Mohamed Kouighat

Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique | INRA Morocco

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is an oilseed, aromatic, and medicinal plant with seeds rich in phytochemicals showing many nutritional and medicinal properties. To satisfy the human nutritional needs and to improve the economic efficiency of this crop, the current trend is to increase both its seed yield and nutritional quality. In this context, we ev...

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is a leguminous crop renowned for its millennia-long cultivation driven by its highly nutritious seeds. Rich in minerals, bioactive carbohydrates, fiber and protein with a complete amino acids profile, faba beans serve as vital components in both human and animal diets. In Morocco, faba bean is crucial for food security, s...

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) cultivation holds significant potential for enhancing agricultural sustainability, offering benefits such as increased grain yields, product diversification, and nutritional value. Despite facing abandonment by some farmers in Morocco, notably due to shifting agricultural practices, the cultivation of faba bean has maintai...

This study assessed the effect of climatic conditions on the production and phenological traits of four plum cultivars (Prunus salicina L. and Prunus domestica L.) grafted on ‘Myrobolan’ rootstock planted in two contrasting experimental zones at INRA Meknes, namely ‘Ain Taoujdate’ in the Saïs plain and ‘Annoceur’ in the foothills of the Middle Atla...

Several research studies have revealed the potential of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) as a viable alternative in addressing the impacts of climate change on the geographical distribution of fruit trees within semi-arid regions. Nevertheless, the pomegranate adaptation in these areas was influenced by many factors, such as the chilling requiremen...

Salinity represents a major challenge to plant growth, prompting exploration of strategies to improve resistance. This study focuses on Lavandula dentata and its associations with the halophytes Atriplex prostrata and Plantago macrorhiza under salt stress conditions. Key morphological and physiological parameters were analyzed, including biomass, a...

Oilseed crops are the second largest food source after cereals, with a wide distribution worldwide due to the high demand for edible vegetable oils. With important functions in nutritional physiology and human health, vegetable oils are essential components of human diet (Ebrahimian et al., 2019). Among oilseed crops, sunflower (Helianthus annuus L...

The study focused on the morphological diversity of pods and seeds from six ecotypes of carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.), originating from different regions of Morocco including Khemissat, Safi, Aït Attab, Berkane, Ouezzane, and Agadir. Thirty pods per ecotype were collected from 10 different trees. Measurements were taken to analyze the morpholog...

Today, extreme events caused by climate change, in addition to the increasing world population, seriously threaten food security across the globe. In particular, drought is most detrimental to agricultural production, including oilseed crops. This water stress has become structural in Morocco and accentuates the problem of food sovereignty in edibl...

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is a popular fruit crop known for its nutritional and health benefits. However, water scarcity in many regions of the world has necessitated the adoption of specific strategies to conserve water resources. This study aimed to investigate the impact of continuous deficit irrigation (CDI) on the chemical and biochemic...

Nowadays, world food security is more and more threatened by the extreme events caused by climate change associated with the increasing population. Particularly, drought is reported to be the most harmful for agricultural production, including oilseed crops. However, some key traits for adaptation to this stress may be lost as a result of the restr...

The challenge of salt stress in plant growth is a major concern in agriculture. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) holds particular interest as a domesticated crop, but it faces challenges related to salinity that hinder its optimal development. In this study, we assessed the effect of salt stress on rosemary growth by associating it with certain ha...

The interest of this work is to appreciate the plasticity of tolerance and adaptability to high temperatures by analyzing the production, growth, physiology and fruit quality traits of the plum variety ‘Angelino’ (Prunus salicina L.). The experiment was conducted in 2021 on fourteen-year-old trees under drip irrigation installed at National Institu...

Pomegranate trees are known for their ability to withstand drought conditions, but there is still much to learn about how water stress affects the lipobiochemical behavior of their seeds. This study aimed to investigate how sustained deficit irrigation (SDI-50), equivalent to 50% of crop evapotranspiration, influences pomegranate seed oil attribute...

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is an ancient oilseed, aromatic, and medicinal crop widely used for its high-quality oil and seeds. The available genetic diversity in Morocco is too limited; thus, a mutagenesis breeding program was adopted. This study was carried out to evaluate the novel variability induced and observed in 11 M4 mutant lines and to es...

In the context of climate change and water scarcity, it is necessary to develop and use drought-resistant crops. Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is an oleaginous and aromatic plant with high nutritional value. It is a tropical crop, but it is also grown in arid and semi-arid environments such as Morocco. Our aim is to evaluate (in two separate experime...

Sesame ( Sesamum indicum L.) is one of the most recommended oil crops due to its nutritional and medicinal properties. It is a tropical and subtropical plant; however, it is also cultivated in arid and semi-arid regions, including Morocco. Nevertheless, the sesame crop in this country faces many constraints and challenges that restrict its producti...

Sesame is an ancient oilseed plant with important agronomic, therapeutic, and industrial properties. Moroccan sesame is characterized by low productivity due to wild traits. To overwork, such wild characters, genetic improvement of plants is necessary. However, in Morocco, the existing genetic diversity is limited. Thus, chemical mutagenesis, using...

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is a tropical oilseed crop that is also cultivated in arid and semi-arid environments, where drought occurs frequently. The objective of this study was to assess the performance of some sesame mutants, developed by our team through EMS-mutagenesis in 2020, under well-watered conditions and restricted irrigation by analyz...

Sesame seed represents a reservoir of nutritional components with many medicinal properties. With the current trend to increase both seed yield and nutritional quality, the cultivation of new high-quality sesame varieties is a necessity to improve human health and promote the economic efficiency of this crop. However, research efforts for the devel...

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is an oilseed tropical crop affected by climate change and drought stress. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of 13 sesame mutants under full irrigation conditions and stress hydric. The morphological, physiological, and agronomic traits were analyzed. The experience was in pots according to a ra...

In the context of climate change and water scarcity, there is a need to develop and use drought-tolerant sesame cultivars. This study was conducted to evaluate the response of 13 sesame genotypes, including 11 mutants and their wild-types, to drought during germination and early seedling growth. Moderate and severe drought stress was simulated by a...

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is an ancient oilseed crop with important agronomic, therapeutic, and industrial properties. However, in Morocco, the existing genetic diversity is quite limited. Thus, chemical mutagenesis, using ethyl methane sul-fonate (EMS), was applied to induce novel genetic variability. Seeds of two sesame genotypes were treated u...