A tissue culture experiment was conducted to attain the adventitious buds initiation and growth from Fragraia x ananassa cv. Festival in vitro leaves. The leaves were excited from shoot propagated in vitro and cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 4.50, 6.75, and 9.00 mmol l-1 thidiazuron (TDZ) for six weeks. Then explants were transferred to MS medium (salts and vitamins) free plant growth regulators for 8 weeks. This study included the histological and morphological responses of strawberry leaves with TDZ treatments in relation to some biochemical components. All TDZ treatments resulted in adventitious shoots development on leaf explants without callus formation. Growth in 6.75 mmol l-1 TDZ led to an increment in the most morphological parameters compared to the rest treatments. The results showed that 6.75 mmol l-1 of TDZ treatment significantly increases the number of shootlets per explant (5.0), total shoot (51.3), the number of leaves/explant (12) as compared with other treatments while the rest of parameters (the survival percentage, shoot length (cm), number of leaves/explant, root length (cm), and number of roots/explant) did not show any significant differences. Accumulation of chlorophylls, total sugars, and total soluble phenols was enhanced by 6.75 mmol l-1 of TDZ. The histological observations showed that adventitious shoots initiated from some parenchyma of ground tissue in the midvein zone of the explant, whereas the parenchyma mesophyll and the epidermal cells did not involve in this process. The ontogenesis of adventitious shoots was described by successive stages with the following distinguishable anatomical structures: meristemoids, bud primordium, shoot apex with leaf primordial, branching of adventitious shoots. After four weeks of culture, cell dedifferentiation was recorded in the midvein parenchyma and forming small groups of divided cells called meistemoid centres. These centres forming new meristematic masses embedded in the ground tissue of the main vein. After six weeks, further development of these masses resulted in the formation of bud primordial with normal organized shoot apical meristems and leaf primordial and arising from the explant as small protrusions. After two weeks from subculture on MS free TDZ, the adventitious shoots continue to elongate with forming new lateral branches and clearly observed on the adaxial side of the explant. This procedure provides a simple and rapid approach to regenerate strawberry plants via direct organogenesis.

Vegetables export in general and tomatoes crop in particular are facing serious challenges in Egypt with regards to declining competitiveness in global markets in addition to some other challenges related to the ability to penetrate global markets and the variation in prices for different importing countries. This is in addition to the variation in demand conditions in importing markets. Through reviewing the competitiveness indicators for this crop. the paper shows that the quantity and value of tomato exports was highly fluctuating during the period under investigation. The lowest value was recorded in 2000 and amounted to 1.7 thousand tons. The maximum value was recorded in 2013 and amounted 74.8 thousand tons. Since then. the variable showed high fluctuation until 2018 where the quantity exported reached 41.8 thousand tons. The exporting value also was fluctuating. It reached its lowest in 2000 and amounted to 454 thousand dollars while the maximum reached around 728.7 thousand in 2015. The value decreased to 488.6 thousand in 2018 while the tomato exports also fluctuated since 2000 till 2007 and reached its maximum in 2017 with around $1513 /tons. The value showed a fluctuating trend where it reached around $1169/ton. The Saudi market dominated the market with around 37.16% of total Egyptian tomatoes exports. whether fresh or frozen. The paper also shows that the export competitiveness index for tomatoes during the mentioned period is above unity which means there is clear export competitiveness in global markets. The average index value reached around 1.33. which means that this crop is one of the very important crops that efficiently competes in the global markets.The paper finally shows the penetration parameter is weak and that there is minimal increase in this indicator. This means that there is a possibility to increase exported quantities from tomatoes through studying the reasons behind the fluctuations and design some policies and export mechanisms that can improve export competitiveness and penetration rates.

