THE PRESENT investigation was carried out to evaluate the effect of salinity and saline water magnetization on physiological and agronomic traits of 32 bread wheat genotypes and to determine the changes in soil properties. These genotypes were grown in pot experiments under greenhouse conditions during the winter growing seasons of 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 at Faculty of Agriculture, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt and subjected to tap water (control), salinity levels (2,500 and 5,000ppm) and magnetically treated (2,500 and 5,000ppm) saline water. Results showed that values of soil soluble cations and anions were significantly lower under treated magnetic water (TMW). Moreover, magnetic saline water had a positive effect on relative water content by 7.84 and 7.10%, chlorophyll concentration by 6.03 and 9.92% and attributed to decrease the canopy temperature by 7.98 and 10.23% respectively in contrast with 2500 and 5000ppm saline water. Also, it increased plant height to 6.66 and 13.10%, 4.39 and 4.27% for number of spikes/plant, 5.18 and 8.18% for spike length, 5.13 and 10.57%, for biological yield/plant and 6.89 and 7.94% for grain yield/plant compared to irrigation saline water. Indeed, more studies are required to declare the impacts of magnetic water on the growth, yield and quality of other different crops. Stress Susceptibility Index (SSI) revealed that lines 9, 16, 3 recorded the lowest values of 0.57, 0.75 and 0.76, respectively, this showing relatively salt tolerant lines compared to other wheat genotypess and introducing new genetic sources for salt tolerance into breeding programs.

Climate change and global warming have become the most significant challenges to the agricultural production worldwide, especially in arid and semiarid areas. The main purpose of plant breeding programs now is to produce a genetically wide range of genotypes that can withstand the adverse effects of climate change. Moreover, farmers have to reallocate their cultivars due to their ability to tolerate unfavorable conditions. During this study, two field experiments and climate analysis based on 150 years of data are conducted to reallocate some genotypes of bread wheat in respect to climate change based on their performance under drought stress conditions. Climatic data indicate that there is an increase in temperature over all Egyptian sites coupled with some changes in rain amount. Among the tested cultivars, cultivar Giza 160 was the perfect one, while cultivar Masr 03 was the weakest one. Susceptibility indices are a good tool for discovering the superior genotypes under unfavorable conditions and, interestingly, some of the cultivars with high performance were among the superior cultivars in more than one of the tested traits in this study. Finally, combining the climatic data and the experimental data, we can conclude that cultivars Giza 160 and Sakha 94 are suitable for growning in zones with harsh environments, such as the eastern desert and southern Egypt, while cultivars Gemmeza 11, Sahel 01, Sakha 98, Sids 12, and Sakha 93 are suitable for growning in zones with good growing conditions, such as the Nile Delta region and northern Egypt.

Study region

The El-Kharga Oasis in the Western Desert of Egypt is selected as the study area due to its hyberarid climate condition and water scarcity. In this region, the fossil groundwater is the main water source; therefore, preserving groundwater quality and quantity is mandatory.

Study focus

This study evaluated groundwater suitability for irrigation purposes and assessed the water requirements of cultivated crops to optimize the water supply in hyperarid climate regions. In total, 79 deep groundwater samples were hydrochemical tested to determine the suitability for irrigation by assessing the key water quality parameters. Spatial distribution maps of all chemical parameters, such as pH, EC, SAR, RSC, SSP, TDS, total hardness, Na⁺, K⁺, Ca⁺⁺, Mg⁺⁺, Fe, Mn, Cl^-, and SO4^—, were developed. The FAO CROPWAT 8.0 model, based on the Penman-Monteith equation, was used to forecast agricultural water requirements for three years, 2010, 2011, and 2012.

New hydrological insights for the region

The groundwater had medium salinity and low sodium in 84% of the cases. In comparison, high salinity was found in 16% of the samples, indicating that groundwater can be used for many soil types with a low risk of exchangeable sodium. Except for 15 of the 79 wells, all groundwater samples had chloride concentrations less than 100 mg/l. The sulfate ion distribution map showed a low sulfate ion content in the extreme western south. The total annual irrigation water requirements of all crops for 2010, 2011, and 2012 were 199.4, 215.1, and 231.7 million m³/year, respectively, reflecting a gradual increase of approximately 16.57 million m³/total area/year due to the expansion of the cultivated area. The analysis showed that modern irrigation systems reduced the amount of irrigation water by 32% and increased the cultivated area by 45% compared to conventional irrigation methods. Severe groundwater depletion occurred during the dry season from March to July, which exacerbated the water stress in the study region. The results confirmed that the region is under water stress. Accordingly, water conservation is urgently recommended.

The objective of the present study was to improve the quality of the
Egyptian hard cheese (Ras type) by adding some Lactobacillus spp. as probiotic
adjunct cultures. Strains of Lb. acidophilus, Lb. helveticus and Lb. casei were
used and the chemical, microbiological and sensory characteristics of the cheese
during 90 days of ripening were evaluated. The obtained data indicated that pH
values and moisture content were decreased, while the total nitrogen (TN), fat,
fat/dry matter, titratable acidity and salt contents were increased significantly
during the ripening period in all treatments. For the ripening indices, significantly
higher content of soluble nitrogen (SN), SN/TN, soluble tyrosine, soluble
tryptophan and total volatile fatty acids were found in the experimental cheese
compared to the Control cheese. Higher Lactobacilli count were observed in the
adjunct treated cheeses, which reflects the positive retention of Lactobacilli in
the experimental cheeses. Also, the use of probiotic adjunct cultures reduced the
growth of fungi and prevented the coliform bacteria on Ras cheese. There was
higher acceptability for the experimental cheeses than for the Control. Ras cheese
was considered a good carrier for Lactobacillus probiotic strains since they were
found to survive during cheese manufacture, ripening and storage.

Nanoparticles are one of the most widely studied materials in this century, and they have important uses in various fields, including agriculture. Bio-stimulants play a vital role in the sustainable development of horticultural crops. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of nano zinc and bio-stimulants (salicylic acid, moringa extract, seaweed extract) on growth, yield, and quality of roselle plants. The experiment was conducted during 2018 and 2019 and was a completely randomized split-plot design. Nano zinc oxide of 0, 5, 10, and 15 ppm was used as the main plot, and bio-stimulants were used as the sub-plot. The results showed that application of nano zinc led to significant increases in growth, yield, photosynthetic pigments, as well as anthocyanin content associated with increased zinc content in leaves. The highest values ​​of all traits ​​occurred under treatment of 10 ppm of nano zinc. Also, bio …