This study was carried out at the Strawberry Improvement Center Experimental Farm, Nobaria, Beheira Governorate and the Horticulture Research Station, Bar-rage, Kalubia Governorate during 2001/2002 and 2002/2003 seasons. The study aimed to investigate the effect of calcium nutrition (0, 13and 26 kg/fed. Ca) and modified atmosphere storage (10,20, 30 and 40% CO2) on the post harvest decay of cold stored strawberry transplants and their subsequent fruit production. The results indicated that increasing the rate of calcium application during the transplant growth period and carbon dioxide concentration around transplants during the cold storage resulted in significant decrements in transplant decay, infection percentage, disease severity of roots and crowns. There was a positive relationship between cal-cium nutrition and early yield. Moreover, the highest calcium rate gave the highest total yield while no significant difference was noticed between control and 13 kg/fed treatments. This study concluded that adding Ca++ at 26 Kg /fed as fertiga-tion of calcium nitrate (13% Ca) to the growing strawberry transplants followed by modified atmosphere storage (40% CO2) during the prolonged cold storage allowed maintenance of transplant quality and increased their yield while minimizing decay development.

Solid-phase extraction (SPE), gas chromatography electron capture detector (GC-ECD) and gas chromatography nitrogen-phosphorous detector (GC-NPD) and gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) were applied for trace-level de-termination of 20 pesticides in river nile water. Samples were collected from March to October 2003 from different sites located in Greater Cairo, Egypt. First, extrac-tion by on-site solid-phase extraction of 1 liter from field and laboratory spiked and unspiked (raw river water) samples using poly-divinyl benzene-N-vinyl pyrolidine cartridge based sorbent. Next, water extracts were subject of analysis by GC-ECD and GC-NPD. Next, selected samples that were positive to GC-ECD or GC-NPD were analyzed by GC-MS in order to improve the determination of detected pesti-cides. Recoveries from laboratoy spiked samples were > 85% for 16 of the 20 com-pounds with % relative standard deviation (% RSD) in the 5 to 10 % range. The lowest recoveries were for aldrin, 52 % and prothiofos, 48 %. A similar trend was observed with p,p-DDE and p,p-DDT values. Field spike results also indicated high % recovery for most of the target compounds. Values were > 85% for 12 of the 20 analytes, as was the case in laboratory spikes, Aldrin, 54 % and prothiofos, 55 % yielded the lowest values. Overall field spike recovery reproducibility was lower since % RSDs were higher, 15-40 %. Overall results indicated a relatively high de-gree of accuracy and precision could be achieved for most of the target compounds by methods applied in present study.

The toxic effective of wheat grains treated with Egyptian sesban, Sesbania ae-gyptica seed extracts offered to rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae was determined. Chlo-roform extract was found to be the most effective. Reproductive potential of treated weevil were strongly affected as number of laid eggs was reduced and no progeny were obtained when adults were fed on wheat grains treated with either Lc50 or Lc95 . Extracts treatment with Lc95 of extracts gave protection up to 10 weeks for petrole-um ether, and 9 weeks for both chloroform and acetone extracts. All tested extracts reduced grain germination at the end of 14 weeks storage period. Treated wheat grains with Egyptian Sesban seed extracts reduced the weight loss of grains infested with the rice weevil. Biochemical studies show that some enzymes were affected in treated insects. S. aegyptica acetone extract was more effective than the other ex-tracts, in this affect, as it caused a significant reduction in amylase, trehalse and acid phosphatase activity. However, this extract caused an increase in invertase, alkaline phosphatase and cholinestrase activity.

The study examines factors affecting sprinkler irrigation system distribution uniformity, including sprinkler type, operating pressure and computer software design. The pressures used were 1.5, 2.1, and 2.5 bar for spray nozzles 4A and 17A, and 1.7, 2, 2.5, and 3 bar for rotor nozzles 1 and 3. The results showed a strong correlation, with (R2) values of 0.996 and 0.973, between SIDUL-Program (Sprinkler Irrigation Distribution Uniformity for Landscape–Program) and Excel program with respect to coefficient of uniformity (CU) and distribution uniformity (DU) respectively, suggesting a strong correlation between the two programs. The HEDIA program validated the SIDUL–Program, revealing a 0.42% difference in CU values between the two programs for rotor nozzle 3, indicating also a strong correlation (R2 = 0.953) between the two programs. The results showed that DU for spray 4A at a pressure of 2.1 bar was 7.4%, higher than DU at a pressure of 1.5 bar; the CU for spray 17A was 11.9% higher, as supported by manufacturer specifications. The study concluded that calculating CU and DU using the SIDUL–Program is critical for assessing sprinkler performance in irrigation systems since it considers factors such as soil type, irrigation 1methods and location; in addition to being easy to use and accurate com-pared to other programs.

