With increasing temperatures and an escalation in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, agricultural productivity remains at risk of being compromised. With the food security of millions threatened, there remains a need to develop alternative, sustainable production models which can thrive in the face of climate change.Advances in plant factories: New technologies in indoor vertical farming reviews the wealth of research on optimising plant...

This book features five peer-reviewed reviews on machine vision applications in agriculture.The first chapter examines recent advances in machine vision technologies for the measurement of soil texture, structure and topography. The chapter also provides an overview of the basic principles of machine vision technologies, focussing on areas such as 3D surface modelling.The second chapter considers the use of machine learning methods to classify multiple diseases across sever...

The agricultural industry is dealing with enormous challenges across the globe, including the limited availability of arable lands and fresh water, as well as the effect of climate change. Machinery plays a crucial role in agriculture and farming systems, in order to feed the world’s growing population. In the last decade, we have witnessed major advances in agricultural machinery and technologies, particularly as manufacturers and researchers develop and apply various novel ways of automa...

Plant Factory: An Indoor Vertical Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production provides information on a field that is helping to offset the threats that unusual weather and shortages of land and natural resources bring to the food supply. As alternative options are needed to ensure adequate and efficient production of food, this book represents the only available resource to take a practical approach to the planning, design, and implementation of plant factory (PF) practices to yi...

The first book in this rapidly expanding area, Computer Vision Technology for Food Quality Evaluation thoroughly discusses the latest advances in image processing and analysis. Computer vision has attracted much research and development attention in recent years and, as a result, significant scientific and technological advances have been made in quality inspection, classification and evaluation of a wide range of food and agricultural products. This unique work provides engineers and tech...

The International Conference on Phytochemistry, Textile, & Renewable Energy Technologies for Sustainable Development (ICPTRE 2020) was hosted by the World bank funded Africa Centre of Excellence in Phytochemicals, Textile and Renewable Energy (ACEII-PTRE) based at Moi University in conjunction with Donghua University, China and the Sino–Africa International Symposium on Textiles and Apparel (SAISTA). The theme of the conference was Advancing Science, Technology and Innovation for Industria...

The aim of the book is to introduce the state-of-the-art technologies in the field of robotics, mechatronics and automation in agriculture in order to summarize and review the improvements in the methodologies in agricultural robotics.Advances made in the past decades are described, including robotics for agriculture, mechatronics for agriculture, kinematics, dynamics and control analysis of agricultural robotics, and a wide range of topics in the field of robotics, mechatronics an...

The MBR Book covers all essential aspects of membrane bioreactors in water and wastewater treatment, including the working principles of MBR technologies. The book aims to separate science from engineering, in an attempt to avoid confusion and to help readers understand the ideas of MBR. The text is divided into five chapters; the membrane and biological aspects are discussed in chapter 2 along with scientific studies. The third chapter covers the design, operation, and maintenance of MBR,...

The implementation of robotics and automation in the food sector offers great potential for improved safety, quality and profitability by optimising process monitoring and control. Robotics and automation in the food industry provides a comprehensive overview of current and emerging technologies and their applications in different industry sectors.Part one introduces key technologies and significant areas of development, including automatic process control and robotics in the food industry...

This open access book, written by world experts in aquaponics and related technologies, provides the authoritative and comprehensive overview of the key aquaculture and hydroponic and other integrated systems, socio-economic and environmental aspects. Aquaponic systems, which combine aquaculture and vegetable food production offer alternative technology solutions for a world that is increasingly under stress through population growth, urbanisation, water shortages, land and soil degradatio...

This open-access textbook provides a comprehensive, up-to-date guide for students and practitioners wishing to access in a single volume the key disciplines and principles of wheat breeding. Wheat is a cornerstone of food security: it is the most widely grown of any crop and provides 20% of all human calories and protein. The authorship of this book includes world class researchers and breeders whose expertise spans cutting-edge academic science all the way to impacts in farmers’ fields. T...

With pressure increasing to utilise wastes and residues effectively and sustainably, the production of biogas represents one of the most important routes towards reaching national and international renewable energy targets. The biogas handbook: Science, production and applications provides a comprehensive and systematic guide to the development and deployment of biogas supply chains and technology.Following a concise overview of biogas as an energy option, part one explores biomass resourc...