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- Sheep Grazing Management in the Mountain Region: Serra da Estrela, PortugalPublication . Monteiro, António; Costa, José; Esteves, Fernando; Santos, SérgioAs pastagens semi-naturais do Mediterrâneo constituem um recurso importante nos sistemas tradicionais de ordenamento do território, nomeadamente na região da Serra da Estrela, situada no centro de Portugal Continental, onde se desenvolve a atividade pecuária, maioritariamente baseada na ovinocultura leiteira. É uma região de relevo acidentado e montanhoso, composta por estratos arbustivos e herbáceos, geralmente associados à dieta de ovinos em pastejo. Essas pastagens assumem algumas tipologias, principalmente em áreas montanhosas, incluindo prados, pastagens perenes mesófilas de Nardus e outras pastagens perenes de alto valor ecológico e paisagístico. A composição florística é predominantemente composta por espécies de gramíneas (Poaceae) e leguminosas (Fabaceae). A implementação de técnicas de cultivo adequadas ao manejo da pastagem permite um aumento em sua produtividade e valor nutricional, resultando em aumento da taxa de lotação e redução da necessidade de suplementação. Além disso, essas técnicas promovem a manutenção da biodiversidade e do mosaico da paisagem, apoiando as indicações programáticas ambientais da Política Agrícola Comum. Assim, são descritas as características, potencialidades e práticas de gestão dos prados da região da Serra da Estrela, com base numa revisão bibliográfica. Este capítulo tem como objetivo fornecer informações úteis aos produtores que pretendem tornar o manejo de suas pastagens mais eficiente, promovendo a sustentabilidade ambiental. são descritas as potencialidades e práticas de gestão dos campos na região da Serra da Estrela, com base numa revisão bibliográfica. Este capítulo tem como objetivo fornecer informações úteis aos produtores que pretendem tornar o manejo de suas pastagens mais eficiente, promovendo a sustentabilidade ambiental. são descritas as potencialidades e práticas de gestão dos campos na região da Serra da Estrela, com base numa revisão bibliográfica. Este capítulo tem como objetivo fornecer informações úteis aos produtores que pretendem tornar o manejo de suas pastagens mais eficiente, promovendo a sustentabilidade ambiental.
- Sustainable Approach to Weed Management: The Role of Precision Weed ManagementPublication . Monteiro, António; Santos, SérgioIn the last few decades, the increase in the world’s population has created a need to produce more food, generating, consequently, greater pressure on agricultural production. In addition, problems related to climate change, water scarcity or decreasing amounts of arable land have serious implications for farming sustainability. Weeds can affect food production in agricultural systems, decreasing the product quality and productivity due to the competition for natural resources. On the other hand, weeds can also be considered to be valuable indicators of biodiversity because of their role in providing ecosystem services. In this sense, there is a need to carry out an effective and sustainable weed management process, integrating the various control methods (i.e., cultural, mechanical and chemical) in a harmonious way, without harming the entire agrarian ecosystem. Thus, intensive mechanization and herbicide use should be avoided. Herbicide resistance in some weed biotypes is a major concern today and must be tackled. On the other hand, the recent development of weed control technologies can promote higher levels of food production, lower the amount of inputs needed and reduce environmental damage, invariably bringing us closer to more sustainable agricultural systems. In this paper, we review the most common conventional and non-conventional weed control strategies from a sustainability perspective, highlighting the application of the precision and automated weed control technologies associated with precision weed management (PWM).
- Characterization of dairy sheep farms in the Serra da Estrela PDO regionPublication . Monteiro, António; Santos, SérgioABSTRACT: Sheep farming plays a key role in the sustainability of the most depressed rural regions of Portugal, particularly in the Serra da Estrela region, and is recognized as an important source of income for many local farmers. Thus, the management of local sheep breeds in the region has over generations given rise to its most emblematic product: Serra da Estrela cheese, with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). This study aims to briefly describe the sheep farms producing certified milk in the Serra da Estrela region. To this end, a survey form was drawn up and applied to 75 farms, randomly selected, from the defined geographical area of Serra da Estrela, from June to August 2020. The results show that the producers, mostly male, have an average age close to 51 years. On average, the herd size is equal to or greater than 100 animals and the daily milk production per animal varies between 0.47 and 1.0 L. The price of milk paid to the producer is, on average, at 1.25 Euros/L. Both the average herd size and the lactation length are higher than those described by others. The average daily milk production in most of these farms is in accordance with the standard average value related by other authors.
