ROMI stands for Robotics in Micro Farming-Sample

ROMI stands for Robotics in Micro Farming

 Jonathan Minchin describes how technology is being developed to support sustainable farming practices: With a new era of farmers, learn about robots for micro-farming.

In countryside, peri-urban, and metropolitan regions across Europe, a young generation of farmers is creating tiny inventive market gardens.

On tiny surfaces of fewer than 5 hectares, these farms frequently cultivate polycultures of up to 100 distinct types every year.

Polyculture and organic microforms are proven to be very profitable, ecological, and cost-effective, making them valuable instruments for future agricultural growth.

ROMI is a four-year H2020 research project sponsored by the European Union that aims to promote ecologically, localized, and human-scale agriculture. It is creating a cost-effective, versatile platform made up of robotic equipment, data, software, and shareable documentation to assist agricultural communities in increasing productivity and improving working conditions. A land-based robot, aerial robotic equipment such as a suspended cable box for polytunnels, a drone for crop management, and a 3D scanner for quantitative traits in indoor and outdoor contexts are all being developed by ROMI.

In Europe, small organic farms are scalable enterprises.

A notable tendency in the growth of farms in European agricultural systems may be observed: on the one hand, a rising number of larger farms, and on the other hand, a growing number of micro-farms (less than 5 ha). To date, small farms account for the great majority of European farms, with 81.6 percent of EU-12 holdings having less than 5 ha of UAA, compared to 54.5 percent in EU-15. Micro-farms can be financially profitable: according to recent research released by AgroParisTech (France), 1000 m2 of the planted area can produce a crop worth 57,300 euros with 1600 hours of labor.

Micro-farms enable local people to be fed.

We can expect a rise in agricultural output as a result of technological advancement. Precision farming was valued at $2.8 billion in 2015, and it is predicted to expand at a rate of 12% each year. However, this innovation now helps only a small number of bigger farms, further isolating micro-farms that rely on conventional agricultural practices that require a lot of human labor, resulting in physically demanding working conditions. Tractors are not a feasible alternative in such tiny spaces because of incompatible technologies of scale, and they are not equipped to manage the intricacies of many crop varieties on the same field.

The goal is to make diversified cropping simpler and eliminate manual labor so that micro-farms may expand, diversify their operations, and remain viable. There is a pressing need to supply them with low-cost, easy-to-use tools and solutions.

Robotics facilitates the management of diversity.

The researchers behind ROMI think that computing and mechatronics have advanced to the point where they are capable of managing the intricate techniques of polyculture farming. In its third year of research, ROMI is adapting and expanding cutting-edge land-based and air-borne monitoring technologies, with the goal of releasing a lightweight, low-cost, and adaptable robotics platform that is modular, inexpensive, and simple to use.

Sony's land robot can both monitor and work on crops. These robots, when combined with aerial robotics, such as the cable box and drone devised by the Institute for Advanced Architecture (IAAC) and the Noumena team, form a forum capable of collecting a precise multi-scale picture of crop progress, from collective sample plants to an overall context of the cultivated landscape.

By integrating high-throughput data from the robot's cameras with computer models of plant growth, the research is exploring a novel technique for monitoring, interpreting, and predicting crop development.

Innovative 3D plant monitoring and modeling approaches for indoor and in-field data collecting are being developed as part of the project. To obtain physiologically relevant information for farmers, the ROMI team must also go far beyond the advances in outdoor phenotyping.

Phenotyping in the Field using Computer Vision and Active Vision

To that goal, the Adaptive Systems group at Berlin's Humboldt University is trying to apply to robots the concepts of the persistent, independent, open-ended educational process, artificial intelligence-driven by intrinsic desire and curiosity. These concepts will serve as the foundation for the live operation module, which will be able to align the camera and extract the most valuable information from the captured photos. Combining active vision with deep learning approaches for in-field profiling would be a milestone in how conventional modeling and deep learning techniques may be combined.

The MOSAIC group at Inria is at the forefront of formalized plant modeling and offers professional advice on reconstructing plant anatomy from raw data (images, point clouds). For so many years, Inria has collaborated with the CNRS's Reproduction and Development of Plants laboratory in Lyon. The geometric characteristics derived from in-field plant observations may provide fresh insights into the relationship between phenotypic and underlying ecological and evolutionary and genetic phenomena.

Rather than evaluating a limited handful of model plants in an extremely laboratory environment and then looking for ways to implement the observations of outdoor farming methods, this feature enables them to evaluate large data sets from farms and look for ways to connect observed phenomena noted by farmers to gain more insight from plant sciences.

The potential is enormous and expandable.

The use of the device and active vision for in-field profiling, notified by digital plant modeling, will not only benefit farms by offering advanced crop surveillance and prediction tools, however, the same data will also serve as the foundation for accurate numerical control (CNC) robot implementation at multiple scales. Farmers will be aided in repetitive yet highly skilled operations by the exact movements and positioning of equipment in complicated planting designs. Farmers will save 25% of their time with ROMI's weeding tool.

ROMI's practical research is guided by the knowledge of experienced agricultural communities, and it is field-tested over 4 seasons at two key locations: Chatelain Maraîchage near Paris and Valldaura

Self-sufficiency Labs near Barcelona. All ROMI outputs will be made available under public hardware/software licenses, allowing a social network to suggest, modify, and build additional features based on-farm needs.

