ICT In Agriculture
ICT in the agriculture sector facilitates knowledge sharing within and among a variety of agriculture networks including researchers, importers/exporters, extension services, and farmers. ICT enables vital information flows by linking rural agricultural communities to the Internet, both in terms of accessing information and providing local content.
ICT activities in agriculture :
Use of Internet and e-mail for extension purposes
Communicating agro-meteorological information
Communicating market price information
Facilitating networks of agriculture researchers
Developing land registries
In addition to Internet as the backbone, the province run television station, call center, telephone, mobile phone, and village-run broadcast will be used to meet farmers' needs using so-called "all-round ICT service". It will be a participatory approach to the development strategy of information service. All stakeholders should be mobilized to contribute their money, labor, or knowledge including government agencies, private sectors, companies, farmers, marketers, technicians and professionals with agricultural information and knowledge.
Computer controlled agricultural equipment
Computerized Concentrate Feeders for Dairy Cows
Dairy cows have traditionally been fed concentrates as they are milked to supplement nutritional requirements not supplied by the forages. In smaller-sized herds, feeding concentrates usually requires a considerable amount of labour. Automatic concentrate-dispensing equipment is available for use in stanchion or comfort-stall barns, but few producers have installed such equipment. On farms where concentrates are fed in milking parlors, the opportunity for individual feeding varies considerably, depending on type of equipment and milking management practices.
In some installations, the amount of concentrate each cow receives at each milking varies according to her needs, while in other setups; all cows have free-choice access to the concentrate while in the parlor. Dairy farmers have used various approaches to remove or reduce the feeding of concentrates in the parlor while trying to attain better control of feeding cows as individuals and still handle them as a group, especially in herds ranging in size from 50 to 150 cows.
With computer-controlled concentrate feeders, each cow wears a device around her neck that identifies her. As she enters the feeder head box, her specific number is read electronically and the amount of concentrate programmed in the computer's memory for her to receive is delivered at a rate she can consume before leaving the head box -- usually about one-half pound per minute. The total concentrate allotment is not available upon one entry to the head box but will be divided usually into four or more intervals for the 24-hour period.
Depending on the brand and model, multiple feed-dispensing units capable of delivering from two to four different feeds to each head box are available. Some systems include a cow calendar program that will generate reports listing days in milk, cows to dry off, cows to breed, etc., that can be used in managing the herd. Certain systems also include another program that will automatically adjust the daily amount of concentrate each cow is allowed to receive. Adjustments are based upon days since calving, projected lactation curves, or programmed equations. Some units either are or can be connected to a computer to allow other record-keeping functions to be performed.
Each cow with access to a computer-controlled concentrate feeder wears a device that identifies her when she enters the feeder head box.
Advantages
Computerized concentrate feeder systems overcome the feeding management problems of regulating the total amount of concentrate consumed in a day by regulating how much concentrate can be consumed at each meal, knowing how much concentrate each cow eats daily, and feeding varying amounts of different concentrate ingredients to each cow according to her individual requirements. Computerized feeders can also eliminate the need for feed in the milking parlor, thereby increasing efficiency and potentially increasing profits.
By having better control of the concentrate feeding program, dairy farmers responding to surveys conducted in 1982 and 1983 indicated an average increase in daily production per cow of more than 7%, an increase in milk fat of 0.1percentage unit and a 10% reduction in total amount of concentrate fed to the herd after computer-controlled feeders were installed. These results will vary with several factors, including the type, quality, and quantity of forage fed, the production level of the cows, the method used currently to feed concentrates, and the amount of concentrates fed. Results will also be greatly dependent on the level of management practiced in the herd - better results will accrue to those who spend more time managing the system.
Forage mixer units and grinders that have weighing devices on them are very worthwhile.
Computer-controlled feeder head-box units should be well-protected and located in an area with good ventilation and lighting.
Summary
Because feed costs constitute 50 to 60% of the total cost of milk production, regulating feed costs and/or improving feed utilization becomes the largest single area where profits can be increased. Due in part to high labor costs and attempts to reduce drudgery, feeding systems have become increasingly mechanized, automated, and computerized. Individual cow concentrate-feeding systems are rapidly gaining acceptance by dairy farmers across the United States. Capabilities of these systems grow as the feeding function becomes integrated with other herd management applications by interfacing the feeding system with more powerful computers. Most of the systems incorporate "management action reporting" into the feeder system directly. Ration formulation and feed distribution should be analyzed carefully so animal productivity, health, and profitability are maximized.
