Two field experiments were conducted during the two successive seasons 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 at Sakha Agric. Res. Station, Kafr ElSheikh Governorate to study the effect of four harvesting dates i.e. 135, 145, 155 and 165 days after sowing on yield and its quality of six flax genotypes namely, Sakhal, Sakha 2, Sakha 3 and Giza 9 varieties and two new promising strains (strain 16 and strain 22). This study was laid out in a split-plot design, with four replications, the main plots were allocated to the six flax genotypes, whereas, the sub-plots contained the harvesting dates. The obtained results could be summarized as follow: Sakha 3 and Giza 9 varieties gave the highest means for technical length, fiber yield/plant as well as per fed., fiber length, fiber percentage, fiber strength, fiber fineness, germination % and crude protein %, whereas strain 22 (yellow seed) surpassed the other flax genotypes which produced the highest values for No. of seeds/plants, seed yield/fed., oil content and oil yield/fed. The harvest date of 155 days after sowing showed significant increases in stem diameter, straw yield/plant as well as per fed. fiber yield and its quality and crude protein % compared to the other three dates (135, 145 and 165 days after sowing). However, delayed harvesting date to 165 days after sowing recorded significant increase in technical length, upper branching zone length, seed yield and its related characters, germination %, seedling vigour, seed index, volume of 1000 seed,'oil content and oil yield/fed. The interactions among the studied factors had significant effects on straw yield/fed., No. of capsules/plants, fiber strength and germination % in the first season of study, while the characters of the upper branching zone length, seed yield/fed., oil yield/fed., fiber length and oil content in both seasons.

Iron deficiency anemia is considered one of prevalent patients in developing countries, whereas it is well known that wheat flour is deficient in iron, hence, in this study wheat flour (72%) extraction fortified with celery seeds and cinnamon bark meal individually as a natural sources of iron at levels 5, 7.5 and 10 g/100 g wheat flour and preparation of biscuit samples. Iron content in wheat flour, celery seeds and cinnamon were determined. Biscuit samples were sensory evaluated and baking quality tested. Total iron and available iron were determined in biscuit samples. Biological evaluation for experimental rats designed and histopathological examination was tested for heart organ of rats. The results showed that wheat flour, celery seeds and cinnamon contained from iron 1.98, 57 and 50 mg/100 g respectively. Total iron and available iron increased in biscuit samples by increasing celery seeds and cinnamon additives compared with unfortified biscuits (control). Sensory evaluation of biscuit samples showed slight decrease in color, crunchiness and appearance while odor and taste significantly improved by increasing celery seeds and cinnamon additives compared with control. Baking quality of biscuit samples indicated increasing in weight, while volume, diameter and thickness slightly decreased by increasing celery seeds and cinnamon additives compared with control. Biological evaluation revealed that mean values of hemoglobin, hematocrit, red cell count, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, serum iron and serum ferritin significantly improved after 8 weeks in groups rats fed on biscuits fortified with celery seeds and cinnamon compared with control. histopathological overhaul declared amelioration in ogran heart for groups rats fed on biscuits fortified with celery seeds and cinnamoin compared with anemic control

Fresh Bolti -fish (Tilpia nilotica) collected randomly from 9 different markets in Ismailia Governorate for evaluation the effect of grilled fish by the method used in grillrooms and houses on the concentration of pesticide residues found and the nutritive value. Results revealed that decrease in the estimated parameters i.e. moisture, crude protein, fat and ash by grilling, this decrease were 6.07, 2.63, 4.07 and 1.56%, respectively. On the contrary, carbohydrates behaved another behavior that there was an obvious increase ranged from 1.98% to 2.92%. Fresh and grilled fish were analyzed to detect 12 organochlorine (OC) and 7 synthetic pyrethroid (SP) pesticides with a mean level on a lipid basis. Gas Liquid Chromatography equipped with Electron Capture Detector GC-ECD was used to detect the contamination in the samples. The results showed that p,p'-DDE isomer was dominated over the other isomers in all analyzed fish samples, followed by q-isomer of hexachlorocyclohexane. The concentrations of OC residues were higher than SP pesticides in all fish muscles. Also, the fresh fish muscle recorded higher concentrations of the evaluated pesticides than the grilled one.

Four plant oils namely Barka, Sesam, Garlic and Almond were prepared as emulsifiable con centrate (EC). Polyethylene glycol 600 dioleate (PEG 600 DO), Toximol R and Toximol H were used as emulsifiers while xylene and toluene used as solvents. Four formulations only passed successfully (F1, D2, C3 and E5) in the Physicochemical properties according to the standards of WHO. The results indicated that the successful prepared formulations showed different degrees of effectiveness against second stage juveniles of Tylenculus semipenetrans under laboratory conditions. Second stage juveniles seem as paralyze at 24 hrs, whereas this effect disappears completely after 72 hrs in case of Almond and Barka. On the other hand, the effect of Sesam and Garlic showed a slight effect at 24 hrs and increased gradually to give highly effectiveness after 72 hours. According to EC50 values at 72 hrs, Garlic was more effective than Sesam. The respective EC5o values were 0.6 and 2 mg/ml. These results emphasized the promising effect of certain plant oil formulations including Garlic and Sesam oil against pathogenic nematode, and that such formulation might be used for nematode control in small areas, as gardens and plant nursery.

