Application of date palm waste compost is quite beneficial in improving soil properties and crop growth. However, the effect of its application on soil microbial communities is less understood. High-throughput sequencing and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) were used to evaluate the effect of compost application on the soil microbial composition in a barley field during the tillering, booting and ripening stages. The results showed that compost treatment had the highest bacterial and fungal abundance, and its application significantly altered the richness (Chao1 index) and α-diversity (Shannon index) of fungal and bacterial communities. The dominant bacterial phyla found in the samples were Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria while the dominant fungal orders were Ascomycota and Mortierellomycota. Interestingly, compost enriched the relative abundance of beneficial microorganisms such as Chaetomium, Actinobacteriota, Talaromyces and Mortierella and reduced those of harmful microorganisms such as Alternaria, Aspergillus and Neocosmospora. Functional prediction based on Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States (PICRUSt) showed that amplicon sequence variant (ASV) sequences related to energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism and carbohydrate metabolism were associated with compost-treated soil. Based on Fungi Functional Guild (FUNGuild), identified fungi community metabolic functions such as wood saprotroph, pathotroph, symbiotroph and endophyte were associated with compost-treated soil. Overall, compost addition could be considered as a sustainable practice for establishing a healthy soil microbiome and subsequently improving the soil quality and barley crop production.

Proteomic analysis was performed to investigate the differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) in barley roots during the tillering stage. Bioinformatic tools were used to interpret the biological function, the pathway analysis and the visualisation of the network amongst the identified proteins. A total of 72 DAPs (33 upregulated and 39 downregulated) among a total of 2580 proteins were identified in response to compost treatment, suggesting multiple pathways of primary and secondary metabolism, such as carbohydrates and energy metabolism, phenylpropanoid pathway, glycolysis pathway, protein synthesis and degradation, redox homeostasis, RNA processing, stress response, cytoskeleton organisation, and phytohormone metabolic pathways. The expression of DAPs was further validated by qRT-PCR. The effects on barley plant development, such as the promotion of root growth and biomass increase, were associated with a change in energy metabolism and protein synthesis. The activation of enzymes involved in redox homeostasis and the regulation of stress response proteins suggest a protective effect of compost, consequently improving barley growth and stress acclimation through the reduction of the environmental impact of productive agriculture. Overall, these results may facilitate a better understanding of the molecular mechanism of compost-promoted plant growth and provide valuable information for the identification of critical genes/proteins in barley as potential targets of compost.

In Tunisia, globe artichoke is mainly propagated by underground dormant axillary buds (ovoli), which are removed from the field in August during the quiescence period. The high cost of in vitro-plants and the absence of specialized nurseries were among the reasons for the rise of heterogeneity and spread of diseases. The aim was to help farmers to improve artichoke yield and quality by ameliorating their vegetative propagation technique with low cost methods. Three plant cuttings management methods were tested: summer ovoli (T0); spring offshoots nursery’s cuttings forced to pass a vegetative rest period by stopping irrigation (T1); and offshoots nursery’s cuttings not forced (T2). The cuttings management can affect both yield and qualitative traits of artichoke. T1 nursery plants produced the heaviest primary heads, 7% and 23% higher than T2 and T0, respectively. T1 plants exhibited the highest yield during the harvest season, with +17.7% and +12.2% compared to T0 and T2, respectively. T0 and T1 showed the highest total antioxidant capacity and inulin content; the propagation method also affected the short-chain sugars ratio. T1 is a viable and sustainable alternative to the traditional one that does not heavily impact on growing costs and improves yield and quality of artichoke.

There is a growing interest in the Mediterranean regions to switch to conservation agriculture (CA) to address climate change and soil deterioration issues. The novelty of this study lies in the quality of the supply chain, from the raw material (durum wheat grain) to the ready-to-sell product (spaghetti), under long-term CA, and using two varieties over two years of study. This study aims to investigate the impact of two soil management systems (SM) (CA after 10/11 (since 2009–2010) years switching vs. conventional tillage (CT)) on grain quality, dough texture profile, and pasta quality of two Tunisian durum wheat varieties (Karim and Monastir) in a 2-year-long experiment (2019 and 2020). The results showed that the SM had a significant impact on the grain quality in both years in terms of protein content and wet gluten, which were, respectively, lower under CA (11.92% vs. 11.15% for protein content) and (18.75% vs. 17.68% for wet gluten) in the wet year. These parameters increased in the dry year but they were higher under CA (15.70% vs. 14.42 ± 0.94% for protein content) and (26.00% vs. 23.20% for wet gluten). These results have, in turn, affected the dough quality (springiness, chewiness, and cohesiveness) and pasta cooking time and decreased the pasta cooking loss and water absorption index. In terms of the variety (V) factor, “Karim” variety in the dry year had a higher protein content and better dough quality than “Monastir” variety, and it reduced the pasta cooking time. In addition, the pasta yellow index (b*) from grains grown under CA was always higher than those in the CT system (23.99 vs. 19.72% and 25.24 vs. 22.19% in 2019 and 2020, respectively). The interaction between SM and V was significant in both years only for the dough hardness and pasta b* parameters. In conclusion, long-term CA may be a crucial solution in the dry season to promote food quality and achieve sustainable agriculture goals.