Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences最新文献

Smart agro-practices over the years have revolutionized the agriculture sector and promoted the concept of sustainable agriculture. One such practice is use of agro-waste biochar in agricultural, environmental, and climatic operations. The viability of using a biochar-based nanocomposite as a support fertilizer for the gradual release of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus in various media is examined in this study. The banana peel biochar (BPBC) and its nanocomposite (BNF) were prepared using a simple yet comprehensive chemical process. Synthesized materials were evaluated using FT-IR and SEM/EDX. Physical attributes as well as fertilizer basic characteristics were determined and prepared nanocomposite demonstrated noticeably better water absorbance ratio (68%), equilibrium water content (78.97%), and swelling ratio (3.64 g g⁻¹) than biochar, which is advantageous for preserving soil water levels. The salt index values (0.087mmhos/cc) of the created nanocomposite performed better when compared to the conventional fertilizers due to their safer application. Long-term availability of all doped minerals to the plants, during experimental cycle, was revealed by slow-release nutrient studies in water and soil, which is ideal for promoting germination and growth. The findings of this research revealed that prepared BNF showed improved germination parameters i.e., time for 50% germination (3.4, 3.3, 4.4 days), germination index (3.1, 3.5, 2.4), final germination percentage (91.7, 100, 83.3%), mean germination time (4.0, 3.9, 4.9 days), for cucumber, broccoli and okra, respectively. In addition to that the prepared BNF facilitated enhanced shoot and root length in all the three vegetables as compared to conventional fertilizers. The dose optimization studies depicted that best results of germination as well as plant growth parameters are facilitated by BNF (37.5 kg/ha) owing to enhancement in soil quality by supplying additional organic matter in addition to provision of nutrients on slow-release.

Agriculture is a primary sector which plays an important role in the global economy. Global value added (GVA) generated by agriculture and its allied activities like fisheries and forestry contributed 3.5 trillion dollars from 2000 to 2019 and grew by 73%. Along with this, agriculture provided employment for 874 million people in 2020 which is 27% of the total global workforce according to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation). Global production of primary crops (Wheat, rice, sugarcane and maize) commodities reached 9.5 billion tonnes in 2021 increasing by 54% since 2000. Agriculture can be practiced using a variety of methods including organic farming, intercropping, relay intercropping, permaculture, and traditional farming. In organic farming, biofertilizer usage is prioritized over chemical fertilizers utilized in conventional farming. The association between organic farming practices and product quality is going to be the primary focus of this analysis. In addition to this, many other considerations are associated with organic systems, such as the quality of the soil, the nutritional content of the produce, methods of disease and insect control, and biopesticides. Along with this, there is a comparison between organic and conventional types of farming systems in terms of yield, quantity, product quality, economic performance, and soil quality. This article presents an analysis of the current state of knowledge concerning the market worth of a variety of organic products, as well as the economics associated with organic farming, there ought to be an increase in the amount of money invested in organic agricultural systems. The quality of the many different biopesticides that are already in use could be enhanced through additional research into farming practices. The next period will undoubtedly be the one with availability and viability of variety of organic items having numerous benefits leading to healthy life.

This study aims to identify factors influencing farmers’ acceptance of the use of drone for rice cultivation in Malaysia. A total of 204 farmers who hired custom operator of drone at rice granaries in Kota Bharu Utara district, Kelantan state of Malaysia were selected as the samples in this study. Face-to-face survey technique was employed to collect data form the sampled farmers. Factor analysis was utilized to examine the scaled responses. The findings of this study have successfully identified 15 factors that have correlation with the farmers’ acceptance of the use of drone in the study area. However, 2 out of 15 factors, namely ‘drone roles’ and ‘drone handling skill’ were highly significant. A rank of these factors was also successfully established from this study. Knowing of these factors is valuable for improving management of the use of drone for rice cultivation that suit to the real-farmers’ environment in efforts of achieving economic and technical satisfactions of the field operation.

