17 pages, The purpose of the study was to design a device for the dissolution of fertilizers for agricultural use in an automatic and environmentally sustainable way to facilitate the work of farmers. To achieve this goal, an outdated blade design was used, which generates turbulent and laminar flows thanks to the angle of inclination of its blades. In tests, the combination of these two flows gave a better result compared to laminar and turbulent flows separately. The best results were achieved by varying the spin and speed, the time between spins, and the rest time. The time it would take to dissolve the mixture was drastically reduced if it were conducted in the traditional way (manually) or compared with commercial mixers. In conclusion, the technique used for the dissolution of agricultural minerals is more effective and reduces time, energy, and effort. This was able to reduce the time necessary to dissolve the fertilizer by 93 percent compared to doing it manually and by 66 percent compared to using commercial mixers, in a solution of 100 L of water per 100 kg of ammonium sulfate.
19 pages, Farmers are often overlooked and undervalued as sources of innovation, but can be powerful drivers of ingenuity and development. We evaluate historical developments in the Australian subterranean clover seed-production industry as a case study of farmer-driven innovation. Subterranean clover seed machinery patents (75% of which were patented by farmers) are analysed using conventional innovation frameworks, such as the theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ), to extract lessons for supporting farmer-driven innovation. The small scale of this industry, compared with mainstream cereal-cropping industries and the isolation of farmers, provides analogous lessons for agriculture in developing countries. Economic drivers are important in enabling farmer innovation and the value proposition for developing new inventions must be clear to justify the time and expense. Farmers are different from firms and their on-farm knowledge and experience can form an essential part of innovation. Drivers of innovation also differ, with farmers less likely to attempt to commercialize inventions. Farmers can also be hesitant to share their inventions, instead holding them as trade secrets in competitive industries. Support and collaboration are needed from government and researchers to assist in commercialization or dissemination of useful innovations and to prevent knowledge from being confined to a localized farmer or region. Advances in agriculture require farmer input in research and development, but the benefits will be greater if farmers are enabled to be drivers of innovation.
USA: Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D11974
Notes:
1 page, Online from publisher website., Poster features 11 hand signals developed by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers to enhance communication and promote farm safety.
Describes an expanded farmers, farming and agriculture presence in the John Deere exhibit at CES, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, "world's largest technology event."
