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The paper aimed to present the evaluation of the allelopathic effect of the essential oil (EO) of hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis L.) obtained from a new Romanian variety ('Catalina' variety), on seed germination and seedling growth. As biological material, seeds from two weed species were used: green foxtail (Setaria viridis), Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense) and two vegetable species: lettuce ('May King' variety) and spinach ('Matador' variety). The main compounds identified in EO were: cis-pinocamphone (34.57%), trans-pinocamphone (13.73%), along with ß-pinene (13.32%), ß-phellandrene (9.51%) and germacrene-D (5.38%). The obtained results demonstrated that EO had an allelopathic effect, inhibiting/stimulating seed germination and subsequent seedling development. However, the concentrations that showed inhibition/stimulation effect were different depending on the seed species tested. The study demonstrated possible allelopathic effects of EO from hyssop 'Cătălina', on weed and vegetable seed germination. The obtained results can be used in the future, for the development of commercial products with bioherbicidal action, but additionally, thorough research is needed regarding the mechanism of action, EO encapsulation, testing in field conditions, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wastewater contains essential nutrients for crops, and after proper treatment its reuse is beneficial to farmers in arid and semi-arid areas. Electrooxidation is an environmentally friendly technology used for treatment of domestic, industrial and agrozootechnical wastewater. During electrooxidation, organic compounds are oxidized at the interface between the anode and the aqueous solution, as a result of the reduction reaction at the cathode. Tests were performed on wastewater collected from the lagoon of a cattle farm, using an electrooxidation cell with stainless steel electrodes. The removal of pH, conductivity, turbidity, color, total N, total P, COD and BOD was investigated at specific voltages of 0.025 V cm-2, 0.05 V cm-2 and 0.1 V cm-2 and various electrolysis times (15, 30, 60 and 120 minutes). Results show that electrooxidation is effective in reducing total N by 24 %, total P by 47 %, BOD by 47 % and COD by 82 %. After completion of tests, the suspended solids were decanted towards the anode area, due to the action of coagulant Fe2+/Fe3+ ions formed by anode dissolution, and the water was clarified. The effluent complies with the standards to be reused to irrigate crops tolerant to salinity grown in permeable soils.

Soil is one of the natural reservoirs of the carbon biogeochemical cycle, incorporating approximately 6000 billion tons of carbon. Given that with the industrial development more and more carbon is emitted into the atmosphere, solutions, technologies and methods are being sought to reduce this carbon or, where appropriate, it is not eliminated into the atmosphere. The purpose of this paper is to study and identify the simplest methods to be applied in agriculture, for soil processing, by identifying the techniques, technologies and equipment to achieve this without turning the furrow, so that the carbon incorporated in the soil by plants remains sequestered there.

Micro and macroalgae are renewable and carbon-neutral sources of energy that can grow naturally or can be cultivated in nutrient-rich wastewater, without compromising the production of food crops. Microalgae use nutrients, accumulate heavy metals and reduce coliform bacteria from wastewater, thus contributing to their phytoremediation. Furthermore, the conversion of algae biomass into biofuels contributes to reducing the dependence on fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. Depending on the species and cultivation method, microalgae have a very fast growth rate (12 days) and their potential to produce biodiesel is 15 to 300 times higher than that of agricultural and energy crops conventionally used for biofuels. Lipid content in microalgae can reach 75-80% by weight of dry biomass. To produce 39 billion liters of biodiesel, 15 million tons of nitrogen and 2 million tons of phosphorus are required during the growth process of microalgae. From algae cultivated in 500 billion m3 of industrial wastewater, approximately 37 million tons of oil can be extracted that can be transformed into biodiesel. However, there are also challenges in large-scale utilization of microalgae, due to the high energy input, technical difficulties encountered in harvesting unicellular microalgae, and the need for subsequent pretreatment operations to improve lipid extraction. This paper reviews the potential of microalgae species to thrive in wastewater and the technological achievements in converting microalgae biomass for the sustainable biodiesel production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking into consideration the circular economy context, from cereal production and processing result by-products and residues which can be transformed into the new raw materials. Straw, husks, brans, flours, bread waste, confectionary waste, so on, can be re-used using different processes such as: extraction, fermentation, microorganism cultivation, for obtaining added value products. These new products obtained can be: biofuels, enzymes, biodegradable material food contact, single cell protein, bio-adsorbent, nanoparticles, bio alcohol, bioactive compounds like fibres, phytochemicals, minerals, so on. This paper is a short review regarding sharing knowledge and good practices in implementing circular economy within food systems, specifically, cereal supply chain.

