Yousef Khalaph ^(1)*

(1). Department of Soil and Land Reclamation, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Aleppo University,   Aleppo, Syria.

 (*Corresponding author: Yousef Khalaph, E-mail: yosef_walid55@hotmail.com).

Received:25/09/2023                     Accepted: 27/11/2023

Abstract: 

A laboratory experiment was carried out in the Clay Minerals and Colloids Laboratory in the Department of Soil Sciences and Land Reclamation at the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering – University of Aleppo. The research aims to know the effect of two types of salts (NaCl – Na₂SO₄) with five concentrations of each of the salts studied in the laboratory experiment on the stability of artificial soil aggregates and to know the salt concentrations that cause the greatest damage in the destruction of artificial soil aggregates. The results indicated the effect of the increased concentration of salts in increasing the percentage of aggregates that were subjected to collapse.The study also indicated that soil aggregates were damaged more by sodium chloride salt compared to sodium sulfate salt. The results indicated that sodium chloride salt contributes to the destruction of soil aggregates, especially at a concentration of 10 g/l, where the percentage of destroyed aggregates reached about 35%. Sodium sulfate salt also contributed to the destruction of soil aggregates, and the highest value for the percentage of destroyed aggregates was (25.1%) at a concentration of 8 g/l.

Key Words: soil aggregates, Stability of soil aggregates, Sodium salts.

Full paper in Arabic: pdf

Yasmeen Gandour ^(1)*,  Ghassan Yaqoub ⁽¹⁾  and Ghassan Baddor ⁽¹⁾

(1). Dep. Agricultural Economics., Fac. Agric., Tishreen Univ., Lattakia, Syria1.

(*corresponding: Yasmeen   Gandour,   E-Mail: Yasmina gandour777@gmail.com).                                                                                             

Received:18/08/2024                             Accepted:27/11/2024

Abstract: 

The aim of the research is to indentify the reality of citrus production and marketing in Lattakia Governorate for the period (2014_2023) and the production problems it faces. To achieve the previous objectives, the study relied on secondary data issued by the ministry of agriculture and agricultural reform in Syria during the studied period. In addition to the data issued by the directorate of agriculture and agrarian reform in Lattakia governorate. Some information was also obtained from producer and traders in the wholesale markets in the governorate through questionnaires prepared for this purpose. The descriptive analytical method was also use to present and organize the data and then analyze it using some indicators and mathematical relations, in addition to using some statistical programs like SPSS. The research results showed that the area and production of citrus in Syria and lattakia governorate gradually decreased during the studied period. This decline was due to the significant increase in the costs of production inputs, the cutting down of citrus trees, and replacing them with crops that provide better income, such as olives and some tropical crops. In addition to the spread of fires due to weather conditions, which have consumed thousands of hectares, it has been shown that the high marketing costsand the difficulty of marketing the crop abroad have led to surplus of the crop in the markets and the prices not reaching the desired level, in addition to the decrease in the average marketing efficiency of various marketing channels during the studied period, which was about 47.5%. As the results showed, the issue of brokers and intermediaries controlling the market and the high prices of packaging were among the most significant marketing problems facing the producers Meanwhile, the marketing problems facing citrus traders and exporters in Latakia governorate are the high fuel prices and transportation costs , in addition to competition from other countries citrus, such as Turkish and Iranian citrus. Additionally, there is an export issue related to the extended time that refrigerated trucks spend at border crossings, which increases export costs.                                                                                         

Keywords: citrus crops, marketing, production costs, marketing margin.

 Full Paper in Arabic: pdf

Safaa Razzouk^(1)*

(1). Faculty of Agriculture, Lattika University, Lattika, Syria.

(*Corresponding author: Safaa Razzouk. E-Mail: alshrookcenter@gmail.com).

Received: 6/10/2024           Accepted:9/03/2025

Abstract: 

The effectiveness of extension services provided to protected tomato farmers in Tartous Governorate was studied with the aim of evaluating the impact of these services on crop productivity and quality. The descriptive analytical approach was used to collect data from a sample of 370 For the agricultural season 2024, and the results showed that 46% of farmers were dissatisfied with these services, which negatively affected their productivity and crop quality. Statistically significant differences were found in the level of satisfaction based on demographic characteristics such as educational level and income. Moreover, 69.6% of the participants expressed dissatisfaction with the transfer of agricultural research results related to protected tomatoes, while 67.8% expressed satisfaction with determining the seasons of demand for the crop. Based on these results, the study suggested restructuring the agricultural extension apparatus to better meet the needs of farmers, provide a suitable working environment for extension workers, and support the marketing of agricultural products, as 57.1% of farmers expressed dissatisfaction with this support. Finally, the study recommended the need to enhance communication between stakeholders and farmers to maximize the benefit from extension services.

