Kufa Journal for Agricultural Sciences

This study was conducted to assess the quality of treated wastewater from the wastewater treatment project in Karbala. and its reuse for irrigation and municipal by Canadian Water Quality Index (CWQI). Samples were collected periodically with three replications from (Dec. 2021 –Jul.2022). The results showed that the water was characterized by high salinity, TDS, TSS, total hardness, EC, and turbidity, which were recorded at 2039 -3739 mg/l; 1030-2640; 30-48 mg.L-1. 3740 -2040 µs/cm and 3.17 -8.5 NTU respectively, major cations and anions (Cl-, PO4-3, NO3-, S2O4-2 and K+) exceed significantly to (57-380; 0.003-4.99; 8.63-44.25; 453-1340; 4.537) mg. L-1, sodicity index (SAR, Na+ and Sodium percentage ratio) and magnesium hazard, were detected 0.59 – 4.89; 138-447.5 12.98-43.76), Water can be classed depending on that as a permit to good. However, it’s categorized as marginal-fair according to the CCME Water quality index, especially in the far station from the plant water. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed depending on its effect on the value of the index, where the first group PCA1 recorded the largest proportion (35.26%) and includes dissolved solids, EC, salinity, Na, SAR, Na%, alkalinity, SO4, pH, DO, BOD5 Mg risk of magnesium. The second group, PCA2, with the lowest percentage (18.78%), was represented by temperature, Ca+2, total hardness, K, Cl, PO4, NO3, TSS, and turbidity. This water is a wealth that can be exploited in the cultivation of the desert adjacent to Karbala governorate, and by adopting different methods to reduce the effect of salinity.

Seed priming is one method for increasing the growth and quality of seedlings. This study aims to evaluate moringa leaf extract as a priming agent and its effect on the seedling growth and quality of shallot from true seed. This study used a randomized block design with five replications. Priming treatment consisted of unprimed, hydropriming, and three levels of Moringa leaf extract concentration, including 12.5%, 25%, and 37.5%. A one-way analysis of variance was used to perform statistical analysis, with a p-value of 0.05 considered significant. In addition, the mean comparison was performed by Tukey multiple comparison test. According to the research, seed priming with moringa leaf extract at 37.5% resulted in the best effects on the parameter seedling emergence index (1.20), plant height (31.12 cm), number of leaves (4.80), pseudo stem diameter (3.22 mm), total root length (329.70 mm), number of root tips (94.60), root volume (4.64 mm3), fresh weight seedling (2.77 g), dry weight seedling (0.19 g) and seedling quality index (0.0126), while compared to other treatments.

The presented research was conducted at Vegetable Research Farm, Horticulture and Landscape Design, Agriculture and Forestry College, Univ. of Mosul. The research examines the mineral concentration and protein in fifteen genotypes of faba bean, which were sowing under Mosul condition using RCBD design with three replicates for each genotype. The result showed that the mineral element concentration was considerable variation amongst the genotypes ; genotype (S 2009, 140) gave a high value in the number of seeds in each pod, while genotype (S 2008, 096) was supervised in seed diameter, genotype S2009,81 gave a high value in seed length. At the same time, the genotype (S 2009, 175) was supervise compared with the other genotypes under the study, in the other hand the genotype (S 2008, 034) gave the high value in the seed weight plant-1, The genotype (S 2009, 140 ) supervised in Fe percentage which was given a high value (5.275%) comparative with the other genotypes, while the genotype (Aguadulce) gave high value such as K percentage (4.1%), the genotype (S2009,40) supervised in Ca percentage (1.75%) comparative with the other genotypes under the study, in addition to the genotypes (S 2009, 116, S 2009, 81,S 2008, 034) gave the zero (0.0%) percentage in Mn., while the genotype (S 2008, 096) gave the high value in Pb percentage (8.710%).The genotype (ILB 1814) was supervised in N percentage and protein, which were (4.9 and 30.625%) respectively.

The study was conducted at Grdarasha field in Salahaddin University –Erbil during the period from 23 November 2021 to 5 January 2022, to determine the effect of using different calcium sources in a broiler diet on growth performance, blood parameters, bone characteristics, and immunity organs. Three hundred (300) chicks have randomly distributed into three (3) treatments following a completely randomized design (CRD). Five replications for each treatment, each replicate contains 20 birds. The dietary treatments include T1: control (0% eggshell), T2 and T3 increasing levels of eggshell powder as a replacement to limestone at 50% and 100%, respectively. The results showed no significant (P> 0.05) differences in broiler live body weight, body weight gain (BWQ), feed intake, feed conversation ratio, and mortality % among different weeks of experiments and different treatments used. The results of blood parameters did not note any significant variations among different treatment groups (P > 0.05) in TG, HDL, LDL and P, however, the significant differences (P < 0.01)was found in the Cholesterol, VLDL, and Calcium . Bone ash mainly consists of calcium and phosphorous, and their level of them differ significantly (P < 0.01) among the different treatments. Also, the results of the effect of dietary treatments on the broilers' bone properties indicated that no significant differences in bone length (cm), diaphysis diameter (mm), Lateral wall thickness (mm), Medial wall thickness (mm), Medullary canal diameter (mm), Tibiotarsal index. However, the significance was found in bone weight and bone-breaking strength which is considered to affect bone fractures in poultry. Nevertheless, the results showed no significant differences in immunity organs, including spleen % and bursa %.

