Agricultural Experiment Station Research Articles

Effect of Humic Acid and Nano-NPK on Vegetative Growth of Young Trees of Date Palm Cultivars Phoenix dactylifera L

The study was carried out in the palm orchared at the Agricultural Research and Experiment Station at the Sayada site of the College of Agriculture / University of Kirkuk / Iraq during for a period from 15/06/2022 to 15/03/2023. The study included two factors, the first factor being two concentrations of humic acid. (20, 40 gm tree−1) and spraying with two concentrations of Nano - NPK (1, 1.5 gm −1), in addition to the control treatment and the second factor, three cultivars of (yellow Shwathi, Khastawy, and Khaddrawy) date palms., as spraying with the nano NPK resulted in With a concentration of 1.5 g L−1, there was a significant increase in the vegetative growth characteristics (number of fronds and tree height), which recorded 8.89, 39.67 cm over the control treatment, While humic acid was superior at a concentration of 40 g tree−1 in the following characteristics (length of wicker and the number of thorns), which amounted to 5.50 cm, and 7.22 thorns of shoot−1, respectively, compared to the comparison treatment. The overlap treatment (1.5 gm L−1 of Nano-NPK and yellow Al-Shwathi cultivar) was superior in the number of thorns, and the same concentration of Nano - NPK with the Khaddrawy cultivar was superior in tree height.

The Effect of Gum Arabic and Technomus as a Prebiotics on the Growth Parameters of Common Carp Cyprinus carpio L.

This study was conducted at the first agricultural research and experiment station, Agriculture college, Al-Muthanna university, for 85 days, including the localization period (for the period from 25/9/2022 to 20/12/2022), to determine the effect of adding gum Arabic and technomus as a prebiotic to the diet of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) on growth parameters. 162 common carp were used, with an average weight of 75±5 gm per fish, in 27 small tanks (baskets) of 0.107 cubic meters, they were randomly distributed to nine treatments with three replicates (6 fish for each replicate), were as followed: T1: (control treatment; without adding). T2: add 0% technomus with 0.5% gum Arabic to the diet. T3: add 0% technomus with 1.0% gum Arabic to the diet. T4: add 0.5% technomus with 0% gum Arabic to the diet. T5: add 0.5% technomus with 0.5% gum Arabic to the diet. T6: add 0.5% technomus with 1.0% gum Arabic to the diet. T7: add 1.0% technomus with 0% gum Arabic to the diet. T8: add 1.0% technomus with 0.5% gum Arabic to the diet. T9: add 1.0% technomus with 1.0% gum Arabic to the diet. The results showed a significant (P≤0.05) superiority of T8 compare with T1 and T2 treatments on weight gain, final weight, daily weight gain, relative growth rate, and specific growth rate. T7 was significantly superior to control treatment at the same traits.

Effect of Different Levels of Brewer’s Yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Molasses on some Growth Parameters of Common Carp Cyprinus carpio L.

From October 1, 2022, to December 20, 2023, researchers at the first agricultural research and experiment station in Um Al-Akf, Al-Muthanna Governorate, used a 45-by-35-by-1.5-meter dugout pond located 570 meters from the Euphrates/Atshan River (at the coordinates E 45.189309N, 31.321394) to test the effects of various concentrations of the brewer’s yeast Schizosaccharomy The common carp, Cyprinus carpio L. The experimental parameters were as follows: T0: control diet (without additives). T1: add 0.5 mg brewer’s yeast / kg diet. T2: add 1 mg brewer’s yeast / kg diet. T3: add 1.5 mg molasses / kg diet. T4: add 2 mg molasses / kg diet. T5: add 0.5 mg brewer’s yeast + 1.5 mg molasses / kg diet. T6: add 0.5 mg brewer’s yeast + 2 mg molasses / kg diet. T7: add 1 mg brewer’s yeast + 1.5 mg molasses / kg diet. T8: add 1 mg brewer’s yeast + 2 mg molasses / kg diet. The results indicated that all special treatments, in addition to brewer’s yeast and molasses, significantly improved the growth parameters of carp fish compared to the control treatment. Results were much better with the T3 therapy (addition of 1.5 mg molasses / kg diet) compared to the other experimental treatments.

