مجله تولید و فرآوری محصولات زراعی و باغی
سال پنجم شماره 2 (تابستان 1394)

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is cultivated in a wide range of geographical conditions in the world from Africa to Europe، India and China. Previous studies have shown that diversity in indigenous Iranian germplasm is limited for some traits; therefore germplasm collections from other origins need to be considered. An experiment was conducted to evaluate agronomic and morphological traits of 100 Iranian and exotic safflower genotypes during 2011- 2012 at the Research Farm of Isfahan University of Technology، Isfahan، Iran، using a simple lattice design of 10 × 10. The results of analysis of variance showed that the differences among genotypes were highly significant (p < 0. 01) for days to flowering، seed yield، plant height، number of heads per plant، number of seeds per head، 1000-seed weight، oil content and harvest index، indicating high variability in the studied germplasm. The highest and lowest heritabilities were observed for 1000-seed weight and seed yield، respectively، indicating that indirect improving for seed yield would be more beneficial. Genetic and phenotypic correlation coefficients showed that number of heads per plant، number of seeds per head and harvest index had significantly positive correlations with seed yield. The results of stepwise regression and path analysis showed that number of heads per plant، number of seeds per head and 1000-seed weight are the most important components of seed yield، among which، number of heads per plant had the greatest direct positive effect on seed yield. These traits could be used as criteria for indirect selection in safflower breeding programs. Factor analysis recognized three factors which explained 72. 56 percent of total variations. These factors were defined as phenological، physiological source and efficiency factors. Cluster analysis based on the agronomic and morphological traits grouped the genotypes into three clusters. Iranian accessions were clearly discriminated from other genotypes and allocated in the group three. In conclusion، the results indicated that there was a broad genetic diversity among Iranian and foreign germplasm which can be exploited in breeding programs.

A two-year study (2005 - 2006) was carried out to explore the effect of deficit irrigation treatments according to evaporation from a class A basin، including ET= 1 (T1)، ET = 0. 75 (T2)، and ET = 0. 5 (T3)، on yield، yield components and seed yield of three varieties of watermelon (Charleston Gray، Sugar Baby and Crimson Suite) in the Varamin Agricultural Research Center of Iran. A randomized complete block design with a split plot arrangement with four replications was used. The results showed that fruit yield، yield components and seed yield were not significantly different in T1 and T2 treatments in contrary to T3 treatment. Among the yield components، number of fruits per plant most suffered from the negative impact of severe water stress (T3) (1. 20 fruit per plant). Rind thickness، percent soluble solids in fruit and seed yield were not affected by water stress. According to phenotypic traits، and correlation coefficients، a significant positive correlation (1% probability level) was observed between the weighted average، and the number of fruit with the fruit yield. Crimson Suite cultivar produced the highest yield (2533 kg ha-1) compared to the cultivars Charleston Gray and Sugar Baby. Sugar Baby and Crimson Suite cultivars، with 311. 7 and 298. 2 kg ha-1، respectively، produced the highest amount of seed. Crimson Suite cultiavr had the highest percentage of soluble solids in fruit (1. 35). Rind thickness in Crimson Suites، Charleston Gray and Sugar Baby cultivars were 1. 35، 1. 13 and 1. 10 cm، respectively. The results of this study showed that under a moderate moisture stress condition (ET = 0. 75)، fruit and seed yield could be similar to the no-water stress conditions.

