The Effect of Organic Farming System on Some Soil Characteristics and Productivity Indicators of Olive Variety Doebli

Ghada Kattmah*⁽¹⁾ Georges Makhoul⁽²⁾Soheel Makhool⁽¹⁾Mohamad Al Naddaf⁽²⁾ Mohamad Ahmad⁽²⁾ Nizar Hamoud⁽¹⁾Wisam Massa⁽³⁾and Mahmoud Dawood⁽⁴⁾

(1). Horticulture Research Administration, General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research GCSAR, Damascus, Syria.

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

(3). Barshen Research Station, Hamah Research Center, GCSAR, Damascus, Syria.

(4). Beit Kamouna Research Station, Tartous Research Center, GCSAR, Damascus, Syria.

(*Corresponding author: Dr. Ghada Kattmah. E-Mail: ghada978@gmail.com).

Received: 18/03/2018 Accepted: 04/08/2018

Abstract

This research was conducted during the period (2015-2017) as a part of project included in the Cooperation Agreement between the Ministry of High Education and the General Commission of Agricultural Scientific Research (GCSAR) and was funded equally by two participating sides, in order to study the impact of the organic production system on soil properties and productivity indicators of olive variety “Doebli” in two sites: Moseif and Safita, the orchard in each site was divided into two plots with an area of 1 dunum. The first one is managed under the organic system according to Syrian Organic Law (sheep manure fertilizer: 2 tone/dunum, green manure grass pea: barley 9:1 in rate of 15 kg/dunum, excessive pruning in the year of heavy production and 3 tillages per year), while the second part was managed under the conventional practices used by farmer (chemical fertilizer NPK, Urea 46%: 500g/tree in two patches in March and April, potassium sulfate 50%: 300g/tree in March, superphosphate 45%: 300g/tree in November, balanced pruning, 5 tillages per year), and the two plots were separated by two lines of trees. The soil analysis was carried out before and after the organic and conventional treatments, as well as some indicators of productivity (the length of recent vegetative shoots, sex ratio and fruit set ratio). The results of soil analysis at the two sites showed that the organic treatment was significantly higher than its conventional counterparts in terms of organic matter, total nitrogen, phosphorus and potash. The effect of the experimental treatments appeared increasingly at the end of the second season, these elements were gradually released as a result of the fermentation of manure and green manure, and the release of organic acids in the soil. It was observed that the organic treatments were superior to the conventional ones in term of the length of recent vegetative growths (7.32, 3.39 cm, respectively), and the number of flowers per inflorescence which was 14.73 in the organic treatment compared to 12.53 in the conventional one, so the difference between the two treatments was significant, the superior revealed also in the sex ratio (2.74 and 2.11, respectively) and fruit set ratio (4.71 and 3.8%, respectively). This study confirmed the positive effect of the organic production system in improving the olive farm environment and the soil, in order to achieve more yield and production sustainability in farm by using safe and healthy environmental methods.

Key words: Olive, Organic treatment, Conventional treatment, Soil character, Productivity.

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Studying Seeds Germination Physiology and Pollen Grains Palynology of Some Prunus cerasia Blanche Shrubs Prevailing in the Syrian Coast

Haitham Ismael⁽¹⁾ Hafez Mahfoud⁽²⁾ and Mohammad Nizam^*(1)

(1). Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Tishreen University, Latakia, Syria.

(2). Department of Biotechnology, General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research, Latakia, Syria.

(*Corresponding author: Eng. mohammad.nizam85@hotmail.com).