Diseases and strain monitoring, sowing, harvesting, irrigation, soil, and genetic profiling may all be possible uses depending on these computerized and robotic techniques. We anticipate that the initiative will provide a piece of unique solid evidence piece of unique solid evidence, paving the way for the widespread adoption of information sharing among scientists and farmers who use microforms.

With its combined harvester,' an Indian business might transform the ocean farming-Sample

With its combined harvester,' an Indian business might transform the ocean farming.

 Seaweed, which is commonly used to wrap sushi and flavor soups has much more potential as a food and in a variety of applications ranging from pharmaceuticals and clothing to biodegradable materials and indeed biofuel.

Seaweed is usually cultivated in the water on ropes or nets, although modern processes create huge production nearly difficult. According to Shrikumar Suryanarayan, co-founder and CEO of India Sea6 Energy and former head of research and development at Biocon, an Indian pharmaceutical business focusing on biologically-sourced pharmaceuticals, ocean farming is still in the "stone ages." "It's like farming with a shovel and a picker."

With its "Sea Combine," a computerized catamaran that gathers and replants seaweed in the ocean, Sea6 Energy, which was founded in 2010, hopes to mechanize ocean farming in the same way that tractors did for farmland.

The machine moves back and forth between seaweed lines, collecting mature plants and replanting them with newly seeded lines.

A prototype is now being tested off the coast of Indonesia at the company's seaweed farm. According to Suryanarayan, the Southeast Asian nation has a long tradition of seaweed farming, which entails residents attaching bits of seaweed to ropes and dragging them out to sea before physically collecting the lines. The business plans to deploy additional Sea Combines as technology advances and the industry expands, especially in its native nation of India.

As per analytics company Fortune Business Insights, although the global seaweed sector grew in size between 2005 and 2015, producing 33 million metric tonnes in 2018, labor-intensive and expensive production is expected to stymie market growth.

According to Suryanarayan, the price of seaweed limits its potential applications, and in today's market, seaweed is often only financially sustainable for high-priced food uses.

Suryanarayan expects that the Sea Combine will reduce prices and make seaweed more affordable, allowing it to be utilized more extensively.

He believes that doing so will not harm local lives since village cooperatives will be able to lease the equipment, permitting them to farm a bigger area.

Fuel and food

According to Suryanarayan, the Sea Combine is only "a tool" in Sea6 Energy's larger business. According to him, the firm, which has garnered $20 million in investment, and now utilizes the seaweed gathered by the machine to make small-scale items like animal feed and agricultural fertilizer.

While Suryanarayan concedes the company's progress has been gradual, owing in part to a lack of funding in its early years, he feels it is now at an "inflection moment," with the foundations set, technology developed, and widespread interest in seaweed's ability to combat climate change.

The company's next move is to extend its line of seaweed-based goods, beginning with biopolymers, which it hopes to start producing within the next 4 years.

The EU has funded research on seaweed as a recyclable substitute for plastic over the past decade. Notpla, a London-based business, has already utilized seaweed to produce biodegradable drink and sauce containers.

Sea6 Energy is now working on its biopolymer to start replacing plastic and paper baggage.

The company's greatest objective, though, is to transform seaweed into biofuel, reducing India's reliance on crude oil. The company's scientific study indicates that it is technically doable, but Suryanarayan acknowledges that there is still a still far to go until becomes financially viable.

Vincent Doumeizel, head of the Lloyd's Register Foundation's Food Programme and senior advisor at the UN Global Compact (UNGC), the UN's corporate sustainability effort, is suspicious. "To create a few liters of oil, we'd need thousands and acres of seaweed," he tells CNN Business. "Using seaweed for biofuel is equivalent to using diamonds for pebbles in my opinion."

Instead, Sea6 Energy, according to Doumeizel, should concentrate on spaces where seaweed can make an instant influence. Because it contains substances that stop microbes in a cow's gut from producing methane, seaweed-enriched cattle feed can reduce bovine methane emissions; biodegradable plastics could play a part in carbon reduction; and the nutrient-dense plants could help support the increasing world population, he says.

But first, industry funding must increase, according to Doumeizel, who applauds firms who are developing technologies for large-scale production.

In this, Sea6 Energy is not alone. Seaweed Solutions of Norway created the "Seaweed Carrier," a sheet-like device capable of growing vast amounts of kelp in deep water and AtSeaNova of Belgium created a mobile seeding and harvesting system.

"One of the methods... to improve the planet's stability is through sea agriculture," adds Suryanarayan. "If we can prove that it is economically feasible, our job and mission will be fully accomplished."

What Does Aquaponics Mean? Definition, Advantages, and Drawbacks-Sample

What Does Aquaponics Mean? Definition, Advantages, and Drawbacks

GHG emissions are accounted for 25% of modern agriculture, forestry, and other land uses. Agriculture relies heavily on synthetic fertilizers to create food, which may be costly and pollute the environment. Is aquaponics a viable option for agriculture? What is aquaponics, and how is it diverse from hydroponics? What are some of the advantages of aquaponics?

What Does Aquaponics Mean? Basic Definition

Aquaponics is the production of plants and aquatic animals in a sequencing batch environment, as per a report issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization and SmartFish.

Aquaponics is a concept that combines the words aquaculture (fish farming in a contained environment) and hydroponics (the growing of plants usually in a soil-less environment). to express a connection between plants and fish.

Small indoor units to huge commercial units are available in aquaponic systems. They might be freshwater systems or systems that contain salt or brackish water.