This investigation was conducted at Hada Elsham Experimental Research Station, King AbdulAziz University during 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 seasons, to study the effects of two irrigation water salinity levels (1200 mg/L and 10000 mg/L), three irrigation water intervals (3, 6 and 9 days) and three sulphur fertilizer rates (0.0, 4.0 and 6.0 t/ha) on seed yield; yield components and seed quality of canola, Pactole cv. The obtained results showed that seed yield kg/ha was significantly increased (Received June 1, 2009) (Accepted June 27, 2009) under the 1200mg/L irrigation water and 6t/ha of sulphur more than the seed yield/ha under the effect of 1200 mg/L irrigation water with 4 t/ha sulphur or 10,000 mg/L irrigation water with 6t/ha sulphur with no significant differences between the two later treatments. Irrigation every 3 days significantly dominated over the irrigation every 6 or 9 days on seed yield and yield components. Irrigation with 10.000 mg/L salinity water significantly decreased No. of branches /plant, No. of fruit/plant and seed weight/ plant. Besides, Protein content of the seed as well as oil content increased as water salinity increased in both seasons. As sulphur fertilizer rate increased seed yield, yield components protein and oil contents of seed significantly increased, in the two studied seasons.

Studies were accomplished to identify the important factors affecting successful virgin queens production in Sohag during 2007 and 2008 years. In order to find out the best teaching for rearing virgin queens by grafting method. Markedly differences in the mean number of virgin queens between single and double grafting methods, specially in spring and autumn seasons; in spring mean number of accepted cells of 43.77 with 37.66 emerged queens and 49.85 with 47.07 emerged queens were obtained when single and double grafting were used methods respectively. Spring season was favorable for queens rearing, followed by autumn and summer, while winter season came the latest. There was a clear relationship between larval age at grafting and the larval acceptance, one day old worker larvae gave the highest number of virgin queens emerged. On the other hand, the queen must be removed outside the hive 48 hrs before starting larval grafting to obtain the highest numbers of accepted queen cells. In general, double grafting, situating the cell cups frame in the hive center of the hive and fitting the cell cups on the top and bottom bar, gave the best method for queens acceptance and queens production. However, cell cups fitted on the edges of the bars were successfully reared when ambient temperatures were high in spring season, but queen cells in the center of the hive's brood nest were correlated with higher temperature and had a greater chance for emergence.

Two successive field experiments were carried out during two seasons (2006 and 2007) at three Agricultural Experimental stations of Desert Research Center (DRC) in three locations: El-Maghara, El-Wadi El-Gedeed and Maryout to evaluate variation, mean performance and stability parameters of four diverse sesame cultivars. Also, study the oil content, physical and chemical properties, fatty acids composition of oil and proteins patterns in seeds of the tested cultivars (Shandaweel 3, Toushki 1, Giza 32 and Taka 3). The results obtained could be summarized in the following categories:- Wide range of variability between locations and high genotypic differences were detected. The genotype x environment interaction was significant and a major portion of this was accounted by the deviation among source of variations. Hence, the genotypes tested had a wide diversity and ranked differently among locations and seasons. The average plant height, number of branches/plant, number of capsules/plant, 1000-seed weight, grain yield/plant, grain yield/feddan and oil yield/feddan were recorded under El-Wadi El-Gedeed, El-Maghara and Maryout locations. Toushki 1 recorded the highest values across different locations for Number of capsules/plant (46.21), number of seeds/plant (47.27), seed yield/plant (14.76 g.), seed yield/feddan (333.84 kg.) and oil yield/feddan (168.56 kg.). El-Wadi El-Gedeed location is considered the best location for most studied traits except for number of branches/ plant. On the other hand, Maryout location (calcareous 34% CaCo3) recorded the lowest values for all traits under study; such findings may be due to the differences between soil and irrigation water types. Stability parameters were fitting together in determining the stable genotypes Toushki1, Shandaweel 3, Giza32 and Taka3 overall tested environments. Genotypes varied in their calculated bi values as well as S2di . Toushki 1 is the most stable genotype across different environments and for all traits under study except for number of capsules/plant. However, genotypes produced higher yield such as Toushki 1 and Shandaweel 3 showed below average stability and were well adapted for El-Wadi El-Gedeed conditions.   Oil content was increased while protein content was decreased significantly in seeds of Shandaweel3 and Toushki1 under El-Wadi El-Gedeed location. However, acid value was decreased for all cultivars except Taka 3 under El-Wadi El-Gedeed location at zero and 6 months of storage. On the other hand, the oil of all sesame cultivars which grown under El-Wadi El-Gedeed location had a higher iodine value than oil of the same cultivars under El-Maghara location. In