Zinc Oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are considered an effective factor in plant growth due to their high absorption because of their small size and effect on the plant's physiological system. This study included the biosynthesis of zinc nanoparticles by plant extract from the leaves of the Myrtus communis L. and used the following analyses ultraviolet- X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared (FITR), and visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy (XRD). Using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), it was possible to analyze the ZnO NPs and determine how their concentration affected the germination rate and several other aspects of the growth of wheat Triticum aestivum seeds in vitro. The study results showed that a distinctive absorption peak at 366 nm caused by surface plasma resonance visible in the UV-Vis spectroscopy. A FESEM revealed that ZnO NPs were semi-spherical and had an average diameter of 30 nm.. The results also revealed the effectiveness of the concentration of 100 ppm in the germination percentage of wheat seeds which reached the mean of 59.17% compared with 24.17 % in the control treatment, While the length of plumule and radicle recorded 5.767 cm and 3.400 cm respectively at the same concentration. The study suggests found the effectiveness of biosynthetic zinc nanoparticles in the germination characteristics of wheat seeds.

The study included the extraction of Chitin (Ch) from shrimp shells and preparation of Chitin nanoparticles (NCh) using acid hydrolysis and ultrasound method. In addition, the preparation of chitosan (Chs) and Chitosan nanoparticles (NChs) by Deacetylation method, then we study some of the characteristics, including yield, diameter by Size Analyzer, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-Ray Diffractometer (X-RD), Viscosity, Water Binding Capacity (WBC) and Fat Binding Capacity (FBC). The results showed, (a) decreased the percentage of yield of NChs to 8.20%, (b) the effective diameter of the natural chitosan using a Size Analyzer and was 28121.5 nm, (c) FESEM analysis revealed that the NChs displayed a nanoscale structure with diameters ranged from 20.93 - 30.20 nm (d) the degree of deacetylation (DD%) using FT-IR spectroscopy device, of NChs was (80.21%) compared to Chs 71.45%, and in addition, from the X-ray spectrum, two peaks in spectra of (Ch, NCh) and (Chs, NChs) were observed at the diffraction angles (2θ) which are (10.70-10.99) and (19.99-20.37). Results show increasing the crystallization coefficient of NCh and NChs, while viscosity, WBC and FBC of NChs decreased compared to Chs. The NChs did not show any toxic effect on human blood cells at concentrations of 100-1000 µg. ml-1.

One of the most common fungicides, Thiophanate-methyl (TM), has been extensively used to prevent fusarium wilt disease. Understanding the kinetic behavior of the TM-fungicide in the greenhouse soil was aimed at the current research. The findings demonstrated that TM-fungicide goes through the pseudo-first-order model (PFO), which results in a rate constant K= 0.421 minutes-1. As a result, TM-fungicide needs 16.46 minutes-1 to degrade 50% of the initial concentration. The power function for TM-fungicide ranged from -1.826 to 0.0360 minutes-1, and the distribution coefficient was 6.5 mL g-1. Regarding the adsorption of Langmuir and Freundlich, TM-fungicide is more fitting to the Freundlich with the aF = 25.73 and the bF = 0.078 compared to the Langmuir model. The TM-fungicide starts to release to the soil after 4-5 hours, achieving extensive, effective control of the soil pests, Moreover, TM-fungicide is highly mobile in the soil based on the current conditions.

A laboratory study is conducted to evaluate the efficiency of the aqueous extract of nano- chitosan loaded tobacco plants and laboratory-made. When O. lybicus eggs were treated with an aqueous extract of nano- chitosan loaded tobacco plants at two concentrations (10-15) ppm, recorded the highest mortality rates reached (21.2-37) %, respectively. Furthermore, the highest egg mortality rates reached (47.8_66.6) % after (14_21) days. The same concentrations above also affected the mortality rates of first-instar nymphs, which amounted to (30.3_53.3%), respectively. The concentration (15) ppm had the highest significant differences at mortality rate reaching (58.3_70.0) % after (5_7) days. The mortality rates in third-instar nymphs reached (28.9-37.5%) at the concentration of (15) ppm, the highest mortality rates reached (39.9_44.6_40.3) % after (3_5_7) days. The mortality rates in the fifth instar nymphs amounted to (22.6_29.1) %, respectively, as they were the highest mortality rates at a concentration of (15) ppm after (5) days, reaching (39.1) %.

