A survey of the occurrence of food pathogens like Salmonella, Listeria, Escherichia, Clostridium, Bacillus and Staphylococcus analyses were performed on 301 food samples from 8 different food categories such as dry legumes, milk products, meat products, fish, frozen foods, deserts, nuts and vegetables and fruits. Yeast and mold analyses were also performed on 364 food products from 9 main food categories such as dry legumes, milk products, meat products, seasonings, deserts, nuts, bee products, bakery products and dried fruits produced in Turkey. S. aureus and Salmonella were the most prevalent (1.33%) of the six isolated pathogens. The species Cl. perfringens, L. monocytogenes and B. cereus were detected with the ratios of 1.00%, 0.66% and 0.66%, respectively. Total yeast and molds occurrence were 1.65% and 9.06%, respectively. Pathogens were detected in cream cheese, spinach, strawberry and cod fish most prevalently, whereas dried fig, chilli pepper, hazelnut and bakery products were determined as foods prone to the growth of molds. The results of this study suggest that faecal contamination of water needs to be prevented, and the production and storage conditions of food materials should be improved. These findings have implications for the use of these surveillance data in developing evidence-based food policy.

The impacts of extension contact on income of farmers have been examined with a view to evaluate the agricultural extension services in Bangladesh. The scope of the study was ten villages of Gazipur of Bangladesh. The objective of the study is to identify the effect of extension contact on crop income, livestock income, fisheries income, miscellaneous income, total agricultural income, nonagricultural income and total income of farmers. The sample of the study consists of 1000 farmers. Data came from field survey and multistage random sampling technique was used for the collection of data. The results indicated that the impacts of extension contact coefficients on crop income, nonagricultural income are positive and significant. However, the impacts of extension contact coefficients are not significant in the cases of livestock, fisheries, miscellaneous and agricultural incomes. But it does not mean that agricultural extension has no reward in Bangladesh. The sample data indicates that the impact of extension contact on total income of farmers is positive and significant. The study concludes that agricultural extension is necessary to raise the income of farmers.

The most extensive and effective environmentally controlled production takes place in greenhouses. New innovations and developments for greenhouse production go hand in hand with efforts for sustainability. The greenhouses must be heated to ensure high yields and high quality. However, high heating cost (20%-60%) adversely influences production. Costs Sustainability of greenhouse production can only be maintained with increase of energy efficiency. Use of renewable energy sources in place of fossil fuels is only means to increase energy efficiency. In this work, fossil fuels and geothermal energy used for heating of greenhouses are compared based on production cost and CO2 emissions to atmosphere. The results showed that greenhouse production in Aydın with geothermal energy price of 0.06 ₺/kWh will be very advantageous compared to greenhouse tomato production in Kütahya, which can only compete with that in Antalya. Carbon dioxide emission in plastic greenhouses with double layer PE plastic heat insulation in Kütahya was 199.4 kg/m2 when imported coal was used for heating. The emissions in similar type plastic greenhouses, again heated with coal, in Aydın and Antalya were 74.4 kg/m2 and 55.5 kg/m2, respectively. Greenhouses in geothermal energy rich areas will be very advantageous, based on cost of production and CO2 emission, compared to that in Antalya region if they are heated with geothermal energy.

Five strains of Lactococcus, including L. garviae K2, L. piscium SU4, L. lactis subsp. cremoris E22, L. plantarum L7 and L. lactis subsp. hordinae E91 were screened for production of antimicrobial agents. The strains were also analysed for antimicrobial activities against spoilage and pathogenic organisms, including Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella Typhimurium, Escherichia coli, Yersinia enterocolitica, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus and Pseudomonas fluorescens. Result revealed that L. piscium SU4, L. plantarum L7 and L. lactis subsp. cremoris E22 had lactic acid production (g/107 colony forming units, CFU) of 7.23, 7.20 and 7.19. The value of 6.83 recorded as lactic acid produced by L. garviae K2 was significantly different from those obtained for others. The highest acetic acid production (3.55 g/107 CFU) was recorded for L. garviae K2 while L. piscium SU4 had the lowest (2.99 g/107 CFU). L. lactis subsp. hordinae E91 had diacetyl production of 71.99 (µg/107 CFU), which was higher than those recorded for other Lactococcus strains. Test for antimicrobial activities showed that Escherichia coli NCTC 86, Yersinia enterocolitica NCTC 10460, Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCIMB 10848, Bacillus cereus NCTC 21113 and Pseudomonas flourescens recorded higher susceptibilities to the antimicrobial action of the Lactococcus strains than others; zones of inhibition of 5 mm and above were recorded for the indicator organisms compared to lower values (

Recent study was carried out on 6 sampling stations chosen from Dipsiz-Çine Stream between March-October 2010 to determine the morphometric features of 176 specimens collected. In the extent of current study, data related with weight, width, length and height, and distribution of individual numbers of Unio crassus, which is inhabiting Dipsiz-Çine Stream, according to months and sampling stations were presented. 176 individuals of Unio crassus were caught by hand and measured by use of caliper and precision scale, and weight, width, length, height parameters were compared according to months and sampling points, and a monthly image of this distribution was presented. Maximum number of mussel individuals determined as 115 from IV. sampling point. Lowest numbers of individuals were found from II. sampling point as 1. It is aimed to contribute to data pool of Unio crassus by this study which includes data concerning the time before the construction of Çine Adnan Menderes Dam.

