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Background: In Egypt, calcareous soils represent a large part of desert soils suffering from a shortage of nutrients and organic matter, affecting production and biological diversity in agroecosystems. Organic wastes, negatively affect the environment, recycling it as a promising technology in different farming systems, and its impact on crop productivity and soil fauna is largely unknown. In this study, the effects of integrating poultry manure (PM) alone or combined with vinasse (V) at rates of 4.2 g kg− 1 and 6.3 g kg− 1 in pots, on improving soil fauna diversity, soil fertility, soil consistency and yield of barley (Hordeum aestivum L.) grown in a calcareous soil were investigated. Results: The results showed that the addition of PM alone or combined with V at different rates led to a significant increase in the microbial biomass carbon (MBC), organic matter (OM), NPK soil availability and yield of barley. The addition of 6.3 g PM and 4.2 g V kg− 1 soil have the best results in OM with 65.0% compared to control, and V contributes more than 16% of them. Prostigmata and Collembola were the dominant groups and accounted for 43.3% and 50.0% in the PM1 and 50.0% and 20.0% in the PM2 of the total individuals, respectively. Shannon and Evenness indices increased significantly with the soil amended by PM alone or combined with V. Soil fauna plays a key role in soil consistency because of a significant relationship between soil fauna and soil OM, MBC and soil fertility index. The addition of 6.3 g PM and 4.2 g V kg− 1 soil gave the best results in grain yield by 76.90% compared to the control. Conclusion: In conclusion, the interaction between PM and V can be used as a promising organic amendments to increase barley yield and improve efficiency of a recycled PM and V on soil fauna and soil fertility of calcareous soil.

Enrichment of calcareous soils with phosphogypsum and poultry manure amendments could increase nutrient availability, improve calcareous chemical characteristics, and enhance barley plant growth. In the current study, phosphogypsum (PG) and poultry manure (PM) were used to determine the effects of PG and PM application on soil fauna diversity, soil fertility, and barley yield. The pot experiment treatments were: C: control; PG1: 4.20 g kg−1 soil; PG2: 6.30 g kg−1 soil; PM1: 4.20 g kg−1 soil; PM: 6.30 g kg−1 soil, and their combinations. The results indicated that the application of PM alone or combined with PG had significant effects on the microbial biomass carbon (MBC), organic matter (OM), soil NPK availability, and yield of barley. Collembola and Prostigmata accounted for 50.0 and 43.3%, respectively, of the total number of soil fauna. Shannon and evenness indices increased significantly in the soil amended with PM alone or combined with PG. Amended soil with PG and/or PM significantly increased the yield and yield components of plants compared to the control. The PM1PG2 treatment increased the yield by 76.2% above the control.

N EW agriculture practices are required for developing water use efficiency. Mulching as a target for that goalhas not been adequately quantified. The aim of this work was to clarify the role of rice straw mulchingin reserving water under surface irrigation and quantify its application benefits on yield and quality of king ruby grape vineyard grown in Delta Nile of Egypt during 2017 and 2018 seasons. The experimental layout included six treatments T1, T3 and T5 for three irrigation regimes which introduced control or zero, 25% and 50% of restriction irrigation water. T2, T4 and T6 introduced the mulching application within the previous irrigation regimes. The irrigation regime started at veraison phase (pre maturity stage) from May 2017 till end of July (time of harvest) and straw mulches were applied at rate 5 kg/m 2 , and it was renewed in 2018 season. Soilbulk density (BD), infiltration rate (IR) and NPK uptake were looked up. Growth and qualities attributes were figured out as a reflection affect by treatments under investigations. Results highlighted the role of mulching in keeping soil moisture under severe drought stress, 50% of restriction irrigation water (T6) similar to unstressed, control (T1) subsequently the most measured parameter of soil, growth and quality were similar in both treatments. These findings suggest the application of T6 (50% of restriction irrigation water) treatment as a target recommendation for saving 50 % of irrigation water without yield reduction and with good qualities.

Evaluation of land resources is required to achieve their sustainable development and productivity. The study's aim was to evaluate the land capability and suitability for some main crops in some area of Kafr El-Sheikh governorate at the north of Nile Delta, Egypt utilizing of Remote Sensing and GIS techniques. The Applied System of Land Evaluation (ASLE) model was used for performing the land evaluation and produce its maps. Figure shapes of the study area were explanation using a Sentinel-2 image, digital elevation model (DEM) and field survey. Three main geomorphic unites were identified namely a) Flood Plain that is the largest unit occupying 72.96% from the study area and including River Terraces (High, Moderate and Low) and Basins (Overflow and Decantation Basins), b) Lacustrine plain and c) Marine plain. Samples from Eleven soil profiles were collected to represent different landform units of the study area, analyzed in the Laboratory. Results of land evaluation using ASLE model indicated that, the most of the studied area (73.25%) have Fair (C3) capability class. There are 24.87% from the area having C4 and the remaining (1.88%) have very poor class (C5). The evaluation of land suitability for the selected crops indicated that, wheat, barley and date palm are highly (S1) to moderately suitable (S2) for growing in the Most areas of the study area. Maize is moderately suitable (S2), while Onion and Citrus are moderately (S2) to not suitable (NS) in most of the studied area.

