The effect of (NH4)2SO4:Ca(NO3)2 ratios applied by fertigation on nutritional status, fruit set, yield, and marketable yield of pomegranate trees cv. Wonderful was evaluated. The trees were provided with five nutrient solutions with the same total nitrogen level (200 units/ha) but with different (NH4)2SO4:Ca(NO3)2 ratios (100:0, 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, and 60:40). Increasing the (NH4)2SO4 ratio from 60 to 100% significantly reduced the nitrogen (N), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), and potassium (K) concentrations while significantly increasing P and Fe concentrations in pomegranate leaves. The highest (NH4)2SO4 proportion (100%) induced a reduction in both chlorophyll content and dry matter values in pomegranate leaves. The maximum fruit set (33.65% and 31.40%) and the minimum fruit drop (6.74% and 6.25%) were recorded at the applied ratio of 60% of (NH4)2SO4:40% of Ca(NO3)2. The applied proportion of 70% of (NH4)2SO4:30% of Ca(NO3)2 provided the minimum fruit sunburn (9.54% and 9.74%) and fruit cracking (6.45% and 5.64%), maximum yield (33.62 and 33.00 kg/tree), and marketable yield (27.41 and 27.93 kg/tree) in the 2019 and 2020 seasons, respectively. Our results provide valuable information about the effects of partial replacement of nitrogen fertilizer from (NH4)2SO4 with nitrogen fertilizer from Ca(NO3)2 on the growth characteristics of pomegranate trees cv. Wonderful.

The effect of (NH4)2SO4:Ca(NO3)2 ratios applied by fertigation on nutritional status, fruit set, yield, and marketable yield of pomegranate trees cv. Wonderful was evaluated. The trees were provided with five nutrient solutions with the same total nitrogen level (200 units/ha) but with different (NH4)2SO4:Ca(NO3)2 ratios (100:0, 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, and 60:40). Increasing the (NH4)2SO4 ratio from 60 to 100% significantly reduced the nitrogen (N), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), and potassium (K) concentrations while significantly increasing P and Fe concentrations in pomegranate leaves. The highest (NH4)2SO4 proportion (100%) induced a reduction in both chlorophyll content and dry matter values in pomegranate leaves. The maximum fruit set (33.65% and 31.40%) and the minimum fruit drop (6.74% and 6.25%) were recorded at the applied ratio of 60% of (NH4)2SO4:40% of Ca(NO3)2. The applied proportion of 70% of (NH4)2SO4:30% of Ca(NO3)2 provided the minimum fruit sunburn (9.54% and 9.74%) and fruit cracking (6.45% and 5.64%), maximum yield (33.62 and 33.00 kg/tree), and marketable yield (27.41 and 27.93 kg/tree) in the 2019 and 2020 seasons, respectively. Our results provide valuable information about the effects of partial replacement of nitrogen fertilizer from (NH4)2SO4 with nitrogen fertilizer from Ca(NO3)2 on the growth characteristics of pomegranate trees cv. Wonderful.

The effect of (NH4)2SO4:Ca(NO3)2 ratios applied by fertigation on nutritional status, fruit set, yield, and marketable yield of pomegranate trees cv. Wonderful was evaluated. The trees were provided with five nutrient solutions with the same total nitrogen level (200 units/ha) but with different (NH4)2SO4:Ca(NO3)2 ratios (100:0, 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, and 60:40). Increasing the (NH4)2SO4 ratio from 60 to 100% significantly reduced the nitrogen (N), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), and potassium (K) concentrations while significantly increasing P and Fe concentrations in pomegranate leaves. The highest (NH4)2SO4 proportion (100%) induced a reduction in both chlorophyll content and dry matter values in pomegranate leaves. The maximum fruit set (33.65% and 31.40%) and the minimum fruit drop (6.74% and 6.25%) were recorded at the applied ratio of 60% of (NH4)2SO4:40% of Ca(NO3)2. The applied proportion of 70% of (NH4)2SO4:30% of Ca(NO3)2 provided the minimum fruit sunburn (9.54% and 9.74%) and fruit cracking (6.45% and 5.64%), maximum yield (33.62 and 33.00 kg/tree), and marketable yield (27.41 and 27.93 kg/tree) in the 2019 and 2020 seasons, respectively. Our results provide valuable information about the effects of partial replacement of nitrogen fertilizer from (NH4)2SO4 with nitrogen fertilizer from Ca(NO3)2 on the growth characteristics of pomegranate trees cv. Wonderful.