In other aspects, aquaponics is the production of fish and plants in a built, recirculating environment using natural bacterial cycles to convert fish waste to plant nourishment, according to the Aquaponics Gardening Community, referenced by Thorarinsdottir. This is a sustainable, ecologically friendly food-growing system that combines the greatest features of aquaculture and hydroponics without the need to waste water or apply artificial fertilizers.

Understanding Aquaponics through Aquaculture

As the consumption of seafood has grown, science has enabled food to be grown in coastline marine waters and the marine environment, according to the National Ocean Service. Aquaculture is a way of producing food and other economic items, as well as restoring habitat and replenishing wild stocks, and rebuilding vulnerable and endangered animal populations.

Aquaculture is divided into two types: marine and freshwater. Aquaculture is also defined by the FAO as the regulated growing and harvesting of fish and other sea animal and plant species in captivity. Many aquatic animals, including fish, crabs, and mollusks, as well as aquatic plants and algae, have been farmed. Aquaculture production systems have been established in different parts of the world and have consequently been adapted to diverse environmental and climatic circumstances. Open water systems (e.g., cages, longlines), pond cultivation, flow-through water channels, and circulating aquaculture systems are the four basic kinds of aquaculture (RAS).

Using Hydroponics to Understand Aquaponics

There are alternatives to growing food straight from the earth. In a transcript from an FAO study, soil-less cultures are described as a method of cultivating agricultural crops without the need for soil. Various inert growth mediums, often known as substrates, are employed instead of soil.

Plant support and moisture retention are provided by these mediums. Irrigation systems are built into this medium, delivering nutritional solutions to the root zones of the plants.

This solution contains all of the nutrients required for plant development. Hydroponics is the most prevalent form of soilless growth, which involves growing plants with bare roots on a substrate or in an aqueous media.

What is the Process of Aquaponics? What's the Story Behind Aquaponics?

Fish consume the food and produce waste, which is transformed into fertilizers that the plants may utilize by helpful microorganisms. Plants assist to filter water by eating these nutrients.

In-Depth Look at Aquaponics Design

Aquaponics is a production technique that combines aquaculture with hydroponics. The food introduced for the fish serves as the system's input in aquaponics. As fish consume and assimilate this material, urine and feces are produced, both of which are high in ammonia and may be harmful to plants and fish in large quantities.

After that, the water (now ammonia-rich) passes from the fish tank into a biofilter, along with un-consumed food and decomposing plant materials. Bacteria then decompose it all back into natural nutrient solutions (nitrogen-rich) for growing plants within the biofilter.

As we can see, freshwater aquaponics systems rely on three primary elements: freshwater aquatic animals (fish), nitrifying bacteria, and plants - all of which are interdependent to live. Plants wouldn't have a viable form of nutrients if bacteria didn't devour the fish waste, which is why natural filtering is so important. Plant growth also removes nutrients from the water, maintaining it healthy of the fish.

Benefits of Aquaponics

As per the FAO, there are several advantages to using a system design like aquaponics to generate food. What are the advantages of aquaponics?

One of the advantages of aquaponics is that it allows for a more efficient food production system while yet remaining sustainable.

Aquaponics is the production of two economic products (fish and vegetables) from a single nitrogen source (fish food).

Aquaponics is a system that uses very little water. In fact, according to Nelson and Pade, aquaponics uses just 1/6th of the water that traditional agriculture does produce 8 times higher food per acre.

Because aquaponics does not require soil, it is immune to soil-borne infections.

Aquaponics does not necessitate the use of fertilizers or pesticides.

Higher yields and quality output are synonymous with aquaponics.

Aquaponics provides more biosecurity and fewer hazards from external pollutants.

Aquaponics provides for more production control (since it is easier than soil control), resulting in lesser losses.

Aquaponics may be employed in non-arable environments like as deserts, deteriorated soil, or salty, sandy islands.

Aquaponics produces less waste since it follows nature's cyclical pattern.

Aquaponics needs labor-saving daily duties, harvesting, and planting, making it suitable for people of all genders and ages.

Aquaponics can help landless and disadvantaged households secure food and small revenues by integrating livelihood options.

Aquaponics produces fish protein, which is a useful complement to many people's diets.

Aquaponics is a fully natural process that replicates all of the world's lakes, ponds, rivers, and waterways.

Aquaponics supplies sustenance in the form of both protein  (from the fish) and veggies from a nutritional viewpoint.

Weaknesses of Aquaponics:

There are two sides to every coin. Also, according to the FAO analysis, there are certain drawbacks to using an aquaponics system. So, what are aquaponics' shortcomings?

One of the aquaponics' flaws is it is extremely expensive initial start-up expenses (when compared to both hydroponics and soil production methods).

Aquaponics necessitates extensive knowledge of the natural world. Farmers must understand not just how to cultivate crops but also how fish and bacteria function to be successful. Also required are technical abilities in plumbing or wiring.

Following up on the previous point, finding a perfect match between the demands of fish and plants (such as pH, temperature, and substrate) can be difficult.

When compared to standalone aquaculture or hydroponics, aquaponics offers fewer management choices (a problem that will be discussed later).

Management errors can swiftly bring the system down;

Daily management is required, thus the organization is essential.

It has an energy demand, hence it has energy expenses.

Regular purchases of fish feed are required.

