Waleed Fekry

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of urea, gibberellic acid (GA3), and zincsulfate (ZnSO4) on the production and quality of 'Barhi' date palm at a private orchard in WadiNatron, Egypt, over the course of seasons (2021 and 2022). Twenty-year-old 'Barhi' cultivar.Palms were chosen for this study. Under drip irrigation, the planting distances were 8 by 8meters. Treatments were applied via manual trunk injection one meter above the ground. Threereplicates were used in the fully randomized block design experiment. The treatments included acontrol, several concentrations of GA3 (500, 1000, and 2000 mg/l), and various combinations ofurea and ZnSO4 with GA3. According to the results, the highest mean values for all physicalfruit attributes (fruit length, diameter, size, and weight) were recorded by the combined treatmentof 1 kg urea + 6 g ZnSO4 + 2000 mg/l GA3. The 1 kg Urea + 1000 mg/l GA3 came next, both ofwhich greatly outperformed the control treatments, which had the lowest mean values for thesecharacteristics. Additionally, when compared to the control treatment, which displayed lowervalues for these advantageous traits while simultaneously recording higher values of total acidityand tannins, the combined treatment of 1 kg urea + 6 g ZnSO4 + 2000 mg/l GA3 also recordedthe highest mean values for all chemical fruit characteristics, including total sugars, reducingsugars, non-reducing sugars, TSS, vitamin C, and minerals Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.), urea, GA3, ZnSO4, yield, chemical composition

Enhancing Florida Prince peach cultivars' quality, yield, and fruiting in the face of water scarcity was the aim of this study, which was carried out in 2021 at a private orchard in the Wadi Al Natrun district of the Behera Governorate, Egypt. The effects of magnetic fields (MF) on peach production, the quality of irrigation groundwater, and the properties of irrigated sandy soil in arid environments were also investigated. The study found no discernible differences in the water compatibility standards for irrigation between magnetized water (MW) treated with an MF and non-magnetized water. However, using MW for irrigation greatly improved the productivity and efficiency of using fertilizer and water. When compared to irrigation with non-magnetized water (NMW), this resulted in a significant improvement in peach crop output. The results of the study showed that the amount of soil moisture in the root zone of crops increased significantly when MW irrigation was applied. More precisely within the first 200 m of irrigation from the (MF) device, the moisture content rose from 9.61% in the control treatment to 14.24%. When irrigation was extended from 200 to 400 and 600 m, the amount of moisture in the root zone drastically decreased. This illustrates that the effect of magnetizing irrigation water decreases with increasing distance between the irrigation region and the magnetic device at the field's beginning. Moreover, the results showed that the application of (MW) for irrigation resulted in improvements to the soil chemical properties. Consequently, this resulted in increased accessibility to water and improved uptake of fertilizers, ultimately leading to enhanced growth and production of peach trees as compared to irrigation with NMW. However, additional research is necessary to comprehend the elusive mechanism of the (MF) and transform it into a viable technique for sustainable agriculture.

In order to sustain food production under conditions of limited water and in arid regions using the least amount of irrigation water possible, two experiments were conducted during the years 2021 and 2022 in the Nubaria region, Egypt. The performance of an automated drip irrigation control system was evaluated as a potentially efficient and sustainable alternative to manual irrigation to increase the fertilization frequency (N P K) of lemon trees. This study underlines the importance of automatically applying and controlling the addition of irrigation water as a sustainable alternative to manual irrigation, while increasing the number of mineral fertilization times under sandy soil conditions to the largest possible number (12 times during the growing season of lemon trees) instead of three times. The application of automatic irrigation reduced the water stress on the roots of the lemon trees, in addition to increasing the efficiency of the addition. The latter led to the creation of a healthy environment in the area where the roots spread and increased the rate of absorption of irrigation water loaded with the necessary major elements, thus increasing the canopy volume of the lemon trees. This, in turn, led to an improvement in the efficiency of the photosynthesis process, resulting in an increase in the productivity, water productivity, and quality characteristics of lemon in sandy soil in dry areas. Increasing the number of times of mineral fertilization to 12 during the growing season led to a long-term increase in the concentrations of those minerals within the area of root spread, avoiding losing them by deep percolation, as occurs fertilization is carried out only three times per season. The highest values of the productivity and irrigation water saving were 47.6% and 47.4%, respectively, during the first season and 48.7% and 48.8%, respectively, during the second season. The highest values of water productivity and lemon fruit quality were also achieved under the same conditions. Therefore, this study recommends the automatic control of irrigation schedules, in addition to increasing the frequency of fertilization times, not only in lemon plantations, but also with most horticultural fruit trees grown in dry sandy lands.