The study aimed to isolate and diagnose fungi contaminating onion fruits and secreting mycotoxins, and to study the effect of Moringa oleifera extract on the growth of the fungus Aspergillus niger. The results of isolating fungi from onions showed the presence of the following fungi: Aspergillus niger, Fusarium sp., and Rhizopus stolonifer. It became clear that there was a predominance of the fungus A. niger, then the fungus Fusarium sp., followed by the fungus Rhizopus stolonifur, as their frequency rates reached 53.33, 36.66, and 10.00%, respectively, while the occurrence rate reached 83.33, 50.00, and 33.33%, respectively. In this study, molecular diagnosis of the fungus A. niger was carried out using internal transcribed spacer (ITS) genetic markers, and the results of chemical analysis using thin layer chromatography (TLC) showed that 9 of the 16 isolates were A. niger, isolated from onions, produced ochratoxin A with a production rate of 56.25%. The moringa extract inhibited the growth of the fungus A. niger, as the percentage of inhibition increased with increasing concentration, and the highest percentage of inhibition was at a concentration of 15%, which reached 47.32%. The percentage of inhibition was at concentrations of 5 and 10 (12.82 and 26.15%).

The study aimed to isolate and diagnose the fungi associated with the Dubas insect and test their effectiveness in resisting this insect under laboratory conditions. The pest is feeding on leves of date plam tree. That couse dameg to dates. The results showed the presence of fungi associated with the samples of Dubas nymphs and adults in all samples included in the survey, as there was a difference in the percentage of frequency and presence of the fungi, as the Aspergillus fungus excelled with the highest percentage of appearance and frequency of 57.14 and 48.13%, respectively. The results of the pathogenicity test of the fungi isolated from Adults and nymphs of Dubas under laboratory conditions, the T2 (Penicillium sp.) fungus isolate in sample No. 1 was distinguished by giving it a high mortality rate of 6.58% , followed by the T1 (Aspergillus sp.) fungus isolate in the same sample, where its rate reached 4.49% compared to the control treatment in which only distilled water was used, as its rate reached 0.75%. The results of the identification of fungal isolates pathogenic to Dubas insects showed that 4 fungal isolates excelled in the pathogenicity test in the laboratory, and according to the taxonomic keys, they belonged to the species Aspergillus funigatus, A. versicolor, Penicillium janthinellum, and P. amrantiogriseum.

This study was conducted with the aim of isolating endophytic fungi from some xerophyte plants. In this study, three fungi were isolated from the internal tissues of some plants spread in the city of Basrah, Xenomyrothecium tongaense from the stem of Suaeda aegyptiace, Chaetomium megalocarpum from the roots, stem and leaves of Caroxylon jordanicola and Cephaliophora irregularis from the leaves of Cressa cretica. Fungus was identified based on its morphological features and molecular based on the amplification of the ITS gene region and the nucleolide sequence of the fungi was deposited in the genebank under accession number NR-154511.1, KT371335.1 and OM245865.1 for fungi Xenomyrothecium tongaense, Chaetomium megalocarpum and Cephaliophora irregularis, respectively. This is the first study in which these fungi are isolated from desert in Iraq.

The study aimed to find an accurate propagation program for the rootstock of peach Prunus persica cv. Garnem. The apical shoots and nodes of this rootstock were used as explants for the stages of initiation and multiplication, and they were planted on MS medium after adding different concentrations of Active Charcoal (AC), Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone (PVP), and Benzyl adenine (BA). The shoots were planted for the purpose of rooting on MS medium containing different concentrations of salts (1/4 MS, 1/2 MS and full MS salts) with different concentrations of IBA. In the establishment phase, the apical shoots grown on medium supplied with AC were given the highest response rate, the highest average length of plantlet, and the highest number of leaves. The best multiplication of explants in terms of the number of shoots and their length were obtained when cultivated on a medium supplemented with BA at 1 and 2 mg.L-1, whereas the application of BA at 1 mg. L-1 to the cultivated nodes gave the highest number of leaves. The best rooting percent was obtained when plantlets were s treated with 2 mg. L-1 was applied to 1/4 MS medium. The highest number of roots was obtained from plantlets grown in 1/2 MS medium treated with IBA at 3 mg.L-1, whereas the longest root was obtained from plantlets grown in 1/2 MS medium treated with 1 mg.L-1IBA.