It is very difficult to find an expert at the desired time and place to give guidance about irrigation scheduling or good management of water and irrigation system. In this study, this problem was tried to be solved by designing and evaluating an expert system for a modified surface irrigation system. A rule-based program named as MSISES (Modified Surface Irrigation System by Expert System) was coded and complied using C#.net programing language. The expert system was designed to support users with information about irrigation scheduling (irrigation operating time and irrigation interval) and the gated pipes as one of the surface irrigation modification tools (gates opening ratio). Two different experiments were held to evaluate the performance of the developed expert system. The first one is to evaluate the irrigation scheduling part by cultivating a field crop (Sweet maize) to make a comparison between the crop yield and water productivity after applying the program’s scheduling and the farmer’s scheduling. The second one is to make a comparison between the fully opened gates situation and when the resulted gates opening ratio is applied. The results indicated that an increase at crop yield and crop water productivity by 9.49% and 32.37% respectively for sweet maize using the developed expert system, and also, there was a slight variation between gates discharges after using the expert system except the last four gates discharge were different because of the superimposed pressure near the closed end.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of ensiling and /or exogenous fibrolytic enzyme supplementation date press cake using in vitro batch culture technique . Untreated date press cake (DPC) and ensiled DPC with exogenous fibrolytic enzymes (ZAD1 and ZAD2) and with or without adding urea compared to corn grains were in vitro evaluated using batch culture technique. DM, NDF and ADF degradation and total gas production as well as fermentation parameters of the incubated samples were determined after 24 h of fermentation. Total VFAs, proportions are not affected (P > 0.05) by any of the treatments. However, value of ammonia concentration was higher (P < 0.05) with ZAD2+U group and urea group than date press cake (DPC). The pH value was highest (P>0.05) with the ensiling treatments. There were no significant differences in the values of DMD and OMD between the different treatments. But, the values of NDFD and ADFD were increased (P<0.05) in the corn group. Total gas production had no difference (P>0.05) between the corn grain and the DPC without any treatments. While, values of metabolizable protein (MP) and efficiency of microbial biomass production (EMP) were increased (p<0.05) with DPC compared to corn grains . There was no significant difference in the rumen activity when using date press cake (DPC) or corn grains. Moreover, the ensiling process did not cause a clear improvement in rumen fermentation.

