Alkaline soil inhibits the growth and productivity of chia plants (Salvia hispanica L.). Microalgae as biofertilizers have been reported to induce alkalinity tolerance and enhance yield and quality. However, limited information is known concerning the influence of microalgae application on medical plants, including chia. Our experiments were performed to evaluate the effect of microalgae strains of Arthrospira platensis, Chlorella vulgaris, Nostoc muscorum, and Anabaena azollae with two application methods, foliar spray and soil drench, on morpho-physiological and biochemical parameters, yield, seed and oil quality, and fatty acid profiles of chia plants cultivated under alkaline soil conditions, as well as the on soil microbial activity. The results obtained reveal that both application methods positively influenced the growth and productivity of chia plants. However, the foliar application showed significant differences in the herb’s fresh and dry weights and leaf pigments, whereas the drenching application caused more effect than the foliar spray application at the reproductive stage. Untreated chia plants showed a slight decline in the growth, productivity, and antioxidant level with an increase in Na content. However, microalgae applications significantly ameliorated these impacts as they induced an enhancement in the growth, leaf pigments, total protein and carbohydrate contents, nutrient content, seed and oil yields, as well as an increase in linolenic and linoleic fatty acids, with a reduction in saturated fatty acids, namely, palmitic and lauric acid. Soil drenching generated an improvement in the soil microbial activity and caused a reduction in the pH. The treatment of A. platensis with drenching application resulted in higher seed and oil yield, with an increase of 124 and 263.3% in seed and oil yield, respectively.

The major climate-related hazard to worldwide agricultural productivity is drought, which is becoming more common because of ongoing climate change, especially in the arid and semi-arid regions. Herein, we investigated the influence of biochar soil application at 0, (B1), 7.5 ha⁻¹ (B2), and 15 t ha⁻¹ (B3) on the productivity and drought-tolerance indices of wheat (Triticum aestivum L., cv. Sakha 93) grown in sandy soil under irrigation levels of 100 (I1), 80 (I2), and 60% (I3) of crop evapotranspiration (ETc), as well as soil properties based on non-weighing lysimeter units. Increasing water deficiency significantly decreased the actual evapotranspiration (ETa) values. A growing biochar rate caused a significant increase in ETa values, water use efficiency, and wheat productivity compared to the untreated control. Additionally, biochar supplementation revealed an improvement in soil quality as measured by the reduction in the bulk density and hydraulic conductivity with an increase in the total porosity and void ratio of the experimental soil. The correlation analysis exhibited a highly significant and positive correlation (0.98 **) between biological yield and grain yield traits. Therefore, it may be stated that these traits are the most significant components of the evaluated grain yield in wheat plants. The productivity of I1 plants was not significantly different and slightly higher than that of I2 plants. Therefore, it can be recommended that exposed wheat plants cultivated in sandy soil with I2 × B3 treatment significantly provide the highest yield while saving 20% of the irrigation water.

Water management techniques are improving at the farm level, but they are not enough to deal with the limited availability of water and increased crop yields. Soil microbes play a vital role in nitrogen fixation, improving soil fertility and enhancing plant growth hormones under drought conditions. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the impact of water management combined with Azospirillum brasilense and Rhizobium pisi on wheat crop productivity and soil properties in dry regions. Three water management techniques were compared, normal irrigation as a control (C), deficit irrigation (DI), and partial root drying irrigation (PRD), together with the interaction of plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). Experiments were conducted with six treatments in total: T₁ = C + No PGPR, T₂ = C + PGPR, T₃ = DI + No PGPR, T₄ = DI + PGPR, T₅ = PRD + No PGPR, and T₆ = PRD + PGPR. The highest grain yield was achieved in the control irrigation treatment using seeds inoculated with rhizobacteria, followed by control treatment without any inoculation, and the lowest was recorded with deficit irrigation without rhizobacteria inoculated in the seeds. However, PRD irrigation resulted in significantly higher plant growth and grain yield than the DI treatment. PGPR inoculation combined with PRD resulted in a 22% and 20% higher number of grains per spike, a 19% and 21% higher grain yield, and a 25% and 22% higher crop growth rate compared to rhizobacteria inoculation combined with the DI system in 2021-22 and 2022-23, respectively. This increase was due to the higher production of growth hormones and higher leaf area index under water-limited conditions. A greater leaf area index leads to a higher chlorophyll content and higher food production for plant growth.

Drought stress constricts crop production around the world. Employing high-yielding cultivars with drought tolerance might be the ideal professional approach to coping with its detrimental outcomes. As a result, the current study was performed to investigate the sensitivity and tolerance of nine wheat genotypes to drought stress. In a randomized block design experiment, nine wheat genotypes were subjected to four water treatments: 100%, 85%, 70%, and 55% of the available water (AW). Four water regimes in two growing seasons were counted as eight environmental zones. The leaf’s water relations and photosynthetic pigment were estimated, as well as growth and yield parameters. Univariate and multivariate statistical approaches, including the new method of multi-trait genotype–ideotype distance (MGIDI), were used for evaluation. The analysis of variance revealed that genotype, environment, and their interactions had a highly significant effect on all traits. The same trend was shown by the additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) analysis of variance for grain yield across the environments. The AMMI biplot study indicated that the G8 genotype is the most stable in terms of water stress. The G7 genotype can withstand droughts up to 55% of the available water, while the G8 and G3 genotypes can withstand droughts up to 70% of the available water. Based on all examined traits, this index was used to identify the stable genotypes G7, G8, and G3, which can therefore be suggested for cultivation during drought conditions. Furthermore, we found a positive correlation between the MGIDI, ANOVA, and tolerance index results, indicating that the same desirable genotypes of G7 and G8 were identified by these procedures as being highly tolerant and stable across a range of soil moisture conditions. Based on MGIDI analysis, we can recommend that the G7 genotype exhibits higher grain yield and yield-related traits with the best drought-tolerant indices.

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