Soil degradation by artificial compaction is recognized by the European Union as a major environmental and agricultural problem. Artificial compaction has worsened with the intensification of mechanized agriculture where heavier machinery is used, often moving on soils with high moisture. Experimental research was designed to determine the influence of five wheel loads and tire inflation pressures, on the contact area, the shape of footprint and the contact pressure, under the wheel of a machine for high accuracy application of phytosanitary treatments in orchards. It was found that the only situation when compaction does not occur is when the tank is empty (2.45 kN wheel load), at lowest tire inflation pressure of 100 kPa. Subsoil compaction (at 0.3-0.4 m) occurs when the sprayer machine’s tank is filled with different amounts of liquid. With empty tank, the sprayer only causes topsoil compaction.

In 2020, the world production of poultry meat was about 136 million tons. All stages of the poultry processing flow generate large amounts of waste and by-products such as hatching remains, poultry litter, bones, fats, trimmings, skin, feathers, organs, viscera, skulls, urine, blood, wastewater, stomach and intestinal contents. These waste are organic in nature, so they decompose quickly and can pollute the environmental factors. This paper aims to highlight some important aspects related to the poultry industry and to analyze each category of waste and by-products generated in the technological flow in poultry slaughterhouses. We also present the current methods of valorizing the waste from poultry meat industry, through which different value-added products are obtained, as routes to align with the concept of sustainable development which aims to achieve food security, environmental protection and energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to climate change and human activity, biotic constrainers are anticipated to expand to regions where they were previously irrelevant. This will present new management challenges for crops, particularly in cropping systems dependent on minor cereals diversification. In Central and Eastern Europe, Secale cereale is a minor cereal that contributes to the diversity of crop species, particularly in marginal areas where wheat cultivation is unfavourable. During 2020-2021, using different chemical and biological pesticide formulations, a plant-pest-pathogen interaction profile was observed on Suceveana rye genotype in a randomized complete block design with three replications in dry area from South of Romania. The best protection against leaf rust (Puccinia recondita f. sp. secalis) was provided by Poliversum (Pythium oligandrum M1, 1×10.000.000 oospors/g product) for the 1st assessment - attack degree = 0.65% and for the 2nd assessment - attack degree = 1.42%, while against pests was provided by Bioinsekt and deltametrin (0.75 ml/ha). Negative and significant correlation of leaf rust attack with grain yield (r =-0.8561***) and pests attack with grain yield (r =-0.8631***) were found during 2020-2021 cropping season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food security is currently one of the main issues within the social policy of any civilized country. The preservation of food products, including those from the vegetable - horticultural sector, is performed according to a series of principles and methods that involve compliance with certain technologies depending on the purpose of the method. The paper presents aspects regarding the preservation of food products with the help of high pressures, as well as the current stage of the realization of technical equipment that uses this technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To mitigate the effects of water scarcity in arid areas and to meet the increasing need of water in arid and non-arid areas, wastewater reuse for irrigation became a usual practice. Raw wastewater contains excreted organisms and pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fecal coliforms and intestinal helminthes) which can be inactivated or removed by disinfection. In developing countries lacking sanitation systems, wastewater is rarely treated for safe reuse, so farm workers, crop handlers and consumers are exposed to diseases. Women are particularly exposed to skin irritations and infections by H. Pylori, E. coli, Salmonella and rotavirus, as they do more work to produce vegetables and prepare meals. Typhoid fever, cholera and diarrheal disease are transmitted by consumption of fresh vegetables contaminated by wastewater. Between 6-8% of children and 2% of immunosuppressed adults are infected with Giardia and Cryptopsporidium, which cause them diarrheal disease, the second leading cause of 800,000 deaths of young children/year in developing countries. This paper reviews the primary routes of exposure to health risks associated with wastewater reuse in agriculture, highlighting the role of excreted microorganisms in disease occurrence in people coming in direct contact with wastewater and in consumers of crops irrigated with untreated wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to evaluate the essential oils (EOs) obtained from two medicinal plants belonging to the genus Ocimum