Wheat stem sawfly (Cephus pygmaeus L.) damage; impacts on grain yield, quality and marketing prices in Anatolia

This study aimed to draw the attention of the all stake holders attention to an underestimated insect pest of wheat in Southeastern Anatolia. The field studies were carried out in the experimental field of GAP Training, Extension and Research Center in Koruklu in 2003–2004 cropping season.

It was found that the number of sawfly damaged spikes varied between 6 and 12% in durum wheat and 8 and 12% in bread wheat. Comparing healthy grains, grain weight spike⁻¹ decreased significantly, giving 0.430 g less kernel weight in durum wheat and 0.385 g in bread wheat. Some of the grain quality characteristics of both sawfly damaged and healthy spikes were tested and it was found that protein content (%) in durum wheat, and 1000 kernel weight in bread wheat were reduced significantly, whilst, the SDS sedimentation value in bread wheat increased significantly for sawfly damaged grains. Grain yield losses by sawfly infestation were found to be 2.23% in durum wheat and 3.32% in bread wheat. Marketing price studies showed that sawfly damage reduced it significantly, resulting in $ 0.016 kg⁻¹ less price in bread wheat. But this was not serious for durum wheat.

It was concluded that income loss, depending on grain yield loss, un-harvestable broken spikes and lower marketing price of sawfly damaged grains, could be no less than $ 68.8 ha⁻¹ in durum wheat and $ 68.6 ha⁻¹ for bread wheat. Therefore, some control methods are required for sawfly infestation, where damage is already over the economic threshold (10–15% stem cut by pest) especially in bread wheat.     

The effect of lygus bugs (Exolygus prantensis L.) on marketing price of red lentil in Anatolia, Turkey

The aim of this study was to assess the damage commonly known as chalky spot syndrome caused by the lygus bug on red lentil and the negative relation to the resulting marketing price in the commodity market of Sanliurfa, Turkey. Analysis showed that there was significant difference among the content (%) of chalky spot damage (range 1.45–29%) of lentil samples collected from the farmers who brought their crops to sell in the commodity market and this was negatively related to the market price that farmers received. Marketing prices of samples were also found to be significantly affected. The correlation between visually inspected chalky spot damage (%) and that of decorticated and weighted lentils was found to be positive and significant. Marketing prices also were found to be negatively correlated with the results of both inspection methods. Further analysis indicated that regression equations could be used for price estimation of lentil with different ratios of chalky spot. It was concluded that 10% chalky spot can reduce the marketing price from 0.426 to 0.396 $ kg⁻¹ when visually inspected and from 0.438 to 0.358 $ kg⁻¹ when decorticated.     

Preparation and characterization of poly(methylmethacrylate-coglycidyl methacrylate)/n-hexadecane nanocapsules as a fiber additive for thermal energy storage

The interest to innovative products with high added values and processes in textile field has been rapidly increasing among the other industrial fields. One of innovations in this field is to produce of innovative textiles containing phase change material (PCMs) that have thermal storage and thermo-regulation properties. This study deals with preparation and characterization of poly(methylmethacrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate)/n-hexadecane nanocapsules containing nhexadecane as phase change material for thermal energy storage. The chemical characterization of poly(methylmethacrylateco-glycidyl methacrylate)/n-hexadecane nanocapsules was made by fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy method as particle size and its distribution (PSD) were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Thermal properties of nanoencapsulated n-hexadecane were determined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The melting and freezing temperatures of the nanoencapsulated n-hexadecane were 17.23 and 14.85 °C respectively as the latent heats of melting and crystallization were 148.05 and −147.63 J/g respectively. Produced nanocapsules were applied to polyacrylonitrile (PAN) by means of electrospinning and surface morphology of the fibers was investigated by SEM analysis. Based on the results, it can be considered that the nanoencapsulated n-hexadecane in poly(methylmethacrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate) have good energy storage potential to be used in fibers.