Journal of Kerbala for Agricultural Sciences

The aim of this study was estimating some genetic parameters of in-troduced genotypes of maize at high plant densities and late plant-ing dates for the fall season of 2023. Four Egyptian Genotypes were used and compared with two local Genotypes (and tested at two planting dates (1st and 10th August) and two plant densities (70 and 90 thousand plants h-1). A randomized complete block design (RCBD) with a split-spilt plot arrangement with four replications was used. The traits of tassling and silking, plant height, ear height, stem diameter, number of leaves, leaf area and its index, ear length, and individual plant yield were studied. The results of the genetic analysis showed that the standard error values were low in all the studied traits and in the two dates and densities. The results also in-dicated that the values of the coefficient of variation were less than 20% for all the studied traits at the two dates and the two plant den-sities. The genetic variation values were higher than the environ-mental variation in most of the traits studied, with the exception of the traits of ear height, leaf area, and ear length at the date of 1th August and the density of 70 thousand plants h-1, and plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, and leaf area index at the date of 1st August and the density of 90 thousand plants h-1. The diameter of the stem, the leaf area, and its evidence at the date of 10thAugust, and the density of 70,000 plants ha-1, the number of leaves, the leaf area, its evidence, and the ear length at the date of 10thAugust, and the density of 90,000 plants ha-1. The environmental variance val-ues were greater than the genetic variance, and the ratio of the ge-netic variance to the environmental variance for these traits is less than 1. The values of the phenotypic coefficient of variation were higher than the genetic variation values for all the traits studied at the two planting dates and the two plant densities. The results showed that the highest percentage of heritability in the broad sense in the first date was 86.1% under the density of 70 thousand plants ha- 1 for silking trait and in the second date also it was under the density of 70 thousand plants ha-1 as it reached 97.3% for the same trait.

The aime of current dtuy was to analyze the productive, physiologi-cal, and molecular responses of six rice genotypes under various lev-els of water stress (100%, 50%, and 25% of field capacity). A field study was conducted during the summer season of 2024. The results showed a clear contrast between the genotypes, with Pokkali and genotype 13 outperforming the other genotypes, recording the high-est average grain yield (522 and 547 g/m²), 1000-grain weight (27.2 and 29.4 g), and number of grains per spike (139 and 144), respec-tively. The results clearly demonstrated that Pokkali and Genotype 13 outperformed all other genotypes across productive, physiological, and molecular parameters. They recorded the highest grain yield, grain number, and 1000-grain weight, while maintaining stable total chlorophyll content (0.075–0.078 mg/g dry weight) and exhibiting a marked increase in total carbohydrate accumulation (21.85 and 20.07 mg/g dry weight at 25% FC). At the molecular level, both genotypes showed the highest induction of NCED1 expression under severe stress, reaching 3.90- and 4.20-fold relative to the control. These results show that the coordinated performance indicates that drought tolerance has been stimulated by an integrated regulatory mechanism combining physiological stability, metabolic modulation and activation of ABA-associated genes, making it one of the most promising drought tolerance candidates among the tested genotypes. Therefore, ABA can be used in molecular improvement programs aimed at developing high-yielding, water-efficient cultivars in water-stressed environments.

A field experiment was conducted at Al-Dawwar Research Station, Agricultural Research Directorate, located in Anbar province, Ramadi city during the 2024–2025 agricultural season, The aim is to determine the optimal concentration levels of humic and fulvic acids, the most suitable planting dates for their application, and the relationship of this to grain yield. The experiment was carried out using a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Treatments consisted of three concentrations of humic and fulvic acids (0.5%, 1.0%, and 2.0% of organic matter) applied at three distinct growth stages: pre-sowing, stem elongation, and flowering. Yield and its components were assessed, including: number of spikes per m², number of grains per spike, 1000-grain weight (g), grain yield (ton ha⁻¹), and biological yield. The results indicated that the 2%concentrations of humic and fulvic acids yielded the highest averages for number of spikes, tillers, 1000-grain weight, total grain yield, and biological yield (406.4 spikes·m⁻², 4.32 tillers plant, 50.59 g, 3.919 t·ha⁻¹, and 15.15 t·ha⁻¹, respectively). Moreover, the results showed that application at the flowering stage produced the highest averages for number of spikes, number of tillers, 1000-grain weight, total grain yield, and biological yield, with values of (380.3 spikes·m⁻², 3.98 plants, 47.64 g, 3.641 t·ha⁻¹, and 14.33 t·ha⁻¹, respectively). Meanwhile, the interaction between humic and fulvic acids at a concentration of 2%, applied at the flowering stage, yielded the highest values for the studied traits.

