مجله تولید و فرآوری محصولات زراعی و باغی
سال سیزدهم شماره 3 (پیاپی 99، پاییز 1402)

This research was conducted to compare agro-meteorological indices and yield of short day onion cultivars. The experiment was done in randomized complete block design including 15 cultivars (Seba, Imperateriz, Siroos, 7030, S.V. 4043, X. P. Red, Sweet Ajent, Savana Sweet, Golden I, Primavera, Texas Early White, Texas Early Grano, White Grano, Spidan and Contessa) with four replications at Behbahan Agriculture Research Station, southwest of Iran, for two years (2016-18). Seeds were sown in nursery in early October and seedlings were transplanted in early November. Bulbs were harvested when 50-80% of foliage had senesced and fallen. The differences of growing degree days and helio thermal unit were considerable among cultivars from planting to bulbing stage, however the differences of photo thermal index were not significant among cultivars at this stage. During bulbing and bulb development stage differences of growing degree days, helio thermal unit and photo thermal index were considerable among cultivars. Evaluation the correlation coefficients among yield and agro-meteorological indices during bulbing and bulb development stage suggested significant negative correlation of bulb yield with growing degree days and photo thermal indices. The highest bulb yield, thermal use efficiency and helio thermal unit use efficiency were recorded in Siroos (hybrid cultivar). As the seed price of open–pollinated cultivar is less than the prices of hybrid cultivars and the seed of open-pollinated cultivars could be produced by the growers, therefore, planting of Texas Early Grano (open-pollinated cultivar) is recommended for onion production in Khuzestan province at southwest of Iran.

In order to investigate the effect of water stress and the application of potassium sulfate fertilizer on some growth characteristics of "Zahedi" date palm tissue culture-derived plants, this research was conducted as a factorial experiment based on a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications on 45 plants. Water stress at three levels (Irrigation to the amount of 100, 80 and 60% of cumulative evaporation from Class A evaporation pan) and potassium sulfate fertilizer at five levels (zero, foliar application 2 g L-1 and 4 g L-1, soil application 50 g and 100 g for each plant) were applied to the plants. At the end of the experiment, the growth characteristics including trunk circumference, number of leaves, length and width of leaves, number of leaflets, length and width of leaflets, fresh and dry weight of aerial parts were measured and subjected to statistical analysis. The results showed that the increase in water stress had a significant negative effect on all vegetative growth traits, while the application of potassium sulfate moderated the effects of water stress. At the highest level of water stress (Irrigation to the amount of 60% of the water requirement) without application of potassium, the fresh and dry weight of aerial parts was recorded at 590 and 243 g respectively, but with the soil application of 100 g potassium sulfate at the same level of water stress, the fresh and dry weight of aerial parts increased significantly to 706 and 346, respectively. In this research, the soil application of potassium sulfate fertilizer had better effects on the growth characteristics of date palm plants than the foliar application method. In all levels of water stress, the application of potassium sulfate fertilizer, especially in soil application of 100 g for each plant, increased vegetative growth and fresh and dry weight of the date palm plant and improved its resistance to water stress.

In order to investigate the effects of different intercropping arrangements on quinoa and bean, a field experiment based on randomized complete block design (RCBD) was conducted with three replications during growing season of 2019-2020 in Ahar, northwest of Iran. The treatments included different intercropping patterns consisting of 1 row of quinoa + 1 row of bean (1:1), 1 row of quinoa + 2 row of bean of quinoa (1:2), 1 row of quinoa + 3 row of bean of quinoa (1:3), 2 row of quinoa + 1 row of bean of quinoa (2:1), 2 row of quinoa + 3 row of bean of quinoa (2:3), 3 row of quinoa + 1 row of bean of quinoa (3:1), 3 row of quinoa + 2 row of bean of quinoa (3:2) and sole cropping of quinoa and bean. Results showed that intercropping patterns had significant effect on all of the studied traits of quinoa and bean. The maximum grain yield (1123.4 kg/ha) and biological yield (2625.25 kg/ha) of quinoa were obtained at 2 row of quinoa + 3 row of bean in quinoa and sole cropping, respectively. The maximum grain yield and biological yield for bean were achieved at sole cropping. The average yield loss (AYL) index of quinoa in different arrangements of intercropping was higher than the AYL of bean, which indicates that quinoa in intercropping is more resistant to yield reduction compared to bean. The highest land equivalent ratio (LER) values (1.84) were obtained from 2 row of quinoa + 3 row of bean arrangement. This means that intercropping improved land use efficiency by 84%, compared with monocropping.

