The development of technical means with optimal design parameters for harvesting bast fiber crops is closely related to the mechanical and technological properties of plant material. These properties characterize the structure of the stem, resistance to loads acting on it, behavior under various deformations and destruction, friction on working surfaces, etc. The stems of bast fiber crops, such as industrial hemp, contain fibers that have abrasive properties and cause rapid wear of the cutting edges of knives. However, there are still no studies of the resistance of the stems to abrasive wear. In order to determine the resistance of the fibrous layer of hemp stems to abrasive wear, the authors studied the physico-mechanical and strength properties of the stems of industrial hemp of three varieties – Lyudmila, Nadezhda, and Surskaya. The authors studied the micro-relief of the surface of the bast fiber layer of industrial hemp using atomic force microscopy with a scanning probe microscope. The abrasion experiment was carried out on the AT-100 rotary abrasion tester in accordance with GOST R17076-1- 2014. The study of the microrelief showed a more developed outer surface with a brightly colored fibrous structure. The greatest differences in microroughnesses were observed between the lower and apical parts of the stem. Indicators characterizing the mechanical properties of bast fibers, such as elasticity, hardness and modulus of elasticity, differed in various parts of the stem. The greatest value of the modulus of elasticity and hardness of the fibers was found in the middle part of the stem. Experimental data on the volumetric wear of the bast fiber layer of industrial hemp stems showed that the stems of the Nadezhda variety have the highest abrasion resistance (an abrasion index of 1.67), the Lyudmila variety has the lowest (an abrasion index of 3.71). The research results should be taken into account when designing and developing innovative harvesting machines and choosing abrasive wear-resistant materials to manufacture the cutting edges of knives.

The agrotechnology of weed killing in raspberry rows is poorly mechanized in Russia. Unlike in other countries, herbicides are not typically applied in the raspberry rows. Therefore, there has been little study of the design parameters and operating modes of sprayers used for killing weeds chemically in raspberry rows. The authors used a distribution trial unit for carrying out experiments to evaluate the liquid deposition uniformity of various types of sprayers along working width, depending on the installation height, tilt angles and wind speed. The experiments were carried out in the laboratory conditions of Bryansk State Agrarian University and All-Russian Institute of Plant Protection, St. Petersburg-Pushkin. The coefficient of variation was used as an indicator of the liquid deposition uniformity over the working width of the sprayer. It has been established that the IS yellow slot sprayer is the most rational option in terms of geometric parameters of the formed drip torch and spray dispersion. Changing the height of the sprayer installation from 0.1 to 0.7 meters leads to a decrease in the coefficient of variation from 68 to 10%, depending on the wind speed. An increase in the angle of inclination of the sprayer towards the airflow at a height of 0.3 to 0.7 meters leads to an increase in the coefficient of variation, and in the height range of the sprayer from 0.1 to 0.3 meters – to a slight decrease in the coefficient of variation. The influence of the considered factors on the coefficient of variation is nonlinear, which suggests the existence of a global extremum and the need for further tests.

Soil hoeing is an effective and universal technique included in almost all modern crop production technologies. Improving the harrow-hoes is quite labor-intensive, long-term and costly, which indicates the prospects for modernization based on knowledge of the operating patterns of the units under consideration. The research goal is a pre-experimental study of the influence of the approach angle of the needle-type working element on the intensity of its impact on the soil. The article presents a methodology to calculate the complex factor of soil crumbling depending on the approach angle of working elements at values of 0, 8, 16, 24, and 32 degrees. Based on the calculations carried out the authors assumed that under average initial operating conditions of harrow-hoes, an increase in the approach angle of the working elements leads to an increase in the total trace of the needle movement in the soil with an average intensity of about 0.6 cm³ /deg. In the meanwhile, the sheared soil shell volume per needle first increases by 1.1 to 2.3 cm³ /deg., as the approach angle reaches 24 deg., and then decreases with further increase in the angle. In general, an increase in the approach angle leads to a decrease in the complex criterion of soil crumbling by a needle at a speed of about 0.1 deg. ^–1. At the same time, the overall intensity of the impact on the soil increases to an approximate value of about 24 deg. as the approach angle goes on increasing. The proposed calculation method is approximate in nature, but its application helps identify some general patterns in the influence of the parameters of the disk’s working element on the performance indicators. They include afrontality, the diameter of needles, the depth of their penetration into the soil, the working element diameter, the unit speed, etc.

