• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.89-99
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• 2014

The cultivation of biomass crops is now global demand for decreasing emissions of carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) from fossil fuel. Miscanthus species have been studied as a suitable crop for biomass production, due to its characteristics of fast growth and high biomass. In Korea, Miscanthus species have gained wide attention as an option for biomass production alternative to fossil fuels, recently. New strain of giant Miscanthus has been developed and two large trial sites for the giant Miscanthus production were built in the lower reaches of the Geum River. To evaluate the ecological influence of the giant Miscanthus as an bioenergy crop for the future, we investigated the impact of the construction of the giant Miscanthus production fields on the biota and also compared it with biota in paddy fields near the study sites. The biota including plants, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, avifauna, insects, and bugs was investigated. The plant diversity of the giant Miscanthus production fields was poorer than the paddy fields because the high height of the giant Miscanthus might hinder the growth of other plants. However, the giant Miscanthus production fields serves habitat to animals, leading to rich diversity of animals including avifauna, insects, and bugs. The rich diversity of the animals in the giant Miscanthus production fields coincides with the fact that the giant Miscanthus was grown without any pesticide, herbicide, and fertilizer. This study showed that the giant Miscanthus can influence on biota and further long term study is needed to elucidate the interaction between the diversity of biota and the giant Miscanthus.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2018.05a
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• pp.341-343
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• 2018

Agriculture has the longest history in many industries and is directly or indirectly linked to human development. However, recently agriculture in Korea has difficulties in farm management due to the decrease of rural population, aging of society, increase of material costs, and climate change on the Korean peninsula. Smart farms using ICT are proposed as an alternative to solve these problems. Smart farms manage the temperature and water supply facilities of farms through various sensors, but there is a limit to the delicate management of crops. Therefore, in this paper, unlike the conventional moisture sensor, the water supply is varied according to the depth of the soil, thereby realizing an optimized environment for plant growth.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.769-779
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• 2019

Chilli peppers are predominantly cultivated in open field systems under abiotic and biotic stress conditions. Abiotic and biotic factors have a considerable effect on plant performance, fruit quantity, and quality. Chilli peppers grow well in a tropical climate due to their adaptation to warm and humid regions with temperatures ranging from 18 to 30℃. Nowadays, chilli peppers are cultivated all around the world under different climatic conditions, and their production is gradually expanding. Expected climate changes will likely cause huge and complex ecological consequences; high temperature, heavy rainfall, and drought have adverse effects on the vegetative and generative development of all agricultural crops including chilli peppers. To gain better insight into the effect of climate change, the growth, photosynthetic traits, morphological and physiological characteristics, yield, and fruit parameters of chilli peppers need to be studied under simulated climate change conditions. Moreover, it is important to develop alternative agrotechnologies to maintain the sustainability of pepper production. There are many conceivable ideas and concepts to sustain crop production under the extreme conditions of future climate change scenarios. Therefore, this review provides an overview of the adverse impacts of climate change and discusses how to find the best solutions to obtain a stable chilli pepper yield.

• KIEAE Journal
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.43-50
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• 2013

Recent researches on plant factory system deal with the convergence of lighting technology, agricultural technology inclusive to the high-tech industries worldwide in order to respond to the decreasing crop harvest due to global warming and abnormal weather phenomena. However, the fundamental performance standard is not currently being introduced in the case of plants factory and its commercialization is not activated because of high initial investment and operating cost. Large portion of the initial investment and operating cost of a plant factory is ascribed to artificial light sources and thermal control facilities, therefore, innovation should be provided in order to improve the economics of the plant factory. As an alternative, new plant factory could harness solar thermal and geothermal systems for heating, cooling and ventilation. In this study, a natural light dependent multi-layer plant factory's thermal environment was analyzed with two-dimensional numerical methods to elicit efficient operation conditions for optimized internal physical environment. Depending on the supply air temperature and airflow rate introduced in the facility, the temperature changes around the crops was interpreted. Since the air supplied into the plant factory does not stay long enough, the ambient temperature predicted around the plating trays was not significantly different from that of the supplied air. However, the changes of airflow rate and air flow pattern could cause difference to the temperature around the planting trays. Increasing the amount of time of air staying around the planting trays could improve energy performance in case the thermal environment of a natural light based multi-layer plant factory is considered.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.295-295
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• 2017