Received: 20/02/2018 Accepted: 29/03/2018

Abstract

The research was carried during 2016 and 2017 to evaluate the physiological behavior of seed germination and micromorphological characterization of pollen grains using a light microscope as a comparative indicator for 24 shrubs of Prunus cerasia Blanche naturally prevailing on 12 sites of the Syrian coast. The results showed physiological similarity of the seeds within the same site and difference in different sites. So, the shrubs LK1 and LK2 in Kassab showed the highest and fastest germination percentage, followed by LD1 and LD2 in Al-Daliya site. However, the lowest and slowest germination percentage were for LRsh1 and LRsh2 in Ras al-Shamra site. Investigated pollen grains were similar: spherical, medium size and tri-apertures, but they were different in the average lengths of polar and equator axes. LRsh1 and LRsh2 in Ras al-Shamra site were significant than other shrubs. The investigated shrubs were also variant in the dimensions of anthers and number of pollen grains within the anther. A direct relation was noticed between the anther dimensions and number of pollen grains in the anther for all studied shrubs.

Keywords: Wild plum, Prunus cerasia, Pollen grains.

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Study of Relationship Within Some Species of Genus Astragalus in the Syrian Flora Using Seeds Characteristics

Walid Ali Ali ^*(1)

(1). Tartous Agriculture Research Center, General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research (GCSAR), Damascus, Syria.

(^*Corresponding author. Dr. Walid Ali. E-Mail: botanist.waleed2014@gmail.com).

Received: 02/05/2018 Accepted: 01/10/2018

Abstract

Morphological, anatomical and physic-mechanical characters were studied for 10 Astragalus species which were: A. asterias , A. boeticus , A. brachyceras , A. corrugatus , A. guttatus , A. hamosus , A. oxyglottis , A. schemperi , A. tribuloides and A. trimestris at El Jemmaseh Station, Tartous Research Center in 2017/2018, to characterize the seeds of the studied species and determine the importance of these characters at systematic in classification and genetic relationship within the same genus. The results of cluster analysis exhibited two main groups with similarity level of 25. The first group included one species A. boeticus, while the second group split into two sub-groups which included: A. hamosus, A. trimestris, A. asterias, A. oxyglottis, A. brachyceras, A. tribuloides, A. corrugatus and A. guttatus.

Key Words: Astragalus, Seeds, Morphology traits, Physic-mechanical traits.

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**Genetic Diversity of Some Wheat (Triticum durum) Genotypes Using SSR Technique**

Reham Abo Al-Kanj^*(1) Ghinwa Lababidi⁽¹⁾and Naim Al-Husien⁽²⁾

(1). Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Technical Engineering, University of Aleppo, Aleppo, Syria.

(2). Aleppo Research Center, General Commission of Scientific Agricultural Research Center (GCSAR), Damascus, Syria.

(*Corresponding author: Reham Abo Al-Kang. E-Mail: perfume-1990@hotmail.com).

Received: 02/05/2018 Accepted: 01/10/2018

Abstract

The understanding of wheat genetic variation is considered the basis for successful plant breeding programs.the use of molecular markers in genetic diversity assessment studies and in plant breeding programs has become critical. Therefore, the research aimed to studying the genetic diversity of durum wheat genotypes, it was carried out at the Biotechnology Laboratory of the Aleppo Research Center during 2016 – 2017. The DNA was extracted from all genotypes by using CTAB method, and determined its quality, purity, and quantity. SSR technology is used to study the genetic diversity with 13 primers and the dendrogram was drew using UPGMA method according to Jaccard coefficient. The results showed there were 160 bands ranged between 100-2000 bp. PIC value was between 0.14-0.37, So the wms70، wms666، wms642، wms408 primers showed the best results. Cluster analysis showed that genotypes distributed in two main clusters. The similarity ranging from 0.21 – 0.9. This confirms the efficacy of SSR markers in detecting a wide range of genetic variation and its ability to identify genotypes.

Keywords: Durum wheat, Genetic diversity, Molecular markers, SSR.

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Characterization of Growth Curve for Local Cattle Groups at Al-Yadoda Station, South of Syria

Osama Alsheblak^*(1)and Khaled Alnajjar⁽²⁾

(1). Animal Wealth Administration, General Commission for Scientific Agrcultural Research GCSAR, Damascus, Syria.

(2). ACSAD, Damascus, Syira.