Plants with tropical origin including those of the Cucurbitaceae family are generally sensitive to chilling stress and harmed by low temperatures. In this study، we evaluated five plant growth regulators and compared the effectiveness of each substance in improving chilling stress tolerance of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.، cv. Super dominos) seedlings. The experiment was conducted as a randomized complete block design with seven treatments including: control، seed and foliar application of Catechin and oxalic acid and foliar application of Metyl jasmonate، Metyl salicylat and salicylic acid with. After treatments، the seedlings were subjected to chilling 5h/day at 3oC for 7 days. 72 hours after chilling، all plants were evaluated with some chilling resistance indices and growth parameters. Results showed that application of Catechin، Oxalic acid and salicylic acid improved growth parameters and increased tolerance to low temperature of the seedlings as indicated by electrolyte leakage، proline and malondialdehyde content. These substances ameliorated the by chilling stress-induced injury via enhancing chlorophyll and proline content and subsequently decreases in leaf electrolyte leakage and malondialdehyde content. Catechin and oxalic acid were more effective in increasing chilling tolerance of cucumber seedlings، when applied with seed soaking method than with foliar spray. In general، it may be concluded that Catechin، oxalic acid and salicylic acid could be used effectively to protect cucumber seedling from damaging effect of chilling stress at the early stages of growth.

Nowadays low-calorie products are increasingly becoming popular. One of the methods to produce low-calorie food is replacement of sugar (sucrose) with low-calorie sweeteners such as stevioside. This compound is isolated from the leaves of the Paraguayan plant، Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni. Since orange juice is a popular beverage with an important role in human nutrition، production of low-calorie orange nectar (containing 60% natural juice) and optimization of formulation parameters using response surface methodology (RSM) was the purpose of this study. Three levels of independent variables، sugar، stevioside and pectin were used to optimize formulation and two responses of brix and viscosity were evaluated. After the determination of the best formula، they were produced and stored at refrigerator (4°C) and ambient (25°C) temperatures for 60 days and their physicochemical properties were measured in 20 days intervals. The results showed that after 60 days of storage، stevioside content was reduced (5%). Sucrose، turbidity and viscosity were reduced during storage but brix did not indicate a notable change over the course of the study. These changes were greater at the higher storage temperature (except brix). At the end of the storage، optimal treatment had higher turbidity and total phenolic contents than the blank sample. Results showed that it is possible to produce orange nectar with 70% decrease in its sugar content by using 0. 06% of stevioside and 0. 03% of pectin، without any significant effects on physicochemical and sensory properties.

The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the influence of four clonal rootstocks (Quince A، Quince B، Quince C، PQBA29)، and two seedling rootstocks (Gownjony and pear) on growth and performance of two pear scion cultivars namely Shahmiveh and Natanz. In the course of the experiment، vegetative growth indices including، current’s season shoot length، height of scion cultivars، trunk diameters (20 cm above the graft:: : union:: :، at graft:: : union:: :، and 10 cm below the graft:: : union:: :)، leaf relative chlorophyll content، leaf stomatal conductance (gs)، and internal carbon dioxide concentration (Ci) were measured. The results indicated that، in Shahmiveh scion cultivar، the trunk diameter at 20 cm above the graft:: : union:: : and at the graft:: : union:: : was significantly higher than the Natanz pear cultivar. Among the clonal and seedling rootstocks، the greatest trunk diameter was observed in Gownjony rootstock. The maximum current’s season growth was related to PQBA29 rootstock، which was two times greater than pear seedling rootstock. The greatest and smallest height of trees were obtained in Gownjony and Quince A، respectively. Among the rootstocks، no significant differences was observed in terms of net photosynthesis and leaf stomatal conductance، but the results showed that، the net photosynthetic rate and leaf stomatal conductance in Shahmiveh scion cultivar was significantly higher than the Natanz pear cultivar. The leaf relative chlorophyll content in Gownjony rootstock was significantly greater than the Quince B rootstock. Therefore، based on the above results، Quince C seems to have a slower vegetative growth than the other rootstocks and is potentially more suitable for dense orchards.

