Organic Agricultural products are natural food products that are checked and certified by authorized institutions at all stages of cultivation and presented to the consumer. In this study, the knowledge and practices of soil agriculture farmers in Amasya province about Organic Agriculture production were investigated by face-to-face survey method. In the survey, the local producers were asked what Organic Agriculture is in general, their status of producing Organic Agriculture, whether they fulfill the Organic Agriculture requirements for Organic Agriculture production. The obtained data were presented numerically and proportionally. Data were also analyzed with the Decision Tree method using the CART (Classification and Regression Tree) algorithm. According to the findings, although the local farmers declared that they knew what Organic Agriculture was at a high level, it was seen that none of the producers fulfilled the requirements of Organic Agriculture in practice. According to the survey data, while the farmers reported that they received the information about Organic Agriculture from TV-radio and the internet to a large extent (58.5%), a very small percentage (11%) stated that they received training. According to this result, it has been concluded that the local farmers do not have enough information about Organic Agriculture, but the lack of information can be easily eliminated via TV-radio and the internet. As a result, it was concluded that Amasya farmers do not have sufficient information about Organic Agriculture production for now, but if appropriate training is provided, successful Organic Agriculture production output can be achieved.

Bu araştırmada, Tarım ve Orman Bakanlığı, Yozgat Avcılık ve Yaban Hayatı Şube Müdürlüğü Üretim İstasyonunda 1240 metre rakımda yetiştirilen 42 haftalık yaşta olan Beç Tavuklarına (Numidae meleagris) ait 200 adet yumurta kullanılmıştır. Bireysel yumurta ağırlıkları ile birlikte, 5184×3456 piksel boyutunda 72 piksel/inç çözünürlükte görüntüleme yapılmıştır. Elde edilen görüntüler üzerinden ortalama Objektif Alan (16,07 cm2), Çevre (15,82 cm), Dairesellik (0,81), Yükseklik (5,17 cm), Genişlik (4,04 cm), Gri Değeri (82,82), Taban Yarıçapı (2,02 cm), Uzun yarı yüksekliği (2,96 cm), Kısa yarı yükseklik (2,20 cm) değerleri sayısal görüntü analizleri yapılarak belirlenmiştir. Elde edilen veriler üzerinden ortalama Elongasyon (1,28), Şekil İndeksi (78,27) hesaplanmıştır. Bireysel yumurta ağırlıkları kullanılarak ortalama yüzey alanı (55,43 cm2), boy (5,16 cm), en (3,77 cm), elongasyon (1,37), şekil indeksi (73,01), hacim (40,14 cm3), yüzey/hacim oranı (1,38), kabuk ağırlığı (3,17 g), kabuk kalınlığı (0,28 mm), gözenek sayıları (6666,25; 5132,39; 5011,12 adet), gözenek yoğunlukları (120,32; 92,56; 90,31), sarı oranı (14,85), sarı ağırlık (5,95 g), ak ağırlığı (30,75 g), ak oranı (77,21) gibi parametreler hesaplanmıştır. Gri değeri bakımından yumurtalar 90, Şekil indeksi bakımından yumurtalar 79 ve ağırlık bakımından 43 olacak şekilde 3 gruba ayrılmış, her grubun diğer özellikler üzerine etkisi araştırılmıştır. Sonuç olarak elde edilen verilerin bilimsel çalışmalarda kullanılabileceği düşünülmektedir.

Türkiye’nin mevcut doğal çayır-mera alanları ile yem bitkileri ekim alanlarından üretilen toplam kaba yem 73,7 milyon büyük ve küçükbaş hayvan varlığının kaba yem gereksinimini karşılayamamaktadır. Türkiye’de 14,6 milyon hektar doğal çayır-mera alanı bulunmaktadır. Bu alanın büyük çoğunluğunun ot verimi ve kalitesinin artırılması ve sürdürülebilirliğinin sağlanması için ıslahı gereklidir. Bu alanların ıslahı için toplamda 45,6 milyar TL bütçeye ve yıllık bakım için ortalama 4 milyar TL’ye ihtiyaç olduğu hesaplanmıştır. 4342 sayılı Mera Kanunu ile birlikte başlatılan Mera Islah ve Amenajman Projeleri ile bugüne kadar ıslah edilen mera alanları oldukça yetersizdir. Ayrıca, ıslah edilen mera alanlarının otlatılmasında mera idaresinin teknik kurallarına uyulmamasından dolayı yapılan ıslah işlemi sürdürülebilir olmamaktadır. Mevcut bütçe kaynaklarının yeterli olmaması ve devlet imkânları ile mera ıslahının uzun yıllar sürecek olması nedeniyle sürdürülebilir mera ıslahında yeni bir bakış açısına, politika değişikliğine ihtiyaç vardır. Bu çalışmada Türkiye meralarının etkin ıslahı ve sürdürülebilir kullanımı için bazı ıslah ve kullanım modelleri tartışılmıştır. Yapılan öneri ile kıraç meralardan 1000 dekardan taban meralarda 500 dekardan daha büyük orta malı meraların özel sektöre kiralanarak “ıslah et-işlet” sistemiyle ıslah edilmesi ve özel sektör tarafından ıslah edilen alanın ¾’ünün ıslah eden özel sektör, ¼’ünün ise meranın tahsisli bulunduğu köydeki hayvan sahipleri tarafından kullanımın sağlanması önerilmiştir. Kıraçta 1000 dekar, tabanda 500 dekardan küçük alana sahip mera alanlarının ise tahsisli bulundukları yerleşim yerindeki Mera Yönetim Birliklerine kiralanarak ıslahı ve sürdürülebilir kullanımının sağlanması önerilmiştir. Mera Yönetim Birliklerinin ıslah amaçlı kiralamaya istekli olmadığı durumlarda mera alanının büyüklüğüne bakılmaksızın meranın özel sektöre kiralanması önerilmiştir.

