IRAQI JOURNAL OF DESERT STUDIES

A laboratory experiment was carried out at Genetic Engineering Department- Agricultural Research Directorate/ Ministry of Science and Technology for the period between March 2019 and May 2020. The aim was to characterize the gene expression at different rates of drought stress. Stem cuttings were cultured in MS medium which contained three concentrations of Poly Ethylene Glycol (PEG) as a stress factor (0, 0.5 and 2.5 %). Differential Display Reverse Trancrptase- DDRT was applied to study the genetic markers related with drought tolerance by using 6 randomized primers (B5, D2, E12, F12, Q16 and H9). The experiment included seven genotypes of potatoes, four of which were certificated in Iraq, namely Arnova, Burren, Provento and Riviera and the rest were brought from the International Potato Institute in Peru which are 58, 60 and 67. All primers (6 primers) gave a polymorphism, with a total of 101 bands. Maybe this indicate the existence of gene expression in plants that subjected to drought stress. The primers varied in number of bands, the lowest number of bands were in D2 which gave 15 bands while the highest number of bands (18 bands) were in B5, F12 and H9. A number of bands of all primers studied were observed in plants under control and drought stresses, indicating the possibility of these DNA fragments involved in drought tolerance.

This study was conducted to evaluate Ascorbic acid، Salicylic acid،, and T. harzianum individually or in combinations، in reducing the severity of the disease Root Rot and Damping-off of cucumber caused by Semi Pythium aphanidermatum and some growth and chemical characteristics. The results showed that all treatments were highly efficient in increasing germination rates, protecting cucumber seedlings from root rot disease and Damping-off before and after emergence, and reducing the severity of infection compared to the treatment of semi-pathogenic alone. The treatment mixed of Ascorbic and Salicylic acid with T. harzianum with pathogenic achieved a germination rate of 100%، the infection rate and severity were reduced to 0.0% before and after emergence، and the effect was positively reflected on the fresh and dry weight of the foliage and root system. The induction agents proved their efficiency in inducing systemic resistance in cucumber seedlings by increasing the activity of peroxidase and phenols.

An experiment was carried out according to the Factorial Experiment within Split- Split Plot in a Randomized Complete Block Design within the RCBD design. Sub Plot In one of the plastic houses of the Department of Horticulture and Palms in Baghdad Governorate during the year 2022, the effect of some environmental factors and the addition of licorice extract and biofertilizers, the growth and production of commercial cut flowers of two varieties of shrubby roses in some characteristics of vegetative and flowering growth, the use of two varieties of roses the bushy variety is Angelina, Angelina red, and Maroussia, white—the use of shading in three levels without shading and 25% and 50%. Materials and combinations are used in fertilizing plants in three levels, including licorice extract+mycorrhizal (10g L-1+mycorice). Also, (chelated iron+mycorrhizal (1 g L-1 + mycorrhizae) and licorice extract+chelated iron+mycorrhizae), and the results showed a significant superiority among the cultivars, as the V1 variety was superior to the V2 variety in the dry weight of the leaves. At the same time, Cultivar V2 had a significant superiority over Cultivar V1 in average seedling diameter, flowering stem weight, and petals' dry weight. While the vegetative growth characteristics represented by the percentage of phosphorus in the leaves, the dry weight of the leaves and the diameter of the seedling, the characteristics of the flowering growth represented by the length of the flowering bud, the dry weight of the flowering stem and the dry weight of the petals were significantly superior when using the levels of shading 50% (S2) and the levels of fertilization consisting of mycorrhiza and extract Licorice and chelated iron (F3) in all characteristics of vegetative and flowering growth.

