This investigation was performed during the 2018 and 2019 seasons in a private vineyard to study the effect of calcium, magnesium fertigation and molybdenum foliar sprays on the yield and fruit quality of Flame seedless table grape cultivar. The experimental layout was arranged in a split-plot design. All treatments were applied on three dates: after the bud burst stage, at the fruit set stage and veraison stage. The results showed that the combined application of 30 Kg calcium with 20 Kg magnesium fertigation and foliar spraying of 30 ppm molybdenum was the most effective among all treatments in terms of enhancing vegetative growth characteristics, increasing leaf content of total chlorophylls and mineral elements as well as improving yield and fruit quality attributes.

The research aimed to isolate and characterize local entomopathogenic fungi from different agricultural ecosystems and assess their pathogenicity against cowpea aphid. Forty soil samples were collected from different ecosystems. In total, 38 fungal isolates were collected from the cadavers' exteriors of Galleria mellonella larvae. Microscopic observation of these fungal isolates revealed that they belonged to nine fungal genera among them Metarhizium sp. (3 isolates) and Beauveria sp. (5 isolates). Primary experiments showed different bioactivities of the isolates of the two selected genera against the target insect. Only Metarhizium isolates (M3 & M5) and Beauveria isolates (B1 & B5) were selected for further investigations. Identification of fungal cultures by morphological characters, molecular characterization, ITS sequencing, and NCBI Blast showed that two isolates were confirmed as M. anisopliae and two isolates as B. bassiana. The bioassay evaluation revealed that M. anisopliae (M3 and M5) and B. bassiana (B1) exhibited significant virulence against A. craccivora, as evidenced by their high LT50 and LC50 values and substantial sporulation on the cadavers. Therefore, they could be used for the formulation of pesticides targeting this pest on cowpea and other vegetable crops.

Climate change poses a significant challenge to agriculture while barley is an essential and crucial crop worldwide. This study evaluated the drought stress tolerance of 25 barley genotypes. A field experiment was carried out to investigate agronomical traits, such as plant height at 110 days (PH110) and spike length (SL), in response to different surface irrigation treatments. Subsequently, 15 barley genotypes were chosen for the second experiment which aimed to examine the impact of physiological stress generated by polyethylene glycol-6000. Several biological metrics, including seedling vigor index (SVI), and drought tolerance index (DTI), were quantified. Ultimately, six SSR primers were used to analyze the genetic diversity between different barley genotypes. The findings demonstrated that the G1, G2, and G6 genotypes were tolerant but G5, G9, and G14 were susceptible. The primers Bmag0603, EBmac0849, and Bmag770 were polymorphic. This study provides valuable initial insights into the drought resistance of various barley genotypes, highlighting the genetic diversity and potential for breeding drought-tolerant varieties. We suggest expanding the sample size and incorporating a broader range of environmental conditions in future studies to validate these findings. Additionally, the identified genetic markers could be further explored and utilized in breeding programs.

This study was conducted to examine the effects of the foliar application of moringa and germinated fenugreek extracts on the growth and biochemical parameters of wheatgrass grown under saline conditions. Aqueous moringa extract (MLE) was used at concentrations of 1.25, 0.83, 0.62 and 0.31%, whereas fenugreek extract (GFE) was used at concentrations of 0.25, 0.20, 0.15 and 0.10%. Optimum germination conditions were investigated under normal and NaCl stress (2000 ppm) conditions. Exposure to saline stress significantly reduced seed germination and grass yield as well as shoot and seedling fresh and dry weights. Ideal germination conditions were MLE 0.31% and GFE 0.15%, resulting in increased growth traits compared with the other concentrations and control. Foliar application of MLE or GFE improved growth traits, total antioxidants, phenols, Ca, Mg, K, Mn, Cu, Zn and Fe in the presence or absence of NaCl. In addition, wheatgrass powder was used to replace wheat flour in developing biscuits at 5, 10 and 15% levels. Wheatgrass showed high feasibility for formulating nutrient-rich biscuits with acceptable sensory qualities. These findings provide useful information for enhancing the nutrients in biscuits, with potential use as a natural source of bioactive compounds in functional food products.

This study was conducted to determine the impact of sodium chloride (2000 ppm) and salicylic acid (SA) concentrations (0, 50, 100, 150, and 200 ppm) on the nutritional value and germination of radish microgreens. The experiment was based on a completely random design with three replicates. Results indicated that applying SA at 50 and 100 ppm mitigates the negative effects of salinity, even better than higher concentrations, on the nutritional value and bioactive contents of radish microgreens where SA at 50 ppm lowered the sodium contents from 1.75 to 1.10 ppm in addition to increasing the moisture content. Applying SA at 50 and 100 ppm caused a noticeable increase in carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fibers and energy under unstressed condition. In addition, SA at 50 ppm caused a significant increase in oxalic and malic acid contents under both normal and salinity conditions while SA at 100 ppm significantly enhanced the levels of total phenols, flavonoids and antioxidants under salinity conditions. This practical study highlights the significant role of salicylic acid, at 50 and 100 ppm, in increasing the levels of phytochemicals and minerals, hence improving the nutritional value of microgreen radishes.

