CIGR Newsletter No 39
CIGR-SPONSORED ACTIVITIES
A chronological list of events in the field of agricultural engineering can also be found in our Calendar of Events which can be consulted on CIGR's Web site:
International Workshop on Sustainable Irrigation in Areas of Water Scarcity and Drought.
This ICID-CIID workshop will be held in Oxford, England, on 11 and 12 September 1997. Co-sponsors are CIGR Section I (Land and Water) and EurAgEng (SIG Soil and Water).
Objectives are aimed at identifying:
- areas in which the state, research and development funding agencies and irrigation managers can effectively diminish the chances of water restrictions being applied during water scarce conditions or drought;
- water-saving irrigation scheduling practices and techniques for water scarce times ;
- methods of transferring the appropriate knowledge to clients;
- measures to combat impacts of drought upon existing socio-economic situations.
Themes will include:
- strategies for promoting sustainable irrigation;
- management of irrigation for water scarce situations;
- farmer support;
- measures to combat the socio-economic and environmental impacts of drought.
Further information:
Prof. J.M. de Jager, Head Department of Agrometeorology, University of the Orange Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloem-fontein 9300, South Africa.
Tel.: +27 051 4012222 Fax.: +27 051 4480692
E-mail: Jimmy@landbou.UOVS.ac.za
or from:
Prof. Dr. L. Vermes, University of Horticulture and Food Industries, H-1502 Budapest, P.O.Box 53, Hungary.
Ammonia and Odour Control from Animal Production Facilities
This international symposium will be held in Vinkeloord, The Netherlands on October 6-10, 1997.
The aim of the symposium is:
- to discuss the measurement techniques;
- to exchange the results of research programmes;
- to discuss the follow-up in research programmes and commercial products.
The conference language is English.
The proceedings will be available at the symposium.
Scientific programme
The following topics will be discussed:
- Environmental issues of emissions;
- Theoretical approach of emissions;
- Quantification and recording of emissions: odour, ammonia, methane;
- Odour masking techniques;
- Bio-filtering/air scrubbing;
- Social and psychological issues;
- Human health aspects;
- New designs to prevent emissions;
- Economical solutions for emission reduction on farms.
A number of excursions are also foreseen.
General correspondence:
Ammonia and Odour Control Symposium '97, P.O.Box 83, 5240 AB Rosmalen, The Netherlands.
Fax.: +31 73 521 8214
E-mail: cigr.symposium97@pv.agro.nl
International Conference on Technological Development Alternatives for Agriculture
The International Conference on Technological Development Alternatives for Agriculture is organised by CIGR Section III and the Hungarian Society of Farm Mechanisation. This conference will be held in Keszthely, Hungary on 16-18 October 1997. All technical, technological and managerial suggestions and solutions for agricultural development are welcome.
Topics include:
- Technical development and farm size
- Extensification versus hi-tech based information intensive agriculture
- Up-to-date solutions on farm mechanisation
- Quality and the technical development (tools quality, product quality, techno-quality)
- Research and technical development for future agriculture
Further information: Prof. Dr. D. Faust, Head of Department of Systems Engineering Sciences, H-2103 Gödöllö, Hungary.
Tel.: +36 28 310 975 Fax.: +36 28 320 997
E-mail: Faust@rt.gau.hu
Joint International Conference on Agricultural Engineering: Agricultural Engineering for Sustainable Development
This conference will be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 15-18 December 1997.
Topics include:
- Power, machinery and farm mechanisation;
- Irrigation, flood control, water resources and management;
- Soil and water;
- Post-harvest technology;
- Advances in food processing and engineering;
- Fruits, vegetables production, handling, processing, packaging;
- Physical and chemical properties of bio-materials;
- Advances in agricultural waste management technologies;
- Greenhouse engineering and agro-chemical technology;
- Electronic and software technology;
- Automation and control technology;
- Modelling with finite elements;
- Research planning, management, evaluation and technology transfer;
- Sustainable agricultural systems and modelling;
- Weather and environment technology;
- Appropriate agricultural technology;
- Bio, solar, wind, renewable energy and technology.
Inquiries: Dr H Chowdhury, Conference Convenor, Agric. Engng. Dept., Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI-48824, USA.
