IRAQI JOURNAL OF DESERT STUDIES

The study aimed to follow up the drought situation and the effectiveness of geospatial technologies in monitoring this phenomenon. The indexes and indicators of SPI, NDVI, VCI, TCI, VHI and WSVI were used to monitor the drought situation starting from 1999-2019 for soils within the western desert of Iraq in the Sakran region. The climatic drought index SPI showed that the region was affected by the drought condition with recurrence at intervals ranging every 5 years, while the WSVI hydrological index indicated that the region was affected by the drought condition and its variation from year to year with the predominance of moderate and severe drought. The results of the agricultural drought indices NDVI, VCI, TCI and VHI agreed with other evidence in terms of the region's affected by the state of drought, which was classified into five types whose areas of impact varied with the selected years of study with the predominance of severe dry cases.

To investigate the effect of stopping irrigation during different growth stages (As a simulation of water stress) in wheat growth, dry matter accumulation, and yield, an experiment was utilized by using the Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) included two wheat cultivars (Fayyad and Bora) and five non-irrigation treatments (control, no-irrigation at the seedling stage, no-irrigation at the tillering stage, no-irrigation at the flowering stage, and no-irrigation at the fulling seed stage) with three replications. The experiment was applied in the Field Crops Experiment Station located at University of Tikrit, Tikrit, Iraq during the 2021-2022 growth season. Total chlorophyll (mg gm-1) was extracted in each growth stage from control and no-irrigation treatment. The tillers number per plant (no. plant-1), flag leaf area (cm2), plant height (cm), dray matter (gm plant-1), and yield (kg m-2) were measured. The result indicated no difference between the two cultivars except in plant height. Fayyad was significantly higher in plant height 80.53 cm compared with Bora 76.53 cm. No-irrigation treatments reduced total chlorophyll significantly compared with control treatment by 11% in seedling, flowering, and fulling seed stages and by 16% in the tillers stage. No-irrigation at the tillering stage reduced significantly the number of tillers 21%, flag leaf area 43%, plant height 12%, and dry matter 19% compared with the control treatment. Also, the no-irrigation treatment at fulling and flowering stages reduced the yield by 36% and 28% respectively compared with the control. The outcome of this study will be useful to increase knowledge about the most sensitive growth stage to water stress in wheat, which contributes to better management of the irrigation process in desert and semi-desert areas and to spare plants water stress during those stages.

A field experiment was carried out at the Agricultural Research Station of the College of Agriculture, University of Anbar for the growing season 2021-2022 to study the effect of potassium fertilizer and sulfur on the growth, yield and some nutrients of local variety garlic. Four levels of potassium were used as ground fertilization (0, 200, 250 and 300 kg K2O ha-1), three levels of potassium as foliar spray (0, 5 and 10 g L-1 K2O), and three levels of sulfur as ground fertilization (0, 40 and 50 kg S ha-1). The study was carried out according to a randomized complete block design (RCBD) in the form of combinations. The results showed that the combination T13 (300 kg K2O ha-1 +10 g L-1 K2O + 50 kg S ha-1) was significantly superior to the combination of plant height and number of leaves, which amounted to 110.04 cm and 11.42 Leaf respectively, and the combination T12 (300 kg K2O ha-1+ 10 g.L-1 K2O + 40 kg S ha-1) had a significant increase in yield traits (number of lobes, bulb diameter and yield of one plant) amounting to 37.65 and 7.32 cm and 100.90 g Respectively, the combination T13 (300 kg K2O ha-1 +10 g.L-1 K2O + 50 kg S ha-1) achieved the highest percentage of potassium and sulfur in the bulbs, which amounted to 1.87 and 0.67%, respectively.

A field experiment was conducted during the summer seasons of 2017 and 2018 to study the effect of adding Seaweed extract (Algaren) on the growth and yield components of two varieties of Rice (Oryza sativa L.). The experiment was accomplished using Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) in a split plot arrangement with three replicates. The study involved two varieties of Rice (Anbbar33 and Yassamen) as main treatments, while, sub plots comprised of six treatments add of seaweed extract (Algaren) and they were symbolized (T0, T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5). Results show that the variety Yassamen significantly superposed to Anbbar33 variety in all growth and yield components. Also, the adding Seaweed extract (Algaren) T5 treatment (Seed immersion in 0.2-0.3% solution before planting + first spray at stage 2-4 leaves + second spray at the branching stage) significantly gave the best results of (Number of days from planting to 50% flowering, number of days from planting to physiological maturity, number of effective branches bearing panicle. m-2, the weight of 1000 grains, grain yield, compared to T0 (non-adding plant) which gave the lowest values. The interaction between varieties and Seaweed extract showed that the Yassamen cultivar with T5 treatment significantly outperformed in all growth and yield components compared to cultivar Anbbar33 with treatment T0 (non-addition of Algaren) which gave the lowest values. From the data obtained from this study, it can be concluded that adding Algaren leads to improving the growth and yield components of varieties of rice used in this experiment.

