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Pollination is a critical process in date palms production series that affect yield and fruit quality. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different pollination methods (spray pollen grain with zinc, boric or ascorbic acid solution) on yield and fruit quality of Barhy date palm. This study was conducted at Kom Ombo, Aswan Governorate, Egypt during 2019 and 2020 seasons. Results showed that most beneficial treatment in this concern is spraying female spathes with 0.5 to 1 g pollen grains plus 1 g zinc or ascorbic acid/L water which gave economical yield with good fruit quality. Moreover, it distinguished to save time, effort, labor, cost and more practical to it is a promising technique in the future [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experiment was carried out during two successive winter seasons of 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 at a Private Farm of El-Salhia El-Gadeeda, Sharkia Governorate, Egypt and Post- Harvest Lab. Hort. Dept., Fac. Agric., Zagazig University, to study the effect of foliar spray preharvest with calcium (as Fertoll calcium 12%) at 1, 2 and 3%, Zn EDATA as Micronate Zn 15% at 0.5, 1 and 1.5 g/l, Chitosan at 1, 2 and 3% as well as spraying with water on yield, fruit quality and storability of strawberry under sandy soil conditions. Spraying with Zn EDTA as Micronate at 1.5 g/l four times at 75, 90, 105 and 120 days after transplanting increased yield/ plant, average fruit weight and total yield/ fad., and the increases in the total yield (%) as average three concentrations of Ca as Fertoll, Zn EDTA as Micronate and Chitosan were about 16.25 and 15.51, 17.36 and 17.19 and 16.59 and 16.47% than unsprayed in the 1st and 2nd seasons, respectively. Spraying strawberry plants with chitosan at 3% increased total soluble solids (TSS), TSS/acid ratio and fruit firmness and decreased total acidity and pH in fruits compared to water (control) in both seasons. While spraying with Zn EDTA at 1 g/l increased vitamin C content in fruits. Spraying with Ca as Fertoll at 3 ml/l decreased weight loss and decay (%) in strawberry fruits, followed by spraying with chitosan at 3% at 16 days of storage plus shelf life in both seasons. Conclusively: Spraying plants with Zn EDTA as Micronate at 1.5 g/l increased yield, average fruit weight, total yield /fad., vitamin C; spraying chitosan at 3% increased TSS, TSS/acid ratio and fruit firmness and decreased total acidity, and pH in fruits, as well as, spraying Ca at 3 ml/l as Fertoll calcium 12% decreased weight loss and decay (%) in strawberry fruits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was carried out during two successive seasons of 2017 and 2018 to evaluate some pomegranate cultivars grown at Assiut Governorate, Egypt. Three local Egyptian pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) cultivars, namely Assiuty, Assiuty-1 and Nab-Elgamal compared to Manfalouty cv. which is one of the commercial cultivars in Egypt. Vegetative growth’ traits, yield components and fruit quality as well as numerical evaluation were investigated. Growth traits were determined (shoot and leaf traits) and yield components (fruit set percentage, yield/tree (kg) and fruit cracking percentage) as well as physical fruit traits (weight, dimension, grains percentage and juice percentage). The chemical traits such as total soluble solids, titratable acidity, reducing sugars as well as vitamin C and anthocyanin contents were assessed. The obtained results indicated that there is a wide variation in each of these traits among the studied cultivars. Assiuty-1 cultivar had the highest values of most studied traits compared to the other studied cultivars, respectively. On other hand, the least values of these traits were recorded of Nab-Elgamal cultivar. As the numerical evaluation of these studied cultivars, it could be arranged in a descendingly order as follows: Manfalouty, Assiuty, Assiuty-1 and Nab-El-gamal cultivar. The inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR) marker was used to assess the genetic relationship among the pomegranate cultivars. UPGMA-cluster analysis discriminated the four tested cultivars based on data of ISSR at 0.76 similarity. Assiuty and Assiuty-1 cultivars showed the highest value of similarity (0.87) on the dendrogram, both cultivars showed a good relationship with Nab Elgamal cultivar by showing an average value of similarity (0.82). While, Manfalouty cultivar showed low similarity (0.76) with the rest of cultivars and was separated in a single branch on the dendrogram. This grouping showed a clear genetic relationship among the tested cultivars, which could be used in breeding and improvement programs of pomegranate. These results revealed that Assiuty and Assiuty-1 are considered promising cultivars to obtain a high yield with good fruit quality compared to Nab-El- Gamal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted during two successive seasons (2016/2017 first ratoon and 2017/2018 second ratoon) of Williams banana plants. The plants grown in a private banana orchard, where clay loam soil under flood irrigation system, at 3.5x3.5m apart located at Nakada district, Quena Governorate, Egypt. Forty eight stools each containing three plants were chosen to evaluate the effect of yeast applied as soil drench and spraying ascorbic acid (V.C) on growth, yield and fruit quality. These treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design in split plot arrangement with three replicates. The obtained results could be summarized as follows. Ascorbic acid spraying significantly increased the length and circumference of pseudostem, leaf area and total leaf area/plant as well as percentage of N, P and K of leaves compared to unsprayed ones. Also, these treatments significantly increased the yield components and improved the fruit quality compared to unsprayed ones. Yeast application was very effective in enhancing all growth aspects, yield and fruit characteristics compared to untreated ones. All combinations of ascorbic acid spraying on the yeast treated plants resulted in a significant increament in all growth aspects, yield components and fruit quality as compared to check treatments. The best results regarding the growth and fruiting were obtained with ascorbic acid spraying (at 200 ppm) accompanied with yeast application (at 40 g/plant) compared to other tested treatments. It is evident from the foregoing results that the application yeast at 40 g/plant and ascorbic acid at 200 ppm application four times during growth season (April, June, August & October), singly or in combination improved the growth and yield of Williams banana plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]