In order to study the relationships among agronomic traits and yield components in some breeding lines of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L)، this experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications in 2009، at the Research Farm of Isfahan University of Technology located in Falavarjan، Isfahan، Iran. Twenty genotypes of safflower were planted in this experiment and days to emergence، days to the commencing of flowering، 50% flowering and maturity، plant height، branches/plant، percentage of infected capitulum to safflower fly، seed yield، capitula/plant، seeds/capitulum، 1000 seed weight، capitulum diameter، seed weight/capitulum and seed oil content were evaluated. The results of analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences among the genotypes for all of the studied traits، except for days to emergence. Genetic and phenotypic correlation coefficients showed that capitula/plant، seeds/capitulum and capitulum diameter were the most important seed yield components and they had the highest positive correlations with seed yield. However، seed weight showed negative genetic and phenotypic correlations with seed yield. Based on the regression analysis، capitula/plant along with capitulum diameter accounted for 66% and 74% of the seed yield variation، respectively. Path analysis showed that capitula/plant had the most positive direct effect on seed yield with no significant indirect effect through the other traits. Also، seeds/capitulum had a high direct and positive effect and considerable indirect effect via number of capitula/plant on seed yield.

Assessment of the stability and adaptability of a genotype to different environments is useful for recommending cultivars for known conditions and is one of the requirements in plant breeding programs. Considering the inherent climatic diversity in Iran، recognition of genotype by environment interaction is important. In this study ten oat (Avena sativa L.) genotypes were tested at six environments in Shahrekord University for two years and 3 replications in a randomized complete block design (RCBD). AMMI analysis (additive main effects and multiplicative interaction effects) was used to evaluate yield stability of oat genotypes. Results of simple and combined ANOVA for grain yield، showed significant differences for genotype and genotype × environment. AMMI analysis also revealed significant difference for treatment، genotype، environment and genotype × environment. Based on the bi-plot of the first principal component and mean in AMMI method، Rigodon، Paisley and Sioux genotypes showed the most stability and Sioux genotype indicated the smallest IPC1، while Pacer was considered to be the most، unstable genotype.

Identification and characterization of tolerant and susceptible cultivars of crop plants to cold stress is important. In this regard، in present research electrolyte leakage and Total Soluble Sugar (TSS) contents in the leaf and bark tissues in ten olive cultivars، namely، Zard، Mari، Fadak87-1، Fadak87-5، Fadak86، Fadak77، Arbequina، Mission، Blady and Coratina were measured to assess their response to cold stress during two consecutive years. Two years-old shoots from five year-old olive trees were collected in summer and winter from a commercial orchard in Qom، Central Iran and exposed to cold treatments of 0، -4، -8، -12، -16 and -20°C for 24 hours. Then LT50 was measured by electrolyte leakage. A considerable increase in cold-hardiness was observed with decreasing temperature. Leaf and bark tissues exhibited more tolerance in winter than summer and bark tissue had more tolerance than leaf in both seasons. Also TSS contents in leaf and bark tissues were greater in winter than summer and in all studied cultivars bark tissue had greater TSS content than the leaf. Results showed that cold-hardy cultivars، Zard، Arbequina and Fadak87-5 (with tolerance thresholds of -17. 34°C، -17. 5°C and -17. 99°C، respectively) had greater TSS contents in tissues in summer and winter compared to susceptible cultivars، Coratina and Mari (with tolerance thresholds of -7. 18°C and -9. 13°C respectively). Although the precise mechanism in response to cold stress has not been characterized in olive tree، it can be concluded from this experiment، that the tissue TSS content is closely associated with resistance to cold stress in this tree species.