Keywords: Effectiveness, services, guidance, tomato, reserve, Tartous.

Full Paper in Arabic: pdf

Lama Ehssan * ⁽¹⁾

(1). Ecology and Forestry department, Faculty of Agriculture Engineering, Latakia university, Latakia, Syria.

 (*Corresponding author: lama ehssan. E-Mail: ehssan.lama@gmail.com)

Received: 11/06/2024         Accepted:9/02/2025

Abstract: 

Forest fires play a critical role in landscape degradation and cause significant damage to public property. As fire occurrences have increased over the last several decades, forest fire behavior modeling has become the key to predict the rate of fire spread, exploring fire spread, plan firefighting, reduce fire spread and extinguishing them before they reach a critical size. This study aimed to simulate AL SIRAJ fire which occurred during 2017 in Latakia Governorate by comparison the differences between real and simulated fire using FFSM-GIS model, which depends on the factors affecting forest fires behavior in study area as inputs: Wind Speed (WS) , Wind Direction (WD) Combustibility Index (CI), Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD), the Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI), Slope (S), and Aspect (AS). The simulated area was determined depending on the outputs of the model (Fire Spread Index FSI and Fire Spread Time (FST). Results show that, the performance of simulation was acceptable by the similarity of spread behavior between the real and simulated fires . However, the burned area predicted by the model was overestimated

Keywords: Forest fires, FFSM-GIS model, Latakia Governorate, Forest simulation, Geographic information system.

Full Paper in Arabic: pdf

Ammar Abbas⁽¹⁾ * Mohammad Nizam⁽¹⁾ and Nisreen deeb⁽¹⁾

(1). Agriculture research center of Lattakia, Lattakia, Syria.

(*Corresponding author: E-Mail ammarabbas1984@hotmail.com,   00963991978115).

Received:  1/10/2024                                Accepted:9/02/2025

Abstract: 

The research was conducted based on data from Al-Basel Airport climate station in Lattakia to study and analyze the climatic factors and identify their changes during the study years (1985-1986 and 2019-2020).The temperature, precipitation, and relative humidity were studied by calculating the monthly, annual, and seasonal amounts and the monthly and annual average during all study years.The results indicated to fluctuations in temperatures, and 54% of the annual average temperature was higher than the general average, and the autumn season was the highest compared to the general average.The study of precipitation also showed fluctuations in values, and December was the most value (189.15) mm, and May was the most frequent drought with a percentage of (54.7)%.50% of the years had precipitation (788.1) mm based on the rainfall probability.As for relative humidity, the values showed a clear variation and the highest values were in the year (2012-2013) where it  reached (71.4)%.Spring has the highest relative humidity at (54.3) % of the total years.By studying the relationship between the previous factors, it was found that the temperature curve is opposite to the precipitation curve and partially in line with the relative humidity curve.

Keywords: Climatic parameters, Temperature, Precipitation, Relative humidity, Meteorological station.

Full Paper in Arabic: pdf

Abdulmalek Alsaier * ⁽¹⁾, Zakaria Hassani ⁽¹⁾ , Badr AL-deen Jalab ⁽²⁾ and Moustafa Mazen Atri ⁽²⁾  

(1).Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, University of Aleppo, Aleppo, Syria.

(2). Department of Natural Resources, Agricultural Research Center in Aleppo, General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research.

(*Corresponding author:Abdulmalek Alsaier. E-Mail:malekalsayer66@gmail.com).

Received: 23/09/2024                Accepted: 24/02/2025

Abstract: 

This study was conducted during the two seasons (2022-2023). The field experiment was carried out in a private farm in Deir Hafer area – Rasm Abboud village, to study the effect of foliar spraying with Nano iron prepared using the leaf extract of the azdrecht plant at three concentrations (50, 75, 100 mg/L), and to compare them with foliar spraying with iron sulfate at three concentrations (100, 150, 200 mg/L). The results of the study showed the positive effect of the Nano iron and iron sulfate treatments in the both seasons, as all treatments outperformed the control without spraying and the control sprayed with water only, for most of the indicators studied, and the treatment (Nano Fe 100) average weight tree productivity, average percentage of total soluble solids and reducing sugars, (73.48 Kg, 21.56 %,18.62 %), The lowest values were for the control without spraying and the control sprayed with water only.