Two trials were carried out at the Experimental Station farm of Desert Research Center, Teggzerty from Siwa Oasis, Matroh Governorate during the two summer seasons, 2015 and 2016. Trials were performed to study response of two maize hybrids.(Single hybrid 131 and Triple hybrid 329) to organic manure (OM) levels (15 and 30 m3/fed.) and five combinations between mineral and nano nitrogen (N) fertilizers: 1)100% mineral N from the recommended dose (120 kg N/fed.), 2)75% mineral + 25% nano N fertilizers, 3)50% mineral + 50% nano N fertilizers, 4)25% mineral + 75% nano N fertilizers, 5)100% nano N as the recommended rate (500 ppm as foliar application). Mineral N rates were added in three equal doses, with foliar application by nano N rates, after 30, 45 and 60 days from sowing. Treatments, included twenty treatments, was laid out in a splilt-split plot design, with three replicates, OM levels were arranged in the main plots, maize cvs. were allocated in the sub plots, and mineral nano N fertilizer treatments were assigned in the sub-sub plots. At harvest the following characters were recorded, plant height (cm), number of rows/ear, ear length (cm), ear diameter (cm), number of grains/row, 100-grain weight (g), ear weight (ton/fed), grain, straw and biological yields (ton/ fed), shelling (%) and harvest index(%). Results indicated that increasing OM levels significantly increased ear length harvest index and protein content (%), in the 2nd season only, triple hybrid gave the maximum values of all pa rameters, except no. of rows/ear and harvest index, in the 1st season, and 100-grain weight and carbohydrate (%), in both seasons, which had no significant difference with single hybrid in the most cases. Concerning with the effect of mineral and nano N, all parameters, except carbohydrate (%), were increased with increasing mineral N (%) and/or with decreasing nano N (%). Fertilized maize crop by mineral N at 100% or 75% plus 25% nano N fertilizer gave the maximum values of plant ht., no. of rows/ear, ear length and diameter, no. of grains/row, 100-grain wt.,ear weight, grain, straw and biological yields, shelling (%), protein (%), protein yield and harvest index in both seasons. However, fertilized maize crop by nano N at 100% produced the highest value of carbohydrate content (%) in two seasons. Results suggested that selected triple maize hybrid cv. (329), at 30 m3 OM, with 100% mineral N (120 kg N/fed.) or with 75% mineral N (90 kg N/fed.) plus 25% nano N (125 ppm as foliar application) fertilizers could be utilized for attaining the maximal improvement in farmer income by increasing the maize yield under saline conditions at Siwa Oasis, Egypt.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) belongs to legumes reducing atmospheric nitrogen symbiotically through Rhizobia Spp. into proteins in a process leaves no carbon footprint. However, chickpea is highly susceptible to viral diseases, which limits productivity. Therefore, the current study is conducted, in two seasons (2015/2016, 2016/2017) to evaluate the symbiotic efficiency of Mesorhizobia in reducing the damage occurs in chickpea if was infected by chickpea yellow mosaic virus (CpYMV). For this aim, One viral (CpYMV) and two Mesorhizobial isolates (MS3All, MS8All) are isolated from open-fields of chickpea plants. Three chickpea experimental lines (F.07-268, F.07-258 and F.0744) and one Egyptian cultivar (Giza195) are dually infected by CpYMV and either of MS3All and MS8All. Then, infected plants are grown in pots in open-air at the cultivation area of the Faculty of Agriculture, Ain-Shams University (Shoubra). The results indicated that the viral infection led to a reduction in the dry weight of root (DWR) and shoot (DWS), the ratio of root-to-shoot (RSR) dry weight, the nodule counts (NN), the photosynthetic pigments and the nitrogen content (N2). Interestingly, the dry weight of nodules (DWN) is significantly increased in dually infected plants. Uniinoculated Chickpea using either of the two isolates of Mesorhizobia showed significant increase in all phenotypic parameters when virus infection is included; except for DWN that decreased com pared to control viral-infected plants but no mesorhizobia. The current study suggests that bacterial inoculation using Mesorhizobia is significantly reduced damaging effects of the virus on chickpea. Moreover, the MS3All isolate is suggested the more effective than MS8All and the experimental chickpea lines F.07-258 and F.07-44 had the highest significant levels of N2 for shoot than F.07-268 and Giza195 lines.

Field experiment was carried out on one of the turf (lawn) , category  (Passpalm 10) to study the effect of irrigation systems on soil moisture distribution in the root zone. Experimental plot area was (4.5*4.5  ), soil media used was sandy soil and three treatments (spray, sub surface drib irrigation (SDI) , hydrogel) irrigation and every treatment replicated three times . Results of this research could be summarized as follows:  Annual water consumption was less by 77.3%, 71.3% when using hydrogel material, compared with other irrigation systems (spray, and SDI) resp. , this is due to the quantity of loss water from evaporation in spray irrigation treatment , where evaporation parameters are more effective than the others (SDI, hydrogel) irrigation treatments.   The hydrogel treatment has highest water saving by 170% ,300% compared with (SDI and spray) irrigation treatments , because the hydrogel's ability to hold water and has a large period between irrigation when using hydrogel in the soil .   The SDI treatment has highest electrical saving by 520% ,55% compared with (spray and hydrogel ) irrigation treatments resp.   The turf quality index (color, density, ground cover ) give high degree at hydrogel treatment compared with others, this is due to the hydrogel has many materials , both nat urally occurring and synthetic and ability of water saving around root zone of turf .  The average of soil moisture contents at (10cm and 15cm) depth of soil under hydrogel treatment was highest compared with (Spray and SDI) irrigation systems  resp.

