CIGR Newsletter No 37

ASSOCIATION NEWS

REPORT OF THE 7TH MEETING OF THE CLUB OF BOLOGNA

45 Experts from 25 countries attended the "Club of Bologna” Meeting - held under the auspices of CIGR - discussing the two following subjects: (1)"Co-operation between Industry and Research Institution" and (2)"Mechanisation requirements for Low-Input Sustainable Agriculture”.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Subject 1: Co-operation between Industry and Research Institutions

This question was considered both from the viewpoint of research institutions and from industry, with contributions from the following keynote speakers: K. T. Renius (DE), B. Legg (UK), P. Ceffi (IT), R. Cetrangolo (AR), T. Yotsumoto (JP) and D. Wilkens (DE).

The papers dealt with the general issues of future needs and the advantages to be gained from better co-operation but also went into specific examples of successfully-implemented collaborative projects.

These studies, undertaken in various countries - Argentina, Germany, Japan, Italy and the United Kingdom - confirm the effectiveness of co-operation between industry and research institutions. The ingredients for this success are various but include:

It should be emphasised that university and institute research-ers welcome the opportunity of working co-operatively with industry in such research.

Following extensive discussion, the participants agree that this type of co-operation is, at present, insufficiently developed because industry tends to view contacts with the research sector as a time and money-consuming activity. In addition, the pursuit of long-term ideas may be secondary to existing problems within companies and the actual production and marketing problems they are facing. This attitude is reflected in the poor attendance by industry employees at scientific conferences. It has however to be noted that a similar lack of interest in co-operation can be found among some members of the scientific community also who prefer to pursue their own interests.

However, it is universally acknowledged that closer collaboration between the two sectors - whose activities are of reciprocal interest, given the diversity of experience, subject matter and time-scale constraints - can be one of the keys to successful business. It can allow new products to be developed faster, more effectively and at a lower cost. Such advantages are all the more important in the current context of rapidly-changing global markets, where the trend is towards "total quality" methods, with a consequent strong demand for radical innovations in products and agricultural systems.

The participants are unanimous in confirming that, in any case, a modern and effective form of co-operation must necessarily begin with the joint "generation" of new ideas before moving on to the delineation of concepts and, finally, to the development of a product and the evaluation of its viability in the agricultural context. This approach offers many interesting opportunities, especially to small and medium-sized companies, and should also prove to be of interest to the technical training sector at various levels.

From the research standpoint, the hatching of new ideas in preliminary brainstorming sessions with experts from both sides is an opportunity to compare notes and evaluate within the various agricultural systems radical innovations - machines, components and systems - that may become industrially viable in the medium term. On the industrial development side, the short-term benefits of collaboration should essentially be sought within the domain of solving practical technical problems, including the analysis of how to most effectively employ machinery in an agricultural context. A parallel consideration is the problem of technical training, to which research institutions can make a fundamental contribution, also in terms of promoting dissemination of information relating to innovative machinery.

The participants are therefore unanimous in recommending that every possible effort be made to develop effective forms of collaboration between industry and public research bodies. This involves laying the institutional framework for co-operative ventures applicable at product (electronics, safety systems, new materials, etc.) and process level, to define mechanisation systems suitable for implementing new cropping methods geared towards improved quality and reduced environmental impact and for promoting and assisting transfer of technologies.

Due recognition is given to the fact that co-operative efforts involving several companies are not always successful because it is difficult to establish who or which of the participating enterprises owns (and can therefore market) the resulting innovations. This becomes more complex when patents are involved. Nevertheless, the participants believe that the following initiatives would lead to improved understanding and collaboration between industry and research organisations.

Training

Communication

Partnerships

Specific actions for research organisations

Specific actions for industry

Subject 2: Mechanisation requirements for Low-Input Sustainable Agriculture (LISA)

This topic was first dealt with in 1991, at the 3rd Full Members Meeting, with introductory talks by R. Hegg and J. Matthews. The Club decided to return to this issue, with a keynote paper by A.A. Jongebreur. The goal was to review the progress made during the past 5 years, and to determine to which extent machinery meets the criteria for LISA, defined as an activity that is ecologically sound, economically viable, socially justified and humane.

Following extensive discussion, the participants agree that the attainment of LISA depends primarily on reducing soil erosion, agrochemical and nutrient consumption, and on rationalising energy usage.

In this connection, they acknowledge the progress made by certain countries, and the promising potential of new electronically-controlled machines and the use of special models which can reduce the application of chemicals by up to 50% by optimising the boom position and taking into account air velocity.