Tel.: +1 517 353 3883 Fax.: +1 517 353 8982
E-mail: chowdhu2@pilot.msu.edu
International Symposium on Agro-Environmental Issues and Future Strategies towards the 21st Century
The Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology of the University of Agriculture of Faisalabad , Pakistan organises an international symposium 'Agroenviron '98' on May 25-30, 1998.
Topics will include:
- agro-chemicals and groundwater contamination,
- agricultural machinery related noise pollution , soil compaction , erosion, etc.,
- agro-industrial pollution and acid rain,
- agro-environmental impact assessment and legislation,
- industrial/sewage irrigation and soil pollution,
- modelling agro-environmental systems,
- farm wastes, recycling and energy generation,
- mountainous deforestation and management,
- any other topic
Paper abstract due on November 15, 1997.
For further information please contact Prof. Jehangir Khan Sial, Symposium Director, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
Fax.: +92 41 33214 / 647846 / 30679
E-mail: iqrar@ptccuaf.fsd.brain.net.pk (attn. J.K. Sial)
Second International Workshop on Control Applications in Post-Harvest and Processing Technology
This event is organised by the Department of Physics and Process Control of Gödöllö University of Agricultural Sciences, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and GUAS Process Control Research Group. It is sponsored by IFAC, ISHS, EurAgEng and CIGR.
The workshop will be held on June 3-5, 1998 in Budapest, Hungary.
The scope of the workshop is to give the state-of-the-art and application of control methods in storage and processes of agricultural and horticultural products. Furthermore future developments will be discussed on intelligent control and on the use of artificial intelligence in combination with on-line observations of plants or processed products.
Topics will include:
- optimal control, intelligent control, fuzzy control,
- measurement and modelling of crop or produce responses for quality enhancement during storage or processing,
- identification of control structures based on plant responses,
- intelligent, crop based decision criteria,
- effect of product variability on control strategy,
- compartments and instruments for controls in processing and storage,
- artificial intelligence applications in post-harvest technology,
- systems engineering in post-harvest, storage and processing technology,
- man-machine interaction in post-harvest technology,
- economic and management evaluation of advanced control systems in post-harvest,
- social effects of automatic control in storage and processing.
Prospective authors are requested to submit 5 copies of an extended abstract the latest by 31 October 1997.
After notification of acceptance the authors will be asked to prepare a camera ready paper of max. 6 pp. which will be included in the preprints of the workshop.
Deadlines:
Submission of abstract: October 31, 1997
Notification of acceptance: January 15, 1998
Submission of full papers: March 31, 1998
Early registrations: April 25, 1998.
Further information from: Prof. I. Farkas, Dept. Physics & Process Control, University of Agricultural Sciences of Gödöllö, Pater K. u. 1, H-2103 Hungary.
Fax.: +36 28 310 804 E-mail: IFARKAS@FFT.GAU.HU
ASAE INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS
1998Jan. 28-30, 4th International Dairy Housing Conference in conjunction with The National Mastitis Council 37th Annual Meeting.
This event will be held in Adam's Mark Hotel, St. Louis, Missouri, USA. (Info: mcknight@asae.org)
Feb. 8-11, Agricultural Equipment Technology Conference '98, Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
Mar. 8-10, 7th International Drainage Symposium, Orlando, Florida, USA.
Jul. 12-16, ASAE Annual International Meeting, Orlando, Florida, USA.
Oct. 28-30, 7th International Computers in Agriculture Conference, Orlando, Florida, USA.
1999Jul. 18-22, ASAE Annual International Meeting, Toronto, Canada (joint with CSAE).
More information on these events can be obtained from:
ASAE, c/o Sharon McKnight, 2950 Niles Road, St. Joseph, MI 49085-9659, USA.
Phone: +1 616 429 0300 Fax: +1 616 429 3852
E-mail: mcknight@asae.org
5th International Symposium on Fruit, Nut and Vegetable Production Engineering
This event organised by the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering of the University of California and co-sponsored by ASAE, AAAE, JSAM and EurAgEng will be held in Davis, California, USA on 3-10 September 1997.
The objective of the symposium is to bring together researchers involved in all aspects of engineering for the production of fruit, nut and vegetable crops. The programme will include oral and poster presentations in the following areas:
- Cultural systems: planting, pruning, thinning, managing of fertilisers, chemical and biological pest control;
- Harvesting methods and systems: mechanisation, handling, robotics and sensors;
- Post-harvest operations: quality evaluation, grading and sorting, damage and waste reduction, packaging, transportation and processing technologies incl. technology for lightly processed fruit and vegetables;
- Human and environment factors: ergonomics, safety, productivity, GIS-systems, dust and noise control.
