Comparison ofYield of TwelveBasilCultivarsinTwo Provinces:Isfahan and Mazandaran

Basil(Ocimumbasilicum L.)is a diploid plant with48chromosomes. Basil isthe aromatic annual herbofthe Lamiaceae familyofleafy vegetablesandhas mentionedand originated inIndiaandIran. Basilhasiron, calcium, magnesium, potassiumandvitamins Aand B. More than 60 varietiesof basilhave been identifiedthathavegreenleavesandredto purple.The performance of15varietiesof basilin Mazandaran province were studied, genotypescollected fromSari(darkgreen) withthe23.63 tha-1(fresh weight) had thehighestyield. In comparison, 38the massbasil, withtwocultivars(Opal andKashkanyLulu), localpopulationsofmanyof the traits(e.g.,length and width ofleavesandfresh and dry weight) showed superiority than cultivars. Incomparing the performance of38varietiesof basilinItaly, drymatter yieldper hectarerangedfrom1812 to6165kg ha-1thatthis wasmore attributestobegenetic aspects. Landraces ofbasilhavevaluabletraitssuch asdrought resistance, saltresistance, resistancetodisease, resistancetocoldandheat. In order to achieveoptimalpopulationpurple basil with high-performance inIsfahan andMazandaran, the present studywas conducted usingsomeof the populationinthese two provinces.
The number of populations of purple basil wasstudied toselect superior genotypes according to the yield and adaptation to climatic conditions in two provinces at Agricultural Research Station Gharahil of Mazandaran and Kabootarabad of Isfahan. The experiment was conducted as a randomized complete block design with three replications with seeds collected from two areas of the province (a total of 12 varieties of basil) during one year. Land preparationwas consisted ofplowanddiscperpendicular to each other(for crushinghunk) and thenlevelingandplotsofland. Inprovinces, nitrogen, phosphorusandpotassiumfertilizerwas used based on soiltest.In this experiment,harvest time was4st. for every two region. Duringthe growing seasonweed controlwascarried outmechanically.
Result and In both areas, the yield and plant height (at 5% statistical probability level) and the number of leaves per plant (at 1% statistical probability level) were statisticallysignificant. In Isfahan area, Ghaemshahr red basil mass yield was 17.1 t ha-1, but the yield of this mass were not significantly different with Farah Abad, Bahnamiri, Dastgerd, Mobarake, Ardestan and Dorche. The yield of Mazandaran 1,Mazandaran 2 and Najaf Abad masses were 11.61, 11.02, and 11.10, respectively, that had the lowest performance among the masses. In Mazandaran region, in most cases, the yields of all 12 purple basil mass were twotimes or more than doubles in the Isfahan region. The yield of Mazandaran 2 mass was the lowest in Isfahan region, but had high performance (29.6 t ha-1) in Mazandaran region. In both regions, Ghaemshahr, Neka, Behshahr, Mobarakeh and Ardestān purple basil masses had the highest yield. In Isfahan, plant height rangedfrom19.67(Ardestan) to28.00cm, while thisrange in Mazandaran region was 29.7to41.7cm. In a studyin Turkey,a highest height for purple basil without water limitation was38.6cm. Basil plant height has a positive and significant correlation with performance and in addition to genetic factors, environmental characteristics, in particular the amount of moisture available to plants can also have a significant impact on plant height. Among all12 genotypes tested, the number of leaves were 53 (Dastgerd) to 73.7 (Behshahr), and the number of leaves rangedfrom 48.3 (Behshahr) to 78.3 (Mazandaran 1)in Mazandaran. Usually the soil areas withhigh fluctuations in moisture and air (comparison Isfahan with Mazandaran), leaves hada smaller number and leaf area. The number of branches of genotypes was from 12.6 to 16.3in Isfahan region and in the Mazandaran region was from 6.3 to 9.3. Reduce the number of branches in Mazandaran (1.5 to 2 times less) related to radiation exposure in the area and its difference with radiation in Isfahan.Usually the weather of Isfahanis sunnyanddirect sunlightwhereas the weather of Mazandaran region iscloudy. In both regions, the greatest contribution performance harvest was in second and third harvest, respectively (although yields were higherin Mazandaran region). The lower yield at first harvest can attributed with opportunity when it is necessary for plant establishment. The fourth harvest yield loss can be two reasons, one terminate of plant growth and aging, and other high temperature at this time. Although basil is a plant that originated from warm zones, but increased plant maintenance respiration can occur at high temperatures is an issue that should be considered.