The advancement of robotic technology in the agricultural industry is continually progressing with research, development, and practical applications in agricultural machinery. However, a crucial factor for the widespread acceptance of these machines is ensuring their safety. To date, risk analysis has been conducted on the basis of unmanned work in the agricultural field and troublesome cases using vehicle-style robotic agricultural machinery. Moreover, necessary safety requirements have been identified for both hardware (Machine) and software (Operation & management) components. Furthermore, safety standards, guidelines, and evaluation methods have been established to guarantee the safety of robotic agricultural machinery.

Genotypic studies using molecular markers, such as genomic prediction (GP), have been implemented in maize (Zea mays L.) breeding, leading to a better understanding of significant traits. Pythium root and stalk rot (RSR) resistance is an important trait in maize bred in Japan. The study aims to (1) develop a GP model for Pythium RSR resistance in maize bred within the Japanese public sector and (2) utilize GP to analyze untested maize germplasms for Pythium RSR resistance via a combined training set derived from different heterotic groups (dent and flint). Through 1,000 repetitions of sampling and five-fold cross-validation, a high average prediction accuracy (r = 0.695, 95% confidence interval: 0.682-0.708) was achieved across populations. Prediction accuracy improved as the number of markers increased, but it eventually reached a plateau that exceeded 1,000 markers. The population component and linkage disequilibrium between markers confirmed previous reports. These findings show the feasibility of GP, even with a small population (N = 41) and marker size (approximately 1,000). Several old inbred lines were identified with lower predicted RSR scores, indicating their potential as breeding materials. This is the first report on the prediction of maize Pythium RSR resistance using GP and emphasizes new possibilities for addressing Pythium RSR resistance in maize breeding.

The effect of combinations of cultivars and planting dates during summer on onions harvested during early winter in northern Japan was investigated. For the mid-August planting, which encountered moderate daylengths and temperatures during plant and bulb growth with a low rate of small (< 50 mm in diameter) and immature bulbs for very early (daylength threshold for bulbing < 11.5 h) and early (12 h) maturing cultivars, marketable bulb yield was the highest. For onions planted in early August, the rate of small bulbs was high owing to relatively long daylengths and high temperatures for bulbing, which resulted in lower yields in the very early and early maturing cultivars. In onions planted in late August, among the planting dates with high immature bulb rates in all cultivars, marketable bulb yields were the lowest because of insufficient daylengths and temperatures for bulbing and maturing, particularly in the later maturing cultivars. For middle maturing cultivars (daylength threshold for bulbing is 13 h) in the all planting dates, marketable bulb yield was low because of high rates of bulb immaturity with insufficient daylength and temperature for bulbing. Commercially high marketable yield was obtained by planting onion sets in mid-August for early winter harvesting in some very early and early maturing cultivars.

On p. 256, Fig. 5, the photo should be flipped horizontally.