Registration fee: 350 USD, incl. welcome reception, banquet, lunches, refreshments, local agriculture field trip, proceedings.
Accompanying persons: 100 USD.
A post-symposium technical tour is foreseen.
Further information from: Dr. Paul Chen, Dept. Biological and Agricultural Engineering, University of California, Davis, California 95616-5294 USA.
Fax.: +1 916 752 2640
E-mail: pictiaw.chen@ucdavis.edu
EurAgEng INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS
1st European Conference on Precision Agriculture
This conference will be held in Warwick University Conference Park, Warwick, UK on 8 - 10 September 1997.
The conference will :
- present concepts, research studies, implementations of precision agriculture,
- identify R & D requirements,
- present routes to production agriculture,
- gather the diverse disciplines with interest in precision agriculture.
Conference themes are :
Spatial variability in soil and crop:
soil factors, crop condition, harvest yield, quality, variable application of inputs, input recommendations, soil and crop modelling.
Technology:
sensing, mapping, location, precision application, control systems, yield mapping systems, real-time sensing and control.
IT and management:
mapping, geographical information systems, geostatistics, decision support, system modelling, economics, application strategies.
Further information:
For the scientific and technical programme: Dr John V Stafford, Precision Agriculture Team, Silsoe Research Institute, Wrest Park, Silsoe, Bedford MK45 4HS, UK.
Tel.: +44 1525 860000 Fax.: +44 1525 860156
E-mail: john.stafford@bbsrc.ac.uk
For conference organisation:
SCI Conference Dept., 14/15 Belgrave Square, London, SW1 8PS, UK.
Tel.: +44 171 235 3681 Fax.: +44 171 235 7743
E-mail: conferences@chemind.demon.co.uk
For information update:
www page: http://www.sri.bbsrc.ac.uk/
From Sensors to Decision Support System in Agriculture, Food-Industry and Environment
Bio-Decision '98
This international conference will be held in Montpellier, France on 23-25 February 1998. It is organised by ENSAM and sponsored by EurAgEng and IFAC.
Topics:
- Information management: on-site data collection and transmission, uses of Internet, localised data+facts and GIS, exploitable shaping of data (standards, mixing technical and economic),
- modelling and computation: modelling of biological-type systems and expertise, practicable implementation, interfacing with users needs,
- management and control of complex projects and systems, of more or less automated systems, dealing with multi-disciplinary actions, automatic decisions,
- recording and use of past events data: building databases for future actions.
Contact: Prof. Francis Sevila, Bio-Engineering Department, ENSAM, place Viala, 34060 Montpellier, France.
Fax.: +33 4 67 61 24 36 e-mail: decision98@ensam.inra.fr
Sensoral '98
This international workshop will be held in Montpellier, France, on 25-27 February 1998. It is organised by CEMAGREF and sponsored by Agropolis, Esprit and Fair.
Topics:
- sensor technology
- simulation of human assessment of quality
- artificial intelligence in quality control
- control systems applied to quality improvement.
Contact: Dr. Véronique Bellon-Maurel, GIQUAL Lab., Cemagref, B.P. 5095, 34033 Montpellier cedex 1, France.
Fax.: +33 4 67 04 63 06
e-mail: sensoral98@montpellier.cemagref.fr
Waste-Decision '98
This international workshop, organised by INRA and sponsored by EurAgEng and IFAC will be held in Narbonne, France on 25-27 February 1998.
Topics:
For industrial and/or urban WWTP:
- advanced control scheme
- decision support systems
- qualitative modelling and qualitative reasoning
- fuzzy logic
- artificial neural networks, etc.
Contact: Dr. J.-P. Steyer, LBE-INRA, avenue des Etangs, 111000 Narbonne, France.
Fax.: +33 4 68 42 51 60 e-mail: decision98@ensam.inra.fr
AGENG OSLO'98
International Conference on Agricultural Engineering.
A jointly organised conference of EurAgEng, and the Agricultural University of Norway.
This conference will be held in Oslo on 24-28 August 1998
Further information can be obtained from:
Prof. Dr. Egil Berge, Chairman,
Agricultural University of Norway, Dept. Agricultural Engineering, P.O. Box 5065, N-1432 Aas, Norway.