A factorial experiment was carried out according to the randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications during the winter season for the years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. The first factor included encapsulating the seeds with plaster, which included two treatments: no seed encapsulation and encapsulation denoted by G0 and G1 sequentially, while the second factor included stimulating the seeds for a period of 16 h (based on to the results of the first laboratory experiment) with nano nitrogen concentrations of 0, 2, and 3 mg L-1, coded N0, N2, and N3, respectively, while the third factor included four varieties of wheat (Mawadda, Tammuz, Ibaa-99, and Buhouth-22) coded V1, V2 V3, and V4, respectively. The results of this experiment showed the following: - The treatment of covering seeds with plaster had a significant (G1) superiority in plant height, number of tillers, number of spikes, number of grains per spike and grain yield for the two seasons of the study, respectively (105.45 and 109.08 cm, 493.3 and 497.8 tiller m-2, and 403.6 and 412.8 spikes m-2). 2, 48.05 and 50.93 grains of spike-1 and 4.927 and 5.215 t h-1) for the two study seasons, respectively. - The treatment of seed stimulation with nano-nitrogen at a concentration of 2 mg L-1 (N2) was significantly superior in plant height, number of tillers, number of spikes, number of grains per spike, and grain yield (104.43, 113.96 cm, 501.2, 505.5 tiller m-2, 401.6, 394.8 spikes m-2, 48.79, 53.01 grains of spike-1, 4.927 and 5.082 t h-1) for the two study seasons, respectively. The cultivar IPA-99 (V3) was significantly superior in plant height, number of tillers, number of spikes, number of grains per spike, and grain yield (106.75, 111.64 cm, 512.2, 506.4 tiller m-2, 405.5, 393.7 spikes M-2, 48. 47 and 51.94 grains of spike-1, 4.900 and 5.069 t h-1) for the two study seasons, respectively.

Two agricultural districts were chosen: 5 Al-Nassaf and 17 Al-Bushjal, located on both banks of the Euphrates River, during which a semi-detailed survey was carried out using the grid soil survey method. The locations of the pedons representing the soil of the region, which amounted to (10) pedons, were determined at a rate of 5 pedons for each district to study the variations occurring in some chemical soil characteristics (electrical conductivity, degree of interaction, calcium carbonate, gypsum, cation exchange capacity, percentage of adsorbed sodium, and percentage of exchanged sodium). The results of the study showed that the soil of the pedons region is characterized by variations in some chemical soil characteristics in the vertical direction. Organic matter was the most variable among the characteristics in District 17 of Bushjal, with a coefficient of variation (192.02%), while in the percentage of gypsum, 5 Al-Nassaf district was the most variable, with a coefficient of variation of (105.4%). In contrast, Bushjal district 17 excelled in chemical characteristics (electrical conductivity, degree of reaction, calcium carbonate, exchange rate of sodium, exchange capacity for positive ions, with a coefficient of variation (92.62, 5.68, 9.31, and 22.87%), respectively.

Sand physical and chemical properties of dune sand in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates were analyzed. There are three types of sand dunes in the study area: isolated dunes, groups, and belts. Four regional zones of mobile dune corridors with different chemical and physical properties have been identified. The sand dune grains of the Mesopotamian flood plain (Iraq) are the finest in size, with poor standard deviation, with a purity of silica (<75%), containing 6-19% carbonates and feldspar, and with the highest grain area (10 -50 g/m2) when compared to sand dunes in the study area. The dunes in Iraq contain the highest ratio of heavy metals, clay, feldspar, and carbonate among sand dunes, which makes them the best for agriculture and can be fixed and stabilized efficiently by environmentally friendly materials or native plants. The dominant sand dunes in Northwest Arabia and Northeast Kuwait are coarse sands of good standard deviation, with less than 1% carbonate and feldspar, low grain surface area (<1 g/m2), and high silica content (above 98%) Which makes it the highest purity sand dunes in the Middle East and the best for manufacturing glass and PV panels.

Allelopathy is a widespread natural incident, which means that an organism creates biochemical substances that impact another species' evolution, persistence, advancement, and generation. Allelochemicals are biochemical substances that possess valuable or harmful impacts on target living beings. It is a naturally occurring ecological phenomenon of organism interference that can be used as insect pests, weeds and illnesses processer in field crops. Allelopathy can be employed in field crops after agriculture rotation, cover crops, and plant extracts for natural pest management. Weeds and insect pests can be effectively controlled by using allelopathic plant extracts. This review examines the nature of allelopathy, its significance in crops, their ability to tolerate or resist these materials, crop production, and the effect of these varied chemical compounds on exotic weeds on crops or microorganisms present in the environment where allelopathic substances are secreted as well as the allelopathic effect of some plants, such as sorghum, wheat, and rice, as well as the importance of these substances secreted from plants from various parts and liberated in different ways in the creator plant, which is dependent on the next mechanisms: decomposition, exudation, leaching, and volatilization