Aquaponics consumables alone aren't enough to offer a complete diet; therefore, an efficient aquaponics system requires excellent organic solid filtration, which is performed by bacteria or algae. Ineffective solid waste disposal causes more than two-thirds of aquaponics system failures.

Taking Care of an Aquaponics System

Aquaponics is a way of cultivating crops and other plants that is environmentally friendly. The plant "kingdom" replicates nature by repurposing scraps from the animal kingdom (fish) to complete a continuous cycle. However, obtaining and maintaining the system's balance, as well as ensuring ideal circumstances for the fish and plants, necessitates careful monitoring of several factors.

The following are the primary production characteristics that must be precisely regulated to satisfy the ideal demands of plants and fish:

The temperature of the air;

The temperature of water;

macro-and micronutrient concentrations

The amount of dissolved oxygen in air and water varies

depending on the filtering technology utilized.

CO2 levels in the air and the water;

pH;

Light.

The greater the system's production, the more "perfect" these characteristics are. Insects, illnesses, and other sorts of pollution can be avoided by paying attention to these aspects. Furthermore, establishing enough surface area to build a bacterial colony to convert all of the fish wastes while maintaining an optimal balance between fish waste and vegetable nutrient needs.

Aquaponics' Potential Applications

Aquaponics systems, according to the FAO, are made up of components that come in a variety of forms and sizes. From little goldfish and herb devices on kitchen tables to bigger systems growing silver perch fish and lettuce. More complicated machines can generate tonnes of fish and thousands of plants every month on an industrial scale.

Aquaponics' Current Applications:

1. Small-scale or domestic aquaponics system

This is a 1000-liter fish tank with a 3m2 growth area, excellent for residential production.

2. Aquaponics, both semi-commercial and commercial

This entails approaching an aquaponics system from the standpoint of a market with few participants due to high startup costs

3. Education Educational sites are using small aquaponics

Systems to fill the gap among the general population and sustainable agriculture practices.

4. Interventions in humanitarian relief and food security

Aquaponics systems may be utilized by pilots in poor nations to address local people's food security demands because they operate anywhere in the world.

Aquaponic Units Design

There are three primary aquaponics systems utilized worldwide, according to Thorarinsdottir: media bedding, floating rafts, or deep water culture (DWC), and nutrient film technology (NFT). The plant roots in the NFT (in a thin layer of water) and raft/DWC systems (floating rafts in big water tanks) grow straight into the water, whereas the media beds use varied media in an "ebb and flow" process.

Prospective plant nutrition research on a global scale-Sample

Prospective plant nutrition research on a global scale

The increased mass crop cultivation for biofuel, as well as the world's demand for more protein, particularly in the form of meat, have contributed to the challenge's complexity. A 60 percent increase in agricultural production will be required, with 90 percent of the increase coming from improving production efficiency and intensity. Because 50 percent of the world is now fed on food from fertilized areas, improving output will require a better understanding and control of plant nutrition as a fundamental goal.

"As long as agriculture remains a soil-based business, large advances in productivity are unlikely to be achieved without ensuring that plants have an appropriate and balanced source of nutrients," as Per Pinstrup Anderson, then Director-General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (FPRI), expressed it in 2000.

Between 1960 and 2020, the world's population will have tripled, but available agricultural land will have halved. To compound the problem, even though maize output has been steadily increasing at 120 kg per hectare per year, world per capita cereal production has remained unchanged. It fell from 374 kg per capita in 1985 to 340 kg per capita in 2007. (Figures 1 and 2).

In recent years, a new component has emerged: the notion of farming for health, which aims to promote human health as well as yield, soil fertility, profitability, and environmental effect. Not only is food security (kilojoules) the new goal, but also nutrition security (supply of all essential nutrients).

In an African context, it's paradoxical that Sub-Saharan Africa, which is seen as the foundation for future greater food production (some estimate that this continent would account for 70% of global growth), utilizes only around 6 kg of fertilizer per acre on average and is considered as having the most physical and economic water constraint.

A fertilizer firm must position itself proactively and pledge to invest in plant nutrition and agricultural research to address these difficulties, as well as acquire and sustain a competitive edge in a severe commercial international environment by providing practical terms on the farm. To address the aforementioned difficulties, Omnia Fertilizer invests around 30 million Rand (ZAR) each year in plant nutrition research. The key study topics linked to plant nutrition requirements for the foreseeable future, as indicated by international agencies and Omnia Fertilizer, will be briefly discussed in the subsequent paragraphs, with special reference to grain crops.

Efficient water usage

International studies have identified increased water usage efficiency as the most important factor in improving food output. Nitrates, for example, are a type of fertilizer that improves water efficiency. Correct fertilizer management also improves crop water usage efficiency. For example, effective pasture fertilization may reduce the amount of water required to produce one unit of beef by half.

The flip side of the coin is that good irrigation and soil moisture management improve fertilizer utilization efficiency significantly.

Efficiency in the utilization of nutrients, particularly nitrogen

Nutrient utilization efficiency, particularly nitrogen, is the second most significant element coming from worldwide publications to make a difference in food production. On commercial farms in wealthy nations, nitrogen usage efficiency has been demonstrated to be about 40%, although field studies in the same countries have revealed that efficiency rates of more than 80% are achievable. Ohio State University in the United States discovered that applying greater potassium levels than the industry standard increased nitrogen utilization efficiency in maize from 45 percent to 80 percent. The effectiveness of nitrogen utilization on maize has been demonstrated in the United States, with 70 kg of maize grain produced per kilogram of nitrogen (Figure 3). In South Africa, Omnia Fertilizer experiments have shown that utilizing the differential application, it is feasible to generate 113 kg of maize grain per kilogram of nitrogen applied on sandy soil.