Keywords: Nano iron, Iron sulfate, Foliar spray, Grape trees, White Shami.

Full Paper in Arabic: pdf

Ghiath A. Alloush⁽¹⁾ and Suliman Younes* ⁽²⁾

(1). Dept of Soil and Water Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Lattakia, Syria.

(2). General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research –Alhenadi Research Station, Lattakia, Syria.

(*Corresponding author: Dr. Suliman Younes. E-Mail: sulimanyounes89@gmail.com).

     Received: 27/08/2024                     Accepted: 9/03/2025

Abstract: 

This study aims at investigating the possible use of phosphate rock (PR) as alternative to triple super phosphate (TSP) in slightly acidic Basaltic soil (pH= 6.2). Two experiments were conducted in agriculture engineering faculty in Lattakia: the first is an incubation study for soil received phosphorus from PR or TSP with or without organic fertilizer (OM). PR dissolution was measured as function of time; and the second experiment was carried out in a pot study growing maize plants. The dissolution of PR was quick in presence of organic fertilizer (OM+PR) compared to application of PR alone (PR), the effect of organic matter was on dissolution speed rather than rate of dissolution. The dissolution rate of PR reached 35% of the added PR after 90 days of incubation irrespective of organic matter presence. The application of organic fertilizer alone or in combination with PR or triple supper phosphate (TSP) didn’t increase plant dry matter production of maize while root growth was increased which in turn decreased shoot to root ratio. The application of TSP or OM increased P concentrations in both shoot and roots tissues. The application of PR alone did not have an effect of P concentration in either shoots or roots unless PR application was companied with the application of OM. The calculation of agricultural relative effectiveness of PR (ARE, %) showed a values of 73.1% for maize when compared to application of TSP.

Keywords: Phosphate Rock Dissolution, Agricultural Effectiveness,  Organic fertilizer, Available Phosphorus.

Full Paper in Arabic: pdf

Abdel Aleem Bello⁽¹⁾ , Nizar Issa ⁽²⁾, Khaled Mawardi⁽³⁾ and Aline Batch ^*(1)

(1).Dept. of Plant Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Aleppo, Aleppo, Syria.

(2). Dept. of Animal Biology, Faculty of Science, Damascus University, Damascus, Syria.

(3). Dept. of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Aleppo, Aleppo, Syria.

(*Corresponding author: Aline Batch, E-Mail: alinebatch@hotmail.com, Tel: 0944826295)

Received:  24/08/2024        Accepted: 5/02/2025

Abstract: 

Apiaceae is one of the very important and large family in the plant kingdom, and it is one of the leading families in Syria. The current study Was done in 2024 aimed to evaluate the morphological and anatomical traits of the fruits and use them to develop a new taxonomic key for the Apiaceae species widespread in Aleppo. The study relied on unified Carpological characteristics, and the data was analyzed using a matrix (database) consisting of 16 procedural classification units that included 31 traits. The cluster study was carried out using hierarchical cluster analysis in SPSS version (25), and a Dendrogram was obtained based on the euclidean distance between taxonomic units. The study included fruits of 16 species: Anthriscus caucalis, Scandix pecten-veneris, Scandix iberica, Scandix verna, Torilis nodosa, Torilis tenella, Torilis leptophylla Var. erythrotricha, Conium maculatum, Coriandrum sativum, Helosciadium nodiflorum, Ammi majus, Visnaga daucoides, Malabaila graveolens, Malabaila secacul, Tordylium cordatum, Tordylium trachycarpum. The results showed that the species separated into two clusters. The first cluster included of Scandix spp., which are distinguished by its very long beak. The second cluster included 7 subclusters, A.nthriscus caucalis was isolated alone in a subcluster close to the first cluster, also C. maculatum and C. sativum, each of which was isolated in a separate subcluster. Tordylium species were occupied a subcluster, as were species of the genus Malabaila. There was a separate subcluster for Ammi species, and H. nodiflorum. The largest euclidean distance was between S. pecten -veneris and A. majus with a value of 581, the shortest euclidean distance of only 2 was between T. tenelle and T. leptophylla, and no distance was shown between the two Malabaila species, and also between the two Tordylium Species. The study showed that morphological and anatomical characteristics of the Apiaceae fruits plays a very important role in separating and distinguishing genera, and may contribute less significantly to species distinguishing.