The research was implemented at autumn and spring seasons of 2020-2021 In a greenhouse within the of Randomized Complete Block Design (R.C.B.D) with three replications to assess the performance of hybrids and their parent and evaluation of hybrid vigour, genetic variation and hertability among studied traits of Cucurbita pepo viz. Plant height, leaves No, internodes length, female flower No, set flower No, set% and plant yield via half diallel crosses for six lines of Cucurbita pepo L., Results demonstrated that the parents and their hybrids were significantly differed for all traits. Where, parent gave highest plant height, female flower No, set flower, set% and plant yield of 106 cm, 27.00 female flower, 13.33 set flower plant-1, 81.06% and 1493 kg, respectively. While the hybrid 4x1 gave highest plant height and plant yield of 120 cm and 3653 kg, the hybrid 2×1 achieves highest leaves No, female flower No, set flower No and shortest internodes length of 39 leaf plant- 1, 33.00 female flower plant-1, 28.67 set flower plant-1 and 2.47 cm. Narrow broadsense heterosis was middle to top for plant height, Analysis of variance for General and special Combining Ability illustrated that genotypes were significantly different in all studied traits. leaves No, set flower No, set% and plant yield. Whereas, the domanance degree mean was bigger than 1 for all studied traits. Therefore, this meant that super-domanance was governed the inheritance of these traits.

Abstract
This study was conducted to determine the effect of spraying different concentrations of chelated iron 0, 30, 60 mg L-1, Prosol 0, 50, 100 mg L-1 and amino acid proline 0, 100 and 200 mg L-1 in the vegetative, root and chemical characteristics of pomegranate seedlings cv. Salimi. Results indicated that spraying with chelated iron F2 at a concentration of 60 mg L-1 had a significant effect on the branches length 74.148 cm, shoot dry weight of 54.513 g plant-1, root diameter 7.618 mm, roots number 6.185, leaves content of nitrogen, phosphorous and boron reached (2.079 %، 0.358 %، 77.594 mg.kg-1dry weight) ، respectively. As for the nutrient solution Prosol, treatment S2 with concentration 100 mg L-1 showed a markable increase in the branches length, shoot dry weight, root diameter and roots number with values of 71.185 cm, 54.135 g plant-1, 7.003 mm, and 6.074 root seedling-1 respectively. As for proline the results confirmed the superiority of the treatment P2 with concentration 200 mg L-1 in increasing the bramches length 68.148 cm, shoot dry weight 53.609 g plant-1, root diameter 6.791 mm, roots number 6.296, in addition to nitrogen and phosphorous and boron in the leaves، while the binary interaction between chelated iron and the nutrient solution prosol (F×S) and the interaction between chelated iron and the amino acid proline (F×P), as well as the interaction between the nutrient solution prosol and the amino acid proline (S×P) were significantly superior in most of the traits. studied، and for the triple interaction between the study factors (F×S×P)، the treatment F2S2P2 had a significant effect on the length of branches 86.666 cm, root diameter 8.666 mm, roots number 8000 root seedling-1 nitrogen، phosphorous and boron in leaves 2.250%, 0.403%, 84.266mg.mk-1dry weight respectively.

The field experiment was conducted at field crops research station, college of agriculture/ Tikrit University. The factors of study were seeding depth and abscisic acid. The first factor was seeding depth at 3, 6, and 9 cm. The second was abscisic acid concentrations of 0, 150, 250 and 300 mg L-1. A randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications was used. The results showed that a seeding depth of 3 cm recorded the highest means of germination, number of days to seed filling, plant height, number of spikes per m2, number of seeds per spike, spike length, 1000 seed weight and seed yield. The means were 91%, 6.31, 85.87 cm, 385.2, 27.38, 13.25 cm, 52.99g and 5.59 ton ha-1. However, the longest coleoptile of 9.21 cm was observed at 9 cm seeding depth. In addition, 300 mg L-1 gave the highest number of days to seed filling, spike length, 1000 seed weight and yield, and means were 41.98 day, 13.96 cm, 50.95 g and 4.20 ton ha-1. Our data revealed that the Interaction between 3 cm and 300 mg L-1 showed the highest means of the number of days to seed filling, spike length, 1000 seed weight and seed yield, and means were 44.58 day, 16.31 cm, 54.17 g and 5.74 t ha-1.

