TY - THES A1 - Mughal, Abdul Qadir T1 - Design and Development of an Automated Hyperspectral Imaging System for Plant Monitoring N2 - This thesis presents the design and construction of a prototype automated plant monitoring system that integrates hyperspectral imaging with a custom linear motion structure for greenhouse applications. Controlled by an Arduino-driven stepper motor, the system positions two hyperspectral cameras (covering visible–near-infrared and short-wave infrared ranges) and a stereo RGB camera along a linear guide to capture consistent and repeatable measurements. Calibration and data acquisition are managed by specialized software, enabling detection of early drought stress indicators such as pigment and water content changes before visible symptoms occur. Assembled and tested at Fraunhofer IGD, the prototype demonstrated reliable operation and consistent spectral data collection, providing a versatile foundation for future enhancements including automated workflows, machine learning–based analysis, and application in diverse agricultural settings. KW - Hyperspectral Cameras KW - Linear Motion KW - Automation KW - Agriculture Y1 - 2025 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:1383-opus4-22614 ER - TY - THES A1 - Cheung, Ho Yu T1 - Comparison of wheel and rubber track drives for tractors regarding masses, mass inertias, energy demands and tractor mechanics N2 - Soil compaction is a major concern in agriculture. As farming machinery develops to be larger and heavier, the risk of soil compaction increases. Tractors with rubber tracks have been developed to increase the contact area with soil in order to reduce the risk of soil compaction as well as to increase tractive performance. However, tractors with rubber tracks have increased mass due to the track components. Therefore, the combined effect of rubber tracks was investigated. Comparison of tyres and rubber tracks for tractors on mass, mass inertia, tractor mechanics, energy demand, and soil compaction were investigated. Configurations of tractors consisting of combinations of tyres and interchangeable rubber tracks are evaluated in calculations and in simulation tool Terranimo. Simplified rubber track models were built in order to investigate effect of inertia from the rotational components on energy demand. A theoretical scenario was constructed to calculate the energy demand for the predefined workload. Experimental data in past research showed that the superior tractive performance of rubber track is more apparent in looser soil. In the energy demand calculation part of the thesis the tracked configurations resulted in a higher energy demand. The tracked configurations also showed effect on reducing risk of soil compaction in the same defined scenario. However, the increased energy demand, hence higher fuel consumption and energy efficiency is a downside of the tracked configurations, and the selection between tyre and rubber track should depend on the situation. KW - Rubber tracks KW - Soil compaction KW - Tractor KW - Energy demand KW - Agriculture Y1 - 2022 ER - TY - THES A1 - Tantihachai, Jittawadee T1 - Market Participation of Maize Farmers Who Adopted Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) under the Mega Farm Project in the North of Thailand N2 - The attempt to integrate Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) into the procurement standards of maize supply chain has been led by the Thai Feed Mills Association since 2015 to mitigate environmental impacts of maize production in the North of Thailand. Maize production was condemned by researchers and civil society as one of the culprits of deforestation and haze crisis. Up to now, maize in compliance with GAP in the North of Thailand is mostly produced as part of the Mega Farm Project and limited to a handful of farmers and planted areas. With rather unclear and unpromising circumstances, this study aims to examine the progress of GAP implementation and the market participation of farmers who adopted GAP. By using qualitative and quantitative research methods, it tried to find the reasons for the slow progress and limited coverage of GAP maize production. The results show that market incentives, institutional support, and farmers’ resource endowment are key determinants of GAP adoption and market opportunities. Although the government’s support under the Mega Farm Project has made GAP adoption accessible, affordable and achievable, the stagnation in GAP implementation and adoption is caused by a lack of market incentives, enforcement of regulations, engagement of the private sector, and government’s resources. Farmers’ market participation as a result of GAP adoption has not substantially changed over time. Their market access and prices received remained the same. Their market opportunities have not significantly been enhanced owing to the lack of market incentives for sustainable maize production, insufficient institutional support on harvest and post-harvest management, and farmers’ limited capacity to upgrade and reach an economy of scale. KW - Sustainable KW - Supply chain KW - Agriculture KW - Upgrading KW - Environment KW - Sustainable KW - Good agricultural practices KW - Market participation KW - Supply chain KW - Maize Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:1383-opus4-14848 ER - TY - THES A1 - Camacho, Monica T1 - Urban Agriculture: an alternative to alleviate poverty and food insecurity in Panama N2 - There is an evident global rapid urbanization which has also impacted Panama. People immigrate from rural areas to the cities because they are seeking for better economic opportunities and stability. Agriculture in the countryside, is in Panama a sector with low productivity and incentives. However, with an increasing urban immigration, issues such as food insecurity, in already vulnerable cities emerge. The interest of the study is to analyze the current scenario of Urban Agriculture in Panama and to link the existing gap with studies from different countries in the region that were selected. To measure the impact of Urban & Peri-Urban and Family agriculture, studies which used the ‘Food Insecurity experienced-based scales’ as an assessment indicator, were included. Four out of five studies showed a positive correlation between households who produced their own food, and their Food Security levels. It is concluded that Urban Agriculture & Peri-Urban and Family agriculture may not be systems that can substitute the traditional system on supplying enough food to feed everyone but with support from the estate and enough public policies it has the capability of supplying a good portion that can help alleviate food security and poverty levels. KW - Food security KW - Agriculture Y1 - 2022 ER -