I NCREASING saline-sodic soils area as a result of climatic change, wrong agriculture practices and unsuitable of nutrition sources were lead to malnutrition and caused low productivity and quality of citrus. The study focused on gypsum and compost application in the proper rates for coping with such variable parameters. The trial carried out during 2017 and 2018 seasons on Washington navel orange trees (Citrus sinensis L., Osbek) grafted on sour orange (Citrus aurantium L.). Six application treatments were examined for the purpose of the study, i.e., T1: control, T2: compost at 10 tons/ fed, T3: compost at 15 tons/ fed, T4: gypsum at 10 tons/ fed, T5: T4+T2 and T6: T4+T3. Field capacity (FC), Permanent wilting point (PWP), available water (AW), soil moisture and soil total content of NPK as indicators of soil parameter for application treatments were looked up. Growth parameters such shoot length, number of shoots/branch, number of leaves/shoot and leaf area, yield attributes such fruit set, fruit cracking, peel thickness, total tree yield (Kg), fruit juice volume, TSS, acidity, total sugars and vitamin C and leaf nutritional content of N, P, K, Ca and Mg were also determined. Results showed that T6 gave the highest results followed by T5, T4, T3 and T2 whereas T1 was the lowest ones for all parameters under investigations. The study aimed and recommends gypsum at 10 tons/ fed + compost at 15 tons/ fed for ameliorating saline-sodic soil and improving growth, yield and quality of Washington navel orange under such conditions.

Context The application of soil amendments to immobilise pesticide residues is a promising technology for meeting human health requirements, environmental protection and cost-effective remediation. Aims This study aims to evaluate the effect of rice straw biochar (RB), rice straw compost (RC) and their mixtures at rates of 0.5% and 1.0% in pots, on the immobilisation of pesticides (such as atrazine, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos) in contaminated soil, using spectroscopy analysis under grown canola (Brassica napus L.) plants. Methods Determination of immobilisation of pesticide residues by GC or HPLC and chemical properties of RB and RC and adding them at differentrates to the contaminated soil. Keyresults The results showed that the addition of RB or RC alone or their mixtures led to a significant increase in the exchangeable Ca2+ contents, organic matter (OM), cation exchange capacity (CEC), uptake of N, P and K and dry weight of canola plants. Pesticide concentrations decreased with increasing OM, CEC, and exchangeable Ca2+ with the soil amended by RC and RB. The data indicated that adding RB at levels of 0.5% and 1.0% resulted in reductions in chloropyrifos by 43.2% and 63.1%, glyphosate by 32.8% and 77.3%, and atrazine by 21.9% and 72.2%, respectively, as compared to the control. Addition of (RC + RB) at 0.5% gave the highest pesticide immobilisation, followed (RC+RB) at 1.0%. Conclusion These results indicate that the dominant mechanisms of pesticides immobilisation in the alkaline soils amended with RC and RB by FTIR and XRD analysis were π–π interaction, pore filling, hydrophobic effect, H-bonding, degradation as well as improvement of soil properties and dry yield of canola plants. Implications Our results suggested the possibility of adding recycled rice straw in the form of compost or biochar to the contaminated soil to improve its properties, immobilise pesticides and increase its production capacity.

In Egypt, calcareous soils represent a large part of desert soils suffering from a shortage of nutrients and organic matter, which affects production and biological diversity in agroecosystems. Organic wastes, which negatively affect the environment, recycle it as a promising technology in different farming systems, and its impact on production and soil fauna is largely unknown. We investigated the effects of integrating poultry manure (P) with vinasse (V) at different rates on the diversity of soil fauna and barley growth (Hordeum aestivm) grown in calcareous soil. The results showed that the addition of P alone or combined with V at different rates had a significant effect on the soil fauna, soil fertility, yield of barley. The study showed a strong correlation between soil organic matter, soil fertility index, microbial biomass carbon, and soil fauna (R2 = 0.82, P < 0.05), (R2 = 0.86, P < 0.05), and (R2 = 0.98, P < 0.05) when treating soil with P alone or combined with V. P2V1 mixtures have the best results in OM with 65.0% compared to control, and V contributes more than 16% of them. Total individuals of soil fauna increased by 106.3%, 243.8%, 118.8% and 43.8% in P1V1, P1V2, P2V1 and P2V2 relative to control, respectively. In pots with P addition alone or combined with V at different rates, Shannon's index and Evenness index were significantly higher than the control treatment at the mature stage of barley growth. The interaction between P and V increased the grain yield of barley plant from 5.76 to 9.52 g pot− 1 in P2V2 and to 10.19 g pot− 1 in P2V1. The results indicate that integration of P and V can be promising organic amendments in improving soil fauna, soil fertility, and crop yield in calcareous soils.