Investigation of quinoa cultivation (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) under different irrigation intervals and foliar application in saravan region

Saravan is one of the arid regions of the country, so cultivating plants compatible with these areas can be effective in improving the province's agriculture. One of the most recently considered plants in the country is quinoa, which is resistant to adverse environmental conditions. Therefore, the present experiment was conducted with the aim of investigating the different levels of irrigation and foliar application with zinc sulfate and manganese in March 2019 in research field of Saravan Higher Education Complex as split plot in a randomized complete blocks design with three replications. Experimental treatments consisted of three levels of irrigation (50, 80 and 110 millimeter  evaporation from Class A evaporation pan) in main plot and foliar application with zinc sulfate (three per thousand), manganese sulfate (three per thousand) and no foliar application in sub-plot. Results showed that the interaction effects of irrigation and foliar application were significant on plant height, leaf number, flower number, chlorophyll meter and one-thousand grain weight. In all irrigation treatments, foliar application with zinc sulfate was superior to manganese sulfate and non-foliar application. The highest grain yield was observed in 50, 80 and 110 millimeter evaporation from evaporation pan, respectively. Light tension treatment compared to mild tension was 24 percent and of high tension was 3.4 times more than grain yield. The highest grain yield was observed in zinc sulfate foliar application treatment, which had 26 percent higher grain yield than non-foliar application treatment.  Correlation interaction results showed that grain yield had the highest correlation with biomass, leaf dry weight and leaf number. Generally, foliar application with zinc sulfate can be used as an agronomic solution to increase yield of quinoain in Saravan climatic conditions.