The Effect of Biofertilizers, Phosphorus Sources and Vermicompost on the Preparation of Bacterial and Fungal Cells for the Two Phases of Vegetative Growth and Flowering of Potato Plants

A field experiment was conducted for potato plants in the field of Agricultural Research and Experiment Station in Al-Muradiyya of the Directorate of Agriculture of Babylon - Babylon Governorate for the agricultural season 2022 to study the effect of adding bacterial fertilizer, phosphorus sources (triple superphosphate and phosphate rock) and vermicompost and the interaction between them in cell preparation Bacterial and fungal phases of potato plant vegetative growth and blooming according to RCBD design. The experiment included three factors: the addition of the bacterial biofertilizer Bacillus megaterium (with or without addition), phosphorus sources at three levels (0, triple superphosphate at 100 kg ha-1, phosphate rock at 200 kg ha-1), and vermicompost at three levels. Levels (0, 8, 12) ton ha-1, with three replications, yielded 54 experimental units. Burin cultivar potato tubers were planted, and the results were: The addition of bacterial bio fertilizer to treatment B1 produced the highest numbers of bacterial cells for the two stages of vegetative growth and flowering of potato plants: 4.73×106 and 6.73×106 (colony forming unit g-1 dry soil × 106) in sequence, and 5.93 × 103 and 12.15 × 103 for fungal cells. g-1 dry soil × 103, sequentially. During potato plant vegetative growth and flowering, the P22 treatment had the most bacterial and fungal cells, at 5.31 × 106 and 7.56 × 106 (colony forming unit g-1 dry soil 106), respectively. sequentially (g-1 dry soil) 103. Treatment F2 with vermicompost added had the largest counts of bacterial and fungal cells during the vegetative growth and blooming phases of potato plants at 6.22 × 106 (colony forming unit g-1 dry soil 106) and 10.08 × 106 (colony forming unit g-1 dry soil 103), respectively. B1P2F3 had the greatest bacterial cell counts at 8.25 and 13.55 × 106 (colony forming unit g-1 dry soil 106).

Effect of Methods of Adding Red Ginseng on some Productive Traits of Laying Hens

For 12 weeks, from October 15, 2022, to January 7, 2023, researchers at Al-Muthanna University’s Agricultural Research and Experiment Station examined the impact of different methods for administering red ginseng root on a selection of laying hens’ blood parameters. Sixty 43-week-old ISA Brown laying hens were split into four treatments, each with fifteen hens. Each treatment’s pens were three metres by three metres, and each pen was divided into thirds so that each third included five hens. The following procedures were used: In T1 (the placebo group), the regular diet was served without any alterations. T2: Combine 1 gramme of alcoholic extract with 1 litre of water. T3: The diet included 1 gramme of powdered red ginseng root per kilogramme of feed. T4: Ten millilitres of red ginseng root aqueous extract per one litre of water was added to the supply. The results show that compared to the control treatment, all treatments in which ginseng root powder was administered significantly increased the egg production ratio, egg weight, egg mass, and feed conversion factor of the laying hens tested. The best outcomes, by a wide margin, were achieved with the addition of alcoholic extract to drinking water.

Synergistic Effect of Butyric and Propionic Supplementation in Common Carp Diets on Growth and Immunological Parameters

The experiment was conducted for the period from 1/9/2021 to 3/6/2022, at the first agricultural research and experiment station of the College of Agriculture, Al-Muthanna University, which is located north of the city of Samawah near the end of the Alatshan river, about 4 km, whose water was relied upon as a source in this study. The butyric and propionic acids were mixed in the following proportions, and were fed to the experimental fish by ten treatments, which was (P0.00%, B0.00%), the control treatment, (P0.05%B0.05%) the first treatment T1, (%P 0.05%, B 0.15%) second treatment T2, (%P 0.05 0.20 B%) the third treatment T3, (%P 0.15% B0.05%) the fourth treatment T4, ( %P 0.15 %B 0.15) the fifth transaction T5, (P 0.15%B 0.20%) was the sixth treatment T6, (%P 0.20%B 0.05) was the seventh treatment T7, (%P 0.20 %B 0.15) was the eighth treatment T8, (%P 0.20 %B 0.20) was The ninth treatment T9, and they were added to diets with a protein content of 29.14% and a total energy of 396.726 (Kcal/g), 180 common carp (Cyprinus carpio L) fish were distributed among the ten treatments, and each treatment had three replications in 30 plastic cages with diameters of 50 cm and a depth of 65 cm in a cylindrical shape, each cage has 6 fish. The results showed the superiority of T2 in all growth parameters FW, WG, DGR, RGR, SGR, MGR, FI, FCR, FCE, and PER, followed significantly by T1, then T3, then T4 in almost all growth parameters. From the foregoing, it can be said that butyric and propionic acids can be used as functional additives in common carp fish diets, as they improve metabolic growth coefficient, feed conversion efficiency, and increase food intake efficiency.

