Search

Purpose: This research aims to identify Brazil's socioeconomic vulnerability to wicked multi-problems arising from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (2019–2020), from the most extensive (∼ 3,000 km) oil spill in tropical oceans (2019/2020) and from the highest rate of wildfires in the last decade. Design/methodology/approach: To this end, the authors measured the socioeconomic vulnerabilities of the 27 Brazilian states to these multi-problems (COVID-19 + Oil Spill + wildFire), considering the effects of these events individually and together. In addition, the authors calculated the vulnerability indices using two variables: production value and number of jobs created by an economic activity. Findings: Results show the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro as the most susceptible, with a potential loss of 74.2% in production value and 47% in active employment relationships, caused by these overlapping events in time. The results also demonstrate that the country has failed in the coordination and management of these events (separately and jointly), showing difficulties especially in the stages of immediate response and recovery. Originality/value: Regarding its contributions, this paper innovates by establishing an unprecedented overlap of wicked problems, linking this concept to the analysis of socioeconomic vulnerability of the affected communities, through a model that applies to other regions worldwide. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-09-2021-0536 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coffee beverage quality is highly correlated with the degree of fruit ripeness. In this sense, monitoring fruit ripeness is of utmost importance for harvest planning and, especially for obtaining high-quality beverages. Currently, this process is carried out through manual counts of unripe fruits, which is laborious and limited to a few plants within the field. This study aimed at evaluating the potential of a low-cost multispectral camera for coffee ripeness monitoring in the Zona da Mata region of Minas Gerais State, Brazil. For that, five fields of Arabica coffee with distinct characteristics were evaluated. During the coffee ripeness period, four flights were carried using a Phantom 4 Pro quadcopter equipped with a Mapir Survey 3W camera for imagery acquisition. After that, nine vegetation indices (VIs) were obtained. For the same dates, the percentage of unripe fruits was obtained using an irregular grid in all fields. The data was split into two ripeness classes: suitable for harvest (R) with < 30% of unripe fruits; and not suitable for harvest (U), with > 30% of unripe fruits. Then, a principal component analysis was used to infer the importance of the VIs to discriminate plants with unripe fruits from those with ripe fruits. The first two principal components explained > 75% of the variance in the datasets from all coffee fields. The VIs were able to discriminate the ripeness classes (U and R) in most fields; however, their performance was directly influenced by the crop yield and canopy volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we point out the difficulties that the absent "sesmeiros" faced to preserve their properties usurped by administrators and occupied by squatters. We studied the specific case of the the noble portuguese from the D. Rodrigo de Souza Coutinho family, who saw the complete decay of their farms in the Minas Gerais captaincy in a progressive process occurred between the years 1742 and 1832. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coffee ripeness monitoring is a key indicator for defining the moment of starting the harvest, especially because the coffee quality is related to the fruit ripeness degree. The most used method to define the start of harvesting is by visual inspection, which is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and does not provide information on the entire area. There is a lack of new techniques or alternative methodologies to provide faster measurements that can support harvest planning. Based on that, this study aimed at developing a vegetation index (VI) for coffee ripeness monitoring using aerial imagery. For this, an experiment was set up in five arabica coffee fields in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. During the coffee ripeness stage, four flights were carried out to acquire spectral information on the crop canopy using two quadcopters, one equipped with a five-band multispectral camera and another with an RGB (Red, Green, Blue) camera. Prior to the flights, manual counts of the percentage of unripe fruits were carried out using irregular sampling grids on each day for validation purposes. After image acquisition, the coffee ripeness index (CRI) and other five VIs were obtained. The CRI was developed combining reflectance from the red band and from a ground-based red target placed on the study area. The effectiveness of the CRI was compared under different analyses with traditional VIs. The CRI showed a higher sensitivity to discriminate coffee plants ready for harvest from not-ready for harvest in all coffee fields. Furthermore, the highest R2 and lowest RMSE values for estimating the coffee ripeness were also presented by the CRI (R2: 0.70; 12.42%), whereas the other VIs showed R2 and RMSE values ranging from 0.22 to 0.67 and from 13.28 to 16.50, respectively. Finally, the study demonstrated that the time-consuming fieldwork can be replaced by the methodology based on VIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Agricultural mechanization for an effective harvesting of macaw palm fruits. • Mechanical vibrations can be applied for macaw palm fruit mechanical harvesting. • A harvester machine prototype was evaluated for harvesting macaw palm fruits. • Prototype operational performance and mechanical injuries in fruits were evaluated. • Mechanical vibrations are applicable and promising for macaw palm fruit harvesting. The macaw palm (Acrocomia aculeata) is native to Brazil and is a promising crop for oil extraction for biodiesel production. Production methods are still lacking, as well as the in-depth knowledge required for domestication and improved fruit harvesting. The use of mechanical vibrations, which is well established in crops such as coffee, may help to develop harvesting methods. Therefore, this study evaluated the operational performance of a semi-mechanized macaw palm fruit harvester prototype. The prototype was evaluated in field tests conducted in Araponga, Minas Gerais, with plants originating from accessions in Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso do Sul. The evaluations were based on data involving operational capacity, operational efficiency and damage to fruits. The prototype presented an average operational capacity of over 90 %, thus validating the use of mechanical vibrations for macaw palm fruit harvesting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]