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Climate change describes any change in the climate due to such natural reasons as the solar cycle changes, volcanic eruption, sea water temperature, icecap distribution, etc. Climate change essentially originates from the accumulation of greenhouse gases that have led to the increase of the greenhouse gas effect in the atmosphere and results in global warming. Global warming, the continuous rise of temperature of the Earth due to greenhouse effect, has started as from the Industrial Revolution with the rapid increase in fossil fuel consumption. Climate change upsets the agricultural ecosystem and leads to unexpected changes in agricultural climatic elements like drought, high temperatures, precipitation, severe weather events, and sun light, and ends in decline in product efficiency and quality, increasing soil erosion due to rising precipitation, as well as biological changes like the translocation of production areas, and to an increase in diseases and pests. It is known that climate change raises fluctuation in agricultural production and has different effects in different regions and generally harms agricultural production.
Considering the food security of the increasing world population, using climate resilient agricultural production systems is based on creating technological and innovative agricultural mechanization practices.
Agricultural mechanization is a wide-ranging practice containing various agricultural processes like tillage, seeding, fertilization, weeding, agricultural spraying, irrigation, harvesting, threshing and post-harvesting procedures. It plays a key role in timely and effective fulfillment of the agricultural activities and quality as well as in agricultural production. On the other hand, fossil fuels consumed by the agricultural machinery and other technology-intensive inputs of agricultural production like fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, etc. are an important reason for agriculture-based carbon emissions. Agricultural applications account for around 20% of the annual carbon dioxide emission. Energy consumption led by agricultural mechanization practices has become a major C source in agricultural production. Due to severe precipitation or drought that increased as a result of climate change, the operating days and durations of the agricultural equipment and machinery change.
Unexpected frequent and abrupt precipitations lead to shrinkage of tillage and seeding times.This necessitates the agricultural equipment and machinery to work at higher speeds and at higher capacities with a view to completing the agricultural production procedures in time. The long-term effects of climate change on agricultural mechanization and agricultural carbon emissions may be reduced by adopting the sustainable agriculture practices. The accurate agricultural mechanization practices may ensure timely completed work, sensitivity, cost effectiveness, source and input efficiency, protection of natural resources like soil and water.
1. Tillage and Seed Mechanization
Tillage is the first stage of agricultural production that has an important impact over efficiency. Tillage refers to soil aeration with purposes of weed control, seed bed preparation, irrigation, fertilizing, and soil aeration. Conservation tillage system ensures the conservation of natural resources like soil, water, and air through reduction of tillage intensity, mixing crop residues with the soil or cover plants. Conservation tillage methods include zero tillage (direct seeding), strip-till, permanent hard soil tillage, and mulch tillage (reduced). Compared to conventional methods, water may be saved per unit area due to plant residues that reduce evaporation on the soil surface. Direct seeding will lead to a higher organic carbon capture in soil than the conventional tillage. Research has shown that the use of zero tillage in rice-wheat seeding system has reduced the consumption of one million liters of drinking water and around 98 liters of diesel fuel as well as emission of 0.25 mg of carbon dioxide. Intensive tillage will increase decomposition of organic substances that lead to emission of CO2 to the atmosphere and decrease C sequestration in soil. In the long-term, conservation tillage practices will raise environmental quality and crop efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Combined tillage defined as the simultaneous operation of two or more different tillage equipment soil compaction, workmanship, time, and fuel consumption because of decreasing the number of crossing.
2. Maintenance Mechanization
The weeds used in vegetative production competes with cultivated plants for water, nutrients, and sun light, and may negatively affect crop yield and quality if not controlled. Two widespread methods, mechanical and chemical, are used for fighting weeds. Though herbicides seem to be an effective practice in eliminating weeds, they have toxic impacts on plants, animals, and notably human beings. The global environmental pollution problem emanating from the extreme use of herbicides entail alternative fighting methods and bring mechanical and autonomous weeding technologies to forefront. While different environment-friendly mechanical weeding equipment and machinery are used to fight the weeds in plant row and intra-row spacing, it is a fact that innovative technologies will come to fore in controlling the weeds, like more complicated smart weeding machinery, robotic weed control systems, artificial vision, and GPS navigation systems.
Fertilizer applications should be based on nutrient requirement as soil and plant are tested, and should be provided at accurate quantities in various depths. C emission may be reduced with the use of equipment and machinery combinations that decrease the number of transitions in fertilizer mechanization. Using remote sensing for controlling the dose and timing of the fertilizer may protect the environment and ensures the sustainable agriculture to be implemented in the best possible way.
Using target-oriented agricultural pest control techniques like electrostatic spraying technology that will ensure high efficiency and low drift in fighting diseases and pest control will reduce environmental pollution and adverse effects on human health.
In today’s world where water scarcity is a global challenge, using pressurized irrigation systems like dripping and sprinkling will be important for irrigation efficiency whereas plant residuals that do not leave soil surface bare will bear importance as regards the soil moisture status. Besides, irrigation systems may be automated with the use of real-time clock, moisture sensor, and temperature sensor.
3. Harvest Threshing Mechanization
Mechanical harvesting of almost the whole plants may be done in agricultural production. Addition of mechanical components like straw shredding particularly to harvesting and threshing mechanization will improve the performance of combined harvests of the crops and lead to obtaining high quality threshed crops from the combined harvester and to reduction in carbon emissions with simultaneous exiting of chaff from the combine harvester.
Smart farm mechanization is an agricultural development application largely incentivized in developed countries with a view to guiding agriculture under changing climatic conditions. Adoption of climate-friendly agricultural equipment and machinery will reduce green house gas emission, store carbon in soil, prevent soil degradation, and will raise the use of agricultural inputs.
With the use of sustainable agricultural mechanization technologies, natural resources will be protected and further developed, and food security will be guaranteed. Furthermore, the renewal of agricultural equipment and machinery and the use of renewable energy resources will ensure to reduce agricultural production-based C emission.
BIOGRAPHY
Zeliha Bereket Barut completed her primary, secondary, and high school education in Antalya. In 1987 she earned the B.Sc. degree in Agricultural Engineering from the Department of Agricultural Mechanization of the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering in Çukurova University. She also earned her M.Sc. and PhD degrees from the same university in 1990 and 1996, respectively.
Barut served as research assistant at the Department of Agricultural Machinery at Faculty of Agriculture in Akdeniz University in 1990- 1996; as an instructor at Ceyhan Vocational School of Çukurova University in 1997-1998; as assistant professor at the same university in 1998-2006 at the same university; and as associate professor in 2006-2013. As from 2013 onwards, Barut has been serving as professor at the Department of Agricultural Machinery and Technologies at the Faculty of Agriculture in Çukurova University.
Barut also served as academy secretary and department chair at Ceyhan Vocational School in 1997-2003; member of Board and Executive Board of the Faculty of Agriculture in Çukurova University in 2007-2010; and Education, Instruction, and Internship Coordinator at the Department of Agricultural Machinery of the Faculty of Agriculture in Çukurova University in 2003-2015. Barut currently serves as the Chair of the Department of Agricultural Machinery and Technologies Engineering as from 2022.
Barut authored around 65 scientific articles, papers, and publications, 14 of which were cited in SCI-E. Her areas of interest are sustainable agriculture, tillage, and seed mechanization.