Medicinal and aromatic plants are valuable sources of herbal products worldwide due to their secondary metabolite content, high antioxidant activities and many other biological activities. As a result of the developing technology, the demand for natural active substances obtained from plants has increased. For use, plants collected from nature do not have the desired quality standards. For this reason, sustainability can be achieved by using microbial inoculants as well as many biotechnological and molecular approaches such as micro propagation, synthetic seed technology to increase the yield and quality standards of medicinal and aromatic plants. Thanks to microbial inoculants, yield increase can be realized and at the same time, product quality can be contributed due to increased soil quality. In this review, it was aimed to evaluate the important roles of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), Arbiscular mycorrhizal fungi and Trichoderma inoculants in increasing productivity, nutrient uptake and resistance of medicinal and aromatic plants to environmental stresses in the light of literature. In this review, the variation in the resistance of plants to environmental stresses is summarized by evaluating the ultimate effects of microbial inoculants alone and in combination. In addition, it has been added to the evaluation in studies to prevent the decrease of secondary metabolite content formed under environmental stress conditions in medicinal and aromatic plants by microorganisms.

An experiment was carried out at the ICAR-KVK Research farm, HansRoever Campus, Perambalur, Tamil Nadu, India during the Kharif season (July to October), 2020 to study the effect of agronomic biofortification through integrated nutrient management on hybrid maize (biofortified and non-biofortified). The experiment was laid out in Split Plot Design having 36 treatment combinations of hybrids and nutrients and replicated thrice. The treatment sources consisted of two main plots of maize hybrids (M1: Non-biofortified and M2: biofortified), and six sub-plots of nutrients (S1: 100 % Recommended Dose of Fertilizer RDF through Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, S2: 100 % RDF through Farm Yard Manure, S3: 50% RDF through NPK + 50% RDF through FYM, S4: S1+ Iron and Zinc as foliar application @0.5% conc, S5: S2 + Iron and Zinc as foliar application @0.5% conc, S6: S3 + Iron and Zinc as foliar application @0.5% conc.). The recommended dose of fertilizer was NPK 150:75:75 kg ha-1. Application of 50% RDF through NPK + 50% RDF through FYM with Fe and Zn as foliar application @0.5% conc (S6) at 45 (active vegetative stage) and 90 (grain filling stage) days after sowing, significantly increased all the growth and yield attributes, grain and stover yield, quality attributes and nutrient uptake by maize. Among the nutrient levels, higher grain yield (8.2 t ha-1) and stover yield (10.16 t ha-1), quality attributes, and nutrient uptake were recorded with the application of 50% RDF through NPK + 50% RDF through FYM with Fe and Zn as foliar application @0.5% conc (S6). Similarly, significant net return (INR 78,767) and benefit cost ratio (3.07) were noted with the application of 100% RDF through NPK (S1) followed by 50% RDF through NPK + 50% RDF through FYM with Fe and Zn as foliar application @0.5% conc (S6). Hence, integrated nutrient management with agronomic biofortification @0.5% conc., at 45th and 90th DAS should be adopted to obtain maximum grain yield, net profit, and nutrient uptake by Kharif maize.

Bu araştırma, süt sığırcılığı işletmelerinde yem tüketimi ve yem dönüşüm oranının belirlenmesi amacıyla yapılmıştır. Araştırmada kullanılan veriler Hatay ilinde 141 adet süt sığırcılığı işletmesinden derlenmiştir. İşletmelerde ortalama yem bitkileri üretim alanı 18,13 da olup, yem bitkileri ekim alanlarının bitkisel üretim deseni içindeki payı %31,07 olarak belirlenmiştir. İncelenen işletmelerde ortalama büyükbaş hayvan varlığı 11,02 baş, sağmal inek sayısı ise 4,87 baş olup, sağmal inek başına süt verim değeri 5.619 lt/baş, süt geliri ise 2.811 ABD$/baş olarak hesaplanmıştır. İşletmelerinde bir süt ineğinin bir laktasyon döneminde kaba yem tüketimi 3.139,67 kg, tüketilen yemin parasal değeri ise 371,61 ABD$, kesif yem ve kırma yem tüketimi 2.958,90 kg, tüketilen yemin parasal değeri ise 1.118,57 ABD$ olarak tespit edilmiştir. İncelenen işletmeler genelinde toplam masraf tutarı yaklaşık olarak 1,9 milyon ABD$ olarak gerçekleşmiştir. Toplam masraf içinde değişen masrafların payı %64,26 olup, sabit masrafların payı %35,74 olarak hesaplanmıştır. Yem masraflarının değişen masraflar içindeki payı ise %80,56’dır. Yapılan araştırma bir laktasyon döneminde sağmal ineklere verilen 1 kg kesif ve kırma yem tüketimine karşılık elde edilen süt miktarının 1,90 lt olduğunu ortaya koymuştur. İşletmeler ortalaması dikkate alındığında; 100 ABD$ yem tüketimi karşılığında süt sığırcılığının brüt üretim değeri için 236,02 ABD$, süt geliri için de 195,72 ABD$ olarak tespit edilmiştir. Yapılan araştırmada işletme büyüklük grupları arasında süt verimi ile kaba yem ve dane yem tüketim miktarı bakımından istatistiki yönden bir farklılıklar bulunduğu tespit edilmiştir. Yürütülen araştırma; incelenen işletmelerde hayvan başına daha yüksek süt verimi ve gelirine ulaşabilmek için özellikle işletmelerin yem ihtiyacını kendi işletmelerinden sağlamaları gerektiğini ortaya koymuştur.