Combining Ability and Gene Action of Half Diallel Crosses in Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Seven genotypes of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were used (SK 95, Side14, Side 12, SK94, Giemiza 9, Giemiza 7, Al-Fayyad) and their 21 crosses from half diallel cross, and they were planted at the Agricultural Research and Experiment Station of the Faculty of Agriculture. Agriculture - University of Kirkuk, using a randomized complete block design with three replicates in order to study the combining ability and the components of phenotypic variation and genetic parameters for the components of grain yield, parents and their crosses differed significantly in all traits, and parent 2 excelled in performance and effect of the general combining ability in the desired direction. The cross 2×6 showed significant superiority in the average of the studied traits, and the effect of the special combing ability, indicating that the heterosis breeding method can be adopted, and selection in the later generations, while crosses 2×4 and 2×7 excelled in grain yield and some of its components, and the effect of the special combining ability was not significant, which can be selected for in the early generations. The dominance variance showed higher than the additive variance, which was reflected in the decrease in the values of heritability narrow sense, and the degree of dominance was higher than one, so the over dominance is that controls the trait.

Effect of Planting Date, Home Garden Direction, and Fertilizing with Compound Fertilizer (Hortifeeds) on the Number of Days Required for Flowering and on the Number of Flowers in the Middle of Each Month for Hybrid Carnation (Dianthus Chinensis X Barbatus)

The study was carried out in the field of the Agricultural Research and Experiment Station belonging to the College of Agriculture / University of Kirkuk, located in the Al-Sayada area in Kirkuk Governorate, during the growing season from (9/15/2021) to (4/15/2022), to study the effect of planting dates. The first is (9/15/2021 and the second date is 9/30/2021), the direction of the home garden (south, east, and west) and fertilization with levels of compound fertilizer Hortifeeds that are (0, 1, 2, and 3) g.L−1 in growth and flowering Hybrid carnation plant (Dianthus chinensis x barbatus), The factorial experiment was carried out with a randomized complete design of three sectors, and the statistical analysis program (SAS) was used to analyse the data, and the Duncan polynomial test was adopted to compare averages at the 5% level.) The highest rates with a significant difference for the characteristics of the number of days required for flowering amounted to (136,860) days, the number of flowers for the month of January was (0.694) flower.plant−1, the number of flowers for the month of February was (7.238) flower.plant−1, and the number of flowers for the month of March was (41,632) flower Plant−1, while the number of flowers for the month of April did not reach the level of significant.

FEATURES OF THE USE OF ELECTRIC FENCES IN LLP «NORTH KAZAKHSTAN AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENTAL STATION» OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN

The features of the use of electric fences (electric shepherds) in LLP "North Kazakhstan Agricultural Experimental Station" of the Republic of Kazakhstan are considered. The electric shepherd was used to fence the grazing areas of cattle (cattle). An OLLI 250+ generator was used as a pulse emitter, the electric shepherd fence is made with a braided cord with a woven conductive wire made of stainless steel. Information was used on the influence of local vegetation on the operation of the electric fence, as well as its control in operation mode. Information about the habitat of other animals is provided, which affects the constructive use of electric fences. To check the passage of pulses in remote areas, an Olli Digitester+ electric fence voltage tester with a measurement range of 0.1 – 12 kV was used. The technical parameters of the equipment used are given and recommendations for its use are given.

