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The overuse of chemical fertilizers can harm soil decomposition organisms, decrease mycorrhizal colonization, and suppress nitrogen fixation through excessive nitrogen application. It is also expensive and contributes to environmental degradation, ecosystem instability, and the accumulation of heavy metals in soils and crops. Therefore, it is important to the resurgence to apply organic fertilization and nano fertilizers to lessen the reliance on the utilization of chemical fertilizers, produce healthy products, improve fruit quality, maintain soil fertility and microbial biomass, and consequently improve soil fertility and fruit productivity. In the current study, organic compost was added to the soil at 0, 2, and 3 kg/tree singly and in combination with the spraying of nanoparticles from boron and zinc at 50, 100, and 150 mg/L and nano potassium (K) at 100, 200, and 300 mg/L. The results showed that the addition of 3 kg compost to the soil combined with 150 mg/L ZnO + 150 mg/L B2O3 + 300 mg/L K2O (T12), or 100 mg/L ZnO + 100 mg/L B2O3 + 200 mg/L K2O (T11), and the addition of 2 kg soil combined with 150 mg/L ZnO + 150 mg/L B2O3 + 300 mg/L K2O (T8) and with 100 mg/L ZnO + 100 mg/L B2O3 + 200 mg/L K2O (T7) greatly improved the vegetative growth, yield, fruit quality, soil fertility, and nutritional status of the trees compared to the other applied treatments, and the addition of 3 kg compost to the soil combined with 150 mg/L ZnO + 150 mg/L B2O3 + 300 mg/L K2O (T12) was the superior formula in the two seasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought is an environmental stress that can negatively influence growth and productivity of fruit trees because it decreases the photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance and raises the rate of water loss from the plant surfaces. Therefore, this study investigated the soil application of biochar individually or in combination with the spraying of boron, silicon, and molybdenum relative to the growth attributes, fruit drop percentages, yield, and fruit quality of Le Conte pear trees grown under drought stress. The trees were fertilized by biochar at 0, 1, and 2 kg per tree individually or in combination with the foliar spraying with 0 mg B2O3 + 0 mg SiO2 + 0 mg MoO2, 10 mg B2O3 + 25 mg SiO2 + 25 mg MoO2, 20 mg B2O3 + 50 mg SiO2 + 50 mg MoO2 and 30 mg B2O3 + 75 mg SiO2 + 75 mg MoO2 at start of February, start of March and start of April, compared to untreated trees (control). The results showed that the soil addition of biochar or spraying of nano fertilizers individually or in combinations improved the vegetive growth, productivity and fruit quality, and leaf mineral content, meanwhile they reduced the fruit drop. The best results were obtained by the application of 2 kg biochar combined with 30 mg B2O3 + 75 mg SiO2 + 75 mg MoO2, which was superior to other applied treatments in the two seasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the environmental problems that affects negatively orange productivity is drought because it greatly minimizes the growth attributes, photosynthetic process, water uptake, percentage of fruit set, and productivity; meanwhile, it raises the rates of respiration and transpiration, as well as the premature and preharvest fruit drop percentages. In addition, drought creates osmotic stress, affects the relationship between plants and water, reduces the amount of water in shoots, and prevents plant cell development and expansion. It is very important to search for a solution to minimize the effect of drought stress; therefore, the present study has investigated the effect of the application of humic acid (HA) at 0, 1 and 2 kg per tree and spraying of seaweed extract (SWE) at 0.2, 0.3 and 4% in combination with moringa leaf extract (MLE) at 2, 4 and 6%, respectively, on the productivity, fruit quality and nutritional status of navel orange cv. Washington during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. The results proved that the application of the biostimulants individually or in combination significantly positively changed the vegetative growth, productivity, fruit quality parameters and leaf mineral content of macro- and micronutrients of the treated trees compared to untreated trees. The superior treatments which gave the best results were 2 kg HA + 0.4% SWE + 6% MLE followed by 2 kg HA + 0.3% SWE + 4% MLE over the rest of the applied treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the biggest problems that threaten the production of strawberry in the world is the rapid damage and high rate of deterioration after harvest or during cold storage. Therefore, the current study was conducted to investigate the possibility of decreasing the post-harvest damage percentages and increasing the fruit quality of Fragaria x ananassa cv. 