Keywords: Apiaceae, Carpological characteristics, Cluster Analysis, Morphology, Anatomy, Aleppo.

Full Paper in Arabic: pdf

Haifa Hossen^(1)* , Naziha Ruqaya⁽²⁾ and Nabil Habib⁽²⁾

(1). Syrian Grain Establishment, Latakia, Syria.

(2). Department of Field Crops, Faculty of Agriculture,  Tishreen University,  Latakia,  Syria.

(*Corresponding author: Haifa Hossen. E-Mail: haifahossen@yahoo.com).

Received: 13/10/2024              Accepted:5/02/2025

Abstract: 

A field experiment was conducted at Bouqa Farm, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Tishreen University, during the agricultural seasons of 2019 and 2020, by planting one line of barley and one line of triticale from the General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research, in addition to common vetch Vicia sativa L., to study the effect of mixing ratios of each of barley and triticale with vetch on forage production and competition indices. The experiment was carried out according to a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) design, with three replicates. The results indicated a significant effect of mixed cultivation in terms of the type of grass crop and its percentage in the mixture on the production of dry matter of the mixture, and the studied competition indices (grass competition coefficient, total relative yield, relative crowding coefficient, and percentage of vetch in the mixture). In both seasons, triticale in single cultivation significantly outperformed the rest of the studied treatments in terms of dry matter production, followed by the mixture consisting of 75% triticale and 25% triticale, which significantly outperformed all studied mixture treatments in terms of the percentage of legumes within the mixture, the total relative yield and the relative crowding coefficient, while barley grown with vetch at a mixing ratio of (75% B + 25% V) significantly outperformed the rest of the studied treatments in terms of the Competitive ratio. Based on the research results, it is suggested to grow triticale in fodder mixtures with vetch at a mixing ratio of 75% triticale + 25% vetch to obtain high fodder production.

Keywords: Common vetch, barley, triticale, fodder mixtures, competition indices.

Full Paper in Arabic: pdf

Ali Abboud^(1)* , Mohammad Nael Khattab⁽¹⁾ and Majd Darwish⁽¹⁾

(1). Department of Crops, Faculty of Agriculture, Tishreen University,  Lattakia, Syria.

(*Corresponding author: Ali Aboud . E-Mail: aliabboud608@gmail.com.)

Received: 24/10/2024           Accepted: 19/03/2025

Abstract: 

The research was carried out in the Jableh area of Lattakia Governorate, in mid-April 2024 AD, with the aim of applying foliar spraying with potassium humate at concentrations of (1-2) g/l and seaweed extract at a rate of 1.5 -3 ml/l and irrigation at a level of 50 and 100% of the field capacity on two hybrids of sweet corn (Cooper and Golden Swede) according to a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates for each treatment. The following indicators were measured (plant height (cm), number of leaves, leaf surface area (cm2/plant), ear length (cm), number of rows per ear, number of grains per ear, weight of 100 grains (g), weight of grains per ear (g). The results showed that spraying with seaweed extract at a concentration of 3 ml/L and potassium humate at a concentration of 2 g/L on the hybrids of sugar corn Cooper and Golden Sweden when irrigated at a rate of 50 and 100% of the field capacity led to a significant improvement in the values of many of the studied traits such as (plant height, number of leaves, area of leaves per plant, ear length). Spraying with seaweed extract at a concentration of 1.5 ml/L and potassium humate at a concentration of 1 g/L on the hybrids of sugar corn Cooper and Golden Sweden when irrigated at a rate of 50 and 100% of the field capacity led to a significant increase in many of the studied traits such as (number of rows per ear, number of grains per ear, weight of 100 grains, weight of grains per ear). It was also observed during the application of spraying with seaweed extract at a concentration of 3 ml/L and potassium humate at a concentration of 2 g/L and irrigation at 100% of the field capacity, the hybrid Cooper was superior to the hybrid Golden Sweden in some of the studied traits, The Golden hybrid was superior in other characteristics, and thus both responded to the study treatments and could be grown in the region.

Keywords: Sugar corn, potassium humate, seaweed, water deficit.

Full Paper in Arabic: pdf