This paper discusses the performance of an integrated aerated pho-tobioreactor system in treating organic waste for enhanced wastewater quality using Spirulina platensis. Photosynthetic opera-tions of Spirulina shifted pH from 9.01 to 9.42. The wastewater treatment resulted in the removal of BOD₅ up to 82.08%, indicating that organic matter has been effectively removed. The wastewater treatment with Spirulina removed ammonia (98.57%), nitrate (87.99%), and phosphate (88.49%) at different rates within the first five days of operation. ORP increased from –120 to 201 mV, indi-cating better oxidative conditions. Biomass concentration increased gradually until the fourth day, depicting efficient nutrient assimila-tion. Treated wastewater quality parameters reached levels that al-lowed agricultural water reuse for crop irrigation in areas facing water shortage. Harvested algal biomass contains nutrients and organic matter; it acts as a biofertilizer for the improvement of soil fertility toward sustainable crop production. These findings confirm that Spirulina platensis represents an environmentally sustainable option for wastewater treatment and reuse—particularly in hot and semi-arid regions—while simultaneously generating valuable algal biomass.

The present study Was conducted in the quail field of the Agricultural Research Center - College of Agriculture - University of Basra to determine the effect of adding marjoram leaves and rosemary powder to the diets of Japanese male Breedat different ages of 70, 100 and 130 days. This study includes 10 treatments: T1 means basal feed without any addition (control), T2 means adding 5g of marjoram leaf powder per 1kg of feed from 1 day old until 21 days old, T3 means adding 5g of marjoram leaf powder per 1kg of feed from 22 days old until 42 days old, T4 means adding 5g of rosemary leaf powder per 1kg of feed from 1 day old until 21 days old, T5 means adding 5g of rosemary leaf powder from 22 days old until 42 days old, T6 means adding 2.5g of each of marjoram and rosemary leaf powder in 1kg of feed from 1 day old until 21 days old, T7 means adding 2.5g of each of marjoram and rosemary leaf powder in 1kg of feed from 21 days old until 42 days old, T8 means adding 5g of marjoram and rosemary leaf powder at a concentration of 1g from 1 day old One until the end of the experiment, T9 means adding 5 g of rosemary leaf powder per 1 kg of feed from one day old until the end of the experiment, and T10 means adding 2.5 g of each of marjoram and rosemary leaf powder to 1 kg of feed from one day old until the end of the experiment. Some qualitative and sensory tests were conducted on meat samples, and the study indicators showed a significant decrease (p≤0.05) in the percentage of loss during the cooking process when adding marjoram and rosemary leaf powder and their mixture compared to the control treatment, and an improvement in sensory attributes including (color, flavor, tenderness, juiciness, and overall acceptability) through raising the sensory evaluation scores of the judges compared to the control treatment.

A factorial experiment was conducted in a plastic greenhouse des-ignated for this purpose in Al-Husseiniya sub-district (14 km southeast of Karbala province) to study the effect of natural com-pounds on the growth of plants under water stress. The experiment included three equally important factors: the first factor involved three irrigation intervals (4, 6, and 8 days), the second factor in-volved treating the soil medium with different levels of fabric poly-ter (0.0, 2.5, and 5.0 g per pot), and the third factor involved foliar spraying with different concentrations of nano-chitosan (0.0, 100, and 200 mg L⁻¹).The experiment was designed in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates for each treat-ment, with each replicate consisting of three experimental units. Each pot represented an independent experimental unit, with one plant per pot.The results showed significant differences in growth parameters due to the studied factors. The combination treatment of 2.5 g polyter and foliar spraying with 200 mg L⁻¹ chitosan for plants irrigated every 4 days resulted in significantly superior performance in plant height (127.67 cm), number of leaves (444.3 leaves), and number of roots (8.33 roots), which did not differ significantly from the same combination when irrigated every 8 days. Leaf chlorophyll content also increased (60.43 SPAD units). The longest root length (38.67 cm) was observed in the combination of 5.0 g polyter and water-only spraying under 8-day irrigation intervals. The lowest values were recorded in the control treatment. These findings suggest that eco-friendly and sustainable environ-mental factors have a significant impact on enhancing the vegetative growth parameters of Senna occidentalis L.under varying irrigation intervals.