Nano-emulsion-based essential oils are considered the most effective applications for controlling pests. Jojoba oil-based nano-emulsion and bulk emulsion formulations were examined against Tetranychus urticae and Myzus persicae and their natural enemies. The prepared jojoba oil-based nano-emulsion showed superior stability in centrifuging and freezing tests and had non-foaming properties. The droplet size of the Jojoba oil-based nano-emulsion was as small as 45±5 nmwith a zeta potential of 4.79 mV. Results confirmed that jojoba oil-based nano-emulsion possesses better acaricidal and algicidal activity than bulk emulsion. The LC50 of nano-emulsion was 0.103 and 0.06%, while in bulk emulsion, it recorded 4.06 and 4.76% against T. urticae after 24 h of spraying at temperatures of 20 and 30oC, respectively. Under the same conditions, nano-emulsion had an LC50 value of 0.23 and 0.35% while bulk emulsion had 5.14 and 3.61% against M. persicae. Furthermore, the use of jojoba oil-based emulsion had no significant negative impact on aphid mummies or Coccinella undicempunctata. These encouraging findings confirmed that jojoba-based nano-emulsions possess potential eco-friendly and effective bio-pesticides against mites and aphids as well as being safe as biological control agents. Additionally, its physical properties are suitable for commercial use.

Mulberry trees suffer from many pest infestations. To control these pests, some natural compounds such as Techno Oil and Top 9 and some other chemicals such as Mospilan® and Chinook® were used. Mulberry trees, Morus nigra were treated with three different concentrations of each of Chinook, Techno Oil® and Top 9® to reduce infestation with Icerya sp. and Ferrisia virgate. A high reduction rate of more than 90% occurred when using these pesticides. On the other hand, the corrected mortality of mulberry silkworm larvae was 93.3%, 0.0% and 6.7% respectively after 8 days of treatment. When treating mulberry trees Morus alba with two different concentrations of each of pesticides; Mospilan and Techno Oil against whitefly, the average rate of infestation reduction was 100% and 94.94%, respectively. The corrected mortality of mulberry silkworms' larvae was 100% and 0.0% after 8 days of treatment respectively. This study proved that natural compounds could be used safely instead of chemical pesticides to reduce the pest population without affecting the life of silkworm larvae or cocoon properties.

Drought stress is considered one of the main factors that reduce plant growth, development and production. Therefore, studying plants during drought stress is highly useful to discover the newly gained characteristics of plants. The potato is considered one of the most important crop with economic value in Egypt and over the whole world. The main target is the proline-rich protein extracted from potato plants under drought stress. A stress experiment was applied to two potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) cultivars Desiree and Diamante. The stress experiment was conducted by poly-ethylene glycol (PEG) 4000; the used water potentials were: zero (control), (PEG 2%), (PEG 4%) and (PEG 8%), after drought stress, the solutes accumulation in the two potato cultivars were determined. Increasing drought stress through elevating PEG decreased leaf area as well as shoot and root lengths. Incontorary, the chlorophyll and proline contents increased with increasing PEG treatments. The proline-rich protein gene was cloned to the pGEM-T Easy vector and was submitted to the gene bank to be used later for enhancing drought resistance in other cultivars.

This study examines fermented soya bean (SBM) and sunflower meal (SFM) with three biological treatments: Aspergillus Oryza, Ruminococcus flavefaciens and Lactobacillus plantarum, as well as the effects of these treatments on chemical composition, cell wall constituents, in vitro dry matter disappearance (IVDMD), and enzyme activity of the fermented SBM and SFM. After 2 h of ruminal incubation, all biological treatments (fungi, Bacteria, fungi with Bacteria) improved the IVDMD for Fermented SBM compared to that of the control (19.47, 20.65 and 18.38%, respectively). The maximum improvement values of IVDMD for SBM were recorded after 4 h and 6 h of incubation for all treatments. In addition, SFM after 2 h of ruminal incubation with any examined biological treatment (fungi, Bacteria, fungi with Bacteria), the IVDMD values have improved compared to that of the control group. Moreover, enzyme activities (cellulase, amylase, xylanase, and protease) have increased in all treatments. It was determined that SSF with A. oryzae and Ruminococcus boosted the protein content and digestibility of soybean and sunflower meals.

The research aimed to isolate and characterize local entomopathogenic fungi from different agricultural ecosystems and assess their pathogenicity against cowpea aphid. Forty soil samples were collected from different ecosystems. In total, 38 fungal isolates were collected from the cadavers' exteriors of Galleria mellonella larvae. Microscopic observation of these fungal isolates revealed that they belonged to nine fungal genera among them Metarhizium sp. (3 isolates) and Beauveria sp. (5 isolates). Primary experiments showed different bioactivities of the isolates of the two selected genera against the target insect. Only Metarhizium isolates (M3 & M5) and Beauveria isolates (B1 & B5) were selected for further investigations. Identification of fungal cultures by morphological characters, molecular characterization, ITS sequencing, and NCBI Blast showed that two isolates were confirmed as M. anisopliae and two isolates as B. bassiana. The bioassay evaluation revealed that M. anisopliae (M3 and M5) and B. bassiana (B1) exhibited significant virulence against A. craccivora, as evidenced by their high LT50 and LC50 values and substantial sporulation on the cadavers. Therefore, they could be used for the formulation of pesticides targeting this pest on cowpea and other vegetable crops.