(*Corresponding author: Eng. Osama Alsheblak. E-Mail: o.alsheblak@gmail.com).

Received: 03/09/2018 Accepted: 15/10/2018

Abstract

This study was carried out at AL-Yadoda Research Station, Daraa Research Center, GCSAR, to analyze weight data of local cattle (Akshi, Shami and Golani). 101 heads of calves were weighted in several ages (birth, one and half month, three months, six months, twelve months and eighteen months) during the period from 2009 to 2011. The general liner model (GLM) was used to characterize the growth curve using growth function and to study non-genetic effects on growth traits. The analysis of variance was used to study the effect of gender, birth year, breed and interaction between gender and breed on growth traits, and Duncan test was used to compare means. Results showed that the real weight of local cow sets, from birth, 1.5-month, 3-months, 6-months,12-months and 18-months were (23.0±0.46), (40.25±0.51), (64.26±1.03), (110.8±2.24), (216.43±3.91), (277.82±1.97) kg, respectively, while expected means weight according to growth function were (23.48±0.38), (39.25±0.53), (65.69±0.74), (110.07±1.09), (184.66±1.76), (310.17±3.24) kg, respectively. Growth function constants a, b were analyzed and the estimates of growth function a, b were (14.07) kg, (0.56) kg, respectively and the value of coefficient fitting model was R²=0.98. This study proved that function is fitting to growth curve of local cattle sets in southern Syria from birth to 18-months age. Results of variance analyze showed non-significant effect of gender on (a) and (b) coefficients, model fitting to weigh increase (R²), and no-significant differences found between males and females for these coefficients. Results of variance analyze showed non-significant effect of birth year on (a) and (b) coefficients, model fitting to weigh increase (R²), and no-significant differences found between study years for these treats. Results of variance analyze showed a significant effect of breed on (a) and (b) traits, model fitting to weigh was increased (R²), and significant differences found between local cow groups (Akshi, Shami and Golani). This study proved that function was fitting to describe growth curve of local cow groups in south Syria from birth up to 18-months old, although a little number of parameters (a, b) which can be explained biological and this is very important for selection besides to some non-genetic factors effect such as (gender, year birth and breed) on growth traits.

Keyword: Local cattle groups, Growth curve, Breed, Syria.

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**The Effect of Addition of Diets Pigmentation Colour on the Feeding and Growth of Carp Cyprinus carpio (L.1758) Juvenile under Lab Conditions**

Khalid William Farnar⁽¹⁾ and Qusay Hamid Al-Hamadany^*(2)

(1). Department of Aquaculture and Marine Fisheries, University of Basrah, Basrah, Iraq.

(2). Marine Science Center, Basrah, Iraq.

(*Corresponding author: Qusay Hamid Al-Hamadany. E-mail: qusayhamid@yahoo.com).

Received: 09/06/2019 Accepted: 24/07/2019

Abstract

This research studied the effect of using artificial colored diets on feeding common carp juvenile Cyprinus carpio in plastic basins under laboratory conditions with an initial length and weight of 3.25 ± 0.1405 cm and 16.216 ± 0.1512 g respectively. Four treatment (A, B, C and D) were used depending on the color of the diets, as follows: treatment A as (control), treatment B in a green color, treatment C in a red-colored and treatment D in a blue-colored. The juveniles were distributed as 30 juveniles in each basin, the experiment lasted for 60 days. The fish were fed daily with two meals. The results of the present study showed that the treatment in red color was the most color-motivated and responsive by the fish of the experiment and with a shorter period of time compared to the rest of the treatments followed by treatment in blue and green color. The fish in the treatment C recorded the highest weight up to 121.50 g and the lowest weight in treatment A recorded 95.196 g. The highest value of the relative growth rates of fish at the end of the experiment was 659.47 % in treatment C and below 528. 31 % in treatment A and qualitative growth at the end of the experiment above 3.379 (% g/day) in treatment C below 3.063 (% g/day) in treatment A shorter time span for food exploration and feeding response was 32 seconds and a time interval of 19 minutes and 44 seconds for consumption of all food, while in treatment A the fish took longer to explore food and respond to feeding 15 minutes and 52 seconds and 1 hour, and 3 minutes and 34 seconds for consumption all food.

