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.

Plant-based foods should be fresh, safe, and natural, with nutritional value and processed in sustainable ways. Among all consumed vegetables, Brassica vegetables are considered to be the most important ones. As they are eaten in large quantities and frequently, they may constitute an important source of nutrients and bioactive compounds in a daily diet. This work is aimed at assessing the effect of technological processing (blanching and traditional cooking in water and in a convection steam oven) as well as the method of frozen storage (in PE-LD zipper bags and vacuum packing) on the content of selected components in purple cauliflower. The material was examined for the content of dry matter, vitamin C, total polyphenols, anthocyanins, thiocyanates, nitrates, and nitrites, as well as antioxidant activity. All technological processes caused significant changes in the contents of examined nutritive and non-nutritive compounds as well as in antioxidant activity or the level of selected chemical pollutions. A trend was also observed towards lower constituents’ losses as a result of convection steaming, compared to traditional cooking in water. Moreover, the reduction in the content of examined compounds was smaller in vacuum-packed and frozen-stored vegetables then in those stored in zipper PE-LD bags.

The goal of organic farming with respect to plant production is to create high-quality products while minimizing human impacts. The aim of this paper was to assess soil properties in selected organic farms in terms of the achievement of general and specific objectives of organic farming. Fifty five (55) organic farms were selected for the research; twenty five (25) of those farms additionally had conventional animal production with cattle breeding. Soil samples were collected from each farm and, the following parameters, deciding about the suitability for agriculture were determined: pH, content of organic carbon, available phosphorus and potassium, mineral nitrogen, and Total nitrogen content. The content of available phosphorus and mineral nitrogen was very low or low in most of the studied soils, which can lead to disturbance of homeostasis of agroecosystems. Potassium content in these soils was high. The properties of the studied soils indicate a high risk of chemical and biological degradation. Without implementing actions that control the pH and increase the content of nitrogen and phosphorus elements, the degradation will increase. Soil properties in the group of farms with animal production were more beneficial from the point of view of crop production, compared with farms that do not breed animals.

Optimization of plant nutrition is a very important part of primary production quality systems. Crop fertilization is the most important agrotechnical measure because it determines the amount and quality of the yield. Moreover, excess fertilization intensifies the eutrophication processes and the greenhouse effect. The study aimed to assess the suitability of slow-release fertilizers in cultivation of carrot subspecies Daucus carota L. ssp. sativus in the integrated production system. The objective was realized on the basis of a strict field experiment set up on a clay loam soil with low nutrient content. The dose of fertilizer was the experimental factor. The fertilizers were applied during the formation of the ridges. Traditional fertilizers (ammonium phosphate, potassium salt, ammonium nitrate, and a multi-component fertilizer Polifoska 6), as well as a multi-component fertilizer with slow release of nutrients, NPK Mg (18-12-24-4), were used. In individual variants of the experiment, different fertilization strategies were applied: integrated production fertilization, traditional fertilization, and fertilization based on the use of slow-release fertilizers. The control treatment comprised of unfertilized plants. The efficiency of nitrogen fertilization was evaluated based on agronomic efficiency, partial factor productivity, physiological efficiency, and removal efficiency. Fertilization strategy significantly impacted the quantity of obtained yield. In the control sample, prior to mineral fertilization, the crop yield was 33.53 Mg·ha⁻¹. The largest yield was 82.30 Mg·ha⁻¹.The largest yields were obtained from plants fertilized with a combination of slow-release fertilizers, with nitrogen introduced in the form of ammonium phosphate, and through conventional fertilization. The highest productivity and environmental efficiency were obtained in treatments with fertilization according to the principles of integrated production and with slow-release fertilizers. In terms of environmental efficiency, the best results were obtained through nitrogen fertilization using 400 kg of slow-release fertilizers. The use of slow-release fertilizers in carrot cultivation can significantly improve the efficiency of fertilization, both in terms of production and environmental protection.

The paper presents the results of research aimed at evaluating the possibility of using selected tree leaf species to produce solid biofuels. The possibility of production of qualitative solid biofuels from urban tree leaves meets the expectations of the municipal sector. Collection of tree leaves in urban areas is very often necessary for road safety reasons, the need to collect biomass rich in dust and pollution as well as biomass infested with pests. The production of solid biofuels from tree leaves allows for effective management of this raw material with energy recovery. The performed research indicates such a possibility, and the obtained ash is used as a soil improver. The conducted research showed that the biomass of leaves of five tree species used in the experiment can be a source of raw materials for production of qualitative biofuels. The obtained pellets were characterized by properties comparable to those of classical wood pellets. The lower heating value of the obtained pellets ranged from 14.5 to 15.5 MJ∙kg⁻¹. Physical properties of the obtained pellets described by bulk density (BD 600–660 kg∙m⁻³), mechanical durability (DU 90–96%), moisture (M_ar 10–12.5%) indicate that these products can be used in existing combustion equipment. Preliminary analysis of the obtained ashes (determination of ash melting point, bulk density) indicates that they should not cause difficulties in ash removal systems from the combustion chamber.

The purpose of the article is to identify and estimate the dependency model for the extreme prices of agricultural products listed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The article presents the results of the first stage of research covering the time interval 1975–2010. The selected products are: Corn, soybean and wheat. The analysis of the dependency between extreme price values on the selected futures was based on the estimation of five models of two-dimensional extreme value copulas, namely, the Galambos copula, the Gumbel copula, the Husler–Reiss copula, the Tawn asymmetric copula and the t-EV copula. The next stage of the analysis was to test whether the structure of the dependency described with the estimated copulas is a sufficient approximation of reality, and whether it is suitable for modeling empirical data. The quality of matching the estimated copulas to empirical data of return rates of agricultural products was assessed. For this purpose, the Kendall coefficient was calculated, and the methodology of the empirical combining function was used. The conducted research allowed for the determination of the conduct for this kind of phenomena as it is crucial in the process of investing in derivatives markets. The analyzed phenomena are highly dependent on e.g., financial crises, war, or market speculation but also on drought, fires, rainfall, or even crop oversupply. The conducted analysis is of key importance in terms of balancing agricultural production on a global scale. It should be emphasized that conducting market analysis of agricultural products at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in the context of competition with the agricultural market of the European Union is of significant importance.