2021 John Ogilvie Research Innovation Award

Contribution: Mathematical Models Of Stored-Grain Ecosystems For Management Of Stored Grains                                                

Digvir Jayas and Fuji Jian

Globally, more than 3.2 Gt (billion tonnes) of grains, pulses and oilseeds (hereinafter collectively referred to as grains) are produced annually and stored at many points after harvesting, prior to being delivered to processors and domestic and international consumers. Post-harvest losses range from 2% in North America to 30% in developing countries. When spoilage occurs in an individual storage bin, 100% of the grain can become unfit for human consumers and sometimes even unfit as animal feed. Drs. Jayas and Jian have been working together for over 15 years towards the development of mathematical models as management tools for reducing quantitative and qualitative losses in stored grains. Our major contributions are to model insect movement and detection in grains and for drying of grains.

2023 John Ogilvie Research Innovation Award

Contribution: Method to Rapidly Detect Insects in Granular Materials                                           

Digvir Jayas and Fuji Jian

The detection of low levels of insect infestation in grain was identified as the top priority research needed because detection of low levels of infestation by using sampling is a slow, inaccurate, and expensive process (take more than 6 hours and recover less than 30% of insects). In that period, grain may be filled in large bins and ships thus contaminating large quantities and increasing the cost of fumigation. Their research has investigated many techniques based on soft x-rays, thermal imaging, hyperspectral imaging, electronic nose, mechanical separation, and microwaves for rapid detection of insects. A device was developed and evaluated (a US Patent 10,582,713 B2 entitled “Method to Rapidly Detect Insects in Granular Materials”) to rapidly detect insects in granular materials. The developed device detects insects in grains in less than 5 min with high accuracy (>80% insect recovery) using a household microwave. Prototypes of the developed units were given to Canadian Grain Commission and Poulin’s Pest Control for field evaluation. Both confirmed that the device was efficient and effective in detecting low-level insect infestation. Other methods can also detect low-level insect infestations but are much more costly than the device based on household microwave. They expect the device will be used in Canada and globally.    

La détection de faibles niveaux d'infestation d'insectes dans les céréales a été identifiée comme recherche prioritaire nécessaire, car la détection de faibles niveaux d'infestation par échantillonnage est un processus lent, imprécis et coûteux (il prend plus de 6 heures et permet de récupérer moins de 30 % des insectes). Pendant cette période, les grains peuvent être remplis dans de grandes cellules et dans des navires, ce qui contamine de grandes quantités et augmente le coût de la fumigation. Leurs recherches ont porté sur de nombreuses techniques basées sur les rayons X, l'imagerie thermique, l'imagerie hyperspectrale, le nez électronique, la séparation mécanique et les micro-ondes pour la détection rapide des insectes. Un dispositif a été mis au point et évalué (brevet américain 10,582,713 B2 intitulé "Method to Rapidly Detect Insects in Granular Materials") pour détecter rapidement les insectes dans les matériaux granulaires. Le dispositif mis au point détecte les insectes dans les grains en moins de 5 minutes avec une grande précision (>80 % de récupération des insectes) en utilisant un four à micro-ondes domestique. Des prototypes des appareils mis au point ont été remis à la Commission canadienne des grains et à Poulin's Pest Control pour une évaluation sur le terrain. Tous deux ont confirmé que l'appareil était efficace et performant pour détecter les infestations d'insectes de faible intensité. D'autres méthodes peuvent également détecter de faibles infestations d'insectes, mais elles sont beaucoup plus coûteuses que l'appareil basé sur les micro-ondes domestiques. Ils espèrent que cet appareil sera utilisé au Canada et dans le monde entier.

2020 John Ogilvie Research Innovation Award

Contribution: Research in soil and water engineering                                                             

Ramesh Rudra Ph.D., P.Eng. is the recipient of the CSBE/SCGAB John Ogilvie Research Innovation Award for his outstanding contributions to research in soil and water engineering. Dr. Rudra is a professor of Water Resources Engineering at the School of Engineering, University of Guelph. He obtained the B. Sc. in Agricultural Engineering in 1970 from the Punjab Agricultural University (India) and M.S. in Agricultural Engineering in 1976 and Ph.D. in Agricultural Engineering in 1980 from the Pennsylvania State University (USA).

The focus of Dr. Rudra’s research program has been on the development of agricultural nonpoint source pollution control practices for Ontario’s climatic conditions, including mechanics and modelling of processes of drainable water quantity and quality at plot, field, and watershed scale. His contributions include innovative ways of introducing the concept of temporal variations in soil hydraulic and erosion characteristics, targeting approaches for agricultural watershed management, mutli-tier approaches to watershed management, and modelling and monitoring procedures to identify sources of runoff, erosion and pollution from agricultural watersheds.

Ramesh’s research group introduced the application of modelling approaches for agricultural non-point source pollution management during 1980’s and SWAT modeling in the Canadian Great Lakes basin in early 2000. The modelling approaches and the SWAT model are currently used by many conservation authorities in Ontario and many other public and private sectors in Canada. His recent research work has focused on winter hydrology of Ontario, variable source hydrology, effect of climate change on precipitation and temperature regimes, and nutrient management.

Dr. Rudra has supervised over 120 Highly Qualified Personnel (M.Sc, M.Eng., Ph.D. and Post-Doctoral Research Fellows), published more than 200 refereed publications, ten book chapters, one book, and more than 550 presentations at national and international conferences, workshops and symposia. For his exceptional services to CSBE and significant contributions to soil and water engineering field in Canada, Dr. Rudra received the CSBE’s Maple Leaf Award in 2018. He was elected to the grade of Fellow by CSBE in 2005. Ramesh was also made a Fellow of the Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers in 2012.

2019 John Ogilvie Research Innovation Award

Contribution: Horizontal airflow grain dryer

Digvir Jayas, PhD is  a worthy recipient of the John Ogilvie  Research Innovation Award. Drying of grains and oilseeds is a necessity on Canadian farms and around the globe.  The usual drying method is to force atmospheric air vertically through stored bulks.  Dr. Jayas was among the firsts to demonstrate experimentally that the airflow resistance when air is forced through grain in a horizontal direction is significantly lower than the resistance in the vertical direction. Later using micro-computed tomography on bulk samples of grains and analysing pore structures of grain samples, it was shown that average pore diameter is larger in horizontal direction than in vertical direction, hence the low resistance to airflow in horizontal direction. He conceptualized a horizontal airflow dryer and publicized it through farm media in 1990s rather than patenting it. He continued to promote the idea throughout the world.  Now many companies and organizations are constructing and implementing horizontal airflow dryers in many countries. With increased use of horizontal dryers, grains is dried more uniformly thus reducing over drying of some sections of grains and not drying to desired moisture in other sections of grains as well as grain is dried more efficiently and using less energy.  This should result in reduced cost to the farmers. He is the father of horizontal airflow drying.

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