Keywords: Common carp, Colored diets, Growth rate.

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Prevalence of Ticks in Cows and Identification of its Genera and Species in Hama Governorate (Syria)

Abdul Naser Al-Omar^*(1) and Morshid Kassouha⁽²⁾

(1). Hama Research Center, General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research (GSCAR), Damascus, Syria.

(2). Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hama University, Hama, Syria.

(*Corresponding author: Dr. Abdul Naser Al-Omar. E-Mail: abdnaser64@gmail.com).

Received: 10/09/2018 Accepted: 05/11/2018

Abstract

This study was carried out on 386 heads of cows in Hama governorate during the period of March 2013 till February 2014. (134) samples of ticks were collected from cows chosen randomly aiming to recognize tick’s infection and determine its genus and species, the effect of season, animal age, breeding system and the places of its localization. The ticks had been determined through morphology specifications using Stereoscope according to dependent standard identification keys. Results showed sufficient difference (p<0.01) in ticks infection rates in cows according to the season of the year, and the rate of prevalence for the whole year was (34.71%), while in summer and spring the rates were (52.94%) and (36.73) respectively, but in autumn and winter the rates were (31.11%) and (16.66%) respectively. Also, it was noticed that there were sufficient differences (p<0.05) in prevalence rates according to animals ages where the highest rate was in the age group less than two years old at a rate of (47.77%), whereas the least rate was in age group more than six years old. Also, it was noticed that there was sufficient difference (p<0.05) in prevalence rate according to breeding system where the rate was higher under semi-intensified breeding system (40.32%) in comparison to intensified breeding system (29.20%). It was also noticed sufficient difference (p<0.01) in prevalence rate according to cow’s genus whereas it was higher in females (79.1%) in comparison to males (20.89%). Result also showed three types of ticks in cows which were: Rhipicephalus Spp. with prevalence rate of (50.74%), Hylomma Spp. with prevalence rate of (44.02%) and Boophilus Spp. with prevalence rate of (5.22%). Six sorts of ticks were determined where it was noticed sufficient difference in its prevalence rate, square chi amounted to 166.985 at a significance level less than (0.01), but the most prevalence specie was Rhipicephalus Turanicus (50.74%) then Anatolicum Excavatum Hyalomma (32.83%) and Hyalomma Impelatum (7.46%) and finally Boophilus Annulatus (5.22%), whereas the prevalence of Hyalomma Marginatum Marginatum and Hyalomma Detritum Detritum was in less rates amounted to (2.23%) and (1.5%) of whole ticks isolations respectively.

Key words: Ticks, Cows, Syria.

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The Effect of Organic Chromium Supplementation on Some Productivity Parameters of Japanese Quail

Ahmed Sinan Ahmed Al-Obeidi⁽¹⁾Ali Mohammed A. Rahim Al-Azzawi^*(1)Mohammad Saleh Latif Al-Obaidi⁽¹⁾Marwan Hashim Hasballah⁽¹⁾ and Nour Hussein Alwan⁽¹⁾

(1). Animal Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Diyala University, Republic of Iraq.

(* Corresponding author: Ali Al-Azzawi, Email: Ali1993mu@yahoo.com).

