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Agricultural land abandonment (ALA) is becoming a growing phenomenon around the world that needs to be monitored and quantified. A massive abandonment of citrus orchards has been experienced in the last years in the Comunitat Valenciana (CV) region (Spain) driven by different socio-economic factors. Therefore, developing time and cost-efficient methods for monitoring ALA is a priority. Citrus are a perennial crop trees which make orchards have low spectral variation during the year. In the CV region, they are planted in relatively small parcels, thus creating a highly fragmented and heterogeneous landscape. This study proposes a machine learning-based classification framework that uses annual time series of spectral indices extracted from Sentinel-2 images to identify crop status at parcel level. The method is based on features extracted from the reconstructed OSAVI and NDMI time series used to train a Random Forest classifier. Then, a parcel-based classification is performed using the parcel boundaries and the probabilities of belonging to each category for the full pixels inside the boundaries. The research assessed the potential to identify three statuses of crops (non-productive, productive, and abandoned). Results on three different temporal and spatial datasets provided an overall accuracy ranging from 89 to 92 %, demonstrating the importance of multi-temporal data to identify the abandonment of perennial crops. Furthermore, we studied the ability of the model to be spatially and temporally transferred. Limitations to recall the abandoned parcels when using models trained in other areas or time periods are exposed, opening the way to model improvements.

Water consumption continues to grow globally, and it is estimated that more than 160% of the total global water volume will be needed to satisfy the water requirements in ten years. In this context, non-conventional water resources are being considered to overcome water scarcity and reduce water conflicts between regions and sectors. A bibliometric analysis and literature review of 81 papers published between 2000 and 2020 focused on south-east Spain were conducted. The aim was to examine and re-think the benefits and concerns, and the inter-connections, of using reclaimed and desalinated water for agricultural and urban-tourist uses to address water scarcity and climate change impacts. Results highlight that: (1) water use, cost, quality, management, and perception are the main topics debated by both reclaimed and desalinated water users; (2) water governance schemes could be improved by including local stakeholders and water users in decision-making; and (3) rainwater is not recognized as a complementary option to increase water supply in semi-arid regions. Furthermore, the strengths–weaknesses–opportunities–threats (SWOT) analysis identifies complementary concerns such as acceptability and investment in reclaimed water, regulation (cost recovery principle), and environmental impacts of desalinated water. This study is supported by the project “Cambio climático y agua: los recursos no convencionales como estrategia adaptativa para incrementar la resiliencia de los usos agrícolas y urbano-turísticos en el litoral de Alicante” (AICO/2020/253) and funded by the Regional government of Valencia, Spain, through the Programa per a la promoció de la investigación científica, el desenvolupament tecnològic i la innovació en la Comunitat Valenciana. This research is partially supported by the SIMTWIST project (ERA-NET Water JPI 2018) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PCI2019-103395).

Only a portion of the water volume sprayed is deposited on the target when applying plant protection products with air-assisted axial-fan airblast sprayers in high growing crops. A fraction of the off-target losses deposits on the ground, but droplets also drift away from the site. This work aimed at assessing the spray distribution to different compartments (tree canopy, ground and air) during pesticide applications in a Mediterranean citrus orchard. Standard cone nozzles (Teejet D3 DC35) and venturi drift reducing nozzles (Albuz TVI 80 03) were compared. Applications were performed with a conventional air-assisted sprayer, with a spray volume of around 3000lha-1 in a Navel orange orchard. Brilliant Sulfoflavine (BSF) was used as a tracer. Results showed that only around 46% of the applied spray was deposited on the target trees and around 4% of the spray was deposited on adjacent trees from adjoining rows independently of the nozzle type. Applications with standard nozzles produced more potential airborne spray drift (23%) than those with the drift reducing nozzles (17%) but fewer direct losses to the ground (22% vs. 27%). Indirect losses (sedimenting spray drift) to the ground of adjacent paths were around 7-9% in both cases. The important data set of spray distribution in the different compartments around sprayed orchard (air, ground, vegetation) generated in this work is highly useful as input source of exposure to take into account for the risk assessment in Mediterranean citrus scenario.

There have been significant territorial changes in the Spanish Mediterranean in the last few decades because of the important growth of residential tourism functions. The Spanish National Hydrological Plan (2001) and, to a greater extent, the Action for Management and Use of Water Programme (2004) advocated large-scale desalination of seawater to guarantee a supply for urban, tourism, and even future agricultural demands. The paralysis of urban development planning caused by the financial crisis (2007/08), together with the downward trend in the consumption of drinking water in the last decade, highlighted a capacity to produce desalinated water that was far superior to actual needs. This study reviews the current context in which desalinated water is produced in Spain, weighs up the advantages and disadvantages of this method of water management, and considers the potential role that this non-conventional source of water could play as a strategic resource in the future. The main findings of the study are that desalination is not a panacea; rather, it should be considered in terms of technological parameters tailored to the circumstances of each geographical and socioeconomic environment.