The study aims to report the ethnobotanical significance of medicinal plants for the treatment of various diseases, phytochemical constituents of those plants, their allelopathic effect, and impact of those plants on the socioeconomic aspect in Gulmi and Okhaldhunga district of Nepal. Altogether 41 species of medicinal plants from two areas were documented, using a semi-structured questionnaire. They have been using those species for the treatment of different ailment ranging from gastrointestinal problems, respiratory tract related problems, cuts and wounds, and dermatological problems. 18 of the potentially valuable medicinal plants were brought for performing secondary metabolites tests in methanol extract. The extracts have shown the presence of alkaloid, carbohydrate, glycosides, flavonoids, tannins, terpenoids, saponins, oil and protein, out of which alkaloid was found to be present in every sample. In contrast, only 5 possessed protein. Out of 18 plant extracts, 11 most valued ones were isolated to carry out allelopathy tests on mungbean seed. Only the control treatment bored germination of the mungbean with full radicle and plumule development. This study also reports the impact of the use of medicinal plants in people’s daily life.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) improves the uptake of nutrients and water to the plants through mutual symbiosis. Only AMF produces glomalin related soil protein (GRSP). Acaulospora morroaiae, Glomus luteum, Glomus verruculosum, Glomus versiforme are the effective glomalin producing AMFs. Mixed primary forest, tropical rainforest, soil organic matter, clay soil, no tillage, quality and quantity of fertilizers, crop rotation, and water stable aggregates are also suitable to increase glomalin production. Glomalin is a glycoprotein that contains 30–40% carbon (C) which is assumed to be stable and persistent in soil. The glomalin can sequestrate more carbon in the soil due to its high carbon and aggregate stability. Greater aggregate stability leads to high organic carbon protection in terrestrial ecosystems. The lowest glomalin content (0.007 mg per gram soil) was found in Antarctic region, and the highest glomalin content (13.50 mg per gram soil) was observed in tropical rainforest. In agricultural soil, glomalin content varies between 0.30 and 0.70 mg per gram soil. The GRSP containing soil organic carbon (SOC) in deeper soil layers was 1.34 to 1.50 times higher than in surface layers. Glomalin can sequestrate 0.24 Mg C ha-1 in soil when present at 1.10±0.04 mg g-1. At elevated CO2 (700 µmol mol-1) level, easily extractable glomalin (EEG) and total glomalin (TG) were 2.76 and 5.67% SOC in the surface soil layer over ambient carbon dioxide (CO2) level. This finding indicates the effective function of GRSP C sequestration in soil under global environmental change scenarios. Glomalin can also protect labile carbon that can help regulating nutrient supply to the plants. No tillage practice causes higher AMF hyphal length, GRSP and water stable aggregate (WSA) compared to that of conventional tillage practice. The current review demonstrated that GRSP is an important tool for carbon storage in deep soils. Glomalin mediates soil aggregates, improves soil quality, increases carbon sequestration and crop production, and mitigates climate change.

