Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences最新文献

This study measured the ability of the General Food Security Authority to provide wheat and support for the milling industry and flour production in Saudi Arabia, using econometric analysis. It was found from this study that the General Food Security Authority was able to increase the strategic stock of wheat, by 832.89 thousand tons, until it became sufficient for consumption needs for a period of 5.5 months. The average economic price of flour for local wheat is estimated at about 2884.64 riyals / ton, while it is 2,657.33 riyals / ton for imported wheat. The high economic price of flour in the case of using local wheat is due to raising the price of receiving local wheat to 1700 riyals / ton, especially after the Russian-Ukrainian war. The amount of support for milling companies for local wheat amounted to about 1520 riyals / ton, while it amounted to 1386.04 riyals / ton for imported wheat. The overall value of government support for flour production in 2021 was 5,472.44 million riyals.

This study investigated the morphological response of planted Hypericum perforatum to pedology and climatic conditions in Morocco. In total, 50 fragments detached from the mother stump of H. perforatum were purchased from France and planted in the botanical garden in Meknes 2021–2022. The monitored climatic conditions were temperature (Average (AVT), Minimal (MNT), Maximal (MT), precipitations (PR), and humidity (HD), while the pedology parameters were pH, MO, K, P, MgO, Na₂O, and N. We evaluated the effect of the plant on the microbiology around the roots. The effects of these parameters were tested on the biological parameters, including Diameter of principal stem (DPS), Length of principal stem (LPS), Number of secondary stems (NSS), leaves per plant (NL), and flowers (NF) of H. perforatum during growth. During flowering, LPS and NF were significantly superior in 2022 (67.84 ± 15.91 cm and 300 ± 0.00) compared to 2021 (147.8 ± 8.79 cm and 100.00 ± 0.00). During the vegetative stage, the NSS, NL, and DPS were superior (p < 0.05) in 2022 (10.2 ± 2.59 cm, 78 ± 8.86, and 1.48 ± 0.37 cm, respectively) compared to 2021 (7.20 ± 1.30 cm, 61.20 ± 8.53, 0.92 ± 0.53 cm, respectively). In 2021, vegetative stage was in April, while flowering was in June. In 2022, the vegetative stage was in April, while flowering was in May. In 2021, the pH and OM were similar between T₀ (8.08 and 4.66 %) and T_F (7.96 and 4.46 %) stages, while K, P, and N were significantly decreased in T_F (340.8 mg/kg, 52.81 mg/kg, and 0.229 %) compared to T₀ (369.6 mg/kg, 56.7 mg/kg, and 0.26 %). During T_F of 2022, the pH, N, and OM were similar compared to flowering of 2021, while K, and P were decreased in flowering of 2022 compared to flowering of 2021, while conductivity was increased during flowering of 2022. In contrast, K, MgO, and Na₂O decreased from 2021 to 2022. The fungi and bacteria decreased from 2021 to 2022. In contrast, the density of actinomycetes increased from planting to flowering. Despite the importance of this study, more investigations are needed to confirm the obtained findings and to clarify the effects of cultivation conditions on the phytochemicals of the plant.

Sapota fruits were coated with soyabean starch extracted by two different methods and using three different methods of coating (dipping, spraying, and brushing) to determine their effectiveness starch on edible coating stored under ambient (28 ± 2 °C) and refrigerated (3 ± 1 °C) conditions. The samples based on the above six combinations of starch extraction and method of coating were analyzed for physiochemical changes on fruits at 5-day interval for 25 days. The results revealed that the maximum weight reduction was observed in Ambient Control (AC) and Refrigerated Control (RC) samples as 29.89 % and 17.26 % on the 15th day of storage even though RC sample lasted for 25th day. The value for sugar-acid ratio were found as 28.33 (RDT1), 31.88 (RDT2), 33.40 (RST1), 34.22(RST2), 36.44(RBT1), 36.90 (RBT2), and 51.90(RC) on the 15th day of storage for refrigerated storage and for ambient sample it was found as 12.2, 12.82, 13.08,13.30,13.68 and 13.98, respectively, for ADT1, ADT2, AST1, AST2, ABT1 and ABT2 respectively on the 15th day. The Titratable acidity (TA), Vitamin C, firmness, decay incidence, water activity and colour characteristics exhibited higher values for the sapota fruits treated with soyabean starch as compared to the control samples. The RDT1 sample found better results and enhanced the shelf-life of sapota fruit by 2 weeks in comparison to the control samples (AC&RC) at both storage conditions.

