Mesopotamia Journal of Agriculture

The study dealt with anatomical characters of 11 plant species Bellevalia chrisii, Bellevalia flexuosa, Bellevalia kurdistanica, Bellevalia longipes, Bellevalia macrobotrys, Bellevalia parva, Bellevalia pycnantha, Bellevalia saviczii, O. brachystachys, O. neurosteginm, O. pyrenaicum that belong two genera Bellevalia and Ornithogalum from Asparagaceae family growing in different area in Iraq. The pericarp consist from three layers, there outer exocarp, middle mesocarp and enter endocarp. The results show the number of lobes from each species and there were tailored of the most species, except the fruit of Bellevalia saviczii was bilobed while the specie O. pyrenaicum fruit was multilobed. Also the anatomical sections of fruits showed the shape of seeds which were different like elongated, ovoid, semi ovoid, spherical and semi spherical, the measurements shows the Bellevalia chrisii that had most thickness of seeds which was 170 m, While the species Bellevalia pycnantha recorded the lowest thickness of 50 m. and the shape of cells which all were globular, the results also cleared the vessels bands in the mesophyll of fruits.

A field experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of different nitrogen levels on four promising bread wheat genotypes. The experiment was conducted at the farm of Field Crops Dept., College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Duhok in winter season 2020-2021. The experimental units laid out in factorial experiment with (R.C.B.D) with three replicates. Four genotypes were used (Bora, Jehan-99, AApast-36 and AApast-26) and four levels of nitrogen (0,75,150 and 200kg ha-1). The result revealed that the growth parameters respond significantly to nitrogen fertilizer. Application of nitrogen levels in combination increase yield, gave the highest grain yield 219.1 (g) at 200kg ha-1 nitrogen, also the highest grain (231 g) was recorded from AApast-36 genotypes. Among the interaction of nitrogen levels and wheat genotypes produced the highest grain yield (266.6g) per plant at 200kg N ha-1 and Apast-36 genotypes. The Apast-36 genotype was superior in flag leaf area 48.14 cm2, Number of seed per plant 42.8, weight of seed spike 1.88g and 1000-seed weight (43.73 g). So that this genotype can be considered an advanced line and can be placed in a breeding program. Most of the studied traits are highly correlated with yield such as 1000-seed weight (0.91), spike length 0.52 and number of seeds per spike 0.45 and it can be said that these traits are the important effective components in seed yield.

This study was conducted at the University of Duhok, College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, Animal Production Department. , to estimate the effect of different programs of adding the phytogenic (Optifeed, Oleobiotec and Veo premium) which are nutritional plant materials that have ability to improve the productive performance of broiler, and that in the phases of broiler feeding: starter, grower , finisher and for the whole period of the experiment, as well as, carcass characteristics and economic efficiency at 35 days of age. 1440 one-day old chicks were distributed to five groups with six replicates for each group (48 chicks/replicate). Adding dietary phytogenic materials significantly (P<0.05) improved broiler performance at grower, finisher and during whole experimental period (35) days compared to control. Regarding the carcass characteristics and internal organs, all treatments significantly (P<0.01) increased dressing percentage compared to control group (basal diet), while all other carcass characteristics and internal organs did not significantly affected by phytogenic dietary supplementation. Concerning economic efficiency, all phytogenic dietary supplementation resulted in improved profit compared to the basal diet.

The study was conducted in Nineveh Research Department at Ministry of Agriculture, Iraq, when a total of 21 Awassi ewes aged 2-3 years and weighing 48.61 ± 3.27 kg were used to evaluate the effect of feeding reed with addition of mixture of enzymes and probiotic on body weight and some blood parameters. The ewes were divided in to three groups (7 ewes per treatment). The first tr.eatment was fed daily concentrate diet (5kg/group) plus 3 kg of wheat straw. In the second group, the wheat straw was replaced with chopped common reed leaves while 2 gm of mixture of enzymes and probiotic was added. Results showed a significant increase (p≤0.05) in favor of the third treatment in the total weight gain of 5.00 kg and daily gain 70.85 g as compared with the second treatment 3.71 kg and 52.57 g respectively. Significantly (p≤0.05) increase was noted in blood total protein and globulin this was associated with a decrease in blood albumin in the second and third treatments compared to the first treatment. A significant increase (p≤0.05) was observed in the third treatment in the triglycerides 152.32 mg /dl compared to the first and second treatments 105.84 and 115.20 mg/dl. In general, it is possible to substitute common reed instead of wheat straw and to improve the efficiency of common reed utilization by adding a mixture of enzymes and probiotic.