- Goat Kidding DatasetPublication . Gonçalves, Pedro; Marques, Maria R.; Belo, Ana T.; Monteiro, António; Braz, FernandoThe detection of kidding in production animals is of the utmost importance, given the frequency of problems associated with the process, and the fact that timely human help can be a safeguard for the well-being of the mother and kid. The continuous human monitoring of the process is expensive, given the uncertainty of when it will occur, so the establishment of an autonomous mechanism that does so would allow calling the human responsible who could intervene at the opportune moment. The present dataset consists of data from the sensorization of 16 pregnant and two non-pregnant Charnequeira goats, during a period of four weeks, the kidding period. The data include measurements from neck to floor height, measured by ultrasound and accelerometry data measured by an accelerometer existing at the monitoring collar. Data was continuously sampled throughout the experiment every 10 s. The goats were monitored both in the goat shelter (day and night) and during the grazing period in the pasture. The births of the animals were also registered, both in terms of the time at which they took place, but also with details regarding how they took place and the number of offspring, and notes were also added.
- Foreword to the Special Issue on Advanced IoT Technologies in AgriculturePublication . Gonçalves, Pedro; Pedreiras, Paulo; Monteiro, AntónioIn recent decades, the perception of the impact of humanity’s ecological footprint has changed dramatically; it is now widely recognized that natural resources are limited and sensitive, and that their indiscriminate use is unsustainable and deeply impacts the well-being of people, animals and plants [1,2,3]. The awareness that in order to reverse this problem, we must Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, leads to the emergence of new and disruptive paradigms in most aspects of human activity, including agriculture [4,5]. In fact, agriculture has a tremendous impact on food supplies for the world, but also on the environment, and can compromise the ecological balance, thus, endangering sustainability [6]. The search for new methodologies applied to agricultural production addresses recent technologies, most of which arise from the Internet of Things (IoT), enabling a massive and unprecedented deployment of digital devices and services in a range of application domains that always increases [6,7,8]. This trend, commonly referred to as Smart Farm, Precision Livestock Farm or Farm 4.0, consists of the use of a wide range of sensors that monitor the evolution of the impacted conditions in agriculture, transmitting these data through communication systems, typically wirelessly. These data are then analyzed, often using Artificial Intelligence techniques, supporting management decisions with the goal to optimize agricultural production, including economical aspects such as productivity, quality and profitability, and sustainability [9,10]. The management of agricultural processes is based on accurate information, both on current conditions and on the forecast of future developments, and it allows for gains in the efficiency of agricultural processes, both in terms of economics and environmental impact [7]. Indeed, we intend with this Special Issue on Advanced IoT Technologies in Agriculture to present developments in research, focusing on the application of new methods to pinpoint or solve problems and constraints in agriculture and livestock production, based on IoT, making use of emerging technologies such as large data, sensor networks, image analysis, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), mobile applications, cloud computing, robots or artificial intelligence. Examples of the application of such technologies to irrigation, fertilization, seeding, soil management, pest and disease detection, animal feeding, breeding and welfare, impacting on farming productivity, profit and environment sustainability, are also welcome.
- Epidemiology and Emergence of Schmallenberg Virus Part 1: Origin, Transmission and Differential DiagnosisPublication . Esteves, Fernando; Mesquita, João; Nóbrega, Carmen; Santos, Carla; Monteiro, António; Cruz, Rita; Vala, Helena; Coelho, Ana CláudiaSchmallenberg virus (SBV) is a novel Orthobunyavirus causing mild clinical signs in cows and malformations in aborted and neonatal ruminants in Europe. SBV belongs to the family Bunyaviridae and is transmitted by biting midges. This new virus was identified for the first time in the blood samples of cows in the city of Schmallenberg in NorthRhine-Westphalia in November 2011. Since then the virus spread to several European countries. Here we describe the origin and emergence, as well as the transmission and the differential diagnosis of this virus, now known to be a serious threat to Veterinary Public Health.