Response of Bread Wheat Cultivars to Deficient Irrigation: a Morphological and Molecular Study

During the agricultural season of 2022-2023, a field experiment was conducted at the second agricultural experiment station of the College of Agriculture - Al-Muthanna University in the Al-Bandar area (3 km from the city center) to study the molecular and phenotypic response of bread wheat cultivars to the effect of incomplete irrigation. An experiment was conducted using the Randomised Complete Block Design with split plots and three replications, the primary plots included the deficient irrigation factor, coded: D1 control, D2 tillering stage, D3 elongation stage, and D4 booting stage, while the secondary plots included cultivars and were coded V1 Mawada, V2 Bohuth22, V3 Baraka, and V4 IBAA99. The statistical analysis revealed that there were significant differences between the water stress stages. The D1 treatment produced superior spike length (13.17) cm. Regarding cultivars, the cultivar Baraka excelled in the majority of field characteristics, including spike length (17.09) cm, leaf area (42.33) cm2, number of grains per spike (67.78) grains spike-1 and grain weight (61.02) g. While the cultivar Mawadah excelled in the number of days up to 50% flowering (88.50), plant height (93.17), and spike m-2 yield (364.4), the cultivar IPA99 excelled in the number of spikes (364.4). Regarding the interpenetrate, it had a significant effect on the majority of the traits, as treatment D1V2 excelled in the number of spikes (396.7) spike m-2, while treatment D1V3 excelled in the number of grains per spike (76.11) grains spike-1 and treatment D1V4 excelled in grain yield (7.30) ton ha-1. The combination D4V1 was also superior in terms of the number of spikes m-2 (408.3). The D4V4 treatment produced a superior grain yield (8.54) ton ha-1. The results of the molecular analysis by ISSR-PCR technique indicated that the primer (HB13) had 33 bands, and the primer (HB14) had 40 bands. Electrophoresis on agarose gel revealed that the primer (HB15) recorded the highest number of bands with 57 bands, 41 differentiated and 16 common, representing the main binding sites.

Селекция подсолнечника в изменяющихся агроклиматических условиях Тамбовской области

Tambov Research Institute of Agriculture – a branch of the I.V. Michurin Federal Research Center (early Tambov State Regional Agricultural Experimental station) has been conducting the breeding of sunflowers from the 50th of the last century. The Tambov region is located on 52 grad. N lat. In the north border of the sunflower cultivation. The duration of a period from seedling appearance to physiological maturity of sunflower should be equal no more than 80–85 days in conditions of the Tambov region. A short frostless period and early autumn colds, often accompanied with long rains do not allow producing more productive sunflower varieties and hybrids with a growing season of 120–130 days. The agricultural production requires for very early and early varieties maturing without desiccation before harvest. During these years, as the results of scientific breeding works, 19 varieties and a hybrid of sunflower were developed. Currently, five varieties Spartak, Chakinsky 931, Chakinsky 77, PK 05, Chakinsky 100, and a hybrid Nadezhda developed jointly with a company “Agroplazma” are included into the State Register of breeding achievements permitted for the agricultural production in the Central Chernozem (5) and Middle Volga (7) regions. In 2021, the new sunflower variety Zagrey 21 was introduced into the State variety trial. During the testing period in a competitive variety trial nursery, its 1000 seed weight was 75.4 g, oil content – 49.2%. Oil yield of the new variety reliably exceeded the control by 40 kg/ha. Now, the sunflower breeding department works on development of productive, oil and confectionary types, herbicide resistant, very early and early maturing sunflower varieties and hybrids.

First report of Trunk Canker Caused by Botryosphaeria dothidea on Cinnamomum camphora in China.

