A series of lab and field experiments were carried out to evaluate the possibility of using some substances as adjuvants added to the foliar fertilizer tank to improve fertilizer application and enhance use efficiency. Each of the suggested substances was prepared in 10 concentrations treatments, ranging between 0.05 and 2g/L. The effect of each concentration on static surface tension and static contact angle in liquid/air/glass and solid plant leaves/air interface were used to evaluate and find out the optimum concentration of each substance to be used as an adjuvant. An Adjmix-D1 was pre-pared using 0.6g/L Triethanolamine and 0.6g/L liquid soap as surfactants, 0.6g/L glycerin as a humectant, 0.6 g/L Arabic gum as a sticker and 0.6g/L urea as a penetrator. The obtained results showed that fruit yield as well as N, K, Fe, Zn and Mn contents in white eggplants and cucumber leaves are positively increased by the applications of improved foliar fertilizers (IFF). This increase can be arranged in the following descending order: Adjmix-D1 > Adjmix-D2 > Liquid soap > Rixi film > Triethanolamine. It could be concluded that the Adjmix-D1 can be used as an effective adjuvant for improving foliar fertilizer application efficiency.

A pot experiment was carried out in seventeen levels of fertilization to evaluate the effect of the bio-fertilizer mixture alone or in combination with chemical fertilizer (NPK) on Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill). Bio-fertilizer was a mixture of Azotobacter chroococcum, Bacillus circulans and Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza. Results indicated that the use of bio-fertilizer at 3.75 ml/pot four times with 25% of NPK gave the highest significant values of vegetative growth, yield parameters, and NPK uptake; how-ever, fertilizing with bio-fertilizers without NPK application showed the lowest significant values in the two experimental seasons. The same addition of bio-fertilizer gave the highest significant values of total microbial count of soil and increased cumulative CO2; whereas the addition of 100% NPK gave the lowest significant values in both seasons. The full dose of NPK significantly increased volatile oil percentage while the addition of bio-fertilizer only significantly decreased it in both seasons. GC analysis of essential oil showed that the highest percentage of anethol (12.77 %) was obtained by applying 3.75 ml/pot bio-fertilizer added one time + 25% NPK and de-creased estragole (72.78%).

In the sake of enhancing the thermal stability of α-Tocopheryl acetate (α-TA) and Strawberry Anthocyanins (AN), their encapsulation with starch or β-Cyclodextrin were prepared and characterized by UV-Vis and IR spectra in addition to thermal analysis. Thermal stability was investigated by comparing the thermographs of each host and guest with that of the prepared complex. Both hosts provided extra thermal stability to both guests where α-TA is stabilized from 230 to 291oC by complexation with starch and to 285oC by encapsulation with β-CD. AN was also stabilized from 40.02oC to 75.57 and 79.46oC by complexation with starch and β-CD respectively.

Glyphosate (GLY) and glufosinate-ammonium (GLUA) are broad-spectrum, non-selective, contact herbicides that are commonly used in fruit farms Achieving the separation and detection of glyphosate and glufosinate from soil samples by chromatography is a challenging task as they are ionic and highly water-soluble compounds. The aim of this study is conducted to determine the dissipation of GLY and GLUA applied at two dose levels in three-depth soils of orange orchards. The residues of GLY and GLUA were determined by the HPLC-UV detector. The residual detection limits of GLY and GLUA of the method were 0.03 and 0.05 ng/g in soil respectively. The obtained data indicated that GLY persistent in the soil is very short, only for 7 days, following applications of 1 to 2 kg/fed in the orange crop. GLUA dissipated in soil within 14 days of application, regardless of dose. The half-life (T/2) of GLY and GLUA were 1.68 and 1.42 days at 0 cm depth, respectively. There was no significant difference between the half-life of the two herbicides in soil at three depths. These results showed that GLY dissipation occurs rapidly in soil. However, GLUA was moderately persistent in soil. The two compounds tested showed a reduction of dry weight for four types of weeds after 14 days of recommended and double-rate application.

Aphids are considered one of the most economically important insect pests worldwide. Successful pest management systems are based on accurate and rapid pest species identification. Traditional morphological identification of closed aphid species may be considered an inaccurate taxonomic process. To overcome the disadvantages of traditional morphological identification, molecular techniques, related to DNA markers and based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR), were approached by using nine ISSRs primers to identify and diagnose fifteen common aphid species that disperse in the Egyptian agroecosystem. The examined ISSRs primers could success-fully discriminate the tested aphid species that reflected 61.39% polymorphism among them. Moreover, four banding patterns were considered unique bands that could characterize three aphid species (Aphis gossypii, Aphis nerii and Myzus persicae). The highest genetic homology (84.9%) was observed between species Rhopalosipum padi and Schizaphis graminum. In addition, each of A. gossypii and Aphis citricola were also genetically homologous species. In contrast, species Aphis craccivora and M. persicae were analogous genetically with a low similarity percentile (59.8%). High genetic di-vergence was observed also between A. nerii and M. persicae. Two alternative molecular branching taxonomic keys were proposed by subjecting the five highest polymorphic ISSRs primers and 29 banding patterns with different molecular sizes.

