The production and consumption of insects as human food or as livestock feed is considered a resource capable of having a positive impact on food security and the environment. From the perspective of human consumption, entomophagy has a long history of application.
Urban agriculture has long been identified as a valid solution to guarantee food security and the creation of small profitable businesses in developing and non-developing countries. As is known, the number of inhabitants in cities has recently exceeded the number of inhabitants in rural areas, resulting in an extension of the concrete surface and a greater distance from food supply areas.
Hyperspectral imaging is widespread in crop nitrogen (N) monitoring for precision agriculture, although approaches that address the agronomical recommendation of the optimal N rate are still lacking. Here, two approaches are explored in defining the optimal N rate to be supplied in fertigated processing tomatoes through hyperspectral imaging. The first one, called the N uptake approach, focuses on the virtual reproduction of the critical N uptake curve through the estimation of both aboveground biomass and crop N uptake.
Pushing the frontiers of climate-smart agriculture in the Mediterranean