Tel.: +47 64 94 87 85 Fax.: + 47 64 94 88 10
E-mail: admitf@itf.nlh.no
1997 Beijing International Symposium on Food Processing and Packaging Technology - '97 BISFPPT
The 1997 Beijing International Symposium on Food Processing and Packaging Technology will be held in Beijing, P.R. of China on 27-31 October, 1997.
Topics will include:
- Comprehensive papers on present situation and future prospects, on development strategy and on general situation of the trade;
- Papers on new technologies, new products, new materials and new principles, new designing methods and new test results;
- Papers on principles and experiences in modern enterprise management, on marketing and operation, on scientific research and education, etc.
Other subjects connected with food and farm and sideline product processing and packaging technology are welcome.
The symposium will be synchronised with the 1997 International Food Processing and Packaging Machinery Exhibition (CHINA FOODTECH '97).
The symposium will be held at the International Academic Exchange Hall at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Mechanisation Sciences.
The working language will be English.
Further information and secretariat: '97 BISFPPT Organising Secretariat, N°1 Beishatan Deshengmen Wai, Beijing 100083, P.R. China.
Fax.: +86 10 620 43 686 or +86 10 620 17 326.
3rd IFAC/CIGR Workshop on Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture
This event will be held in Makuhari, Japan on 24-26 April 1998.
It is organised by SHITA in cooperation with ECB, JAICAE and SICE.
The purpose of this workshop is to provide a forum for the presentation of new results in research, development and applications of AI in agriculture. The workshop aims at bringing together leading researchers and practitioners from academy and industry in order to favour the emergence or consolidation of bridges between AI and its applications in agriculture and domains connected to it (in particular environmental sciences). Some insights on future trends of this rapidly evolving field can be expected to emerge.
Contributions should demonstrate or assess the applicability and usefulness of AI methods for modelling and managing systems in agriculture and related domains. The international programme committee is soliciting original papers on theoretical aspects concerning fundamental representation issues commonly encountered in agricultural problems, on tools, techniques, algorithms used in applications and on applications themselves. Papers could either describe significant results from ongoing research, implementations or critical analyses of existing systems and approaches.
Topics of interest include:
- Fundamental representation issues:
Management of spatio/temporal knowledge (spatio/temporal reasoning, extension of GIS capabilities, reasoning across several levels of temporal or spatial granularity);
Management of uncertainty and imprecision (fuzzy logic, belief functions, Bayesian networks, qualitative reasoning);
Modelling of multi-agent systems (population modelling, distributed problem solving); - Tools, techniques, algorithms
Use of emerging technologies (neural network, genetic algorithms, fuzzy control, constraint satisfaction, case-based reasoning);
Fusion of multiple sources of information (in particular for interpretation systems);
Rise of AI in simulation tools (discrete event systems, use of advanced representation capabilities, qualitative/quantitative simulation);
Integration/combination of AI approaches with other approaches. - Applications and practical issues
Successful or novel AI decision support approaches for planning, scheduling, control, monitoring, prediction or diagnosis problems in agriculture and related domains;
Commercialised and routinely used AI-based systems, in particular expert and knowledge-based systems (in laboratories, extension services, farms,…);
Critical analysis of project failures;
Validation issues for AI-based decision support systems.
Each oral communication at the workshop will be selected on the basis of an extended abstract of 3 pages (about 1500 words) or, even better, a draft paper (5000 words maximum) in English, explaining the intended content of the presentation, the novelty of the research, the relevant applications, the relevance to the workshop. Authors of accepted abstracts will be given instructions for the preparation of camera ready papers to be included in the workshop proceedings.
Language: English, no simultaneous translation will be provided.
Submissions may either be electronic (our preference) or hard copy.
Electronic submissions (postscript or ASCII files) should be mailed to: hoshi@fb.u-tokai.ac.jp
Hard copies should be sent to:
Prof. Takehiko HOSHI, School of High Technology for Human Welfare, Tokai University, Nishino 317, Numazu, Shizuoka, 410-03 Japan. Fax.: +81 559 68 1156.
Important dates:
Deadline for submission of extended abstracts or draft: October 1, 1997.
Notification of acceptance: December 1, 1997.
Full camera ready papers due: February 1, 1998.