Hydraulic conductivity in unsaturated soil controls water movement and measuring it in agricultural fields is a challenging task requiring time-consuming, costly, and skilled experimentation. This study was conducted to reduce the cost of experimentation through the development of an estimation model. The developed model is based on dimensional analysis to determine the value of hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soil as it relates to soil moisture content, irrigation water electrical conductivity, and suction rate (pressure head). Data points were acquired from measurements of cumulative infiltration in the field, using a mini disc infiltrometer. The developed model gave a mean discrepancy ratio of 1.10 (the acceptable range is 0.5–2.0) and a mean percentage of relative errors of 9.96%. These values indicate that the dimensional analysis model is reliable for the prediction of sandy loam soil’s unsaturated hydraulic conductivity

The focal objective of the current research is to apply artificial neural network (ANN) and multiple linear regression (MLR) methods for modeling the performance attributes of a mechanization unit (tractor-chisel plow) during the plowing process under both different soil types and working variables. Two different parameters to represent working conditions and soil type were considered as potential input parameters. The first parameter represented soil type by calculating soil texture index as a combination of clay, silt, and sand. The second one was constructed into one dimensionless parameter, namely the field working index. This index linked most working variables such as plowing speed, plow width, soil moisture content, soil bulk density, tractor power, and plowing depth. The performance of the created ANN and MLR models was appraised by computing mean-absolute-error criterion for the testing dataset. The mean absolute error values for draft force, effective field capacity, fuel consumption, drawbar power, overall energy efficiency, rate of plowed soil volume, and loading factor, were 1.44 kN, 0.03 ha/h, 1.17 L/h, 2.28 kW, 0.68%, 73.97 m3/h, and 0.08 (decimal), respectively, when the ANN model was applied. In addition, coefficient of determination (R2) acted as a criterion for judging the performance of the developed models, and their values when ANN was applied were 0.569, 0.384, 0.516, 0.454, 0.486, 0.777, and 0.730 for the same performance attributes, respectively. When the MLR model was applied, the corresponding values of R2 were 0.239, 0.358, 0.352, 0.429, 0.511, 0.482, and 0.422, respectively, for the same attributes. The current study adds to the standing literature by contributing data and information regarding the performance attributes of a tractor-chisel plow unit under specific working variables and soil types. In addition, the models developed for plowing operations in different soil texture and under the field working index are recommended for use in budgeting for diesel consumption, in calculating operation cost, in matching mechanization units of tractor-chisel plows, in estimating energy requirements of tractor-chisel plow combinations, الملخص

Faba bean (Viciafaba L.) is an important legume crop and is mainly grown for human and animal consumption as food. The aim of this research is to develop and evaluate a faba bean seeder. The developed seeder machine consists of the main frame with three hitching points, seed box, fertilizer box, six vertical rollers with round cells metering device, six plastic seed tubes, six plastic fertilize tubes, six shovel furrow openers ,six chain covering device and three diggers. Laboratory experiments were carried out as a function of change in metering device speed and cells size (1 seed/cell and 2seed/cell). While, field experiments were conducted to optimize machine forward speed and planting depth. The machine performance was studied in terms of seed damage, plant scattering, emergence, crop yield, specific energy and planting cost. The experimental results revealed that the developed faba bean planter is recommended to be used under the following conditions: forward speed of 3.5 km/h and cells size of 2seed/cell at planting depth of 50mm. The obtained results at optimum conditions were: plant emergence of 97.70%, seed yield 3.99ton/ha, ground wheel slip of 3.9 %, required power of 4.04 kW, specific energy of 8.66 kW h/ha, field capacity of 0.47ha/h, operational cost of 9.54$/ha, and production cost of2.39$/ton

Orange and pomegranate are two of the most important types of fruit crops grown in Egypt. Conventional harvesting method is inefficient in terms of both economy and time. So, machine harvesting systems are a partial solution to overcome and reduce the cost. The aim of this investigation is to modify a harvesting portable machine and study the feasibility of using it for picking the navel orange and pomegranate fruits. The modified machine was evaluated using various operating factors such as cutting height of 2, 3 and 4 m , two cutting head types of machine (toothed disc and scissor) and disc speeds of 3.14, 3.66 and 4.19 m/s. the results were compared to traditional manual method at the same operating factors. The results concluded that using the modified fruit harvesting machine for picking navel orange and pomegranate fruits with toothed disc head at disc speed of 3.66 m/s with all cutting heights exhibited an enhancement in performance rate and fruits damage ratio and decreased the specific energy and operational cost. The obtained results at optimum conditions were machine performance rate of 24.33 and 20 fruit/min, fruits damage ratio 9.66 and 9.25%, specific energy of 6.45 and 7.58 kW h/Mg and operational cost of 85.74 and 100.71 L.E./Mg at cutting height of 3 m for navel orange and pomegranate fruits, respectively.