During pesticide applications to citrus trees using air-assisted (airblast) sprayers, only a proportion of the volume emitted reaches the vegetation and the rest is lost through drift, evaporation, etc. These losses can be hazardous for the environment. Knowing the characteristics of droplets within the turbulent currents around the canopy could improve the application efficiency. In a previous study, a 2D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model to simulate the effect of a citrus canopy on the airflow from an air-assisted sprayer was developed and validated. It considered the first element of the tree canopy as a solid body instead of a porous one. The aim of the present study was to analyse the behaviour of the droplets for pesticide applications on citrus by means of an Eulerian–Lagrangian CFD model. It simulated both the air current from the sprayer fan and the wind and the behaviour of the droplets sprayed. Distance, height, velocity, Reynolds number, temperature, geometric and volumetric diameters at different times were obtained. With these parameters, new variables related to the kinetics and evaporation of droplets were calculated. Simulation results estimated that 44% of the total sprayed volume reached the target tree, 28% reached adjacent trees, 20% was deposited on the ground and 8% was lost as atmospheric drift. The results largely matched an experimental mass balance carried out under similar conditions. The proposed model appears to be an appropriate tool for simulating treatments with air-assisted sprayers operating in citrus orchards.

The Mediterranean fruit fly (or medfly), Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae), affects most of the fruit species grown in temperate and tropical climate regions, causing significant economic damage. One of the classical cultural strategies against this pest is to gather and bury the remaining fruit after harvest, but this is economically unfeasible today. Wood shredders already available in current Spanish groves can be used to grind or crush fruits laying on the soil as an alternative to this practice and to the use of pesticides in area-wide integrated pest management (IPM). With the purpose of evaluating this alternative, the initial step of this study was to perform laboratory tests to assess the efficacy of crushing and grinding as a method for controlling medflies. The results showed that grinding was 78% effective against larval stages, while crushing resulted in a 17% efficacy, leading us to choose the first alternative. As a second step, the operational parameters (type of cutting tool, shaft rotation speed and tractor speed) of the wood shredders were adjusted to efficiently carry out this practice under field conditions. Finally, the effect of the mechanised grinding of fallen fruit on C. capitata populations was evaluated for two consecutive years in commercial citrus orchards. The results showed a significant 27-46% reduction in C. capitata populations the following spring, thus demonstrating that the newly proposed mechanised alternative can be included in the current area-wide IPM of the pest in Spain.

Laboratory and field studies were conducted to measure the effects of spirotetramat on life stages of California red scale, Aonidiella aurantii (Maskell), and a primary parasitoid, Aphytis melinus DeBach. Organophosphate-resistant and -susceptible populations responded similarly to spirotetramat, suggesting there is no cross-resistance between these insecticide classes. First and second instar male and female A. aurantii were 10- and 32-fold more susceptible to spirotetramat (LC50 = 0.1–0.2 ppm) compared with early third (LC50 = 1.5 ppm) and late third instar females (LC50 = 5.3 ppm). The LC99 value indicated that late stage third instar females would not be fully controlled by a field rate of spirotetramat; however, spirotetramat would reduce their fecundity by 89%. Field applications of spirotetramat in two water volumes and using two adjuvants (oil and a nonionic spray adjuvant) showed similar reduction in A. aurantii numbers, even though the higher water volume demonstrated more complete cove...

Background Because society is seeking ways to lessen the environmental impact of agricultural activity, dose adjustment has become a key issue in current plant protection treatments with high spray application volumes, such as on citrus plants. This work investigates, in field conditions, the factors affecting the efficacy of organophosphate insecticides against California red scale (CRS), Aonidiella aurantii (Maskell), when the delivery rate is decreased. Insecticide rate changes were induced by modifying the spray application volumes of two commercial organophosphate pesticides based on chlorpyrifos and chlorpyrifos-methyl. Results Results showed that, with increase in the spray volume, the coverage and the uniformity of deposition on the canopy increased, but final infestation depended neither on the spray application volume nor on the coverage. Furthermore, final infestation significantly depended on the pest pressure in the plot and the spray volume applied per unit volume of canopy (L m−3 canopy). Moreover, it was found that the final infestation was influenced by the efficiency of deposition in the applications that were carried out against the second-generation of CRS. Conclusion Because the spray application volume did not affect the final infestation, this research introduces the possibility that reducing the doses of current citrus organophosphate treatments may still allow effective plant protection in Mediterranean conditions. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry

Durante la Guerra Civil española se instaló en Alcoy un hospital de sangre. Esto fue posible gracias a la solidaridad de los pueblos sueco y noruego. Los escandinavos desplazaron hasta Alcoy personal médico y de enfermería especializado, junto con todo el material necesario para instalar un hospital destinado para atender heridos de guerra. Tras su marcha, se hizo cargo de los servicios quirúrgicos del hospital el Dr. D. Manuel Bastos Ansart, cirujano, traumatólogo, ortopeda militar y toda una autoridad en el tratamiento de heridas de guerra. El Dr. Bastos junto con el Dr. D. Josep Trueta i Raspall fueron los padres del método oclusivo de curas, base y fundamento de las actuales curas en ambiente húmedo. Gracias al "método español" se consiguió evitar infinidad de amputaciones y muertes debidas a las septicemias producidas por heridas de guerra. Este sistema de curas nació como la suma de diferentes técnicas y tratamientos de diversos cirujanos que se fueron acumulando y depurando a lo largo del tiempo. El "método español" consistía en una limpieza exahustiva de la herida y posterior exéresis de todo el tejido desvitalizado, aplicando después un apósito de escayola que se debía mantener sin cambiar el máximo tiempo posible (siempre y cuando el paciente no presentara complicaciones). Acabada la Guerra Civil española, y ya durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, fue el Dr. Trueta quien depuró, sistematizó y divulgó el método entre el bando aliado, siendo aún hoy en día el método de elección de tratamiento de las heridas y fracturas abiertas de guerra.During the Spanish Civil War, a hospital of blood is installed in Alcoy. This was posible thanks to the solidarity of Swedish and Norwegian people. Medical and specialized nursing staff were sent by the Scandinavians, with all the necesary material, to install a hospital to see war wounded. Dr. D. Manuel Bastos Ansart was the surgical chief when the scandinavians left Alcoy. He was the best surgeon, traumatologist and militar orthopedist at that moment, and an authority on the treatment of war wounds. Dr. Bastos along with Dr. D. Josep Tueta i Raspall were the parents of the occlusive method of cures, base and foundation of the current cures in moist enviroment. Thanks to the "Spanish Method"a lot of amputations and death from sepsis caused by war wounds, were avoidded. This type of cure was born as the result of the sum of different techniques and treatments of some surgeons during a long period of time. The "Spanish Method" consisted of cleanig deeply the wound and the excision of the death tissue, applying then a dressing of plaster that should be retained without changing it, the maximun posible time (if the patient hadn't got any complication). During the Second World War and when the Spanish Civil War was over, Dr. Trueta was the one who improved and reported the method between the allies. Even today, it's still the chosen method for treating wounds and open fractures of war.