This study was conducted on 40 local goats, aged 2-3 years, during the period from October 15, 2024 to May 15, 2025, in the field of the College of Agriculture, University of Diyala. All molecular genetic analyses were performed in the College of Agriculture laboratory, as well as in the Rukan Al-Rawan (Al-Jadriya) .The aim was to study the relationship between of the DIO2 polymorphism gene and growth traits (birth weight, weaning weight, and total weight gain), as well as its relationship to body dimensions at birth and weaning for dams (does) and prolificacy. The results showed a change from glutamine to arginine, which was considered a missense mutation at the protein level. The results also showed that the genetic polymorphisms of the A9280G of the DIO2 gene, which two genotypes (AA and AG) appeared in the second exon, did not show significant differences be-tween the genetic combinations with regard to the weight and dimensions of the dam body at birth. The same was the case with the growth traits of the kids, as no significant effects were shown in the weight at birth and weaning, the rate of weight gain, and the prolificacy, as the averages were close to each other. While, the results showed significant effects (P ≤ 0.05) of the two combinations in the traits of chest and abdominal circumference at weaning, with the individuals carrying AA being superior with an average of 45.13 and 48.16 cm compared AG type (42.5 and 45.33 cm) respectively.

A field trial was carried out on 5 years-old apple trees (c.v. Kaghdi), grown in a private orchard in the Al-Muradiya district, Diyala gov-ernorate, Iraq, throughout the 2024 growing season to study the ef-fects of biofertilizer FULZYME Plus application ( 0, 25 and 50 g per tree), and aspartic acid spray (0,50,100,and 150mg L-1) on some vegetative and yield characteristics. A factorial experiment with a randomized complete block design was used, with two fac-tors (3*4) and two trees for each experimental unit. Data were analyzed using SAS and LSR test at 0.05 probability level. Results Indicated that applying biofertilizer at 50 gm per tree caused a consider-able increase in carbohydrate content and leaf chlorophyll, fruit weight, fruit juice TSS, and sugar content, whereas it caused a significant reduction of titratable acidity. On the other hand, aspartic ac-id spray increased leaves' carbohydrate content, fruit weight, TSS, And the total sugar content of fruit juice. The interaction between bio-fertilizer application at 50 gm per tree and 150 mg L-1 of aspartic acid spray led to obtaining the highest leaf carbohydrate content, fruit weight, TSS, and total sugar in fruit juice.

This research study explores the impact of Niacin (Vitamin B3) ap-plication on the vegetative growth characteristics and mineral con-tent of radish plant. The experiment was conducted using a Randomized Complete Block Design with four replicates per treatment. Compared the effects of foliar spray and soil irrigation with Niacin on radish growth. Results indicate that Niacin application, especially treatment SN2 with foliar spray at 80 mg/L, led to a significant enhancement of vegetative growth characteristics with radish plants showing leaf length of 21.95 cm, leaf width of 95.85 cm, 17.0 leaves per plant, and a root weight of 615.2 g. Also, treatment SN2 showed higher concentrations of nitrogen (0.19%), phosphorus (0.04%), potassium (1.61%), copper (13.66 mg/kg), and iron (10.91 mg/kg) in radish plants compared to control treatment. These findings highlight the effects of Niacin in promoting growth and enhancing nutrients, indicating its potential for optimizing nutrient management strategies in vegetable production systems.

