In this study, the aim was to determine some physical and chemical properties of the seeds of Peganum harmala, known as rue or harmel, and to determine the effects of some implementations to break the seed dormancy. The mean length, width, thickness, and surface area values for the P. harmala seeds were 4.78 mm, 1.81 mm, 1.53 mm, and 14.14 mm 2 , respectively. Linked to the dimensions, the arithmetic mean diameter, geometric mean diameter, and sphericity values were calculated as 2.71 mm, 2.34 mm, and 0.50. The bulk density and true density values were measured as 0.5379 and 1.015 g cm À3 , respectively, and the porosity value calculated linked to these values was 46.98%. The static friction angles on two different surfaces of galvanized metal and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were measured as 15.67 and 17.67 , and the static friction coefficient values linked to these angles were 0.28 for galvanized metal and 0.32 for PVC. Terminal velocity experiments determined the velocity for P. harmala seeds was 5.03 ms À1 . According to analysis results for the chemical structure of P. harmala, dry matter ratio was 89.7%, crude ash ratio was 11.0%, crude protein was 10.3%, crude fiber was 42.0%, and crude oil ratio was 10.8%. In seed dormancy studies, the effects of sulfuric acid, precooling, soaking in water, and mechanical scarification (sanding) applications were determined. Accordingly, the most effective method for germination of P. harmala seeds was sanding with 84.0% germination rate. This was followed by soaking in water (78.0%) and 5 min H 2 SO 4 (75.0%) applications. Practical ApplicationsTurkey is a country with a current account deficit in the seed import-export balance.Therefore, the efficient use of seeds in each step of farming and postharvest operations is essential to reduce the seed waste. Determining the engineering properties of seeds will help to provide more efficient systems. The physical properties of seeds are important to design, develop, and adjustment of planters, storage structures, transporting systems, and postharvest systems. Chemical properties are essential to determine the optimum storage conditions and postharvest chemical processes for optimum utilization of seeds as foods or as raw materials for medicinal and industrial purposes. Seed dormancy-breaking features will be useful to determine optimum presowing conditions and breeding conditions of the seeds.

No abstract

In this study, it is aimed to determine the amount of biomass waste, energy potential and usability of greenhouse tomato production in Kırşehir and to evaluate spatial distribution of the findings. Methods and Results: In the districts of the Kırşehir, the annual dry waste amounts from tomato plants were calculated as 144525 kg, 96350 kg, 22550 kg and 263425 kg in total, respectively, in Central, Çiçekdağı and Kaman towns. The thermal energy potential that is obtained in these areas depending on the amount of wastes was calculated as 4046208 MJ in total. Considering the distribution of this value by districts, it was calculated as 2219904 MJ in the Central, 1479936 MJ in Çiçekdağı and 346368 MJ in the Kaman. The production area, production amount, waste and the energy potential values that can be obtained from the wastes were become an updateable database using Geomedia Professional 6.0 geographic information system software which allows spatial queries than maps were produced and evaluated. The corresponding amounts of other sources to the energy potential that can be obtained from tomato wastes is 468311.5 kg for wood, 301771.4 kg for domestic lignite coal, 212426.3 kg for imported Siberian coal, 127028.4 kg for fuel oil, 126021.5 m 3 for natural gas and 1136437.0 kWh for electricity. Considering the CO2 emissions emitted by the other fuels that can be used in equal potential energy value of the biomass wastes that can be obtained from the tomato plant grown under cover in Kırşehir, with coal and natural gas, the possible annual CO2 emission to the atmosphere is 337184.3 kg and 213550.0 kg respectively and this amount can be decreased to 28098.7 kg with the use of the biomass. Conclusions: Considering the results of the study, it was determined that tomato wastes constitute an important energy potential and are also very important in terms of reducing CO2 emitted into the atmosphere compared to many fossil fuels. Significance and Impact of the Study:The results show that it is important to utilize the thermal energy potential of tomato wastes to reduce dependency of energy import. Utilization of bioenergy potential of undercover tomato wastes is also important when considering aspects such as reducing the environmental impact of these wastes, providing an alternative to fossil fuels and reducing the CO2 emissions.

Çalışma, Kırşehir ilinde sera işletmelerinde kullanılan sulama sularının kalitelerinin belirlenmesi amacıyla yürütülmüştür. Bu amaçla, ilde yer alan 12 sera işletmesinden sulama suyu örnekleri alınmıştır. Ayrıca, 0-30 ve 30-60 cm derinliklerinden üretim dönemi başlangıcı ve sonunda toprak örnekleri alınmıştır. Sulama suyu örneklerinde belirlenen pH değerleri 5.47-8.61, elektriksel iletkenlik (EC) ise 35-1720 dS m-1 arasında değişim göstermektedir. İşletmelerde kullanılan sulama sularının kalsiyum, magnezyum ve potasyum konsantrasyonları bakımından bir sorun oluşturmazken, işletmelerin %75’inin sulama suları yüksek düzeyde sodyum içermektedir. Sulama suyu örneklerinde karbonat iyonu bulunmazken, bikarbonat konsantrasyonları açısından örneklerin 10 tanesi orta sınıfında, 2 tanesinde ise önemsiz bulunmuştur. Klor sınıflamasına göre işletmelerin %91.67’si 1.sınıf ve %8.33’ü ise 3. sınıfa dahil olmuştur. Sülfat konsantrasyonları bakımından %90’ı 1. sınıfa, %10’u 2. sınıfa girmektedir. Sodyum Adsorbsiyon Oranı değerleri bakımından %91.67’si 1. sınıfa, %8.33’ü 2. sınıfta yer almıştır. Kalıcı Sodyum Karbonat değerleri bakımından ise sorun bulunmadığı belirlenmiştir. %Na değerlerine göre sınıflandırıldığında örneklerin %58.33’ü 1. sınıf, %33.33’ü 2. sınıf ve %8.33’ü 4. sınıf olarak belirlenmiştir. Bor konsantrasyonlarının bakımından %83.33’i 1.sınıf, %8.33’u 2. sınıf ve %8.33’ü 4. sınıfta yer almıştır. Yetiştirilen bitkiler dikkate alındığında toprak reaksiyonlarının sebze yetiştiriciliği açısından uygun, EC değerlerine bakıldığında, bazı sera topraklarının hafif ve orta tuzluluk gösterdiği belirlenmiştir. Çalışma sonucunda, sera işletmelerinde sulama suyu analizlerinin düzenli olarak yapılması ve topraktaki tuzluluk düzeyinin takip edilmesi yetiştiricilik açısından önemli görülmüştür.