IRAQ JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH

The study was conducted at Horticultural Research Station affiliated to the Ministry of Agriculture / General Company for Horticulture, 45 km South of Baghdad for the period from March 2018 to September 2018 to investigate the effect of bunch covering with different colors of polyethylene and gibberelline spray on some physical and yield of date palm fruits cv.Braim. the coverage treatments included four levels and included, (control) unbagged bunches, bunches covering with transparent perforated polyethylene, bunches covering with perforated blue polyethylene and bunches covering with perforated black polyethylene, on the other hand, spraying bunches with gibberelline included three concentration (control) spray bunch with distilled water, spray bunch with gibberelline 75mg.l-1 and spray bunch with gibberelline 150mg.l-1. A factorial experiment performed within Randomized Complete Block Design with three replicates. The results showed that coverage treatments with polyethylene significantly affected on most of physical characteristics of fruits, perforated black polyethylene achieved the highest value of the fruit length, fruit flesh weight, while it gave the highest value of the fruit diameter, fruit weight and fruit maturity rate, also, perforated blue polyethylene and perforated black polyethylene resulted in an increase in the yield weight and significantly reduced fruits drop rate in comparision with (control). GA3 spray was significantly affected in most of physical chracteristics, especially 150mg.l-1 which led to an increase in fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit flesh weight, fruit weight and yield weight, while reduced the fruits drop and fruit maturity rate in comparison with (control).

Research was conducted in plastic house at AL-Latifia Research Station, Agricultural Research Directorate, during Autumn season 2015 using Al-fares V1 and Grass V2 cv of Cucumber varieties. Experiment factorial within Randomized Complete Block Design (R.C.B.D) was adapted. The study carried out to know the effect of mulching M1 and without mulching M0 on growth and yield of Cucumber. Results showed the superiority of the treatment of Mulching Cucumber plants with black polyethylene (M1) that significantly increased the height of plants (195.50 cm) while the treatment without mulching (M0) gave 164.50 cm. There is no significant influences of the variety of cucumber in height of plant. The interaction between mulching with black polyethylene sheet and variety (M1V1) significantly increased in height of plants at ratios 201.70 cm, while treatment (M0V1) gave 157.50Cm. Mulching with black polyethylene (M1) significantly increased in the yield per plant and yield of plastic house compared without mulching (M0). Moreover the interaction between mulching with black polyethylene sheet and variety (M1V1) showed significant increase in the yield per plant and yield of plastic house (4.34kg.plant-1 & 5425.00kg.house-1) respectively in comparison with the M0V2 treatment that gave the values (3.58kg.plant-1 & 4481.00 Kg.house-1) respectively

Pesticides have played important role in control plant diseases, which induce high economic losses in world crop yield directly or indirectly. General health and environmental problem associated with their utilization, which in return increase the concern of the researchers to find a new strategies which are biologically active, environmentally safe and sustainable to manage plant diseases.
Integrated diseases management is the more important strategy, which aimed to programming the utilization of agricultural, biological, physical and even eco-friendly chemical pesticides as last line of defense in disease management. The main goal of integrated disease management is to keep the yield losses from diseases to level that do not threat crop production by elimination of primary inoculants with soil or soil substitutes sterilization and used healthy seeds and propagation units from certified sources in addition to limiting inoculants spreading and survival and optimization fungicides application if it’s application are necessary

An experimental was conducted in one of nurseries of the American University in Baghdad through Agricultural winter season 2019/2020, to explain the effect of spraying seaweed extracts Alga600 and Humic acid in some the vegetative and flowering growth features for petunia plants, The experiment was carried out using a randomized complete block design , in the two factors:- first: spraying plants with fore levels of seaweed extracts Algaa600 is (0, 0.75, 1.5, 2) gr/L , second factors is sprying with fore levels of Humic acid is (0, 0.5, 1.5, 2) ml/L if was the number of pots in all of treatment within the experimental unit is fore pots, in diameter of 20 cm and high 16 cm.
The experimental shown that spraying the plant with seaweed extracts Alga600 in concentration 1.5 gr/L cause moral increasing in the vegetative and flowering growth features, Where increased (high of plant, number of leafs, number of branches, number of flowers, Flower diameter and The days that flowers wilts on the plant) also experiment shown that spraying with Humic acid in concentration 1.5 ml/L showed a significant difference in the characteristics of vegetative and flowering growth features.
The results also indicated that the interaction effect of the experiment workers has lead to be moral different in vegetative and flowering growth features, was the best result when spraying the plant with concentration 1.5gr/L from seaweed extracts and spraying with Humic acid at concentration 1.5ml/L observed the moral difference on the studying features vegetative and flowering , As it reached (high of plant 14.12cm, number of leafs 102 leafs.plant-1, number of branches 11.06 branches.plant-1, number of flowers 256 flowers.plant-1, flower diameter 10.90cm and The days that flowers wilts on the plant 8.40days).