Grain yield of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is reduced by heat stress، particularly when occurs in reproductive phase، in many countries worldwide، including Iran. In order to study the effects of different levels of nitrogen and cytokinin on wheat yield and yield components at normal and heat stress conditions in Khuzestan، Iran، this research was conducted at Ramin Agriculture and Natural Resources University in 2010-2011. This study was carried out in two separate factorial experiments in randomized complete block design with four replications. The first experiment was planted in a normal date and the second experiment was planted late (Terminal heat stress). In both experiments، nitrogen (N) was applied in four levels (0، 75، 150، and 225 kgha-1) and Cytokinin (Ck) sprayed in three levels (0، 50 and 100 µM). The results of both experiments (normal and stress conditions) showed that by increasing the N rate، the grain yield (5652. 1 and 3874. 7 Kg/ha respectively)، biological yield، number of spikes per m2، spikelet’s per spike، grains per spike were significantly (p<0. 01) increased. Application of Ck at normal sowing date increased the grain yield (4856. 7 kg/ha) and 1000 grain weight (41 gr) significantly (p<0. 01) and at late sowing date only increased 1000 grain weight (30. 2 gr) significantly (p<0. 01). Application of N and Ck in both experiments significantly increased grain yield (p<0. 05) and only at late sowing date increased 1000 grain weight significantly (p<0. 01). Based on our findings، application of N and Ck may lead to the amelioration of terminal heat stress effects on bread wheat in hot regions such as Ahwaz.

In order to investigate the effect of Hexaconazole (HEX) on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of two soybean (Glycine max L.) cultivars under water deficit stress، an experiment was conducted in the Faculty of Agriculture of Tarbiat Modares University in the year 2010-2011 as a factorial experiment in randomized complete block design arrangement. Factors examined in this study were soybean cultivars (L17 and Clark63)، HEX concentration (0 and 35 mg/L) and water deficit stress levels (optimum irrigation and water deficit stress based on depletion of 60% of available soil moisture). Chlorophyll content، Fv/Fm، seed yield، yield components، biological yield، harvest index، protein and oil percentage of seeds were investigated. Results showed that water deficit stress and HEX application had significant effect on the most of traits and the cultivars showed different responses to the treatments. In both water treatments، HEX increased the yield of both cultivars but under water deficit stress increase in seed yield of L17 (35. 99%) was higher than Clark63 (14. 53%) in comparison with non- HEX application. Among the effective factors on seed yield، number of pods per plant had the highest share in the seed yield. Under water deficit condition، seed protein percent of Clark63 increased (6. 14%) in response to HEX treatment but in L17 the content of protein was not affected by HEX. Oil percentage of seeds was not affected by any of the treatments. In both cultivars، HEX increased resistance to water deficit stress and the cultivars showed different responses to HEX treatment and under water deficit the yield response of L17 to HEX was more notable، although this combination improved the grain quality of clark63.

Among the chemicals that their effects on reducing chilling injury has recently been studied are salicylates and jasmonates. Therefore، in this study the effects of salicylic acid and methyl jasmonate on increasing the cold tolerance of bell pepper cv. Emily was examined. Experiment was done as a 7×2 factorial in the completely randomized design (CRD) with four replications. The first factor contained salicylic acid in three concentrations of 0. 1، 0. 5 and 1 mM and methyl jasmonate at the rates of 0. 001، 0. 01 and 0. 1 mM plus control (distilled water) and the second factor involved application of hormone، spraying whole plant and soil drenching. Treatments were applied at 7-9 leaves stage. After application of hormones، plants moved to 0º C for 3 days and then returned back to greenhouse temperature. Three days later different attributes were measured. Results showed that except for soluble sugars and leaf proline، there was no significant differences between two methods of hormone application. For all traits، application of hormone showed significant effects but due to significant interactions between hormone and application method، the effect of hormone treatment depended on the method of application. Drenching 0. 5 mM salicylic acid reduced chilling injury (necrotic lesions) and increased quantum efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm)، chlorophyll content، soluble sugars and leaf proline، compared to untreated plants، thus improved cold tolerance. Methyl jasmonate in the rate of 0. 01 mM reduced chilling injury and increased Fv/Fm in comparison with control، but only when it was used as drench it increased concentrations of chlorophyll a and b and soluble sugars and cold tolerance compared to other two concentrations.