Received: 03/12/2018 Accepted: 04/07/2019

Abstract

The study was conducted in 2015 at the Animal Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Diyala University in Iraq to determine the effect of adding different concentrations of organic chromium picolinate as additives to Japanese quail diets. 90 birds at age of 14 days and were divided into three groups according to diet (30 birds for each treatment with ten birds for each replicate). First group (T1) were fed without adding chrome (as control), second group (T2) were fed with 250 μg chrome/kg, and third group (T3) were fed with 500 μg chrome/kg. The feed and water were added freely. Live weight, daily weight gain, feed consumption and feed conversion rate were measured weekly. At the end of the study, six birds from each group were slaughtered to calculate the dressing percentage. The difference between live weights was not significant (P≤0.05) except at age of 35 days, where T3 surpassed the control treatment significantly (P≤0.05). No significant effects were observed on the daily weight gain, daily average of feed consumption and feed conversion rate at different weeks, but T3 treatment surpassed the control treatment significantly (P≤0.05) in dressing percentage.

Key words: Japanese quail, Chrome organic, Dressing percentage.

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Determination of Genetic Persistency of Milk Production on Shami Goats under Semi-Intensive Rearing System

Hadil Obaid^*(1)Kamel Fatal⁽²⁾Abd Al-Naser Al-Omar⁽³⁾and Emad Al-Masri⁽⁴⁾

(1). Hama Agricultural Research Center, General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research (GSCAR), Damascus, Syria.

(2). Aleppo Agricultural Research Center, (GSCAR), Damascus, Syria.

(3). Animal Production Department, Faculty of Agricultural, Aleppo University, Aleppo, Syria.

(*Corresponding author: Eng. Hadil Obaid. E-Mail: hadilobaid2017@gmail.com).

Received: 10/02/2018 Accepted: 04/04/2018

Abstract

The study was conducted on Shami goat herd using milk production seasons during the period (2013-2017) at Hama Research Center, General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research (GCSAR). A total data of 471 milking records was analyzed to study the genetic persistency of milk production of Shami goats under semi-intensive rearing system, using subtraction between genetic estimation to produce 120 days from genetic estimation to produce first 60 days of milk season.The average of milk production for the first 60 days and 120 days of the milk were (70.61±20.80) and (120.69±0.45) kg respectively. The production of the year had a significant effect on milk production at 60 days, also parity had a significant effect on milk production at 120 days of lactation period (P<0.01). while there were no significant effects of parity and kidding type on milk production at 60 days. Also, no significant effects were noticed for year production and kidding type on milk production at 120 days (P>0.05). Heritability values of milk production at 60 and 120 days were (0.18) and (0.75) respectively. The values of genetic persistence of males at 60 and 120 days reached the peak of (+40.34) and the lowest of (-39.6) kg. So, these estimates can be used to increase the economic return and improve the goat flock for milk persistency. The research concluded the possibility of improving milk persistency genetically for female Shami goat.

Keyword: Genetic persistency, Milk production, Shami goats, Heritability.

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**Growth and Reproduction of Largemouth Bennini Cyprinion macrostomum in Tigris River, Iraq**

Ameer Suood Alwan Hamad^*(1) and Nehad Khorsheed Wahab⁽²⁾

(1). Department. of Agricultural Research, Ministry of Agriculture, Iraq.

(2). Animal production Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Tikrit University, Iraq.

(*Corresponding author: Ameer Suood Alwan Hamad. E-Mail: ameer.suood@yahoo.com).

Received: 02/07/2019 Accepted: 27/08/2019

Abstract

Growth and reproduction of largemouth Bennini Cyprinion macrostomum was studied in Tigris river in Tikrit region, Iraq, during September 2013 to June 2014. 459 fish were collected, and the total length ranged between 11.8-24.7 cm and their total weight ranged from 19.9 to 184.58 g. The group of length of 14-16 cm accounted the largest percentage 40.52% of total fishing (1549) in September. The value of b=2.99 means that the growth was isometric. The condition factor ranged between 0.73-2.67 with average of 1.22. Condition factor differed according to sex and length. Sex ratio (male: female) tended to female 1:1.57. The highest gonadosomatic index for female was 7.17 and for male was 2.69 in June and the spawning period extended from May and June until August. The smallest length of a mature male reached 13.1 cm and in a mature female was 19.3 cm.

Key words: Growth, Reproduction, Cyprinion macrostomum, Tigris river, Iraq.

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