Under Natural Field Conditions, Exogenous Application of Moringa Organ Water Extract Enhanced the Growth- and Yield-Related Traits of Barley Accessions

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Please find on attach all comments 

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Manuscript number: agriculture-1923499

Paper title: Under Natural Field Conditions, Exogenous Application of Moringa Organ
Water Extract Enhanced the Growth and Yield-Related Traits of Barley

Authors: Nawroz Abdul-razzak Tahir, Djshwar Dhahir Lateef, Kamil Mahmud
Mustafa, Kamaran Salh Rasul

 

Dear Editor and Reviewer

The authors would like to thank the area editor and the reviewers for their precious time and invaluable comments. We have carefully addressed all the comments. The constructive comments/ suggestions by the reviewer are really appreciated. We have now completely revised the manuscript. All corrections in English language and updating of information are highlighted by the red lines. The corresponding changes and refinements made in the revised paper are summarized in our response below. The actual comments and questions of the reviewer are in BOLDED RC, and the author's responses are italicized AR.

 

Reviewer-1

RC1.  However, it should be drastically improved in language.

AR/ Thank you. A specialist in Language has enhanced the English language.

RC2.  Line 40-45: add reference

AR/ Thank you. A reference has been added.

Giller, K.E.; Delaune, T.; Silva, J.V.; Descheemaeker, K.; van de Ven, G.; Schut, A.G.T.; van Wijk, M.; Hammond, J.; Hochman, Z.; Taulya, G.; et al. The future of farming: Who will produce our food? Food Secur. 2021, 13, 1073–1099.

RC3.  Line 54: add reference

AR/ Thank you. A reference has been added.

Wang, J.; Vanga, S.; Saxena, R.; Orsat, V.; Raghavan, V. Effect of climate change on the yield of cereal crops: A review. Climate 2018, 6, 41.

RC4. Line 111: change Mmol to mmol

AR/ Thank you. The term Mmol has been changed to mmol

RC5.  Line 117: change gm to mg

AR/ Thank you. We did not convert gm to mg because each moringa organ utilized in this study weighed 20 g. The gm has been replaced by the letter g.

 

Best regards

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Barley is widely planted and used for human consumption, animal feed, and malting. The current paper evaluated the the effects of foliar moringa organ extract (MOE) on the growth and yield components of a collection of barley accessions grown in Iraq. The results are interesting. However, there are some issues needed to be addressed.

1. In the introduction, the authors emphasized the importance of stimulants in enhancing crop productivity and achieving sustainable agriculture. They think that chemical fertilizers are regarded as a crucial factor influencing the final quality of barley products. However, I think the there is no doubt that chemical fertilizers can promote agricultural production. Stimulants is helpful but cannot replace chemical fertilizer in sustainable agricultural production.

2. The study was conducted in in the field under rain-fed conditions. However, the authors emphasized “In arid regions, barley is …” in the abstract. It is inconsistent with each other. I recommend to delete “In arid regions” in the abstract.

3. Line 110-111: add unit for available phosphorus. What is “O.M”? what is the difference between “O.M”and “organic matter”?

4. Line 122-124: please make it clear when to apply MOE.

5. How to record leaf area?

6. What is the basic nutrient application amount in both the control and MOE-treated groups? Or no chemical fertilizer is applied?

7. Line 167: What does “AC57*WM” mean? Make it clear as well as the same description in other place.

8. How to conduct Mean pairwise comparison? What do the date mean in Tables 4 and 5? Please add unit to all of these traits.

9. please add the methods for figures 1-6 in “Materials and Methods” part.

10. how to calculate the increasing or decreasing index?

Author Response

Manuscript number: agriculture-1923499

Paper title: Under Natural Field Conditions, Exogenous Application of Moringa Organ
Water Extract Enhanced the Growth and Yield-Related Traits of Barley

Authors: Nawroz Abdul-razzak Tahir, Djshwar Dhahir Lateef, Kamil Mahmud
Mustafa, Kamaran Salh Rasul

 

Dear Editor and Reviewer

The authors would like to thank the area editor and the reviewers for their precious time and invaluable comments. We have carefully addressed all the comments. The constructive comments/ suggestions by the reviewer are really appreciated. We have now completely revised the manuscript. All corrections in English language and updating of information are highlighted by the red lines. The corresponding changes and refinements made in the revised paper are summarized in our response below. The actual comments and questions of the reviewer are in BOLDED RC, and the author's responses are italicized AR.

