Mehmet Topakci

• Akdeniz University

In plant cultivation, significant amounts of residual material obtain after maintenance and harvesting operations. When these residues are not regained properly, they cause many problems, especially greenhouse gas formation, environmental pollution and fire hazard. For this reason, in recent years, there has been an increase in activities aimed at...

In this study, 6 mm (D6) and 8 mm (D8) diameter corn stalk pellets were produced under identical conditions and subjected to torrefaction at the upper limit temperature (320 °C). An evaluation was conducted on the fundamental physical indicators, macro-microscopic examination, fuel properties, and FTIR spectra. An increase in pellet diameter facili...

While torrefaction improves the fuel properties of biomass pellets, the chemical components of secondary products in liquid form are highly valuable in the industrial field. In addition, the components of the liquid have the potential to be used as biopesticides. In this study, corn stalk pellets were torrefied at 320 °C and torliquid was obtained...

The fact that regular residues from the university campus green areas do not require a supply organization ensures the applicability of the in-situ pelletizing concept. In this study, woody, herbaceous and mixed biomass residues that occur at regular intervals from campus green areas were pelleted. Pelletizing behaviors and energy consumptions were...

This research was conducted to evaluate the performance of disc, carrousel and dibble-type transplanters for potted tomato and watermelon seedlings in field conditions. Intra row distance, transplantation depth, the gripping force of seedlings to the soil, vertical position, damage of seedling and seedling survival rate were determined to evaluat...

The decrease in water resources due to climate change is expected to have a significant impact on agriculture. On the other hand, as the world population increases so does the demand for food. It is necessary to better manage environmental resources and maintain an adequate level of crop production in a world where the population is constantly incr...

Torrefaction is a promising method to improve the fuel quality of pellets. In this study, palm pruning residues were used as an alternative to forest products. Torrefaction was applied to high-quality (HQ) and low-quality (LQ) pellets at 220, 235, and 250 °C for 5, 10, and 15 min in a newly developed lab-scaled torrefaction system. Torrefaction tem...

Palm pruning residues are potential pellet raw material, which are quite abundant in regions with hot climates. In pelletizing process, raw material properties and pellet machine features are the main factors affecting the final pellet quality. In this study, 5 mm sieve hole diameter milled palm pruning residues was pelleted using two different pel...

There are many agricultural residues that can be considered as biomass raw materials according to the region where it grows. Due to the physical and chemical diversity of agricultural residues, pelleting conditions and pellet properties need to be determined for effective use. Aim of this study is to determine the pelletizing conditions and pellet...

The main idea of this paper is to present a programmable logic controller (PLC) based data acquisition, telemetry, and control system for self-propelled pruning residue mulcher prototype. The main power source of the mulcher prototype is the diesel engine. Hydraulic systems were used to transmit the motion received from the motor to the wheels, pic...

Open-field farming involves successive major processes such as preparation of soil, planting the seed, adding pesticides and fertilizers, irrigation, cultivation, and harvest. The main aim of all processes is to achieve maximum yield out of the available agricultural landscape. It is necessary to collect geo-referenced descriptive data on soil char...

In this study, alternative pellet raw material usage possibilities of lawn mowing residues emerging from landscape areas were investigated During pellet production, energy consumption and production capacity were measured. Regarding to pellet physical properties, moisture content (MC), bulk density (BD), particle density (PD), pellet durability ind...

In the study, olive cake, which was obtained during olive oil production, was pelleted at three different moisture contents (14%, 17% and 20%). Depending on the moisture content variable, the production capacity and specific energy consumption values related to the pellet production conditions were determined. Moisture content, particle density, bu...

In this study, cotton and sesame stalks that are grown regionally and burned in coarse form as a source of heat energy form in the current application are used as pellet raw materials. Although these residues are used as biomass raw materials in different forms, there is limited information about their use as pellets. In order to compare the produc...

Seed coating, or pelleting, is a technology used to improve seed germination and provide more uniform stands and higher yields. In recent years, the use of coated or pelleted seed has increased in vegetable cultivation. Information on sowing of coated, or pelleted seed, with planters are needed. This research was carried out to determine the perfor...

In this research, experimental field tests and an advanced computer aided design and engineering (CAD and CAE) based application algorithm was developed and tested. The algorithm was put into practice through a case study on the strength-based structural design analysis of a Para-Plow tillage tool. Para-Plow is an effective tractor attached tillage...