In this investigation, Blue Cherry fruit was used to isolate potential probiotic isolate and characterized for their beneficial attributes. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the antagonistic activity of the isolated bacteria against plant pathogenic bacteria such as Ralstonia solanacearum, Pectobacterium carotovorum sub sp. carotovorum and Xanthomonas oryzae pv oryzae and also to evaluate the isolate for potential probiotic, plant growth promoting and biocontrol activity. A total of nine isolates were isolated from Blue Cherry fruit and initially screened for microscopic and biochemical characters. The agar-well diffusion method, paper disc, spot inoculation and microplate method were used to test the antibacterial activity from the cultured supernatants against plant pathogenic bacteria and zone of inhibition ranged from 0.6 to 2.1 cm and per cent inhibition of plant pathogenic bacteria ranged from 64.81 to 71.70 %. Effective isolate MYSBC14 was genotyped based on 16S rDNA and identified as Enterobacter faecium OL454757. Effective isolate E. faecium MYSBC14 was further characterized for probiotic properties, PGPR and bio-control attributes. MYSBC14 survived under pH 2 and pH 4 after 2 and 4 h after incubation (38.08 and 23.16 %, 87.90 to 82.02 % respectively) and was susceptible to majority of antibiotics evaluated. A survival rate of 52.67 and 43.01 % was recorded at 0.3 % oxgall salt concentration after 2 and 4 h after incubation. The cell surface hydrophobicity of 90.24 % and auto aggregation of 8.10 to 22.02 % represented the adhesion properties of the isolate. MYSBC14 showed indole acetic acid production (11.56 µg/mL), gibberellic acid production (10.18 µg/mL) and gave positive results for solubilization of phosphate, potash, protease and siderophore production and was found negative for zinc and silicon solubilization, cellulose degradation activity, HCN production activity and amylase activity. The findings of the present investigation showed that isolated probiotic organism possesses promising antibacterial, probiotic attributes, plant growth promoting characteristics and bio-control traits.

Charcoal rot, caused by Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid., is one of the world's most serious diseases because it reduces yield and seed quality. Nowadays, biological control is an environment-friendly option for controlling plant diseases. The goals of this study were to (i) test eight endophytic Trichoderma spp. strains as biocontrol agents against M. phaseolina and (ii) further investigate two selected strains showing good behaviour against the pathogen. Pathogen-antagonist interactions were studied in dual culture, and the morphological alterations of M. phaseolina mycelia in the interaction zone were examined by light microscopy. Trichoderma strains were applied to soya bean seeds by a seed coating technique. Their bioprotective effects were assessed by in vitro and in vivo assays to evaluate radicle length, the germination percentage and the presence of typical charcoal rot symptoms in seedlings. Two Trichoderma strains were selected and they were molecularly identified as T. harzianum species complex. Their antagonistic ability against M. phaseolina was evaluated under different water availability conditions. The mechanisms used by these two endophytic strains against the pathogen were evaluated by cryo-scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that all eight Trichoderma strains successfully performed biocontrol activity against M. phaseolina by reducing colony growth and causing morphological alterations in the mycelia of M. phaseolina. All endophytes improved seed germination and radicle length, and reduced typical symptoms and disease progression on seedlings. Water availability in the medium impacted on fungal growth. At 0.995 ɑ_w, all the fungi grew more and faster. At 0.95 ɑ_w M. phaseolina grew more than the Trichoderma strains, while the pathogen grew slightly more at 0.98 ɑ_w than the Trichoderma strains. However, both selected Trichoderma strains grew larger and faster than the pathogen at 0.995 ɑ_w. The mechanisms involved in pathogen control revealed by the light and cryo-scanning microscopy studies included competition for nutrients or space and direct mycoparasitism. All the endophytic Trichoderma strains were antagonistic against M. phaseolina, however our study allowed us to select two Trichoderma strains with good potential to be included for charcoal rot management.

Matcha gained popularity due to its health benefit as the awareness of the consumers' well-being increased. The product contains antioxidants, mainly catechin, and a unique taste. Matcha is commonly produced from Camelia sinensis var sinensis, whereas in other Asian regions with shading practices, C. sinensis var assamica is primarily cultivated. Both varieties have different flavors of teas due to genetic differences and cultivation techniques. In tea cultivation, shading is one of the important practices to increase the quality of matcha. Therefore this study aimed to investigate the effect of cultivation technique, namely shading intensity (0%, 50%, 70%, 90%) on C. sinensis var assamica on the physical, chemical, and sensory profile of matcha produced. This study exhibited that the resultant matcha cultivated with the higher intensity of shading tends to have a darker color in terms of lightness (from 61.43 to 53.64), lower moisture content (from 9.26% to 8.64%), and solubility index (from 17.10% to 15.37%) in 0% and 90% shading respectively. At the same time, the protein content of the plant tends to fluctuate in several shading intensities. In corresponding to the decreasing phenolic (from 50.78 to 46.09 mgGAE/g) and flavonoid content (from 41.89 to 15.15 mgQE/g) of the matcha in higher shading (from 0% and 90% shading, respectively), the catechin and antioxidant activity (52.3 to 68.85 of IC₅₀) also decreased in 0% and 90% shading intensity. Meanwhile, the sensory evaluation of the resultant matcha from the higher intensity (from 0% and 90% shading) exhibited higher acceptance (from 3.02 to 3.42 of overall acceptance in 7-scale hedonic response). Overall, it should be considered that as the shading intensity gets higher (from 0% to 90%), which might result in better consumer acceptance, the bioactive compounds, namely phenolics, flavonoids, and catechins, might have a lower amount in the shaded plants.