Hydropericardium hepatitis syndrome is an acute infectious disease of broiler chickens characterized by high mortality, accumulation of fluids in the pericardial sac and necrosis of hepatocytes, during 1987 the virus was isolated from chickens in Angara near Karachi city in Pakistan and the disease takes it is name of this city. It is reported in China in 2015 in birds of 3-6 weeks in broiler chickens causing sudden death with high mortality reaches up to 75%. Avian adenovirus divided into 3genrea: Atadodenovirus, Siadenovirus, and Aviadenovirus the last one divided in to 5 species A to E subgroup1 strain 4 causing (Hydropericardium hepatitis syndrome). Subgroup 2 causing turkey (hemorrhagic enteritis, marble spleen disease). Subgroup 3 causing (Egg drop syndrome EDS). strain D and E produce inclusion body hepatitis while strain 1 causing (quill bronchitis). outbreaks of the disease producing economic losses for the poultry industry. Both vertical and horizontal transmission have an important role in the spreading of the disease. gross examination of the liver showing friable, enlargement, paleness of the liver. the kidney is swelling and hemorrhage with pale areas of necrosis in the parenchyma, pericardium is filled with clear or jelly fluids but histological changes showing hepatitis, nephritis and presence of basophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies. There are many tests can be used for the diagnosis such as PCR, ELISA, neutralization test. We concluded that the disease has economic importance due to high mortality and high losses of chicken’s meat production, so, biosecurity and vaccination are essential for preventing the infection.

Onion (Allium cepa L.) is one of the economical cultivated crops and is consumed heavily worldwide. The demand for onion seeds is high as it loses viability within a year. In Iraq, onion production has been limited due to the lack of good quality of seeds. Therefore, this study was aimed to improve seed quality and productivity of onion local white cultivar by using optimum onion sets size and priming with phytohormones. A field experiment was carried out in the Grrdarash field belonging to the Salahaddin University, Erbil. A split-plot in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was applied with three replicates. Onion sets >6.0 cm, large diameter and 4-6 cm, medium diameter, was selected. The bases of the sets were soaked in ascorbic acid (AsA) (1 and 2 mM), salicylic acid (SA) (0.5 and 1 mM) and control (water only) for 24 hours at 4°C. The results show that the emergence rate of flower stalk per day, the rate of umbel opening per plant, the number of flower stalks per plant, the number of flowers per umbel and seed yield (t.h-1) were increased statistically and significantly by using the large onion sets. AsA and SA treatments show their significant effect on flowering and seed quantity. A positive relationship was found between the aforementioned treatments and onion seed yield. Therefore, further studies are required to evaluate the effectiveness of a natural product that has the same properties as AsA and SA on the growth and quality of vegetable crops.

Animal health depends on multiple factors, and recently it has been shown that diet plays a major role in maintaining health and preventing various diseases. One of the most important nutritional factors is antioxidants, which occupy a special place because they play an important role in animal survival, maintaining animal health, and improving its physiological and productive performances and the immune state of the body. Antioxidants work to reduce the harmful effects of free radicals and toxic products of the metabolism. Therefore, the role of antioxidants, especially antioxidant vitamins (vitamin A, E, and C) is important in the growth stages of the bird's body, as well as in reducing the stress of birds as a result of their rapid growth requirements. Poultry products are considered one of the most protein sources in human nutrition in order to solve the problem of food shortage in the world, so the poultry industry is taking many ways to reduce the time period to reach the marketing weight such as: genetic selection, nutritional improvement, and other environmental factors, but unfortunately, all of that is associated with reduced immunity and the occurrence of oxidative stress. Therefore, the aim of this review is to clarify the role of antioxidants, which are: vitamin A, E, and C in the physiological and productive performance of broilers and their ability to prevent and/or reduce the oxidative stress effects in the body.