This review presents the main findings from measurements carried out on cereals using chitosan, its derivatives, and nanoparticles. Research into the use of chitosan in agriculture is growing in popularity. Since 2000, 188 original scientific articles indexed in Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases have been published on this topic. These have focused mainly on wheat (34.3%), maize (26.3%), and rice (24.2%). It was shown that research on other cereals such as millets and sorghum is scarce and should be expanded to better understand the impact of chitosan use. This review demonstrates that this chitosan is highly effective against the most dangerous diseases and pathogens for cereals. Furthermore, it also contributes to improving yield and chlorophyll content, as well as some plant growth parameters. Additionally, it induces excellent resistance to drought, salt, and low temperature stress and reduces their negative impact on cereals. However, further studies are needed to demonstrate the full field efficacy of chitosan.

The significance and effective use of water, one of the most basic requirements for sustaining vital activities, is gaining importance every day. Population growth and unprogrammed industrialization accelerate the consumption of available water resources. However, drought, as a result of climate change, poses a threat to water resources. Factors such as the exhaustibility of water resources, rapid population growth, unscheduled industrialization and drought increase the tendency towards alternative water resources. Rainwater harvesting is based on the principle of using the rainwater falling into the regions after it is stored. Water collected through rain harvesting can be utilized in many different areas, such as agricultural irrigation, landscape irrigation and domestic use. Among agricultural activities, the idea of water harvesting in greenhouse areas comes to the fore. Due to the gutters on the greenhouse roofs, water can be stored. In Antalya, which has about half of the greenhouses in Turkey, the amount of water in the rain harvest that can be obtained in greenhouses is 224,992,795.8 m³ per year. Monthly calculations throughout the year showed that the minimum water can be harvested in August (938,447.53 m³) and the maximum (54,771,210 m³) in December. Therefore, it is thought that some plant water consumption can be met by building sufficient storage in areas close to the greenhouse.

Liquid wastes are generated during production in the milk and cheese industries. During cheese production, whey emerges as a liquid product. Researchers define waste as raw material instead of waste alone. Hence, there is no doubt that the use and management of waste will gain greater importance in the upcoming years. This study discusses the use of whey, which is food waste, in agriculture and the benefits derived from it in terms of energy value. Our research was based on the current literature and the amount of whey that emerged in the dairy industry. For this purpose, the existing literature was evaluated to determine how much waste was produced from whey. The total amount of whey waste in Turkey for 2021 was determined. Afterwards, the amount of potential energy was determined in evaluating these wastes. Turkey’s total amount of potential energy obtained from whey waste was calculated as 570.11 × 10⁶ MJ, with 158.36 × 10⁶ kWh as potential electrical energy. Moreover, it was calculated that a total of 158.36 × 10⁶ kWh of electrical energy would meet the electrical energy of 688,548 families of four people for a month. It is also stated that this potential energy will be used in the field of equivalent electrical energy content and agriculture. It is a fact that cheese wastewater, rich in nutrients and organic matter, can be used in agriculture. Whey is used as animal feed in agricultural fertilization activities and the livestock sector. It has also been understood from the literature that it can also be used in biogas production. However, it should not be forgotten that whey released into rivers, water sources, or sewers threatens the environment due to its high protein content. Therefore, by increasing the number of similar studies on the subject, a wide range of wastes, such as whey, can be utilized in the most accurate manner. As a result, environmental protection, conservation of water resources, and energy conservation can be ensured by properly benefiting from whey waste. Considering that the world population will increase in the future, it is a fact that we will need a cleaner environment and more energy. It was concluded that greater importance should be given to waste management practices for a cleaner environment and energy saving.

