The use of plastic film for mulching cultivation is an important agricultural production technology, which plays an important role in achieving agricultural yield increase and farmers’ income increase. China’s use of plastic mulch ranks first in the world, and China is also the country with the most severe residual plastic mulch pollution in farmland. It is of great significance to have a comprehensive understanding of the use and resource recycling of plastic mulch in China. As a result, this article reviews the recent advances in the use and recycling of plastic mulch in China. First, the types and characteristics of commonly used agricultural plastic mulch are introduced. Then, the development process and application situation of plastic mulch in China are mainly summarized, and the problems of farmland soil and environmental pollution caused by residual plastic mulch are discussed. Finally, the current situation, main practices, and existing problems of waste plastic mulch recycling in China’s farmland are explained in detail from the perspectives of government policy formulation and farmer practice. The research in this article will play an important role in further solving the problem of plastic mulch pollution in farmland soil in China and can also provide a reference for other countries.

To address the competing relationship between tuber damage and soil removal in potato combine harvesting, this study investigated the operating mechanism of a belt-rod type separator of a small-scale self-propelled potato combine harvester and the separation performance between tuber and soil. The main factors affecting the tuber-soil separation characteristics were derived from a theoretical analysis of the belt-rod angle, belt-rod linear velocity, and harvester forward speed. A simulation model based on DEM (Discrete Element Method)-MBD (Multibody Dynamics) coupling was constructed and single-factor simulation tests were carried out. Then a three-factor, three-level Box–Behnken test was conducted using the coefficient of force on the tuber and soil clearing rate as response indicators. The optimal combination of parameters resulting in low tuber damage and high soil clearing rate was obtained by solving the regression equations. The optimal parameters were a belt-rod angle of 17.5°, a belt-rod linear velocity of 1.37 m/s, and a harvester forward speed of 0.80 m/s. The simulation model was validated by field experiments and the error between the simulation model and the field harvest was found to be 3.81%. The results can be used as a reference for parameter optimization of small-scale potato combine harvesters and coupled DEM-MBD simulation of tuber-soil separation.

The implementation of image recognition technology can significantly enhance the levels of automation and intelligence in smart agriculture. However, most researchers focused on its applications in medical imaging, industry, and transportation, while fewer focused on smart agriculture. Based on this, this study aims to contribute to the comprehensive understanding of the application of image recognition technology in smart agriculture by investigating the scientific literature related to this technology in the last few years. We discussed and analyzed the applications of plant disease and pest detection, crop species identification, crop yield prediction, and quality assessment. Then, we made a brief introduction to its applications in soil testing and nutrient management, as well as in agricultural machinery operation quality assessment and agricultural product grading. At last, the challenges and the emerging trends of image recognition technology were summarized. The results indicated that the models used in image recognition technology face challenges such as limited generalization, real-time processing, and insufficient dataset diversity. Transfer learning and green Artificial Intelligence (AI) offer promising solutions to these issues by reducing the reliance on large datasets and minimizing computational resource consumption. Advanced technologies like transformers further enhance the adaptability and accuracy of image recognition in smart agriculture. This comprehensive review provides valuable information on the current state of image recognition technology in smart agriculture and prospective future opportunities.

Potato is an important food crop in China, and its planting area and output rank first in the world. Due to the labor intensity and low efficiency of manual harvesting, mechanized harvesting has become an inevitable solution for the development of the potato industry. In this paper, on the basis of elaborating on mechanized harvesting operation modes for potatoes, the research progress of key technologies, such as top-killing potato seedlings, low-loss digging with reduced obstruction, limiting the depths of rows, high-efficiency separation, sorting tons of packages, and intelligent harvesting in China and abroad, is analyzed. By comparing the basic structure and technical characteristics of both domestic mechanized potato-harvesting equipment and that used abroad, this paper identifies the gaps between domestic equipment’s performance, intelligence level, and adaptability and those of equipment in European and American countries and also identifies bottlenecks, such as large regional variability, the lack of high-efficiency and low-loss separating devices, and the difficulty of breaking through key “chokepoint” technologies. On this basis, this paper proposes that the future development direction of domestic mechanized potato harvesting should focus on the synergistic development of multiple modes, on the research and development of flexible and low-loss separation equipment, and on the integration of intelligent technology; it also gives specific suggestions, aiming to provide references for the future progress of mechanized potato harvesting.

In order to clarify the mechanism of tiller–soil interaction in the process of strip rotary tillage, this paper conducted a simulation and experimental research on four blade configurations composed of three rotary blades (bent C, straight and hoe) at three rotation speeds (280, 380 and 510 rpm). The study found that the soil throwing characteristics of the blades are the key factors affecting the quality of tillage. The increase in the rotation speed not only improved the soil breaking effect, but also enhanced the phenomenon of soil throwing and then led to a reduction in the soil backfill. In the BC configuration (combination of four bent C blades), the bent C blades showed the best soil throwing characteristics and created the best soil fragmentation. However, due to the obvious side throwing of the soil, the backfill effect of soil fragmentation was the worst. The backfill rate was only 8% when the rotation speed was 510 rpm and could not allow reaching the required seed–soil contact during sowing. The hoe blades in the HC configuration (combination of four hoe blades) could collect part of the soil fragments and throw them towards the direction of the machine during the cultivation process, which led to a good soil breaking effect and a low soil side throwing rate. When the rotation speed was 510 rpm, 36% of the soil was backfilled into the seedbed. In the SC configuration (combination of four straight blades), the straight blades could well control the scattering of the side-thrown soil fragments. At a super-high rotation speed (510 rpm), the side throwing rate was only 70%, and the backfill rate was as high as 60%. However, the soil fragments created by the blades were too large (average soil block diameter > 40 mm) and could not form a loose and finely broken seedbed environment. The MC configuration (combination of two straight blades and two hoe blades) benefited from the combination of straight blades and hoe blades, offering outstanding advantages for backfill and soil fragmentation. Therefore, under the condition of a centralized configuration of field surface straw, it is recommended to use the MC configuration of the wheat rotary strip–till planter for cohesive paddy soil.

Mulching technology has created a major problem of agricultural plastic pollution. This is because the mulch is severely degraded by UV (ultraviolet) irradiation and the mechanical properties deteriorate, which makes mechanical recycling or manual recycling difficult. This study was conducted on m-LLDPE (metallocene linear low-density polyethylene) mulch films. The difference in mechanical properties of specimens in the TD (transverse direction) and PD (parallel direction) was investigated, and the changes in the mechanical properties after UV irradiation were compared. Finally, an initial mulch mechanical property evaluation model was developed to adapt to different recovery machines and crop agronomic requirements. The results suggest that the mechanical properties of m-LLDPE mulch films were strongly influenced by the film thickness, and also showed directional differences in tensile and tear properties. After UV irradiation, the mechanical properties of the specimens were enhanced after a short period of time, but the overall trend was a non-linear decay which gradually slowed down with time.