It is evident that there is no silver bullet when it comes to nitrogen management, but an integrated strategy that takes into account a variety of elements should be followed.

Best methods in management and a well-balanced nutrition

The 4R strategy, which means using the appropriate product at the right rate, time, and location, is the foundation of this age-old yet still-developing field of study. Solid prior practices, such as a properly balanced diet and liming programs, must be built upon (Figure 4), but more nutritional factors and their interactions must be studied than previously. For example, there are now 17 components officially recognized as required for plant nourishment. The well-known list has been expanded to include chloride and nickel. There are also the so-called helpful factors to take into consideration: aluminum, cobalt, sodium, selenium, and silicon. New cultivars designed for drought resistance and increased nitrogen usage efficiency, for example, will become more dominant and will require specific nutritional care.

Nutrition practices for conservation cultivation systems

Good management involves the use of crop rotations and soil protection measures, the incorporation of organic matter into the soil, and the appropriate use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and farm machinery, all of which are linked to the preceding point.

Whatever conservation tillage approach is used - restricted tillage, strip-till, pure no-till, or direct sowing - the foundation of appropriate plant nutrition or soil fertility must be established, with the imperative requirement of addressing any conceivable soil physical limits. Defining and maintaining such fertility thresholds in various crop rotation situations is a serious task.

It's also crucial to understand the dynamics and efficiency of nutrients in expanded mulch and waste systems.

Farming precision and risk management

Precision agriculture technology is progressing at a breakneck speed. In most situations, even the most basic comprehension and usage of this technology, much alone its application, is lacking. Zone management for soil fertility, for example, should follow zone identification based on soil physical properties, water holding capacity, and drainage. More complications arise from precise and variable rate application of ameliorants, fertilizer, and seed. The most difficult issue at hand is to manage and make the best use of massive databases, or "big data," to make a genuine impact at the farm field level. It will be critical to use the spatial interpretation of such linked datasets with geographic information systems to detect and quantify danger, not just in terms of plant nutrition. Proximal and distant sensing are also rapidly evolving. On the nanotechnology front, new sensors (including nutrients) are coming, and they will be incorporated into precision agricultural systems.

Environmental effect and product efficiency

From the plant to the field, every fertilizer firm will have to improve its production efficiency to meet the new challenges. Slow and controlled release fertilizers, stabilized fertilizers, trace element-supplemented fertilizers, and soluble / liquid fertilizers, according to international publications, will continue to be prioritized. With an increased focus on fertilizer environmental effect and water efficiency, nitrate-based fertilizers are receiving increasing attention. For example, it is well known that ammonium nitrate has a 25% lower impact on greenhouse gas output (CO2) per unit of nitrogen than urea and that nitrates significantly improve plant water usage efficiency (see below).

Biostimulants and elicitors

An elicitor is a chemical that causes a plant to develop a resistance and/or hypersensitive response. Elicitors can be specific nutrients (essential or helpful). Elicitors are proteins that trigger genes involved in a plant's defensive response.

Agricultural biostimulants are various formulations of chemicals and other items that are applied to plants or soils to control and increase the physiological processes of the crop, hence increasing their efficiency. The most crucial point to remember is that crop bio-stimulation works in tandem with crop nutrition and crop protection. Understanding and using the above relatively new principles is critical as the worlds of plant nutrition, stimulants, and pesticides become more intertwined.

Nanotechnology

This is, without a doubt, the most misunderstood and misquoted technology currently under development.

In 1999, Nobel Laureate Richard Smalley spoke to the United States House Committee on Science about the advantages of nanotechnology. He stated that the influence of nanotechnology on population lives, wealth, and lifestyles will be at least as great as the cumulative effects of nanoelectronics, medical imaging, computer-aided engineering, and man-made polymers produced in the twentieth century.

Nanomaterials may aid in the regulated release of agrochemicals for nutrition and insect and pathogen protection, transfer of genetic material, sensitive detection of plant illness and pollutants, and the development of soil structure, according to the literature on nanotechnology's involvement in plant and soil systems.

Understanding how nutrition, plant physiology, and soil microbes interact is so important.

This interesting new branch of molecular study opens up a plethora of possibilities and provides explanations for many field-observed events. Recent papers, for example, explain why sulfur nutrition of plants produces the plant hormones auxin and jasmonate, why nitrate feeding and iron acquisition are linked, as well as numerous hormones necessary for water management in plants, such as abscisic acid.

Acknowledging the rhizosphere's interaction with soil microbial communities to enhance nutrient absorption and create particular hormones is also a part of this line of research.

Making an impact on the farm

Omnia Fertilizer's goal is to use expertise to maximize its customers' prosperity (lower risk and enhance marketable production and quality). It's pointless to invest in such expertise if you don't put it to use on the farm. Participation of producers, collaboration with other entities and disciplines, and, most importantly, technological transfer are all required. Omnia Fertilizer is now participating in interdisciplinary strip experiments with Grain SA as a co-worker and sponsor. Omnia Fertilizer aims to provide real-world information to South African farmers, as well as farmers in other Omnia-managed nations, by putting numerous feet on the ground and, perhaps, contributing in some tiny way to feeding the world of the future.

