Seminal roots are known to play an important role in crop performance, particularly under drought conditions. A set of 37 durum wheat cultivars and local landraces was screened for variation in architecture and size of seminal roots using a laboratory setting, with a filter paper method combined with image processing by SmartRoot software. Significant genetic variability was detected for all root and shoot traits assessed. Four rooting patterns were identified, with landraces showing overall steeper angle and higher root length, in comparison with cultivars, which presented a wider root angle and shorter root length. Some traits revealed trends dependent on the genotypes’ year of release, like increased seminal root angle and reduced root size (length, surface, and volume) over time. We confirm the presence of a remarkable diversity of root traits in durum wheat whose relationship with adult root features and agronomic performance should be explored.

Conservation agriculture is a concept which defines different farming systems. Its implementation depends on soil properties, climate and socio-economic considerations. Since two thousands, no-till technology; which is one facet of the conservation agriculture has begun to take place in the high plains of Sétif province-Algeria. Its adoption is facing several problems of socio-economic and technical issues. This work monitored the track of no-till adoption within a sample of 28 farmers during two years 2014 and 2016. During 2014 farmers were supported financially and technically through a subsidy program that aimed at the support of conservation agriculture via no-till technique. In 2016, the subsidy program has ended; hence, farmers have no longer incentives. Multivariate statistical analyses were performed to diagnose the evolution of no-till adoption and behavior’s farmers between the two periods. In 2016, results showed an increase of no-till area, even though, the drop of the number of adoptive farmers by 71%. The main reasons for adopting no-till according to the adoptive farmers were the minimization of farming operation costs and saving time. However, the major impediments facing no-till adoption; were the rise of weeding charges and the concern of weed infestation especially by bromus.sp, which is a vigorous prevalent weed, which locally developed some pesticide’s resistance. Also, the excessive use of pesticides may be considered as an environmental reason for no adopting no-till.

Conservation agriculture helps to mitigate the adverse impacts of conventional practices and intensive cultivation, accordingly enhancing agricultural sustainability. Tillage management and the preceding crop impact the sustainable use of soil resources and ultimately crop growth and productivity. The present study aimed to assess the impacts of the tillage system, cropping system, and their different interactions on soil properties and agronomic performance. No-tillage (NT), reduced tillage (RT), and conventional tillage (CT) were combined with three cropping systems; continuous wheat (wheat/wheat/wheat, W/W/W), lentil/wheat/lentil (L/W/L), and oat/wheat/barley-pea (O/W/BP) during three years crop rotation. The results displayed that the conservative practices (NT and RT) recorded higher soil nutrient content (N, P, K, Ca, and Mg) than conventional tillage (CT). Moreover, NT and RT exhibited higher bulk density (BD) and lower water infiltration rates compared to CT. Besides, NT and RT tended to have higher soil moisture than CT. The cropping system W/W/W displayed higher magnesium content, while W/L/W had higher phosphorous and O/W/BP showed higher sodium values. The mono-cropping system under conventional tillage tended to have lower soil nutrient content compared to the other combinations. The highest wheat aboveground biomass, wheat grain yield, and lentil seed yield were produced by RT and CT compared to NT. Otherwise, the higher emergence of barley-pea was assigned for NT followed by CT and RT.

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The abundance of cereal leaf beetle on six durum wheat varieties (Triticum durum Desf.) and the influence of leaf flags infestation on grain yield per spike were studied. The results show the existence of two species of beetle at the experimental site (ITGC, Sétif), namely Oulema melanopus and Oulema hoffmannseggi. The study shows also, that varieties tested were infested at different rates and there is a negative effect between the infestation rate of the flag leaf and grain weight per ear. Thus, the rate of loss of grain per spike ranged range from 3.48% in Boussellam variety to 23.15% in Megress variety if the infestation rate of the flag leaf is less than 10%, then the rate of loss in grain per spike can vary between 29.35% in Boussellam to 85.71% in Ofanto if the infestation rate of flag leaf is greater than 40%.

Roots are important for crop adaptation, particularly in dryland environments. We evaluated root development of 37 durum wheat genotypes (modern cultivars and landraces) in the field at the adult plant stage, through a shovelomics approach. Large genotypic variability was found for root traits. Differences between the landraces and modern cultivars were the main driver of this variation, with landraces showing higher plant vigor for roots and shoots. Nonetheless, genotypic variation within groups was also observed, related to different models of root growth, largely independent of total root length. These two models represented root growth were oriented either to occupy more soil volume, or to occupy less soil volume with increased density. The field results were then compared with root data previously collected in seedlings using a filter paper-based method, to assess whether early root anticipated adult root features. Field plants showed a narrower root angle than seedlings. In particular, landraces presented a narrower root angle than cultivars, but only at seedling stage. Potentially useful correlations were found between the two growth stages for root length and number.

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