Cinnamomum camphora, an essential woody plant in China, experienced a severe outbreak of trunk canker affecting an area of 540,000 square meters in the Xiaoshan District of Zhejiang province during the early summer of 2022. The observed symptoms included stem canker, dieback, twig blight, and extensive vascular discoloration, with an incidence rate ranging from 45% to 70%. To investigate the etiology of the disease, symptomatic plant samples were subjected to rigorous surface sterilization involving washing with running tap water, followed by surface sterilization using 75% ethanol. The samples were then rinsed twice with sterile distilled water, plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium, and incubated at a temperature of 28°C. The isolated fungi exhibited characteristics consistent with the species Botryosphaeria dothidea. Fungal isolates displayed abundant white aerial mycelium, which darkened to grey after five to seven days, eventually giving rise to black pycnidia. Single hyphal tip cultures of putative two isolates were stored at the Agricultural Experiment Station of Zhejiang University. Conidia formed on pycnidia were one-celled, hyaline, aseptate, and fusiform, with dimensions of 18.34-27.12 μm x 3.77-6.84 μm (average 22.90 μm x 5.20 μm) (one hundred conidia were measured). To determine the fungal species, genomic DNA was extracted from individual isolates ZJUP0868, and subjected to DNA sequence analysis of four gene regions: the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) using the primer-pair ITS4 and ITS1 (White et al., 1990), the large subunit (LSU) gene with LR0R and LR5 (Rehner and Samuels, 1995), the small subunit (SSU) gene with SR1R and SR7 (Zoller et al., 1999), and the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1) with EF1-983F and EF1-2218R (Rehner and Buckley, 2005). Furthermore, DNA sequence analysis of above four genes was performed. BLAST analysis indicated the highest nucleotide sequence identity with Botryosphaeria dothidea CBS 115476 reference sequence (ITS: 99.59%, KF766151; LSU: 99.88%, DQ377852; SSU: 100%, NG_062738; tef1: 98.93%, AY236898). Representative sequences of isolate ZJUP0868 from these regions were deposited in GenBank (ITS: Accession No. OR192838; LSU: Accession No:OR248147; SSU: Accession No:OR248174; tef1: Accession No. OR262053). A phylogenomic analysis was conducted to determine the phylogenetic position of Botryosphaeria dothidea in the family Botryosphaeriaceae. The combined morphological and molecular findings confirmed the identification of the pathogen as Botryosphaeria dothidea. Pathogenicity tests were conducted by stem inoculation of two-year-old Cinnamomum camphora baranches. Mycelial plugs (2-3 mm in diameter) from actively growing colonies of B. dothidea (PDA) were applied to bark of similar size on the middle point of the stems. Inoculated barks were wrapped with Parafilm, while control branches received sterile PDA plugs. Inoculated and control branches (7 each) were maintained in a greenhouse at 28°C. After two weeks, all inoculated plants exhibited dark vascular stem tissue, whereas the control plants remained healthy. B. dothidea was re-isolated from symptomatic tissues, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. No symptoms were observed in the control branched, and B. dothidea was not re-isolated from their tissues. B. dothidea , the type species of Botryosphaeria (Botryosphaeriaceae, Botryosphaeriales), is commonly associated with cankers and dieback in woody plants. Previous reports have identified Botryosphaeria dothidea as a pathogen causing stem dieback and trunk canker on Glycine max (Chen et al., 2020), Camellia oleifera (Hao et al., 2022), and Gleditsia sinensis (Huang et al., 2020). Additionally, B. dothidea has been reported to cause leave wilt on various plant species in China, including Daimyo oak (Liu et al., 2023) and Cornus officinalis (Zhang et al., 2022). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of B. dothidea on C. camphora in China. This findings contribute to a better understanding of the pathogens affecting Cinnamomum camphora in the China.

ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY OF SOYBEAN PRODUCTION DEPENDING ON SOIL TILLAGE SYSTEM

The aim of the study was to evaluate the economic efficiency of soybean cultivars at different soil tillage system (ploughing method, reduced tillage, strip tillage). The study was based on the results of a five-year (2016-2020) field study, conducted at the Agricultural Experimental Station in Kępa Puławy (farm in Osiny), belonging to the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation in Puławy. In the scheme of trial two cultivars of soybean: Aldana (000 – early) and Merlin (00-mid-early) were used. The strip-till system brought the highest value of harvested soybean seeds of Merlin cultivar – 6,262 PLN/ha (mean in 2016-2020). The high value was also obtained under full ploughing system (6,251 PLN/ha). The highest profitability of soybean cultivation determined based relation production value of seeds to direct cost was obtained under strip-tillage system (mean for two cultivars – 1.68). In direct cost structure the highest percentage had seeds material cost. The gross margin was determined as an indicator of economic efficiency. The economic effectiveness of cultivation of two soybean cultivars was evaluated from the perspective of utilizing the basic factors of production – land. Analysis showed that the highest level of gross margin determined on based the difference of production seeds value, direct cost and indirect cost was obtained in soybean cultivation under strip-tillage system. The profitability index was also determined as the relation of production value of soybean seeds to direct costs. The level of the gross margin was more impacted by the level of the obtained yield and the cost of agrotechnical treatments than by the level of other direct costs.