sp. These were compared in terms extraction yield and analysis of EOs compounds using GC/MS (content, chemical composition and quantitative dosage of some compounds: linalool, estragole and eugenol). Ocimum basilicum L., fam. Lamiaceae with 2 cultivars: Yellow basil (Ocimum basilicum L., 'Aromat de Buzău' variety), Purple basil (Ocimum basilicum cv. purpurascens, 'Seraphim' variety) and Holy basil (Tulsi) was used in the experiments. Extraction yields obtained: 5 ml EO/1 kg plant material for Yellow basil, 1 ml EO/1 kg plant material for Purple basil and 0.9 ml EO/1 kg plant material for Tulsi. Twenty-six compounds of the Yellow basil, sixteen compounds of the Purple cultivar and twenty-eight compounds in Tulsi and were identified using GC/MS. Linalool (46.70%-48.52%), Estragole (31.50% for the 'Aromat de Buzău' variety) and Eugenol (13.18% for the 'Seraphim' variety and 35.85% for the Tulsi) were dosed quantitatively and identified as the main and common compounds, for the essential oils obtained from the two species of Basil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Europe, 2.52 kg nitrogen and 0.51 kg phosphorous / inhabitant / year are discharged in wastewater. Conventional biological and chemical methods for wastewater treatment are costly and not fully efficient in removing nutrients, and the discharge of effluents in rivers and lakes enhances the eutrophication. The use of microalgae species to remove nutrients available in wastewater, as a sustainable and low-cost treatment option, and also the use of different systems for algal cultivation in wastewater, aiming to obtain biomass and bio-products, is a growing field of research. Green microalgae, especially Chlorella species, play an important role in wastewater treatment while producing algal biomass, with numerous studies proving the high potential of Chlorella to consume nutrients from different categories of wastewater: municipal wastewater, wastewater from agriculture, wastewater from zootechnics, industrial wastewater. Cultivated in autotrophic, heterotrophic or mixotrophic conditions, in open or closed systems, microalgae have an important role in reducing greenhouse gases, consuming 1.83 kg CO2 / kg dry algal biomass. Algal biomass can be capitalized to obtain many value-added products, including biofuels. The aim of this study is to review the advances in the utilization of microalgae Chlorella vulgaris in the treatment of municipal and zootechnical wastewater, emphasizing the removal of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging contaminants are micropollutants found in wastewater, such as antibiotics widely applied to prevent or treat human and animal diseases, and steroid hormones used for animal fattening. Anaerobic processes are widely applied in the treatment of swine, cattle and poultry wastewater, but their performance can be diminished by the inhibition effect of antibiotics. Emerging contaminants cannot be entirely removed by conventional wastewater treatment. They accumulate in sludge and manure applied as fertilizers on the agricultural soil, resulting in localized contamination of surface and ground waters. Released in the environment, the emerging contaminants have ecotoxicological effects in aquatic and terrestrial organisms and human health: feminization of aquatic organisms, bacterial resistance, endocrine disruption, neurotoxicity and cancer. Emerging contaminants endanger the reuse of treated wastewater for irrigation of vegetable and energy crops, a regular practice among farmers trying to overcome water scarcity in arid and semiarid areas. The uptake and bioaccumulation of emerging contaminants in plants and fodders and their subsequent entry in the human food chain have been gaining attention over the last decade. This paper provides a review on the existence and the removal of antibiotics and steroid hormones in wastewater via different treatment technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents some aspects regarding the technology of hemp cultivation (or Canabis Sativa as its specialty designation), this plant having the greatest capacity of industrialization among all the technical plants: nothing is thrown away, everything is capitalized and the products obtained are of an outstanding variety, starting from the ordinary rope until the medicinal or cosmetic substances, vehicles or construction materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the climate changes have more and more manifested by prolonged draught periods, while population number is continuously growing, therefore the agricultural production per surface unit should be increased, in order to cover the people food needs. View the reduce water resources, promoting new techniques and technologies able to efficiently valorize the water coming from different sources, with reduced energy consume, is very important. In vineyards and orchards, water is conducted along the row or is uniformly stocked by means of continuous or interrupted (compartmented) furrows. This paper aims at analyzing the construction and operating method of a soil modelling equipment in compartmented furrows, simultaneously in two furrows in a single interval, PCVM2,2+EMBC2-0, in tree and vine