El litoral de les regions de Múrcia i València ha patit grans transformacions territorials durant les últimes dècades, a causa de la forta expansió de les funcions residencials, turístiques i de servicis. El Pla Hidrològic Nacional (2001) i, en major grau, el Programa A.G.U.A. (2004) van apostar per la dessalinització d’aigua marina a gran escala per a garantir demandes urbanes, turístiques i inclús agrícoles. La paralització dels plans urbanístics provocada per la crisi financera (2007), junt amb la tendència de reducció del consum d’aigua potable de l’última dècada, evidencien una capacitat de producció d’aigua dessalinitzada molt superior a les necessitats del moment present. Esta investigació revisa la situació actual de la dessalinització d’aigua marina i salobre continental en les regions de Múrcia i València, fa balanç dels avantatges i dels inconvenients que comporta i planteja una discussió entorn del paper que pot exercir esta font no convencional com a recurs estratégic i de futur per a garantir demandes urbano-turístiques i agrícoles, principalment durant situacions de sequera., The coast of the regions of Murcia and Valencia has undergone important land use changes in recent decades due to the intense expansion of tourism activity and residential and services uses. In general, the Spanish National Hydrological Plan of 2001, and especially the A.G.U.A. Program of 2004, supported large-scale water desalination to guarantee urban, tourism and rural water demand. The end of the urban sprawl due to the economic crisis, in addition to the decrease in drinking water consumption in the last decade, have resulted in a desalination water production capacity that is higher than current needs. This research reviews the current status of desalination water (from the sea and underground) in the regions of Murcia and Valencia. Moreover, it takes stock of its advantages and disadvantages, and discusses the role that this strategic and unconventional resource could play in the future to ensure urban, tourism and rural demands, especially during droughts., El litoral de las regiones de Murcia y Valencia ha sufrido grandes transformaciones territoriales durante las últimas décadas, debido a la fuerte expansión de las funciones residenciales, turísticas y de servicios. El Plan Hidrológico Nacional (2001) y, en mayor medida, el Programa A.G.U.A. (2004) apostaron por la desalinización de agua marina a gran escala para garantizar demandas urbanas, turísticas e incluso agrícolas. La paralización de los planes urbanísticos provocada por la crisis financiera (2007), unida a la tendencia de reducción del consumo de agua potable de la última década, evidencian una capacidad de producción de agua desalinizada muy superior a las necesidades del momento presente. Esta investigación revisa la situación actual de la desalinización de agua marina y salobre continental en las regiones de Murcia y Valencia, hace balance de sus ventajas e inconvenientes y plantea una discusión en torno al papel que puede desempeñar esta fuente no convencional como recurso estratégico y de futuro para garantizar demandas urbano-turísticas y agrícolas, principalmente durante situaciones de sequía., Les régions côtières de Murcia et de Valencia ont subi d’importantes transformations territoriales au cours des dernières décennies en raison de la forte expansion des fonctions résidentielles, touristiques et des services. Le Plan Hidrológico Nacional (2001) et notamment, le Programa A.G.U.A. (2004) ont parié sur le dessalement d’eau de mer à grande échelle pour répondre aux demandes urbaine, touristique et rurale. L’interruption des plans urbains provoquée par la crise financière (2007), s’ajoutant à une réduction de la consommation d’eau potable à partir de la dernière décennie mettent en évidence une capacité de production d’eau dessalée supérieure aux besoins actuels. Cette étude passe en revue l’état actuel du dessalement d’eau de mer et saumâtre dans les régions de Murcia et de Valencia. Il fait aussi un équilibre des avantages et des inconvénients et présente une discussion sur le rôle que cette source non conventionnelle stratégique et d’avenir peut jouer pour répondre aux demances urbaine, touristique et rurale, particulièrement en période de sécheresse.