Registration of ‘GemCraft’ spring malting barley cultivar

Abstract‘GemCraft’ (Reg. no CV‐379, PI 701910), is a two‐rowed spring malt barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) developed by the USDA‐ARS, Aberdeen, ID, in cooperation with the University of Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station, in 2023. The release is derived from the cross of 2B98‐5312/98Ab11993 and was advanced through the bulk pedigree method F1–F5. GemCraft has been tested at the USDA‐ARS, and all other cooperative trials, as line 2Ab08‐X05M010‐65. This cultivar has been tested across 32 location years under irrigated conditions and 13 location years in dryland conditions. GemCraft has shown similar yield to the current malting barley cultivar checks Voyager, Merit 57, M69, Conrad, and AC Metcalfe but has higher yield potential than ‘CDC Copeland’, M69, and ‘Harrington’ under irrigated conditions. In dryland trials, GemCraft has similar yield to the checks of Voyager and Conrad but higher yield than other checks. Malting quality evaluation results showed GemCraft has high extract, low protein, and competent values in other traits. All the evaluations suggested that GemCraft would be a good choice as a malting cultivar for craft brewers.

Impact of tillage and crop rotations on soil organic matter content in Northern Kazakhstan's chernozem soils: A 10-year study (2011-2021)

This extensive 10-year study conducted in Northern Kazakhstan investigates the intricate relationship between soil management techniques, crop rotations, and soil organic matter (SOM) content in Chernozem soils, an essential agricultural resource in the region. The experiments were established at the Karabalyk Agricultural Experimental Station, characterized by a arid continental climate. The study systematically examined the impact of two primary soil management techniques, conventional tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT), in combination with various crop rotations. The crop rotations tested included grain-fallow rotations, fruit-exchange crop rotations, and an eight-field fruit-exchange crop rotation. The results provide valuable insights into the sustainable management of Chernozem soils in arid conditions, underscoring the role of crop rotation strategies in preserving SOM content. The findings reveal that among the crop rotations tested, the eight-field fruit-exchange crop rotation exhibited the most favorable outcomes for SOM preservation. This rotation helped maintain relatively stable SOM levels over the 10-year study period, contributing to soil health and fertility. In the context of the region's arid climate, the choice of soil management technique (CT or NT) had a limited impact on SOM content. The stability of SOM levels across diverse crop rotations and years highlights the dominant influence of crop management practices in this distinctive agricultural environment. This research serves as a valuable reference for tailored approaches to ensure soil health and organic matter preservation in the unique conditions of Northern Kazakhstan. It promotes the adoption of diversified crop rotations, with particular emphasis on the effectiveness of the eight-field fruit-exchange crop rotation, as a powerful strategy to mitigate organic matter loss, enhance soil quality, and optimize soil fertility in arid agricultural landscapes. The insights gained from this study are vital for sustainable land management in the region and underscore the importance of region-specific, holistic investigations to guide effective agricultural practices. The findings offer a solid foundation for the development of strategies that address soil health and safeguard the integrity of essential soil resources in these unique environments. The study conducted at the Karabalyk Agricultural Experimental Station in Northern Kazakhstan between 2011 and 2021 provides critical insights into the relationship between soil management techniques, crop rotations, and SOM content in Chernozem soils. The research suggests that diversified crop rotations, particularly the eight-field fruit-exchange crop rotation, represent a promising approach for mitigating organic matter loss and enhancing soil quality in arid regions.

Response of Diverse Peanut Cultivars to Calcium Fertilization under Clay Soil Conditions

The absence of calcium decreases the production of peanuts compared to any other element. To investigate the influence of calcium (Ca) applications on the production and seed quality of four diverse peanut cultivars from different regions—USA (NC-7), Egypt (Giza-6) and Nigeria (Samnut-23 and Samnut-24)—under clay soil conditions, two experiments were carried out at the Agricultural Experimental and Research Station, Cairo University, Egypt, during the two seasons of 2016 and 2017. The experimental design was a randomized complete block in a spilt-plot arrangement with three replications. The main plots were allocated to four peanut cultivars (Giza-6, Samnut-23, Samnut-24 and NC-7), and the sub-plots were devoted to calcium applications (soil application in the form of calcium sulfate dihydrate, foliar application in the form of calcium oxide and the control treatment of distilled water). Results indicated that all four peanut cultivars responded differently to the application of calcium fertilizers. The calcium application significantly enhanced peanut growth, yield components, biological, pod, seed, oil yields, seed oil, free fatty acids and seed calcium percentages in different cultivars. Soil calcium application significantly improved peanut production compared to foliar calcium application. NC-7 cultivar treated with the soil Ca application resulted in the maximum values of biological yield (92.9-ton ha−1), pod yield (6.8-ton ha−1), seed yield (4.4-ton ha−1), oil yield (2247.0 kg ha−1), pod index (203.2 g) and seed index (84.1 g). The interaction between the NC-7 cultivar and soil calcium applications is recommended to attain the best combination, leading to the highest yield and seed quality of peanuts.