This study was conducted to reduce the volume of solid wastes by using unmarketable potato tubers for producing biodegradable plastic films to substitute oil-based plastics “OBP” which is often not biodegradable. Starch-based plastic films “SBP” were produced with different concentrations of glycerol (5, 10,15, 20,25, 30, 99.5%v/v) as a plasticizer. The physical properties of SBP including thickness, density, water absorption, and biodegradability, were studied, as well as mechanical properties including tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, elongation % and the required energy for the firm were also investigated compared with OBP samples. The results showed that the maximum value of extracted starch was 13.5% obtained by blending potato tubers. SBP films with elevated glycerol concentration in-creased the sample thickness but decreased its density. Glycerol 20% gave the best flexible compact structure SBP films. The average thickness and density of SBP film (20% glycerol) were 0.25 mm and 80.11 Kg/m3 respectively. Meanwhile, the average thickness and density for OBP films were 0.41 mm and 24.39 Kg/m3 respectively. The rate of mass loss of SBP films with 20% glycerol concentration was 72% after 96 days while the rate of mass loss for OBP films is neglectable. Consumed energy for the firm was 44.05 and 31.06 N. mm.

The materials used in this study were four commercial varieties of Egyptian cotton; two (Giza 86 and Giza 90) belonging to the long staple class and the others (Giza 88 and Giza 92) belonging to the extra-long staple category. Within each variety, nine lint cotton grades namely: Fully Good (FG), Good/Fully Good (G/FG), Good (G), Fully Good Fair/Good (FGF/G), Fully Good Fair (FGF), Good Fair/ Fully Good Fair (GF/FGF), Good Fair (GF), Fully Fair/Good Fair (FF/GF) and Fully Fair (FF) were used. Thus Fully Good (FG) is the top quality grade and the others are progressively lower; i.e. Fully Fair (FF) is the lowest grade. Fiber properties were measured by using the Cotton Classifying System Version-5 instrument (CCS-V5). Data collected for the following characteristics were: reflectance degree (Rd %), yellowness degree (+b), trash%, dust%, fiber fragments%, total trash%, No. of neps and Micronaire value. Mean squares due to all nine grades of long and extra-long staple cotton varieties in combined analysis were highly significant over seasons for all studied characters except yellowness (+b) and fiber fragments% in Giza 92. Highly significant mean performance values of four cotton varieties and nine lint grades for each variety for all studied characters, it became clear that there were significant genetically differences between studied varieties and fiber cotton lint grades within each variety. Gradually increased for yellowness degree, trash%, dust%, fiber fragments%, total trash% (trash, dust, fiber fragments) and number of neps, while gradually decreased for reflectance degree (Rd%) and micronaire value with significant level as transfer for all tested varieties from (FG) grade down to the (FF). All studied varieties showed highly significant negative correlation between fiber cotton grade with yellowness, trash, dust, total trash% and No. of neps, while highly significant positive correlation between fiber cotton grade with reflectance degree and micronaire value. Total trash% and micronaire value as well as reflectance degree and their interactions were the most contributing and influencing of fiber cotton grades. Also these properties and their joint effects are prevailing factors which affect the personal judgment of the grader at evaluating the cotton grade.

The development of agriculture over the last decades has resulted in a continuous change of the natural vegetation of Egypt. Several species widely cultivated as economic crops or ornamentals. Numbers of species which escaped from cultivation and naturalized in naturals habitats are increasing. It is necessary to study the changes in the natural vegetation and traces the new species. The present study undertakes a survey, taxonomical revision and numerical analysis of the genus Hibiscus L. in Egypt including wild and cultivated species. The taxonomic treatment based on collecting of fresh materials from the studied species, in addition to the investigation of the herbarium specimens as well as information from the literatures. Eleven species of Hibiscus were reported in this study, from which there are 5 wild species (H. diversifolius Jacq., H. micranthus L. f., H. vitifolius L., H. sabdariffa L. and H. trionum L.) and there are 6 cultivated species (H. cannabinus L., H. mutabilis L., H. rosa-sinensis L., H. schizopetalus (Mast.) Hook. f. in Curtis, H. syriacus L. and H. tiliaceus L.). An identification key to the species of Hibiscus is provided. Valid names and synonyms are updated from online sources. Scientific descriptions provided the characters of leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds based on the herbarium specimens and completed from fresh materials and literatures are given. Distribution of wild species in their phytogeographical regions are provided. Type specimen, habitat, selected specimens and economic importance are provided for each species. The numerical analysis based on thirty six morphological characters including vegetative, flowers and fruits parts of the studied species. SPSS Statistics version 22 used to get morphometric analysis. The numerical analysis revealed two main clusters. The first cluster included 3 species, viz. H. micranthus L. f., H. vitifolius L. and H. trionum L. The second cluster included two groups: group (a) viz. H. diversifolius Jacq., H. syriacus L., and H. tiliaceus L., and group (b) viz. Hibiscus cannabinus L., H. mutabilis L., H. rosa-sinensis L., H. sabdariffa L. and H. schizopetalus (Mast.) Hook. f. in Curtis.