Las visitas escolares a centros de interpretación se han convertido en los últimos años en uno de los mejores recursos didácticos para llevar a la práctica lo aprendido en el aula. El trabajo que aquí se presenta tiene como objetivo potenciar y ofrecer el Museo del Clima de Beniarrés (Alicante) como un recurso didáctico para la asignatura de Geografía (o afines) en la que se aborden aspectos relacionados con la Climatología y su relación con el medio y la sociedad con la explicación de ejemplos y experiencias, tanto por parte del alumnado como del profesorado. Este museo se convierte en uno de los primeros centros con finalidad didáctica de esta tipología en España. Como conclusión, cabe indicar las múltiples ventajas y alternativas que ofrece este museo y especialmente, conseguir que el alumnado aprenda “jugando”. In recent years, school visits to interpretation centers have become one of the best didactic resources to put into practice the things that it has been learned in classroom. The aim of this research is to promote and offer the Museum of the Climate of Beniarrés (Alicante) as a didactic resource for the subject of Geography (or related) in which aspects are related with Climatology and its relationship with the environment and society with the explanation of examples and experiences from the students and the teachers. This museum becomes one of the first centers with didactic purposes of this typology in Spain. As conclusion, it is worth mentioning the many advantages and alternatives that offer this center and especially to get students learning “playing”.

El litoral de las regiones de Murcia y Valencia ha sufrido grandes transformaciones territoriales durante las últimas décadas, debido a la fuerte expansión de las funciones residenciales, turísticas y de servicios. El Plan Hidrológico Nacional (2001) y, en mayor medida, el Programa A.G.U.A. (2004) apostaron por la desalinización de agua marina a gran escala para garantizar demandas urbanas, turísticas e incluso agrícolas. La paralización de los planes urbanísticos provocada por la crisis financiera (2007), unida a la tendencia de reducción del consumo de agua potable de la última década, evidencian una capacidad de producción de agua desalinizada muy superior a las necesidades del momento presente. Esta investigación revisa la situación actual de la desalinización de agua marina y salobre continental en las regiones de Murcia y Valencia, hace balance de sus ventajas e inconvenientes y plantea una discusión en torno al papel que puede desempeñar esta fuente no convencional como recurso estratégico y de futuro para garantizar demandas urbano-turísticas y agrícolas, principalmente durante situaciones de sequía. El litoral de les regions de Múrcia i València ha patit grans transformacions territorials durant les últimes dècades, a causa de la forta expansió de les funcions residencials, turístiques i de servicis. El Pla Hidrològic Nacional (2001) i, en major grau, el Programa A.G.U.A. (2004) van apostar per la dessalinització d'aigua marina a gran escala per a garantir demandes urbanes, turístiques i inclús agrícoles. La paralització dels plans urbanístics provocada per la crisi financera (2007), junt amb la tendència de reducció del consum d'aigua potable de l'última dècada, evidencien una capacitat de producció d'aigua dessalinitzada molt superior a les necessitats del moment present. Esta investigació revisa la situació actual de la dessalinització d'aigua marina i salobre continental en les regions de Múrcia i València, fa balanç dels avantatges i dels inconvenients que comporta i planteja una discussió entorn del paper que pot exercir esta font no convencional com a recurs estratégic i de futur per a garantir demandes urbano-turístiques i agrícoles, principalment durant situacions de sequera. The coast of the regions of Murcia and Valencia has undergone important land use changes in recent decades due to the intense expansion of tourism activity and residential and services uses. In general, the Spanish National Hydrological Plan of 2001, and especially the A.G.U.A. Program of 2004, supported large-scale water desalination to guarantee urban, tourism and rural water demand. The end of the urban sprawl due to the economic crisis, in addition to the decrease in drinking water consumption in the last decade, have resulted in a desalination water production capacity that is higher than current needs. This research reviews the current status of desalination water (from the sea and underground) in the regions of Murcia and Valencia. Moreover, it takes stock of its advantages and disadvantages, and discusses the role that this strategic and unconventional resource could play in the future to ensure urban, tourism and rural demands, especially during droughts. Les régions côtières de Murcia et de Valencia ont subi d'importantes transformations territoriales au cours des dernières décennies en raison de la forte expansion des fonctions résidentielles, touristiques et des services. Le Plan Hidrológico Nacional (2001) et notamment, le Programa A.G.U.A. (2004) ont parié sur le dessalement d'eau de mer à grande échelle pour répondre aux demandes urbaine, touristique et rurale. L'interruption des plans urbains provoquée par la crise financière (2007), s'ajoutant à une réduction de la consommation d'eau potable à partir de la dernière décennie mettent en évidence une capacité de production d'eau dessalée supérieure aux besoins actuels. Cette étude passe en revue l'état actuel du dessalement d'eau de mer et saumâtre dans les régions de Murcia et de Valencia. Il fait aussi un équilibre des avantages et des inconvénients et présente une discussion sur le rôle que cette source non conventionnelle stratégique et d'avenir peut jouer pour répondre aux demances urbaine, touristique et rurale, particulièrement en période de sécheresse.

Individual items of any agricultural commodity are different from each other in terms of colour, shape or size. Furthermore, as they are living thing, they change their quality attributes over time, thereby making the development of accurate automatic inspection machines a challenging task. Machine vision-based systems and new optical technologies make it feasible to create non-destructive control and monitoring tools for quality assessment to ensure adequate accomplishment of food standards. Such systems are much faster than any manual non-destructive examination of fruit and vegetable quality, thus allowing the whole production to be inspected with objective and repeatable criteria. Moreover, current technology makes it possible to inspect the fruit in spectral ranges beyond the sensibility of the human eye, for instance in the ultraviolet and near-infrared regions. Machine vision-based applications require the use of multiple technologies and knowledge, ranging from those related to image acquisition (illumination, cameras, etc.) to the development of algorithms for spectral image analysis. Machine vision-based systems for inspecting fruit and vegetables are targeted towards different purposes, from in-line sorting into commercial categories to the detection of contaminants or the distribution of specific chemical compounds on the product’s surface. This chapter summarises the current state of the art in these techniques, starting with systems based on colour images for the inspection of conventional colour, shape or external defects and then goes on to consider recent developments in spectral image analysis for internal quality assessment or contaminant detection.