الملخص تعتبر میاه النیل هی أکبر مصادر المیاه فی مصر حیث تمثل حوالی 72.62% من إجمالی الموارد المائیة المتاحة فی مصر، وأغلب الاحتیاجات المائیة فی مصر تعود لقطاع الزراعة حیث تمثل نسبة الزراعة نحو 81.45% من إجمالی الاحتیاجات المائیة فی مصر، وتلیها فی المرتبة الثانیة میاه الشرب حیث تبلغ نسبتها نحو 12.13% من إجمالی الاحتیاجات المائیة فی مصر. کما أنه منذ عام 1947 وحتى عام 1960 کان هناک وفرة نسبیة فی المیاه حیث تراوح نصیب الفرد سنویاً من المیاه بین (2604 -1893) متر مکعب؛ بینما وصلت مصر للکفایة المائیة منذ عام 1970 وحتى عام 1986 وتراوح نصیب الفرد من المیاه من (1672 إلى 1138) متر مکعب. ووصلت مصر للندرة المائیة منذ عام 1996 وحتى الآن حیث انخفض نصیب الفرد إلى نحو 860 متر مکعب. ومن المتوقع أن یصل نصیب الفرد إلى نحو 582 لتر فی عام 2025. ومن المعروف أن حد الفقر المائی هو 1000 م3، أی أن مصر وصلت لحد الفقر المائی بدایةً من 1996 وحتى الآن. ومن المتوقع أن تتسع الأزمة المائیة فی مصر فی عام 2050 حیث یصل نصیب الفرد فی مصر من المیاه إلى 294 م3، ویهتم هذا البحث بدراسة العلاقة المتشابکة بین مصر وإثیوبیا (فی ملف میاه النیل) فی إطار نظریة المباریات، حیث تم استخدام نماذج بسیطة لتحلیل الصراع المستمر والمخاوف بشأن سد النهضة الإثیوبی، ویشیر التحلیل إلى وجود درجة عالیة من الإجهاد المائی وقد یؤدی إلى صِدام مباشر بین دول حوض النیل على الرغم من أن التوصل إلى حل سلمی للمشکلة من الممکن أن یؤدی إلى زیادة العوائد المائیة لکلا البلدین. وبدراسة السیناریوهات المختلفة لملء خزان سد النهضة تبین أن مصر من الممکن أن تفقد حوالی 88% و 66% من أراضیها الزراعیة على الترتیب وفقاً للسیناریوهات الأول والثانی حیث سیتم ملء الخزان فی السیناریو الأول على مدار ثلاث سنوات مما سیترتب علیه نسبة عجزتقدر بحوالی 26% من إجمالی الموازنة المائیة المصریة السنویة مما سیؤدی إلى خسارة 2.6 ملیون فدان سنویاً، أی أنه على مدار 3 سنوات ستفقد مصر حوالی 8 ملیون فدان من رقعتها الزراعیة والبالغة نحو 9.1 ملیون فدان. أما بالنسبة للسیناریو الثانی فسیتم ملء الخزان وفقاً لهذا السیناریو على مدار خمس سنوات مما سیترتب علیه نسبة عجز تُقدر بحوالی 12% من إجمالی الموازنة المائیة المصریة السنویة. وهذا یعنی خسارة سنویة تقدر بحوالی 1.2 ملیون فدان من الأراضی الزراعیة فی مصر، أی أنه بعد مرور خمس سنوات ستفقد مصر حوالی 6 ملیون فدان من جملة أراضیها الزراعیة. ویعد السیناریوهان الأول والثانی هما المرشحان بقوة من قبل الحکومة الإثیوبیة. وأوصى البحث بما یلی: ضرورة التوصل لاتفاق بین مصر وإثیوبیا من شأنه زیادة سنوات الملء لتحمل إثیوبیا جزء من عبء الآثار السلبیة الناجمة عن إنشاء هذا السد الضخم. بالإضافة إلى الإدارة المشترکة للسد تأکیداً لمبدأ حسن النیة کما نصت علیه اتفاقیة إعلان المبادئ التی تم توقیعها بین مصر وإثیوبیا والسودان عام 2015. ومن الممکن أن تصل الثلاث دول إلى استراتیجیة مربحة للجانبین تفید جمیع الدول مع أدنى حد من الضرر الذی قد یلحق بأی طرف. ویمکن لمصر أن تساعد إثیوبیا فی تأمین الکهرباء المطلوبة من موارد أخرى إذا واصلت إثیوبیا الإعتراف بحق مصر فی التمتع بحصتها التاریخیة البالغة 55.5 ملیار متر مکعب فی السنة.

