By 2050, global crop demand is projected to rise by 60–110%. Crop yields have also been impacted by climate change in some nations, and these impacts are likely to continue. To prevent the influence of climate change on crop output, it is critical to adjust planting times in weather-related open fields to meet food security concerns. Present study was carried out at Experimental Farm of Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University, Assiut, Egypt, during two successive seasons, 2019 and 2020. It was aimed to study the effect of different sowing times (1st and 15th October, 1st and 15th November), and plant spacings (25, 20, and 15 cm) on growth, fruit yield, and oil production of caraway ( Carum carvi L.) plants. The results showed that sowing caraway plants on 15th October with plant spacing of 25 cm gave the highest dry weight (72.6 g∙plant ^–1), fresh weight (266.15 g∙plant ^–1), seed yield (37.43 g∙plant ^–1), and oil yield (0.659 cm3∙plant ^–1). The maximum umbels (50.83 number per plant) and essential oil (1.78%) were also recorded in the plants receiving same treatment. On the other hand, plants sown at 15th November with spacing of 15 cm exhibited the minimum values of recorded traits. While the highest value of plant height gave with sowing caraway plants on 15th October with plant spacing of 15 cm (135.35 cm). In conclusion, the plants sowed on October 15th with a maximum plant spacing of 25 cm had the highest values of the evaluated morphological, biochemical, and yield attributes of caraway.

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) isolated from the rhizosphere soil of eight field crops at different locations in Egypt were identified. Rhizobacteria strains were identified as Bacillus endophyticus AW1 5, B. filamentosus EM9, ET3, Micrococcus luteus KT2, FW9, FC13, SaW4, Enterobacter cloacae SK18, Pseudomonas azotoformans TPo10, Citrobacter braakii TC3. All isolates solubilised insoluble phosphate and produced IAA, while only six were able to produce siderophores in vitro. Vegetative growth and yield of wheat cv. ‘Sakha 94’ were enhanced after the application of single inoculation of each isolate compared to the control. Grain yield was increased by 20.7– 96.5% over the control according to bacterial isolates. Available phosphorus (P) and counts of total bacteria in soil were observed to be significantly increased in treatments than in control. After the wheat harvest, soil pH was observed to be decreased, and a highly significant negative correlation was observed between soil pH and the levels of available phosphorus. Significant increases in grain and straw yields, as well as uptake of nitrogen (N) and P by plants, were observed due to inoculation with PGPR isolates. Levels of photosynthetic pigments, free amino acids, free phenolics, and reducing sugars in flag leaf and spikes were significantly enhanced by the application of all PGPR isolates compared to the control. Thus this study identifies the PGPR isolates for the improvement of the growth, yield, and quality of wheat. The study may be also useful for field evaluation under different soils and environmental conditions before generalising PGPR isolates as biofertilisers.