Changes in maize traits and yield under the cultivar, environment and management interactions across China’s Maize Belt in the past two decades

It is important to investigate the response and adaptation mechanisms of crop traits and yield to ongoing climate change under genotype (G), environment (E), and management (M) interactions in order to develop climate-resilient cultivars and agricultural systems. Here, using long-term trial data at six comprehensive agricultural experiment stations across China’s Maize Belt, we investigated the changes in maize traits and yield during 1998–2019 under the interactions of G×E × M. The first-order difference, multi-collinearity detection, Pearson correlation, stepwise linear and a machine learning method were employed to construct the best statistical regression models between maize traits and climate variables and disentangle the relative contributions of climate, cultivar and management to grain yield changes. The results showed a warming trend but a decreasing trend in solar radiation at all the investigated stations. Climate variations affected maize traits and subsequently grain yield, and there were trade-offs among maize traits. With local agricultural management practices, about 20.5–73.8%, 1.2–42.7% and 2.3–37.0% of the yield changes were associated with climate change, cultivar shifts and management, respectively. The stations with higher latitudes exhibited greater variations in yield due to climate variations, compared to the stations with lower latitudes. Wind speed, radiation, and rainfall was found to affect maize yield in Northeast China by affecting evapotranspiration, soil moisture and drought occurrence. The ideal cultivars were characterized by a relatively long grain-filling stage, large hundred-grain weight and number of rows. This study gains new insights into the response and adaptation mechanisms of maize traits and yield to ongoing climate change, providing evidence for designing cultivar ideotypes and optimizing agricultural management in different environments.

Efficient Utilization Mechanism of Soil Moisture and Nutrients with Ridge Film Furrow Seeding Technology of Sloping Farmlands in Semi-Arid and Rain-Fed Areas

How to improve the utilizations of water and nutrient is a research hotspot of sloping farmland in semi-arid and rain-fed areas. In this study, the spatial changes of soil moisture, nutrients, and roots under different tillage modes, as well as the efficient utilization mechanism of soil moisture and nutrients from rain-fed maize on three mulching treatments (no surface covering, ridge film and straw mulch and ridge film mulch) and two slope treatments (5° slope and 10° slope) of sloping farmlands were studied at the Nationally Agricultural Environment Fuxin Observation and Experiment Station in China through a micro-zone simulation and a long-term positioning experiment. The results indicated that ridge film mulch and furrow seeding significantly improve the water use efficiency and partial factor productivity of the plants in sloping farmlands, with the highest increases being 51.33% and 45.05%. By analyzing the coordinated relationship between water, nutrients, and roots, it was found that ridge film furrow seeding technology can significantly affect the spatial distribution of water, nutrients, and roots in different soil layers, and improves the effective coefficient of soil water and nutrients. The effective coefficient of ridge film and straw treatment was 2.53, while the average value of the effective coefficient of ridge film treatment was 1.39. Further analysis found that the degree of consistency between the root system, water, and nutrient barycenter was highly correlated with the effective coefficients of water and nutrients. Visual radar map analysis revealed that root development limits the improvement availability of the efficient use of water and nutrients in the soil. Promoting root development indicators and root spatial distribution through ridge film coverage was an effective way to improve the efficient use of maize water and nutrients. The ridge film mulching promoted the root development index and root spatial distribution, thus improving the efficient use of water and nutrients in maize. Overall, the ranking of the regulation effect was as follows: ridge film and straw mulch > ridge film mulch > no mulch, and 5° slope > 10° slope. This research provided a theoretical basis for the enhancement of use efficiency in water and nutrients in sloping farmlands.

