Brad Gonzalez – Australian Land Water Future

The Future of Transport with the Introduction of Truck Platooning

The transport industry is always looking for ways to improve efficiency and reduce costs. One area that has seen significant innovation in recent years is the introduction of truck platooning.

Truck platooning is a system where two or more trucks drive closely together, with the lead truck controlling the speed and braking of the entire group. This allows for a more efficient use of space on the road, as well as reduced fuel consumption and emissions.

Platooning has been shown to be safe and efficient in tests, and is already being used by some transport companies on a limited basis. Over the next decade, it is predicted we will see the technology being trialed, rolled out and adopted and there have been plenty of interest with moving companies Christchurch and across New Zealand expressing interest. It is expected that the use of platooning will increase in the future, as more companies look for ways to save money and be more efficient.

Truck platooning has the potential to revolutionize the transport industry, making it more efficient and environmentally friendly. It will be interesting to see how the technology develops and grows in the coming years.

How would it change the transport landscape?

There is no doubt that the technology behind truck platooning is revolutionary, it has the opportunity to totally change the transport industry which is definitely exciting.

The main benefit of platooning is that it can help to improve fuel efficiency by up to 15%, this is due to the fact that when trucks drive closely together, there is less wind resistance which in turn requires less fuel to maintain the same speed. In a time where diesel prices are ever-increasing, this could be a huge saving. Another advantage is the ability for the leading truck to slow platooning trucks safely and far more quickly with a response time that cannot be achieved in driver sight scenarios. This creates a flow on effect and produces many advantages including having more trucks on the road and having products transported to destinations in shorter time frames.

Shorter transport times also lead to another big advantage, and that is fresher products. This is especially beneficial for companies who transport food items as they will now be able to get their products to stores in an even quicker time frame, which means the food will be of a higher quality for customers when they purchase it.

What are some of the challenges?

As the technology evolves over time to include autonomous trucks equipped with driving support systems and connectivity, there are certain challenges that will need to be addressed.

One of the challenges is the increased cost for transport companies to purchase these types of trucks. Furthermore, if there are differing trucks in the fleet with different specifications, one truck may not keep up with the convoy if the size of the engine is not equivalent or if the carrying load differs greatly, the braking time may be impacted.

The other is around how the wider transport industry will need to adapt to accommodate platooning trucks on our roads. As some are reluctant to share road space with autonomous vehicles, more so the unpredictable weather conditions can impact the precision platooning needs to function correctly.

States and transport authorities will also need to work together on cross-border transport regulation as well as agree on issues such as insurance, responsibility in the event of an incident and managing traffic congestion.

Although, there are some areas that need to be further improved with this technology, reduced fuel consumption and increased safety are just two of its multiple benefits that will make a huge difference to the future of transportation.

Introducing Irrigation Technology Into Farming Crops

How modern irrigation systems are changing the way farmers water their crops has become an important topic of discussion. This article will focus on the adoption of these systems by farmers, social learning spillovers, and the impact on farm productivity. It will also discuss some of the barriers to adoption. The impact of modern irrigation systems on farm productivity has not been fully studied, however, as this topic is still largely unexplored. But the possibilities are exciting!

Modern irrigation systems

In Australia, the adoption rate of modern irrigation technologies is relatively high. It is more common in larger farmers, though small-scale farmers are not excluded. However, large farmers tend to hold more land under modern irrigation systems. The adoption rate of modern irrigation technology in small-scale farming is low, partly due to differences in production risk between small and large-scale farmers. In developing countries, farmers are more likely to adopt modern irrigation systems, as it helps them reduce production risk.

It is estimated that around 85 percent of water sources held by non-irrigators are under insecure tenancy, a type of de facto or provisional title. In such cases, the ownership of the water is not fixed, so usage rights are essential to determining the appropriate incentives for innovation. In addition, innovations take time to become profitable. Therefore, the analysis of the effect of production risk on the adoption of modern irrigation technologies depends on the agro-ecological characteristics of a region.

Adoption by farmers

There are several reasons why the adoption of irrigation technology by farmers is low in developing countries. Most of the farmers use traditional watering methods such as rainwater harvesting, soaking and irrigation. The adoption of modern technologies, however, requires greater knowledge and expertise. These two factors reduce the adoption of new technologies by small-scale farmers. In addition, the higher cost of using ground water sources for irrigation may discourage farmers from adopting new technologies.

The adoption of modern irrigation technology is often facilitated by various factors, including higher educational levels, larger farm capital, and access to credit or extension services. However, the results vary across regions. Interestingly, the adoption of modern irrigation by farmers is less common in small-scale agricultural systems, where farmers experience higher risks and lower yields. The adoption of modern irrigation by small-scale farmers may be hindered by the high costs of farming and limited information about the technologies.

Social learning spillovers

One of the most significant factors influencing adoption of new technologies is social learning spillover. In a recent study in New Zealand, farmers were more likely to adopt high-yielding varieties when they lived in the same neighborhood as their neighbors. This observation is consistent with previous findings, which show that those farmers who were part of larger networks were more likely to adopt new technologies. The findings also support the notion of information diffusion.

The results show that social network dimensions are positively correlated with farmers’ TAE, and the higher the level of trust, interaction, and knowledge spillover, the higher farmers’ TAE. Although learning and trust were significant, they failed to reach statistical significance, which indicates that they are substitutes in improving technology efficiency. Farmers who were more likely to interact with their neighbors and exchange agricultural information were more likely to be socially-connected, and vice versa.

Impact on farm productivity

Improved agricultural productivity increases earnings and allows farmers to transition to high-value crops. This in turn, increases access to food. According to Garbero and Songsermsawas (2018), improved farm income increases access to food and reduces poverty. In the same vein, Ogutu et al. (2017) found that smallholder farmers increased market participation and bought food, which in turn increased their intake of nutrients.

The effect of irrigation on household nutritional status can be modeled using a series of explanatory variables. The outcome variables are either true or false, depending on whether the farmer uses irrigation or not. Random error is a term that represents the uncertainty inherent in the data. If irrigation usage were uniformly distributed among both groups, then the impact of irrigation on nutritional status would be equal to zero. However, this may not be the case.

Environmental impacts

This study analyzed published peer-reviewed literature on environmental impacts of introducing irrigation technology into crops. We used 13 categories of environmental impact in our analysis. We consulted crop experts to develop appropriate search terms. The information was then collated in spreadsheets, and the counts of peer-reviewed articles were calculated for different crops and regions. The results show the relative severity of crop x environment interactions. Moreover, we found that irrigation technology is associated with significant reductions in post-harvest losses and crop availability.

We found some interesting patterns in the studies, which highlight the importance of identifying crop x environment interactions. For instance, studies from Sub-Saharan Africa focus on different types of crops and environmental factors, unlike those in South Asia. We identified several categories of environmental impacts and their relative importance for different regions of the world. Nevertheless, there are still many gaps in our understanding of how irrigation technologies affect the environment.

Australian Land Water Future