Concentrations of heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, Cd) in cassava grown on farmlands along highways in Owerri, was investigated. Cassava leaves and root samples were harvested from cassava farms along three major roads with high traffic density and another rural road that served as control location. Standard laboratory procedures to determine the concentration of these metals were adopted using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The metal concentrations in mg/kg in cassava root showed high levels of Cu (6.29±0.0346), Zn (8.49±2.243), Pb (0.5267±0.3156) and Cd (0.1167±0.0833). The concentrations of the heavy metals in the cassava leaves were of the order: Zn > Cu >Pb> Ni > Cd. Soil plant transfer factor values for all the metals in all the sites indicated medium accumulation. Heavy metal concentrations in soil showed significant correlation with concentrations in cassava root with no significant statistical differences in bioaccumulation of heavy metals in different parts of cassava. The overall results showed evidence of some heavy metal pollution on the soils and cassava plant.

Functional foods are the foods that provide health benefits beyond the basic nutrition. Dairy products have a prominent position in the functional food market. However, market share for functional dairy products in Sri Lanka is low compared to most of the countries in the world. Awareness of consumers and attitude towards a healthy life is essential for market success of functional dairy products. Therefore, a study was conducted to investigate the status of awareness of and attitudes towards functional dairy products among consumers from Western Province of Sri Lanka. The study was conducted using a pre-tested structured questionnaire during June to November 2018, with the participation of 307 purposively selected consumers. Information on consumers’ tendency towards a healthy life style, awareness and perception on health benefits of functional foods and dairy products, confidence on different information sources etc. were recorded. SPSS statistical software package was used for the data analysis. The empirical findings showed that the consumers still concern about taste and cost rather than health when buying food products. Consumer age showed a significant (χ2=19.41, p

In this study, an investigation of the preference and perception of the different broiler housing and feeding systems among staff and students of Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Turkey was undertaken. A structured questionnaire was administered with a face-to-face to 790 randomly selected respondents [257 academic staff (academicians), 166 non-academic staff (worker with a secondary school national graduate diploma) and 367 undergraduate students (students)]. Most respondents preferred chicken (63.3%) and beef (32.0%) meats to fish meat (4.7%). The number of academicians preferred broiler meat (16.8%) was lower than those of students (52.6%) and workers (30.6%). There were significant differences among respondents in terms of preference and perception of different production sources of chicken meat. The proportion of academicians who preferred conventional broiler meat (68.2%) was higher than students (25.4%) and workers (6.4%). The impact of mediatic information (disinformation) about broiler meat relating to ingredients and/or feed additives used in broiler nutrition was higher on academics and students compared to workers. The results of the study indicated that as the level of education increases, the negative perception increased due to false media reports about chicken meat production and subsequently, the preference for chicken meat decreased.

Milking parlours are concrete constructions where milk is milked from cows, stored and transferred. These create the last stage of the work flow chart in dairy cattle farms. Quality of milk is important in the production of milk and dairy products owing to the fact that milk is one of the basic food requirements of people. The quality of milk depends on the genetic conditions of the cows as well as their well-being, the appropriate level of care and environmental conditions and milk being obtained in a clean environment which isolated from negative external factors. Milking parlours should be planned under a separate roof from the dairy cattle barns in order to ensure hygiene conditions, facilitate the work flow and reduce the negative effects on the health of cows and people. However, not including very large enterprises, it is planned as an add-on to other items under the same roof with the dairy cattle barn due to reasons such as decreasing the cost in the small, medium and majority of large-scale enterprises and the society does not care about hygiene conditions. Production in this wise is not appropriate to ensure the requirements about hygiene conditions in the production of milk and dairy products, since the milking parlours are directly under the environmental conditions of the barn. In this paper, it is explained the criteria to be considered in the process to plan and design milking parlour and it is aimed the generalization of milking parlour be built as a construction separate from the dairy barn, with an exemplary milking parlour project with 2×12 fishbone milking system.

This study analyses implication of COVID- 19 pandemics in the agricultural sector of Turkey. In the study taken measures in the sector are considered. The focus of the paper is twofold. The first objective is to take a glance at COVID 19, how it started, and how affected sectors or businesses. This aim supported by the literature review which is getting a shape recently, on the grounds founded papers were limited. It can be seen that generally all countries suffered from the same problems apart from the countries sectors have problems in common. Lastly, we tried to focus on the agricultural sector especially in Turkey and we presented precautions taken agricultural sector in Turkey. In addition to this to the objective, we tried to synthesize all our findings and present suggestions in case this process prolonged. The originality of the paper comes from it is the first study that draws a general outline for Turkey’s agricultural sector considering the pandemic.