One of the major challenges for agriculture related to climate change is drought. The increasing temperatures and decreasing precipitation in many parts of the world have enhanced the frequency and severity of drought events. Therefore, a detailed analysis is required in order to determine the drought frequency and take the necessary precautions. In this study, the climatic conditions in the agricultural region of Çukurova (Turkey) were analysed. Meteorological data for the three provinces of Adana, Mersin, and Osmaniye were used. The aim was to calculate the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) for each of the three provinces analysed, and to use these values to detect drought during the different growth periods of maize. We also investigated whether the SPI values for the last 30 years differ significantly between the provinces. Furthermore, indicators such as the duration, magnitude, severity, recurrence, and drought frequency were also calculated. Using linear regression analysis, we determined whether there were trends in the multi-year data for the total precipitation and mean temperature. In addition, the water deficiency was determined by examining the amount of water required by maize and the adequacy of the precipitation in each development period. As a result, it was found that the Çukurova region is prone to droughts, but they follow a mild course in most cases. However, no statistically significant differences were observed between the SPI values in the three provinces. The calculated average approximate drought recurrences (Tr) and expected intensities (Iave) were Tr ~ 1.036 years and Iave ~ 5.634 mm year⁻¹ in 3 years for Adana, Tr ~ 1.031 years and Iave ~ −0.312 mm year⁻¹ in 3 years for Mersin, and Tr ~ 1.052 years and Iave ~ −0.084 mm year⁻¹ in 3 years Osmaniye. The research carried out in this paper confirmed that maize cultivation in the Çukurova region is vulnerable to drought, and adaptation actions should be taken immediately.

The key challenge for sustainable water management is to carry out a proper assessment of the technical condition of hydrotechnical constructions. Maintaining them in a good state is a prerequisite for ensuring the safety of objects, as well as adjacent areas. This paper compares the results of field research obtained by three methods to assess the technical condition of structures located on the Wełna River. The main objective is to determine the differences between the methods and to indicate the most important assessment elements and criteria. Moreover, it was checked if the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) can be used to carry out the correct assessment of hydrotechnical construction. An assessment that will be based on the hierarchy of factors, which is not often used in other methods. The AHP was applied for the first time to assess the technical condition of hydrotechnical constructions. Based on AHP, three variants of different weights for factors, including exploitation problems and damage to construction elements, were selected. The new variants developed by the authors allow for a more accurate, multifactor assessment. The use of scales to determine the importance of individual elements contributes to the actual representation of the technical condition of the object, which is often over- or underestimated by other assessment methods. The analysis shows that the AHP method is a useful tool to support the assessment of the technical condition of hydrotechnical construction. The use of AHP as a universal assessment method will compare the technical condition of hydrotechnical constructions located all over the world.

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of water stress on yield and various physiological parameters, including the crop water stress index for tomatoes in the Central Anatolian region of Turkey. For this purpose, the irrigation schedule used in this study includes 120%, 100%, 80%, and 60% (I₁₂₀, I₁₀₀, I₈₀, I₆₀) of evaporation from the gravimetrically. Water deficit was found to cause a stress effect in tomato plants, which was reflected in changes in plants’ morphological and pomological function (such as stem diameter, fruit weight, pH, titratable acidity, and total soluble solids). Irrigation levels had a significant effect on the total yield of tomatoes. The lowest water use efficiency (WUE) was obtained from the I_60, while the highest WUE was found in the I₁₀₀ irrigation level. The CWSI was calculated using an empirical approach from measurements of infrared canopy temperatures, ambient air temperatures, and vapor pressure deficit values for four irrigation levels. The crop water stress index (CWSI) values ranged from −0.63 to a maximum value of 0.53 in I₁₂₀, from −0.27 to 0.63 in I₁₀₀, from 0.06 to 0.80 in I₈₀, and from 0.37 to 0.97 in I₆₀. There was a significant relation between yield and CWSI. The yield was correlated with mean CWSI values, and the linear equation Total yield = −2398.9CWSI + 1240.4 can be used for yield prediction. The results revealed that the CWSI value was useful for evaluating crop water stress in tomatoes and predicting yield.