The rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.), is the most destructive insect pest of stored cereals worldwide. The current study was conducted to determine the lethal, reproductive, and histological effects of gamma irradiation on S. oryzae adults. In addition, the impact on germination, chlorophyll, and proline content in wheat seedlings from treated grains was determined. Wheat grains were infested with rice weevil adults and then irradiated by gamma rays. Gamma radiation was applied at a dosage of 0.10, 0.25, 0.50, and 1.00 kGy. Mortality percentage and LD₅₀ were recorded after 48, 72, 96, and 120 h of treatment. The dosage of 1.00 kGy caused 100% mortality after 96 h of irradiation. The required dosage of gamma radiation to kill 50% (LD₅₀) of adults after 48 h was 1.51 kGy. All tested doses caused complete sterility to 24 h old adults. A histological alteration was noticed at a dosage of 1.00 kGy, which showed cytoplasmic vacuolization, tissues exhibiting signs of putrefaction, and necrosis of cells; furthermore, gamma irradiation affected chlorophyll a and b. The highest amounts were detected in wheat seedlings from grains irradiated at 0.10 kGy. There was a significant increase in plant proline content at the higher doses (0.50 and 1.00 kGy) compared with seedlings from nonirradiated grains. It could be concluded that gamma radiation can be used as an eco-friendly trend to control stored-product pests without any residual effects.

Saline irrigation is a major constraint to crop production in newly reclaimed desert lands, even when pre-sowing soil salinity is low. This two-season field study evaluated whether plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria could improve barley performance under saline irrigation water with an electrical conductivity of 11.8 dS m⁻¹ in the El Moghra region, Egypt. The barley cultivar Giza 2000 was grown under five inoculation treatments: an uninoculated saline-irrigated control; a single inoculation with Azospirillum lipoferum; and combined inoculations with A. lipoferum and Bacillus coagulans, Bacillus circulans, or Enterobacter cloacae. Because freshwater was unavailable at the experimental site, treatment effects were evaluated relative to the saline-irrigated control. Across both growing seasons, single inoculation with A. lipoferum produced the most consistent improvements in growth, yield formation, nutrient accumulation, soil biological activity, and seed nutritional quality. The combined treatment of A. lipoferum and B. circulans was generally the second-most effective. Bacterial inoculation also improved adjustment to physiological stress, as indicated by greater proline accumulation, lower antioxidant enzyme activities, and enhanced expression of stress-related genes associated with proline biosynthesis and secondary metabolism. Overall, the results indicate that A. lipoferum applied alone was more effective than the tested combinations of bacteria under saline irrigation. These findings provide field-based evidence that inoculant performance depends on strain composition and that single-strain inoculation can be a promising strategy for improving barley production in reclaimed sandy soils irrigated with saline water.

: Irrigation intervals play vital role in rationalizing irrigation water in arid and semi-arid areas. Afield experiment was conducted at Sakha Agricultural Research Station, Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt during the 2022 and 2023 seasons to study the effects of irrigation scheduling; irrigated every 15, 20 and 25 days (three irrigation treatments) with (water spray as control (F1), spraying with 100 ppm salicylic acids (F2), spraying with 50 ppm ascorbic acids (F3) and spraying with 50ppm salicylic acid +50 ppm ascorbic acids (F4) on morpho-physiological and, yield traits and water relations of maize. The obtained results showed that water consumption and applied water every 20 and 25 days decreased by (7.0% and 17.3% and (6.2% and 16.6%), respectively, compared to 15 days as the average of the two seasons. The best growth, physiological, yield and yield components and grain equality values were achieved when maize plants were irrigated at 15 days, while the highest water productivity values were achieved when plants were irrigated after 20 days and 15 days' treatments. Plant height, leaf area, total chlorophyll, proline concentration, leaf transpiration, stomatal resistance, shelling percentage, 100-grain weight, biological and grain yields, water consumption and water productivity, carbohydrates, protein and oil percentages values for foliar spray treatments were taken in the descending order F4>F3>F2>F1 under the study conditions. Maximum grain yield was achieved when maize irrigated at 15 or 20 days with the F4 treatment (spraying with salicylic acid 50 part per million +ascorbic acid spraying at concentration of 50 part per million F4), therefore it could be recommended to irrigation maize plants every 20 days with F4 treatment for saving irrigation water and improving water productivity