Milk cows farm project and milk processing technology.
Milk-cow farm:
The milk-cow farm technology consists of the following components:
o A detailed design and engineering of the farm and all its components, including
the infrastructure and utilities.
o Research of the available Feed in order to secure the needed optimal nutrition for
the live-stock.
o Support in the selection of the live-stock and breeding.
o Supply of the milking center and milk cooling and storage systems.
o Supply of the most modern tracking, data collection and management
computerized system, based on individual electronic tags and data readers and
the comprehensive farm management software.
o Erection of a feed center based on optimization of the feed formulation based on
the most cost-effective selection of local available feed/nutrition sources and
materials, and the use of the computerized "self" mixing and distribution wagon.
o In farm quality control laboratory to ensure the quality of the milk.
o A veterinary support to tackle any veterinarian problem in its initial phase and use
of artificial insemination for herd expansion.
o An advanced, computerized daily management of the farm.
o The above described technology is widely practiced and has been proven to yield
the highest milk records per cow in the world.
Milk processing factory:
It is believed that an integrated project which will use its own milk for milk products processing will pay much higher return to the farm owners.
An advanced milk processing technology for a medium size milk processing plant is available in huge milk factories by processing quality and high market value milk products, by entering with relatively low cost investment into special market segments like: "milk delicious", different types of cheese, and flavored milk drinks and ice-cream.
ICT applications
Drying with desiccants for food processing operations; optimal sizes and/or environments for grain bins or other commodity storage facilities;
Greenhouse irrigation systems; nutrient management in greenhouses; greenhouse wetland systems; greenhouse heating; animal housing systems; behavior, safety and comfort of animals and workers; heat stress relief for animals; air quality/animal performance interactions; air quality/human respiratory responses; modeling air quality in buildings; environmental control for plant systems; mushroom production systems; and use of enthalpy wheels in ventilation systems.
Mechanical and Structural Systems (MSS) research includes:
Pesticide application systems (variable rate, draft control, air-blast); design of agricultural machinery systems; evaluation and improvement of animal feeding systems; forage harvesting and storage; feeding systems to optimize animal performance; optimizing the use of forages and other ruminant feed resources; automation in existing food processing plants; computer vision systems for non-destructive evaluation of food products; robotics applications in fruit and vegetable mechanization; radiotelemetry for predicting damage during mechanical handling; vehicle tracking systems; sensor development for precision agriculture; remote sensing for crop assessment; GPS and GIS development and applications in agriculture; fuel cells and microturbines for on-site electricity generation; wood engineering; analysis/design of post frame structures; hardwood glue-laminated design; wood bridge design; bulk solids storage dynamic loads; load deformation behavior of feeds, grains, fertilizers, and pesticides; finite element and boundary element modeling of structural systems; interactions between structural materials and granular media; and alternative structural systems for housing.
Natural Resources Conservation and Management(NRCM) projects include:
Agricultural mapping systems; sedimentation basin design; tillage system effects on runoff, erosion, and pollutant transport; erosion processes; hydrology of quality turfgrass areas; drinking water quality and treatment for domestic and livestock use; numerical modeling of water and pollutant transport processes; methods for identifying critical nutrient contributing areas in watersheds; GIS-based evaluation of non-point pollution from agricultural lands; modeling the physical and economic aspects of conservation and nutrient management practices; water quality under greenhouse systems; utilization of sludge on forest and non-agricultural land; utilization of recyclable materials in agricultural systems; decontamination of polluted soils; transformation, uptake, and movement of wastes and chemicals applied to soils; on-site wastewater treatment and management; milking center wastewater disposal systems; composting and refeeding residues from agricultural production, food processing, and dining facilities; biogas production from animal manures and other biological materials; biogas utilization for generation and vehicle power; and odor control for mushroom and animal production facilities.
Processing for Adding Value to Biological Materials (PAV)
Flow behavior of powder and granular food products; aseptic processing of food products; food biosensors; on-line computer control of food processing operations; modeling heat transfer mechanisms during thermal processing of foods; food automation and control; smart food systems; storage reaction kinetics of biotechnology-derived products; mechanical properties of food and other biological materials; dielectric properties of food and other biological materials; new technologies in food processing; constitutive models for bulk foods; microscopic approach for load response of granular materials; thermophysical properties of freezing and frozen foods; failure mechanisms of food and other biological materials; computer models of food products during microwave heating; numerical modeling of food processing operations; microwave processing of foods; food safety during minimal and added-value processing; industrial microbiology/fermentation.