A study was conducted, on a 30 ha wheat field under a solar energy powered center pivot irrigation system in a commercial farm located 400 km north of Khartoum, Sudan, to evaluate the feasibility of variable rate fertilizer application of Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) on wheat crop based on variable soil phosphorus content. Soil phosphorus content was divided into three categories (low: 3.75 to .50 ppm, medium: 4.51 to 5.25 ppm and high: 5.26 to 6.00 ppm) and a GIS soil phosphorus content map of the experimental field was generated. Three variable application rates (200 kg ha_1, 160 kg ha_1 and 120 kg ha_1) of granular DAP fertilizer were determined to fit the low, medium and high soil phosphorus contents, respectively. The the DAP fertilizer rate of 200 kg ha_1 was the rate practiced for wheat production in the experimental farm. The normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), measured at different wheat growth stages using sentinel-2 satellite images, and wheat grain yield were used to evaluate the response of wheat crop to the variable DAP fertilizer application rates. Excluding the tillering stage, the results showed significant differences in the NDVI values among different soil phosphorus levels and DAP fertilizer application rates at other growth stages, including stem elongation, grain filling and maturity stages. Moreover, wheat yield results showed significant differences among different soil phosphorus contents (P > F = 0.0001) and DAP fertilizer application rates (P > F = 0.0457). On the average, the highest yield of 2.449 t ha_1 was recorded in the field areas treated with the high DAP fertilizer application rate (200 kg ha_1), where the second highest yield of 2.441 t ha_1 was observed in field areas under the medium DAP fertilizer application rate (160 kg ha_1); however, no significant differences between these two yield values. Based on these results, the total savings of the DAP fertilizer was estimated to be 792 kg (equivalent to 475.2 $) in the experimental field (30 ha), only when the medium DAP fertilizer rate (160 kg ha_1) was used in the medium and high soil phosphorus zones, saving 15.84 $ ha_1 without affecting production.

An area of growing interest in wheat-breeding programs for abiotic stresses is the accurate and expeditious phenotyping of large genotype collections using nondestructive hyperspectral sensing tools. The main goal of this study was to use data from canopy spectral signatures (CSS) in the full-spectrum range (400–2500 nm) to estimate and predict the plant biomass dry weight at booting (BDW-BT) and anthesis (BDW-AN) growth stages, and biological yield (BY) of 64 spring wheat germplasms exposed to 150 mM NaCl using 13 spectral reflectance indices (SRIs, consisting of seven vegetation-related SRIs and six water-related SRIs) and partial least squares regression (PLSR). SRI and PLSR performance in estimating plant traits was evaluated during two years at BT, AN, and early milk grain (EMG) growth stages. Results showed significant genotypic differences between the three traits and SRIs, with highly significant two-way and three-way interactions between genotypes, years, and growth stages for all SRIs. Genotypic differences in CSS and the relationships between the three traits and a single wavelength over the full-spectrum range depended on the growth stage. Water-related SRIs were more strongly correlated with the three traits compared with vegetation related SRIs at the BT stage; the opposite was found at the EMG stage. Both types of SRIs exhibited comparable associations with the three traits at the AN stage. Principal component analysis indicated that it is possible to assess plant biomass variations at an early stage (BT) through published and modified SRIs. SRIs coupled with PLSR models at the BT stage exhibited good prediction capacity of BDW-BT (57%), BDW-AN (82%), and BY (55%). Overall, results demonstrated that the integration of SRIs and multivariate models may present a feasible tool for plant breeders to increase the efficiency of the evaluation process and to improve the genetics for salt tolerance in wheat-breeding programs.

This research aimed to use ultrasound at produce of strawberry under NFT hydroponics system in Giza governorate at one successful season (2017) through about 180days. The fresh fruit of strawberry were collected for each month separately on three months harvest. Ultrasound device designed and assembled locally to generate different frequencies, with constant power ? 40 W. The ultrasound wave with different frequencies of 20, 30 and 40 kHz, and exposure periods of 0, 60, 300 and 600 sec, and vertical distances of 0 – 30 - 60cm in; also performed an extensive statistical evaluation of the obtained data. The obtained results can showed that the use of ultrasound waves is suitable to improve in plant growth for strawberry in most properties especially when used at exposure period of 60sec, vertical distance zero cm at device and frequency of 20kHz-100dB -40W which gave the increase number of leaves and fruit firmness same control while fruit number, and yield distribution increase compare with control with 20, 36.1%, respectively. The best effect being obtained when the time of exposure is short.