Al-Bouhyat Oasis was chosen. It is located within the boundaries of Anbar Governorate, to the right of the Euphrates River, southeast of Lake Haditha, about 27.45 km, at the coordinates 33°57'59.4"N 42°26'25.4"E, and an area of about 146.55 ha., Soil survey was carried out using the Free Lance method, covered with several pedons with a semi-detailed survey, which numbered 6 pedons. Soil samples were taken from each diagnosed horizon, transferred to the laboratory, and prepared for some physical and chemical analyses. The results showed soil development at the calcareous materials. The soils were classified into the Order of Aridisols, which included two levels of the suborder Gypsids with 78.25 ha (53.39%) and Calcids with 68.30 hectare (46.61%). The study results showed the SiO2 content in all profiles decreased with depth (range of 28.98 % to 35.14 and that Al2O3 values varied from 5.3 to 8.65%. The highest amount of Fe2O3 (4.02%) was in series 131CCW. The CaO range from 21.87 to 31.8% in series 133CKW and series 122CCW. The correlation coefficients showed no significant correlations with depth for Fe2O3, SiO2 and AL2O3, with a correlation coefficient of -0.096, 0.093 and 0.086, respectively. The study also showed a positive correlation coefficient between gypsum and sand content, with a significant positive correlation coefficient of 0.67. This indicates the coarse texture of gypsum soils. The study also showed a significant negative correlation coefficient of -0.51 between the gypsum content and the bulk density.

A field experiment was carried out during the winter season 2021-2022 in research station 1 - College of Agriculture governorate in Anbar to know the genetic variations between different varieties of barley by the effect of seeding rate. Add was to find the selective indicator for improving barley yield. Split plots arrangement according to randomized complete block design (RCBD) at three replications was used. The main plots included three seeding rates (120, 160 and 200) Kg ha-1, while the subplots included five barley cultivars (Iba 256, Iksad 617, Amal, Samir and Buraq). The results showed that the low seeding rate (120 Kg ha-1) was significantly superior in the flag leaf area (14.45 cm2). In comparison, the high seeding rate (200 Kg ha-1) was significantly superior in the crop growth rate, weight of 1000 grains, grain yield and biological yield (13.76 g m-2 day-1, 48.21 g,5.78 ton ha-1and 20.48ton ha-1) respectively. In contrast, the seeding rate of 160 Kg ha-1 was significantly superior in the harvest index (28.87%). The yield and its components of barley were studied in terms of performance and variances, and the values of genetic and environmental variances, genetic and phenotypic variance coefficients and heritability in the broad sense were calculated the highest percentages of genetic to environmental variations for the weight of 1000 grains. The highest heritability rates were 99.28% and 98.54% for the biological yield and the weight of 1000 grains, respectively.

This experiment was carried out during the planting season of 2021-2022 in one of the private fields for olive cultivation in the city of Rawa located in the village of (Abu Koi) of the Western Desert of Anbar, to study the effect of foliar nutrition with chelated iron (CHI0, CHI1 and CHI2) at three levels of concentrations 0, 100, and 200 mg L-1 in the tree, and dry yeast suspension (DYE0, DYE1, and DYE2) at three levels of concentration 0, 10, and 20 g L-1 and the interaction between them its effect on vegetative growth and fruit characters of olive trees (var. Ashrassi). The trees were sprayed three times in a row, the first spray was in April, and the following sprays were 30 days apart. The results showed that the effect of foliar application with chelated iron for CHI2 treatment at a concentration of 200 mg L-1 showed that there were significant differences the increase in branch length amounted to 90.97 cm, the increase in the length of the fruit is 21.33 mm, the weight of the flesh of the fruit is 5.38 g, the weight of the kernel is 0.77 g. While for factor the suspension of dry yeast, the treatment DYE2 at a concentration of 20 g L-1 was significantly superior in increasing the length of the branch 84.25 cm, increase in the length of the fruit 21.02 mm, the weight of the flesh of the fruit 5.63 g, the weight of the kernel 0.78 g, dry matter in leaves 51.21%.

At El-Serw Agriculture Research Station, Damietta Governorate, Agricultural Research Center, Egypt, over the two succeeding summers of 2019 and 2020, two field experiments were undertaken. The experiment was done in a separate location “low and medium salinity soil and each location was consisted of three planting dates (15th March, 15th April and 15th May). In addition, cutting dates, i.e., (cuts were taken after 40, 50, and 60 days for each location) were distributed in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) inside the sowing date plots in every location with three replications. Results indicated that highest values of growth characters, total fresh and dry weigh per feddan (one feddan equal 4200 m2) of cowpea were resulted under the low level of salinity soil (3.35 dSm-1 over both seasons) in both seasons in all studied sowing dates. Sowing cowpea on 15th May optimizing all studied seed characters. On the other hand, the lowest values of seed characters of cowpea were recorded due to early sowing date on 15th March in both growing seasons. Results also showed that, increasing number of days to cut cowpea forage up to 60 days increased productivity of cowpea under low and medium levels of soil salinity at the three studied sowing dates in both seasons. So, sowing cowpea on 15th of May and cutting plants every 60 days in order to maximizing productivity of cowpea under soil salinity stress to meet climate changes and environmental stress.