Disinfection of hotbeds with the thermal energy generated by solar collectors under climatic conditions of Tekirdağ

Abstract

As the labour costs increases both in our country and in the world, pesticides are highly preferred within the scope of fight against diseases and pests in agriculture because of their ease-of-use and effectiveness. However, it is observed that pesticides are frequently and incorrectly used during the process of their applications. Consequently, human and animal health have been threatened, the causes of diseases gain resistance against the pesticide used over time, non-target organisms have been damaged, biological diversity has been reduced and phytotoxicities start to appear in culture plants. For all these reasons, the use of more reliable and cheaper solar energy methods have been are studied. In this study, the possibilities to make use of solar energy in soil disinfection in Tekirdag situated in the Thrace Region were investigated. It was calculated that water temperature could be increased to 62 oC with the use of solar connector according to the calculations made for June, July and August under the climatic conditions of Tekirdağ. The temperature of the collector water varied between 76 oC and 94 oC in the measurements performed on the solar collector in the same month due to exterior temperature. The highest temperature required for soil disinfection is 82 oC. These results obtained from the study revealed that hotbed soil could be disinfected with the thermal energy obtained from the solar collector. If the use of solar collector systems in soil disinfection is extended, it will make significant contributions to the sustainability of plant production and environmental protection. © 2017 Namik Kemal University - Agricultural Faculty. All Rights Reserved.