'Estavana' after harvest immediately or during the cold storage period. The strawberry plants were dipped for 3 to 5 minutes at 25 α in a solution of 10 L made from distilled water and containing salicylic acid (SA) at 0, 250, 500, and 1000 mg/L or chitosan (CHIT) at 0, 2.5, 5, and 10 mg/L during the period of 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 16 days after harvesting. The results showed that the fruit firmness was notably decreased, and the loss and decay percentages were increased by increasing the period of storage, but it could be decreased by using SA or CHIT. Fruit content from soluble solids, total sugars and anthocyanin was significantly increased in the 16 days stored fruits treated with 500 mg/L SA or 50mg/L CHIT. Treating the fresh harvested without or with SA or CHIT increased the fruit content from vitamin C. The highest fruit content from titratable acidity was in the fresh harvested fruits compared with treated fruits with SA or CHIT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of exogenous application of the amino acids Glutamic acid (Glu), Methionine (Met), L-Tryptophan (L-Try), and Lysine (Lys) at concentrations of 250 and 500 ppm was studied relative to the growth of peach trees. The trees were sprayed three times; before flowering, during full bloom, and one month later by 250 ppm Glu + 250 ppm Met + 250 ppm L-Try + 250 ppm Lys (combination 1) and 500 ppm Glu + 500 ppm Met + 500 ppm L-Try + 500 ppm Lys (combination 2), in comparison to trees that were not sprayed (control). A randomized complete block design was used. The individual application of four amino acids positively improved the shoot diameter, leaf chlorophyll, leaf area, and productivity as opposed to not spraying the trees. Additionally, the applied amino acids increased the fruit weight, size, firmness, length, and diameter, and the fruit content from the percentages of total soluble solids (TSS), TSS-acid, and anthocyanin contents, in contrast to the control. They also improved the fruit content from total, reduced, and non-reduced sugars as well as vitamin C and the leaf nutritional content from NPK. The application of combination 2, over the two seasons, was more beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fruit drop from pear trees causes serious losses in income. However, the application of plant bio-regulators improves the internal physiology of developing fruit by ensuring that they receive an adequate supply of water, nutrients, and other compounds necessary for their proper growth and development, which leads to improved size, quality, and ultimately better yield in a variety of fruit crops. This study investigated the foliar application of three plant growth regulators: CPPU at 10, 15, and 20 ppm, GA3 at 25, 50, and 75 ppm and NAA at 25, 50, and 75 ppm. The pear trees were sprayed four times: before flowering, full bloom, after three weeks, and after six weeks. The results showed that the spray of GA3 at 50 and 75 ppm gave the highest effect in increasing the shoot length, shoot thickness, leaf area, and leaf total chlorophyll. The spraying of NAA at 50 and 75 ppm was the best treatment in increasing the fruit set percentages, fruit yield, fruit weight, and fruit dimensions as well as the fruit content from soluble solids, and fruit sugars, while they reduced the fruit drop percentages comparing with the other applied treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study was conducted during 2022 and 2023 seasons on plum (Prunus salicina Lindl.) cv. Kelsy was planted in sandy soil under a drip irrigation system in a private Farm located at Salah Al-Abd Village, Bostan Region, Nubaria, Behaira Governorate, Egypt to study the effect of foliar application of molybdenum 0.5 g/L, boron at 0.5 g/L, seaweed extract at 2000 ppm, moringa leaf extract at 4000 ppm, molybdenum 0.5g/L + boron 0.5g/L, molybdenum 0.5g/L + seaweed extract 2000ppm, molybedem0.5g/L + moringa extract 4000ppm, boron 0.5g/L + seaweed extract 2000ppm, boron 0.5 g/L + moringa extract 4000 ppm, seaweed extract 2000 ppm + moringa extract 4000 ppm and molybdenum 0.5g/L + boron 0.5g/L + moringa extract4000ppm + seaweed extract 2000 ppm as compared to the control treatments on vegetative growth and yield characteristics. The