The agricultural sector plays a crucial role in economic growth, employment, and food security. Although E7 countries (Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, and Turkey) hold a significant share in global agricultural production, there is limited literature on the determinants of agricultural value added. This study aims to analyze the key economic factors affecting agricultural value added in E7 countries and assess the effectiveness of agricultural policies. The study covers the period 2001-2022 and employs the Panel ARDL method to examine long-term relationships. The findings indicate that the proportion of agricultural land and agricultural employment positively impact agricultural value added, whereas government expenditures may have a negative effect. Governments intervene in the agricultural sector through both direct and indirect measures. It can be suggested that direct income support policies for farmers may have the potential to increase dependency rather than enhance productivity. Although a detailed distinction regarding the implementation of direct payments during the analyzed period could not be made, the impact of government support is likely to vary depending on the type and implementation of the assistance provided. The results emphasize the need for more effective planning of agricultural support mechanisms. Redirecting public expenditures towards infrastructure investments, agricultural technology adoption, and rural development projects could enhance the sector’s long-term sustainability. Additionally, improving the transparency and measurability of support policies may increase their effectiveness and strengthen agricultural productivity. Policymakers should conduct a more detailed analysis of the effects of different support mechanisms to develop appropriate intervention strategies.

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.

The present study aimed to determine the variation in calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and potassium (K), which are crucial macronutrients for plants, in soil and plant organs at a copper mining site. In the study, the soil was sampled from various soil depths in the spoil field, the rehabilitation site in which planting was carried out and adult trees were present, and the forest area. Furthermore, bark, leaf, root, and wood samples were taken from black pine (Pinus nigra Arnold.), scots (Pinus silvestris L.), and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) species growing in the rehabilitation and forest areas. The work determined general variation in the concentrations of elements in soils and organs according to the plant species, and variation in element concentrations depending on the soil depth was statistically significant only in Ca. However, the determined element concentrations were quite high. In line with the average values, the variation in Mg in plants was not statistically significant, while the highest Ca and K concentrations were obtained from Robinia pseudoacacia species.

Plants are used by humans not only as food, but also for therapeutic purposes in medicine, as fuel and coloring matter. Plants, which are among the natural products consumed as traditional medicines, are used in the treatment of many diseases. Nowadays, many plants are widely used as nutritional supplements to strengthen the immune system or as an auxiliary nutritional supplement with other drugs in the treatment of chronic diseases. The plant Arum maculatum L. examined in this study is an angiosperm and monocotyledonous plant belonging to the family Araceae and a species in the order Arales. In this study it is aimed to study the bioavailability of Arum plant by using C. elegans nematode as a model organism. This study, the effects of the extract obtained by ethyl alcohol and water phase extraction of A. maculatum L., which is collected in spring and summer months and consumed by cooking fresh leaves and believed to be a source of healing, on the life span, egg production and growth-development parameters of Caenorhabditis elegans nematode were investigated. The data obtained were evaluated by SPSS program. Significant differences were found in C. elegans cultures of the extracts obtained from the leaves and flower parts of the plant in ethyl alcohol and water solvents compared to the control group. It was observed that the survival rates of C. elegans nematodes generally increased with the application of different doses of plant water extracts. This research will provide a reference for further research on the mechanism of Arum plants in the treatment of some diseases. Our research shows that this plant may have the potential therapeutic target about fertilization and growth and development process.

During the dry season, the shortage of quality feeds needed to sustain livestock production has been a major problem in many developing countries, including the kingdom of Lesotho. Agro-allied by-product wastes obtained from the processing of agricultural products can possibly be converted to unconventional sources of animal feed. Therefore, this study evaluated the fibre and anti-nutritional constituents of important agricultural wastes in Lesotho namely, Irish potato peel meal, sweet potato peel meal, sweet orange peel meal and banana peel meal, to determine their feed value because of the negative effect these nutrients can elicit in livestock and poultry at higher levels. Prior to chemical analyses, dried peels of each banana fruit (BF), sweet orange fruit (SOF), sweet potato (SP), and Irish potato (IP) were milled into a fine powder to pass through a 0.5 mm sieve screen by grinding machine (mrc-SM-450 L) and stored in labelled sealed laboratory plastic bottles. The determinations of fibre fractions and anti-nutritional factors in each sample were carried out in triplicates. The fibre fractions differed significantly (p<0.05) among the peels. NDF varied from 31.00% - 39.00%, ADF 15.33% - 24.33%, ADL 3.57% - 11.67%, hemicellulose 10.00% - 22.33% and cellulose 9.00% - 17.33%. Fruit peels had significantly (p<0.05) higher ADF than tuber peels and, lower (p<0.05) hemicellulose than tuber peels. Anti-nutritional factors differed significantly (p<0.05) among the peels, and varied between 1.35% - 5.65% in alkaloid, 0.06% - 0.44% in oxalate, 3.39% - 8.32% in flavonoid and 0.21% - 2.03% in tannin. Flavonoid is highest in all peels except sweet potato peel, while oxalate is lowest. The results showed that fibre constituents levels met ruminant requirements, and anti-nutritional factors were within safe limits for ruminant intake, therefore the peels could be incorporated into their feed as a source of roughage.