A field study was carried out to evaluate the efficiency of insecticide Flash EC 10% at different times to control sunn pest Eurygaster testudenaria Geoffroy which is one of the major pests on the wheat and barley crop in Iraq and its compatibility with the biological control agent in the field, in Najaf /Kufa province during the season 2015.The results showed that the use of the insecticide significantly reducing infestation level of the pest and increased plant productivity, which was differed according to the time application of insecticide. The results showed that the highest parasitism percentage and lowest white spike damage were 69% and 0.44 spike/m² respectively after two weeks of treatment when insecticide applied on the end of February. which positively reflected on the percentage of seed infestation 0.11% m², and yield 359g/m². The lowest parasitism percentage and highest level of white spike were 4.7% and 12.22 spike/ m² respectively after two weeks of insecticide treatment at the beginning of April. Therefore, controlling the insect before laying the eggs and during their migration to the fields of wheat and before the appearance of parasitoid gives a greater chance for the proliferation and survival of natural enemies of life in the environment and control of the pest

Field studies were carried out on flatheaded tree borer, Sphenoptera servistana Obenb.,1929 on stone fruit trees orchards in middle of Iraq during 2019 - 2020 Baghdad ,to know the temporal presence of the different stages of the insect, the nature of the tunnels in which different insect stages are formed (metamorphosis), the behavior of the different stages inside the tunnels, the host preference for the insect and the percentage of injury and damage.
The results indicated that the longest time the insect spends is in the larval stage, where it resides most of the seasons of the year, the egg phase presence during the period from mid-May to the end of September coinciding with the presence of adults in period 135 days. As for the pupae, their presence continued for 44 days for the period from April 7 to May 21, including the period of development inside the larva. The adult stage continued to exist for a period of 128 days during the period May 22 until the end of September, including the period of development within the tunnels in the trees. The insect completes the development of most of its stages inside tunnels that dig into the xylem of the stems and branches of plum and apricot trees, except for the egg stage, on the outer surface of the bark of the stems and branches. The different stage of the flatheaded tree borer exhibits multiple behaviors within the development tunnels. The borer prefers to infest first the plum trees (cherry plum), followed by the apricot trees, where an infestation rate of 73% and 24% was recorded respectively. The results of this trials help to decide when is the suitable timing of the control programs based on the behavior and development process. The behavior of the borer and the different stages presence during the year support knowing the weakest point in which the insect should be controlled

Effect of fumigation with Fossifid gas at different weights (0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 gm) of jute bags infested with larvae and adult of Trogoderma granarium (Everts) were study under laboratory conditions. Results showed that larvae mortalities was 100%, at all weight treatments. Treating infested jute bags (that use in field) by T.granarium with about 2 gm/bag (1pilte) led to 78.72% mortality of larvae and adult. And the later treatment after one month by 1gm/bag (½ pilte) led to 100% mortality of the insects. Therefore, fumigatium with Fossifid gas infested jute bags with T.granarium was Very effective in controlling this pest

This experiment was included four treatments its T1 (control) which were fed on basal diet only, T2 (2.5 gm of Black seed + 2.5 gm of Rosemary / kg concentrate diet), T3 (3.75 gm of Black seed + 3.75 gm of Rosemary / kg concentrate diet) and T4 (5 gm of Black seed + 5 gm of Rosemary / kg concentrate diet). Twelve Awassi Lambs were used in this experiment with an average age of 8–9 months and an average weight of 38 ± 0.5 kg, randomly divided into four equal groups of three Lambs in each. The results showed a significant superiority (p<0.05) of T3 over T1 in the rate of weight the muscle Semimembranosus (Sm) and significantly increased (p<0.05) T2 and T3 in the average weight of muscles Smitendinosus (St) and Psoas minor (Pmin) compared with T1 and significantly improved (p<0.05) T2 on T1 in the area of muscle Longissimus dorsi (Ld) .It was also found that there a significant superiority (p<0.05) in the percentage of meat for T3 compared to T1 and T4, while T1 and T4 showed a significant superiority (p<0.05) in the percentage of fat in the Rack compared to T3 and through this shows the importance of Black seed and Rosemary in improving some characteristics of Awassi Lambs meat