Many techniques have been and are being made to find alternatives to water-saving practices. Among them, Partial root drying (PRD), one of the effective approaches, plays a major role in reducing the harmful effects of water deficit stress. An experiment was carried out using irrigation strategies [I1 (100% full irrigation “FI”), I2 (75%FI), I3 (50%FI), and I4 (PRD (50%FI)] and soil organic mulch [L0 (Zero layer organic soil mulch” control”), L1 (Single layer organic soil mulch), L2 (Two layers of organic soil mulch), and L3 (Three layers of organic soil mulch)] to inspect the impact of those treatments for increasing yield, water productivity and saving energy under arid region conditions. To meet the study's objective, two field experiments were carried out at a private farm. Our results demonstrated a general decrease in water stress and salt accumulation inside root-zone area with PRD with L3. The PRD strategy increased fruit yields by 3.7 and 7.3% and water productivity by 51.9 and 53.1% compared with I1 during 2020/2021 and 2021/2022, respectively, while reducing the applied irrigation water by 50 %. The PRD strategy showed superior results in increasing mango yield and water productivity. In general, PRD can be used as good technique to save water and energy up to 50% and enhance productivity along with using organic mulching, ultimately improving mango yield under arid climatic regions. It may prove a good adaptation strategy for current and future water shortage scenarios of climate change.

Fresh date palm fruits (cv. Barhi) have received much attention due to their sweet taste and popularity in marketing. There is a critical need to prolong their storability, as well as maintain their quality during the postharvest and marketing periods. In this study, the effects of spraying date palm trees with melatonin (Mt) and/or methyl jasmonate (Mj) at 10, 20, and 50 ppm, on their growth and yield were investigated. In addition, impacts on quality and storability of the fruits were also studied. In general, application of Mt was mostly more effective than that of Mj, even at 50 ppm, with regard to all evaluated parameters. However, the dual treatment at 50 ppm recorded the highest relative chlorophyll and nutrient content in date palm leaves, as well as the yield and its components. Regarding the date palm fruits stored at 4 °C for 28 days, this dual treatment recorded the lowest weight loss and fruit decay values (0.14 and 2%, respectively), the highest firmness (6 g·cm⁻²), total soluble solids content (36 °Brix), total sugar content (32.5 g/100 g fresh weight), and the lowest total acidity (0.16 g citric acid/100 mL juice). Moreover, the highest total phenolic content and activity of peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase enzymes in the stored fruits were also recorded for the dual treatment. In contrast to the untreated fruits, scanning electron microscopy observations showed that the sprayed fruits had a very good microstructure, showing intact and thick exocarp tissue with a dense layer of epicuticular wax. The mesocarp tissue showed a normal and clear cellular framework with well organized and arranged cells, after 28 days storage at 4 °C. Based on these results, we can conclude that application of the dual treatment (Mt + Mj) at 50 ppm is a promising way to prolong the storability of date palm fruits and maintain their quality during storage periods.

Nano-Materials Effect on Improving the Productivity of Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) Wonderful Cultivar Under Saline Stress

Soil and irrigation water salinity are among the main problems hindering agricultural development, especially in arid and semi-arid regions, which depends on especially surface irrigation as the main means in agriculture. The salinity lead to low growth and production of plants, including fruit, as a result of the temporal, azalotic, or nutrients imbalance. Salinity of the soil or irrigation water greatly reduces the growth, productivity and quality of fruit crops by affecting their physiological, chemical and biological functions as they cause obstruction to the absorption of some elements by the plant and if it increased absorption of salts, it causes ion poisoning of the cell, as well as increased salts cause less absorption of water by the plant due to the high osmosis of soil water. There are many ways to reduce the salt stress in the growth of fruit plants, the most important of which is adding organic fertilizers such as humic acid or spraying with the amino acid proline.

Effect of Potassium Fertilizers Sources on the Production, Quality and Chemical Composition of Early Sweet Grapes Cv. Under Salinity Stress

Attempts to Improve the Growth and Fruiting of Barhi Date-palms under Salinity Stress