The aim of this study was to in vitro evaluate encapsulated probiotic supplementation to ruminant rationson degradation and fermentation parameters. The ration consisted of 40% alfalfa hay and 60% concentrate feed mixture. Encapsulated and not encapsulated probiotic were supplemented with level of 106cfu/kg of the total dry matter of ration (DM) and compared with encapsulation media (Sodium Alginate, SA) and control (not supplemented ration). DM and OM degradation and total gas production as well as fermentation parameters of the incubated samples were determined after 24 h of fermentation. Significant (P<0.01) increases in in-vitro DM degradability was observed for the experimental ration supplemented with encapsulated or not encapsulated probiotics at levels (106 CFU/ kg DM) and SA treatment compared to control ration. Also, significant (P<0.05) improvement in OM degradability was recorded for the ration supplemented with not encapsulated probiotics bacteria compared to the other treatments. Moreover no significant differences were observed between the control ration and the rations supplemented with encapsulated probiotics or SA only, as well as no significant difference was recorded between the ration supplemented with encapsulated probiotics and the ration supplemented with SA only. Probiotics bacteria supple mentation in the form of not encapsulated probiotic resulted significant increases in in vitro total gas production per sample and per g DM, OM, dDM, NDF and ADF after 24 hours incubation period compared to the other experimental rations (control, encapsulated probiotic and SA). While significant increase in total gas production per g dOM was observed for not encapsulated probiotic compared to encapsulated probiotic only. It could be concluded that, using encapsulated probiotics bacteria had no significant effect on DM degradability and may be induce decrease in gas production and fermentation parameters.

In the present study, a trail to evaluate of Newcastle Disease (ND) antibodies levels after different vaccination programs was conducted on layer chickens. A total of 200 one day-old layer chicks (White Lohmann) were divided into five groups A, B, C, D and E. Birds in groups A, B and C were vaccinated with live vaccine by intraocular, intranasal and drinking water methods , respectively. On the other hand, groups D and E were kept as unvaccinated control groups. Vaccination performed at days 5, 18 and 28 by different routes for mentioned groups. Hemagglutination inhibition (HI) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methods were used for assessment of antibodies titer at days 15, 25, 37 and 45. Results of HI and ELISA tests indicated that, the intranasal and the intraocular method have highest antibodies titers compared with the drinking water method. In this study, maternally derived antibodies specific to Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) (IgY) were extracted by dextran sulfate method from collected eggs of vaccinated laying chickens . Antibodies specific to NDV (IgY) were detected in the egg yolk using HI test  . Data revealed that antibodies specific to NDV (IgY) were presented in high titers that confer protection during early weeks of life for hatching chicks. Data concluded that extraction of maternally derived specific antibodies from egg yolk will facilitate accurate monitoring of ND vaccination programmes.

