Investigation of Azotobarvar-1 biofertilizer and superabsorbent on some quantitative and qualitative traits of grain in intercropping of vetch and barley in dryland conditions of Khorramabad

Forage plant often cultivated individually to feed livestock, which leads to a shortage of forage and seeds, especially in winter. In order to investigate the effects of biofertilizer Aztobarvar-1 and superabsorbent on some quantitative and qualitative traits of grain in vetch and barley intercropping in dryland conditions of Khorramabad, an experiment was conducted at the research farm of Lorestan University, Faculty of Agriculture, in the 2017-18 crop year as a factorial based on a randomized complete block design with three replications.The first factor was implemented in 5 levels including: 1- Pure cultivation of vetch (100% vetch) 2- Pure cultivation of barley (100% barley) 3- intercropping(25% vetch + 75% barley) 4- intercropping(50% vetch + 50% Barley 5- intercropping(75% vetch + 25% barley) by alternative method and the second factor was implemented in 4 levels including: 1- (control) 2- Azotobar-1 (seed and foliar spraying) 3- Superabsorbent 4- Azotobar-1 (Seed and foliar spraying) + superabsorbent. In this experiment, the highest quantitative and qualitative seed yield was obtained from the treatment (50% vetch + 50% barley), the highest number of pods in vetch and spike in barley (m2) was observed in pure cultivation.In addition, the highest thousand grain weight of vetch and barley was observed in 25% of the intercropping. So, it was concluded that the coexistence of vetch with barley was effective in increasing the quantity and quality of seeds.On the other hand, Aztobarvar-1 biofertilizer was more economical than nitrogen-containing chemical fertilizers.And also, this fertilizer was able to act as a safe alternative to nitrogenous chemical fertilizers with the lowest amount (100 g/ha). In addition, the combination of this fertilizer with superabsorbent material (absorber and storage of rainwater) increased the quantitative and qualitative yield in vetch and barley seeds.