IRAQI JOURNAL OF DESERT STUDIES

Wheat is the most important cereal crop on which more than half of the world's population depends. Therefore, they are at great risk of heavy metals e.g., Cd stress, and this compromises serious problems for humans when they enter the food chain. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of Cd on wheat genotypes to highlight their responses to this stress leading to select genotypes with less ability to accumulate Cd in their tissues. The study included 10 wheat genotypes suitable for arid and semi-arid areas and 4 concentrations of Cd (0, 75, 150, and 225 mg L-1) laid as a factorial RCBD experiment with three replications. The important result of this experiment is that the superiority of G-4 in physiological traits, IRAQ, and G-9 were prominent in most anatomical traits. Genotypes G-3, G-9, and G-24 showed great ability of steady metabolism through the activation of defense mechanisms at high concentrations of Cd which led to the superiority of those genotypes at anatomical levels such as the number of xylem vessels. The anatomical traits were a clear indication of Cd toxicity in the genotypes but genotypes were varied in their responses to Cd stress. Therefore, further investigations are required to be able to select genotypes with low ability of Cd accumulation.

Inducing salt tolerance by seed pre-treatment is an efficient way to combat salt stress. The goal of the current study was to determine how seven Egyptian wheat cultivars i.e., Giza 171, Sakha 95, Misr 2, Misr 3, Misr 4, Sides 14 and Gemiza 12 reacted to seed priming at four different levels of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) i.e., control, 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0% subjected to five levels of salt stress (control, 3.0, 6.0, 9.0 and 12.0 dSm-1). Treatments were set up in a factorial experimental design using a Completely Randomised Design (CRD) with four replications. Soaking at 1.5% resulted the highest germination ability, seedling parameters, relative water content (RWC%), tolerance index (TI%) and potassium (K+ ppm) as well proline level in parallel with the lowest sodium content. However, cultivars responded differently to the treatments. Misr 3 cultivar came in the first rank followed by Misr 4, Misr 2, Sakha 95, Giza 171, Gemiza 12 and sides 14. Misr 3 cultivar resulted the highest values of germination parameters, RWC, TI, K+ and proline contents. The maximum values of Na+ content was detected in reverse order. Increasing salinity stress levels from 3.0 to 12.0 dSm-1 significantly decreased all studied character except Na+ which was increased as compared with control treatment. Therefore, pre-treatment of seeds with 1.5 % of H2O2 increased proline and K+ in contrast to the Na+ content. These results suggest that H2O2 pre-treatment helps to increase seedlings growth of Misr 3 under salinity conditions compared to the other examined wheat cultivars.

The experiment was conducted at the Research Station of the University of Anbar, College of Agriculture, in the Albuaitha area located on longitude E43.3265 and latitude N33.4537 for the spring season of 2023, with the aim of studying the effect of foliar spraying with the growth regulator CPPU and cobalt on two potato varieties, Rudolf and Albada. The experiment was conducted according to randomized complete block design (RCBD) with the split-split arrangement with three replications. The first factors are varieties, namely (Rudolf and Albada), coded as V1 and V2, allocated to the main plots, the second is CPPU spraying in three different concentrations (0, 3, and 6 mg. L-1), symbolizes it B, and allocated to the sub-plots, and the third factor is cobalt spraying with three concentrations (0, 5, and 10 mg. L-1), symbolizes it C, and allocated to sub-sub-plots. The outcome showed The Rudolf cultivar is superior in terms of plant height, leaf area, dry weight, and total yield, at 49.84 cm., 120.25 cm2 Plant-1, 58.86 g. Plant-1, 54.06 tons. ha-1) respectively. The Albada variety was superior in chlorophyll, achieving 22.569 mg 100 g-1 fresh weight). Whereas, for CPPU spraying, the third concentration achieved the highest value in plant height, leaf area, chlorophyll, vegetative dry weight, and total yield, at 49.75 cm. 119.74 cm2. Plant-1, 22.759 mg 100 g-1 fresh weight, 57.94 g. Plant-1, and 61.55 tons. ha-1 respectively. Cobalt, however, in contrast, achieved the third concentration of 10 mg. L-1 in the same characteristics under study, the highest values reached (47.85 cm, 116.77 cm2. Plant-1, 22.692 mg 100 g-1 fresh weight, 55.37 g. Plant-1, 56.81 tons. ha-1 respectively. Whereas, the three-way interaction, the Rudolf variety with the third level of CPPU and cobalt achieved plant height, leaf area, dry weight, and total yield at their highest value, which reached 57.26 cm. Plant-1, 126.23 cm2. Plant, 63.69 g. Plant-1, 68.89 tons. ha-1) and Albada with CPPU and cobalt at the second concentration gave the highest result of 26.940 mg 100 g-1 fresh weight for chlorophyll.

Mimosaceae family includes the tree Pithecellobium dulce. The plant P. dulce is found in South America, Asia, and North America, and is frequently applied in conventional medicine. Thus, the history of this plant, together with its physical characteristics, nutritional value, phytochemical analysis, physiological effects, pharmacological applications, and antioxidant agents, are presented in this study. It was found that this species is very significant raw materials to use as a medicinal plant and nutritional natural source due to its phytochemicals content and biochemicals properties. Therefore, it could be concluded to take care of this plant and sustain it by enlargement of cultivation areas.

A study in the field was conducted in the Saqlawiya area, west of Baghdad, in latitude- 33.3962011, longitude- 43.7046653, in the spring and fall seasons 2021. In this study, there were 6 inbred of maize (Zea mays L.) were employed; these inbred lines were included in half diallel crosses using model 1 (fixed) and the fourth approach, in the 2021 spring for producing fifteen F1 single crosses. In fall, R.C.B.D. was used to plant cross grains, and three duplicates were used, The statistical analysis's results displayed the mean squares of the genotypes varied significantly for all the traits under study except for the 250 grain weight trait, Variations, heritability for each trait, and coefficients of variation for genotype and phenotype, The correlations between genotype and phenotype between characteristic pairs were calculated to separate the genetic correlation coefficient among effects that are direct and indirect, Studying the path coefficients was utilized. For the most, the traits under investigation, the findings indicated that the genotype variance values were greater than the environmental variance values, grain yield had a highly substantial positive genotype, phenotype link with rows number per ear and grains number per row, as was the greatest heritability of average yield of grains (96%). The grains number per row had the most direct impact on yield of grains, according to Studying the path coefficients, However, the highest rows number per ear was total sum the impact of both direct and indirect factors on maize grain production.

The study was conducted in one of the glasshouses of the College of Agriculture at the University of Anbar in the city of Ramadi, located in longitude and latitude 33 and 25, to investigate the effect of adding humic substances and spraying with arginine amino acid on the vegetative and root growth of the Carissa plant. The experiment included two factors. The first factor was the humic substance at four concentrations, which are 0, 1, 2, and 3 mg L-1; the second was the amino acid arginine at three concentrations, 0, 3, and 6 mg L-1. The experiment was designed using a Randomized Completely Block Design (R.C.B.D) with three replications. The study showed a significant improvement in the interaction treatment between the arginine acid treatment A2 and the organic material treatment H3 in the rates of leaf area, leaf number, plant height, carbohydrates, nitrogen, root surface area, and root length. It reached 827.000 cm2, 17.333 leaves plant-1, 15.667 cm, 4.690%, 2.667%, 46.937 cm2, and 11.300 cm, respectively.