A field experiment was conducted on wild thistle (Silybum maria-num L.) at the College of Agriculture, Al-Qasim Green University. This study employed a completely randomized design (CRD) with four treatments to investigate the effect of foliar fertilization with bi-ostimulants, in addition to conventional and nano-enriched NPK fertilizers, on the synthesis of secondary metabolites and antioxidant activity during the winter of 2024. The initial treatment (T0) was water spraying. In treatment T1, a standard NPK fertilizer was sprayed at a concentration of 2 g/L. The third treatment (T2) in-volved spraying a nano-enriched NPK fertilizer at a concentration of 2 g/L. In the fourth treatment (T3), a biostimulant was sprayed at a concentration of 2 mL/L, in addition to the wild thistle treatment. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis was per-formed on the plants, and the data showed that wild thistle plants outperformed those sprayed with water alone. The T3 plants were found to outperform other produced plants and natural samples in all measured parameters, including total phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and alkaloids. T3 plants contained higher levels of glutathione (GSH), cysteine, methionine, gallic acid, apigenin, kaempferol, and ferulic acid (192.1, 59.9, and 86.9 ppm, 125.9, 80.9, 85.4, and 97.4 mg/g, respectively), indicating their antioxidant activity. This research reveals that biostimulants are essential for in-creasing crop productivity and plant selection in modern agriculture.

The aim of this study was to demonstrate effect use of probiotic that contains many of bacteria such as Clostridium butyricum, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis estimate the digestion coefficient of dry and organic matter. The concentration of ammonia nitrogen, use of 3 treatments, to measurement of percentage of dry matter ,organic matter, the amount of metabolized energy, the percentage of protein, and the total numbers of anaerobic bacteria in the rumen fluid. The results showed that there were no significant differences between all treatments in the character the percentage of organic matter digestibility (OM%) and the percentage of dry matter and organic matter(DM), and no differed significantly from each other in the organic matter digestibility coefficient (IVOMD). When the result for (IVDMD) recorded high differed between treatment so each treat of probiotic (T2 and T3) superiority on treat control (T1). also the results of the statistical analysis to the (NH3N) showed a highly significant superiority of the two probiotic treatments over the control treatment, as the averages reached 0.48, 0.69, and 0.81 for both the control treatment and the probiotic at concentrations of 0.02 and 0.04, respectively. The results of the statistical analysis of the protein percentage showed a highly significant value of p<0.01 The probiotic treatment with a concentration of 0.04 and 0.02 was significantly different from the control treatment the control treatment and the probiotic for both concentrations reached 2.97, 4.30 and 5.07%, respectively. The statistical analysis indicated that there was no significant effect of using a probiotic in estimating the amount of metabolized energy for each treatment, The results of the statistical analysis for the number of microorganisms showed that the two coefficients were superior. The probiotic treatment was significantly superior to the control treatment, as the numbers of bacteria reached 72.33, 196.66, and 228.33 Bacterial colony units/ml of rumen fluid for both the control and probiotic treatments at concentrations of 0.02 and 0.04, respectively.

The study aimed to evaluate the effect of water stress on the growth and yield of selected cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) varieties. The experiment included two factors: the first factor was irrigation levels, The secondry factor was three cowpea varieties. Harvesting was done after the pods reached the drying stage, 90 days after planting. The results were analyzed according to the statistical design used, and comparisons between means were made using the Least Signifi-cant Difference. The results showed a significant effect of using dif-ferent irrigation levels on The characteristics of plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, biological yield, and percentage of protein, where the irrigation level exceeded 100% of the field capacity, giv-ing the highest averages, reached (142.1 cm, 52.8 leaves.plant-1, 2188 cm2, 72.86 g, 14.71 tons.ha-1, 26.062%). Furthermore, the results showed the superiority of the ROTTRDAM variety in the traits of plant height and number of leaves, reaching (155 cm and 50.2 leaves.plant⁻¹, respectively). The Ramshorn variety excelled in the traits of leaf area and biological yield, recording (1924 cm² and 15.62 ton.ha⁻¹, respectively). The Yunanda variety was superior in the traits of 300-seed weight and percentage of protein, reaching (74.47 g and 27.987%, respectively). A significant interaction was observed between the two study factors. The interaction between the 100% irrigation level and the ROTTRDAM variety recorded the highest plant height and number of leaves (171.4 cm and 54.5 leaves.plant⁻¹, respectively). The interaction between the 100% irrigation level and the Ramshorn variety recorded the highest leaf area and biological yield (2679 cm² and 15.92 ton.ha⁻¹, respectively). The interaction between the 100% irrigation level and the Yunanda variety recorded the highest 300-seed weight and percentage of protein (75.82 g and 29.586%, respectively).