Forty Iraqi- Arabian mare and 37 stallion in ages of 2 years and above used to study 26 qualitative and quantitative characters and to calculate the genetic diversity behind these characters and the inbreeding coefficient for this breed which the indicators specified it as endanger of extinction. The results showed that the breed as general characterized with black average size eyes, average size ears, dished face, tapered muzzle, large nostrils, matched lips, arched neck, level legs with sharply slanted shoulder in the forelimbs and narrow knee joints, the legs form right angle with the hoof which is concaved and seldom came in one colour for the for legs. The chestnut is the dominant colour in females while the gray is dominant in males. The means for the quantitative characters (body measurements) are; 149.78cm for the wither height, 34.53 cm chest width, 128.29 cm chest circumference, 62.67 cm back length, 8.74 cm saddle cavity, 56.35 cm head length, 20.06 cm forehead measure, 61.33 cm neck length, 32.89 cm front hoof measure, 33.50 cm back hoof measure, 48.38º front hoof angle, 51.37º back hoof angle and 46.36 cm for the tail length. The mean of Shannon Weaver index (H) for measuring genetic diversity for the qualitative characters reached 0.43 and 0.531 while for the quantitative characters reached 2.037 and 2.04 for females and males respectively. The inbreeding coefficient (F) was 2.45%. We can conclude from this study that the Iraqi – Arabian horse breed still has suitable genetic diversity but (F) was high and alarm us that the negative impacts of inbreed could appears if we did not implemented a policy to reduce this danger

Fish are important products because they contain proteins, vitamins and minerals. There is a growing demand for this product, making the delivery to the consumer with a suitable price. The efficiency of the performance of marketing services through the stages and marketing stages are factors affecting on the stability and expansion of production. The increase in marketing margins in fish marketing margins is one of the main problems facing fish marketing. The problem of research is limited to high marketing costs, intermediary profits, low farm gate prices and high consumer prices. Which leads to a decrease in marketing efficiency. Therefore, the objective of the research is to measure the marketing efficiency of the cage system for fish farming projects identify the services and marketing functions through marketing channels, study of marketing margins and the share of the producer, wholesaler and retailer with the distribution of consumer dinars to judge the efficiency of the performance of the marketing system. The research found that the marketing efficiency of marketed fish was low (58.6%), as well as the marketing margin between the producer and the consumer, which constitutes part of what the consumer pays, reaching 2147.5 dinars/kg. The relative importance of the components of the marketing margin came first with the costs of marketing processes of the retailer (50.98%), while the second place was the profits of the retailer (33.88%).The third place was the profits of the wholesaler (7.33%). The fourth place was the cost of fishing, packing, and transportation and unloading of the product (2.33%).The last rank was the cost of marketing operations for the wholesale trader (1.75%).The study .recommends: working to provide production and marketing requirements by the state at reasonable prices. Emphasis on protecting the product from dumping the market with imported goods in the production season. Working to raise marketing prostitution by reducing costs of market performance or increasing marketing benefits without increasing marketing costs.

Iraq has great economic assets and constituents in the fields of fish wealth from naturally sources and fish aquaculture However, Iraq's production of fish does not meet the domestic consumption demand and less than to the average per capita fish consumption compared to global rates. Therefore, the urgent need to create a rapid development of fish wealth to face the fish food gap through fish aquaculbure as one of the economic and social activities, and this is what the country began to adopt recently by encouraging the private sector to invest in fish aquaculture. Therefore the problem is the lack of studies in the financial and economic evaluation of fish cage aquacwtace projects based on economic criteria or indicators, as a failure of the lack or lack of government support for the inputs and outputs of such projects. The research data for the 2019 production season were obtained through questionnaires and interviews with fish breeders. The research results showed that the variable costs constituted (81.4%) of the total and fixed costs (18.6%) of the total costs. and that the project has achieved economic returns through the application of some economic standards has achieved an annual profit of (3842519) dinars While the capital recovery period reached (4) years, the return of the invested dinar was about (1.246) dinars, the simple rate of return (246%) and finally the variable capital productivity (1.53) dinars, and it turned out that all of them were positive.In light of the results of the criteria applied in the research, we conclude that the breeder needs the capital component, which is necessary and important in the production process, which is reflected in the technical competence of the breeder, as well as the lack of support for fish farming inputs and outputs. Therefore, the study recommends the following: Attention to the agricultural supportive policies by the state, especially the financial lending to fish producers in order to encourage breeders for production on the banks of rivers and achieve an adequate standard of living for them and protect them from production changes, prices and weather conditions. The necessity of working to improve the knowledge level for the purpose of raising the administrative, technical and organizational efficiency of breeders through agricultural extension system to keep pace with the development other than fish farming. Establishing an association for fish breeders for the purpose of spreading awareness among breeders and providing basic materials in cage industry at reasonable prices. Preventing the import of fish and providing the appropriate means of transportation to transport fish from production areas to consumption areas in the required time and time.