- Manual de Apoio ao Agricultor - Inovar na AgriculturaPublication . Monteiro, António; Pinto, António; Esteves Correia, Helena; Pato, Lúcia; Martinho, Vítor
- E-book Agricultura biológicaPublication . Costa, Cristina Amaro Da; Esteves Correia, Helena; Correia, Paula; Costa, Daniela; Gaião, David; Guiné, Raquel; Coelho, Catarina; Costa, José Manuel; Monteiro, António; Oliveira, Jorge; Pinto, António; Rodrigues, Pedro; Castro Serrano, J. Moisés; Touriño Guerra, Luis; Seeds, Catherine; Coll, Collet; Macdonald, John; Radics, Lászlo; Soylu, Soner; Arslan, Mehmet; Tóthová, Monika; Tóth, Peter; Basile, SalvatoreA agricultura biológica está-se a tornar cada vez mais importante como um caminho preferencial para a produção de produtos agrícolas, face à crescente procura do mercado mundial. A relevância da agricultura biológica é ainda maior, devido à necessidade e procura de produtos agrícolas de origem biológica, que são isentos de produtos químicos, saudáveis e amigos do ambiente. Atualmente, a agricultura biológica resulta em produtos de valor acrescentado, mas estes sistemas de produção exigem abordagens especializadas. Verifica-se uma lacuna de conhecimento especializado para enfrentar os desafios e exigências da agricultura biológica. Além disso, um número crescente de pessoas com níveis elevados de educação está a mudar a sua atividade para a agricultura sem qualquer tipo de formação nesta área técnica, principalmente em países com dificuldades económicas, como Portugal. Há, portanto, necessidade de desenvolver a capacidade de pessoas com algum tipo de qualificação prévio, a fim de melhorar suas competências agrícolas e facilitar a sua capacidade de desempenho e inovação, para que possam contribuir para a Estratégia Europeia (CE) de Desenvolvimento Rural. Este e-book foi concebido para melhorar as competências desses agricultores. O seu objectivo geral é dotar os novos agricultores com conhecimentos e capacidades necessários para o desenvolvimento da cadeia de valor dos produtos da agricultura biológica. Os objectivos específicos são: i) Fornecer conhecimento básico em vários aspectos da agricultura biológica e áreas afins, tais como a gestão de recursos naturais (solo, água, plantas, ambiente) e desenvolvimento rural (conservação, agricultura biológica e familiar, multifuncionalidade). ii) Facilitar a troca efetiva de conhecimento e experiências em agricultura biológica, desenvolvimento rural e ambiente. iii) Oferecer suporte técnico e conhecimento em agricultura biológica num contexto de mobilidade e em ambiente de trabalho. Este e-livro, produzido em sete idiomas diferentes (Português, Inglês, Espanhol, Italiano, Eslovaco, Turco e Húngaro) também contribui para preservar línguas e culturas Europeias e, assim, melhorar a comunicação entre os diferentes intervenientes e grupos-alvo. O e-book inclui os princípios e técnicas da agricultura biológica, com base no triângulo planta-solo-ambiente e nas relações entre a produção animal e o ambiente. A preparação de alimentos e rotulagem, marketing e conversão à agricultura biológica são também abordados. Os princípios e as técnicas apresentadas são explicados com base em regras e diretrizes (normas), baseados numa abordagem logística que garante o equilíbrio e integridade do sistema. O e-book apresenta também os regulamentos e normas nacionais e Europeias que são obrigatórias para os agricultores biológicos.
- Goat System Productions: Advantages and Disadvantages to the Animal, Environment and FarmerPublication . Monteiro, António; Costa, José; Lima, M. J. ReisGoats have always been considered very useful animals. Goats success is related to its excellent adaptability to the difficult mountain conditions, extreme weather and low value feed acceptance, versatile habits and high production considering their size. These are some reasons because goats are among the first animals to be domesticated. In terms of evolution, goats could be separated by their dispersion area in three large groups: the European, the Asian, and the African. Global goat populations, mainly in Africa and in Asia, have increased for centuries but very strongly in the past decades, well above the world population growth. They are also used for forest grazing, an integrated and alternative production system, very useful to control weed growth reducing fire risk. Despite some exceptions, no large‐scale effort to professionalize this industry has been made so far. There are consumers for goat dairy products and there is enough global production, but misses a professional network between both. Regarding goat meat, the world leadership also stays in Africa and Asia, namely in China, and there is a new phenomenon, the spreading of goat meat tradition through Europe due to migrants from Africa and other places with strong goat meat consumption
- Sheep Nocturnal Activity DatasetPublication . Monteiro, António; Gonçalves, Pedro; Marques, Maria R.; Belo, Ana T.; Braz, FernandoMonitoring sheep’s behavior is of paramount importance, because deviations from normal patterns may indicate nutritional, thermal or social stress, changes in reproductive status, health issues, or predator attacks. The night period, despite being a more restful period in which animals are theoretically sleeping and resting, represents approximately half of the life cycle of animals; therefore, its study is of immense interest. Wearable sensors have become a widely recognized technique for monitoring activity, both for their precision and the ease with which the sensorized data can be analyzed. The present dataset consists of data from the sensorization of 18 Serra da Estrela sheep, during the nocturnal period between 18 November 2021 and 16 February 2022. The data contain measurements taken by ultrasound and accelerometry of the height from neck to ground, as well as measurements taken by an accelerometer in the monitoring collar. Data were collected every 10 s when the animals were in the shelter. With the collection of data from various sensors, active and inactive periods can be identified throughout the night, quantifying the number and average time of those periods.
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