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the most important food crops in the world. The eating quality of cooked rice is the most important trait japonica rice breeding in Korea. Rice varieties that produce kernels that are firm and fluffy after cooking are generally favored in countries such as India, Pakistan, and Indonesia. Whereas varieties with kernels that maintain its shape, glossiness, savory odor, stickiness, and tenderness when cooked are preferred in Korea. This study analyzed the major physicochemical components of rice grain associated with the eating quality of 20 japonica rice varieties. Physicochemical components such as the amylose content, protein content, amylographic characteristics of polished rice, and texture of cooked rice were tested using a Tensipresser as alternative indirect methods in determining rice eating quality. Evaluation of eating quality of cooked rice using sensory test was conducted with 20 well trained members. The 20 rice varieties in different eating quality showed amylose contents of 17~20%. The amylose content of rice varieties had negative correlation with peak viscosity, however positive correlation with setback viscosity was observed. The stickiness and adhesiveness of cooked rice showed correlation with the amylose content and amylopectin chain length distribution. Rice varieties with good eating quality showed less retrogradation of cooked rice and higher hot viscosity of rice flour in amylogram.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.639-649
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• 2013

Over 96.2% of the agricultural water in Jeju Island is obtained from groundwater and there are quite distinct characteristics of agricultural water demand/supply spatially because of regional and seasonal differences in cropping system and rainfall amount. Land use for cultivating crops is expected to decrease 7.4% (4,215 ha) in 2020 compared to 2010, while market garden including various vegetable crop types having high water demand is increasing over the Island, especially western area having lower rainfall amount compared to southern area. On the other hand, land use for fruit including citrus and mandarin having low water demand is widely distributed over southern and northern part having higher rainfall amount. The agricultural water demand of $1,214{\times}10^3\;m^3/day$ in 2020 is estimated about 1.39 times compared to groundwater supply capacity of $874{\times}10^3\;m^3/day$ in 2010 with 42.4% of eastern, 103.1% of western, 61.9% of southern, and 77.0% of northern region. Moreover, net secured amount of agricultural groundwater would be expected to be much smaller due to regional disparity of water demand/supply, the lack of linkage system between the agricultural water supply facilities, and high percentage of private wells. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure the total net secured amount of agricultural groundwater to overcome the expected regional discrepancy of water demand and supply by establishing policy alternative of regional water supply plan over the Island, including linkage system between wells, water tank enlargement, private wells maintenance and public wells development, and continuous enlargement of rainwater utilization facilities.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.1110-1114
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• 2002

The animal production sector in Jordan is characterized by shortages of locally produced feedstuffs derived from rangeland, forage plants or from human food crops as by products. This is exacerbated by insufficient rainfall, overgrazing, early grazing and high stocking rate. Thus, subject to these constraints, other technological improvements are highly desirable to meet the needs of crop growth and animal production. Alternative adapted technologies are also desirable in order to meet the increased demand for red meat in relation to population growth along with the changes in the price subsidy for feedstuff. The technologies are those, which have been introduced to the animal production sector, obtained in agricultural research stations besides on-farm demonstrations. They include technologies suited for increasing birth and twining rates, synchronizing the mating period, introducing the early weaning method, and animal feed and sheep production. Economic assessments conducted in this study demonstrate promising results of hormonal and nutritional practices in improving production efficiency of Awassi sheep in Jordan. Jordanian published data between 1991 and 1998 were used. The examined practices were: 1) use of PMSG in estrus synchronization in ewes, 2) introduction of early lamb weaning program, 3) supplementation with $AD_3E$ for ewes and 4) the use of agro-industrial feed block as a feed supplement for grazing lambs. Production data were then subjected to partial budgeting for economical evaluation. The use of PMSG outperformed the control groups in fertility and net returns per ewe by US$ 8.36/ewe. The early weaning of lambs increased the net returns by US$ 3.90/lamb. The injection with vitamin $AD_3E$ showed an average additional net return of US$ 5.66/ewe. Feeding agriculture by-product blocks improved weight gain in the feed block groups and resulted in additional net returns of US$ 3.5/lamb. The economic viability and reproductive performance indicators demonstrate that efforts should be undertaken to disseminate these new practices in the development program.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.653-682
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• 2007

