Bu araştırmada ‘Fuyu’ çeşidi meyvelerine, hasattan 14 ve 21 gün önce farklı dozlarda (0, 75, 150 ve 225 mg l-1) AVG (Aminoetoksivinilglisin) uygulamalarının depolama süresince meyve kalitesine etkileri incelenmiştir. AVG uygulaması yapılan meyveler modifiye atmosferli poşetler ile ambalajlanarak 0-1oC sıcaklık ve %85-90 oransal nemde 4 ay süreyle depolanmıştır. Araştırmada ağırlık kaybı, toplam suda çözünür kuru madde miktarı, titre edilebilir asit miktarı, meyve eti sertliği, askorbik asit miktarı, toplam fenolik madde miktarı, toplam antioksidan madde miktarı, solunum hızı ve üşüme zarar oranları incelenmiştir. Çalışmada depolama süresince meyve eti sertliği azalırken, meyvelerin ağırlık kayıplarında artışlar belirlenmiştir. AVG uygulamalarının meyve olgunlaşması üzerine olan geciktirici etkisine paralel olarak üşüme zararı oluşumu da gecikmiştir. Solumun hızı ve biyokimyasal bileşiklerin kaybı üzerine artan dozları ile AVG’nin engelleyici etkisi belirgin bir şekilde ortaya çıkmıştır. Sonuç olarak, ticari hasattan önce uygulanan 150 ve 225 mg l-1 AVG uygulamasının, hasat sonrası depolama döneminde meyve kalitesi açısından Fuyu’ çeşidi Trabzon hurması üzerinde önemli ve olumlu bir etkisi olmuştur.

The whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, damages various crops by releasing honeydew and spreading. Although farmers and pest control experts primarily rely on insecticides to manage whiteflies, the notable issue is their tendency to develop resistance to major insecticide categories, posing a significant challenge. This result has led to the improvement of new drugs or insecticide mixtures. In addition, some plant-based studies have been conducted to control whiteflies, and RNA interference (RNAi) technology has been used in recent years. This study aimed to identify the relationships between tobacco, cotton, tomato, and linen miRNAs and odorant-binding protein (OBP) and chemosensory protein (CSP) genes in whiteflies by using in silico approaches. We determined that 115 miRNAs belonging to these plants targeted 13 CSP and 8 OBP genes of B. tabaci. Obtaining findings are important to reduce dependency on chemicals and pesticides in pest management.

In this research, the usability of spent mushroom compost/substrate (SMC/SMS) as casing material was investigated. For this purpose, different volumes of peat and spent mushroom substrate (peat, peat + SMS (1/1), peat + SMS (1/2), peat + SMS (2/1), SMS) were used as casing material. The effects of spent mushroom substrate waste used as casing material and different volumes of peat applications on cap length, cap diameter, stipe length, stipe diameter, hardness, number of mushrooms, average mushroom weight, yield of cultivated mushrooms were determined. Different casing material applications affected stipe length, hardness, number of mushrooms, average mushroom weight and yield. Although the highest yield was obtained from peat application (59.86 kg 100 kg-1 compost), it has been shown that spent mushroom substrate waste can be used in casing material mixtures in mushroom cultivation.

This study proposes a reliable and easy understandable statistical solution for the selection of varieties in the balanced and partially balanced lattice experiments, which are widely used in plant breeding studies. For this purpose, the Analysis of Means (ANOM) was adapted to the balanced, simple and triple lattice designs and an R function is developed for it. The adapted ANOM approach was compared with the Tukey, Duncan and Fisher’s LSD tests with respect to the actual type I error rate in all of the balanced, simple and triple lattice designs. In addition to this, the ANOM approach and Tukey test were examined comparatively using a hypothetical example. According to the simulation results, LSD and Duncan could not maintain the actual type I error rate at 5.00% under any conditions. This situation became more dramatic with the increase in the number of groups. While the actual type I error rate for LSD and Duncan tests varied between 54.36%-100.00% and 37.49%-99.96%, respectively, for ANOM and Tukey tests it varied between 4.64%-6.08% and 4.62%-6.45%, respectively. ANOM and Tukey tests were quite successful in terms of maintaining the actual type I error rate. However, since the number of groups in lattice designs was quite high, the given hypothetical example showed that it would be more understandable to use the ANOM method.

