• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.8-14
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• 2009

When a farmer buys a tractor, the power size of a tractor is determined by various factors such as farm size, farmer's age, farming type, topographical area of farm. Relationships between tractor selection and these factors were found. Three regression models were developed to analyze the relationship. Those models were an OLS-1 model (based on 567 samples having tractors), an OLS-2 model, and a Tobit model (both based on the 1,941 samples). Regression analysis results showed that farm size and farmer's age affected selection of power size for all models at an 1% significance level. It was also shown that some farming types also had significant relationships with the tractor power size. Upland cultivating farmers and livestock farmers had larger tractors than rice cultivating farmers, while orchard farmers had smaller tractors. As for the topographical area, only middle area had significant difference with plain area. Farmers who had a rice-transplanter or a combine had larger tractors than those who didn't.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2023.04a
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• pp.79-79
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• 2023

With the development of digital technology, the size of the smart agriculture market at home and abroad is rapidly expanding. It is necessary to establish a foundation for sustainable precision agriculture in order to respond to the aging of rural areas and labor shortages. This study was conducted to establish an automated digital agricultural test bed for soybean production management using data suitable for agricultural environmental conditions in Korea and to demonstrate the field of leading complexes. In order to manage water smartly, we installed a subsurface drip irrigation system in the upland field and an underground water level control system in the paddy field. Based on data collected from sensors, water management was controlled by utilizing an integrated control system. Irrigation was carried out when the soil moisture was less than 20%. For effective water management, soil moisture was measured at the surface, 15cm, and 30cm depth. The main growth characteristics and yield, such as stem length, number of branches, and number of nodes of the main stem, were investigated during the main growth period. During the operation of the test bed, drought appeared during the early vegetative growth period and maturity period, but in the open field smart agriculture test bed, water was automatically supplied, reducing labor by 53% and increasing yield by 2%. A test bed was installed for each field digital farming element technology, and it is planned to verify it once more this year. In the future, we plan to expand the field digital farming technology developed for leading farmers to the field.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.77-83
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• 2016

The objectives of this study was to investigate the difference between organic-farming and conventional-farming soils relatives to soil chemical properties and microbial flora. Fifteen soil sampling sites were chosen from the certified organic upland farm, considered with its location, crop and application of organic compost types. Soil chemical properties were analyzed by standard methods established by National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration. For the soil chemical properties, the values of pH were ranged from 4.5 to 7.3. The values of electrical conductivity (EC) in the sampling sites were below 2 dS/m of convention cultivation soil. For analyzing the microbial flora, the bacillus(16S rDNA) and cladothricosis(18S rDNA) were analyzed by using PCR-DGGE (Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis) in the soil of 15 sampling sites. Cluster analysis of biodiversity index was performed by using pattern of DGGE. DGGE patterns and clustering analysis of bacterial DNA from soil extracts revealed that the bacterial community was differentiated between less than 5 years and more than 5 years depending on the cultivation history. But there was no consistent tendency between cultivation history and regional trend in the case of molds. Therefore, it would be very effective to analyze bacterial clusters of organically cultivated soils in long - term cultivated soil for more than 5 years.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.528-553
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• 2020