In order to evaluate the effect of putrescine, vermicompost and mycorrhiza on yield, activity of antioxidant enzymes and some physiological traits of triticale in different irrigation regimes, an experiment was conducted as factorial based on randomized complete block design with three replications at the Research Farm of University of Mohaghegh Ardabil, northwest of Iran in 2020. The experimental factors included irrigation in three levels (full irrigation as control; irrigation withholding at 50% of heading, and irrigation withholding at booting stage), application of bio-organic fertilizers in four levels (no application as control, application of vermicompost, mycorrhiza, and simultaneous application of vermicompost and mycorrhiza), foliar application of putrescine in three levels (foliar application with water as control, foliar application of 0.4 and 0.8 mM). The results showed that the irrigation withholding in booting stage with application of mycorrhiza, vermicompost and foliar application of 0.8 mM putrescine increased activity of catalase, peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase enzymes compared with no application of bio-organic fertilizers and putrescine at the same irrigation level. Evaluation of some physiological traits showed that at 242 days after planting, the simultaneous application of vermicompost and mycorrhiza and foliar application of 0.8 mM putrescine under irrigation withholding in booting stage conditions increased the relative water content (39.1%), chlorophyll a content (49.3%), chlorophyll index (37.2%), stomatal conductance (32.1%), variable fluorescence (84.9%), maximum fluorescence (45.1%), and quantum efficiency of photosystem II (27.6%) in comparison with no application of biofertilizers and putrescine at the same irrigation level. Moreover, application of vermicompost and mycorrhiza and foliar application of 0.8 mM putrescine at full irrigation conditions decreased hydrogen peroxide (29.2%), while increased grain yield (39.6%) in comparison with no application of biofertilizers and putrescine under irrigation withholding in booting stage. It seems that the simultaneous application of mycorrhiza and vermicompost and foliar application of putrescine can increase the grain yield of triticale under water limitation conditions due to improvement of antioxidant enzymes activity and some physiological traits.

Seed yield in soybean is a complex trait and is influenced by multiple genetic and environmental factors. In this research, 13 cultivars and advanced genotypes with two control cultivars (Sari and Katul) were cultivated in three warm and humid regions of the north of Iran, including Gorgan, Sari and Mughan, during the two cropping years of 2013 and 2014 in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Mean comparison in different years and locations showed that G15 genotype had the highest seed yield, followed by G2, G4 and G9 genotypes. Correlation coefficients   showed that the number of seeds per m2 (R² = 0.77) and the number of pods per plant (R² = 0.66) had a positive and significant correlation with seed yield, while the correlation between 100 seed weight and seed yield was insignificant (R²=0.02). G2 and G3 genotypes had the highest percentage of charcoal rot and G4 genotype showed the lowest percentage of infection. Regarding the percentage of infection with charcoal rot disease, all the investigated genotypes are below 10% and are considered tolerant genotypes for this disease. GGE biplot analysis indicated that the first and second principal components explained 70.6% of total yield variation. According to which-won-where pattern of GGE biplot, G4, G15, G12 and G7 genotypes had the longest distance from the origin of the biplot and were placed in the group of reactive genotypes to the environment and G2, G3 and G1 genotypes were classified as stable group. Genotype G4 performed well in Mughan1 and Mughan2 whereas, G15 genotype showed the best performance in Sari1 and Gorgan2, and G12 genotype was the best genotype in Sari2 environments. According to the genotypes comparison with ideal genotype, G15, G9, G2 and G1 genotypes had the shortest distance from the ideal genotype and were, hence, included in the group of stable genotypes. The simultaneous GGE biplot of seed yield and stability displayed graphically that G2 genotype had superior performance and broad adaptation to the diverse environments. Sari1(Sari 2013) was the most discriminating and representative environment and is classified as the superior environment and Gorgan 2 (Gorgan 2014) was ranked second. Based on tolerance to charcoal rot disease, average seed yield, as well as different GGE biplot graphs, G2 genotype incorporated both high mean yield and yield stability and can be released as a new soybean variety.