trees were planted at 3 x 3.5 m in sandy soil under a drip irrigation system. Sixty uniform trees of the same age, growth and size were randomly chosen. The foliar application of the twelve treatments was arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) in five replicates during the two seasons. The trees were sprayed three times; before flowering, after fruit set and after one month after the second spraying. The obtained results showed that the application of the seaweed extract, moringa extract, boron and molybdenum individually or in combination effectively increased the vegetative growth attributes and fruit yield. The best results were obtained by the application of 0.5 g/L boron + 0.5 g/L molybdenum + seaweed extract + moringa extract in both seasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salinity is a major social, economic, and environmental menace in climates with low rainfall and high evapotranspiration, and it influences plant growth and causes restriction to crop production in the world. Additionally, under salinity stress, numerous physiological processes such as photosynthesis, biomass accumulation, and photosynthate transfer are also harshly lessened, and it also limits the absorption of adequate water by plants and leads to a dimension in plant water status. Therefore, the current study was conducted to investigate the soil application of humic acid (HA) at 0, 0.5, 1 and 2 kg/tree alone or in combination with the foliar spraying of 0 mg ZnO2 + 0 mg TiO2, 200 mg ZnO2 + 60 mg TiO2 and/or 300 mg ZnO2 + 80 mg TiO2 through the two successive seasons 2022 and 2023. The results demonstrated that the use of HA alone or in combination with the spraying of TiO2 and ZnO2 greatly improved the leaf chlorophyll, flower number, fruit set percentages, fruit yields in kg or in ton per hectare, fruit weight, fruit size, and fruit firmness. Additionally, the same used treatments greatly improved the fruit content from TSS and oil percentages and also the leaf mineral content from N, P and K, while they minimized the fruit drop percentage and fruit moisture content as compared to control. The most positive influence was observed with the soil implementation of 2 kg HA combined with 300 mg ZnO2 + 80 mg TiO2 in the two experimental seasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ensuring the sustainability of horticultural production is crucial to meeting consumer demand, and the most effective approach involves enhancing the efficient utilization of resources to support the production of wholesome foods. Plant biostimulants are substances defined by their ability, when applied to plants or the rhizosphere, to enhance root development, resulting in heightened vigor. They facilitate the more effective uptake and translocation of nutrients and water throughout the growing season. Additionally, these biostimulants contribute to improved plant health and quality by supplying essential nutrients that stimulate overall growth and metabolic processes. Therefore, this study was performed to examine the impact of some biostimulants on the possibility of improving vegetative growth, yield, fruit quality, and the leaf mineral content of mango cv. Keitt. Mango trees were sprayed with Putrescine at 25, 50, and 100 mg/L; Brassinosteroids at 0.5, 1, and 2 mg/L; and Chitosan at 500, 1000, and 1500 mg/L four times starting from mid-April, with three-week intervals during the seasons of 2021 and 2022. The results showed that the foliar application of these three biostimulants improved the growth, yield, and fruit quality of mango trees as opposed to untreated trees during two study seasons. The results also showed that the foliar application of 1500 mg/L of Chit, 2 mg/L of Brs, and 100 mg/L of Put gave the highest increments for inducing the number, length, and thickness of shoots, leaf area, and leaf chlorophyll over the other applied treatments. In addition, it also heightened the fruit set, fruit yield, and the fruit's physical and chemical characteristics in both experimental seasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arid and semi-arid soils are low in organic matter and have poor fertility, making them a serious threat to crop production. Most organic amendments, such as crop residues and farmyard manure, are short lived because of rapid decomposition. Incubation and pot studies were conducted to assess the impact of wheat straw biochar (produced at 350 °C) on temporal changes in soil microbial biomass and fertility status and to evaluate the efficacy of biochar for maize production in the