In crop growing, biostimulants are currently used to improve the advance and yield of crops. These biostimulants showed successful effects in various crops against severe stress factors. Therefore, integrative studies are required to define the usage of such products in agriculture. This study investigated the valuable impacts of biostimulants on the growth parameters of green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) in Morocco known for its harsh climatic conditions. Equally, we studied the effect on the soil characteristics. The growth parameters were the number, length, and weight of leaves and pods, and were measured after, 21, 29, 35, 42, and 49 days of cultivation. The soil parameters were organic matter, macro-elements, and microelements. The obtained results exposed that the number of leaves was enhanced by 52.95 % in plants treated with biostimulants, while the improvement of foliar weight was estimated at 83.45 %. The treatment improved the weight of pods by 50 % after 75 days and by 63.65 % after 90 days. Similarly, the treatment improved the length of pods by 48 % after 75 days and by 78 % after 90 days. The improvement of growth parameters was in a time-dependent manner. These results are the first to clarify the faculty of biostimulants to enhance the growth performance of green beans under North African climatic and soil circumstances. However, more experiments are desired to evaluate the optimum quantities of biostimulants needed to get the maximum yield. Equally, future research is required to assess the influence of biostimulants on the nutritive quality of fruits.

The amendment of salt-affected soils with elemental sulfur (S⁰) has been recognized for its potential to effectively reduce soil salinity and pH, thereby enhancing soil physicochemical properties, promoting crop growth, and improving yields. Despite these known benefits, the widespread adoption of S⁰ for managing saline soils, particularly in arid calcareous regions, remains limited. Consequently, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of S⁰ on salt leaching, soil pH, nutrient uptake, plant growth, microbial diversity, and community structure under alkaline saline soil conditions. The study includes three main experiments: a preliminary column experiment without plants, a field trial with Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana), and a greenhouse pot experiment with wheat (Triticum spp.). Our findings demonstrated that S⁰ incorporation into the soil exerted a positive influence, resulting in increased salt removal, reduced soil pH, and improved plant growth. Specifically, soil amendment with 750 kg S⁰ ha⁻¹ led to a substantial salt removal, exceeding double in the column experiment, approximately 91.3 % in the field trial, and about 34.1 % in the greenhouse pot experiment compared to the control. S⁰ amendment also significantly lowered soil and leachate pH in both field and greenhouse trials, with reductions of 3.3 % and 6.3 %, and 8.1 % and 4.4 %, respectively, relative to the control. Calcium and phosphorus uptake by Rhodes grass increased significantly by 75 % and 14 %, respectively, compared with the control. Soil organic matter content significantly increased from 0.6 % to 1.5 % compared to that of the control. This overall enhancement in soil conditions resulted in a considerable increase in Rhodes grass and wheat yields by 13 % and 59 %, respectively. While the prokaryotic diversity (16S V4 rRNA sequencing) in the Rhodes grass field trial was not significantly affected by S⁰ amendments after two months, the microbial community composition showed remarkable differences between the S⁰-amended and control samples. Eighty-three unique taxa were exclusively found in the S⁰-amended samples. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the amendment of soil with S⁰ is a promising strategy for the sustainable management of calcareous salt-affected soils in arid regions.

In modern or mechanized agriculture, chemical spraying is employed to control weed and prevent pest damage. It is very important to spray the chemicals (herbicides, pesticides, fungicides) very carefully and correctly using suitable tools to control weed and pests while keeping the environmental and health risks at very low level. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to study the effects of different factors on the behavior and movement patterns of sprayed particles from the beginning of the spraying to the end when the particles reach the plant. Therefore, for this purpose, in this study, the effect of three levels of pressure 2, 3 and 4 on the distribution of volumetric volume of fluid particles after exiting from Tee jet nozzles 110-02, 110-03, 110-04 and one newly designed nozzle has been investigated. This was performed by experimental and numerical methods using Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) method. The results revealed that the spraying pressure and nozzle type had significant effects on the particles volumetric distribution (p < 0.01). All the treatments differed significantly. The innovative nozzle had the highest spraying performance at all the three pressures compared to the other nozzles. Among the Tee jet nozzles, the nozzle 110-03 has the best distribution of particle frequencies.

Importance of the work

Microorganisms play a pivotal role in the growth and development of plants, making their interaction a promising avenue for managing plant diseases, including those affecting oil palm cultivation.

Objectives

In this study, endophytic microbes such as actinomycetes, bacteria, and fungi were isolated from healthy oil palm tissue in susceptible areas to serve as stock isolates. These isolates underwent in vitro evaluation to determine their efficacy in controlling Ganoderma boninense and to identify bioactive metabolites. Additionally, in planta tests were conducted using bioformulations.

Materials & Methods

A dual culture assay was utilized to assess the inhibitory effects of three different stock isolates on G. boninense. To detect bioactive metabolites responsible for the inhibition, particularly phenazine and syringic acid, a series of procedures involving fermentation, extraction, and LC-MS analysis were employed. Furthermore, the efficacy of bioformulations employing various carriers and consisting of either microbial consortia was meticulously evaluated in a nursery setting. The main focus of this evaluation was to determine their capacity to effectively curb disease onset and maintain the vegetative growth of oil palm during the progression of G. boninense.

