Basrah Journal of Agricultural Sciences

The most popular and efficient way for fertilization is soil application which needs to be applied in more significant quantities. Nevertheless, foliar fertilization is more practical and cost-effective in some situations. The main diagnostic methods for crop nutrients are foliar and soil fertilization tests to improve crop growth responses. Due to insufficient fertilizer application, particularly when utilizing the usual approach as a soil fertilizer addition, soil degradation will continue and become more expensive and impacting plant growth. To evaluate the influence on the maize vegetative growth, several NPK fertilizer levels were applied using foliar spraying, soil application and their combination treatments at different dosages. Experimental design was factorialal arrangement in a complete randomized block design (CRBD) with three replicates. Data analysis using Genstat softwar (Discovery edition3). The droplet properties such as volume median diameter, droplet deposition, uniformity, and coverage percentage are influenced by the layer of the plant canopy. In addition, the main growth characteristics of maize plants were measured. The upper layers of the plant canopy are the more in the spray deposition (0.529 µl.cm-2), but the higher coverage percentage (33.36%) and the better deposition uniformity (5.54%) obtained in the bottom layers of the maize canopy. The findings demonstrate also a considerable increase in plant height, leaf number, leaf area, stem diameter, wet weight, dry weight, and percentage of N content in plants treated with foliar application and soil fertilization simultaneously (47.52cm, 14.98 leaf.plant-1, 8077, 6.06cm, 52.13gm, 14.31gm, and 2.71%) respectively. The findings imply that soil fertilization and foliar spraying can be used to enhance maize growth.

Silybum marianum L. is considered one of the most extensively used medicinal plants worldwide due to its therapeutic benefits. While ultrasound waves were used to enhance the properties of numerous plant species. However, no study was investigated on applying ultrasonic waves to this particular plant. Therefore, the study amid to assess the impact of different exposure periods (0,10, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 minutes) of a frequency of 47.6 KHz on callus induction, protein content, and plant regeneration in S. marianum. The effect of ultrasonication was distinctive in accelerating callus induction of S. marianum, especially in short exposing periods (10 and 20 minutes). The percentage of callus formation reached 100%, 83.3% for cotyledons and stem respectively, when exposed to 20 minutes of ultrasound. Additionally, growth and total protein content were increased at 40 days and 80 days post- treatments. In contrast, long exposing periods (30, 35, and 40 minutes) had a negative impact on callus induction from all explants, as well as on callus growth and protein content. Moreover, ultrasonication stimulated one-step shoot regeneration during callus induction. The percentage of this phenomenon reached 100% for cotyledon at 10 and 20 minutes exposing period. This study confirmed the advantages of applying ultrasonic waves, particularly during shorter period to enhance the cultivation of S. marianum in vitro.

Reducing the use of chemical fertilizers is possible by implementing environmentally friendly smart farming technology like growth regulators and foliar fertilizer interactions. The experiment was entitled “Effectiveness of novel growth regulator and fertilizer to improve spring wheat quality and yield production.” The field was conducted at Barybino, Moscow Region in 2023. The experiment comprised 16 treatment combinations in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) viz plant growth regulators (PGR) Centrino-1 (GR1), Centrino-2 (GR2), Centrino-3 (GR3), and Terrasay Fertilizer-1 (F1), Terrasay Fertilizer-2 (F2) and Terrasay-3 (F3) and Control (Co). The purpose of the research work was, to examine the effects of a new formulation of foliar fertilizer and PGR on the quality and productivity of spring wheat, and to determine the best way and right dosage levels of growth regulators and fertilizers to increase crop resistance, nutrient uptake efficiency of the crop. The results showed GR3F2 need-based led to the highest plant height (69.8cm) and leaf area (7.63 cm2). GR2F1 attained the highest number of tillers, root length, biological yield, grain yield, and gluten with a mean value of 3 tiller plant-1, 10.7cm, 11118 kg ha-1, 5042kg ha-1 and 12.30 respectively. GR1F3 and GR2F2 recorded the highest in protein, and carbohydrate with a mean value of 9.63%, and 89% respectively. In conclusion, proficient handling of plant growth regulators (PGR) and fertilizers (F) can be considered as a crop management strategy to boost yield and quality by improving chemical fertilization, utilization efficiency, and reducing environmental pollution.

The purpose of this study was the improvement of bacteriocin production due to importance of bacteriocin in biotechnology. Zeolite was used for the first time in this study to support and improvement of bacteriocin production through the ability to increase the bacterial biomass. Zeolite is a mineral that consists mainly of aluminosilicate. One –hundred eighty isolates belonging to the lactic acid bacteria were obtained from 120 samples of different parts of cauliflower and broccoli .The vegetable samples were taken from different markets in Baghdad city for 3 months. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolates were identified by standard diagnostic methods. Bacteriocin production was detected by measuring the inhibition zone towards indicator pathogenic bacterial isolates. The isolates were screened to determine the most efficient producer which caused the largest inhibition zone and it chosen. The most efficient producer was Leuconostoc carnosum after confirmed identification using the VITEK®2 System. The results showed the maximum bacteriocin production with a specific activity of 1093 AU.mg-1 protein when added 1.5%. The active peptide was purified from the cell-free supernatant of Leuconostoc carnosum in three processes: (1) Ammonium sulfate for precipitation with 40-60% saturation (2) ion-exchange chromatography (3) gel filtration chromatography. The purified carnosin was characterized by determining the molecular weight using SDS PAGE (8KDa) in size .Carnosin had lost antimicrobial activity with different protease treatments (pepsin, trypsin and proteinase K). Carnosin was maintained its activity at 100oC but lost 13% of it at 121oC after 15 min.; Carnosin resistance for changed in PH range of 2.0-11.0, while lost 15% of its activity at pH 12.0. Also the organic solvent, surfactant and metal ion salt do not effect on its activity. The purified carnosin appeared a board range of antimicrobial activity against many pathogenic and food-borne spoilage bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, salmonella typhi, Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus.