The study aimed at measuring competitiveness of Egyptian exports of dates based on indicators Econometric Analysis and indicators of competitiveness.  The important results of this study are: 1-     Indonesia is ranked first in the import of Egyptian dates, amounting is about 31.9%, followed by the state of Morocco with about 24.6%, then the State of Malaysia, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Syria, Germany with rates about 20.9%, 3.8%, 3.6%, 2.9%, 2.3%, 0.99% respectively of total imports. 2-     Egypt has a competitive advantage compared to the rate of penetration of Egyptian exports of dates for the most important international markets in the state of Morocco, followed by Indonesia, Malaysia, and Lebanon respectively. 3-     Egypt has also a competitive advantage in the export price of dates for each of Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and Algeria among the most important countries in the world. 4-      Calculating the geographic concentration of date’s commodity coefficient shows that it is almost close to zero, which suggests that there is a problem in Egyptian exports of dates, despite the fact that Egypt is classified as the first country worldwide in its production. 5-     A ten percent change in the comparative advantage of the phenomenon of Egyptian exports of dates leads to a change in the same direction to the amount of Egyptian exports target of 11.7% . 6-     The study predicts an increase in the quantity and value of Egyptian exports targeted from about 32.9 thousand tons, 41.9 million dollars in 2017 to 38.2 thousand tons, 48.9 million dollars in 2020.   Recommendations   1-    The paper recommends that a production map should be made to determine different consumer tastes in importing countries. 2-    Opening export areas of dates in competitive countries such as the state of Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and Algeria specially where Egypt has a competitive price advantage over these countries. 3-    Reviewing the export policy in general and the policy of exporting dates in particular to support Egypt’s competitive status in the Arab and international markets specially that the rest of the competitive countries in exporting dates had a competitive price advantage compared to Egypt. 4-    Studying both of the Lebanese and Turkish markets to re-open them for Egyptian date exports since these specific markets show a significant lack of Egyptian date exports. 5-    Increasing the competitiveness of dates in the international markets and maintaining the markets in which Egypt has a competitive edge for its exports of dates such as Indonesia and Morocco. 6-    Determining in general the most important kinds of dates that competitive countries exports.

This research aims to evaluate the competitiveness of rice exports during the period of (2002- 2013) using the market share index, the relative stability of exports coefficient, competitive price and market penetration coefficient to know causes of declining market shares for exports of Egyptian rice in the key markets and to suggest some methods to develop the Egyptian export policy for rice to increase competitiveness and improve export performance in the foreign markets. The results indicated that about 67.45% of the average amount of Egyptian rice exports is concentrated in five countries namely: Syria, Turkey, Libya, Jordan and the Sudan and about 32.55% is concentrated in Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Romania, the United States, Lebanon, Britain, the United Arab of Emirates, Kenya, Italy and other countries. Also, the results cleared a comparative advantage for Egyptian exports of rice in the world market. It was shown that each of the quantity, value and export price of rice is characterized by instability. The Egyptian rice has a competitive price advantage in India, Australia, Italy, the United States, China and Pakistan. The results showed that the penetration coefficient of the Egyptian exports of rice during the study period (2002- 2013) increases in the markets of the Sudan, Romania, Syria, Libya, Jordan and Lebanon. The study recommends the expansion of Egyptian rice to the markets of Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kenya which is considered one of the promising markets. Establishing a system to follow up the export markets and gather accurate and immediate information about those markets and make it available in an easy and accessible way for the producers and exporters to identify the export opportunities and directing the production to the markets which receive a great amount of the Egyptian rice crop. Studying the competitive conditions of the Egyptian rice inside its main markets in order to increase the amount of exports.