The use of non-ionizing radiation in agro-industrial production is a promising environmentally friendly alternative solution for pest, disease and weed control. The main purpose of the research is the development and use of technologies and devices for its implementation. In the course of the study, a device was developed to disinfect the soil with ultrahigh-frequency radiation, the source of which is magnetrons with a radiation frequency of 2450 MHz and a power consumption of 800 to 1000 watts. The radiation energy is applied to the soil surface by a waveguide measuring 90 × 60 mm. Cardboard boxes with soil samples 200 mm long, 50 mm wide and 100 mm deep were used as microwave radiation receivers. The thermal imager Testo 882 was used to determine the temperature distribution in the soil layer operated by to the device. Thermography was performed at soil humidity of 4, 10, 15 and 20%. In order to determine the effect of reflected radiation on soil heating, an aluminum plate with a thickness of 1 mm was placed in the soil layer. The study revealed that at an exposure of 60 s, the soil layer heats up to 60 to 65°C to a depth of 25 to 35 mm, to 40 to 45°C to a depth of 90 to 100 mm. At the same time, soil moisture does not significantly affect its heating rate. The efficiency of microwave radiation and heating is still higher when a metal plate is placed under the soil layer, while up to 87% of the energy consumed by the device is accumulated by the soil layer.

The use of effective innovative technologies for distribution and management of production resources reduces costs and optimizes management processes in agro-industrial enterprises. To develop an approach to optimizing the transportation of agricultural products, the authors analyzed theoretical and methodological basics of this process in Russia. It was found that the quality and costs of transportation depend on the conditions of transport, seasonality, methods of transport and storage of fruit and vegetables, as well as operational costs for transportation. To provide for the online monitoring of these indicators in real time and recording of transportation conditions in the design of a vehicle (automobile), the authors propose new design elements: a) thermal and humidity sensors and cameras to record the cargo position and b) a telematics unit that receives and processes data from fuel level sensors, vehicle load, speed, etc. and sends information to an operator’s computer. The developed methodology was tested on 306 trucks of the transport company “Technology of Movement,” including 118 KAMAZ trucks, 64 SCANIA trucks, and 121 MERSEDES-BENZ ACTOROS trucks. The authors analyzed failures in all vehicles under consideration. Information about the vehicle fleet and data obtained from additional equipment installed on vehicles provided information necessary to describe the process and make an algorithm for optimizing indicators affecting the cost and quality of agricultural product transportation. A simulation model based on the JIT-system equipped with the Sapphire programming and computing suite will help improve the quality of transportation of agricultural products and reduce costs. The developed simulation model is applicable for the study and prediction of the development of the freight transportation system in the agricultural sector.

Continuous sowing is preferable over row (line), close-row, cross, and broadcast sowing due to economic and agronomic reasons. Lawn grasses sometimes have to be sown in areas with complex configurations. The proposed experimental seeder for the continuous sowing of lawn grasses, equipped with a seeding unit of the coil type, has passed bench tests, but it is necessary to check its performance quality in the field conditions. In order to verify the quality indicators of continuous sowing of lawn grasses under the straight-line and curvilinear motion modes, the authors conducted laboratory and field tests of the experimental seeder according to GOST 31345-2017 at the field station of Russian State Agrarian University – Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy using lawn mixture “Gazon Bystriy [Quick Lawn]” as a test sample. The quality indicators of the seeding unit and the main parts of the seeder – relative field germination of seeds and the width of the seeded strip – were checked after the emergence of full sprouts and counting the number of plants on the sites of 0.25 m² , located along different trajectories of the seeder. The results of laboratory-field tests showed that relative field germination of seeds amounted to 83 to 96% at different trajectories. The width of the seeded strip behind the seeder was 90.8 cm. The non-uniformity index of total seeding by sprouts amounted to 5.61% with the standard of 9%. The study results have confirmed that the seeding unit does not reduce the quality of seed material and the developed seeder is suitable for continuous sowing of lawn grasses.