Upland fields are characterized by dry environments, a high degree of disturbance by farming practices such as double-cropping, and a high diversity of crops compared to other field types. This study focused on the floristic composition and characteristics of upland fields in South Korea. Flora surveys were conducted in 36 areas in nine provinces at two times (June and August) in 2015. The results showed that the vascular plants in the upland fields in South Korea included 532 taxa, containing 100 families, 322 genera, 483 species, nine subspecies, 37 varieties, one form, and two hybrids. Among the 100 families, Asteraceae was the most diverse in species (75 taxa), followed by Poaceae (68 taxa), Fabaceae (34 taxa), Polygonaceae (21 taxa), Rosaceae (19 taxa), and Liliaceae (17 taxa). Based on the occurrence frequency of each species, Acalypha australis L. (100%), and Artemisia indica Willd. (100%) were the highest, followed by Humulus scandens (Lour.) Merr., Rorippa palustris (L.) Besser, Conyza canadensis (L.) Cronquist, Erigeron annuus (L.) Pers., Lactuca indica L., Commelina communis L., Digitaria ciliaris (Retz.) Koeler, Echinochloa crus-galli(L.) P.Beauv., Cyperus microiria Steud., and Oxalis corniculata L. The biological type of upland fields in South Korea was determined to be Th-R₅-D₄-e type. Rare plants were found in 11 taxa: Taxus cuspidata Siebold & Zucc, Magnolia kobus DC, Clematis trichotoma Nakai, Aristolochina contorta Bunge, Buxus sinica (Rehder & E.H.Wilson) M.Cheng var. koreana (Nakai ex Rehder) Q.L.Wang, Melothria japonica (Thunb.) Maxim, Mitrasacme indica Wight, Lithospermum arvense L., Carpesium rosulatum Miq., Allium senescens L., and Pseudoraphis sordida (Thwaites) S.M.Phillips & S.L.Chen. Ninety-seven taxa contained naturalized plants composed of 24 families, 68 genera, 97 species, one variety, and one form. The urbanization and naturalization indices were 30.5% and 18.4%, respectively.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.30 no.1 s.108
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• pp.45-55
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• 2005

Knowledge of the relationship between crop yield and yield-limiting factors is essential for precision farming. However, developing this knowledge is not easy because these yield-limiting factors are interrelated and affect crop yield in different ways. In this study, data for grain yield and yield-limiting factors, including crop chlorophyll content, soil chemical properties, and topography were collected for a small (0.3 ha) rice paddy field in Korea and a large (36 ha) upland corn field in the USA, and relationships were investigated with path analysis. Using this approach, the effects of limiting factors on crop yield could be separated into direct effects and indirect effects acting through other factors. Path analysis provided more insight into these complex relationships than did simple correlation or multiple linear regression analysis. Results of correlation analysis for the rice paddy field showed that EC, Ca, and $SiO_2$ had significant (P<0.1) correlations with rice yield, while pH, Ca, Mg, Na, $SiO_2,\;and\;P_2O_5$ had significant correlations with the SPAD chlorophyll reading. Path analysis provided additional information about the importance and contribution paths of soil variables to rice yield and growth. Ca had the highest direct effect (0.52) and indirect effect via Mg (-0.37) on rice yield. The indirect effect of Mg through Ca (0.51) was higher than the direct effect (-0.38). Path analysis also enabled more appropriate selection of important factors limiting crop yield by considering cause-and-effect relationships among predictor and response variables. For example, although pH showed a positive correlation (r=0.35) with SPAD readings, the correlation was mainly due to the indirect positive effects acting through Mg and $SiO_2$, while pH not only showed negative direct effects, but also negatively impacted indirect effects of other variables on SPAD readings. For the large upland Missouri corn field, two topographic factors, elevation and slope, had significant (P<0.1) direct effects on yield and highly significant (P<0.01) correlations with other limiting factors. Based on the correlation analysis alone, P and K were determined to be nutrients that would increase corn yield for this field. With the help of path analysis, however, increases in Mg could also be expected to increase corn yield in this case. In general, path analysis results were consistent with published optimum ranges of nutrients for rice and com production. We conclude that path analysis can be a useful tool to investigate interrelationships between crop yield and yield limiting factors on a site-specific basis.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.52-57
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• 2005

Previous studies showed that shell meal fertilizer from the oyster farming industry could be a potential inorganic soil amendment to increase Chinese cabbage productivity and to restore the soil nutrient balance in upland soil (Lee et al., 2004). Herein, shell meal fertilizer was applied at rates of 0, 4, 8, 12, and $16Mg\;ha^{-1}$ to upland soil (Pyeontaeg series, Fine silty, Typic Endoaquepts) for Chinese cabbage cultivation. We found available phosphate increased significantly with shell meal fertilizer application, due to high content of phosphate ($1.5g\;P_2O_5\;kg^{-1}$) in the applied shell meal fertilizer. In addition, high pH of shell meal fertilizer contributed to increase available phosphate content by neutralization of acidic soil. Total and residual P contents increased significantly with increasing shell meal fertilizer application, but we could not find any tendency in organic and inorganic P fraction. Of extractable P fraction, water-soluble phosphorus (W-P) and calcium-bound P (Ca-P) contents increased significantly with increasing application level. By contrast, aluminum and iron-bound P (Al-P and Fe-P) decreased slightly with shell meal application. The present experiment indicated that shell meal fertilizer had a positive benefit on increasing available phosphate content in arable soil. And so the increased available phosphate by shell meal fertilizer may decrease phosphate application level and then reduce phosphorus loss in arable soil.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.687-706
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• 2018