The objective of this study was to evaluate and to compare spray drift potential and field spray drift from pesticide application in citrus orchards carried out mainly comparing standard nozzles with drift reducing nozzles. Two different standard nozzles (hollow cone and full cone) and one Venturi drift reducing nozzle (hollow cone) were tested. Spray drift potential was measured by means of wind tunnel experiments (ISO 22856:2008 method). To estimate field airborne and sedimenting spray drift, two trials with 5 replicates each were carried out (ISO 22866:2005 method) in two different commercial orchards of Clementine mandarins. Results showed that Venturi nozzles significantly reduced drift with the two methodologies. Moreover, the wind tunnel method showed the same trend as the field results. Additionally, spray drift deposition variability was lower for the Venturi nozzles. Therefore, it could be concluded that Venturi nozzles can be recommended to be used in citrus orchards to prevent human and environmental risks and their use could be appropriate for different scenarios where spray drift risk must be mitigated. Authors would like to thank to Cítrics Terres de l’Ebre, S.A.T. and Manantiales Entrepinos, S.L. for allowing the use of their fields and sprayers. Also, Agrícola la Realense Coop.V. for allowing the use of their fields and Pulverizadores Fede S.A. for the use of equipments. Besides, Universitat de Lleida is also thanked for Mr. X. Torrent's pre-doctoral fellowship.

[EN] An LCA of the cultivation of switchgrass in the Mediterranean region of Spain is carried out, based on 2010-2013 inventory data from experimental plots of two sites, Moncofar and Orihuela. Thus, a 4-year cycle is evaluated, considering different sources of variability. The functional unit is 1 t of switchgrass (dry basis) for electricity generation. Besides typical impact categories, blue and green water consumption impacts are also addressed by using watershed-specific characterization factors. In 2010, the production in Orihuela is more input-intensive than it is in Moncofar, while the biomass yield is lower. This causes greater climate change as CO2-eq. (709.1 vs. 65.0 kg t(-1)) and greater metal depletion as Fe-eq. (8.1 vs. 1.5 kg t(-1)). In the subsequent years, the yields are higher in Orihuela, and Moncofar performs worse for some specific impact categories, mainly the toxicity-related ones, and also metal depletion as Fe-eq., but only in 2011 (2.0 vs. 1.2 kg t(-1)). Due to larger irrigation doses, the blue water impact as ecosystem-eq. water is always higher in Orihuela (e.g. in 2010, 2020 vs. 390 m(3) t(-1)). On the contrary, the green water impact, also as ecosystem-eq. water, is greater in Moncofar, except for the first year (86.8 vs. 15.2 m(3) t(-1)). Switchgrass from the two locations could be eligible for bioelectricity production in the European Union in accordance with the sustainability requirements for greenhouse gas savings. Ad hoc decisions on crop management are, however, critical to the environmental impacts, evidencing the importance of taking a multi-year approach., The research has been partially funded by the body Generalitat Valenciana through Fundacion Agroalimed, under the coordination of the Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA). The authors would like to acknowledge the cooperatives Sociedad exportacion de agrios No 2 Coop. V. and Surinver for the guidance on the crop management.

There have been no previous risk assessment studies on citrus pesticides in Spain. The aim of this work was to estimate the risks caused by worst-case drift scenarios of the principal pesticides used on the crop, assessing possible damage to the environment and human health. A field survey was carried out, characterizing the specific conditions of plant protection product applications to citrus crops in Spain. Six targets were identified as being the most affected by droplet spray drift in Spain, and more broadly in most Mediterranean conditions: aquatic organisms, earthworms, bees, adult bystanders, child bystanders and residents. Three drift estimation models were used to assess the amount of drift at specific distances downwind of a field in order to calculate Risk Indicators. These showed safe conditions for earthworms and residents, but also indicated that some pesticides may pose a risk to aquatic organisms, even with a 20 m buffer zone, and also to bees, and adult and child bystanders. In general, results generated similar consequences of hazard risk independent of the drift prediction model used, indicating that toxicological data are more relevant for predicting risks.

