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Assessing the performance of legume species as companion plants is a prerequisite for promoting a low chemical-input durum wheat production system. This study aims to evaluate fenugreek (IC-Fen), clover (IC-Clo) and their mixture (IC-Mix) performances on weed control, productivity, and grain quality of durum wheat main crop under different N fertilization regimes, as compared to durum wheat alone with (SC-H) and without (SC-NH) herbicide. On-field experimentations were carried out in humid and semi-arid conditions. Results showed that legumes offer significant advantages in terms of weed control, soil moisture conservation, productivity, and grain quality for durum wheat cash crops. Results explain that these benefits depend on the legume part and the adopted N fertilization regime. Most significant improvements occurred with the IC-Mix under unfertilized conditions (N0) and relatively low and late N regimes (N1 and N2) where, for example, the partial land equivalent ratio of durum wheat grain yield (PLER) reached 1.25 compared to the SC-NH, with no need to sort the raw grain product (legumes seeds not exceeding 4.3%). Our study illustrates that under low and late N-fertilization condition using promising legumes species combinations result in the improvement of N fertilizer land-use efficiency and hence help to reduce N-fertilization inputs.

The improvement of soil fertility properties is a priority for meeting sustainable development goals and world food security. One potential benefit of using paper sludge in agriculture is the reduction of waste and associated environmental impacts. By using paper sludge as a soil amendment, it is possible to divert away this material from landfills and instead use it to improve soil fertility and support the growth of crops. However, it is important to note that paper sludge may contain contaminants harmful to plants and soil health, of which earthworm viability serves as a key indicator. The present investigation aimed to evaluate changes in soil properties after the application of raw and composted de-inking paper sludge for two years. Accordingly, a field study was conducted in Manouba, a semi-arid region of Tunisia with a clay loam soil. The raw de-inking sludge (DS) and composted de-inking paper sludge (DSC) were applied at 30 and 60 t ha−1 and 20 and 40 t ha−1, respectively. Soil treatments were compared to unamended soils (C), to determine the optimal sludge treatment and rate for increasing the soil quality. Soil chemical (soil organic matter SOM, total carbon TC, and nitrogen TN, nutrient soil contents organic matter fractioned), physical (porosity and structural stability), and biological parameters (earthworms viability) were assessed. The results showed an increase of soil OM in the DS and DSC amended soils with the lowest rates (30 and 20 t ha−1). The humic fraction was found to be the dominant form. TC and TN were improved in the DS and DSC amended soils with the highest rates: 60 (DS2) and 40 t ha−1 (DSC2). Phosphorus and potassium were also increased in a dose-dependent manner. However, the soil porosity decreased in all treatments. The composted de-inking sludge was toxic for epigeic species, which could be explained by the use of litter while composting. Overall, the application of DS and DSC at low rates (30 and 20 t ha−1, respectively) might be a promising alternative for improving soil quality and at the same time ensuring the proper management of these wastes.

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Mapping and monitoring land use (LU) changes is one of the most effective ways to understand and manage land transformation. The main objectives of this study were to classify LU using supervised classification methods and to assess the effectiveness of various machine learning methods. The current investigation was conducted in the Nord-Est area of Tunisia, and an optical satellite image covering the study area was acquired from Sentinel-2. For LU mapping, we tested three machine learning models algorithms: Random Forest (RF), K-Dimensional Trees K-Nearest Neighbors (KDTree-KNN) and Minimum Distance Classification (MDC). According to our research, the RF classification provided a better result than other classification models. RF classification exhibited the best values of overall accuracy, kappa, recall, precision and RMSE, with 99.54%, 0.98%, 0.98%, 0.98% and 0.23%, respectively. However, low precision was observed for the MDC method (RMSE = 1.15). The results were more intriguing since they highlighted the value of the bare soil index as a covariate for LU mapping. Our results suggest that Sentinel-2 combined with RF classification is efficient for creating a LU map.

<p><span>Tunisia is an agriculture country. Such as many other Mediterranean countries precipitations  remains a decisive factor not only for the different agricultural uses of lands (rainfed or irrigated system) but also for the soils erosion. The latter  is accentuated by agricultural practices (tillage, pesticide inputs, low crop residue restitution…) which are often productive but do not protect natural resources. All these factors have led to the development of conservation agriculture based on no-tillage as a mean to combat soil erosion. In fact, in Tunisia, n</span><span>o-tillage areas increased from 52 ha in 1999 to 17000 ha in 2020.</span> <span>Based a set of 20 plots covering 6 soils types and located in the semi-arid area of the country, a periodic monotoing of a set of soil parameters were done during three years, which include soil sensitivity to erosion according Le Bissonnais method, soil organic matter content and soil microbial respiration. For each plot, a half  of the surface was no-tilled and the other half was conducted according the conventional method based on soil returning. The results show a rapid effect of no-tillage on soil erosion, since an improvement of 18%, 42% and 39% of soil resistance to erosion, respectively after the first, second and third year of switching to no-tillage system. The soil microbial activity response was also significative, whit a progressive increase of soil respiration in the no-tilled treatments compared to tilled treatments. The microbial respiration was higher in non-hydromorphic soils and particularity in the red Mediterranean soils, calcic-magnesic soils and isohumic soils were moisture conditions was the most favorable for a development of soil microorganisms. For soil organic matter content, the evolution trend was not detectable in relation to the slow evolution of this soil parameter. However, the evolution of particulate organic matter content (a part visible of soil organic matter, with a size larger than 2mm) shown an increase in no-tilled treatments comparative to the tilled treatments. The increase of the particulate organic matter content was more important in vertisols, podzol, calcic-magnesic soils and isohumic soils in relation with their higher wheat production compared to other studier soil types. </span></p><p><span> </span></p>