The present study was aimed at isolating endophytic fungi from the Algerian medicinal plant Salicornia arabica and analyzing its antifungal and antibacterial effects. The morphological analysis allowed us to identify endophyte isolates at the genus level as belonging to 8 different genera, Aureobasidium sp., Ulocladium sp., Acremonium sp., Stemphylium sp., Penicillium sp., Aspergillus sp., Phoma sp., and Chrysosporium sp. with frequency percentages 6.7%, 13.3%, 20%, 13.3%, 13.3%, 13.3%, 6.7%, 6.7%, respectively. The antimicrobial activity was caried out using the agar plug diffusion method. The three isolates of the genus Acremonium sp. were highly active against all tested bacteria except Enterococcus faecalis. Comparison of the means of inhibition zones of the active isolates showed that the three fungal isolates of Acremonium were the most active, followed by Chrysosporium sp., Penicillium sp.1, Aureobasidium sp., Stemphylium sp.1, Penicillium sp. .2, and Ulocladium sp.2. The widest zones of inhibition were 22.33 and 20.33mm for Acremonium sp.3, 18.33 and 15.33mm for Aureobasidium sp., 19.33mm for Penicillium sp.1, and 19 and 15mm for Stemphylium sp.1 obtained against Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, respectively. Regarding the antifungal activity, the best inhibitory activity was 80 and 64.70% obtained with the isolate Penicillium sp.2 against Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. ciccri and Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. albedinis, respectively, and of 63.29 and 58% observed against Phytophthora infestans and Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. ciccri, respectively, with the endophytic isolate Aspergillus sp.2. These results indicated the possible prospect of endophytes fungi isolated from Salicornia arabica as a promising resource of antimicrobial compounds and in the quest for the potential starting points for the development of new antibiotics.

In this study, the antioxidant and antimicrobial potentials of the ethanol extract of the aerial parts of Lepidium spinosum Ard., which is distributed in many regions of the world, were determined. The aerial parts of the plant were dried, powdered and extracted with ethanol. Total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidant status (TOS) and oxidative stress index (OSI) of the plant extract were determined using Rel Assay Diagnostics kits. Antimicrobial activities of the plant extract were determined against standard bacterial and fungal strains by agar dilution method. As a result of the studies, the TAS value of the plant extract was determined as 4.550±0.132, the TOS value as 12.610±0.221, and the OSI value as 0.277±0.007. In addition, it has been found to be effective at 25-200 µg/mL against standard bacterial strains and 100-200 µg/mL concentrations against fungal strains. As a result, it was determined that L. spinosum used in our study could be a natural antioxidant and antimicrobial source. In this context, it is thought that natural material may be used in pharmacological designs.

After the COVID-19 was declared as a pandemic, nothing has ever been the same for humankind. The lockdown, travel restrictions, closure of borders, and restriction of the movement of people and materials through quarantine measures applied all over the world to combat the COVID-19 pandemic affected agriculture alongside many sectors. The pandemic has made countries reconsider the issue of self-sufficiency in agriculture and it has been understood once again that agriculture is an indispensable element of human life. Agriculture is generally an input-intensive industry. Plant protection products, fertilizers, seeds, fuel, and labor are among the most important of these inputs. Failure to occur in one or more of these means a decrease in the quality and quantity of the product. Countries that do not want to face such a problem have taken some measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, some have been successful, and some have been insufficient. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to labor shortages in plant production, difficulties in accessing plant protection products, and disruptions in plant protection practices due to lack of labor force, financial problems and equipment shortages. The pandemic has also affected education and research activities. With this review, we tried to discuss the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on plant production and plant protection in Turkey and in the world.