Larva of cotton leaf worm, Spodoptera littoralis ate and digested an average of 13.79 and 10.82g, respectively of untreated castor bean leaves during its whole sixth instar. These amounts significantly reduced when larvae were fed on leaves treated with different concentrations of neem seed kernel methanolic extract. The reduction was concentration dependent, i.e., an increase in neem extract concentration caused an obvious decrease in the amount of ingested or digested leaves. The consumption and digestion indices are always negative indicating that treated castor bean leaves are not preferred by S. littoralis larvae for feeding. These indices decreased as the concentrations of neem extract increased. Approximate digestibility in S. littoralis sixth instar larvae averaged 78.50%. This percentage insignificantly fluctuated between 77.71 and 81.08% when larvae were fed on castor bean leaves treated with different concentrations of neem extract. Efficiencies of conversion of ingested and digested food to body substances (ECI and ECD) are an overall indicators for ability of S. littoralis larvae to utilize ingested and digested food for growth and food storage in the insect. Such values depend upon the food digestibility, its nutritional values and the ingestion rates. ECI and ECD in larvae fed on untreated leavesreached 22.25 and 28.25%, respectively. These values decreased after feeding the larvae on treated leaves. The decrease was gradually occurred as the concentration of neem extract increased to reach the minimum value at the highest concentration (0.025%).

Se, Selenium; ROS, Reactive oxygen species; APX, Ascorbate peroxidase; CAT, Catalase; PAL, Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase; EDTA, Ethylenediamine tetra acetic acid; MDA, Malondialdehyde; POD, Peroxidase; PVP, Polyvinylpyrrolidone; SOD, Superoxide dismutase; TBA, Thiobarbituric acid; TCA, Trichloroacetic acid; NBT, Nitroblue tetrazolium; P5CR, ∆1-Pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase; P5CS, ∆1-Pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase. OAT, Ornithine-δ-aminotransferase; P5CDH, ∆1-Pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase and PDH, Proline dehydrogenase; Poly acrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE)   ABSTRACT   Selenium (Se) is not an essential nutrient for higher plants. Although, it is able to induce stress tolerance in many plant species. The present study was carried out to investigate the ability of Se to promote the tolerance of cucumber seedlings to salinity stress and to identify some biochemical parameter associated with Se–induced resistance in cucumber seedlings. Plants were irrigated with 2000 ppm NaCl after treatment with 1ppm Se for two weeks and samples collected after 7 days from started salt-treatment. The biochemical changes due to treatment with Se and /or NaCl were monitored by determination of lipid peroxidation (LPO), proline, phenolic compounds and percentage of electrolyte leakage (EL) from plant tissues. Moreover, the activities of peroxidase (POD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and phenylalanine ammonialyase (PAL) were determined. The treatment of cucumber seedling with salinity (2000 ppm NaCl) in the presence or absence of selenium caused a remarkable elevation in free proline concentration and the level of phenolic compounds. Salinity stress caused a high level of lipid peroxidation which led to increase the percentage of electrolyte leakage from plant tissues. Se treatment caused a significant reduction in electrolyte leakage and malondialdehyde concentration of cucumber seedlings. The specific activities of antioxidant enzymes (POD, SOD, and APX) and PAL were significantly increased by the treatment with NaCl. Also, Se caused a significant elevation in the specific activities of POD, CAT, SOD, APX and PAL in cucumber seedlings grown under salt stress condition. On the other hand, Se caused a significant decrease in SOD activity in cucumber seedlings grown in non-salty condition. The isoenzymes pattern of POD demonstrated that peroxidase was up-regulated by Se either in control or NaCl-treated seedlings. The results concluded that Se induce six POD isoenzymes in cucumber seedlings. Se reduces and overcomes the oxidative injury caused by salinity stress. Moreover, the protective effect of Se against salinity stress may be carried out through a mechanism included activation of PAL which is responsible for phenolic compounds biosynthesis. The accumulation of these phenolic compounds in Se-treated seedling leads to a high activities of antioxidant defensive enzymes and increase the tolerance level towards salinity stress.

The major vegetable crop production in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia require easily produced sources of related information. However, there is a lack of such studies that lead to the use of com-puter programs or geographical information sys-tems in developing an electronic source for these extension, research, and scientific data. Farmers and agricultural engineers need a comprehensive database regarding insect pests, non insects pests, and diseases infecting vegetable crops in Saudi Arabia in Arabic language. Therefore, this project has been executed to design a complete database of such information. Included in this software are colored photographs, which will help users to get acquainted with methods of manage-ment of these pests and diseases. A data sheet has been designed to collect field information for each vege-table crop, including its pests and dis-eases, through field trips for many farms in all the 13 agricultural regions of Saudi Arabia. This field information has been compiled with what has been published in related scientific references. Upon completion of this program, confirmatory trips for five regions had been made in order to meet with farmers, agricultural engineers, and extension agents who are in agricultural branches of the Min-istry of Agriculture in these visited regions. The objectives of these trips were to get feedback about this program. Finally, an elaborate imple-mentation guide was prepared under the title "De-signing an integrated computer program for vege-table cultivation in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." Also, an attached manual, regarding the compo-nents and the operation of this program, was made. All of these materials have been distributed to farmers and interested people in the agricultural sector