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Acibenzolar-S-methyl (BTH), a functional analogue of salicylic acid (SA), is known to elicit a systemic resistance across a broad range of plant-pathogen interactions, but so far it has not been tested against flavescence dorée (FDP), one of the most devastating grapevine diseases. The aim of this work was to evaluate the activity of BTH in preventing FDP transmission by the insect vector and in inducing recovery of infected grapevines.Repeated 2 mM applications of BTH to test grapevine cuttings (cv. Barbera) exposed to adults of the infectious vector Scaphoideus titanus Ball reduced the rate of infected plants. The effect was not recorded following similar BTH applications to highly susceptible young in vitro propagated vines. A high natural recovery rate (more than 70%) was observed over a 3 year period in field-infected grapevines of the same cultivar. Under these conditions, BTH repeated applications over the whole period clearly failed to increase recovery of field-infected grapevines.Following a 3 year experiment, it can be concluded that, although high doses and repeated applications of BTH reduced vector transmission of FDP, BTH was ineffective in inducing recovery of FDP-infected grapevines cv. Barbera under field conditions. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Latest advancements in tractors engineering have allowed farmers to increase productivity, and simultaneously to reduce operator's hazards. However, little attention has been given to farmers' behaviour and attitude toward the adoption of technological innovations concerning agricultural tractors. The study explores farmers' behaviours on agricultural tractors current and future technological trajectories. A main case study concerning Italy is analyzed. Results show three different behaviours of farmers concerning tractors' technological innovations. These adopters' profiles would help developing new technologies that satisfy, more and more, farmers' needs and expectations, speeding up the adoption process, enhancing agricultural tractors' efficacy and efficiency.

Several ergonomic studies have shown that operators are more productive when their work environment is designed for the best human performance. Ergonomic requirements are issued in various standards and EU directives and need to be met by tractor manufactures. Among those, ISO 9241 defines usability as the effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction with which users achieve specified goals in a particular context. The aspect of satisfaction in use is the most difficult to investigate as it is based on the evaluation of comfort and acceptability of the system by its users. Indeed, comfort is a subjective construct, requiring operators' direct involvement. The objective of this study was to evaluate tractors cabin comfort focusing on operators' perspective. Twenty tractor operators completed a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview after performing a series of tasks on an agricultural medium power tractor. Operators' opinions on ease of accessing the seat and the cabin, ease of exiting the cabin, concentration required in tasks execution, ease of locating and operating the controls, noise and visibility were collected. Results showed the need of improvements in different design aspects. Indeed, elements of bad ergonomic design were identified (e.g. some controls of the control panel did not match operators' task mental model).

In the last decade mechanized cut-to-length (CTL) forest harvesting has increased significantly as a consequence of the need to address productivity, safety, environmental, and cost issues. However, the speed of its advancement varies depending on the country. In Italy, while the number of CTL machines is increasing, the majority of operators is still pondering whether they should acquire the new technology or stick to the old one. The objective of this study was to determine the attitudes of Italian loggers towards CTL technology, investigating their opinions and pinpointing real or perceived obstacles to its expansion. A survey was conducted during the 2011 edition of FORLENER forest machinery fair in Biella (Italy), one of the most popular events for forest mechanization in Italy. 90 Italian loggers filled out a questionnaire after interacting with a forwarder portable machine simulator. A sample of 44 valid questionnaires was selected to be included in this study analysis (only employers of logging firms were included in the analysis). Results show that Italian loggers are aware of the potential of mechanized CTL technology and of its benefits. Safety, processing time and ease of use resulted to be the most interesting features of mechanized CTL technology. Technical constraints (i.e. slope, branching) are considered secondary obstacles to CTL technology expansion. The main impediments to CTL technology expansion in Italy are financial.

Molti studi hanno evidenziato che aumentando il comfort d'uso di una macchina si migliora la prestazione dell'operatore. Il concetto di comfort è controverso e una chiara definizione operativa non è ancora presente. Tuttavia, è opinione comune che il comfort è un fenomeno soggettivo, e in quanto tale può essere valutato dagli utenti finali. La maggior parte delle ricerche sul comfort della postazione di lavoro delle trattrici agricole si sono concentrate sugli aspetti ingegneristici e biomeccanici del posto di guida (come ad esempio il sedile, il pannello di controllo, le vibrazioni, il rumore), trattandoli come oggetto di indagini separate, e senza coinvolgere direttamente nelle valutazioni gli utilizzatori finali. La ricerca descritta in questo articolo affronta la valutazione del livello di comfort nella posizione di lavoro di operatori di trattrici agricole, mettendo a confronto dati oggettivi e dati soggettivi. Operatori con diversi livelli di esperienza nell'uso delle trattrici agricole sono stati coinvolti in una valutazione dinamica della postazione di lavoro di due trattrici di media potenza realizzate da due diversi costruttori e le loro opinioni sono state raccolte e confrontate con misurazioni oggettive.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have a potential to contribute to achieving significant economic, social and environmental benefits in agriculture sector. However, the adoption of ICT technologies have encountered some difficulties among farmers. This paper reports investigations on the adoption of ICT in agriculture among Italian tractors users and explores their opinions on ICT technologies applied to agricultural tractor, such as global positioning system, fleet management, ISOBUS, continuous variable transmission and remote diagnostic system. A survey was conducted during the International Exhibition of Agricultural Machinery (EIMA). The results show that, while economic benefit is recognized as the primary reason to adopt new agricultural technologies, other attitudes play roles in the adoption decision of the tractor users.