This study was conducted to develop a fast and accurate computer-based machine vision system for detecting irregular potatoes in real-time. Supported algorithms were specifically developed and programmed for image acquisition and processing, controlling the whole process, saving the classification results and monitoring the progress of all operations. A database of images was first formulated from potatoes with different shapes and sizes, and then some essential geometrical features such as perimeter, centroid, area, moment of inertia, length and width were extracted from each image. Also, eight shape parameters originated from size features and Fourier transform were calculated for each image in the database. All extracted shape parameters were entered in a stepwise linear discriminant analysis to extract the most important parameters that most characterized the regularity of potatoes. Based on stepwise linear discriminant analysis, two shape features (roundness and extent) and four Fourier-shape descriptors were found to be effective in sorting regular and irregular potatoes. The average correct classification was 96.5% for a training set composed of 228 potatoes and then the algorithm was validated in another testing set composed of 182 potatoes in a real-time operation. The experiments showed that the success of in-line classification of moving potatoes was 96.2%. Concurrently, the well-shaped potatoes were classified by size achieving a 100% accuracy indicating that the developed machine vision system has a great potential in automatic detection and sorting of misshapen products. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A trial under laboratory conditions was carried out to study the possibility of decreasing the delivered dose of organophosphate insecticides without affecting their efficacy against California red scale (CRS), Aonidiella aurantii (Maskell), by reducing the volume of water used whilst maintaining the concentration of pesticide. In order to establish an optimal application volume, the coverage and the efficacy against different stages of development of CRS of two commercial organophosphate pesticides (chlorpyrifos 750 g kg −1 WG [Dursban ® 75 WG] and chlorpyrifos-methyl 224 g l −1 EC [Reldan ® E]) at four volumes of water (1, 2, 3 and 4 ml) were compared. Results showed that in general Chlorpyrifos-methyl-based product (CMBP) provided greater coverage and impact size, but did not achieve the highest efficacy. The minimum-deposited volume (1.01 μl/cm 2 ) produced 11% coverage with Chlorpyrifos-based product (CBP) and 22% with CMBP, reaching the highest efficacies (around 89–95%) against the youngest stages (N1 and N2 stages) with both products. To attain similar efficacy with males (prepupal and pupa stages), twice the volume (2.03 μl/cm 2 ) of the CBP was required, producing 28% coverage. The CMBP required higher deposited volumes (3.41 μl/cm 2 ) and higher coverage (51%). The maximum efficacy in the control of adult females (third instar and gravid female stages) was 70% with both pesticides. This level was attained with 3.41 μl/cm 2 of CBP (36% coverage) and 4.72 μl/cm 2 of CMBP (62% coverage). The research shows that greater coverage does not result in greater efficacy, so it would be possible to reduce the spray volume in field conditions. Further research will be carried out in order to check these results under real field conditions.

The best alternative for reducing citrus production costs is mechanization. Machine vision is a reliable technology for the automatic inspection of fresh fruits and vegetables that can be adapted to harvesting machines. In these, fruits can be inspected before sending them to the packinghouse and machine vision provides important information for subsequent processing and avoids spending further resources in non-marketable fruit. The present work describes a computer vision system installed on a harvesting machine developed jointly by IVIA and a Spanish enterprise. In this machine, hand pickers directly drop the fruit as they collect it, which results in an important increase of productivity. The machine vision system is placed over rollers in order to inspect the produce, and separate those that can be directly sent to the fresh market from those that do not meet minimal quality requirements but can be used by the processing industry, based on color, size and the presence of surface damages. The system was tested under field conditions.

Petroleum-derived spray oils (PDSOs) offer an interesting alternative to acaricides to control the twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae), a key pest of clementine mandarins, Citrus reticulata Blanco. However, there is a lack of knowledge on how these products should be used. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of four PDSOs (Sunspray Ultrafine, Volck Miscible, Texaco D-C-Tron Plus, and Agroaceite) at five concentrations (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 3.0%) against eggs, protonymphs, and adults of T. urticae. We also characterized the PDSOs deposition pattern to find out the possible relationship between this factor and efficacy. In general, for all PDSO assayed, the higher the concentration, the higher the coverage, the mean area of impacts and efficacy on T. urticae. The biggest mean area of the impacts corresponded to Texaco D-C-Tron Plus. This PDSO was the most effective one and its efficacy was independent of concentration for concentrations higher than 1.0%. The same applied for concentrations higher than 1.5-2.0% for Agroaceite, Volck Miscible, and Sunspray Ultrafine, with high efficacies against eggs, protonymphs, and adults. PDSOs are highly effective against T. urticae, the use of these products should be encouraged in integrated citrus pest management programs in Spain. The next step will be to ascertain the efficacy under real field conditions.

The computer vision systems currently used for the automatic inspection of citrus fruits are normally based on supervised methods that are capable of detecting defects on the surface of the fruit but are unable to discriminate between different types of defects. identifying the type of the defect affecting each fruit is very important in order to optimise the marketing profit and to be able to take measures to prevent such defects from occurring in the future. In this paper, we present a computer vision system that was developed for the recognition and classification of the most common external defects in citrus. in order to discriminate between 11 types of defects, images of the defects were acquired in five spectral areas, including the study of near infrared reflectance and ultraviolet induced fluorescence. The system combines spectral information about the defects with morphological estimations of them in order to classify the fruits in categories. The fruit-sorting algorithm proposed here was tested by using it to identify the defects in more than 2000 citrus fruits, including mandarins and oranges. The overall success rate reached 86%.