Six local Egyptian commercial cultivars of family Lamiaceae, two cultivars of genus Ocimum L. (Basil), two cultivars of genus Menthe L. (Mint), and two cultivars of genus Thymus L. (Thyme) were analyzed for ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase Large (rbcL) gene at the level of DNA sequences. All samples successfully amplified the ± 630 bp fragment. Additionally, the results of alignment analysis using BLASTN tools divulged that the sequence of DNA rbcL for the two local basil cultivars (Basil1 & Basil2) has similarities with (Ocimum basilicum, Ocimum tenuiflorum, Ocimum kilimandscharicum and Ocimum gratissimum) 100, 99.69, 99.37 and 99.06 respectively. In addition, two local mint cultivars (Mint 1 and Mint 2) has similarities with Mentha spicata, Mentha_pulegium, Mentha canadensis and Mentha menthaefolia, 99.85, 99.84, 99.69 and 99.53 respectively. For thyme local cultivars (Thyme1 and Thyme2), Thym1 cultivar sample genotype is genetic closely with species, (Thymus alsinoides and Thymus sibthorpii) with 99.69 and 99.84 respectively and they located nearest from the cluster (Thymus genus) members in phylogenetic trees while, Thym2 is located after the cluster with Artemisia genus belonging to family Asteraceae. The reason of this result may be occurring due to that a Thym2 genotype comes from local marketing, which some of them are selling it as a thymus genus however, it is belongs to Artemisia genus and has similarities with with seven species of Artemisia genus (Artemisia absinthium, Artemisia gmelinii, Artemisia selengensis, Artemisia scoparia, Artemisia maritima, Artemisia capillaris and Artemisia fukudo). Using of rbcL DNA barcode proves to be effective in identifying the plants from the family level up to the genus level. This study demonstrates the efficiency of using rbcL barcoding primer to classify family Lamiaceae phylogenetically. It is also concluded that the rbcL gene showed genuine potentials to distinguish the plant Egypt species under investigation into the proper family and genus. s to distinguish the plant Egypt species under investigation into the proper family and genus.

Key Words: Media filter, Treated wastewater, Drip irrigation, Cotton Growth and Yield.INTRODUCTIONAccording to Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWIR), Egypt (2014) Agriculture expends a large amount of the obtainable water in Egypt, with its share exceeding 85% of the total demand for water. Utilizing treated wastewater represents a viable option. The study were carried out at Sarapium Forest, Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation in “Sarapium”, Ismailia Governorate, Egypt, during 2018 and 2019 seasons to investigate the effect of media depth on the performance of different types of emitters for irrgating cotton (verity Giza 94) using treated wastewater. Also this study estimates the effect of using treated wastewater on the cotton growth, quantity and quality. The first experiment design for filtration performance was a split-plot with four replications. The main plots involved two media filtration depths (50 cm and 70 cm) and the sub-plots involved the time of operation (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100h). While the second experiment design for planting cotton was a split-plot with three replications. The main plots involved two plant distribution (Mutual and Opposite) and the sub-plots involved the three types of emitters namely: online 4 l/h compensative, online 4 l/h non-compensative and built- in 4 l/h-30cm non-compensative the distance between emitters were (30 cm).The results indicated that: Increasing media filtration depth from 50 to 70 cm has led to decrease the filtration flowrate with increasing pressure losses, biological oxygen demand (BOD5) and total suspended solids (TSS). The filtration flowrate decreased by increasing operation time from 0 to 100 but pressure losses, BOD5 and TSS was increased. Emitters performance of online compensative and built-in non-compensative were generally better than the online non-compensative under using wastewater quality and emitters performance decrease by increasing operation time from zero to 100 hours. Plants distribution significantly effect on growth and yield components of cotton. Planting cotton by mutual method gave the highest values of number of opened bolls per plant, seed cotton yield (Ken./fed.)