The study aimed to determine the effects of biochar obtained from rice husk and corn harvest residues on the growth, nutritional content and some biochemical properties of basil plants. Both biochars were applied by mixing them into potting soil at 2% and 5% rates. To determine the effect of applications on plant development, the height and weight of plants and leaf weights, and number of side branches were recorded. Additionally, chlorophyll content (SPAD), phenol content, antioxidant content and P, Mg, Ca, K, S, Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu and B concentrations in the leaves were determined. Compared to the control, significant increases were detected in the leaf weights, height and weights of the plants grown in all pots containing biochar. The highest plants were obtained from 5% rice biochar (RB5) treatment. The highest leaf weight and the highest number of side branches were also observed. in the RB5 treatment. Leaf K contents in RB5 and maize harvest residue biochar (CB) treatments were higher compared to the control. Leaf B, Fe and Mn contents were lower in certain biochar treatments than the control. Biochar applications did not cause a significant change in the antioxidant and chlorophyll content of basil plants. The total phenolic content significantly increased only in RB5 treatment. The effect of biochar application varied depending on the application rate and the properties of the biomass from which the biochar was obtained. Therefore, it is not possible to draw a general conclusion about the effects of biochar applications on plant growth. Contradictory results can be obtained depending on the type of plants and biochars and the characteristics of the growth medium.

Tarım sektöründe bitki hastalıklarının erken teşhisi ve sınıflandırılması, ürün kayıplarının azaltılması ve verimliliğin artırılması açısından büyük önem taşımaktadır. Özellikle nar meyvesi, ekonomik değeri yüksek olan bir ürün olup hastalıkları hem kaliteyi hem de üretimi ciddi şekilde etkileyebilmektedir. Bu bağlamda, nar meyvesinin çeşitli hastalıklarının teşhisi ve sınıflandırılması için makine öğrenmesi ve derin öğrenme yöntemlerinin kullanımı araştırılmaktadır. Çalışmada, Hindistan’ın Karnataka eyaletindeki çiftliklerden toplanan 5099 nar görüntüsü kullanılmıştır. Görüntüler; Kahverengi Leke Hastalığı, Kara Leke Hastalığı, Bakteriyel Yanıklık, Yaprak Lekesi Hastalığı ve Sağlıklı olmak üzere beş sınıfa ayrılmıştır. Veri seti Destek Vektör Makineleri (DVM), Karar Ağaçları (KA) ve Evrişimli Sinir Ağları (ESA) kullanılarak sınıflandırılmıştır. Bulgular, ESA modellerinin nar hastalıklarının tespitinde diğer makine öğrenme yöntemlerine göre yüksek doğruluk oranları sağladığını göstermektedir. Özellikle, iki konvolüsyon katmanlı ESA modeli %88 doğruluk oranı ile en iyi performansı sergilemiştir. Karar ağaçları ise diğer modellere kıyasla daha düşük doğruluk oranlarına sahip olmuştur. Derin öğrenme ve makine öğrenmesi modellerinin bitki hastalıklarının teşhisinde etkin bir şekilde kullanılabileceği ve tarım sektöründe verimliliği artırabileceği ortaya konmuştur.

Çevre dostu ürünler ve sürdürülebilirlik konuları, son yıllarda tüketicilerin giderek daha fazla ilgisini çekmekte ve çevresel etkileri azaltmaya yönelik tercihler giderek artmaktadır. Tüketiciler, çevre dostu ürünler tercih ederek doğaya olumlu etkilerde bulunmayı ve sürdürülebilir tüketim alışkanlıkları kazanmayı hedeflemektedirler. Yeşil ürünler, çevre üzerindeki olumsuz etkileri azaltmayı amaçlayan, sürdürülebilir üretim süreçleriyle üretilen ve çevreye duyarlı olan ürünlerdir. Yeşil ürünler, çevre dostu özelliklere sahip oldukları iddiasıyla pazara sunulurken, bazen bu iddialar yanıltıcı olabilmektedir. Buda yeşil yıkama algısını ortaya çıkarmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı, yeşil yıkama (greenwashing) ve yeşil kafa karışıklığı (green confusion) kavramlarının, tüketicilerin yeşil ürün satın alma niyetleri üzerindeki etkilerini incelemektedir. Anketler 384 kişiye Google forms aracılığı ile yapılmıştır. Saha araştırmasında toplanan veriler, öncelikle analiz için uygunluklarını değerlendirmek amacıyla çeşitli kontrollerden (normallik testi ve Cronbach Alfa testi) geçirilmiş, sonrasında ise Açıklayıcı Faktör Analizi, korelasyon ve çoklu Regresyon Analizi ile test edilmiştir. Araştırma sonucunda, yeşil yıkama algısı ve yeşil kafa karışıklığının satın alma niyetini etkilediği tespit edilmiştir.

The study aimed to calculate the percent transfer of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) from milk into cream, skim milk, butter, buttermilk, soft cheese, and whey manufactured in the laboratory. The four heavy metals were determined using the ICP method. The results revealed that the percentage of these metals transferred to milk products varied from 9.48 to 72.63%, with skim milk exhibiting the highest transfer rate (67 to 72.63%) and butter displaying the lowest transfer rate (9.48 to 13.94%). These findings are expected to urge the artisanal dairy industry to decide on the best way to process milk that does not comply with the maximum permissible levels of Pb, Cd, Cu, and Zn into a safe product for the consumer.