Due to the climatic changes in Egypt, the remarkable population growth and the high demand for water, especially for irrigation water. To rationalize the use of irrigation water, it has been  applied efficient irrigation systems such as trickle irrigation system for irrigating trees and plants by securing the least amount of water for the plant without wasting and saturation of the surrounding area. This study aims to evaluate the performance of some local and imported emitters. In this study, 16 emitters were used (9 imported emitters and 7 local emitters) divided into (9 non-pressure compensating and 7 pressure compensating), for evaluation under different operating pressures (0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.25 and 1.5 bar), in addition to measure the hydraulic performance of the manufacture's coefficient of variation (CV %), emitter flow variation (     %), and the emission uniformity (EU %). The results showed that the highest emission uniformity value for emitters of (OT1, OT2, KF, TKY, CKF and OT3), with discharge of (2) L / h non- pressure compensating (NPC), 4 l/h non-pressure compensating (NPC), 4 l / h pressure compensating (PC), 8 l/ h non- pressure compensating (NPC),  8 l / h pressure compensating (PC) and 16 l / h non-pressure compensating (NPC) respectively, while, the lowest manufacture's coefficient of variation value (CV%), emitter flow variation (     %) were used with 6  emitters in the second part of the laboratory experiment to evaluate the side lines under the length of the hoses (50, 75, 100 m) at a distance between the emitters (4 m), for the calculation of the emission uniformity (EU%), friction  losses and consumption of power. From the last result in laboratory and through evaluation the 6 emitters under study in terms of prices and emission uniformity (EU%), a randomized field study was conducted on the farms where the three emitters (OT2, KF and OT1) under lateral length (50 m) and emitter spacing (4 m). The purpose of the field test was carried out to determine the degree of clogging throughout the operating period (after 2 and 4 years). A field test used an emitter (OT1, OT2 and KF) found for two months and has been used again for two years when farming in the farm was expanded and used four years ago by expanding the farm, the emitter (OT2) clogging ratio was 3.09% within two months, 6.95% within two years and 10.49% within 4 years, the emitter (OT1) clogging ratio was 5.26% within two months, 11.11% within two years and 17.64% within 4 years, the emitter (KF) clogging ratio was 6.83% within two months, 13.63% within two years and 20.96% within 4 years. The results showed that the lowest degree of clogging ratio of the emitter (OT2) was within two months of operation. In general, and as expected, the results indicate that clogging ratio increased with increasing the time of installation of the field emitter and the range of factors affecting the periodic maintenance and design of good and components of irrigation network with high quality and ratio of manufacture's coefficient of variation (CV%).

The main objective of this study was to evaluate different samples of  corn silage (Whole corn plant with ears) from different regions in Egypt to determine each sample has the highest nutritive value and nutrients digestibility and therefore reduce the feed cost, increase feed efficiency and probability of lactating dairy farms. Silage samples were collected from different four areas in Egypt; El-Salhya, El-Nobarya, El-Monofia and Ganakles. The study Included three field and laboratory work cores which were; chemical composition, in-vitro and in-situ evaluation studies. The samples were analyzed for its chemical composition, Dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL). The silage samples were evaluated in-vitro and in-situ. In-vitro evaluation was conducted using gas production technic. Gas production (GP) was recorded at 0, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24 and 48 hours of incubation. The organic matter digestibility (OMD), short chain fatty acids (SCFA), and metabolizable energy (ME) were measured. The in-situ experiment, involved nylon bags containing silage samples from different regions were incubated in three fistulated Barki rams for 24h. Samples were taken out at 2, 4, 8, 12 and 24h of incubation. The obtained results indicated that the Ganakles silage ampel recorded the lowest (P<0.01) values of GP within the different times compared to others. The silage from El-Salhya had the highest (P<0.01) values for OMD and SCFA. The DMD of in-situ samples was significantly (P<0.01) increased within the different times of incubation with Al-Salhia silage samples, but the lowest significant values (P<0.01) were recorded  with Al-Nobaria silage samples. Depending on invitro and in-situ results for silage type results, in vitro and in-situ for silage type from Al-Salhia area had a best characteristics of good silage and was chosen forever conducting lactation trial.

The aim of this study is to enhance the fermentation temperature inside the digester by supplying the required thermal energy to be within the desired optimum range (mesophilic range) for biogas production during winter “cold days”. Two 50 L digesters were used in the experiment that was conducted at Solar Energy Laboratory, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Cairo. One is a treatment digester and the other is a control digester. The treatment digester is thermally enhanced by a parabolic trough collector, while the control digester operated at the ambient temperature. The experiment was conducted through December 2018 and January 2019. The results show that the average temperature in the control digester through the experiment was 21.5°C, while in the treatment digester it was 27.08°C. This means that the parabolic trough collector enhanced the fermentation temperature in the treatment digester by 20.6%. The total biogas yield of the control digester and the treatment digester was 9684.7 mL/kg. T.S. and 24649.69 mL/kg. T.S. respectively. By comparing both productivities, it was found that the productivity of the treatment digester was 2.5 times more than the productivity of the control digester.