Application of urea to agricultural soil may pollute the air environment due to ammonia (NH3) volatilization. Zeolite, Humate, biocher and biofertilizer may be used to control N losses resulting from urea transformation to NH3. A laboratory soil incubation experiment was conducted to determine the effects of zeolite, K-humate, biocher and biofertilizer on controlling NH3 losses out of applied urea. Calcareous soil sample from El-Nobaria area, Beheira Governorate was treated with different amendments and incubated under laboratory condition for 13 weeks. Results obtained showed that soil treated with urea in the presence of different amendments significantly reduced NH3 release from urea as compared to the control. During the first 80 days of the incubation ammonia losses were highest in control compared to soil treated with the different amendments. Biocher treatment showed the highest effect in reducing ammonia volatilization from calcareous soil. Therefore, treating calcareous soil with biocher and biofertilizer can decrease were losses as ammonia and increase nitrogen availability in soil, and hence reduces air pollution by ammonia.

This study was conducted to determine the present of Ochratoxin (A) (OTA) to the number of 50 samples of wheat grain from varieties of soft wheat (Tricticm astivum) and hard (T. durm), and its products from some Libyan Mills (from the north-west and south-east and north) by using a technique (IAC) immunoaffinity columns cleaning and HPLC-FD to detect, with an overall average rate of recovery of the samples of wheat and grain products and fungal isolates 86.59 ± 0.03% and 89.19 ± 0.01%, respectively. The results showed that 96% of the samples were positive for OTA, with the average concentration of OTA from different regions reached the highest concentration of 0.0928μg/kg for soft wheat. The average concentration of the OTA in the different areas that have been grain assembly resulted the highest concentration of 0.0918 μg kg-1 for soft wheat for the Western Region, followed by 0.0783 and 0.020 < μg kg-1 for the eastern and southern region respectively, while the average concentration of the OTA for hard wheat 0.0307 and 0.3316 μg kg-1 of eastern and western region respectively. However all the samples contain levels of OTA are below the limit recommended by Libyan Standards Specification and European Commission Regulation Standard. Results of statistical analysis also showed no significant differences of (P≤ 0.01) of the concentration of the for hard and soft types wheat between regions , and for soft wheat products between regions while there was significant differences between hard wheat products at level of (P≤ 0.01).  The results showed that the overall average for the moisture content of the samples by region ranged between 10.6, 11.10% for soft wheat for the southern region and western region respectively, 9.54 and 10.08% for hard wheat to the western and eastern region respectively. Results also showed that the overall average for the moisture content of soft wheat products (flour) between different regions was (13.03, 11.78, 8.58%) to the north-east, north-west and south-west respectively. Hard wheat products did not exceed 13.33, 10.76% for the southern- west and north-east reigions of semolina and pasta respectively, while was within the limit to the Codex Alimentarius Commission. the results of the statistical analysis and the presence of highly significant for moisture content between types of soft wheat and hard within regions and this also applies to soft wheat and hard products between the regions at the level of (P≤ 0.01).

Prices reflect the relative scarcity of resources in terms of planning is based under the free-market mechanisms for price and market signals as an essential mechanism in the allocation of resources and guidance system, Price is also working on consumer directed toward maximizing satisficing  the resources available to them, which leads to maximizing the well-being of the community. The research problem is in direct government intervention in price policy, which may give rise to a variation in the local and indirect world prices lead to non-optimal utilization of the resources used in the production process, which affects the welfare of producers and consumers, as well as on government revenue and the outcome of the state foreign trade. research aims to identify the price differences between local and world prices resulting from price, The policies fish and by estimating the partial equilibrium model to examine the effect influence of the policies of government intervention at all stages of fish flow in the market, by measuring the efficiency of the product, the consumer, the community level, and measurement of well-being at the community level, as well as measurement of government revenues and this may help to measure the efficiency of these policies in achieving its objectives and examine the effects on producers, consumers and the overall economy. The results showed the following   The average nominal protection for fish rate during the study period (1998-2013) amounted to 0.67 i.e. it is greater than zero, which means that the state supports the producers of fish by about at 67% in favor of the producers of fish on the expense of the consumer represented in the higher domestic price for the world price, The results indicate that the concern of the State on promoting fish producers to reduce the size of the gap and reduce the import of foreign currency into force. The study showed also that the expansion of fish production leads to increased foreign exchange earnings by reducing imports and reduce the food gap, where the maximum fish production reached amounted to 1372.0, 1454.4 during the years 2012.2013, respectively, while the maximum foreign exchange earnings reached a maximum in 2012, 2013 amounted to 27067.03. The results of the welfare check gains in producer excess as the average change in the product excess amounted to 3.1336 billion pounds, which reflects the impact of price policy applied, while under the negative values of consumer excess has been achieved loss in consumer surplus, bringing the average loss during the study period of about 5566.88 million pounds. Decline in consumer surplus was due to the local consumer bear the superiority of market forces and the presence of protectionist policy to support the product and taxing the consumer, leading to increased consumer spending as a result of the purchase of small quantities at high prices, leading to lower prices of consumer welfare.

