Banana (Musa spp.) is a widely consumed and economically significant fruit crop in Egypt. In recent years, postharvest diseases have emerged as a serious threat, causing significant losses in market value and fruit quality. This study aimed to identify the causal agent of banana fruit rot in local markets in El-Kharga City, New Valley Governorate, Egypt. We collected infected banana samples showing dark gray to greenish-black, dry, sunken lesions. A fungal pathogen, Alternaria angustiovoidea, was isolated and identified morphologically and molecularly. Pathogenicity tests confirmed the ability of the fungus to reproduce disease symptoms on healthy banana fruits. Mmorphological characterization showed typical Alternaria features, including club-shaped, septate conidia. A molecular identification analysis of the isolated pathogen A. angustiovoidea was conducted by sequencing its ribosomal DNA using, two genetic markers: ITS and LSU. The sequences of the ITS and LSU genes obtained from the isolated fungus were submitted to GenBank under the accession number PP854441.1. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of A. angustiovoidea as the causative agent of post-harvest banana fruit rot in Egypt.

The analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences among parents and their crosses for all studied traits. Griffing’s analysis revealed significant effects of both general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA), indicating the contribution of additive as well as non-additive genetic components. Hayman’s Wr-Vr regression further confirmed these findings, revealing that over-dominance was predominant for most yield-related traits. Plant height, spike length, number of spikes/plant, grain yield/plant, and 100-grain weight under water stress conditions, whereas additive gene effects were more pronounced under normal irrigation for some traits such as days to 50% heading, weight of spikes/plant and biological yield. Parents located near the origin on the Wr-Vr graph, as well as those exhibiting high GCA effects (notably P3 and P5), were identified as the most promising combiners for yield improvement and drought tolerance. The integration of Hayman's and Griffing's analyses provides robust evidence for designing efficient wheat breeding strategies that combine heterosis exploitation under water-stress conditions with additive-based selection under irrigation to achieve sustainable genetic gains. These findings provide useful guidelines for breeding programs aiming to combine drought tolerance with high productivity in bread wheat.

Effective value chain system is essential for the growth and development of artisanal fishery sector. Despite the enormous benefits that have been linked to value addition in fish industry, study on efficiency of resource use along artisanal fishery value chain remain scanty. This study is on technical efficiency of selected actors along artisanal fish value chain in Kwara state, Nigeria. A three-stage sampling technique was used to select 120 respondents, consisting 52 fishermen and 68 fish processors, and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and stochastic frontier production function. Findings showed that mean age of the actors were 45.52years, and 48.62 for fishermen and fish processors respectively and the average years of experience were 24.73years and 26.54years respectively. The stochastic frontier analysis indicated that factors such as number of fishing cast net (p≤0.01), number of canoes (p ≤0.01), fuel consumption per fishing trip (p≤0.01), and labour (p≤0.05) significantly influenced the output levels of fishermen while that of fish processors was influenced by number of smoking kin (p≤0.01), number of pots used for processing (p≤0.1), labour (p≤0.01), and quantity of fish used for processing (p≤0.01). The inefficiency of fisherfolk was influenced by age, income and fishing experience while fish processors’ inefficiency was determined by household size, income and processing experience. The most serious challenges encountered by the actors along the value chain were high cost of fuel and inadequate processing facilities. The study recommended policies that promote resource use efficiency and more sustainable practices along the artisanal fish value chain.

Processed locust bean is a highly nutritious and commonly used food seasoning ingredient in Nigeria. Locust bean processing is a vital source of livelihoods and income for several rural women. This study examined the constraints to locust beans processing among rural women in Kwara State, Nigeria. A total of 120 locust bean processors were chosen for the study. Data was collected using structured questionnaires. The data were analyzed using frequency counts, mean, and Pearson Product-Moment Correlation (PPMC). The findings revealed that the average age of the locust bean processors is 53 years, and approximately 65.8% of the processors hold a formal education. Fermentation (mean = 3.81) was the most frequently performed task among the respondents in locust bean processing. About 96.7% of the processors have no access to hydrocyclone and other modern locust bean processing equipment and technologies. Inadequate access to finance (mean = 3.14) was the most severe constraint limiting the processors. The study therefore recommended that the provision of financial support to processors, in the form of grants and loans, would help them finance their processing activities. This provision would enhance their productivity and the livelihoods of the women processors.

The impact of salinity NaCl and algae extract (AE) on various growth characteristics, volatile oil yield and chemical constituents in rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) plants was investigated. This investigation was followed a completely randomized block design and performed at the farm of Floriculture, Faculty Agriculture, Qena University, Qena Governorate, Egypt. The experiment consisted of nine treatments, including: 1) control, 2) 26 mM NaCl, 3) 26mM NaCl plus 1.5ml/L AE, 4) 26mM NaCl plus 3.0 ml/L AE, 5) 52mM NaCl, 6) 52mM NaCl plus 1.5ml/L AE, 7) 52mM NaCl plus 3.0 ml/L AE, 8) 1.5 ml/L AE, and 9) 3.0 ml/L AE. Rosemary plants subjected to saline water irrigation and sprayed with AE attained higher values of biometric traits such as plant height (cm), number of branches number, fresh weight of herb (g), dry weight of herb (g), leaf area (cm2), and total leaf area (cm2) than those irrigated by saline water without AE. Essential oil percentage and yield (ml/plant) also increased in plants irrigated with saline water and sprayed with AE. Spraying rosemary plants with either of the two tested concentrations of AE (1.5 or 3.0 ml/L) led to improve growth and productivity when compared to the other treatments, especially with the higher level. In addition, introducing AE, especially at 3.0ml/L to plants affected by salinity improved physiological characteristics like total chlorophylls, total carbohydrates, total phenols, and free proline than those subjected to saline water irrigation without AE. Results concluded that growth and productivity of rosemary plants can be progressed with acclimating them under conditions of salt stress by spraying algae extract at rate of 3.0 ml/L. This attempt helps rosemary producers to alleviate the harmful impacts of salinity in newly reclaimed sandy soils.

This article aims to analyse the livelihood assets that influence the strategies of agricultural households in the Kanem region of Chad. The study employed a multinomial logit model to determine the relationship between livelihood assets and the strategies adopted. The mean value of the livelihood asset index in the province stands at 0.297, reflecting an unfavourable situation in terms of the resources available to farming households. This result underscores their precarious living conditions and limited prospects for economic development.The findings of the study reveal that human capital, financial capital, and social capital have a positive and significant effect on livelihood strategy choices, particularly for Type II rural households (households primarily dependent on agriculture) and Type III households (exclusively agricultural households). The greater the availability of these three forms of capital, the more households tend to adopt strategies associated with these two types of livelihoods. Similarly, physical capital has a significant positive impact on livelihood strategy choices in the Type III household model. In other words, the more physical capital an agricultural household possesses, the more likely it is to engage in activities corresponding to this model. These empirical results highlight the need to enhance livelihood assets across all dimensions human, financial, social, and physical to strengthen the capacities of agricultural households.