It is vital to research mayonnaise egg yolk alternatives due to the greater fat and cholesterol content in egg yolks. The use of soy protein isolate and nano soy isolate as fat substitutes in mayonnaise was investigated. Two formulas were prepared, including a control (market and lab), low-fat with 0.5, 1, and 1.5% soy protein isolate (SPI) and nano soy protein isolate (NSPI), and low-fat with 0.5, 1, and 1.5% glycinin (GLY) and nano glycinin (NGLY). Rheology, microstructure, color, and sensory properties of formulas were analyzed. In comparison to the commercial and control samples, the oil droplets became smaller and more compact in the 0.5% and 1% NSPI and NGLY formulas. NSPI and NGLY bind more water and oil in the matrix of mayonnaise samples, which in turn increases the viscosity of the fluid. Furthermore, increasing the protein level to 1.5% reduced the lightness value of NSPI's low-fat mayonnaise. Mayonnaise prepared with the addition of 1% and 1.5% NSPI particles showed a higher whitening index value than other samples. Also, the samples with the highest scores for sensory attributes were the 0.5% NSPI and GLY mayonnaise samples, which did not significantly change after the end of the storage period compared to other samples. Therefore, nano soy protein and nano glycinin have potential as fat substitutes and improve the quality characteristics of low-fat mayonnaise.

This paper aims to provide insights into the local value chain (LVC), and present marketing strategies to increase yields and incomes. Though many studies are available on the development and efficiency of the coffee sector, this research is among the few studies, focusing on the effect of value-based strategies within the marketing scope on improving coffee quality and farmer’s income for one of the finest coffees in the Middle East. In fact, Jazan region is known for its khawlani coffee with hundreds of years old trees and a unique art of preparing and serving coffee which is deeply embedded within the Saudi national identity and traditions. This coffee represents a typical cultural consumption in the Arabian Peninsula. For data collection, In-depth interviews were conducted with randomly selected coffee farmers, distributed over the six mountainous regions of Jazan (Al Dayer, Faifa, Al Edabi, Harub, Al Aridha, and AL Reith), followed by a content analysis approach to visualize LVC components, patterns, and issues. Results reveal a common pattern among coffee farmers regarding coffee commercialization, cultivation techniques, and management behaviors. The imminent issues faced by the khawlani sector and the lack of awareness about the government initiatives were also highlighted. However, one of the main limitations of this study is that it is exploratory in nature and focuses on a single case. Nevertheless, the proposed marketing strategies were developed to offer guidelines for stakeholders, encouraging strategic investments along the value chain.

Global warming have become a stress condition due to the generation of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation with the industrial revolution. Climate change induces biotic and abiotic stress conditions which badly disturb the yield of crops with leading to the biochemical and physiological damages to plants. Therefore; this study investigated the capability of Morus alba L. wood biochar and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria PG1 (Pseudomonas sp.) and PG2 (Staphylococcus haemolyticus) to alleviate the drought condition in Brassica napus L. plant. In the current research work, the combined application of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs) and biochar triggered an enhancement in physicochemical properties of soil including %field capacity, water use efficiency, germination parameters including Timson germination index, final emergence percentage, mean germination time, final germination percentage, germination energy, mean emergence time, germination rate index and vegetative parameters including seed vigor indexes (SVI-I & SVI-II) and plant height stress index. Inoculation and co-inoculation of PGPRs and biochar positively promote the canola plant growth even under induce drought stress condition. A positive increase in B. napus biomass including leaf area, plant height and root growth and its dry and fresh mass at p < 0.05 level, which support the effectiveness of this approach. Results also showed that Staphylococcus haemolyticus individually and in combination with biochar even under stress condition promote canola plant growth more than Pseudomonas sp. We concluded that under stressors, co-application of PGPRs and biochar could be an operative approach for enhancing plant productivity and its development.