Fruit flies that are very important pests on a large number of crops, can be controlled efficiently using low-volume applications to deposit large droplets of insecticidal bait on the exterior of the crop canopy. To meet these requirements a sensor-controlled sprayer was developed, consisting of a hydraulic system that was fitted with air induction nozzles, an ultrasonic sensor and a control unit with display and navigator keys. This sprayer was designed to apply low spray volumes as very coarse spray droplets. The nozzle with the coarsest spray was an Al11003 operated at 0.1 MPa. The sensor recognised differences in crop canopy so could adapt the application to different citrus crop systems in commercial orchards. The sensor-controlled sprayer was tested measuring the size of deposited droplets on the target and observing its performance on the field. Coverage was predominently on the outer canopy zone with little inside the canopy. This sprayer provides an alternative to cover treatments, not only from environmental but also from economic reasons. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

BACKGROUND: The sterile insect technique (SIT) is acknowledged around the world as an effective method for biological pest control of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann). Sterile insects are produced in biofactories where one key issue is the selection of the progenitors that have to transmit specific genetic characteristics. Recombinant individuals must be removed as this colony is renewed. Nowadays, this task is performed manually, in a process that is extremely slow, painstaking and labour intensive, in which the sex of individuals must be identified. The paper explores the possibility of using vision sensors and pattern recognition algorithms for automated detection of recombinants. RESULTS: An automatic system is proposed and tested to inspect individual specimens of C. capitata using machine vision. It includes a backlighting system and image processing algorithms for determining the sex of live flies in five high-resolution images of each insect. The system is capable of identifying the sex of the flies by means of a program that analyses the contour of the abdomen, using fast Fourier transform features, to detect the presence of the ovipositor. Moreover, it can find the characteristic spatulate setae of males. Simulation tests with 1000 insects (5000 images) had 100% success in identifying male flies, with an error rate of 0.6% for female flies. CONCLUSION: This work establishes the basis for building a machine for the automatic detection and removal of recombinant individuals in the selection of progenitors for biofactories, which would have huge benefits for SIT around the globe. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry

The quality standards of citrus for fresh consumption are mainly based on the absence of bruises and rotting, as well as an adequate shape, color, and size. Current industrial systems for inspection require the processing of images in a few milliseconds, inspecting the whole surface of the fruit moving on a conveyor belt. Most of them are limited to the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum, but the identification of defects is an important task that still remains unresolved. Information provided by near infrared or ultraviolet regions of the spectrum may improve the accuracy of fruit identification and the detection of dangerous damages or diseases that evolve or are invisible to our eyes. Furthermore, some techniques open the possibility of inspecting the internal parts of the fruits. This chapter summarizes research related to the application of machine vision, including different imaging technologies and techniques for the automated inspection of the quality of citrus fruits.

Las aguas de turbias desempeñaron un papel fundamental en los paisajes agrarios tradicionales del sureste peninsular. En ellos, la escasez de precipitaciones unido a su torrencialidad, obligó a la adopción de una sistematización de laderas y barrancos para aprovechar al máximo los caudales circulantes asociados a precipitaciones de cierta intensidad. Estos sistemas, que van a entrar en un proceso de abandono y desarticulación a partir de mediados del siglo XX, han sido objeto de un interés creciente vinculado a cuestiones ambientales y patrimoniales. A éstas se une recientemente su posible utilización como recursos no convencionales asociados a las políticas de sostenibilidad ambiental y de adecuación de la calidad de las aguas según su uso (fit for purpose). El objetivo de este artículo es examinar, teniendo en cuenta el significado patrimonial y ambiental que estos recursos de agua desempeñaron en las sociedades agrarias tradicionales, su recuperación, desde el punto de vista de iniciativas a escala local y de sostenibilidad ambiental. Para ello se analizan las actuaciones llevadas a cabo en ámbitos como los municipios litorales de la provincia de Alicante y el área metropolitana de Cataluña. Stormwater played a fundamental role in the traditional agricultural landscapes of Southeastern Spain. Relatively rare but violent outbursts of precipitation forced traditional agriculture to build a sophisticated system of slope and ravine management to take advantage of flows associated with intense rainfall. These systems, which will be entering a process of abandonment and disbandment from the middle of the 20th century onwards, have been the subject of growing interest linked to environmental and landscape conservation issues. On the other hand, rainwater flows also regain their importance in urban areas as local, alternative resources able to provide for the needs of certain uses such as garden irrigation after the concept of fit for purpose. The aim of this paper is to examine, initiatives aiming at the recovery of rainwater flows under the same philosophy of traditional agrarian societies but this time directed to the urban sphere. To this effect we will present cases in the coastal municipalities of the province of Alicante and the metropolitan area of Barcelona where rainwater and other alternative water flows are increasingly used. Este artículo se inserta en los proyectos de investigación Urbanización y metabolismo hídrico en el litoral de Alicante: análisis de tendencias para el periodo 2000-2010 (CSO2012-36997-C02-02) y Análisis de los cambios recientes en el consumo de agua en entornos de urbanización acelerada: propuesta metodológica y estudio de caso para el litoral Mediterráneo español (CSO2012-36997-C02-01) financiados por el Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad.

This work was aimed to study whether the application of ethephon as an abscission agent and mechanical harvest using a trunk shaker have any effect on plant water status, leaf gas exchange, and yield of mandarin and orange trees cultivated under Mediterranean conditions. The experiment was performed from 2008 to 2011 in five commercial orchards where parameters related to the plant water status and leaf gas exchange were measured before the application of ethephon, at harvest time and at different occasions after harvest. In addition, the effects of ethephon dose on yield in the current and subsequent seasons were also evaluated. Results showed that ethephon applications and mechanical harvest did not detrimentally affect plant water status in any of the cultivars studied. Furthermore, either had no effect or had a short temporal decrease effect on leaf gas exchange depending on the cultivar studied although with no consequences for the fruit yield obtained during the current season. Increasing ethephon doses led to fruit yield reductions in the mandarin ‘Orogrande’ trees in subsequent seasons. When trunk-shaker and ethephon applications were combined, however, yields from the late-maturing orange significantly decline in subsequent seasons. Overall, results show that using a trunk shaker is a viable technique to mechanically harvest citrus trees destined to both fresh and industry market and can be considered as an alternative to the traditional manual harvest usually performed under Mediterranean conditions. However, its use cannot be recommended for late-maturing oranges, such as the ‘Navel Lane Late’ in which mature fruit and fruitlets coexist in the tree at the time of harvest.