Application of polyamines has been reported to improve shelf life in different fruits. In this research the effect of different concentrations of putrescine with hot water on postharvest life of kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa cv. Hayward) at 0 ± 0. 5°C was studied. Fruits were treated with putrescine (0، 1 and 2 mmol/L) and stored for 16 weeks. Fruit quality attributes assessment including firmness، soluble solid content، titratable acidity، ascorbic acid and antioxidant capacity were determined after 8 and 16 weeks of cold storage. Putrescine treatment had significant effect on firmness، titratable acidity، ascorbic acid and antioxidant capacity، but had no significant effect on soluble solid content. After 8 and 16 weeks the highest firmness was for 2mol/ L putrescine treatment. After 8 weeks the highest titratable acidity and ascorbic acid content were observed with 2mol/ L putrescine treatment and after 16 weeks were observed with 1mol/ L putrescine treatment. Putrescine treatment showed significant effect on antioxidant capacity in both measurements. The results revealed that kiwifruit storage life could be extended by putrescine treatment due، apparently، to its effect on delaying the ripenıng and senescence processes. Putrescine application in combination with hot water can be a suitable substitute for chemical post harvest treatment in kiwifruit.

To study the effects of foliar application of zinc، manganese and nitrogen on yield، yield components and grain quality of chickpea (Cicer arientinum L.); two experiments، one in autumn and the other in spring were conducted at Research Farm، Shahrekord University in 2009-2010 growing season each as a randomized complete block design with three replications. The treatments were foliar application of zinc sulfate، manganese sulfate; zinc sulfate and manganese sulfate mixture، nitrogen and distilled water (as control). The results showed that planting season had a significant effect on plant height، 100-seed weight and seed yield. All measured traits، except plant height، increased in winter compared to spring growing season. This increase was more than 12% for grain yield. Foliar application of nutrients significantly affected seed yield and seed yield components. Foliar application of nitrogen، presumably، through significant increase in number of pods per plant، number of seeds per plant and 100-seed weight، increased the grain yield by 6. 2% compared to control. Foliar application × planting season interactions were significant for plant height and number of pods per plant. Foliar application of nitrogen caused a significant increase in grain yield and protein content. Foliar application of zinc sulphate significantly increased Zn content of grains; however it did not affect seed yield. In conclusion، foliar application of nitrogen could be suggested for increasing protein and grain yield in chickpea under similar conditions to that of the present study.

In order to study the effect of on-farm seed priming using tap water and zinc sulfate solution with 0. 03% zinc on yield and yield components of two intermediate maturing maize cultivars، a factorial experiment was carried out in complete randomized block design with three replications in Research Farm of Bu Ali University، Hamedan، Iran in 2011. Seed priming consisted of three levels (priming with 0. 03% zinc using zinc sulfate for 16 hours، priming with tap water for 18 hours and control (no priming)) which were applied on two maize cultivars (Single cross 580 and 600). Results indicated that on-farm seed priming increased grain number per row and the number of rows per corn cob. Priming with zinc sulfate solution significantly increased seed weight، seed yield، biological yield and harvest index. Grain yield، biological yield and harvest index in priming with zinc sulfate solution increased by 11، 12. 95 and 17 percent respectively in comparison with no primed treatment. Among the two studied cultivars، Single cross 600 with greater response to priming treatments had the highest grain number while Single cross 580 out performed the other cultivar in terms of seed weight. Therefore، seed priming with zinc sulfate at planting time seems effective to improve the growth and yield of Single cross 600.