'The participants consider it essential that these innovations be developed and marketed, in order to achieve those general advantages that will help to promote LISA. The emphasis should change from "low input" to "sustainable". The Club recognises that "low input" is a relative term that will have different values in developed and developing countries. For example, FAO (1995) reports that 70 countries of the world would be unable to feed their population by the year 2000 unless they adopt more intensive farming systems. Efficient use of inputs taking into account the environmental impact, should be the goal, not necessarily “low inputs”. The Club also recognises that soil, water and air resources are most crucial to the long-term sustainability of agriculture. Soil is probably the most critical of these resources because of the long time frame required for recovery. Mechanisation and irrigation practices must be designed to minimise soil erosion, salinity and other soil degradation problems.

Organic farming practices may be useful as a research tool, to indicate ways in which conventional agriculture can be changed to decrease dependence on agricultural chemicals. The Club recommends that every possible effort be made by agricultural policy-makers and equipment manufacturers to create favourable conditions for farmers to implement sustainable agricultural practices on the entire cultivated territory. This will involve:

(communicated by Prof. G. Pellizzi)

Minutes of the Board Meeting of Section I “Land and Water Use”

The Board of Section I “Land and Water Use” met in Gödöllö, Hungary on 5 September 1996.

Present were: Prof. H.N. Van Lier, (Chairman), Prof. M. Greppi (Secretary), Prof. F. Martin de Santa Olalla, Prof. L. Santos Pereira, Dr. R. Peltomaa, Prof. D. De Wrachien (permanent observer).

Absent were: Miyazaki T., Amir I., Amsler J., Debbahr, Monteil B., Mulik B..

  1. The Chairman opened the discussion on the minutes of the Roma meeting. Prof. Pereira asked to change point 5 of the minutes to: “it is proposed and accepted that the Chairman of the ICID Working Group on “Sustainable Crop and Water Use” and the Chairman of the Special Interest Group on “Soil and Water” of EurAgEng are permanent observers in the Board. The participants agreed to that proposal.
  2. The Chairman discussed ways to publish the papers presented in the Workshop on “Sustainable Land Use Planning” in Gödöllö.
  3. The topics of the next workshop in Albacete on 2-4 June 1997 are introduced by Prof. Martin de Santa Olalla, who prepared the First Announcement. The Board settled the members of the Scientific Committee and it is accepted that the workshop will be co-sponsored by the ICID Working Group on Sustainable Crop and Water Use and by the Special Interest Group on Soil and Water of EurAgEng. The two Chairmen of these groups will be members of the Scientific Committee.
    The two-page summaries of the papers to present are invited before the end of December 1996. Prof. Martin de Santa Olalla explained that he has found a good response in the organisation of the workshop from his university, but he remarks that the university expects a large participation in Albacete.
  4. The workshop “Rural Roads and Development“ in Warsawa, Poland in September 1997 has to find new persons for the organisation. The workshop can also be held in Morocco during the World Congress of CIGR in February 1998.
  5. Regarding the workshop “Sustainable Tillage Systems” Prof. De Wrachien mentions the message received from Prof. U.D. Perdok, who suggested some topics and the possibility of holding the workshop during the ASAE meeting in the US in 1998.
  6. Prof. De Wrachien presents the First Announcement of the International Conference on “Water Management Salinity and Pollution Control Towards Sustainable Irrigation in the Mediterranean Region” which will be held in Bari, Italy on 22-25 September 1997. It will be organised by CIHEAM and AIIA and co-sponsored by EurAgEng's SIG on Soil and Water and by ICID's WG on Sustainable Crops and Water Use. He asked for co-sponsorship of Section I of CIGR and asked the Secretary of this Board to join the Scientific Committee. The Board agreed.
  7. The Chairman presented the First Announcement of the XIIIth International Congress on Agricultural Engineering which will be held in Rabat, Morocco on 2-6 February 1998. After some discussion the Board decided to propose the members of the Board, present at the meeting, as members of the Scientific Committee of Section I.
  8. Prof. Santos Pereira proposed a co-ordination with Prof. J. de Jager (ICID) on the topic “Irrigation in Water Stress”. He also proposed Prof. J.L. Teixeira to be the new delegate of CIGR in ICID.
  9. The Chairman presented the actual situation regarding Chapters and Paragraphs of Volume I of CIGR's Handbook. Prof. Greppi described the meeting in Phoenix with Prof. Kitani on the Handbook. After a wide discussion the number of pages of each Chapter and Paragraph of Volume I was decided.
  10. The next meeting will be held in Albacete (Spain) during the workshop on 2-4 June 1997. Please mark it in your diary.