The Tomato Chlorosis Criniviruses (ToCV) and Tomato yellow leaf curl Geminivirus (TYLCV), which naturally infecting and limited to the phloem, have caused a drastic reduction in tomato yield. The current study aims to determine the incidence of single and mixed viruses using biological, serological and molecular PCR methods in natural tomato plants. The incidence of mixed infection was found more frequently, followed by ToCV and TYLCV (42.3, 28.8, 17.8 in 2020 and 49.1, 29.7 and 19.1% in 2021, respectively). ToCV causes chlorosis, TYLCV causes leaf curl and yellowing, while mixed ToCV & TYLCV cause progress symptoms. By using the heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) and coat protein (CP) genes, ToCV and TYLCV isolates could be identified. These isolates were recorded in GenBank under accession codes "ON951644.1" and "OP265136.1" respectively. Host plants responded differently to severe and common disease density between ToCV and TYLCV. The transmitted whitefly could distinguish between ToCV and TYLCV within 15-20 minutes of the acquisition period. ToCV increases in fields with high whitefly populations, requiring further research to understand effects and reduce harm.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is considered one of the main food crops in many countries worldwide. The present work was planned to manage potato black-leg disease using organic treatments as well as mineral-nitrogenous treatments, in addition to examining their effects on the pathogenic bacterium (Pectobacterium atrosepticum) population under artificial inoculation conditions. The obtained data indicated that applications of cabbage, onion and peppermint dry ground leaves as organic matters, and applications of ammonium super-phosphate, potassium sulfate and urea as mineral-nitrogenous fertilizers reduced P. atrosepticum population and black-leg disease of potato compared with the control treatment. In addition, these treatments led to increasing potato yield, while the beneficial effects increased with increasing their doses compared with the control treatment. Meanwhile, the organic matter appeared highly effective compared with mineral-nitrogenous fertilizers in disease reduction. However, mineral-nitrogenous fertilizers appeared highly effective in increasing potato yield. Meanwhile, onion dry ground leaves (organic matter) and urea (nitrogenous fertilizer) were the most effective on the pathogenic bacterium population and severity of the disease compared with other treatments

This study analyzed data from 5,518 lactations involving 1,749 Friesian cows raised in two experimental herds between 1992 and 2022.  The study aim was to estimate the genetic parameters for longevity traits using a multiple-trait animal model, including age at first calving (AFC), lifetime (LT), lifetime days in milk (LTDIM), total lactations (TL) and lifetime milk yield (LTMY). On average, cows lived for 80.4 months, with 41% of their lifetime spent in milk production. They averaged 3.2 lactations, starting at 32.7 months. Heritability estimates for longevity traits were 0.09 to 0.12 suggesting limited direct selection potential. Strong genetic and phenotypic correlations (0.88–0.96) were observed between lifespan traits and total milk production. Similar correlations were found between partial lifetime milk yield traits for the first three lactations and total lifetime milk yield (0.44 to 0.97). Genetic correlations between lifetime traits were consistently high (0.88 to 0.99), mirroring phenotypic correlations. Notably, heritability estimates for partial performance traits increased with more lactations considered, and correlations between partial and lifetime traits were improved with additional data. These findings suggest the feasibility of early indirect selection for longevity through correlated responses in early performance traits, particularly early lactation milk production, to enhance overall lifetime productivity.

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.

Pomegranate peel extracts, both ethanolic (PPE) and aqueous (PPA), demonstrated a broad spectrum of antibacterial action against Gr+ve and Gr-ve bacteria, with bacterial isolate B2 (G+ve cocci) having the maximum inhibition zone (IZ) 10.5–26.5 mm at concentrations  4.2 mg mL-1 to 267 mg mL-1. PPE's minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) varies among bacterial strains, with the lowest being 8.3 mg mL-1. Ball-milled nano-scale pomegranate peel (NSPP) with 89.09 nm particle increased IZ 3-fold and decreased MIC significantly. MTT was used to assess the NSPPE's cytotoxicity against the Vero normal kidney and caco cell lines. At lower doses, NSPPE was safe, but increasing concentrations gradually lethal against Vero normal kidney cell line. NSPPE was highly toxic to caco cells, with an IC50 339.76±13.9 µg mL-1. Fish kofta samples treated with NSPPE were completely free of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus after 8 weeks of storage. This study demonstrates that NSPPE may improve fish food safety and shelf life as a natural preservative.

This study was designed to investigate the influence of in ovo injection of peppermint (Mentha piperita) essential oil (PO) on hatchability (%), antioxidant states, and some biochemical parameters of broilers at hatch. Fertilized eggs (120) were divided into six groups, the control group and other groups injected with 10, 50, 100 and 150 μL/ml of PO in saline solution on the 18th day of incubation in an air sac. GC-MS indicated that PO contains L-menthone (32.7%), menthol (29.34%) and pulegone (9.63 %) as major components. The results revealed that injection of 10 µL/mL of PO increased the hatchability compared to other groups while the body weight of the chicks was not significantly different. Antioxidant activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) significantly increased in injected groups compared to the control group. In addition, plasma total protein and globulin levels increased while the albumin/globulin (A/G) ratio was reduced. Lipid profile indicated that plasma cholesterol and triglyceride levels were significantly decreased in all PO-treated groups. In conclusion, in ovo injection with 10 µL/mL of PO showed positive effects on hatchability (%) and the viability of post-hatch chicks, without indicated harm to the blood constituents.