Additional information can be obtained from:
Prof. Yasushi Hashimoto, Dept. Biomechanical Systems, Ehime University, Tarumi, Matsuyama 790, Japan
Fax.: +81 89 947 8748
e-mail: hasimoto@agr.ehime-u.ac.jp
or: Prof. Haruhiko Murase, Dept. Regional Env. Sci., Osaka Prefecture University, Gakuen, Sakai 593, Japan.
Fax.: +81 722 52 0341
E-mail: hmurase@bics.envi.osakafu-u.ac.jp
XIIIth INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON
AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING
CIGR+++++ASAE+++++EurAgEng+++++AAAE
Morocco will host the XIIIth Congress of the International Commission of Agricultural Engineering CIGR in February 1998 and hence will be the first developing country to organise such an important scientific and technical event which takes place every four years. The National Association of Land Improvement, Irrigation and Drainage, ANAFID, official representative of Morocco within CIGR has been permanently acting towards the increase of CIGR activities within developing countries and is delighted with the organisation of this congress in Africa.
This congress will be held in Rabat, Morocco on 2 - 6 February 1998. It is organised in collaboration with the Agronomic and Veterinary Institute Hassan II and the Administration of Agricultural Engineering.
The congress sessions will not take place at the Rabat Hyatt Regency Hotel as mentioned earlier but in the Rabat Hilton (Souissi, B.P. 450, Rabat, Morocco, Tel.: +212 7 67 56 56 Fax.: +212 7 67 14 92).
Congress languages are English and French and simultaneous translation will be provided.
Equipment and documentary technical exhibits will take place during the congress.
A programme of one day technical visits and study tours of one to five days after the congress together with an accompanying persons programme are available.
Section I: Land and Water Use
Integrated land and water management in arid and semi-arid zones
- Basin water management
- Soil and water conservation
- Land use planning
- Appropriate technologies for rural road construction
Section II: Farm Buildings, Equipment, Structures and Environment
- Design and rehabilitation for irrigation water conveying structures
- Storage structures for durable and perishable agricultural products
- Equipment and environment control in animal buildings and warehouses
- Technical solutions for cost reduction in farm buildings
Section III: Equipment Engineering for Plant Production
- National strategies for agricultural mechanisation
- Mechanisation techniques adapted to Mediterranean and tropical regions
- Equipment and technical itineraries regarding the environment
- Technology transfer and local construction of appropriate agricultural mechanical equipment
Section IV: Rural Electricity and other Energy Sources
- Electrification and energy strategies for developing countries and in countries in transition
- Strategies for energy saving in agriculture
- Renewable energy input in rural development
Section V: Management, Ergonomics and Systems Engineering
- Farm management
- Work load, stress and health problems in agriculture
- Transfer of know-how to developing countries
- Miscellaneous
Section VI: Processing
- Technology of agro-processing industries and their effect on rural development
- Environment protection technologies for agro-processing industries
- Physical properties of agricultural products
- Effect of processing technologies on the quality of food and feed products
- Appropriate technologies for the processing of agricultural products.
Day-to-day programme
Sunday, February 1, 1998
09:00-15:00: Meeting of CIGR's Presidium
16:00-18:30: Meeting of the Section Boards
Monday, February 2, 1998
09:00-12:30: Registration
09:00-14:00: Meeting of CIGR's Executive Board
13:30-18:00: Registrations
14:00-18:00: City Tour of Rabat and Salé
19:00-20:30: Reception
Tuesday, February 3, 1998
09:00-10:30: Opening Ceremony
10:30-12:00: Technical Sessions
14:00-17:30: Technical Sessions
19:00-20:30: Concert
Wednesday, February 4, 1998
08:30-12:30: Technical Sessions
14:00-18:00: General Assembly CIGR
20:30-22:30: Dinner and shows
Thursday, February 5, 1998
08:30-12:30: Technical Sessions
14:00-17:00: Technical Sessions
17:15: Closing Session of Congress
Friday, February 6, 1998
07:30-18:00: Technical Tours
February 7-11, 1998
Study Tours (3 or 5 days).
Further information can be obtained from:
Prof. H. Bartali, ANAFID, 2 rue Haroun Errachid, 10101 Agdal, Rabat, Morocco.
Tel.: + 212 7 67 03 20 Fax.: + 212 7 67 03 03
e-mail: hbartali@atlasnet.net.ma or bhoussin@syfed-ma.ma.refer.org
or consult CIGR's Web site at : http://wwworg.nlh.no/CIGR/event/Conf/XIIIth/
