Future of Food: Journal on Food

Use of aquagel-Polymer as a soil conditioner for celery plants grown in sand culture

Noha G. AbdEl-Rahman
Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Ministry of Agriculture & Land Reclamation, Giza, Egypt
M.S.A. Emam
Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Ministry of Agriculture & Land Reclamation, Giza, Egypt
A.A. Farag
Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Ministry of Agriculture & Land Reclamation, Giza, Egypt
M.A.A. Abdrabbo
Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Ministry of Agriculture & Land Reclamation, Giza, Egypt

Celery plants were grown in ten liter black plastic containers filled with sand substrate then mixed with three levels of aqua gel-polymer. Three levels of irrigation water were applied by using drip irrigation for each aquagel-polymer treatment. The experiment was carried out at the Protected Cultivation Experimental Farm in Dokki, Giza, Egypt to determine celery growth and yield under different studied treatments. Various levels of aquagel-polymer as well as irrigation water levels were applied in a factorial design with three replicates. Plant samples were collected six weeks after transplanting in order to analyze nutrient concentration. The results showed that plant height, number of leaves per plant, and dry weight were increased with rising irrigation water levels. The smallest celery yields were obtained in the lowest irrigation level at 50%. Control treatment (without aquagel-polymer) gave the lowest vegetative characters and yield during the two seasons. During both studied seasons, the highest vegetative characters and yields were obtained by applying 100% irrigation level combined with 2% of aquagel-polymer, followed by 100% irrigation level combined with 1% of gel-polymer. Water Use Efficiency (WUE) decreased with increasing irrigation levels. Meanwhile, using 2% of aquagel-polymer gave the highest WUE during both seasons. The plant analysis revealed that using aquagel-polymer led to an increase of nutrient content in celery leaf compared to the control treatment.

Keywords : Celery ,Soil conditioner ,Evapotranspiration ,Plant tissue analysis ,Drip irrigation ,Soil amendments .

Myanmar High School Students’ Perceptions of College and International Readiness in Western Society

Mark Speckien
Louisiana Tech University
Mark Speckien
Louisiana Tech University
International students are more likely to experience mental health issues and increased stress. Mental health is often surrounded by negative societal stigmas that act as barriers to seeking support and tend to lead to greater mental health concerns. International students tend to seek socioemotional support from other international student peers rather than seeking out counseling services. However, this study shows that LGBTQIA+ international students were less likely to seek socioemotional support from other international student peers due to fear of their sexual orientation being discovered and their families finding out about their identity. This study examines how LGBTQIA+ international students talk about their experiences on and off campus in relations to their socioemotional well-being. Specifically, this study sought to better understand the complexities of LGBTQIA+ students’ identities, and the challenges they faced in terms of their socioemotional well-being. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
Keywords : international students, socioemotional well-being, mental health, identity development, intersectionality, LGBTQIA