 

Reviewer-2

RC1. In the introduction, the authors emphasized the importance of stimulants in enhancing crop productivity and achieving sustainable agriculture. They think that chemical fertilizers are regarded as a crucial factor influencing the final quality of barley products. However, I think the there is no doubt that chemical fertilizers can promote agricultural production. Stimulants is helpful but cannot replace chemical fertilizer in sustainable agricultural production.

AR/ Thank you. The introduction has been improved

RC2. The study was conducted in in the field under rain-fed conditions. However, the authors emphasized “In arid regions, barley is …” in the abstract. It is inconsistent with each other. I recommend to delete “In arid regions” in the abstract.

AR/ Thank you. The term “In arid regions” has been deleted in the abstract

RC3. Line 110-111: add unit for available phosphorus. What is “O.M”? what is the difference between “O.M”and “organic matter”?

AR/ Thank you. The unit for available phosphorus has been added. O.M. refers to the organic matter and this term has been added

RC4. Line 122-124: please make it clear when to apply MOE

AR/ Thank you. These senrences have been clearly rewritten and improved

RC5.  How to record leaf area?

AR/ Thank you. The length and width of the leaves were measured, and the leaf area was calculated using the formula: leaf length x leaf width x constant (0.64).

RC6.  What is the basic nutrient application amount in both the control and MOE-treated groups? Or no chemical fertilizer is applied?

AR/ Thank you. For the treatment group and the control group, distilled water was used to prepare the dilution of plant extract. There was no use of chemical fertilizer.

RC7. Line 167: What does “AC57*WM” mean? Make it clear as well as the same description in other place.

AR/ Thank you. AC57*WM denotes the interaction impact of AC57 accession and MOE application. In other words, it pertains to the execution of Accession AC57 under the MOE application. These sentences have been clearly updated and improved.

RC8. How to conduct Mean pairwise comparison? What do the date mean in Tables 4 and 5? Please add unit to all of these traits.

AR/ Thank you. Duncan's Multiple-Range Test (p ≤ 0.05) was used to compare mean pairwise using XLSTAT software. The data in all tables illustrate the influence of accessions, MOE treatment, and their combination on barley growth and yield. All trait units have been added.

RC9. please add the methods for figures 1-6 in “Materials and Methods” part.

AR/ Thank you. In Materials and Methods, the methods for Figures 1-6 have been added to statistical data analysis.

RC10. how to calculate the increasing or decreasing index?

AR/ Thank you. The percentage of trait index (PTI) was computed using the following formula:  PTI (%) = [(treated plants with MOE - untreated plants)/untreated plants] * 100

The positive value represents an increase in trait, whereas the negative value represents a decrease in trait. This information has been updated in the revised manuscript.

 

 

 

 

 

Best regards

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

The data in this article is solid and the results are important. I recommend minor revision . The detailed revisions were listed as follows:

1. Table 3, mean values should be present in averaged value and error bar. 

2. Tables 4, and 5, same as Table 3.

3. In Figure 5, please add the error bar in the figure.

 

Author Response

Manuscript number: agriculture-1923499

Paper title: Under Natural Field Conditions, Exogenous Application of Moringa Organ
Water Extract Enhanced the Growth and Yield-Related Traits of Barley

Authors: Nawroz Abdul-razzak Tahir, Djshwar Dhahir Lateef, Kamil Mahmud
Mustafa, Kamaran Salh Rasul

 

Dear Editor and Reviewer

The authors would like to thank the area editor and the reviewers for their precious time and invaluable comments. We have carefully addressed all the comments. The constructive comments/ suggestions by the reviewer are really appreciated. We have now completely revised the manuscript. All corrections in English language and updating of information are highlighted by the red lines. The corresponding changes and refinements made in the revised paper are summarized in our response below. The actual comments and questions of the reviewer are in BOLDED RC, and the author's responses are italicized AR.

 

Reviewer-3

RC1.  Table 3, mean values should be present in averaged value and error bar. 

AR/ Thank you. The mean values and standard error have been included to the Table 3 in the revised manuscript.

RC2.  Tables 4, and 5, same as Table 3.

AR/ Thank you. The mean values and standard error have been included to the Tables 4 and 5 in the revised manuscript

RC3.  In Figure 5, please add the error bar in the figure.

AR/ Thank you. The standard errors have been added to the Figure 5 in the revised manuscript

 

Best regards

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

All my concerns are adressed. I have no more commends.