This experiment aimed at studying the effect of Sida Compound fertilizer containing seaweed extract, natural fertilizers, growth promoters and micronutrients in chelated form on growth, yield and berry quality of table grape ‘Early Superior’. Foliar application of Sida Compound at concentration 0.05 to 0.20%, three times in a season increased shoot length, leaf area and content of N, P and K in the leaves as well as total soluble solids and total sugar contents in fruits. Yield of fruits increased by 29 and 14%, depending on the season.

This overview summarizes the research programs devoted to mapping the genomes within Fragaria genus. A few genetic linkage maps of diploid and octoploid Fragaria species as well as impressive physical map of F. vesca were developed in the last decade and resulted in the collection of data useful for further fundamental and applied studies. The information concerning the rules for proper preparation of mapping population, the choice of markers useful for generating linkage map, the saturation of existing maps with new markers linked to economically important traits, as well as problems faced during mapping process are presented in this paper.

One-year-old ‘Florida Prince’ cultivar (cv) peach trees grafted on a ‘Nemaguard’ rootstock were planted in the early spring of 2018 at the Centre of Agricultural Research and Experiments, Minia University, located in southwest Egypt. The trees were planted 5 × 5 m in a randomised complete block design with four replicates, with ten trees in each replicate. In the late spring, two different pruning systems were applied; traditional open centre (OC) and de-branched top trees (DBT). The OC trees were headed at 80 cm above the ground. DBT is a modification of the OC, but no heading was undertaken and the new shoot growth arising from the 20 cm at the top of the plant were removed. Before the winter pruning took place, measurements were taken on the upper two opposite branches. The average length and diameter values of the upper two opposite branches at the top of the trees trained to the OC were higher than those trained with the DBT. In contrast, the distance between the upper two branches (25 cm) at the top of the DBT trees was significantly higher. Likewise, the values of the crotch angles (48°) and the number of branches (81 of 100 branches) that showed desired crotch angles (more than 40°) were remarkably higher in the trees trained with the DBT. After the winter pruning took place, the DBT trees were higher than the OC trees. Additionally, the trees trained with the DBT had low pruning costs and took less time. Moreover, the pruning wood weight of the DBT trees was about half of the pruning wood weight of the OC trees. In conclusion, the DBT training system showed the desired impact on the crotch angles and the tested pruning characteristics.

IFFERENT pruning patterns of leaves in relation to a number of bunches (leaf/bunch ratio) during the 2018 and 2019 seasons were applied to uniform 12 adults of 17-year-old 'Zaghloul' date palm females grown on sandy soil under drip irrigation in Belbis district, Sharkia Governorate, Egypt. Three levels of leaf/bunch ratios at 6:1, 8:1, and 10:1 plus the control treatment (only dead leaves were cut) were investigated. The tested physical characteristics were yield, weight of bunch, fruit and fruit flesh, as well as fruit length and diameter, and dry weight of flesh of date fruits. In addition, the total soluble solids content and Tannins as chemical characteristics of date fruits were measured. All pruning treatments increased the yield/palm in comparison with the control. The leaf/bunch ratio at 10:1 achieved the highest yield (182.06 and184.50 kg/palm) in the two seasons, respectively. The palm yield of check treatment was lower with results of 135.22 and 136.00 kg/palm in the studied seasons, respectively. Palms in all levels of leaf/bunch ratios recorded the highest of the bunch weight and fruit weight of dates in comparison with those in palms had no pruning. Generally, all applied leaf/bunch ratios had a positive effect on other measured physical properties of 'Zaghloul' date palm fruits. The total soluble solids content was higher in pruned palms, however, the tannins percentage was lower in the same palms. The leaf/bunch 10:1 ratio gave the best results regarding the tested characteristics of 'Zaghloul' date palms under the studied region.

Partial shading conditions decreases the output power from photovoltaic systems and causes multiple maximum power points on output characteristics because of the mismatching power losses among the PV modules. The shading pattern, the shaded area and the PV array topology are the main factors which affects the mismatching power losses. The main aim of this paper is to study and enhance the performance of a PV system under different array topologies and partial shading conditions and reach to the most convenient topology. PV array topologies including series, parallel, series-parallel and total-cross-tied are studied. Row, column, narrow, wide, middle and random partial shading patterns are considered at the different PV array topologies. The performance is measured according to the maximum output power, mismatching power losses, fill factor, efficiency, open circuit voltage and short circuit current. The parameters and data specification of Suntech Power STD250-20/Wd PV module are used for the simulation based on MATLAB/Simulink software.

Coloration of red grapes under high temperature and narrow day/night temperature range conditions is a great challenge. The aim of the investigation was to test the effect of Sulis® fertilizer which has recently commercially released in Egypt on the color of 'Redglobe' grapes. In 2018, the treatments were water (control), 1 ml L -1 Sulis®, or 2 ml L -1 Sulis®. 'Redglobe' berries were darker red color due to Sulis® treatments, with no different effect between both Sulis® concentration. While, The 2019 treatments were water (control), 150 mg l -1 ABA + 250 mg l -1 Ethephone, 1 ml L -1 Sulis®+ 250 mg l -1 Ethephone, or 1 ml L -1 Sulis®. During both seasons, the treatments gave the same effect on physical berry characteristics. The bunches sprayed with ABA or Sulis® +ethephone were harvested 10 days earlier than those treated with Sulis® alone, and 20 days earlier than the control clusters. The treatments gave higher packable yield percentages at first pick harvest and SSC/TA ratio than the control. L*, a*, b*, C* and h˚ of berry color traits were decreased due to the treatment applications. Sulis®+ethephone and Sulis® treatments increased the red color index and anthocyanin content in berry skin than the control treatments. Sulis® fertilizers is promising as a coloring agent in grapevines cultivation.

Not only are small photovoltaic (PV) systems widely used in poor countries and rural areas where the electrical loads are low but they can also be integrated into the national electricity grid to save electricity costs and reduce CO2 emissions. Partial shading (PS) is one of the phenomena that leads to a sharp decrease in the performance of PV systems. This study provides a comprehensive performance investigation of small systems (consisting of ten modules or fewer) under all possible shading patterns that result from one shading level (300 W/m2 is chosen). The most common configurations are considered for which a performance comparison is presented. Five small systems of different sizes are studied under PS. A new simplifying method is proposed to identify the distinct PS patterns under study. Consequently, the number of cases to be studied is significantly reduced from 1862 to 100 cases only. The study is conducted using the MATLAB/SimulinkÒ environment. The simulation results demonstrate the most outperformed configuration in each case of PS pattern and the amount of improvement for each configuration. The configurations include static series-parallel (SP), static total-cross-tied (TCT), dynamic switching between SP and TCT, and TCT-reconfiguration. The study provides PV systems’ owners with a set of guidelines to opt for the best configuration of their PV systems. The optimum recommended configuration is TCT reconfiguration, rather than dynamic switching between SP and TCT. The less recommended option, which enjoys simplicity but is still viable, is the static TCT. It outperforms the static SP in most cases of PS patterns.