Seed yield in soybean is a complex trait and is influenced by multiple genetic and environmental factors. Safflower is one of the oilseeds adapted to a wide range of soil conditions, but micronutrients deficiencies cause a decrease in its grain yield and quality. Hence, an experiment was conducted as a split factorial based on randomized complete block design with three replications at Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center of Arak, Iran in 2019. Three tillage methods (including no tillage, low tillage and conventional tillage) were considered as the main plots and fertilizer treatments (including 1- Control, 2- Zinc, 3- Iron, 4- Sulfur, 5- Zinc + Iron, 6-Zinc + Sulfur, 7- Iron + Sulfur, and 8- Iron + Sulfur + Zinc) were considered as sub-plots. Results showed that there were significant differences between the fertilizer treatments in terms of seed yield, flower yield, seed weight per head, number of heads, number of seeds per head, percentage of seed protein and seed oil. In the treatment of tillage methods, thousand seed weight and linoleic fatty acid had significant differences. Interaction effects of soil tillage methods X fertilizer were significant on number of heads and linolenic acid. Fertilizer treatment of iron + sulfur + zinc had the highest seed yield (i.e. 1391 kg ha-1), flower yield (i.e. 183.7 kg ha-1), 1000 seed weight (i.e. 45.8 g), seed weight per head (i.e. 1.27 g), number of heads (i.e. 7.9), protein percentage (i.e. 21.2%) and seed oil percentage (i.e. 26.5). Results of this research showed that application of micronutrient elements by increasing the yield components, particularly 1000-seed weight, number of heads, and the weight of seeds per head led to increases in seed yield, oil percentage and protein percentage of safflower seeds. Though, tillage methods had no significant effect on safflower seed yield. According to the results of this experiment the use of zinc, sulfur, and iron fertilizers along with the method of low tillage can help to increase the grain yield and quality of rapeseed.

Water scarcity is the main natural limitation for agricultural production in arid and semi-arid regions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of mycorrhizal fungi and salicylic acid on yield and quality of watermelon under water stress. For this purpose, a split factorial experiment was conducted with three replications based on a randomized complete block design in two years. Irrigation treatment at three levels of receiving 100%, 80% and 60% of water requirement were placed as the main factor in the main plots. Mycorrhizal fungus in two levels (including no inoculation and soil inoculation by 20 g m-2) along with spraying of salicylic acid in three levels (including 0, 50 and 100 mg L-1) were designated to the subplots. The highest amounts of proline concentration, peroxidase and catalase enzymes activities were recorded in 60% irrigation treatment. Electrolyte leakage decreased by salicylic acid application, though in each irrigation treatment the lowest electrolyte leakage was recorded in 100 mg L-1 treatment of salicylic acid. Electrolyte leakage was significantly reduced by mycorrhizal fungi application. The highest (9.12%) and the lowest (8.08%) level of total soluble solids were recorded respectively in 80% and 100% irrigation treatments. The highest amount of TSS (9.07%) was obtained with mycorrhizal fungi. TSS was significantly increased by 6.70% and 11.20% with 50 and 100 mg L-1 salicylic acid treatments, respectively, compared to the control. The lowest fruit yield (34.76 t ha-1) was obtained when the plants were exposed to 60% irrigation treatment and no mycorrhizal fungus inoculation conditions. Fruit yield increased significantly in the presence of mycorrhizal fungi inoculation across all irrigation treatment levels, with the highest fruit yield (68.82 t ha-1) being obtained when plants were grown under 100% irrigation treatment and mycorrhizal fungi inoculation conditions. It may be concluded that using mycorrhizal fungus as a biofertilizer and salicylic acid as a plant growth regulator can reduce the harmful effects of drought stress and, hence, it can be recommended to increase the fruit yield and quality of watermelon at least in arid-semiarid conditions.