Master’s Degree Awarded to Ms. Elham Arraf from Faculty of Agriculture, Food, and Environment

Ms. Elham Ahmed Ahmed Ali Araf was awarded a Master’s degree in the major of in Vegetable Crops with a grade of (Excellent) for her thesis titled “Effect of Plant Biostimulants on Germination of Some Local Chili Genotypes under Salinity Stress and Seedling Quality“, which was submitted to Faculty of Agriculture, Food, and Environment – Sana’a University. The defense was held on Saturday, Muharram 24, 1447 Hijri, corresponding to July 19, 2025.

The MA Viva-voce Committee, which was formed based on a resolution issued by the Post-Graduate Studies and Scientific Research Council, consisted of the following members:

#	Committee Members	Designation	University	Position
1	Assoc. Prof. Abdullah Hamoud Al-Haj	External Examiner	Ibb University	Chair
2	Assoc. Prof. Issam Abdulbaset Al-Madahji	Main Supervisor	Sana’a University	Member
3	Dr. Basheer Noman Salam	Internal Examiner	Sana’a University	Member

The thesis aimed to:

Evaluate the most important local hot pepper genotypes for their tolerance to different salinity levels.
Assess the effect of some plant biostimulants in mitigating the impact of salinity on the germination and growth of hot pepper seedlings.
Measure the effect of plant biostimulants on the quality of hot pepper seedlings.

The researcher reached several recommendations, including:

Considering the Abyan and Dhamar genotypes as elite varieties for their resistance to salt stress and including them in breeding programs to produce local cultivars.
Using beetroot root extract (B) to stimulate germination under salt stress conditions.
Using a mixture of prickly pear fruit and beetroot root extracts (O+B) or prickly pear fruit and carrot root extracts (O+C) to reduce salt stress on seedling growth at salinity levels up to 6.9 ds/m.
Pre-treating hot pepper seeds with an ethanolic extract from moringa leaves and seeds (ML+MS(E)) to obtain high-quality seedlings.

The researcher also presented several suggestions for researchers and interested individuals in this field, such as:

Conducting more studies on the effect of plant biostimulants in reducing environmental stresses on vegetable crops.
Studying phenolic changes in hot pepper germination and the role of biostimulants in activating germination due to their content of free or sugar-bound polyphenolic compounds.
Continuing research on the effect of plant biostimulants in improving the growth and production of vegetable crops.
Conducting studies on the resistance of local vegetable genotypes to various environmental stresses.

The thesis was examined and recommended by the Viva-Voce Committee for acceptance and approval. The defense was attended by a number of academics, researchers, interested individuals, in addition to the candidate’s colleagues and family members.