The aim of this study is to focus on the investment priorities in the agricultural scientific research in Iraq for three cereals crops (Rice Dijlah sueni 5, Corn Synthetic genotype Al-Maha, and wheat Buhooth 22) for the year (2011, 2012) respectively by using analysis method named police Analysis Matrix. This method is considered being a way of knowing the impact of investment in the agricultural scientific research, and it is done by calculating Profitability coefficient, Domestic Resource Cost coefficient, Producer Subsidy Ratio coefficient, and Private Cost coefficient Ratio for the cereals crops mentioned above. The most important result showed that, the investment was profitable for domestic producer for the wheat Buhooth 22 for the year 2011 based on the values of profitability coefficient, which was about 1.69, and private cost coefficient ratio, which was about 0.20, producer subsidy ratio coefficient which was 40.05% and private profits which were 799050 respectively. The investment was profitable for domestic producer for the Dijlah sueni 5 for the year 2012 based on the values of profitability coefficient, which was about 2.01, private cost coefficient ratio, which was about 0.21, producer subsidy ratio coefficient that was 55.65% and private profits, which were 986860 respectively. The investment was profitable for domestic producer for the variety Synthetic genotype Al-Maha for the year 2011 based on the values of profitability coefficient which was about 1.84 and private cost coefficient ratio which was about 0.13 and producer subsidy ratio coefficient which was 56.74% and private profits which were 1273890 respectively, it is highly recommended that support should be increased for cereal that the country has greater comparative advantage in order to improve the utilization of available resources and reduce wasted resources. Moreover, similar studies should be done in the future by other researchers for the major cereal crops at the country level in order to comparison between them to set an investment mechanism which help both the researcher and agricultural research institution in orientation its resources

The aim of research is to know the extension workers’ perception on social, economic and environmental effects of climate change on agriculture, methods used to aware farmers about it and the probles facing extension workers. The research population involved all extension workers work in extension centers and farms in the middle Euphrates governorats namly: (Babil, Karbla, Najaf and Diawaniyah). Data were collected by questionnaire consisted of three sections according to the purpose and abjectives of the study. The first section included (14) items, the second (18) items and third (32) items. Likert – type scales were used to quantify the responses. The research revealed that extension workers have a perception of climate change effects on farmers as well as the methods that used to aware farmers on climate change effects were weark. The research recommends that increasing extension activities that disseminate climate information and promote measures to mitigate and adapt to the negative effects of climate change among the rural people

Phenotypic characterization is critical in breed improvement and conservation programs. To determine some of the essential morphological features of Jenoubi cattle breed living at its natural habitat in south east Iraq under pastoral system, data from 98 adult cows and 12 adult bulls collected during the summer of 2018. Twenty-one qualitative and quantitative morphological features studied in addition to the nature of its productive system and environment. Depending on the mean, the qualitative features of typical Jenoubi breed are; short hair (2 cm) which is also straight and bristly are predominant, yellow in cows and compound (the body brown while the neck is black ) in bulls. Straight face of 45 cm with laterally oriented ears of 21cm, black short horns 7cm, the muzzle, eyelids and the hoofs also black, the tail long, the dewlap small and that goes to both sexes, while the hump which is the most significant trait of Jenoubi is predominant only in bulls. The quantitative traits revealed that the average body measurements in cows and bulls respectively are; body length 81.28 ±11.6cm, 74.83 ±8.5cm; hearth girth 141.54 ±11.6cm, 134.16 ±12.1 cm; height at withers 114.61 ±7.9 cm, 110 ±9.1 cm; pelvic widths 37.30 ±4.4 cm , 37. 4 ±7.7 cm ; muzzle circumference 43.31 ±4.9 cm, 44.33 ±7.4 cm and foot under hock circumference 15.95 ±4 cm, 15.91 ±2.5 cm. Average daily milk yield was 3.29 ±1.3Kg , with lactation length of 3.5 ±1.1 months and the age at first to birth was 29.5 ±2.6 months. Net body weight of bulls was 107.5 ±2.5 Kg. At last, the animal is docile; tolerate to heat stress, endemic disease and parasites. We conclude that the breed has humble productive characteristics but, very high adaptation qualities.