Ehrlichia canis is the primary etiologic agent of canine monocytic ehrlichiosis, a tick-transmitted disease of dogs. The aim of this study is to molecularly investigate the presence of E. canis and to reveal its prevalence in dogs in Siirt province. The animal material of the study is consisted of a total of 82 dogs. A region of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene of E. canis was targeted for PCR amplification. As a result of the conducted Nested-PCR, positivity was detected at the rate of 10.53% (4/38) in male dogs and 13.64% (6/44) in females, and Ehrlichia canis specific bands of size 389 bp were obtained in 10 (12.20%) dogs in total. The phylogenetic tree was constructed with the Maximum Likelihood (MCL) method, The nucleotide sequence was registered in the NCBI GenBank database with access numbers OK331365.1-OK331366. Early detection of the disease by means of hematological, serological, or molecular tests is very important in terms of prognosis. More studies should be performed to determine vector-disease relationships in this region about ticks that vector the disease.

Purple basil is widely used medicinally and aromatically due to its essential oil properties, and it is a plant that stands out with its antibacterial, antimutagenic and antioxidant properties. It has been determined that purple basil has positive effects on health such as appetizing, insomnia, sputum, diuretical and antispasmodic. Purple basil contains high concentrations of anthocyanins and with these properties it stands out as a potential new source of stable red pigments for the food industry. In recent years, it has been seen that purple basil has been processed into different products such as tea and sherbet in order to benefit from its functional properties. With the processing of purple basil into different products, it is seen that the consumption of basil and basil products has increased by consumers. In this study, purple basil sherbet samples were concentrated at different voltage gradient values (14, 17 and 20 V/cm) under atmospheric conditions with ohmic heating up to 25% soluble solid content (SSC) and the changes in their rheological properties during the concentration process was investigated. The changes in the rheological properties of the purple basil samples were determined in the range of 1-148 s-1 shear rate values and measurement temperature was 25°C. The compatibility of different rheological models (Newton, Power-Law and Herschel-Bulkley) to the experimental data was statistically evaluated to determine the flow behavior index of the purple basil sherbet samples. It has been determined that the shear stress values increased as the shear rate values increased in all the process conditions. Similarly, at the same shear rate values, it was determined that the shear stress values increased as the SSC values increased. It has been determined that the best suitable rheological model was Herschel-Bulkley Model for all purple basil sherbet concentrates. It is thought that the results obtained will provide important data to the food and machinery industry for the installation of pilot and industrial scale ohmic heating systems.

Adoption of improved technologies and agricultural practices are prerequisites for increased farm productivity. Assessing the appropriateness of potential new technologies or practices increases the likelihood of adoption or modification to suit farmers’ needs; however, low farm output still persists among smallholders, attributable to several factors including poor and low adoption of modern production practices. This study therefore analyzed the index of adoption of recommended onion production practices (ROPPs) and correlation of multivariate factors among smallholder farmers in Dambatta, Kano State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used in selecting 100 respondents for this study. Primary data collected via well-structured questionnaires were analyzed using Descriptive statistics, Adoption index and Multivariate Correlation techniques.The results revealed that the prevalent ROPPs adopted by the farmers include improved onion varieties (78%), plant spacing (69%), planting method (55%), weed management (50%) and fertilizer application (44%). Moreover, most (72%) of the farmers have low adoption index (≤0.33). Further, significant correlations between multivariate factors (farm output, adoption cost and adoption index) exists and the estimated correlation coefficients for rxz, ryz and rxy were -0.53, 0.71 and -0.82 respectively. Subsidizing cost of adoption of ROPPs, improving access to modern production practices/technologies, agricultural credit/farm capital, extension services, adequate labour supply and tenure policy modification are recommended to ameliorate adoption constraints.

High morbidity and mortality rate associated with pneumococcal infection globally is of major concern most especially among infant. This burden is equally worsened by multidrug resistance strains due to indiscriminate consumption of antibiotics. Hence, need for constant search for cheap and effective bioactive compounds as alternative antimicrobials for the treatment of pneumococcal infection. Bioactive compound profiling and in-vitro antibacterial activity of ginger methanol extract against two predominant pneumococcal agents; Streptococcus pneumonia and Haemophilus influenza were investigated. Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) was used for the identification and quantification of bioactive compounds in the ginger methanol extract. The antibacterial activity and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of the extract was determined using Agar well diffusion. Twenty-seven (27) matched bioactive compounds were detected in the sample. Zingerone (17.70%), α-zingiberene (13.30%), (6)-shogaol (10.84%), α-Farnesene (6.26%), β-Funebrene (5.61%), 6-gingerol (5.18%), α-curcumene (4.15%) were the major compounds present. All other identified compounds had less than 4% composition by peak area each. The antibacterial activity of the ginger crude methanol extract against S. pneumonia and H. influenza were 2.33 mm and 9.33 mm. MIC of the extract against the isolates was 10%. In conclusion ginger crude methanol extract contain an array of bioactive compounds and the extract exhibited antibacterial activity against predominant pneumococcal agents. Ginger extract can be harnessed for the production of new antimicrobials to combat pneumococcal infection.