Results

Several strains of indigenous bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain JQ-41, Serratia marcescens strain S16, Stenotrophomonas rhizophila strain CASMBAUDAL2), an actinobacterium (Streptomyces sp.), and a fungus (Trichoderma sp.) exhibited significant growth inhibition against G. boninense. Based on the results obtained from the LC-MS analysis of the ethyl acetate extract, it was revealed that the extract contains 2 compounds known as antifungal agents, namely phenazine and syringic acid. The most effective approach to mitigate infection involved the preventive application of bioformulations containing mixed bacterial isolates or microbial consortia. After 12 months of observation, these bioformulations demonstrated efficacy comparable to that of Marfu-P, a commercially available biofungicide for oil palm seedlings.

Main finding

The study establishes the effectiveness of endophytic bioformulations as a viable strategy to manage the onset of G. boninense disease, highlighting the potential of microorganisms as an alternative solution for controlling basal stem rot in the nursery.

An initial investigation on the physical traits of the cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) schizocarps was examined in order to select the best genotypes of cumin grown in three regions of Morocco (Drâa-Tafilalet, Marrackech-Safi, and Oriental). This operation was conducted on 34 cumin accessions from six origins (local, India, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia). To evaluate differences between the physical properties among accessions, length, width, thickness, and both the volumetric mass and the thousand-schizocarp mass were measured. Geometric properties (geometric mean diameter, sphericity index, specific mass and surface area) and gravitational parameters (bulk density, true density, and porosity) were calculated for each accession. Heritability (broad sense), phenotypic and genetic variabilities are also assessed. The average values of the evaluated parameters were found to be significantly different (p < 0.01) between accessions. The physical characteristics of schizocarps were significantly influenced by their origin, cultivated provinces and irrigation methods. Length, width, thickness and length of style range on average from 5.7 to 6.8 mm, 1.5 to 2.5 mm, 1.2 to 1.8 mm and 0.6 to 0.9 mm, respectively. Local and Egyptian accessions were the best-sized accessions. Regarding the weight, the Indian accession C11 registered the best volumetric mass 52.9 g, while the thousand-mass was found to be higher in the local accession from Zagora C19 with 7.3 g. The results showed that the phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) was higher than the genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV). The highest PCV and GCV were length of style (30.0%) and true density (24.4%), respectively. Volumetric mass had the highest value of heritability (99%). PCA analysis of seed origin showed clearly the ordination of cumin schizocarps into three groups. The big-sized schizocarps group is composed of local and Egyptian accessions, while the Saudi Arabia accession was individualized in a single group. Regarding the cultivated zone in Morocco, the ordination of schizocarps according to the province revealed four distinct groups. Finally, this study showed that irrigation mode may also affect the physical properties of cumin schizocarps.

Citrus (Citrus spp.), including orange as an important one, has a high economic value and significant role both in global market as well as in Indonesia. However, citrus anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum spp. constantly becomes a limiting factor in citrus production. Nevertheless, there is no report on molecular basis about the species associates to the citrus anthracnose in Indonesia up to date. Therefore, this research aims to identify the isolates of Colletotrichum spp. based on polyphasic approach which combining morphological character, pathogenicity and multigene analysis using actin, β-tubulin, and GAPDH primers. Twenty-two isolates were obtained from leaves and citrus fruits with anthracnose symptoms which showed various morphological characteristics, both macroscopic and microscopic. Pathogenicity test results showed that all 22 isolates were virulent to Keprok Batu 55 orange and California lemon. The anthracnose symptoms produced are identical to the symptoms in the field, however the symptoms on the California lemon were milder than on the Keprok Batu 55 mandarin. The results of multigene analysis showed that there were three species causing citrus anthracnose in Indonesia, which were C. endophytichum, C. queenslandicum, and C. gloeosporioides. Those three species are C. gloeosporioides species complex, and this is the first report of C. endophytichum, C. queenslandicum causing citrus anthracnose in Indonesia which needs further concern for biosecurity. All isolate sequences based on actin, β-tubulin, and GAPDH gene markers were submitted into the GenBank and got accession numbers of OR188855–OR188875.

Mining exploration programmes are being expensive and risky due to the limitations of conventional prospecting methods in identifying desired mineralisation. Worldwide, mining exploration programmes have a success rate of approximately 0.7%. Bio-geochemical methods, a sub-branch of geochemical prospecting, are used to identify potential mineralisation areas by studying the distribution of plants containing certain metals. Turkey's leading position in the world in terms of boron reserves increases the strategic importance of boron. On the other hand, metagenome analysis is an important tool in scientific research for detecting microorganisms. Our study aims to develop a cost-effective and efficient biological alternative method for detecting boron mines. Metagenome analysis output showed correlation with the presence of Calothrix sp. NIES-3974, Snodgrassella alvi, Xanthomonas citri, X. citri pv. Fuscans, Pseudomonas viciae, and Aphanothecaceae bacteria and detecting of the potential boron traces in soil. Modelling studies were also conducted on aquaporin z protein, related to the boron uptake, that can be used for utilising from boron detection.