In this work, control capacity of the four isolates (GN22-1, HP15, HP5-2, HP3-1) of entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana Bals. (Vuill) were evaluated against Tribolium castaneum (Herbst, 1797) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) adults under laboratory conditions. To test the effect of each of the isolate on adults of T. castaneum were dipped into 1×108 conidia/ml suspension of each isolate. The data for mortality was recorded after 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th, 15th, 17th, 19th, 21st, and 23rd day. Thirteen days after application, isolates were listed as GN22-1 (72.85%), HP3-1 (48.88%), HP15 (47.37%) and HP5-2 (30.43%) based on the mortality rate they caused. Mortality rate was 83.52% at the end of the 23rd day with isolate GN22-1. While HP3-1 (53.74%) and HP15 (52.24%) caused more than 50% effect at the end of 23 days incubation period, the effect of HP5-2 remained only 32.51%. In addition, LT50 and LT90 rates were also determined. We arrive to the conclusion that especially GN22-1 isolate can has a potential in the control of this insect and may serve an alternative to chemical insecticides.

In this review, it is aimed to compare the contents of unsaturated fatty acids (Mufa, Pufa) which are essential for human health of products obtained from animals (meat, milk, eggs) grown in organic and conventional (conventional) conditions. Although the unsaturated fatty acid content and amounts of animal products reflect product quality and nutrients, organic animal products contain more unsaturated fatty acids depending on their growing systems (extensively) and accordingly it is determined to be of higher quality and nutritious. Organic agriculture, which is the cornerstone of sustainable agriculture and animal husbandry, and organic livestock, which is an integral part of it, uses natural resources effectively. It is an environmentally friendly production model that does not use additives and aims to provide healthier products with the quantity of products to consumers.

In this study, it was aimed to determine the effect of oestru synchronization on the fertility of hair goats during the breeding season. Animal material of this experiment consisted of 200 heads of hair goats between 3 and 5 years of age. The animals were divided into two groups, (Control group, KG, n = 100; Oestrus synchronization group, KS, n = 100). The animals in the KS group received intravaginal sponges containing 30 mg flugestone acetate which removed after 12 days and 500 IU of PMSG/per animal administered IM. The animals in both groups were mated using bucks for 4 days. The single birth rate was 72% in the KG and 35% in the KS group. Fecundity and litter size were 1.20 and 1.59 in the control group and 1.25 and 1.64 in the KS group, respectively. As a result, the application of oestrus synchronization in hair goats during the breeding season improved the fertility.

This paper provided a brief account of the need of in ovo feeding technology for efficient incubation and hatching as driven by the current and projected poultry production figures. After substantial laboratory experiments in the early 1980s, in ovo vaccination technology became applicable in the commercial broiler hatcheries. The scientific theories that enabled the use of in ovo vaccination facilitated the process of injecting the various nutrient composition into broiler eggs/embryo (in ovo feeding) considering the injection site and the stage of embryonic development. Some studies of in ovo feeding have found scientifically positive effects on incubation properties but they remain insufficient at the commercial level thus, the adoption of the application is very slow compared to other embryo management techniques. Therefore, continuous studies on the best nutrient compositions, combinations, and concentrations are required for the commercial use of in ovo feeding technology.

The objective of this study was to develop a mathematical model for predicting the volumetric efficiency for fluted rolls metering different crop seeds. A special test stand was designed and manufactured in order to conduct experiments in order to find out the volumetric efficiency of the fluted rolls. In order to meet the above objective, alfalfa, barley, coriander, flax, oat, rye, safflower, sesame and wheat seeds were used. Experiments were conducted at different roll revolutions and roll lengths by considering the seed rate for each crop and the rolls were driven by a step motor as controlled by a software installed on a laptop computer. Five replications were achieved for each experiment and a total of 1660 flow rate data was obtained. Five different models for volumetric efficiency were developed. Analysis based on different goodness of fit criteria were achieved to compare models in to order to select the appropriate one. The study conducted not only resulted in developing volumetric efficiency models but also revealed an important finding based on low flow evenness (low CV, %) values obtained as compared to other studies in the literature.