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of equi-protein replacement of soybean meal with groundnut cake on immune status, haematology and serum biochemical parameters of broiler chickens. A total of One hundred and twenty (120) Cobb’s day old chicks were randomly allocated to five (5) dietary treatments of three (3) replicates and eight (8) chicks per replicate in a completely randomized design. The Diet I was the control diet with 100% SBM as the major plant protein source while in other diets, SBM was replaced with 25, 50, 75 and 100% GNC in equi-protein basis and designated as Diets II, III, IV and V respectively. Feed and water were provided ad-libitum throughout the experimental period of 56 days. Newcastle disease (ND) vaccines were administered following a stipulated regime. At the end of the experiment two birds were randomly selected from each replicate and slaughtered. Blood and serum was collected for haematological analysis, serum bioassay and HA/HI tests to determine antibody titres against ND vaccines. All data collected were subjected to one-way analysis of variance using SPSS software package. Results showed that haematological parameters were significantly influenced by the dietary treatments in which birds fed 50% equi-protein replacement of SBM with GNC had better PCV, basophil, MCH and MCHC values compared to that of birds in the other dietary treatments. The antibody titres of experimental birds were not significantly different among treatment groups. The diet with 50% equi-protein replacement of SBM with GNC elicited the highest antibody titres of Log28 and Log210 after the 1st and 2nd ND vaccinations when compared to the other diets. The serum total protein, globulin, albumin, and glucose were significantly influenced by the dietary treatments. The present result indicate that 50% equi-protein replacement of SBM with GNC in diets is not detrimental to health status of broiler chickens.

The management of forests, a source of livelihood in Nigeria, especially in the rural areas has received little attention in recent times. As a result, most of the forest dwellers who depend on these forests for survival are poor and are beginning to diversify their livelihood into off and non-forest activities as a relevant source of income. This study assessed participation in forest management practices, livelihood diversification and, the welfare of forest dwellers in Gambari Forest Reserve, Oyo State, Nigeria. Primary data, collected from 121 respondents using a multistage sampling Procedure were analyzed employing Descriptive Statistics, Logit, Tobit, and Ordinary Least Squares model. The decision to participate in forest management practices was significantly linked to gender, age, and membership in a forest association. Also, participation in forest management practices, gender, age, and credit accessibility significantly influenced livelihood diversification positively while farm size and monthly income had negative effects. The welfare of forest dwellers was found to be positively influenced by being a married indigene, having access to credit, participation in forest management practices, livelihood diversification, and monthly income while age, education, and market distance from homestead negatively affected the welfare of forest dwellers.

In recent years, medicinal and aromatic herbs, which contain variety of antimicrobial compounds and have no risk to human health in terms of antibiotic resistance, are increasingly used as alternatives to antibiotics. In the study, chemical composition, total phenolic content, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of essential oil and extract of Mentha x piperita L. growing wild in Eskisehir were investigated. Carvone (55.8%), limonene (12.8%), 1.8-cineole (8.7%) and trans-dihydrocarvone (6.4%) were determined as the main constituents of the essential oil, while the major components of the extract were carvone (56.4%), 1.8-cineole (14.1%) and trans-dihydrocarvone (8.4%). The total phenolic contents of essential oil (2204.33 µg GAE/g) were significantly higher than of extract (744 µg GAE/g). The essential oil and the extract were inhibited 84.08% and 42.59% by the DPPH radical, 91.87% and 48.40% by the ABTS radical, respectively. The highest inhibition zone was observed against S. aureus (23 mm). However, minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) values of the essential oil were ranged between 2.5% and 10% (v/v), while MIC values of the extract were determined as 10% and >10% (v/v). The present study demonstrated that M. piperita could be used in pharmaceutical and food applications as a natural antioxidant and antimicrobial substance.

Food spoilage is an undesirable process and is a serious problem for humans. There are many factors that accelerate and affect food spoilage. In this study, microbial behaviors in foods, microorganisms causing food spoilage and beneficial microorganisms are mentioned.

This study was carried out in 2020 to determine crop water stress index (CWSI) by using infrared thermometer (IRT) data calculated by leaf canopy temperature measurements of the second crop sunflower genotype in semi-arid climate conditions, and to determine the relationships between irrigation time, seed yield of sunflower plant and CWSI by using these index values. Irrigation program consisted of a full irrigation and 2 different levels of stress, which were 100% (I100), 70% (I70), 35% (I35) of water losses within the effective root depth of 90 cm every 7 days. A total of 644 mm of irrigation water was applied to I100 (control) irrigation. The water consumption for full irrigation was 721 mm and the yield was 3516.00 kg/ha. Lower limit (LL) value without water stress required to determine plant water stress index was Tc-Ta=-2.528×VPD +0.749 (R2=0.814) and upper limit (UL) value, where the plant is completely under water stress, was determined as +3.27℃. Crop water stress index value threshold at which sunflower seed yield started to decrease was calculated as 0.33 using the infrared thermometer measurements at the time of irrigation. In addition, a negative correlation was obtained between sunflower seed yield and CWSI values. The results revealed that the yield tends to decrease as the CWSI increases.