Production of high quality milk is possible when using modern technologies and efficient equipment on livestock farms and facilities. The actual low operability level of livestock farming machinery and equipment is associated with a number of reasons. They include the unavailability of the necessary repair and technical facilities and basic repair and technical materials and spare parts for the engineering and technical service (ETS); lack of highly qualified personnel; low-level organization of technical service (maintenance and routine repairs are carried out by different specialists); lack of responsibility and stimulation system of the ETS personnel for the final performance indicators (the operability of machinery and equipment). In order to increase the level of failure-free operation of machinery and equipment used in dairy cattle breeding the authors suggest improving the organization of technical service of machinery and equipment and the performance of engineering and technical service (ETS) on farms. In order to determine the probability of a particular failure on livestock farms the ETS could perform deep technical diagnostics with the use of modern equipment and digital technologies and timely perform scheduled technical inspections and routine repairs. This will significantly increase the service life of machines and reduce the number of equipment downtime due to malfunctions. To stimulate the performance of ETS specialists, the authors propose to use an evaluation indicator of service quality – the technical readiness coefficient. ITS employees could also get additional incentives for ensuring a high level of technical readiness and absence of downtime due to technical reasons. To improve the quality of manufactured products, ETS specialists can be offered bonuses for increasing the production volume and improving the quality of products.

Motor vehicles and tractors operate in conditions of high dustiness. The main reason for the short service life of precision parts of fuel equipment (FI) is the abrasive wear of working surfaces. The innovative CVD method of obtaining coatings by thermal decomposition of chromium hexacarbonyl with subsequent deposition of chromium carbides significantly increases the wear and corrosion resistance of the injector nozzle parts of diesel engines. To increase the service life of the sprayer, the authors propose to apply a hardening coating to both working surfaces of the parts – the needle (steel R6M5) and the inner surface of the housing (steel 12KH2N4А). In order to minimize costs in the manufacture of new precision parts, the authors determined the critical (minimum) coating thickness, ensuring its load-bearing capacity. They also obtained analytical relationships between the minimum required coating thickness depending on its microhardness and the size of quartz and corundum particles, as well as regression equations and response function graphs. It has been established that in order to ensure the bearing capacity of the hardening coating on the fuel injector nozzle parts of the diesel engine, its critical thickness a should be not less than 3 microns at a microhardness of 18.9 GP.

Today, there is insufficient study on the technology of repair of worn cylinder faces with the use of combined technology, including cold gas dynamic spraying (CGDS) of aluminum followed by microarc oxidation. In order to justify the possibility of using cold gas dynamic spraying to repair cylinder liners, the authors studied the shear strength of aluminum coating applied to cast iron sample by the CGDS method. The methodology and equipment for coating the cylinder face were developed. 10×30 cylinders made of BCh40 cast iron were used as samples. Aluminum powder of A-20-01 grade was sprayed on the DIMET-403 unit in modes “2-2”, “2-3”, “3-2”, “3-3”. The shear bond strength of the aluminum coating with cast iron was determined by pushing a sample (a cylinder with a sprayed belt coating) through a matrix. The results of strength tests have shown that heating mode “2” (about 300°C) achieves the highest shear adhesion strength compared to other modes. The maximum average strength of the coating was 11.99 MPa, which is 2.5 times less than when applying A-20-11 powder on steel. Under the “2-3” mode the required volume of material can be sprayed over less amount of time due to the higher powder feed rate. To ensure greater durability and reliability of the coating, the authors recommend spraying modes “2-2” and “2-3” with a powder flow rate of, respectively, 0.2 and 0.3 g/s. The developed technology produces relatively durable coatings for cylinder liner restoration. As a result, the study has revealed a possibility of restoring cylinders to nominal size and ensuring high wear resistance of their surface for any engine model.

Biofuels are a renewable and environmentally friendly resource. Biofuels obtained from vegetable raw materials differ from traditional petroleum fuels in their high viscosity, density, hygroscopicity and chemical activity. The technical condition of the fuel equipment is determined by the level of fuel purity. The authors propose to use polymer materials with a globular structure to purify biofuels from contaminants and emulsion water. In order to study their properties, the authors carried out tests using standard methods and equipment of polymer samples obtained by copolymerization of resorcinol with formaldehyde and styrene with divinyl benzene. Strength and permeability tests were carried out on samples of resorcinol and formaldehyde copolymers with 20, 30 and 40% polymer-forming components, and styrene with divinyl benzene with a monomer content of 25, 40 and 60%. The research determined the strength indicators of polymer materials: specific tensile stress for resorcinol copolymers with formaldehyde was 19 MPa, for compression – 6 MPa; for styrene copolymers with divinyl benzene, respectively, 15.5 and 2.5 MPa. The average pore diameter of the copolymers is 0.1 to 10 microns, a large specific surface area and a narrow range of pore size distribution (+/–10%) makes them good filter baffles for various liquids. During the interaction of samples of the resorcinol-formaldehyde polymer material with biodiesel – methyl ester of rapeseed oil, no changes in the polymer composition were detected for 14 days. Spectroscopic studies have not revealed any changes in the composition of biofuels. The authors have developed a resorcinol-formaldehyde filter element for biofuel purification, which can work effectively for a long time without replacement and maintenance.