Organic agriculture is well known to be not only affecting the physical and chemical status of the soil but also closely connected to the biodiversity through complex community structure and ecological interactions. Current study monitored and analyzed the invertebrate biodiversity of organic and conventional paddy fields and upland fields from April, 2017 to August, 2017. Total of 680 species (with 14,371 individuals) were confirmed - more number of species were identified at the organic agriculture practicing fields. According to the various indices analysis, organic paddy field showed about 40% higher diversity index, while organic upland field showed about 10% higher diversity index. Richness index at organic paddy field was 60% higher compared to conventional paddy field, while organic upland field showed 40% higher value. Dominance and evenness index at conventional agriculture practicing fields were low, which possibly indicate at least partial dominance phenomenon. Hemipteran, dipteran and aranean species showed highest diversity in all fields, while dipteran, hemipteran, aranean and coleopteran species had highest diversity in conventional agriculture practicing fields.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.119-133
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• 2013

In the present study, several groundwater vulnerability assessment methods were applied to an agricultural area of Gumma in Korea. For the groundwater intrinsic vulnerability assessment, the performance of DRASTIC, SINTACS and GOD models was compared and an ensemble approach was suggested. M-DRASTIC and multi-linear regression (MLR) models were applied for the groundwater specific vulnerability assessment to nitrate of the study site. The correlation coefficient between the nitrate concentration and M-DRASTIC index was as low as 0.24. The result of the MLR model showed that the correlation coefficient is 0.62 and the areal extents of livestock farming and upland field are most influential factors for the nitrate contamination of groundwater in the study site.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.120-125
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• 2009

Water stress has become a major concern in agriculture. Korea suffers from limited agricultural water supply, and wastewater reuse has been recommended as an alternative solution.A study was performed to examine the effects of microorganism concentration in the ponded-water of a paddy rice field with reclaimed-water irrigation for evaluating the microbial risk to farmers and neighborhoodchildren.Most epidemiological studies were performed based on an upland field, and they may not directly applicable to paddy fields. Beta-Poisson model was used to estimate the microbial risk of pathogen ingestion. Their risk value increased significantly high level after irrigation and precipitation.It implies that agricultural activities such as plowing, and fertilizing, and precipitation need be practiced a few days after irrigation considering health risks. The results about field application of the microbial risk assessment using E. coli showed difference according to monitoring time and treatment plot. Result of the microbial risk assessment showed that risk values of ground-water and reclaimed secondary waste water irrigation were lower than directly use of wastewater treatment plants' effluent. This paper should be viewed as a first step in the application of quantitative microbial risk assessment of E. coli to wastewater reuse in a paddy rice farming.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.19 no.spc
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• pp.295-297
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• 2011

Weed control is the most important issue in organic farming systems that limit crop growth and their yield. Field experiments were conducted in organic soybean (Glycine max Merrill) to evaluate the weed suppression effects of salt and seawater treatment. Weed population and fresh weight were monitored after 6 weeks of salt and seawater treatments. The most important weeds were Digitaria sanguinalis, Portulaca oleracea, Tradescantia reflexa and Chenopodium album var. centrorubrum, but also 6 other species were observed in soybean arable field. Soybean crops under seawater or their solids application were well grown. The results treated with salts and seawater indicate decreases by 13.4~30.8% in weed density and by 18.0~43.2% in their fresh weight and soil hardness increases of up to 2.1-fold. Salt and seawater provided good additional weed control, but they were caused a serious problem in deterioration of soil physical properties.