- تبین من نتائج قیاس تحلیل مصفوفة السیاسات الزراعیة لمحصولی الدراسة أن معامل الحمایة الأسمی لمستلزمات الإنتاج قد بلغ حوإلی 0.915، 0.915 لکل من القمح والأرز خلال الفترة 2013- 2017، الأمر الذی یشیر إلی عدم وجود دعم لمستلزمات الإنتاج. - کما تبین أن معامل الحمایة الإسمی للنواتج من محصولی القمح والأرز علی الترتیب خلال فترة الدراسة قد بلغ حوإلی 0.771، 0.746، الأمر الذی یوضح إلی عدم وجود سیاسة إنتاجیة عادلة وذلک لقیام الدولة بفرض ضرائب مباشرة وغیر مباشرة علی المنتج وتقدیم دعم للمستهلک. - کما تبین من النتائج إلی وجود میزة نسبیة لمحاصیل الدراسة خلال نفس الفترة ، الأمر الذی یعنی إلی ان معامل المیزة النسبیة أقل من الواحد الصحیح. - کما تبین ان بمقارنة التقییم المإلی والتقییم الاقتصادی لکل من أجور الآلات، ثمن التقاوی، ثمن السماد الکیماوی، ثمن المبیدات، نجد أن التقییم المإلی یقل عن التقییم الاقتصادی لهذه البنود مما یدل على أنها مدعومة من جانب الدولة لمزارعی القمح. - کما تبین ان بمقارنة التقییم المإلی والاقتصادی لکل من إیجار الأرض، أجور الحیوانات، ثمن السماد البلدی، والمصاریف العمومیة یتبین أنهما متساویان مما یدل على عدم تدخل الدولة فی أسعار هذه البنود. - کما تبین ان بمقارنة التقییم المإلی والتقییم الاقتصادی لکل من أجور الآلات، ثمن التقاوی، ثمن السماد الکیماوی، ثمن المبیدات، نجد أن التقییم المإلی یقل عن التقییم الاقتصادی لهذه البنود مما یدل على أنها مدعومة من جانب الدولة لمزارعی الأرز. - کما تبین ان بمقارنة التقییم المإلی والاقتصادی لکل من إیجار الأرض، أجور الحیوانات، ثمن السماد البلدی، والمصاریف العمومیة یتبین أنهما متساویان مما یدل على عدم تدخل الدولة فی أسعار هذه البنود. - کما تبین من النتائج إلی أن قیمة معامل الحمایة الفعال لمحصول القمح بلغت حوإلی 0.756 خلال فترة الدراسة، مما یعنی أن محصول القمح لم یتمتع بحمایة حکومیة خلال تلک الفترة. - کما تبین من النتائج أن قیمة معامل الحمایة الفعال لمحصول الارز بلغت حوإلی 0.723 خلال فترة الدراسة، مما یعنی أن محصول الأرز لم یتمتع بحمایة حکومیة خلال تلک الفترة.