How to Construct an Ant Formicarium?-Sample

Ant formicarium

In the 1900s, French engineer Charles Janet invented the first ant formicarium. He sought to increase the visibility of the typical ant colony so that it might be observed. His groundbreaking design of a two-dimensional ant nest spawned a slew of later patented ideas that we now recognize. Charles had no plans to market the vivarium and was hesitant to have it displayed at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900.

How to Construct an Ant Formicarium?

A formicarium is an enjoyable activity for people of all ages. You can make an ant farm out of nearly anything once you learn the important elements. This portion of the book will go through the fundamentals of constructing an ant vivarium.

Putting The Nest Together

The formicarium's foundation is the Nest layer. This layer will be present in all ant farms, regardless of the arrangement. Typically, this zone will be made up of dirt, sand, or even gel. The queen and the majority of the ant colony will be housed here. When not monitored, the nest location should be relatively dark to encourage a healthy and growing colony.

Scaping The Ground Cover

The above-ground surface region utilized for obtaining food and disposing of trash is known as the Landscape layer. The ants will hunt for supplies in this section of the vivarium. Here's where you'll drop food for your ants to spread among the colony. You may also see that ants may put undesired materials such as their excrement, dead, and loose soil here to keep them as far away from their colony as possible. If a hardscape is to be used, it will be installed here as well. Depending on personal inclination, this might be numerous types of wood or stone.

Keeping the Colony

The ozone level of this small biosphere is represented by the Containment layer. This zone is an important aspect of the perimeter since it prevents our ants from fleeing. Nontoxic deterrents such as petroleum jelly, talcum powder, or PTFE have been used in the past to accomplish this.

Putting Everything Together

Setting up an ant farm is a simple procedure that does not need the use of a lot of supplies. It will either be a basic two-step container with soil, depending on the sort of formicarium you want to develop... Alternatively, a filtration-enabled paludarium. The next part will show you how to make ant vivariums for any number of ant colonies.

Ant food-Sample

Ant food

Ants eat a wide variety of foods. Some specialize in sugary liquids such as honey and aphid and other flowers' "nectar". Many seek dead flesh and devour other insects and small creatures. Others are just interested in eating seeds or fungi. Ants acquire their water from dew, rain droplets, and puddles, as well as from their diet (like nectar).

Many ant species, particularly seed-eating ants, save food in their nests. Others consume fungus that grows in their nest. When ants discover a large food supply, they leave a pheromone trail so that their nestmates may locate it as well. Soon, a bustling column of ants will be shifting back and forth from the colony to the food supply.

In warm areas, leaf-cutter ants break apart leaves and bring them down to their nests. The fungus that forms on the leaves is what they consume. Army ants and driving ants search across jungles and tropical climates, devouring all they can find. They are large ants with keen teeth, and a group of them can number in the thousands. They will devour whatever animal they can catch, including huge ones.

Ants are omnivores, meaning they consume anything. They eat the milk of aphids and other tiny Hemiptera, as well as insects and small live or dead invertebrates, plant sap, and different fruits in the wild. Insect eggs are also eaten by them.

Ants bring a broad variety of sweets, meats, animal feeds, and fats into our houses and add them to their meal. They consume practically everything that humans eat. They also go inside our houses to search for little insects.

When a new queen establishes a colony in the environment, she nurtures the first larvae with her excess eggs, which are just nutrition. To live till the workers reach adulthood, the queen must occasionally consume her eggs. If the colony becomes overburdened, the queen may turn to cannibalism to protect her own life.

Two stomachs are used by the workers in charge of food storage. The biggest is a "community stomach," which is a liquid-filled storage chamber for the ant's food. When it comes back to the nest, it feeds the queen, the larvae, as well as the other workers. The ant has a crop, or "single" stomach, in parallel to its huge stomach. When the ant requires nourishment, it transfers some of the food from its communal stomach to the crop, which is then digested. The larvae that will eventually become queens are fed more than the others.

The majority of ants are opportunistic feeders, meaning they'll consume almost everything. Other ants, dead insects, bits of deceased animals, cereals, fruits, and vegetables are examples. However, certain ant species have preferences. Grease ants prefer protein-based diets, but if fatty foods aren't available, they'll eat anything else. Fungus is a favorite food of some ant species, whereas sweets are a favorite of others.

There are over 12,000 distinct ant species in the world, but if you reside in the United States, you're sure to come across a few popular types:

Carpenter ants have a notoriety for chewing wood, however, they don't consume cellulose. They build their nests inside the wood, hollowing it out as they go. They favor sweet meals, such as honeydew (a sugary liquid released by aphids), but will also devour other bugs and dead animal tissue.

Fire ants — These biting and stinging ants may appear to be carnivores, notably if you've been stung, yet they eat seeds and sweets in addition to meat and fat.

Pavement ants — These swarming ants consume everything in sight. You've undoubtedly seen them attempting to carry a piece of chewing gum off the street.

Pharaoh ants are little ants that consume practically anything.

Sugar ants — These huge ants are known for being drawn to sweet meals, yet they are truly omnivorous. They'll consume anything that comes their way.

Thief ants are also known as grease ants due to their preference for meat, fat, and oil.

Ant habitat-Sample

Ant habitat

Ants are incredible animals. They roam around all day, looking for food, constructing the nest, nursing their young, and guarding the queen. An ant colony is similar to a bustling human metropolis in many ways: everyone has a task to complete, and they get it done.