In this study, the freshness levels of boiled chicken eggs were determined using an electronic nose and machine learning techniques. Eggs were boiled and stored under refrigerator conditions (3±1ºC) from day 0 to day 6. Each storage day, eggs were divided into two groups based on cooling methods: quick-cooled and fast-cooled. Sensor readings were taken using an electronic nose, and image changes from 110 daily image files were processed with a machine learning program. With 85% of the image data used for training and 15% for testing, a classification accuracy of over 98% was achieved. The results showed that egg white solidified in more than 4 minutes and yolk solidified in 11 minutes. Fast-cooled eggs exhibited significantly lower odor levels, indicating superior freshness. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of electronic nose and machine learning systems in accurately determining the freshness of boiled eggs.

This study aimed to determine the tachinid parasitoids (Diptera: Tachinidae) associated with different hemipteran hosts in Bolu and Düzce provinces in the Western Black Sea region of Türkiye in the period from 2022 to 2024. For this purpose, samples of Hemiptera were collected from various weeds, shrubs and cultivated plants. These specimens were brought to the laboratory and cultivated on the corresponding host plant material at 25 ± 2 °C and 60-70% RH. In this study, three different parasitoid species of tachinids were identified on three different hemipteran hosts. Of these, Graphosoma lineatum Linnaeus (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) is a new host record for Ectophasia crassipennis (Fabricius, 1794) and Gymnosoma clavata (Rohdendorf, 1947) (Diptera: Tachinidae) from Türkiye. In addition, information on the hosts of the parasitoids parasitoids in Türkiye is presented.

Marketing information enhances farmer’s decision to increase production and productivity of agricultural commodities. This paper examines farmers’ perspectives on agricultural marketing information in developing countries, with a case study focusing on three districts in Tanzania. Data were obtained from a survey conducted on 291 maize farmers in the three districts namely Arusha (103 farmers), Njombe (100 farmers) and Kongwa (88 farmers), selected from three regions in Tanzania Mainland. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the percentage distributions of the farmers based on socio-economic characteristics and Likert scale ratings of the farmers’ levels of agreement with the debriefing questions constructed to evaluate their perceptions. The analysis of the socio-economic variables of the farmers suggests male dominance in maize farming, predominant youthful farming demographics, predominantly large household Size, and predominance of low-level educational backgrounds among maize farmers in the study areas. The results of the socio-economic characteristics underscore the importance of targeted policies to support maize farmers, focusing on education, youth engagement, and household resource management. The overall result of farmers’ perceptions of agricultural marketing information indicates a widespread agreement across districts highlighting the shared challenges and priorities among maize farmers in Tanzania, particularly indicating that farmers recognize the benefits of agricultural services and understand the importance of communication infrastructure for economic development. The study thus, recommends establishment of local marketing information centers to reduce costs and time associated with gathering market information, enhancement of digital literacy to train farmers, and collaboration with critical stakeholders; such as government, private sector, and non-profits organizations to fund and sustain marketing information infrastructure for farmers. Investments in communication and marketing infrastructure will bridge information gaps, enhance market access, and ultimately drive economic development among maize farmers. This structured approach will not only improve maize farmers’ productivity but also contribute to broader rural development goals.