Land degradation is a global environmental issue, given the various negative impact on socio-economic and ecological implications. It leads to reduced production capacity in addition to soil erosion, physical /chemical /biological /economic land deterioration, and long-term loss (or degradation) of vegetation. When a severe deterioration in drought areas called the process of desertification i.e. arid, dry sub-humid and semi-arid areas. Desertification processes reduces the productivity of the soil and as a result effect on food stocks. The main objective of this study is integrating remote sensing data and a geographic information system (GIS) to evaluate the environmental sensitivity for desertification in Wadi El Natrun, Egypt based on the Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use (MEDALUS) approach. The collected soil data; from description of represented soil profiles and analysis of soil samples, in addition to climate, plant cover, and management data were considered for assessing the sensitivity of desertification. The obtained results showed that 10.4 % of Wadi El Natrun area is considered severe sensitivity to desertification as a result of alkalinity and salinity, while the moderately sensitive area occupies approximately 10.93 % of the study area. The low sensitive one exhibits 76.3 %. This area is described by high soil quality because of the study area is one of the new development areas which were not affected by the factors of desertification. It can be concluded that the desert extension of El-Beheira Governorate (i.e. Wadi El Rayan) is one of the areas that possess valuable land resources which should be considered for future land reclamation projects. Similar international studies are recommended to be achieved with the use of multi-criteria GIS modeling (i.e. MEDALUS) which considered all relevant factors in the form of thematic layers for easier implementation and assessments. Present study represents one of the initial attempts to use the MEDALUS model for desertification assessment in the desert extension of El-Beheira Governorate.

The present study was suggested as an attempt to investigate the effects of Pink Pigmented Facultative Methylotrophic Bacteria (PPFM) dipping and foliar spray on vegetative growth and yield of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.). Field experiments were carried out during the summer seasons of 2014 and 2015 at the Experimental Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University. The vegetative growth of eggplant responded positively to dipping seedlings in PPFM which gave the highest values of growth parameters, i.e. number of leaves per plant, leaf area, nitrogen & potassium concentration in leaf and total protein in fruit, in the two seasons as compared with control (dipping in water). The application of PPFM as foliar spray, increased significantly plant growth (plant length, leaf number, potassium concentration in leaf, vitamin "C" in fruit and total yield per plant) in the two seasons as compared with the other studied foliar application treatments. The interaction between dipping seedlings in PPFM and PPFM foliar spray with all concentrations gave synergistic effects on growth parameters and yield components of eggplant, during the two growing seasons as compared with either individual foliar application or control plants.

It is the correct cropping structure that achieves the compatibility between more than one goal to reach the most efficient cropping structure in achieving and rationalizing water consumption and low use in the context of a set of constraints and determinants of productivity. In order to increase farm income and provide a large amount of irrigation water to benefit from the surplus In horizontal expansion. The model of the analysis of the agricultural structure in Dakahlia governorate included 18 crops through five different models. The first model (alternative) achieved this total yield of  6.780 billion pounds, more than the equivalent of 116 million pounds. Of the proposed model is less than its equivalent in the prevailing crop structure of 81 million m3 as a result of the increase in the area of some of the crops grown from their counterparts in the dominant structure. In accordance with Ministerial Decision No. 28 of 2018 issued by the Minister of Irrigation published in Al-Ahram newspaper on 8/3/2018, the year 142 - No. 47939, reducing the area of rice in Dakahlia governorate by 45%, four other models were reached.

Addition of whole cereal grains’ meal as a source of dietary fibers for the development of tarhana as a value-added functional food was the aim of this study. The effect of substituting wheat flour 72% (WF) with different ratios of whole wheat meal (WWM), oat flakes meal (OFM), whole barley meal (WBM) and mixed-cereal meal (OFM& WBM) on functional, rheological, color and sensorial properties of tarhana samples was determined. Whole cereal grains’ meal showed higher contents of protein, lipids, ash, crude fibers and total phenolic compounds in comparison to wheat flour (72%). pH values of tarhana samples were reduced from 5.22-5.89 to 4.81-5.09 after 72 h. of fermentation. The flow behavior index of tarhana soup samples ranged between 0.11-0.19, indicating the pseudoplasticity of tarhana samples. The higher value of consistency coefficient was recorded for OFM 50% sample followed by WWM 100% sample. Fermentation loss values of tarhana samples ranged between 7.12% for OFM 25% sample and 12.61% for mixed-cereal 50% sample. Substitution of WF in tarhana formulations with whole cereal grains’ meal reduced the yellowness of tarhana samples. Addition of different whole cereal grains’ meal significantly (p<0.05) improved water and oil absorption capacity of tarhana samples. Also, partial substitution of WF with OFM and mixed-cereal meal at ratio of 50% in tarhana recipe has significantly (p<0.05) increased foaming capacity and stability of the final product. The highest values of sensory parameters were observed in Tarhana soups prepared with OFM at ratios of 25& 50%, mixed-cereal meal at 50% and  the control sample. According to the results of this study, it is possible to partially substitute wheat flour with whole cereal grains’ meal in tarhana production in attempt to have a product combining the nutritional value of whole cereal grains and the health benefits of lactic acid bacteria.

