
The proceedings are available in limited number from the Secretariat of JSAM, Japanese Society of Agricultural Machinery, c/o IAM, BRAIN, 1-40-2, Nisshin-cho, Omiya, Saitama, 331 Japan. Price: 90 USD by surface mail and 120 USD by air mail.
Japanese participants extended their gratitude to the foreign guests for their sympathy and condolence, and overseas attendants praised the quick restoration of Kobe City. One of them told: 'It is hard to believe that this city was hit by a terrible earthquake less than ten months ago'.
(Reported by Prof O Kitani)
OBITUARY
In Memoriam: Karel Petit, Honorary President of CIGR
Professor K Petit died on Friday, 13 October, 1995 in Ghent, Belgium at the age of 86 years. He graduated at the University of Ghent as Civil Constructional Engineer and later as Civil Electrotechnical Engineer. He started his professional career at his alma mater, where he worked for 44 years, first as assistant, later as professor until 1979. He was also rector of this university for eight years. For his students and colleagues he was like a real father, always prepared to help and he was widely known for his friend-liness. His field of work was agricultural constructions, a field in which he was nationally and internationally recogn-ized as a specialist. He was Chairman of Section II of CIGR for seventeen years and President of CIGR for five years and always remained in touch with CIGR until his death. He received the title of Honorary President of CIGR for his long and outstanding service in CIGR and was honoured by the governments of Germany, France and Italy for his work for agriculture. He has been an ASAE member since 1945.
He was a big-hearted man, tremendously involved in his profession and loved by colleagues and students alike. He was father of eight children.
CIGR offers its sincere condolences to his children and grandchildren.
In Memoriam Mrs M Carlier
We regret the sudden passing on 27 November 1995 of Mrs Carlier, born Michelle Blanc, wife of Mr Carlier, former Secretary-General of CIGR. CIGR offers its condolences to Mr Carlier and the family and wishes him strength and courage in these difficult circumstances.
HELP NEEDED !!!
Information on Tools and Equipment Appropriate for Small Scale Agricultural Operations
The FAO Project AGROTEC is operating in the Southern and Eastern African Region. The main objective of the project is to assist the small scale farmer in the field of agricultural engineering issues.
AGROTEC is currently working on the compilation of a source book on tools and equipment which are suitable for the small scale farming community. The target groups will be farmers, local artisans and extension people. The book will be designed as a handbook from where the reader can obtain information on tools and equipment, such as where to acquire different tools and equipment, technical and operational descriptions of tools and equipment, drawings, users comments, etc. When ready the book will receive a widespread distribution. All contributors, included in the book, will of course be given due recognition and will be noted as the source when describing the tool or equipment.
All information on the tools and equipment your organ-ization / company has for distribution / sale is welcome. Please note that we are interested even in the 'simplest' hand-tool designed to lighten the burden of the farmer.
All information can be sent to :
FAO/AGROTEC, P.O. Box 3730, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Many thanks for your kind assistance!
(comm. by Bo Gohl, Project Manager)
