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The Mediterranean flour moth, Ephestia kuehniella Zeller is one of the conventional hosts for rearing of natural enemies to be used in biological control programs. In this study, the effects of three cereal flours (wheat, corn and barley) on some biological parameters, nutritional responses, as well as proteolytic and amylolytic digestive activities of the fifth instar larvae of E. kuehniella werestudied to determine suitability of the cereals for optimum growth and reproduction of E. kuehniella. The highest rate of larval survival (0.88) and larval growth index (9.77) were obtained in larvae which fed on corn flour. The relative growth rate (9.17 ± 0.33 mg/mg/day) and the efficiency of conversion of ingested food (12.08 ± 1.11%) were the highest rate for fifth instar larvae which fed on corn flour. The highest protein concentration in midgut of larvae (63.77 ± 2.31 mg/ml) and consequentially, proteolytic activity including tryptic (0.0012 ± 0.00 Umg-1) and chymotryptic (0.543 ± 0.001 Umg-1) were observed in larvae that fed on corn flour. According to the results obtained, corn (Var. 704) was the most suitable cereal for laboratory rearing of E. kuehniella, resulting in the highest rate of biological and physiological parameters.

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The Mediterranean flour moth, Ephestia kuehniella (Zeller) (Lep.: Pyralidae) is not only known as stored products pest, but also used as a potential factitious host for mass rearing of biological agents. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of five different cereal cultivars (Wheat: Homma, Mihan and Zareh; Corn: 704 and Barley: Makui) on feeding performance and life table parameters of E. kuehniella, which was estimated by Carey life table producer. The results showed that preadult period ranged from 46.91 to 59.00 days on Corn and Zareh, respectively. The highest and lowest net reproductive rates (R₀) were obtained on Homma (128.76) and Zareh (61.77) offspring/female, respectively. The highest values of the intrinsic rate of increase (r) and finite rate of increase (λ) were on Corn and Homma and the lowest was on Zareh (r: 0.079 day^-1, λ: 1.08 day⁻¹). Based on the life history and demographic parameters results, Corn and Homma were the most suitable hosts for E. kuehniella. These findings may provide helpful information in integrated pest management programs including rearing of E. kuehniella as the alternative host, which could be used in the mass production of natural enemies.
 

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Mediterranean flour moth, Ephestia kuehniella Zeller, is important for mass rearing of parasitoid insects such as Bracon wasps and it's feeding on cereals leads to economic losses in flour mills. In current research, the effects of four different diets: wheat, barley, oat, and maize flours, on protein content of larval and pupal whole-body, gut and fat bodies of the last instars and the digestive α-amylase activity were evaluated. In addition, their protein patterns were compared using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The protein contents of fifth instars whole-body, fat bodies, gut, and also pupa varied in different diets. On the whole, the lowest protein levels were found in all experiments in oat and the highest in barley and wheat. Other biological parameters such as insect weight and digestive α-amylase activity were also significantly affected by the decrease in protein content. The results obtained from the estimation of protein content by a colorimetric method and SDS-PAGE were consistent with each other; the low or high protein contents were also clearly visible in the gels. According to the results of enzyme activity and protein contents of insects reared on different diets, barley and wheat are reported to be appropriate diets for this pest, while oat and maize are not suitable diets.
 

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Most areas of the world where rainfall is limiting are characterized by low agricultural output and, ironically, high population growth rates that generate increased food de-mand. Arid and semi-arid regions permit a range of vegetative biomass production, from rainfed crops to native pasture, and sparse steppe shrubs to true desert. Given the harsh climatic conditions in areas such as West Asia-North Africa, where less than 10% of the land area is amenable to rainfed cropping, soil resources are fragile and cropping condi-tions precarious. Yet with appropriate manipulation of soil fertility and crop management within a systems context, including breeding of improved cultivars, conservation tillage, and rotations, substantial production increases can occur at the farmer's level. While irri-gation has increased considerably in the past few decades, having a major impact on crop yields, surface and ground water sources remain limited. Applied research specific to the region has shown that crop output can be considerably enhanced with adequate nutrition, most of which has to be added as commercial fertilizer. The substantial yield increases that have taken place in several countries of the region have been attributed to three fac-tors: water, fertilizers, and improved varieties. Technologies that potentially produce such high yield increases include identification of nutrient stresses and taking corrective action, and, where appropriate, adapting the plant to the soil conditions. If managed properly, innovative cropping systems to overcome these constraints can improve rather than de-grade soil conditions. Regardless of the advances in biotechnology, crop adaptation, and integrated cropping systems, chemical fertilizers will, in future, play an even greater role in the nutrition of both rainfed and irrigated crops in Mediterranean agriculture. Crop nutrition research will have to keep pace with agronomic developments. The future chal-lenge in soil fertility-crop nutrition lies as much in overcoming obstacles to technology transfer as in the generation of new knowledge. This selective review is based mainly on the author’s research experiences in the field of soil fertility and crop nutrition in the WANA region for the past 32 years. It seeks to highlight research developments within the context of the region's crop production constraints, culminating in a perspective on future research challenges within the framework of cooperation between international in-stitutions and the region’s national research and development programs.

