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The use of technology in agriculture has grown in recent years with the era of data analytics affecting every industry. The main challenge in using technology in agriculture is identification of effectiveness of big data analytics algorithms and their application methods. Pest management is one of the most important problems facing farmers. The cotton leafworm, Spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.) (CLW) is one of the major polyphagous key pests attacking plants includes 73 species recorded at Egypt. In the present study, several machine learning algorithms have been implemented to predict plant infestation with CLW. The moth of CLW data was weekly collected for two years in a commercial hydroponic greenhouse. Furthermore, among other features temperature and relative humidity were recorded over the total period of the study. It was proven that the XGBoost algorithm is the most effective algorithm applied in this study. Prediction accuracy of 84 % has been achieved using this algorithm. The impact of environmental features on the prediction accuracy was compared with each other to ensure a complete dataset for future results. In conclusion, the present study provided a framework for applying machine learning in the prediction of plant infestation with the CLW in the greenhouses. Based on this framework, further studies with continuous measurements are warranted to achieve greater accuracy.

In wheat fields, irrigated with treated sewage water, the performance of six herbicides: bromoxynil/MCPA; bentazon/ dichlorprop; diclofop-methyl; tralkoxydim; pendimethalin and bromophenoxim; and some their combinations were assessed at two different locations around the city of Riyadh. The common weeds include: Lolium spp.; Phalaris spp.; Avena spp.; Malva spp.; Chenopodium spp. and others. The best weed control treatments were: bentazon/dichlorprop followed by bromoxynil/MCPA for the broad-leaved, and diclofop-methyl followed by tralkoxydim for the grassy weeds. The combinations of bromoxynil/MCPA with either pendimethalin or tralkoxydim were far more effective against the broad-leaved weeds, and significantly improved the wheat growth and yield, compared with the single treatments. However, bromoxynil/MCPA combination with diclofop-methyl was less effective against the grassy and broad-leaved weeds than each of them. Bromophenoxim showed an effective control of the whole weeds, with appreciable improvement in the wheat growth and yield.

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