Since chemical fertilizers pollute soil, water and crops, conscientious agricultural producers seek alternatives to chemical fertilizers. Biological fertilizers are considered a reliable alternative for improving soil productivity and plant growth in sustainable agriculture. The response of some agrobiological and antioxidant properties of Syrian cephalaria (Cephalaria syriaca L.) to different fertilizer sources was explored in an experiment which included: (i) mycorrhiza + manure; (ii) mycorrhiza + vermicompost; (iii) mycorrhiza + Azotobacter; (iv) mycorrhiza + chemical fertilizer; (v) mycorrhiza; and (vi) control. The results showed that the highest seed yield, biological yield, oil percentage yield, were observed in plants treated with mycorrhiza + vermicompost, whereas the highest 1000-seed weight was obtained from the application of mycorrhiza + manure. With respect to photosynthesizing pigments, the application of mycorrhiza + vermicompost increased chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, carotenoid content as well as total phenols, total flavonoids and DPPH antioxidant activity as compared to control (unfertilized) plants. The mixed application of different fertilizer sources influenced the uptake of trace elements (Fe, Zn and Cu) optimally. In the light of the obtained results for the agrobiological and antioxidant properties of Syrian cephalaria, in most of the measured traits, there is no significant difference between manure, vermicompost and chemical fertilizers in combination with mycorrhiza. Hence the use of organic and biological inputs instead of chemical fertilizer for improving crop efficiency and quality with the aim of alleviating pollution and accomplishing sustainable agriculture is highly encouraging.

Foliar application or minerals is a methodology to promote growth and/or yield and to protect plants against different kinds of stresses. Currently there is a great interest in evaluating the effect of nanoparticles for enhancing the effect of these treatments. This study was performed to evaluate and compare the effect of foliar application of zinc oxide (ZnO) and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) on the growth and yield of safflower under different irrigation regimes. Foliar applications of ZnO in all concentrations (4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14 g L⁻¹) led to an increase in biomass yield, number of capitula per plant, number of seeds per capitulum, and grain yield of plants compared with control plants. The maximum increase in the studied traits was obtained with a ZnO concentration of 6, 8, and 10 g L⁻¹. In a second round of experiments, we observed the effect of nanoparticles and found that spraying with ZnO and ZnO-NPs at a concentration of 10 g L⁻¹ may ameliorate the deleterious effects of water deficit. The results of the present study support the idea that foliar application of ZnO improves safflower yield, especially under drought stress, and showed that using of nanoparticles increases the efficiency of the application.

The Potential of Using Insecticidal Properties of Medicinal Plants Against Insect Pests

The objective of the present work is to study the impact of seed priming with varying concentrations of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) on the germination process of black cumin (Nigella sativa) under cadmium (Cd) stress. As expected, Cd had a great effect on germination rates and seedling growth. However, the application of ascorbic acid during seed priming effectively alleviated Cd stress and significantly increased seed vigor. Primed seeds exhibited markedly elevated final germination percentage, germination index, mean germination time, seedling length, seedling vigor index, and reduced abnormal seedling percentage. Additionally, vitamin priming reduced membrane lipid peroxidation, in treated seeds. Moreover, seed priming elicited a considerable increase in peroxidase and catalase activity, thus mitigating stress effects and augmenting seed vitality. Our experimental data allowed us to establish 100–150 mg/L as the optimal concentration range for ascorbic acid in seed priming of black cumin. These insights were further corroborated through modeling techniques based on supervised machine learning. Notably, XGBoost emerged as a proficient tool for predicting final germination percentage, mean germination time, seedling vigor index, abnormal seedling percentage, and peroxidase activity, while SVR demonstrated aptitude in forecasting catalase activity and germination index. The Gaussian method exhibited superior performance in predicting malondialdehyde content. These comprehensive findings substantiate the premise that vitamin priming with ascorbic acid serves as a promising strategy to ameliorate germination outcomes under Cd-induced stress conditions.

The research was conducted to determine the effect of gibberellic acid pre-treatments on germination of Echinacea purpurea seeds under salt stress. In the study, three different gibberellic acid concentrations (0, 100, 200 and 300 ppm) were pre-treated. Seeds planted in petri dishes were left to germinate after salt applications at 0, 50 and 100 mM (NaCl) concentrations. Responses of echinacea to priming and salt stress treatments were observed on the bases of some growth and viability (radicle and hypocotyl length, radicle fresh and dry weight, hypocotyl fresh and dry weight, germination power, germination speed, mean germination time, germination and sensitivity index) parameters. According to the result of the research; when the salt concentrations increase, the germination and growth parameters of echinacea seeds were inhibited. It was conducted determined that increasing doses of gibberellic acid pre-treatments had significant and positive effects on the germination and growth parameters of echinacea seeds under salt stress conditions. In physiological enhancement of echinacea seeds, the best results were obtained from the 300 ppm GA3+0 mM (control) salt combination.