Soil pH, governed by the relative concentrations of hydrogen () and hydroxyl () ions, is a key factor affecting the chemical, physical, and biological properties of soils. Most soils in Türkiye are alkaline due to calcareous parent material and climatic influences, which restricts the availability of essential nutrients to plants. Sulphur applications are widely employed to reduce soil pH and increase nutrient bioavailability. The use of Sulphur for the amelioration of alkaline soils will continue to be a crucial strategy for enhancing agricultural sustainability in the future. This study investigates the effects of different Sulphur sources on the pH of sandy and clay-loam texture soils. This study investigates the effects of different Sulphur sources on the pH of sandy and clay loam textured soils. The soil samples used in the research were taken from Pınarbaşı and Melikgazi districts of Kayseri province, and soil samples were taken from both regions from a depth of 30 cm and from 20 randomly determined different points. Sulphur applications were applied at rates of (0, 0.02, 0.04 g 100 g-1) (X: powdered Sulphur ) and (0, 0.044, 0.088 g 100 g-1) (Y: granular Sulphur ) based on weight for clay-loam and sandy textured soils, respectively. Samples taken on days 0, 15, 30, 60, 90, 180, and 360 post-applications showed that the impact of Sulphur applications on soil pH change was significant across all treatments (p<0.01). The lowest pH measurement, 6.92, was observed in sandy textured soils with an application from granular Sulphur at 0.088 g 100 g-1. The pH change in clay-loam textured soils was found to range from 8.13 to 7.79, and in sandy textured soils from 7.69 to 6.92. These changes suggest that the acidifying effect of Sulphur oxidation on soil pH varies depending on the soil’s buffering capacity, particle size ratio, application rate, and incubation day. Consequently, the granular Sulphur was found to be more effective compared to the control and powdered Sulphur , and an application rate of 0.088 g 100 g-1 might be effective for both clay-loam and sandy soils. However, due to its lack of economic feasibility, 0.044 g dose or the doses from powdered Sulphur might be more appropriate.

The most important factor in both plant development and productivity, which mostly depends on nutrient availability in the soil and environment, is the constituents of soil nutrients. Soil is always losing its nutrients by leaching, surface runoff as well as through harvesting and cultural operations like: pruning. For maintaining the balance of agricultural ecosystem fertilizer application is necessary to improve soil condition and gain better yield. In case of tea industry for maintaining better and uniform production applying fertilizer is a widespread management technique in worldwide. Tea requires a lot of macro and micronutrients for growth because it cannot be grown without the usage of fertilizer and other nutrient supplies. The purpose of this field survey was to ascertain the nutritional condition of tea leaves as well as the signs of nutrient deficiencies in tea plants. In this study, deficiency symptoms of the essential nutrients were found out at different tea estates of Moulvibazar and Sylhet districts as well as photographs were taken. Photographs of the nutrient deficient tea plants were correlated with the established symptoms. The range of total nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and zinc content in the collected tea leaf samples were 2.95- 5.18%, 0.28- 0.49%, 0.56-1.88%, 0.12-0.49%, 0.07-0.08% and 0.002- 0.004%, respectively.

This study comprehensively examines the applicability of the 5S methodology as a tool for enhancing efficiency, occupational safety, and sustainability in the agricultural sector. The 5S methodology, predicated on the principles of sorting, organising, cleaning, standardising, and sustaining, aims to create safer and more productive workplaces. The research investigates its effects on both indoor agricultural machinery manufacturing processes and outdoor crop production practices. The analysis reveals notable advantages in manufacturing processes, including reduced waste, enhanced occupational safety, and improved product quality, particularly in production, assembly, and quality control processes. However, the methodology faces limitations in outdoor agricultural practices due to seasonal variations and open-field conditions, which challenge the cleaning, sorting, and organising stages. However, its application in maintenance, repair, and equipment storage processes has been shown to prolong the lifespan of machinery and ensure safer working conditions. The 5S methodology aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, serving as a practical approach to enhancing efficiency, workplace safety, and resource management in the agricultural sector. This study underscores the 5S methodology's promise as a sustainable solution for enhancing productivity and safety in agriculture.