In this study, multi-sectoral partial equilibrium and computable general equilibrium models of Taiwan are used to investigate the direct and indirect effects of energy price increases on overall economies and agro-food sector in Taiwan. The results suggest that agricultural prices, production cost would increase between 0.27% to 1.88%, and a reduction in GDP around 0.39% to 0.54 %. The negative impact on livestock sector is slightly higher than that on the crop sector. Negative impacts are also observed in the employment and wages. The rising oil price has the potential to discourage production of energy-intensive activity because of the possibility of substitution and adaptations. The growth rate of real GDP will shrink by 0.64% to 1.06% and CPI will increase by 1.17% to 1,95%. Both the agriculture and non-agricultural sector also respond by raising output prices by 0.80% to 1.33%. The rising international oil price has urged the government to take policy actions like using alternative fuels such as biodiesel, bioethanol, and adopting measures to cut down on energy consumptions mainly in transportation sectors in response to public concern over economic shocks.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.47-56
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• 2018

Research was initiated to investigate germination characteristics and germination pattern of 14 herbaceous plant entries used on the road slope during 30 days. An alternative germination condition for 14 herbaceous plant entries required by International Seed Testing Association(ISTA) was applied in the experiment, consisting of 8-hr light at $25^{\circ}C$ and 16-hr dark at $15^{\circ}C$. Significant differences were observed in the first germination rate(0.3%~40.7%)and in the final germination rate(7.7%~93.3%). Days to the first germination(2~8days), days to the 30% germination(2~6days) and days to the peak germination(6~18days) were different among 14 herbaceous plant entries in the study. From this result, we could find out higher final germination rate of 14 herbaceous plant entries in the following order; First, forage crops and cool-season turfgrasses; Second, herbeceous flowers; Third, wild plants. We could also divide germination rate among 14 herbaceous plant entries as 6 groups(I;very high, II;high, III;medium high, IV;medium low, V;low, VI;very low) based on the final germination rate and divide germination speed as 5 groups(A;very fast, B;fast, C;normal, D;slow, E;very slow)based on days to the peak germination. Considering germination characteristics and pattern of 14 herbaceous plant entries Medicago sativa, Lolium perenne, Festuca arundinacea and Cosmos sulphureus were regard as dominating species while Lespedeza cuneata, Silene armeria, Lotus corniculatus var.japonicus, Coreopsis tinctoria and Centaurea cyanus as competitive species following dominating species. However, Chrysanthemum burbankii, Pennisetum alopecuroides, Chrysanthemum boreale., Artemisia princeps var. orientalis and Arundinella hirta were not almost expected to emerge.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.553-558
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• 2014

Microalgae are a promising alternative feedstock for biodiesel production because their growth rates and oil contents are higher than those of conventional energy crops. Microalgal lipid is mainly triacylglyceride that can be converted to biodiesel as fatty acid methyl esters through trans-esterification. In this paper, the influence of several important lipid inducing factors such as nutrient limitation and changes in salinity and metallic components in microalgae and their potential strategies to be used for biodiesel production are reviewed. Depending upon strains/species that we use, microalgae react to stresses by producing different amount of triacylglyceride and/or by altering their fatty acids composition. Although the most widely applied method is the nitrogen starvation, other potential factors, including nutrient surplus conditions and changes in salinity, pH, temperature and metal concentrations, should be considered to increase biodiesel productivity.