Unanswered questions and unquestioned answers: the challenges of crop residue retention and weed control in Conservation Agriculture systems of southern Africa

Christian Thierfelder Blessing Mhlanga Hambulo Ngoma Paswel Marenya Md Abdul Matin Adane Tufa (2024, [Artículo])

Production and utilization of crop residues as mulch and effective weed management are two central elements in the successful implementation of Conservation Agriculture (CA) systems in southern Africa. Yet, the challenges of crop residue availability for mulch or the difficulties in managing weed proliferation in CA systems are bigger than a micro-level focus on weeds and crop residues themselves. The bottlenecks are symptoms of broader systemic complications that cannot be resolved without appreciating the interactions between the current scientific understanding of CA and its application in smallholder systems, private incentives, social norms, institutions, and government policy. In this paper, we elucidate a series of areas that represent some unquestioned answers about chemical weed control and unanswered questions about how to maintain groundcover demanding more research along the natural and social sciences continuum. In some communities, traditional rules that allow free-range grazing of livestock after harvesting present a barrier in surface crop residue management. On the other hand, many of the communities either burn, remove, or incorporate the residues into the soil thus hindering the near-permanent soil cover required in CA systems. The lack of soil cover also means that weed management through soil mulch is unachievable. Herbicides are often a successful stopgap solution to weed control, but they are costly, and most farmers do not use them as recommended, which reduces efficacy. Besides, the use of herbicides can cause environmental hazards and may affect human health. Here, we suggest further assessment of the manipulation of crop competition, the use of vigorously growing cover crops, exploration of allelopathy, and use of microorganisms in managing weeds and reducing seed production to deplete the soil weed seed bank. We also suggest in situ production of plant biomass, use of unpalatable species for mulch generation and change of grazing by-laws towards a holistic management of pastures to reduce the competition for crop residues. However, these depend on the socio-economic status dynamics at farmer and community level.

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA INTEGRATED CROP-LIVESTOCK SYSTEMS CROP RESIDUES ZERO TILLAGE SOCIAL NORMS SUSTAINABLE INTENSIFICATION WEED CONTROL

El IMTA y el control biológico de maleza acuática en distritos de riego del país (experiencias desde 1990)

OVIDIO CAMARENA MEDRANO (2012, [Libro])

Este trabajo pretende dejar constancia de la trayectoria del Programa de Control de Maleza Acuática y de sus logros, además de plantear la necesidad de que las propuestas se consideren en la política nacional de manejo de maleza acuática, para obtener un mejor aprovechamiento de los recursos agua y suelo en los distritos de riego.

Control de maleza Malezas acuáticas Distritos de riego Control biológico INGENIERÍA Y TECNOLOGÍA

Evaluación del funcionamiento hidráulico de las estructuras de descarga y análisis del comportamiento térmico de la cortina del proyecto Bicentenario, ubicado en el sitio Los Pilares, sobre el río Mayo, Sonora

JUAN ANTONIO LOPEZ OROZCO (2018, [Documento de trabajo])

El proyecto ha tenido como objetivo la realización de un estudio hidrológico con el fin de obtener la avenida de diseño de la obra de excedencias de la presa Bicentenario, por un periodo de retorno de 10,000 años, mediante el análisis de gastos máximos anuales registrados en la estación hidrométrica San Bernardo y mediante la modelación del proceso lluvia escurrimiento. La determinación de la avenida de diseño (para el periodo de retorno de 10,000 años) se realizó mediante dos criterios: el primero, a través de un análisis del escurrimiento, el cual consistió en el análisis de frecuencias de gastos máximos registrados en dicha estación hidrométrica, y el segundo, mediante la modelación del proceso lluvia escurrimiento.

Presas Control de crecidas Evaluación del riesgo INGENIERÍA Y TECNOLOGÍA

Regulación de una red de canales de riego

FELIPE BENJAMIN DE LEON MOJARRO VICTOR MANUEL RUIZ CARMONA LUIS RENDON PIMENTEL (2002, [Artículo])

La mayor parte de la producción agrícola de México se genera en las zonas denominadas distritos y unidades de riego. En estas áreas, la disponibilidad y la competencia por el agua ha obligado a emprender programas de tecnificación integral que permitan mejorar el uso eficiente del agua y su productividad. Así, de 1996 a 2001 se tecnificaron alrededor de 700 mil hectáreas con sistemas de riego de baja y alta presión y se construyeron redes colectivas de baja presión en superficies de 500 a 4000 hectáreas en varios de estos distritos. Asimismo, la transformación de los sistemas de riego parcelario y de la distribución inter-parcelaria necesita de un cambio en la regulación de los canales principales, a fin de que se pueda brindar a los usuarios un servicio de riego flexible, seguro, equitativo y eficiente. En varias zonas de riego del país los canales laterales se han sustituido por redes colectivas de baja presión, entubadas con materiales plásticos y alimentadas por estaciones de bombeo o por los propios canales cuando ha existido carga suficiente. La regulación de canales de riego consiste en optimar el proceso de conducción y distribución del agua desde la fuente de abastecimiento hasta los sitios de utilización para satisfacer la demanda evapotranspirativa de los cultivos existentes en una zona de riego. Esta optimación consiste en generar y aplicar reglas de control para adaptar el transporte y la distribución del agua en los canales principales a los programas de extracción de las tomas laterales. Aunque la regulación de canales puede abordarse bajo diferentes puntos de vista, la metodología de regulación propuesta resulta fácilmente adaptable a redes de canales de diferente configuración sujetas a variaciones temporales. Los resultados obtenidos permiten concluir que la aplicación de la teoría de control en la regulación de canales es una alternativa que ayuda a reducir las pérdidas de agua debidas a la operación, así como a mejorar el servicio de la irrigación en los distritos de riego.