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Aims: Despite the many studies on carbon stock and sequestration in Iranian forest ecosystems, the effects and role of Mediterranean species on carbon stock in Iranian forest ecosystems are not well known. To our knowledge, no information is available on the carbon sequestration of Mediterranean species in Iran. This study aimed to quantify the surface soil carbon stock of Mediterranean tree species in the Zagros forest. 
Materials & Methods: To this, ten soil samples were taken under the canopy of Cupressus sempervirens var horizontalis, Myrtus commonis, Quercus brantii, and also bare lands from a depth of 0-20 cm. Soil carbon stocks were calculated in each of the studied treatments. One-way ANOVA was used to evaluate the differences among the studied species and bare land for soil physiochemical properties and carbon stock. Multiple linear regression (MLR) using the stepwise method was performed to define the most critical soil factor for soil carbon stock calculation. 
Findings: Our results indicated that Cupressus sempervirens represent the highest significant value for soil carbon stock (237.79 t.ha-1). Soil carbon stock in Myrtus commonis and Quercus brantii stands were 122.05 and 91.90 t.ha-1, respectively. Significant differences between Myrtus commonis and Quercus brantii were recorded. The lowest soil carbon stock was recorded in the control site and was significantly lower (27.26 t.ha-1) compared to the other treatments. Compared to the bare land and Quercus brantii stand, Cupressus sempervirens had 872.30 and 258.74 percent higher soil carbon stock, respectively. The higher soil nutrient content under the Mediterranean canopy is due to the higher soil nutrients available. Also, it might be related to the protection made for these species compared to the oak forest. Moreover, soil organic carbon and bulk density represent the best predictors of the soil carbon stock based on the multi-linear regression method. 
Conclusion: Reforestation/afforestation programs using Myrtus commonis and Cupressus sempervirens should also be considered for carbon sequestration programs in the Zagros forest, where these species could be planted. Moreover, our results demonstrate that using a variety of tree species, primarily Mediterranean species, would be a proper policy for increasing soil carbon stock in the Zagros forest.
 

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A long-term rotation experiment was established in 2001 to compare conservation or reduced tillage systems (shallow rototiller and chisel tillage) with conventional tillage system using mouldboard plough in a semi-arid region with Mediterranean climate. Field experiments were conducted to determine weed density and profitability of cropping systems in a crop rotation of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-winter vetch (Vicia sativa L.) from 2001 to 2004 and winter wheat-winter vetch/summer maize (Zea mays L.) from 2004 to 2009. Results indicated that, rototiller markedly increased total weed density, as compared with mouldboard plough, by 72% and 58% in maize and vetch, respectively, while total weed density was statistically similar for the three tillage systems in wheat. Maize yield was significantly higher for rototiller and the lowest for chisel compared to mouldboard plough, but, there were no significant differences in wheat yield between the two tillage systems. Chisel and mouldboard plough resulted in a high yield of vetch in the last five years of the vetch growing season, but there were no significant differences in yield between tillage systems in the first three growing seasons of the crop. Based on market returns, gross margin over production costs were significantly higher for rototiller in wheat and maize when compared with mouldboard plough by 20.7% and 15.3%, respectively. Chisel production costs were similar to rototiller and lower than plough; but, chisel had a gross margin similar to mouldboard plough and higher than rototiller, in both vetch growing seasons. Time savings were 43% and 47% for rototiller and chisel, respectively, as compared with plough in wheat. The corresponding values in vetch and maize were, for rototiller, 46% and 50%, and, for chisel, 28% and 32%, respectively.