The purposes of this study are to: i) assess the agricultural extension middle level managers’ willingness to use cell phones in extension services, and ii) investigate the factors affecting their willingness to change and their change- related behavior. The DINAMO scale developed by Metselaar (1997) was used to assess their willingness to use cell phones in extension. Data were collected from 19 agricultural extension middle level managers representing 67.86% of the total number of middle level managers (28 mid-managers) by questionnaire during their annual meeting that was held on May 2015. Mean scores, percentages, and Chi-square test were used for data presentation and analysis. The results showed that the respondents’ overall willingness to change is 220.2 which represents 72.2% of the total score; this implies that extension middle level managers are entirely have positive willingness to use cell phones in agricultural extension services. There are seven variables have significant relationships with extension middle managers’ willingness to change namely: Managers' affective orientation towards the use cell phones in extension (ᵡ2 =38), The value of use cell phones for the agricultural extension organization (ᵡ2 =37.07), Collegial attitudes towards use cell phones in extension (ᵡ2 =38.22), Self-control factors (ᵡ2 =38), External control factors (ᵡ2 =36.24), Control over and contentment with use cell phones in extension (ᵡ2 =24.7), and Perceived complexity of use cell phones in extension (ᵡ2 =31.16). On the other hand there are five variables affecting the change- related behavior of the middle managers as follows: Managers' affective orientation towards the use cell phones in extension (ᵡ2 =51.19), Collegial attitudes towards use cell phones in extension (ᵡ2 =51.12), External control factors (ᵡ2 =50.34), Control over and contentment with use cell phones in extension (ᵡ2 =25.82), and The middle manager's willingness to use cell phones in extension (ᵡ2 =24.61). It could be concluded that there is a strong opportunity for using cell phones in extension services, and the respondents are ready for the beginning of such initiative.

Mature-green solo papaya fruits with color index green with trace of yellow were subjected at 2014 and 2015 seasons to many pre storage treatments. CaCl2 5% solution  either  at ambient temperature or 45°C in combined with modified atmosphere package (MAP), hot water at 45°C with or without MAP and untreated fruits were investigated, comparing to commercial treatments . All treatments except treatments were cold stored at 5 for one or two weeks followed by 7 days at 18°C for marketing period, where commercial treatment was stored at 10 °C for two weeks and 7 days at 18°C. The obtained result were recorded at chilling injury symptoms , weight loss % , decay fruit % , fruit firmness (Kg\ f)., L- ascorbic acid content  T.S.S. ,acidity , salute leakage ethylene production with or without MAP were effective in minimizing orb prevent chilling injury symptoms of solo papaya fruits stored at 5 ±1°C followed marketing at 18±1°C. Storability and good quality and improved chemical characteristics of solo papayas were obtained with pre – storage treatments of solo papaya were obtained with pre – storage treatments compared with control or commercial treatment.