Il primo gennaio 2011 entrano in vigore le disposizioni che riguardano la valutazione, il monitoraggio e l'attuazione di interventi per ridurre lo stress lavoro-correlato, disposti dal Testo Unico sulla salute e la sicurezza sui luoghi di lavoro (D.Lgs. 81/2008). La valutazione dello stress è un obbligo del datore di lavoro e si riferisce alla situazione-lavoro e non alle singole persone.

La Direttiva 2006/42/EC, che si applica anche a macchine agricole quali le trattrici, stabilisce che il disagio, la fatica e le tensioni psichiche e fisiche dell'operatore nell'uso di macchine devono essere ridotte al minimo. Degli elementi che definiscono l'usabilità (efficacia, efficienza e soddisfazione - ISO 9241) di uno strumento o di una postazione di lavoro, l'aspetto della soddisfazione è quello più difficilmente misurabile in quanto si riferisce al livello di comfort percepito dall'utente. L'assenza di disagio - o discomfort - non risulta in una automatica presenza di comfort. Il comfort è un fenomeno più complesso; esso è un costrutto soggettivo ed in quanto tale può essere valutato solo dall'utente. Molte delle ricerche pubblicate a livello internazionale riguardanti le cabine di trattrici agricole hanno indagato gli aspetti ingegneristici e biomeccanici del posto di guida in merito, per esempio, ai livelli di vibrazione, rumore e temperatura, senza coinvolgere direttamente gli utilizzatori finali. Tuttavia, la cabina della trattrice non rappresenta semplicemente il posto di guida, ma costituisce il posto di lavoro dell'operatore e di conseguenza questi sono solo alcuni degli elementi ergonomici da prendere in considerazione. Nella presente ricerca 28 operatori di trattrici agricole (9 esperi e 19 novizi) sono stati coinvolti in una valutazione delle postazioni di lavoro di due trattrici di potenza simile e di differente layout. La ricerca è stata condotta attraverso l'uso di una prova dinamica durante la quale ogni partecipante ha eseguito su entrambe le trattrici una serie di compiti (tasks), dalla semplice guida su diversi tipi di terreni, all'azionamento di alcuni comandi, per una durata media di 25 minuti ciascuno. Le loro opinioni rispetto alla soddisfazione e al livello di comfort sono state raccolte attraverso un questionario con 42 domande chiuse (con risposte a scala Likert) e 2 domande aperte. Le domande chiuse riguardavano diversi aspetti fra i quali la facilità di accesso alla cabina e al sedile, la semplicità di individuazione e azionamento dei comandi (accensione, guida, sollevatore, circuito idraulico, presa di forza), la comprensione, la chiarezza e l'organizzazione dei dispositivi di controllo, la visibilità esterna, le vibrazioni ed il rumore percepiti, la concentrazione richiesta, la solidità e la piacevolezza. Le domande aperte richiedevano di indicare gli aspetti positivi e negativi delle due trattrici e le relative motivazioni. Gli aspetti di efficacia e di efficienza non sono stati indagati in quanto per la loro misurazione era necessario un utilizzo prolungato del mezzo; inoltre, si è ritenuto che le macchine, essendo già presenti sul mercato, soddisfacessero questi aspetti. L'analisi quantitativa (ANOVA) e qualitativa (analisi del contenuto) dei dati ha messo in evidenzia differenze significative fra gli operatori (esperti e novizi) e fra le due trattrici in merito gli aspetti di accesso alla cabina, facilità di individuazione e azionamento dei comandi, concentrazione richiesta, visibilità e rumore. Ad esempio, è emerso che per il dispositivo di comando del sollevatore l'uso di un comando di regolazione a rotazione non rappresenta una scelta adeguata in quanto non rispetta l'immagine mentale dell'azione corrispondente (alzare/abbassare il sollevatore).

Working with agricultural machines is a hazardous activity. Much has been done to promote safety, but the accidents are still numerous. Studies from human-computer interaction underline the importance of ergonomic considerations for reducing risks and improving safety and comfort in the workplace. As stated by the Directive 2006/42/EC, to reduce the discomfort, fatigue and physical and psychological stress faced by the operator, ergonomic principles need to be considered in designing agriculture machines. Numerous studies have been conducted to evaluate the engineering and biomechanical aspect of safety and comfort of tractor operator's workplace (such as vibration, noise, heat, space available, etc), even though these aspects depend on the overall cabin design, the way the machine is operated and the expectations and sensations of the driver. The paper reports a comparative assessment of safety and comfort of the operator's workplace on two utility 75 kW tractors of different brand. Ergonomic aspects of the tractors cabin were evaluated with regard to operator's perception and feelings of comfort and safety. Groups of novice and experienced subjects in operation of tractors were asked to operate the tractors and perform the most common tasks the machine is designed for. After the operations the subjects were enquired on their feelings about the comfort and safety with regard to the access to the cabin and to the seat, the noise level, the vibration level, the visibility, the perceived safety, the instruments console and the controls (dimension, colours, ease of use, force required, location and arrangement, ease of operating, clearness, etc). A 5 points Likert scale was used and open-ended questions were added at the end of the questionnaire to solicit additional feedback. Measures have been carried out in accordance to specific Standards for some of the investigated features of comfort and safety. Objective data has been compared with results from enquiry on the perceived level of comfort and safety for the same features. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to quantitative data, while content analysis was used to explore responses to open-ended questions. The assessment pointed out that simple modifications of tractors cabin design (such as size, dimension, position and/or colour of console and/or controls elements) could increase operator's comfort and safety. Design influences the likelihood of human errors. The assessment shows that a better design of instrument console and controls could improve the perceived comfort and safety, and reduce tractor operator effort, work-related injury and fatalities.