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Improving the economical yield of commonly cultivated crops is one of the most pressing social and scientific issues in modern agriculture. This paper was conducted to investigate the bio-efficacy of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in improving phosphorous (P) utilization and increasing the yield of onion plant grown in sandy soil under a drip irrigation system. The obtained results showed that AMF inoculation of onion and application of 120 kg P fertilizer ha−1 significantly increased the fresh and dry weights, chlorophyll content of onion as well as P concentration in the root, shoot, and bulb during two growing seasons. Moreover, AMF increased the bioavailability of P in the rhizosphere and significantly enhanced the N-utilization by the inoculated plant. The economic yield of the onion plant inoculated by AMF and fertilized by different doses of P fertilizer was much higher than that obtained by the control (without AMF). These findings indicated that inoculating the onion plant in the field with AMF could be very effective in increasing the yield of the onion plant. Additionally, this study suggests AMF as a low-cost and promising candidate for the sustainable production of the onion crop using reclaimed sandy soils and a drip irrigation system.

Isolation trials from the rotten roots of soybean roots collected from three Egyptian governorates, i.e. Giza, Menoufia and Gharbia yielded many fungal isolates. The isolated fungi were purified and identified as Alternaria spp., Fusarium moniliforme, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium semitectum, Rhizoctoniasolani and unknown fungi. Laboratory, greenhouse and field studies were conducted to study the effect of two natural extracts and antioxidants in comparison with two fungicides on the reduction of damping-off and root-rot diseases. In vitro studies showed that these treatments significantly reduced the linear growth of the tested fungi compared with control treatment.Greenhouse experiment revealed that all the tested treatments significantly reduced damping-off and root-rot compared to the untreated plants. The most effective treatment was obtained by the extracts of neem and Eucalyptus followed by the antioxidants salicylic and oxalic acid, which reduced both damping-off and root-rot diseases. Crop parameters, i.e. plant height, number of branches, number of pods, seed yield / plant, weight of 100 seed as well as the average weight of seed yield (kg)/plot, were recorded at harvest. Also, total N and crude protein in the seeds were greatly increased due to the tested treatments as well as the treatment with two fungicides: Vitavax-T and Monceren.

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is used as an important human food in developing countries and as an animal feeds mainly for pigs horses, poultry and pigeons in industrialized countries. Feeding value of faba bean is high and this legume has beanconsiders a meat extender of substitute due to its high protein content (20-41 %) (Chavan et al., 1989). Root-rot and wilt diseases caused by several soil borne fungal pathogens are wide spread and serious in many crop cultivated in different soil types. Faba bean is subjected to attack by many pathogenic organisms wherever the crop grown. In This respect, root-rot disease is among the most important fungal diseases affecting faba bean production in Egypt. Omer (1986) tested several pathogens, and found that Rhizoctonia solani was the most pathogenic in causing root-rot disease. Metwely (2004) found that Rhizoctonia solani isolated from Kafr Elsheikh governorate was more virulent than that of Sharkia governorate. Several root-rot and International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 5 Number 4 (2016) pp. 850-863 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com