The presence of skin defects is one of the most influential factors in the price of fruit. The detection of defects during packing operations ensures that only fruits with a good quality reach the market. Moreover, the identification of the type of each defect will increase both the quality of the fruit and also the producer's profit. At the present time, fruit with slight defects is marketed together with sound fruit, thus depreciating the quality of the batch, or it is removed together with seriously damaged fruit, thereby causing economic losses. Most current computer vision systems used in the automatic quality inspection of food are limited to the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum as they tend to imitate the human eye. However, non-visible information, such as that provided by near-infrared or ultraviolet regions of the spectrum, can improve the inspection by detecting specific defects or allowing the detection of non-visible damages. This work summarises our research in the application of near-infrared, ultraviolet and fluorescence computer vision systems in the identification of the most common defects of citrus fruits, and proposes a fruit sorting algorithm that combines this different spectral information (including visible) to classify fruit according to the type of defect. Results showed that the contribution of non-visible information can improve the detection and identification of some defects. Compared with the results from colour images, the detection accuracy of anthracnose increased from 86% by using NIR images; and the accuracy of green mould was increased from 65% to 94% by using images of fluorescence. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In the fruit and vegetable sector, the demand of quality has become an important demand for consumers. Whereas first requirement sheets mainly dealt with the visual aspect, currently there is an increasing interest in other quality features, such as maturity. Maturity can be assessed by measuring firmness and sugar content. Through contract CRAFT-1999-70106, funded by the European Union, the Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA) has designed a firmness sensor capable of classifying peaches in three categories: very firm, firm and not firm. This paper describes the developed sensor which is based on the analysis of fruit impact on a load cell (curve of force vs time) and its integration in a pre-commercial sorting line. The repeatability tests have demonstrated that the firmness sensor can work appropriately at,a speed of 8 fruits s(-1) and the sensor is able to classify peaches according to their firmness with 80% repeatability. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Atmospheric drift of plant protection products is considered a major source of air pollution during pesticide applications. Citrus protection against pests and diseases usually requires application of these products using air-blast sprayers. Many authors have emphasized the influence of vegetation on the risk of spray drift. The aim of this work was to describe in detail how the airflow from an air-blast sprayer behaves when it reaches citrus trees and, in particular, the effect that the tree canopy has on this flow. Tests were conducted at a commercial citrus orchard with conventional machinery, placed parallel to a row of trees. Air velocity and direction was measured using a 3D ultrasonic anemometer in 225 points situated in three parallel planes perpendicular to the equipment. The stability of the airflow at each measuring point was studied and the mean velocities were graphically represented. Two vortexes, one behind the canopy, and another over the tree, have been deducted and never been reported before. Both may have an important influence on the trajectories of the sprayed droplets and, as a consequence, on the way in which plant protection products are diffused into the atmosphere. Observed turbulence intensities were higher than in similar experiments conducted in other tree crops, which may be attributable to the higher air volume generated by the machinery used for citrus protection and to the higher foliage density of citrus orchards.

The classification of table olive in different quality categories is performed depending on the defects in the surface of the fruits. However, the characteristics of every category are not defined. Then, it is necessary to apply learning algorithms that allow the extraction of quality information from batches previously classified by expert workers. In this research, a colorimetric characterisation of the more common defects has been carried out. An image analysis system has been used to segment the parameter set with the information from the olives quality. Three different algorithms have been applied to classify the olives in four quality categories. The results show that a neural network with a hidden layer is able to classify the olives with an accuracy of over 90%, while partial least squares discriminant and Mahalanobis distance are over 70%. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[EN] During plant protection treatments using airblast sprayers, part of the chemical is lost in the atmosphere (spray drift), ground, surface water, etc., causing risks to the environment. Although there is a growing interest in quantifying these losses, field measurements are extraordinarily complex and expensive. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) generates mathematical models of this phenomenon that may help to understand and quantify it. The air flow produced by the fan is affected by the tree canopies, which modify the trajectories of spray droplets. Current state of the art in CFD considers canopies as porous bodies and uses the k-epsilon turbulence model. In a first step, this work proposes and validates a two dimensional CFD model to be applied in citrus tree applications from experimental data. This new CFD model considers canopies as solid bodies. Four different geometries for the first tree are compared using three different turbulence models: k-epsilon, SST k-omega and Reynolds Stress Model. Air velocities measured in front of a canopy in a previous field test are introduced as boundary conditions. We used the experimental data to adjust the model and select the geometry and the turbulence model. In order to test the validity of the model, air velocities obtained with the model are compared with the experimental data obtained in other experiment. The final CFD model was able to reproduce the airflow behaviour around the tree canopy, with the same turbulent structures. The solid body with the new turbulence model (SST k-omega) was considered as a good approximation to the real life. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved., This work was partially financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy (Projects AGL2007-66093-C04-01 and AGL2010-22304-C04-01) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Ramon Salcedo is recipient of a postgraduate FPI-INIA scholarship. Authors would like to thank to Grupo Martinavarro S.L. for allowing the use of their fields and Pulverizadores Fede S.A. for the use of its sprayer.