plantations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is acknowledged that organic fertilizers and wastes, such as animal slurries/manure from intensive farm enterprise, sewage sludge, poultry litter are and will continue to be spread on agricultural land and provide beneficial nutrients to crops. However, many of these materials which are also potentially polluting if not properly managed can pose a risk to groundwater and surface water quality. Generally, their distribution on the soil is performed with specialized machines to reduce the risk of overdosing (pollution) or underdosing (inefficiency) with material. For these machines to be properly dimensioned it is necessary to create mathematical models that take into account the factors that influence the distribution of the material on the soil and which can be validated experimentally. This paper presents a mathematical model for organic waste (manure) movement containing second and first derivatives, based on force equilibrium. For simplicity, we divided the path of the material point into two parts: the first part consists of curved surface (helicoid), the second part consists of a parabolic one described in the air. The two movements are studied separately considering that particle position and speed at the end of motion should be the initial conditions of motion for the second path. There are taken into consideration the relations between design parameters of the distribution machine and the material used, relations that have logical-mathematical and theoretical foundations in classical mechanics. Also, an equation that is used to calculate the necessary time for the manure to reach the soil is given together with different working hypotheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a synthesis regarding bioreactors systems used at waste treatment in order to obtain bioenergy (biogas) by dry digestion. Biogas production is a good way of satisfying national and European regulations becoming more stringent in relation to the use of organic waste for energy production, followed by recycling as fertilizer. Biogas technologies contribute to reducing the volume of waste and of costs for their disposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of producing solid fuels from biomass has registered a considerable increase, due to the existence of important quantities of biomass that represent an important source of renewable energy. Pellets are one of the most common solid biofuels, being used for both household use and for producing energy. The article presents considerations on the production of pellets from various types of biomass using specially designed equipment and a series of considerations for the best parameters to be used for producing these types of pellets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper are presented as rich and updated information about the importance and the planting technology of Paulownia trees in order to capitalize the hardwood, with beautiful appearance, clean, smooth, free of knots and with a high degree of machinability,used for the manufacture of sawn wood,for the construction of yachts, light aircrafts, expensive furniture and musical instruments.The paper is aimed to the farmers with larger farms and to the sylviculturists which will plant this wonderful trees representing a sustainable source of biofuels, being an energetic plant which grows and is harvested like any tree, which may become firewood, briquettes, pellets and, although burns at higher temperatures, release large amounts of energy and can contribute to solving the global energy crisis [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper is presented an advanced methodology for the analysis of stress and strain distribution (statical structural analysis using the finite element method) in the working bodies of agricultural cultivators for seedbed preparation in order to optimize them. The geometrical model of soil working body was develoepd in SolidWorks format before being taken and transferred to the program of analysis with finite elenets (ANSYS), in order to perform the necessary resistance calculations made in linear static domain. The obtained results provide valuable information on proper geometric dimensioning of the working bodies of agricultural cultivators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biological fermentation represents one of the waste recycling technologies that can with stands a higher degree of waste capitalisation. It can be applied on wastes with a high organic content and it is possible to obtain a gaseous fuel (biogas) with different uses: heating, cooking, electricity generation, the leftover residues that represents a non-polluting material can be used with great results in agriculture as fertilizer.A number of factors including the type and composition of the substrate, temperature, pH, moisture content and the structure of the bioreactor influence the yield of biogas. Temperature has a major influence in biogas production obtain by anaerobic digestion. The temperature effect on biogas quantity obtain in a small capacity plant was studied in this paper. Experiments were done at a temperature of 25°C, 35°C, respectively 45°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]