Increasing growth and productivity of food crops via safe biostimulants is a very important issue in the current years. This study aimed to investigate the potential of moringa leaf extract (MLE) in improving the performance of snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cv. ‘Paulista’ under field conditions. Hormonal analysis of MLE revealed its richness of various classes of phytohormones particularly salicylates. The results revealed that all MLE concentrations had a positive effect on growth, biochemical, yield, and yield related traits as well as yield quality of snap bean compared to control, and the effect was dose-dependent. Moreover, increasing pods yield of snap bean may be related to gibberellins (GA₇) content than other plant hormones. In conclusion, the leaf extract of moringa provides a good source of phytohormones that have a positive role to stimulate growth and productivity of snap bean plants.

Squash (Cucurbita pepo L.), one of the most important vegetable crops for human nutrition all over the world, is infected by many diseases, particularly powdery mildew caused by Podosphaera xanthii (syn. Sphaerotheca fuliginea), which is considered the most serious disease causing yield losses. This research study was conducted to investigate the role of Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus chitinosporus, Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus polymexa, Trichoderma harzianum, and Trichoderma viridi on squash leaves infected with P. xanthii under laboratory and greenhouse conditions. Results indicated that all treatments significantly inhibited the conidial germination of P. xanthii than the control. A significant decrease in the disease symptoms, severity, and the area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) was registered in squash plants sprayed with the tested bio-agents, particularly B. subtilis, B. pumilus, and T. harzianum. The activity of defense-related enzymes, i.e., catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POX), and polyphenol oxidase (PPO), were significantly upregulated as results of most treatments. Light and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) investigation showed that the morphological shape of P. xanthii was abnormal and the pathogen growth was limited in bio-agent-treated plants compared to control plants that showed dramatic infection. Bio-agent treatments significantly increased growth and yield attributes of squash plants over control. Overall, the results showed possibility of using the tested bio-agents to control squash powdery mildew disease as an alternative to fungicides’ use that is harmful for human health and polluting the environment.

Drought is the most serious environmental challenge that limits plant growth and causes more severe yield losses than other abiotic stress factors resulting in a serious food shortage. Nanomaterials (NMs) are considered as vital tools to overcome contemporary and future challenges in agricultural production. Recently, NMs have been applied for enhancing seed germination, growth, physiology, productivity and quality attributes of various crops under normal or stress conditions. Up to date, there is no a comprehensive review about the potential role of NMs in attenuating the drought-induced adverse effects in crop plants. Thus, this review will highlight this issue. Generally, NMs minimize drought-induced osmotic stress by accumulation of osmolytes that result in osmotic adjustment and improved plant water status. In addition, NMs play a key role to improve root growth, conductive tissue elements and aquaporin proteins facilitating uptake and translocation of water and nutrients. Furthermore, NMs reduce water loss by stomatal closure due to abscisic acid signaling. However, this leads to reduced photosynthesis and oxidative stress damage. At the same time, NMs increase the content of light-harvesting pigments, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants leading to enhancing photosynthesis with reducing oxidative stress damage. Overall, NMs can ameliorate the deleterious effects of drought stress in crop plants by regulation of gene expression and alternation of various physiological and biochemical processes.

Rapid population growth accelerates changes in land use and land cover (LULC), straining natural resource availability. Monitoring LULC changes is essential for managing resources and assessing climate change impacts. This study focused on extracting LULC data from 1993 to 2024 using the classification and regression tree (CART) method on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform in Qena Governorate, Egypt. Moreover, the cellular automata (CA) Markov model was used to anticipate the future changes in LULC for the research area in 2040 and 2050. Three multispectral satellite images—Landsat thematic mapper (TM), enhanced thematic mapper (ETM+), and operational land imager (OLI)—were analyzed and verified using the GEE code editor. The CART classifier, integrated into GEE, identified four major LULC categories: urban areas, water bodies, cultivated soils, and bare areas. From 1993 to 2008, urban areas expanded by 57 km², while bare and cultivated soils decreased by 12.4 km² and 42.7 km², respectively. Between 2008 and 2024, water bodies increased by 24.4 km², urban areas gained 24.2 km², and cultivated and bare soils declined by 22.2 km² and 26.4 km², respectively. The CA-Markov model’s thematic maps highlighted the spatial distribution of forecasted LULC changes for 2040 and 2050. The results indicated that the urban areas, agricultural land, and water bodies will all increase. However, as anticipated, the areas of bare lands shrank during the years under study. These findings provide valuable insights for decision makers, aiding in improved land-use management, strategic planning for land reclamation, and sustainable agricultural production programs.