Soil electrical resistivity (ER) is an important indicator to indirectly determine soil physical and chemical properties such as moisture, salinity, porosity, organic matter level, bulk density, and soil texture. In this study, real-time ER measurement system has been developed with the help of an autonomous robot. The aim of this study is to provide rapid measurement of the ER in large areas using the Wenner four-probe measurement method for precision farming applications. The ER measurement platform consists of the Wenner probes, a y-axis shifter driven by a DC motor through a gear reducer, all installed on a steel-frame that mount to an autonomous robot. An embedded industrial computer and differential global positioning system (DGPS) were used to assist in real-time measuring, recording, mapping, and displaying the ER and the robot position during the field operation. The data acquisition software was codded in Microsoft Visual Basic.NET. Field experiments were carried out in a 1.2 ha farmland soil. ER and DGPS values were stored in Microsoft SQL Server 2005 database, an ordinary Kriging interpolation technique by ArcGIS was used and the average ER values were mapped for the soil depth between 0 and 50 cm. As a result, ER values were observed to be between 30.757 and 70.732 ohm-m. In conclusion, the experimental results showed that the designed system works quite well in the field and the ER measurement platform is a practical tool for providing real-time soil ER measurements.

Turkey has a large agricultural area and produces 55–60 million tons of biomass waste/year. This study aimed to obtain bio-briquettes from three types of dried greenhouse wastes and to determine their strength parameters. A prototype of a mobile briquetting machine driven by power take-off (PTO), with hydraulic pistons, and comprising a shredder and grinding or crushing unit with a briquetting pressure in the range of 0–190 MPa, was used. The physical parameters of the obtained briquettes were determined, including density, tumbler and shatter resistance, compression resistance, water intake capacity, and resistance to moisture-humidity. The results of physical and mechanical tests showed that the briquettes are of an extremely high quality. The maximum density, shatter and tumbler resistance were 1143.52 kg·m⁻³, 99.24% in pepper plant waste, and 98.52% in eggplant plant waste, respectively. Based on the analysis of compression tests obtained under 190 MPa (maximum compaction force of 450 kN), the maximum compression force, compression stress, and specific compression force were found in briquettes made from tomato plant wastes (3315 N, 69.43 N·mm⁻², 40.09 N·mm⁻¹, respectively). Overall, the results and variables affecting the strength parameters showed that greenhouse waste biomass is an excellent feedstock for the production of high quality bio-briquettes. The valorization of briquetted greenhouse waste with the proposed prototype contributes to the sustainability of the environment and to a reduction in energy costs for farmers.

This article presents laboratory scale studies on the anaerobic digestion of plant wastes using a continuously flow type vertical cylindrical biogas plant. In the first experiment, plant wastes and chicken manure mixture at a dry matter content of 12%, retention time of 30 days, and fermentation temperature of 35°C were examined (Exp. 1). In the second experiment, fermentation material was grass and grass silage, covered marketplace wastes, rumen waste, chicken manure, and cattle manure. The experiments were conducted at a dry matter content of 9%, retention time of 47 days, and fermentation temperature of 35°C (Exp. 2). According to the results, biogas production was 1,055.7 l per day in Exp. 1 and 721.4 l per day in Exp. 2. The raw material specific biogas production was 0.310 l per g of organic dry matter per day in Exp. 1 and 0.443 l per g of organic dry matter per day in Exp. 2. The reactor specific biogas production was 1.05 l per l per day in Exp. 1 and 0.72 l per l per day in Exp. 2. Reactor specific methane production was 0.425 l per l per day in Exp. 1 and 0.381 l per l per day in Exp. 2. Raw material specific methane production was 0.125 l per g of organic dry matter per day in Exp. 1 and 0.234 l per g of organic dry matter per day in Exp. 2. The material pH value was 5.59 and 6.15 for inlet and 7.97 and 8.19 for outlet for Exp. 1 and Exp. 2, respectively. The methane content ranged between 40.3 and 52.9%.

In Türkiye, agricultural activities are carried out on an area of 38482000 hectares. In Türkiye, where different climates are seen, animal husbandry is done intensively. Some of the animal and herbal products produced are consumed in the country and some are exported and consumed abroad. Many agricultural wastes are generated during animal and plant production activities. These wastes are fresh manures formed during animal production, wastes formed from grain and industrial plants during plant production, wastes formed during and after production in greenhouses, pruning wastes and wastes formed as a result of evisceration of hard-shelled fruits. In this study, agricultural wastes that can be obtained from these products were calculated based on the products with the highest production. According to the results of the study, in the light of 2022 data, the annual amount of manure that can be obtained from our livestock is 20.722 million tons on dry basis, 16.805 million tons of waste from grain and industrial plants, 393,048 thousand tons of waste generated during and after production in greenhouses, 3.045 million tons of pruning waste, wastes generated as a result of evisceration of hard-shelled fruits are 550.186 thousand tons and olive pulp (pomace) resulting from olive oil extraction is 1.630 million tons.

Organik materyallerin oksijensiz ortamda çürütülmesi sonucu elde edilen biyogaz, yenilenebilir enerji kaynaklarından biridir. Günümüzde hem çevre kirliliğini önlemede hem de doğaya zarar vermeden temiz enerji üretiminde tercih edilen biyogaz teknolojisi, popülerliğini artıran ve hızla yaygınlaşan bir yöntemdir. Türkiye’nin nüfusu her geçen gün artmakta ve buna bağlı olarak tarımsal ürün üretimi ve enerji tüketimi de artmaktadır. Enerji konusunda kendi kendine yetemeyen ülkemizin mevcut kaynaklarını en iyi şekilde değerlendirmesi bir gerekliliktir. Türkiye’de artan nüfusun et ihtiyacının karşılanabilmesi için mevcut çiftlik hayvanı sayısı da buna bağlı olarak yükselmektedir. Buna paralel olarak çiftliklerde oluşan taze gübre miktarı, kesimhanelerde oluşan kan ve işkembe içerikleri de artmaktadır. Bu çalışmada 2022 yılı verileri kullanılarak kesilen çiftlik hayvanlarının kan ve işkembe içeriklerinden elde edilebilecek biyogaz miktarları ile mevcut çiftlik hayvanlarının taze gübre miktarından elde edilebilecek biyogaz miktarları hesaplanmıştır. Çalışma sonucuna göre kesimhane atıkları ve çiftlik hayvanlarının gübrelerinden elde edilebilecek biyogaz miktarı yıllık olarak 24,495 milyar m3 ve bu miktardaki biyogazdan elde edilebilecek elektrik enerjisi miktarı 4,41×1010 kWh’dir.