The present study aimed to investigate the Genetic Diversity and productive Performance for Some Duck Local strains (sudani and domiaty) using Microsatellite genotyping analysis. From the hatched duck chicks, fifty day old ones were taken at random from each strain and reared under the same environmental, managerial and hygienic conditions from one day old until they aged 12 weeks (marketing age). The comparison was held between the two local duck strains for the following traits: Body weight and body measurements measured biweekly from day old until 12 weeks (pooled sex). Body measurements (shank length, keel length and body circumference) measured at 4,8,12 weeks of age for each strain. All chicks provided reared on floor pens, feed and water were provided ad-libitum all ducks chicks fed on two types of rations: A starter ration (from 0-4wks) and A finisher one (from 5-12 wks). The results indicated that There were significant differences in Body weight at all studied ages between Sudani and Domiaty strains (except at 2, 6 wks.) in hatching the average body weight of the Sudanese strain was 40.80 g however it was 34.12 g for the domyati strain, At 4 weeks age, the average body weight of Sudanese strain was 617.21g while it was 446.38g for the domyati strain, At 8 weeks age, the average body weight of Sudanese strain was1490.90g since it was 1235.98g for the domyati strain and At 12 weeks age, the average  body weight of Sudanese strain was 2211.0g while was 1691.88g for the domyati strain. Also Body measurements of duck during early periods of growth (aged 4, 8 and 12 weeks) was At 4 wks age there were no significant differences between the two strains, At the age of 8 wks, the same trend was observed concerning the absence of the significant differences between strains and At the age of 12 wks, there were significant differences between the two strains of the breast circumference only where the superiority was recorded for the domyati strain,  This may be reflected the genetic differences between the two strains. The results appeared that the PIC (polymorphic information content) of most microsatellite sites was lower than 0.5. This means that the selected microsatellite loci had a1ow diversity and can reflect the genetic relationship among Sudani and Domiaty populations. This assured that both sudani and domyati populations could be considered as a near populations on a molecular level.

Data revealed that Egyptian clover were visited by 22 genus of arthropods belong to 16 families and 7 orders. The identified species were classified to phytophagous, Nectarivore, predatory insects. During both seasons Apis mellifera L. and Megachile sp. were the most abundant pollinators detected at the first week of May till the end of flowering season in mid-June. The highest activity period for A. mellifera was detected at 11:00 am. However, the lowest activity was found at 3:00 pm. and 5:00 pm. in both seasons, respectively, with insignificant difference between them in the first season. Whereas the highest activity period for Megachile sp. was detected at 1:00 pm. and the lowest activity was found at 7:00 am. During both seasons. The free pollination treatment produced the highest mean number of seeds per head followed by the caged with honeybees followed by the caged without honeybees treatment with average (48.15, 43.85 and 13.20 seeds /head) and (51.10, 46.10 and 10.85 seeds /head) during 2017 and 2018 seasons, respectively. The caged plants without honeybees produced the low weight of 1000 seed. Whereas the non-caged treatment produced the highest weights with an average (2.75 and 2.55 g) and (3.50 and 3.90 g) during both seasons, respectively.