A few additional items were received which now follow.

  1. Section I organises a workshop on “The Use of Water in Sustainable Agriculture : A Commitment to Development and Environmental Protection”. This workshop will be organised by ETSA, University of Castilla - La Mancha, in Albacete, Spain from 2-4 June 1997. Main topics of the workshop are: (1). Water as a limiting factor for development (at the beginning of the XXI Century); (2). Environmental impact of irrigation ; (3). Water management in sustainable agriculture.
    The workshop is organised in cooperation with both CIGR and ICID (the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage). Prof. Martin de Santa Olalla is Chairman of the Organising Committee (as also member of the Board of Section I of CIGR), while Prof. Santos Pereira will represent ICID.
  2. ICID organises an International Workshop on “Sustainable irrigation in areas of water scarcity and drought”. This workshop is co-sponsored by Section I of CIGR.

(communicated by Prof. M. Greppi, Secr. Section I)

First SEASAE Conference in Arusha, Tanzania - A leap forward for Africa

Tanzania's Prime Minister Frederic T. Sumaye, presented himself as an agricultural engineer and an active member of the Tanzania Society of Agricultural Engineers when he opened the First International Conference on Agricultural Engineering, Environment and Development. He underlined the needs and asked for new thinking and strategies from the agricultural engineers. While the average population increase is 2.8 %, some areas as result of migration have as much as 7-8 %. Subsistence farming alone is not going to feed all in Tanzania, he said.

93 delegates from 11 countries in Africa (Ethiopia, Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe) and 9 countries outside Africa (Australia, Belgium, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sri Lanka, Sweden and the United Kingdom) together with a delegation of 4 from FAO attended the conference.

In total 60 papers and 8 keynote speeches were received, some of them of excellent quality. As usual some papers fell out while others were added.

CIGR was represented at the conference by its President, participating in the opening ceremony and closing the conference with a speech at the conference dinner. A meeting club with inscription was handed to the Secretary General Dr. Vincent Chiuswa as a gesture of welcome of SEASAE to the family of AE societies.

Topic areas covered at the conference were:

Discussions were lively and active, and in each topic session there were major observations and a recommendation by a committee. The aim was to identify:

According to Prof. Rolf Henriksson of Sweden (who is connected with the Agrotec programme which facilitated the formation of SEASAE in 1992), progress in the amount and quality of research that was presented from the African countries is remarkable during the last few years. Delivered papers were available at the meeting and a short discussion summary will be sent out. Funding for publishing the proceedings are sought.

This conference adds considerably to the development of South East Africa, and to the high spirits and ambitions of SEASAE and the professionals in the region. The next conference will be in Harare, Zimbabwe over three years.

At the SEASAE General Assembly that was held on one of the conference evenings a new Board for the next three years was elected. New Chairman is Dr. Nuhu Hatibu of Sokoine University, Morogoro, Tanzania. The Board includes Vice Chairman Dr. Kwendakwema of Zambia , Secretary General Mwamzali Shiribwa and Treasurer Dr. Inoti, both of Kenya.

SEASAE membership is slowly growing. Individual membership is welcomed, also from outside the area of SE Africa. Membership was doubled to 64 during the conference.

The General Assembly discussed to issue membership certificates, as is proposed also in the last meeting of CIGR's General Assembly in Madrid. The Board will prepare the item for later action.

(communicated by Prof. E. Berge, President)

Report on the International Seminar of the IIIrd Section of CIGR: 'Mechanisation of Small Scale Farms'

The Moroccan Committee of CIGR (ANAFID), Section III of CIGR and the Hassan II Agronomic and Veterinary Medicine Institute (IAV) (Department of Agricultural Mechanisation) have held an international seminar on small scale farm mechanisation. This Seminar was held from 14 to 17 May 1996 at IAV, Rabat, Morocco.

More than 100 participants attended the seminar. CIGR was represented by Dr. Chèze, President of Section III of CIGR. The opening session was chaired by the Minister of Agriculture, who stressed three components: training, research and development, and system approach taking into account the technical, social, economic and environmental aspects. Prof. Bekkali, President of ANAFID, Dr. Sedrati, Director of IAV, Dr. Chèze, representatives of FAO, the Arab Organisation of Agricultural Development and the local development services attended this seminar.

A technical tour was organised on 16-17 May in the area of Meknes and Fes. Some small agricultural projects financed by the Agricultural Credit Bank and the Agricultural School of Meknes (Dept. Agricultural Mechanisation, CEAMA) were visited.