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) seeds cv. Misr 1  were treated with Bion (5 mM), salicylic acid (5 mM) as chemical inducers as well as Paenibacillus polymyxa and Trichoderma harzianum as biotic inducers to study their effect on the infection with Rhizoctonia solani and Fusarium solani f. sp. fabae under greenhouse and field conditions.           Under greenhouse conditions (Agricultural Research Centre, Giza) all treatments induced reduction in the percentages of pre- and post-emergence damping off caused by R. solani or F. solani f. sp. fabae compared to untreated control. The highest percentage of survived plants was achieved from the inducer Bion (92 % and 88%) compared with untreated control (40% and 36%) in the presence of R. solani or F. solani f. sp. fabae respectively. Meantime, there was no significant difference between the Bion and the fungicide Rizolex –T (3 g/Kg seeds) treatments. However, all treatments caused significant increase in the figures of plant height, shoot and root dry weight, nodules number/plant and nodules dry weight over the control treatment grown in infested soil by R. solani or by F. solani f. sp.  fabae. The highest values of all growth parameters under study were recorded on faba bean plants check (healthy plants) grown in disinfested soil followed by Bion and Rizolex –T treatments in the presence of R. solani or F. solani f. sp.  fabae. There was no significant difference between Bion and Rizolex-T treatments with exception of nodules number and nodules dry weight /plant in the presence of R. solani. On the contrary, there was significant difference between Bion and Rizolex-T treatments with exception of plant height in the presence of F. solani f. sp.  fabae.           Under field conditions at Giza (Giza Governorate) and Etay El-Baroud (El- Behira Governorate) Agricultural Research Stations during winter season 2013-2014, all the treatments significantly decreased the percentage of pre- and post-emergence damping-off and increased the percentage of survived plants compared with untreated control in two locations with exception of post-emergence percentage figures at Giza Agricultural Research Station. Regarding survived plants, there were no significant differences between the Bion (89.5% and 86.5%) as well as Rizolex-T (90.9% and 88.8%) treatments compared with untreated control (68.3% and 64.3%) at Giza and Etay El-Baroud Agricultural Research Stations respectively. However, all inducer treatments significantly improved growth parameters (i.e. plant height, number of pods/plant, seed weight /plant and one hundred seed weight) as well as yield compared to the untreated control in the two locations. Higher increase in seed yield (ton /feddan) was obtained with Rizolex-T and Bion treatments (62.2% and 57.9%) respectively, followed by salicylic acid and P. polymyxa with (39.4% and 28.4 %) respectively, increasing over the untreated control calculated as means of the two locations.         Activities of peroxidase (PO), polyphenol oxidase (PPO) enzymes and phenol content were determined in faba bean plants treated with different inducers. Bion treatment showed the highest increase in PO and PPO activity, total and free phenols followed by salicylic acid treatment in the presence of R. solani or F. solani f. sp.  fabae.

The sorption isotherm and kinetic of Cu2+, Pb2+, Zn2+ , and Cd2+ ions onto sewage irrigated soil (El-Gebal El Aasfar-Qalubia) was examined as a function of the retention time and initial ion concentration using batch equilibrium sorption experiments. Results show that the Cu, Pb, Zn and Cd metal ions onto the soil is relatively rapid and sorption reaches equilibrium at about 240 minutes. Kinetics of the sorption process on the soil is well characterized by the pseudo-second order reaction rate. Langmuir, Freundlich and D–R isotherm models are fitted for the sorption of Cu2+, Pb2, Zn2+, and Cd2+ ions onto the soil. The constants of all models were calculated for each metal ion and compared. It indicated clear differences between the sorption characteristics of Cu2+, Pb2+, Zn2+, and Cd2+ ions on the sewage irrigated soil.

Concentration of heavy metals (Pb-Cd-Cr) was determined, that’s most polluted environment and rivers in fourteen varieties of vegetables throughout two growing seasons (2013-2014  &2014-2015), belonging to the three groups of vegetables (leaves and tuber and fruits), and using atomic absorption device, where the samples were collected from six different locations in Hama, and close to the course of the Orontes River, which vary different in irrigation operations and source of irrigation water.   Results of this study showed that no significant difference (P> 0.05) between the types of vegetable groups in the content of heavy elements at each locations seposatly. But it clearly showed the presence of very high significant differences (P <0.0001) in the contents of vegetables from heavy elements collected from sites, this effect is due to irrigation water. Also, the average concentration of cadmium was higher than the global natural concentrations in accordance with similar studies, the average lead, and chromium were lower than the averages of similar vegetables from other countries.