A field collection of plant samples from the province of Baghdad included 12 species belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae (Fabaceae)to study the anatomical properties of the stems, petioles, leaf blade and midrib. The results showed a distinct difference in the target anatomical properties. Where Calliandra haematocephala had the highest blade thickness (206.3,205.4- 209.2) µm, and Albizia lebbeck gave the highest cuticle thickness (34.8, 28.1-35.2) µm and the lower epidermis (26.1-30.5 (28.4) µm. Furthermore, Calliandra haematocephala achieved a thickness of (29.1 -33.1 (31.6)) µm. Anatomical images of the midrib and petiole revealed obvious differences in the bundle shapes. The study of the anatomical characteristics of the stem showed a superiority of Albizia julibrissin in cuticle thickness (3.4-5.6 (4.75)) µm., Leucaena leucocephala subsp. leucocephala was superior in epidermal thickness ((30.2-36.5 (35.6) μm. while Prosopis juliflora outnumbered and superior in cortex thickness ((71.2-75.6 (72.4 μm)). Both species, Albizia julibrissin, and Leucaena leucocephala subsp. glabrata, had eglandular hairs on the epidermis of the stem. Mimosa pudica was superior in vascular bundle thickness (353.4) µm. Cross sections of the stems showed clear differences between the examined species in their anatomical features.

Jaafari plant (Tagetes erecta L.), which belongs to the composite family, is one of the ornamental plants with known medicinal uses because it contains a high percentage of carotenoid substances, including carotenoids, beta-carotene, and lutein, which are known as antioxidants that contribute to the prevention of cancerous diseases and the treatment of eye inflammation from the burning rays of the sun. So, these substances are used in coloring foods and drugs. The leaves and flowers of these plants contain mono-, di- and polyphenols (Hassan et al., 2020). Distinctive essential oils are extracted from the leaves and flowers as an antibacterial-fungal agent, lotion, and disinfectant. It also contains flavones (riboflavin) and heterogeneous tricyclic organic compounds. These substances have essential properties in pharmaceutical materials and are used to manufacture drugs and poisons. The crushed fibers are used externally to stop bleeding.

A field experiment was conducted during the spring of 2021 at the University of Fallujah. Three irrigation coefficients were adopted: The ratio of Irrigation Water to evaporation from the Cumulative Pan Evaporation has a value of 0.75, 1.0, and 1.25. The results showed that the irrigation interval had variable values and decreased with the increase in the experimental basin coefficient's value and with the growing season's progression. The treatment 1.25 achieved an advantage in results. It was found that the water requirement of peanut plants during the season was 519.74 mm on average when adopting the irrigation water to evaporation from the cumulative evaporation ratio as a treatments in irrigation scheduling. The results showed significant differences between irrigation treatments and the vegetative growth characteristics of peanut plants, such as the average plant height, the number of branches per plant, and the yield. The effect of irrigation treatments on the yield and its components of the peanut plants showed that the 1.25 treatment was superior to the yield, which amounted to 3.2 tons ha-1. The results showed a clear trend in the relationship between irrigation treatments and water unit productivity. The treatment 1.25 was significantly superior to the 1.0 and 0.75 treatments in water unit productivity, which amounted to 7.04 kg m-3, while the lowest value for water unit productivity was 4.78 kg m-3. For the transaction, 0.75.

To improve mungbean germination boundaries, this examination intended to concentrate on the exhibition of Kawmy1 cultivar to various portions of seed treatment, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. Consequently, a lab test was completed after the field exploration in each season under the Seed Testing lab states ‎of Central Administration for Seed Testing and Certification, Ministry of ‎Agriculture, Egypt. With three replications, the experiment was carried out in a split-split plot design. Seed inoculation was taking place on the major plots. The levels of phosphorus fertilizer were divided into sub-plots. The potassium fertilization levels were arranged in the sub-sub-plots. The results indicated that the highest germination percentage values and velocity coefficient were obtained from seed inoculation in the first and second seasons, respectively. The increases in phosphorus fertilizer rates to 45 kg/fed produced the best germination rate, germination index, mean germination time, coefficient of velocity and value of the vigor in the first season. The increases in potassium fertilizer rates to 50 kg k/fed produced the best germination percentage, velocity coefficient and vigour value in the second season. It could be concluded that injection of mung bean seeds with Rhizobium and increasing phosphorus fertilizer to 45 kg P2O5/fed and potassium to 50 kg K2O/fed to enhance germination parameters.