Ioan Rotar

Hyperspectral Imaging Applications in Agriculture and Agro-Food Product Quality and Safety Control: A Review

Abstract In this review, various applications of near-infrared hyperspectral imaging (NIR-HSI) in agriculture and in the quality control of agro-food products are presented. NIR-HSI is an emerging technique that combines classical NIR spectroscopy and imaging techniques in order to simultaneously obtain spectral and spatial information from a field or a sample. The technique is nondestructive, nonpolluting, fast, and relatively inexpensive per analysis. Currently, its applications in agriculture include vegetation mapping, crop disease, stress and yield detection, component identification in plants, and detection of impurities. There is growing interest in HSI for safety and quality assessments of agro-food products. The applications have been classified from the level of satellite images to the macroscopic or molecular level.

Discrimination of grassland species and their classification in botanical families by laboratory scale NIR hyperspectral imaging: Preliminary results

The objective of this study was to discriminate by a NIR line scan hyperspectral imaging, taxonomic plant families comprised of different grassland species. Plants were collected from semi-natural meadows of the National Apuseni Park, Apuseni Mountains, Gârda area (Romania) according to botanical families. Chemometric tools such as PLS-DA were used to discriminate distinct grassland species, and assign the different species to botanical families. Species within the Poacea family and other Botanical families could be distinguished (R(2)=0.91 and 0.90, respectively) with greater accuracy than those species in the Fabacea family (R(2)=0.60). A correct classification rate of 99% was obtained in the assignment of the various species to the proper family. Moreover a complete study based on wavelength selection has been performed in order to identify the chemical compound related to each botanical family and therefore to the possible toxicity of the plant. This work could be considered as a first step for the development of a complete procedure for the detection and quantification of possible toxic species in semi-natural meadows used by grazing animals.

A Traditional Cultural Landscape in Transformation

Abstract Changes in the economies, societies and politics of Europe and across the globe that have taken place since 1990 have started to impact upon ‘transition countries.’ People in the mountainous regions of Eastern Europe have begun to face completely new economic and ecological problems. The increased incorporation of rural subsistence economies into the world market will inevitably lead to socioeconomic change. Decision makers at the national and regional levels promote this process to a certain extent; yet they are in part also forced to simply follow its course. This is inducing major alterations to landscapes, brought about by increasing farm sizes and greater specialization, mechanization, and intensification on more fertile soils. Existing conflicts between over-exploitation of resources and sustainable land use await resolution. This can be achieved through the creation of new economic perspectives and with the participation of stakeholders, including politicians, government, and local people. A traditional cultural landscape in the Apuseni Mountains of Romania, its land use systems, and future perspectives for sustainable development were analyzed in the context of the Proiect Apuseni, an inter-and transdisciplinary bi-national project based in Romania and Germany. The aim of the project was to investigate the transformation processes, to identify and evaluate development strategies, and to make recommendations for sustainable regional development in participation with the local people and Romanian politicians.

Leguminous forage crops in sustainable cattle husbandry.

Within Europe, half the annual requirement for feed is provided by grass. However, although the EU is a net exporter of feed grain it is a substantial importer of protein and non grain feed ingredients. For several economical and ecological reasons there is a renewed interest to grow forage legumes and the European Union strengthen the role of protein-rich crops, by providing a supplementary payment for farmers producing these crops. In order to develop sustainable, legumebased live stock production systems, we need to understand the complex relationships that exist between herbivores and the plants they consume. To increase farmers confidence in the use of forage legumes, it is necessary to have more reliable establishment techniques and to reduce the variability in legume contribution within and between years, particularly for legumes in mixed swards.

Influence of manure on productivity and quality of a meadow of Festuca rubra L.

Researchers current concerns are to maintain the high floristic biodiversity, enabling sustainable development of natural grasslands in mountain areas. Large surfaces of the Apuseni Mountains are fertilized with organic fertilization (these is the only way of fertilization used by grasslands owners), fact which causes probably the high phytodiversity specific for these area. Grassland management is the one who creates and maintains a high phytodiversity, being able also to reduce it drastically in a short time. This involves research at various levels of intensification in order to determine how productivity and phytodiversity of grassland evolves over time. The first studies conducted in the Apuseni Mountains were aimed to increase production and fodder quality through various technological methods (fertilization with organic fertilizers, amendment, overseeding etc.), without taking into account the specific biodiversity of phytocenosis. Currently the problem is changing radically and in all research actions undertaken is not overlooked the environmental dimension. Through this experience we plan to examine how different doses of organic fertilizers influencing productivity and fitodiversitatea of mountain meadows.

CORRELATIONS BETWEEN PRODUCTIVITY AND OLIGOTROPHIC CHARACTER IN ARNICA MONTANA HABITATS FROM GÂRDA DE SUS COMMUNITY (APUSENI MOUNTAINS- ROMANIA)

Gârda de Sus community is situated in the superio r basin of Arieriver and it comprises important areas with the endangered medicinal plant Arnica montana in its perimeter. In these species habitats, 161 species of vascular plants have been identified, of which the number of the ones with oligotrophic cha racter dominates, followed by the mesotrophic ones. The productivity presents a positive correlation with mes otrophic species and a negative one with oligotrophic ones.