The energy and exergy analysis, drying characteristics and mathematical modeling of the thin-layer drying kinetics of white mulberry using microwave drying were investigated. Results indicated that values of exergy efficiency (33.63–57.08%) were higher than energy efficiency (31.85–55.56%). Specific energy consumption increased with increasing microwave power while improvement potential decreased. The specific energy consumption and improvement potential varied from 3.97 to 6.73 MJ/kg water and 0.71 to 2.97 MJ/kg water, respectively. Also, energy efficiency decreased with decrease in moisture content and microwave power level. The best exergy and energy aspect was obtained by drying at 100 W microwave power. Drying took place mainly in warming up, constant rate and falling rate periods. The Page model showed the best fit to experimental drying data. Effective diffusivity increased with decreasing moisture content and increasing microwave power. It varied from 1.06 × 10−8 to 3.45 × 10−8 m2/s, with an energy activation of 3.986 W/g.

Water consumption in agriculture is impossible without considering relations between water, soil and plant. In this regard, there are various models and developed software in order to evaluate relation between soil, water and crop growth stages. These models can be used for irrigation planning if properly optimized and applied. AquaCrop is one of the known crop models, which was developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. In order to optimize this model for crop production and irrigation management, an experiment was developed in a hydroponic cucumber greenhouse. Various parameters including water consumption volume, crop yield and leaf area index were measured during a season. A fuzzy control system was utilized for controlling temperature, relative humidity, planting bed moisture, light intensity and carbon dioxide values. The main purpose of designing a control system in the greenhouse is to achieve the desired values of temperature and relative humidity. In this model, evapotranspiration, irrigation requirements and crop yield were simulated. The results show that the AquaCrop model can estimate evapotranspiration with the least error in the greenhouse environment, which is controlled by a fuzzy controller. Also the system has estimated the crop yield and biomass of the product with a good degree of precision and it may support crop production in a greenhouse, including crop management and environmental control.

Aim of study: The design and development of a hydroponic greenhouse fuzzy control system. Area of study: The evaluation was performed using experimental data obtained from the literature. The construction and evaluation of the fuzzy control hydroponic greenhouse system was carried out in a greenhouse in Tehran, Iran. Material and methods: The greenhouse environmental conditions, including temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide, were controlled. The design of a fuzzy controller begun with the selection of linguistic variables, process status, and input and output variables. The fuzzy control system consisted of three modules: 1) fuzzy module, 2) cost function, and 3) genetic algorithm for the adjustment of the greenhouse environmental conditions.The next step was to select a set of linguistic rules and the type of fuzzy inference process. The rules were set once, and the fuzzy set and output value needed to be specified after the inference, along with the development of a non-fuzzy strategy. Main results: The mean temperatures provided by the fuzzy control system during the day and night were 34.25°C and 23.22°C, respectively, which were improved to 31.17°C and 21.96°C after optimization. The mean humidity was 39.4% and 56.5% during the day and the night, respectively, which turned 60.22% and 74.59% after optimization. The control system also achieved desirable conditions in terms of CO2 amount. Research highlights: The results showed that the measured values of temperature and relative humidity of the greenhouse were improved after optimization with genetic algorithm.

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Rice is a precious and popular food crop in the diets of about 75% of the world's populations (Soponronarit et al., 2004). Rice grains contain various minerals, proteins, and vitamins, which may be lost in the processing steps. Parboiling is an effective way as a pretreatment in rice drying process that preserves the nutritional properties of grain to an acceptable extent (Jannasch & Wang, 2020).The physical properties of the milled rice grains play a critical role in determining their market value. Properties like head rice yield,