top layer of Typic calciargid. The incubation study compared four levels of biochar (control, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0% on a w/w basis of soil) and two fertilizer rates, i.e., unfertilized (no NPK fertilizer) and fertilized (nitrogen, P2O5 and K2O with rates of 125, 80 and 52.5 mg kg−1 soil, respectively). After incubation, the 2.0% biochar significantly improved the soil cation exchange capacity, organic carbon and microbial biomass carbon by up to 35, 59 and 26%, respectively, while decreasing the soil pH by up to 1.5% compared to that of the control treatment. When fertilized, the 2.0% biochar improved the soil's available phosphorous, extractable potassium and total nitrogen by up to 59, 39 and 28%, respectively, compared to those of the control. The results from the pot experiment showed that using the 1% biochar with fertilizer significantly increased the maize dry biomass and grain yield by up to 57 and 72%, respectively, compared to those of the control. Additionally, the nitrogen and phosphorus recoveries from the mineral fertilizers improved significantly (up to 26 and 38%, respectively) when using the 1.0% biochar compared to those of the control. Conclusively, the addition of 1.0% biochar significantly improved maize growth and yield by enhancing nutrient recovery from mineral fertilizer and improving soil properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant diseases are one of the major threats to global food production. Efficient monitoring and detection of plant pathogens are instrumental in restricting and effectively managing the spread of the disease and reducing the cost of pesticides. Traditional, molecular, and serological methods that are widely used for plant disease detection are often ineffective if not applied during the initial stages of pathogenesis, when no or very weak symptoms appear. Moreover, they are almost useless in acquiring spatialized diagnostic results on plant diseases. On the other hand, remote sensing (RS) techniques utilizing drones are very effective for the rapid identification of plant diseases in their early stages. Currently, drones, play a pivotal role in the monitoring of plant pathogen spread, detection, and diagnosis to ensure crops' health status. The advantages of drone technology include high spatial resolution (as several sensors are carried aboard), high efficiency, usage flexibility, and more significantly, quick detection of plant diseases across a large area with low cost, reliability, and provision of high-resolution data. Drone technology employs an automated procedure that begins with gathering images of diseased plants using various sensors and cameras. After extracting features, image processing approaches use the appropriate traditional machine learning or deep learning algorithms. Features are extracted from images of leaves using edge detection and histogram equalization methods. Drones have many potential uses in agriculture, including reducing manual labor and increasing productivity. Drones may be able to provide early warning of plant diseases, allowing farmers to prevent costly crop failures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the application of chemical fertilizers to crops promotes plant growth and yield, their continuous use affects soil heath and creates environmental pollution. On the other hand, plant biostimulants improve nutrients absorption, plant growth, yield and produce quality and are environment-friendly. Therefore, an experiment was conducted during 2021-22 to evaluate the effect of some biostimulants on the performance of the apple cv. Anna, planted in a sandy loam soil at Marsa Matruh governorate, Egypt. Ninety trees were randomly selected and sprayed with 4 or 6% moringa leaf extract (MLE), 0.3 or 0.4% seaweed extract (SWE), 0.1% or 0.2% Fulvic acid (FA), 4% MLE + 0.3% SWE + 0.1% FA (combination 1), or 6% MLE + 0.4% SWE + 0.2% FA (combination 2) before flowering, during full bloom and one month later and compared with a control (untreated trees). The results demonstrated that spraying MLE, SWE or FA or their combinations positively improved the vegetative growth, fruit set %, fruit yield and fruit physical and chemical characteristics as well as leaf nutritional status. The positive effect of MLE, SWE and FA was increased in parallel to an increase in the used concentration of each one of them. The highest increments in the measured parameters were accompanied by the application of combination 2 over the other treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]