When do you know it's summer? It's the prolonged days packed with sunlight or the noise of youngsters on summer vacation for some, but it's the ants for others. Ant activity increases when the temperature warms in the spring and the moisture level rises.

They're everywhere: parking lots, walkways, and, scariest of all, perhaps even inside your home. Even though the majority of them are harmless, they aren't a bug you want to have in your house.

Aside from Antarctica (talk about irony! ), ants can be seen on every continent in the world. Given that there are over 12,000 distinct kinds of ants on the planet, their environment differs significantly. They live in colonies, which are big groupings of individuals. They usually build their nests underground in anthills or within trees while they're out in the open. Nests can be discovered within a home or building's walls and voids, beneath baseboards, moldings, and counters, if they make it in there.

They have fundamental requirements, much as any other living species. When considering where ants dwell, it's important to consider why they're there and what attracts them. They'll look for someplace to eat, drink, and sleep. Outside, there are many ant nests, but the worker ants seek food in the nearby surroundings. Most of them leave pheromone pathways that others might follow to find food sources near their nests. This might explain why you notice a trail of them all over the kitchen counter or by the wash basin — they will come to your house and collect what they require, then return it to the colony for the rest of the community.

Although they can thrive in practically any place, humans are mainly concerned about where ants dwell in their homes. In the United States, there are a few types of typical home pests. Two, in particular, have the potential to pose issues for people.

Carpenter ants, like termites, can wreak havoc on trees, homes, buildings, furniture, and ornamental wood.

Fire ants are aggressive insects that will sting anybody or anything that gets in their path. Multiple stings can trigger a serious response, although one or two stings are an irritating annoyance.

How do they gain access to the interior?

Aside from ant farms, there are a variety of methods for these insects to enter a residence. The most concerning aspect of discovering an ant in the house, however, is that there is never just one. They live, work, and travel in big groups because they are social insects.

They, like other domestic pests, infiltrate your home through any opening they may discover. Listed below are a few examples:

·   Using the spaces between doors

·   Window screens with holes

·   Cracks in the foundation of a structure

·   Plumbing or electrical outlets have openings surrounding them.

When you bring anything in from the outside, they might hitchhike into your house. A boxed plant, fresh flowers, garden vegetables, storage boxes, or new goods you've recently bought all provide possibilities for unwelcome insects to gain access to your house.

Their enormous heads, elbow antennae, and node-like bodies distinguish them.

Castes are distinct sorts of ants that make up each ant colony. With the single queen ant, a colony can last for many years, while male ants and female workers have smaller life cycles. Workers start raising new queens in the hive when the queen ceases releasing a specific pheromone.

Ants consume a wide variety of foods, and their tastes fluctuate depending on the season. When they're getting ready to mate and lay eggs in the spring, they want a high-protein diet. They may consume garbage food scraps, dead animals, insects, or lipids such as fat, oil, and butter. Workers will find carbohydrates to consume for energy late in the summer when a younger breed of larvae needs a lot of food to thrive and workers are busy extending the colony and managing the colony's tunnels. They'll be drawn to sweets like crumbs and leftovers, spilled liquids, honeydew, and garden fruit during this time.

What supplies do you need to make an ant farm?-Sample

Ant farm supplies

What supplies do you need to make an ant farm?

Materials

• A knife that can cut plastic, such as a utility knife
• Clear packing tape
• Dry dirt, suitable from the ant collection site (approximately 3 cups before sifting)
• For scoring and cutting plastic, use a straightedge.
• For soil, sieve
• Marker to indicate the position of the exit/entry point
• Sifted dirt container (about 12 cups after sifting)
• Spoon
• To cover the sides of the farm, use two sheets of black construction paper or aluminum foil.
• Two standard-width transparent plastic CD cases
• Using an eyedropper (for watering soil)

Instructions in Detail

1. empty CD cases

Both CD cases' inside plastic components should be removed. One piece of inside plastic will function as the farm's base, although only a portion of the other piece will be required to close the farm's top. Put both parts aside for the time being.

2. Make passage holes between the top and bottom of the farm.

Place the two empty CD cases so that the one that will house the upper section of the ant farm is level on top of and parallel to the one that will contain the lower soil component of the farm, with its front side of the top case pointing upwards to make it easier to open and shut. CD cases have two small slots on the upper and bottom borders, and you'll utilize one of those cuts on top of the lower mud CD to create an ant entrance point.

Mark the spot on the bottom of the upper CD case where you'll use a utility knife or other sharp blade to cut a tiny, circular hole. If you shave too rapidly, the plastic may shatter, so take your time and don't exert far too much force.

3. Build a shelter for the ant farm.

Ants enjoy gloomy environments. Create a long rectangle out of two sheets of construction paper taped together lengthwise or a sheet of aluminum foil that's about the same length as one CD cover and wide even to cover all around the whole lower case with many inches of excess.

4. Fill the lower CD case with earth and seal the perforations.

Before filling the bottom CD case with soil, all tiny holes must be taped shut. Seal and secure the bottom edge and the end opposing the hinge with long strands of adhesive tape, but keep the half-inch space along the case's column exposed so you may add soil thru it. Seal the top edge of the entrance hole with a thin piece of temporary tape.

Sift dried dirt to eliminate clumps and debris before putting it on the farm. You'll need around a 12 cups of sifted dirt.