This follow-up study was carried out to investigate association of wheat productivity with the nutritional status of farmers in an agricultural area of North West Pakistan. A total of 1200 small scale farmers were randomly recruited and screened for nutrition status. Total of 226 farmers were found malnourished. An equal number of well-nourished farmers were randomly selected; detailed data on wheat yield and relevant confounding factors were collected interviewing groups. Multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to identify factors in relation to wheat yield. Comparing to well-nourished, malnourished farmers were more likely to report less wheat yield. Agricultural predictors that independently and significantly explained variation in wheat production included crop rotation, sowing time, and per acre agricultural inputs. Farmers' nutritional status; and dietary patterns further increased variance in wheat yield. The study findings reaffirmed the importance of farmers' nutritional status in predicting wheat yield.

Agricultural development is now expected to proceed in a way that maximizes opportunities to improve health and nutrition. Accordingly, the term “nutrition-education-agriculture linkages” describes the set of relationships that shows the mutual dependence of nutrition, education and agriculture. Changes in nutrition or education status are expected to affect agricultural production; conversely changes in the agricultural sector can have significant effects on individual health and nutritional status. Professionals in are trained in nutrition or agriculture, but very few will be trained in both. It is therefore difficult to begin discussions on nutrition-focused agricultural programs and policies. How do we begin to identify these linked outcomes? And how do we begin to think about ways to impact factors that are outside of our sector of expertise? This paper provides a simple framework for thinking critically about nutrition, education and agriculture linkages. The purpose is to help readers identify the linkages of greatest importance to their goals and to begin thinking about how to take steps toward integrating programs more effectively.

Salmonella is considered as a global problem ranking first among food borne diseases. All motile Salmonella of poultry origin are zoonotic and readily transmit to human via meat and eggs but reports on non - typhoidal Salmonella serovars circulating in layer chickens is very limited in South-East Asian countries including Bangladesh. Salmonella serovars isolated from apparently healthy chickens were characterized in the present study. Of 170 samples (cloacal swab 150 and feed 20) collected from commercial layer farms, motile Salmonella was isolated 4% (6/150) and 50% (10/20) respectively by cultural, biochemical, motility test and by detection of hisJ gene. About 5% (8/170) samples possessed serovar-specific gene fimA, suggesting that isolates were Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing demonstrated that the isolated serovars were multidrug resistant. Therefore apparently healthy layer chickens harbour and transmit S. Typhimurium to the environment, although little is alarming since it has zoonotic significance and the isolates were resistant to commonly used first line of antibiotic in Salmonella infection.

Lupin seeds of genetically improved cultivar (Golo) were subjected to different processing methods and investigated according to anti-nutritional factors content and protein quality. Results showed that tannin content of raw seeds was significantly increased in sprouted and debittered seeds before and after boiling but in fermented seeds it declined significantly. Phytate content was significantly decreased in all processed seeds with a significant reduction observed in germinated seeds. The reduction in Phytate as a result of processing was accompanied by a significant improvement in protein digestibility. The protein content of lupin seeds decreased in sprouted seeds and increased in fermented and debittered ones. Boiling of the seeds even the sprouted ones significantly increased the protein content compared to raw lupin seeds. In raw lupin seeds, globulins comprised the major fraction followed by glutelin. Debittered seeds characterized by high glutelin, fermented are characterized by high globulin while germinated characterized by both fractions. Most of the amino acids level was increased after processing of the seeds.

Deficiency of sulphur (S) is an important limiting factor of plant growth for sustainable agricultural production. The decline in sulphur dioxide emission, decrease in S-containing fertilizer consumption due to the high cost of S-fertilizers, breeding of new high yielding species are the well known causes of S-deficiency. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of several doses of K2SO4-S, CaSO4-S and elemental-S applied on growth, shoot dry matter yield, S and N concentrations of wheat cultivar. The experiments were conducted in three soils differed from available S concentrations. Effects of different S-treatments (0, 25, 50 and 100 mg S kg-1) and S-forms had significant effects on shoot dry matter yields of plants. Sulphur from different S-sources did not increase shoot S-concentrations in Eskisehir and Konya soils, but increase was significant obtained in the Harran soil. Shoot S-concentration in Harran soil for zero K2SO4 treatment was 0.09%, the values were 0.22, 0.26 and 0.27% respectively for 25, 50 and 100 mg kg-1 treatments. The results indicated significant effects of S-treatments on plant growth and yield mostly based on soil properties, especially the available S-levels