Regulación de canales Algoritmos de control CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA

Object manipulation by collaborative autonomous underwater vehicles driven by a model-free second-order sliding mode controller with finite-time convergence

JOSUE GONZALEZ GARCIA (2023, [Artículo])

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5657-380X

The use of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) has expanded in recent years to include them in inspection, maintenance, and repair missions. These missions require the automation of tasks such as autonomous navigation and station-keeping, which are pretty challenging due to the complexity of the vehicle itself and the underwater environment. Traditional control strategies have been used to deal with those problems before, but their performance is limited since they do not consider non-linearities, external disturbances, or model uncertainties. Non-traditional controllers have been explored too, but have shortcomings such as being model-based, parameter-dependant, or so. Additionally, the nature of some objects implies the involvement of multiple vehicles to manipulate them, making the manipulation mission even harder. Collaboration of AUVs is a strong challenge since underwater communications are limited or null. An advanced control strategy dealing with the trajectory tracking and the station-keeping problem would be desirable for simplicity and robustness. If this controller could also help coordinate multiple vehicles without requiring them to communicate with each other, it would make collaborative manipulation tasks reachable. For this purpose, a model-free high-order Sliding Mode Controller (SMC) is presented in this project. Unlike other control approaches, the proposed control strategy achieves finite-time convergence to a practical zero error in a time-base that the user can arbitrarily define. This characteristic will be used to coordinate the navigation of two AUVs to manipulate an object underwater. The performance of the proposed controller was evaluated by numerical simulations and experiments in a semi-Olympic swimming pool and compared with classic and state-of-the-art control strategies regarding trajectory tracking and station-keeping problems. Results have shown that the proposed controller can achieve finite-time convergence of the tracking errors to a practical zero value in the predefined time-base. Results also demonstrated that the convergence time could be arbitrarily selected by the user and achieved by the controller resulting in, as far as the author knows, the first controller with this characteristic for AUVs navigation. The simulations and experiments also showed that the proposed controller outperformed classical and state-of-the-art controllers regarding the Root Mean Square of the tracking errors and energy consumption. Finally, the proposed model-free high-order SMC coordinated two BlueROV2 vehicles in a collaborative manipulation mission without vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Numerical simulation results confirmed that the proposed controller could manage the vehicles to follow a predefined coordinated trajectory to approach, grip, transport, and release an object without communicating with each other.

Doctor of Philosophy In Engineering Science

INGENIERÍA Y TECNOLOGÍA CIENCIAS TECNOLÓGICAS TECNOLOGÍA DE LA INSTRUMENTACIÓN INGENIERÍA DE CONTROL INGENIERÍA Y TECNOLOGÍA CIENCIAS TECNOLÓGICAS TECNOLOGÍA NAVAL VEHÍCULOS SUBMARINOS

Investigation of the impact of Arundo donax in Mexico and evaluation of candidate biological control agents

MARICELA MARTINEZ JIMENEZ (2018, [Documento de trabajo])

The arrival and spread of non-native species into new environments is a serious threat to ecosystems, that is the case of Arundo donax L. (Poaceae Arundinoideae), a perennial grass native to the western Mediterranean to India. Arundo donax was introduced to North America from the Iberian Peninsula within the last 500 years and is now a widespread and invasive weed in the Rio Grande Basin, (the border line between Mexico and the United States) and in almost all the basins in Mexico. This plant is extremely invasive and damaging, affecting especially water supplies. In many parts of Mexico, precipitation and inflows periodically decline and result in a drought, for this reason water conservation programs have to consider the inclusion of control programs of this plant. In Mexico, A. donax is managed by cutting the stems, which is ineffective because of prolific asexual reproduction from an extensive rhizome system, and by using herbicides. However, evidence of serious harm to health and the environment of chemical control indicates that the herbicides are not desirable for it use in shorelines of water bodies where Arundo's infestations are established.

Especies invasoras Impacto ambiental Control de malezas Control biológico BIOLOGÍA Y QUÍMICA

Chapter 20. Insect resistance

Wuletaw Tadesse Marion Harris Leonardo Abdiel Crespo Herrera Zakaria Kehel (2022, [Capítulo de libro])

Gene Introgression Insect Resistance CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA BREEDING GENETICS INSECT CONTROL

Gender dynamics of weed management under conservation agriculture: Insights from the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia

Hom Nath Gartaula (2021, [Objeto de congreso])

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA GENDER WEED CONTROL CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE ZERO TILLAGE

Monitoreo de playas prioritarias

NORMA RAMIREZ SALINAS JUAN LEODEGARIO GARCIA ROJAS (2012, [Documento de trabajo])

Se presentan los resultados obtenidos en la prueba, para Enterococos en agua de mar, llevada a cabo en 37 playas de Campeche, Chiapas, Guerrero, Jalisco, Nayarit y Veracruz.

Control de calidad del agua Análisis bacteriológico Agua de mar Campeche Chiapas Guerrero Jalisco Nayarit Veracruz INGENIERÍA Y TECNOLOGÍA

Editorial: The Approach to Complex Systems in Fisheries

César Augusto Salinas Zavala MARIA VERONICA MORALES ZARATE ANDRES MIGUEL CISNEROS MONTEMAYOR Luis Antonio Bojórquez Tapia (2022, [Artículo])

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA CIENCIAS AGRARIAS PECES Y FAUNA SILVESTRE DINÁMICA DE LAS POBLACIONES DINÁMICA DE LAS POBLACIONES