Using a spoon, spoon dirt into the CD case via the half-inch gap along the spine, stopping to tap the CD case to settle and compress the soil. Fill the container as much as feasible with dirt.

Remove any dust from the outside of the container and close the open edge along the column with a long piece of adhesive tape.

5. Set up the farm

One of the square bits of plastic from the interior of one of the CD cases may be found here. Attach the CD case filled with dirt to the base piece with a strip of packing tape around one bottom edge.

Make sure the entry/exit hole is facing upwards on the top edge. The ant farm will stay erect thanks to some careful tape. Attach the second strip of packing tape along the second side of the CD case's bottom edge by laying the CD case filled with dirt flat on its side.

The CD case filled with dirt should be able to stand on its own after the second side is attached.

Remove the piece of tape that was covering the entrance hole as a temporary measure.

Connect the upper CD case to the soil-filled bottom CD case. To begin, run a strip of tape down one of the sides of the CD filled with dirt, leaving about half of the tape sticking up over the top of the CD.

Fold the tape down and adjust the upper CD case so that the entry/exit hole matches the bottom CD case's hole. Allow the tape to stick to the upper CD case after the CD cases are correctly lined up.

Then, tilt the top CD case back and apply a second piece of tape to the opposite side of the lower CD case, securing the upper CD case in place.

Double-check that the hole in the upper CD case matches the hole in the bottom CD case.

6. Cover all holes in the upper CD cover with tape.

Look for the second plastic component that made up the CD case's inside. This item will close the half-inch hole on the top of the farm's spine. Cut the inside plastic piece parallel to and 1.5 inches away from the edge of the CD case that is normally nearest to the hinge.

7. Fill the farm with water and ants.

A. Pour roughly 2 teaspoons of water into the ant farm's entrance hole using an eyedropper or similar instrument. This water will permeate into the ant farm's other areas, providing enough moisture for the ants.

 Ants are cold-blooded, therefore when they become chilly, they slow down. Before dumping the ants into the formicarium, put them in the refrigerator for approximately 10 minutes to slow them down. This will make moving the ants into their new habitat easier and safer. A plastic funnel might also be handy for getting the ants into a tight space.

Give your ants just a few droplets of water every day to improve their health. Don't moisten their soil to the point where water collects on top and they suffocate, but please give them 2 or 3 drops per day. Mix a pinch of sugar in a spoonful of water and offer it to your ants every other day to give them an extra burst of energy and a nice treat they'll enjoy. - If you own a gel ant formicarium, you won't need to give your ants any water.

Ants are voracious eaters who will consume practically anything. Oatmeal or other dried grains in little pieces work nicely. The ants in your ant colony will not consume much food. Every 3 days or so, you just need to give them 2 or 3 little pinches of food. We sell Ant Food packets for $1.65 each. - You will not need to feed the ants if you have a gel at home.

High temperatures might cause your ants' lives to be cut short. At temperatures of 60 to 70 degrees, ants will survive longer in a cold area. Keep the ants away from direct sunshine, since this will raise the temperature within the ant

Formicarium for sale-Project

Link to the Article

Ant store-Sample

Ant store

Ant farms used to be quite easy. They were made up of sand sandwiched between two pieces of glass. To provide a stable ecology for the ants, newer ant farms employ brilliantly colored gel, which makes them appear incredibly cool. Taking care of an ant farm can help a youngster develop a feeling of responsibility. Every day, they must feed and water their ant pets. In exchange, children may see how interesting ants interact with their surroundings.

Children may gain knowledge from how ants work and live, and seeing a farm in operation provides fascinating glimpses into a world that most people never see. Ant farms are a great developmental tool for youngsters. Children may keep an eye on their ant colony as it grows and thrives. When purchasing an ant farm, keep in mind that not all of them include live ants. If you open up your ant colony to find no ants, he or she will be quite unhappy!

The ant-keeping industry is still in its early stages. There are now just a few manufacturers around the globe. Many of these manufacturers are unregistered businesses that don't last more than a few years at most. It's difficult to get customer service from a company that doesn't exist.

We've compiled a list of resources for purchasing ants. There are several reputable ant stores all around the world. Because ants can travel by normal mail, purchasing them is simple.

Where can you buy ants all across the world?

Ants are getting increasingly popular, and new shops appear regularly. But why should you purchase ants? Many keepers seek quality, which the ant shops can provide. If the merchant is performing their job correctly, you will not notice dead ants or parasitic visitors when you arrive. Many of the shops offer solitary queens or queens with employees for sale.

Buying ants in the dead of winter? Don't worry; many ant providers may include a heat pack in the delivery. In most cases, ants have little trouble going through the mail, but in cold weather, this may be a problem. As a result, using a heat pack is a smart idea.

Formicarium, décors such as pebbles or plants (both real and fake), food, and test tubes are all available from most ant providers.

Ant stores selling ants:

Antstore (Germany)

Ants Kalytta (Germany)

Ant Dealer (Germany)

AntKit (UK)

Antsrus (UK)

Ant's Kingdom (Netherlands)

Mierwinkel (Netherlands)

Ant House (Spain)

Ant Site (Hungary)

Ants Flandern (Belgium)

Ant Keeping Depot (Australia)

Ants Everything (Australia)

Tar Heel Ants (US)

Ants from Asia (Thailand)

Mrowkoyad (Poland)

AntCity (Ukraine)

BEAnts (Belgium)

Ants of Europe (Finland)

AntAntics (Wales)