Chopping is a critical process in recycling of the pruning residues at different forms. Choosing the right blades in machines used for this purpose will positively contribute to obtaining suitable particles and reducing the operation costs. The effects of the three different blade types on the performance values of a on the go machine, which is use...

Bu çalışmanın amacı, portakal (Citrus cinensis var. "Washington Navel") budama atığının (PBA) iki farklı toprak işleme aletiyle (freze ve diskaro) toprağa uygulanmasının bazı toprak verimlilik parametrelerindeki değişim üzerine etkilerini belirlemektir. Her yıl yapılan budamalar sonrası budama atıkları kuyruk milinden hareketli parçalama makinesi i...

Tarımsal üretimde teknolojik uygulamalara bağlı olarak tarımsal mekanizasyon ile ilgili giderlerin toplam giderler içerisindeki payı artmaktadır. İşgücü teminindeki zorluklar, girdi maliyetlerinin yükselmesi, işlemlerinin zamanında yapılmasının gerekliliği vb. nedenlerle günümüzde birçok tarımsal işlem mekanizasyon araçları yardımı ile gerçekleştir...

Biomass pellets have been important alternative energy fuel in last decade. Increasing demand of biomass pellets in all over the world has led to increased production. Generally, agricultural and forestry residues using for produce biomass pellets after drying and grinding operation of raw materials. In the pelletizing process, some major parts of...

Increasing soil organic matter content is an important way to prevent soil degradation and increase productivity. The main goal of this research was to assess the effects of application of vine (Vitis vinifera) pruning residues on certain productivity parameters of a soil type called Typic Xerofluvent. The study was conducted in the Western Mediter...

Soil compaction is a major problem affecting negatively the soil physical, chemical and biological properties and impedes plant root growth. Soil penetration resistance values should be collected from many points of the production area to determine the effects of these problems on plant growth. Soil penetration value collection from large productio...

Determining variations in fields is important for precision farming applications. Precision farming is used to determine, analyse, and manage factors such as temporal and spatial variability to obtain maximum profit, sustainability, and environmental protection. However, precision farming is excessively dependent on soil and plant test processes. F...

Pasture lands play an important role in the earth’s ecosystem and cover 20% of Earth’s land surface. Therefore, it needs to be managed for both ecologically and economically. Pasture management has significant benefits such as improving livestock, soil and water conservation, erosion control and sustainable environment, and greenhouse gas emission...

Precision farming is an emerging technology that prepares the prescription plans for optimum fertilization, disease, and pest control. Variable Rate Application (VRA) is an important part of the precision farming technology with the aim of the application of field inputs while maximizing production across the entire field. To be successful in the V...

With the help of the internet, people are now able to easily reach limitless information and share their knowledge instantly with lower costs in a virtual environment. In this study, an automation software for an article sending, evaluating and following system through internet has been developed. It provides the lower cost, rapid and productive ev...

Today, the necessity of widespread using in all areas of informatics and to gain basic skills for the use of information technologies has increased the importance of these courses. In this study, an education model developed for all undergraduate and college freshmen students who are taking compulsory computer courses at Akdeniz University. In this...

Many agricultural operations such as tillage, fertilizing and spraying should be made equal-width parallel track on the field. It is important to reduce overlaps, increase field efficiency, and provide optimum use of inputs such as fertilizer and chemicals. With the development of precision agriculture, lightened guidance systems are widely used to...

GPS (Global Positioning System) receivers are one of the main elements for Precision Agriculture applications. The level of desired accuracy in applications varies greatly from application to application. Commercially available GPS receivers provide accuracy anywhere from1 meter to 3 meters. This accuracy range can be up to a centimeter with correc...

Field experiments were carried out to assess the eff ects of diff erent tillage practices on second crop sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) aft er wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) during the growing seasons of 2008 and 2009 in Aksu, Antalya, Turkey. Th e experimental design included no-till sowing into wet soil (NTW), no-till sowing into dry soil (NTD), reduc...

We investigated the potential use of real-time kinematic (RTK) global positioning system (GPS) to determine seedling distribution and plant growing area mapping by evaluating the obtained level of accuracy. High-accuracy seed and plant growing area mapping can potentially be used in the evaluations of seeding machine performance, weed control, and...