The reliability of power supply determines the operation of power networks. The literature review revealed that insufficient attention is paid to the research of specific reliability indices necessary for planning and evaluation of energy saving efficiency. Therefore, the purpose of the work is to study the specific reliability indicators of 0.4 kV power networks. Among the analyzed indicators, we consider the flow of failures, the flow of intentional outages, specific values of disconnected power and undersupply of electricity, and others. The authors analyzed statistical data on emergency and planned outages of 0.4 kV power networks in the Orel region over the period 2018-2023. In total, 12,787 overhead power lines with a total length of more than 10 thousand km were examined. Based on the analysis, the authors identified the values of specific reliability indicators and trends in their changes over 6 years and analyzed probable reasons for these changes. It was revealed that the values of the failure flow parameter do not exceed the reference values until 2022 inclusive, and in 2023, they exceed the reference values in 1.2 times. In 2022-2023, there was a significant increase in the number of both emergency and intentional (planned) outages; the flow of failures per 100 kilometers of 0.4 kV lines in 2023 was 29 year-1, and intentional – 71 year^-1. The values of specific disconnected power per outage decreased in 17.5 times in 2023 as compared to 2018, the average value per outage is 0.0009 MW. The specific value of undersupply of electricity per consumer per year is in the range between 1 and 5.7 MWh/consumer for emergency shutdowns, and 3 to 8.1 MWh/consumption, according to the new plan. Specific reliability indices allow assessing the efficiency of 0.4 kV distribution networks in a particular region and can be used in assessing the effect of implementing measures to improve the reliability of power supply.

Inclusive education involves the training of persons with disabilities in general educational institutions – together with their normally developing age-mates. The willingness of the educational process stakeholders to participate in the establishing and development of an inclusive educational environment is determined by their worldview, personal characteristics, understanding and acceptance of the very idea of inclusion. The introduction of inclusive education in our country is not efficient enough due to the reluctance of teachers, parents and students to function in the inclusive education environment. In order to identify prerequisites and approaches to the formation of an inclusive educational environment in higher education institutions, the authors carried out a questionnaire survey on attitudes to inclusive education and diagnosed personal characteristics affecting the effectiveness of communication. The study involved 124 2nd year students of Russian State Agrarian University-Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy. As a result, the socio-psychological barriers to the development of inclusive educational environment in agrarian higher education institution were revealed: insufficient awareness of this problem and low communicative tolerance towards people with disabilities. To eliminate the barriers it is necessary to form a stable motivational and value attitude to inclusion, to disclose the possibilities of creative self-realization of the subjects of inclusive educational environment, to expand their horizons, to get acquainted with the options of socialization of persons with disabilities, to learn specific rules and techniques of communication with them. The implementation of inclusion at the level of vocational education requires changes in the parameters of the educational environment of vocational educational institutions, the development of an inclusive environment, corresponding to the opportunities and needs of all its stakeholders.

The content of the “Chemistry” course taken by agroengineering students poorly corresponds to their future professional activity. In this regard, an urgent task is to prove the possibility of developing job-related content of a “Chemistry” course. The author aimed to find a methodological basis for the use of a systematic approach to develop job-related content of the “Chemistry” course to bridge the gap between the educational process and the future professional activity. The solutions proposed by the author root from the theory of the invariant structure of teaching content. The methodological solution based on the system approach and a combination of object and occupational determinants was applied to design job-related content of the “Chemistry” course for training area 35.03.06 Agroengineering. The author checked the content correspondence of the designed “Chemistry” course to the invariant components of the content of professional training. As a result, the author presents the implementation of this approach for job-related training of the “Chemistry” course. The content of the “Chemistry” course taught to students of training area 35.03.06 “Agroengineering” should include the following sections: the structure of matter, properties of organic and inorganic substances, properties of solutions and dispersed systems, energy of physicochemical processes, kinetics of physicochemical processes. Job-related training will allow students to form the general professional competence “able to solve typical problems of professional activity applying the knowledge of basic laws of mathematical and natural sciences with the use of information and communication technologies”.