Climate-ready Landscape Plants: Garden Roses Trialed at Reduced Irrigation Frequency in Utah, USA

Increased urban and suburban populations in the arid western United States have resulted in more water demand; however, water availability in the region has become limited because of inadequate precipitation. Recent droughts have led to restrictions on irrigating landscape plants. Garden rose (Rosa ×hybrida) is commonly used as flowering plants in residential landscapes, but its drought tolerance has not been widely studied. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of reduced irrigation frequency on visual quality, plant growth, and physiology of five garden rose cultivars, including ChewPatout (Oso Easy® Urban Legend®), Meibenbino (Petite Knock Out®), MEIRIFTDAY (Oso Easy® Double Pink), Overedclimb (Cherry Frost™), and Radbeauty (Sitting Pretty™). Twenty-four plants of each rose cultivar were established in a trial plot at Utah Agricultural Experiment Station Greenville Research Farm (North Logan, UT, USA) in Summer 2021. Plants were randomly assigned to one of three deficit irrigation treatments for which irrigation frequencies were calculated using 80% reference evapotranspiration (ETO) (high), 50% ETO (medium), and 20% ETO (low). The total volumes of irrigation water applied to each plant were 345.6, 172.8, and 43.2 L for the high, medium, and low irrigation frequencies, respectively, during the deficit irrigation trial from 12 May to 30 Sep 2022. Root zones were wetted more frequently as irrigation frequency increased from low to high irrigation frequencies. Decreased irrigation frequency increased the number of visibly wilted and damaged leaves on all rose cultivars. However, only ‘Meibenbino’ and ‘MEIRIFTDAY’ exhibited a reduction in overall appearance under decreased irrigation frequency. The relative growth indices of both ‘Meibenbino’ and ‘MEIRIFTDAY’ decreased by 6%, whereas the dry weights of their leaves decreased by 37% and 36%, respectively, as irrigation decreased from high to low frequencies. Roses in this study appeared to decrease stomatal conductance up to 51% when irrigation decreased from high to low frequencies, or when air temperature increased. ‘Meibenbino’ and ‘MEIRIFTDAY’ exhibited unacceptable overall appearance, growth reduction, and higher leaf–air temperature differences, and they were less tolerant to reduced irrigation. Although the ‘Radbeauty’ maintained plant growth under the reduced irrigation frequency, the large leaf size led to a more visibly wilted appearance and the potential for heat stress, thus impairing visual quality. ‘ChewPatout’ and ‘Overedclimb’ were most tolerant to deficit irrigation at 20% ETO and maintained plant growth with acceptable visual quality and lower leaf temperatures when they received one irrigation during the growing season.

DEVELOPMENT OF A LINEAR REGRESSION MODEL BASED ON VEGETATION INDICES OF AGRICULTURAL CROPS

The article is devoted to the study of vegetation indices for assessing the productivity of agricultural crops of the North Kazakhstan Agricultural Experimental Station (NKAES) LLP. The research was carried out using a modern software package for processing satellite images, EOS Land Viewer. The work used images from the Landsat 8 (USA) and Sentitel 2 (European Space Agency) spacecraft. Digitized Earth remote sensing data for the last 3 years are presented, showing changes in the amount of moisture reserves on the territory of NKAES LLP. Time series of distribution of the studied coefficients were constructed according to different phases of active vegetation biomass in the study area. The resulting time series made it possible to identify annually repeating patterns, a linear trend of increasing and decreasing NDWI and NDVI on the territory of the NKAES LLP. Review of studies over the past 5 years, published in highly rated foreign journals, on various vegetation indices, including indices designed to assess moisture content in vegetation and soil. It is noted that the first normalized water index, NDWI, using the SWIR infrared channel, unlike the widely used NDVI vegetation index, actually penetrates 80% of the atmosphere. Analysis of the obtained NDWI allowed us to identify dry, moderately dry and fairly humid periods on the territory of the NKAES LPP from 2020 to 2023. Based on the research carried out, the feasibility of using normalized difference water indicators and normalized vegetation indices for further use in forecasting yields in the conditions of the North Kazakhstan region is substantiated. Next, using vegetation indices and additional agrometeorological factors, a linear model for predicting crop yields was developed. The coefficient of determination of the resulting model is 0.90 which indicates that the selected trend line reliably approximates the process under study.