Four items were discussed at the seminar:

The notion of mechanisation of small scale farms does not include only the low income farms in rainfed agriculture but also the irrigated micro-farms with high income. In 1993, FAO estimated that half of the world population is living on agricultural subsistency. 40% of the agricultural land use is cultivated as small scale farms.

The development strategies of different aid agencies, particularly GTZ (German agency) were presented. The participants stressed the increase of the co-utilisation of equipment by farmers through cooperatives and private entrepreneurs. This tendency helps the development of mechanisation but on the other hand creates problems with work quality and availability of machines. These services are not good structured and that is the reason why the work is done in inadequate conditions.

Concerning the situation of mechanisation of small scale farms the situation is not so precarious as we thought. The experience of developed countries as Japan and South Europe can be useful for the definition of national strategies. In opposition to the old preconceptions mechanisation creates employment and increases productivity. The consolidation of land holdings and the development of adapted implements to the local climate and soil types and social and economic conditions was suggested. The participants thought that the key of the problems can be found in the training of the farmers and entrepreneurs and in the encouragement of innovation and the increasing of the efficiency. The industry should meet the needs of the equipment users. The third session dealt with the performance of some implements in North and West Africa. The mutations induced by the introduction of animal traction in West Africa were discussed. The performances of locally manufactured and imported small equipment (plough, drill machine, sprayer, tresher…) in Morocco were determined in stationary and real conditions.

The fourth session dealt with technology transfer problems. Presenting the experience of different countries the speakers stressed the role of training and research in the process of extension of adapted techniques and in the encouragement of innovation.

Recommendations:

The selected papers will be published in the Journal

' Hommes, Terre et Eaux'.

Further information can be obtained from Prof. El Hassan Bourarach, ANAFID, B.P. 6359, 10101 Rabat, Morocco.

Fax.: +212 7 67 03 03.

Report of CIGR WG1 and EurAgEng SIG 12 meeting on “Harmonisation of Agricultural Engineering University Curricula”

During the AgEng96 International Conference in Madrid, CIGR Working Group 1 (WGl) and EurAgEng Special Interest Group 12 (SIG12) on "Harmonisation of Agricultural Engineering University Curricula" held a seminar on 25 September 1996. The meeting was chaired by Prof. P. Febo, Chairman of WGl and SIG12. Twenty-one experts representing Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Morocco, Nigeria, Sweden, Switzerland, The United Arab Emirates and the USA attended the seminar.

Prof. Febo outlined the history of the working group. The project for harmonisation of Agricultural Engineering University Curricula was started in Dublin in 1989 by Prof. Pellizzi at European level. Several seminars for the project have been held in the past: Gargnano (Italy) in 1991, Silsoe (UK) in 1992, Milan (Italy) in 1994 and Newcastle (UK) in 1995. These study seminars led to the completion of CIGR WG Report No. 2 "The University Structure and Curricula on Agricultural Engineering. An Overview of 25 Countries". The current seminar is the continuation of CIGR WG1 and SIG12 work.

The participants reviewed the WG work. They appreciated the valuable contribution of WGl and SlG12 to agricultural engineering education. They also acknowledged the heavy administration and organising work involved in the working group and the lack of funding at present. Since the WG Report No. 2 was edited in January 1994, it was agreed that the contents of the report should be updated and the seminar participants would co-operate in supplying new data. Information from other countries would also be included in the new edition of the report. It was noted that homogenising the curricula within European level was difficult, but it was possible and desirable to set a minimum curricula requirement as a reference for agricultural engineering universities.

The possibility of using the Internet to service this project was also discussed. The general idea was to set up a homepage for this project, linked to participating universities, and to create a set of formats for individual universities to supply and update data. Dr. Sun (Secretary) showed a homepage "Agricultural and Food Engineering Around the World" (http://www.ucd.ie/~food/hotlink.html), maintained by him, as an illustration. The Working Group will work in this direction.

The next meeting of WG 1 and SIG 12 will probably be held in Rabat during the XIIIth CIGR International Congress or in Oslo during AgEng98.

For further information and offers of collaboration please contact: Prof. Pierluigi Febo, Chairman of WG 1 & SIG 12, Dept. E. I. T. A., Viale delle Scienze, 13, I 90128 Palermo (Italy ). Tel: +39-91-489697; Fax: +39-91-484035 or

Dr. Da-Wen Sun, Secretary of WG1 & SIG12, Department of Agricultural and Food Engineering, University College Dublin, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, Ireland

Tel: +353-1-7067493; Fax: +353-1-4752119

Email: <dwsun@iveagh.ucd.ie> ;

Website: <http://www.ucd.ie/~food/sun.html>.

 

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