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Nano-silicon application is an efficient novel approach to mitigate the deleterious impacts of drought stress on field crops, which is expected to increase owing to climate change, especially in arid regions. Two-season field studies investigated the influence of foliar-applied nano-silicon (0.5, 1, and 1.5 mM) on physiological and biochemical attributes and their impacts on crop water productivity (CWP) and the agronomic traits of faba beans (Vicia faba). The plants were evaluated under two irrigation regimes: well-watered (100% ETc giving 406 mm ha−1) and drought stress (65% ETc giving 264 mm ha−1). It was found that drought stress significantly decreased gas exchange (leaf net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and rate of transpiration), water relations (relative water content and membrane stability index), nutrient uptake (N, P, K+, and Ca+2), flavonoids, and phenolic content. In contrast, drought stress significantly increased oxidative stress (H2O2 and O2·-) and enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant activities compared with the well-watered treatment. These influences of drought stress were negatively reflected in seed yield-related traits and CWP. However, foliar treatment with nano-silicon, particularly with 1.5 mM, limited the devastating impact of drought stress and markedly enhanced all the aforementioned parameters. Therefore, exogenously applied nano-silicon could be used to improve the CWP and seed and biological yields of faba bean plants under conditions with low water availability in arid environments.

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Aims: It is become necessary to reduce the gap between the demand and supply of edible oil and protein. So, the aim of the present investigation is to study the effect of foliar application with humic acid, salicylic acid and paclobutrazol on some morphological, anatomical and seed yield characteristics, as well as on some biochemical constituents of soybean (Glycine max L.) seed for maximizing its growth, yield and nutritional value. Methodology: A 2 year field trial was carried out during 2015 and 2016 at the Faculty of Agriculture Experiment Station, Benha University, Egypt. Soybean (Glycine max L.) cv. Giza 111 seeds were sown into plots (each plot unit about 3.5 m long and 3.0 m wide) in clay loam soil. A total of six treatments of humic acid, salyclic acid, and paclobutrazol were foliarly applied: humic acid at 2.5 and 5.0 gl-1 , salicylic acid at 50 and 100 mgl-1 , paclobutrazol at 10 and 20 mgl-1 and Control in a 3 randomized complete blocks. Results: All rates of humic acid, salicylic acid and paclobutrazol had a significant effect on soybean morphological characters during the 2 years. The treatment set of 10 mgl-1 paclobutrazol, 5 gl-1 humic acid, and 100 mgl-1 salicylic acid resulted in relatively higher means for most vegetative Original Research Article