MODERN SERA TEKNOLOJİLERİ ve TÜRKİYE’DEKİ UYGULAMALARI Özet Sera yetiştiriciliği emek ve sermaye yoğun bir tarımsal üretim şeklidir. Bu özelliğin en belirgin yaşandığı alan modern sera yetiştiriciliğidir. Modern sera işletmeleri ilk yatırım ve işletme giderleri yönünden geleneksel sera yetiştiriciliğinden ayrılmaktadır. Bu işletmeler bir profesyon...

The purpose of this research was to examine the performance of a modified vacuum seeder for hill drop sowing of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) following wheat (Triticum aestivum) for no-till and reduced tillage farming. Tests were conducted during the growing seasons of 2008 and 2009 in the Bati Akdeniz Agricultural Research Institute's fields in Anta...

Choice and usage of optimum tractor power and agricultural machinery size is important to decrease machinery cost and complete agricultural operations in a reasonable time. Also, the usage of improper size machinery increases the production costs in the farms. Agricultural operations and machinery usage during cultivation season are affected by man...

Modern agricultural operations now demand the utilisation of a wide variety of equipment and specialist machinery systems, with many having rotary elements such as axles, gears, pulleys etc. With these agricultural machinery systems which have rotary elements, uncontrolled vibrations may become an important problem to consider. When the initial ‘sw...

Soil compaction is one of the main negative factors that limits plant growth and crop yield. Therefore, it is important to determine the soil resistance level and map it for the field to find solutions for the negative effects of the compaction. Nowadays, high powered communication technology and computers help us on this issue within the approach...

An experimental study of a subsoiler, used for deep tillage in agricultural fields, was carried out to determine its maximum draft force. The working conditions of the subsoiler were simulated three-dimensionally. The simulation showed that a structural optimisation can be generated on a subsoiler framework body for reducing the weight. New design...

In this study an agricultural software was developed and tested. The software can determine the field efficiency, capacity, size, and other values for different agricultural machinery and their operations. Besides, the software can create map files for mapping programs and prepare documentation for study results. In the developed system, GPS (Globa...

Technologies and computer capacity currently available allow us to employ design software and numerical methods to solve complicated problems in very wide disciplines of engineering. It is also important for researches in agriculture. This study focused on obtaining optimum geometry parameters of a subsoiler tine by using computer aided engineering...

The aim of this research was to determine basic management data of PTO (Power take off) driven pruning residue chopper. The machines was studied on four different pruned material (grape, pomegranate, orange and avocado) at three different feeding density. Power and energy requirement, average geometric diameter of pruned material were determined al...

No-till sowing of second crops into dry soil (i.e. before irrigation) results in significant savings in time compared to no-till sowing into wet soil. Sowing into dry soil can also result in the earlier harvest of second crops. Seed placement accuracy is critical with no-till sowing into dry soil and there is little research on the seed placement a...

This research examines the energy use patterns and energy input–output analysis of some field crops (wheat, cotton, maize, sesame) and vegetables (tomato, melon, watermelon) widely grown in the Antalya region, which is one of the most important agricultural centres in Turkey. Operational inputs and energy sources for cultivating the field crops and...

Several physical and nutritional properties of four orange varieties (Alanya, Finike, W. Navel, and Shamouti) were determined and compared in terms of linear dimensions, length, diameter, volume, mass, geometric mean diameter, sphericity, surface area, projected area, fruit density and bulk density, porosity, packing coefficient, static coefficient...

Soil compaction occurs due to heavy wheeling or repetitive tillage in the field. Soil compaction changes the soil physical parameters and water infiltration that cause reduction in the crop yield. Proper subsoiling alleviates the negative effect of soil compaction. The objectives of the research was to examine the effects of subsoiling on the resis...

The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of different depths of sowing maize with reference to the precision sowing technique. For this purpose, maize seeds were sown at the nominal depths of 40, 60 and 80 mm at a fixed tractor forward speed of 6 km h−1. Two precision vacuum seeders were used in field tests. The differences between s...

Rotary tiller is one of the tillage tools which gets own motion from tractor power take off (PTO) and it had been designed for blend to soil. Soil traffic is decreased to great extent with this tool by blending the soil. Using of rotary tiller is increasing nowadays in our country because of its many benefits. Rotary tiller construction has a gear...