In general، the ultimate goal of a sustainable system is to maximize the benefits of existing resources and to minimize the threats to the environment that occur due to the present conventional agricultural activities. Meanwhile، seed، as a rice cultivar in the present study، is presented as an important factor in sustainability. Therefore، identifying the most suitable cultivar of rice for sustaining the rice cultivation system is considered to be the main goal of the research. The population of the present study involves all specialists who have enough knowledge on components of sustainability and rice cultivars. To this end، 16 people were identified and studied through non-probability sampling method (purposeful and snowball). Face and content validity was used to determine the validity of the questionnaire. In addition، to assess the reliability، inconsistency ratio was used. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique was used in order to achieve the main objective، which is to identify the most suitable varieties for sustainable rice cultivation system. Expert Choice 2000 software was applied to calculate the data. The prerequisite of applying AHP technique is to consider the criteria (sustainability of rice cultivation system) which include: economical، ecological، technical، social، and policy sustainability and their sub-criteria in the one hand، and decision alternatives (rice cultivars) including: Hashemi، Tarom، Neda، Fajr، Khazar and Shirudi in the other hand. The results of prioritizing the criteria of rice cultivation stability showed that the economical (32%)، ecological (23. 9%) and technical (21. 1%) stability are more important than the stability of social (14. 8%) and policy (8. 3%) aspects. Likewise، research findings showed that the cultivars of Hashemi (20. 6%) and Tarom (20. 1%) with a slight difference against each other are the most proper cultivars، respectively، in the sustainability of rice cultivation system.

Nitrogen is one of the major macronutrients in cropping systems. Considering the effect of nitrogen on the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of linseed، a field experiment was conducted as factorial arrangement in a randomized complete block design with three replications in the Research Station of Faculty of Agriculture، Shahrekord University in 2012. Five fertilizer treatments of urea، Azomin، Nitroxin، Super NitroPlus and control (without fertilizer) and three ecotypes of Iranian، Canadian and French linseed in this experiment were examined. Harvest index، seed protein and oil contents (%) were evaluated. Meanwhile، the trend of the cumulative crop growth rate (CGR) and fitted regression model was studied. Harvest index was significantly different between ecotypes. Harvest index، seed protein and oil contents showed significant responses to fertilizer treatments. The interaction between ecotypes and fertilizer treatments was significant for harvest index and seed oil content. Non-linear regression model (peak) best fitted on the trend of crop growth rate (CGR) in different ecotypes and different fertilizer treatments. According to result، it seems biological fertilizer of Super NitroPlus، Nitroxin and organic fertilizer of Azomin are capable of being hired in sustainable agriculture as an alternative to chemical fertilizers in linseed cultivation.

Calcium is one the most important essential elements in plant growth and development. This element influences many physiological aspects of plant tissues even after harvesting. Calcium has also an important role in integrity and hardness of plant cells. In addition، calcium content of many horticultural crops is seen as a quality factor. Therefore، in this research effect of different calcium concentrations of nutrient solution on growth and development of two cut rose cultivars (Utopia and Dolce Vita) were investigated. This experiment was conducted as factorial based on completely randomized design during 2011. The factors were cultivar with two levels and calcium in four concentrations of 150، 220، 300 and 400 mg/l. The total number of treatments was 8 with 5 replications. The results showed that the effects of cultivar and calcium levels were significant on measured parameters. The analysis of variance of data showed that there were significant differences (p < 0. 05) for some parameters including: length and diameter of flower stem and vase life of cut flower between two cultivars. Results also showed that with increasing calcium concentrations in nutrient solution the overall trend was to increase flowering parameters (p < 0. 05). Therefore، increasing calcium levels up to 400 mg/l resulted in improvement of flowering parameters in both cultivars.

Due to the excessive use of chemical fertilizers and also the lack of adequate information on the growth responses of ornamental plants to bio-fertilizers and municipal solid waste compost، this investigation was carried out on Zinnia. Therefore، a field experiment was conducted in complete randomized block design with three replications. Fertilizers included municipal solid waste compost، phosphate biofertilizer Barvar-2، nitroxin biofertilizer (containing Azotobacter spp. and Azospirillum sp.)، municipal solid waste compost+ nitroxin + phosphate Barvar-2، municipal solid waste compost + nitroxin، nitroxin + phosphate Barvar-2، municipal solid waste compost + phosphate Barvar-2 and control (without using any fertilizer). The results showed that the highest content of potassium، phosphorus and sodium ions، and greatest flower diameter and plant height were associated with municipal solid waste compost + phosphate Barvar-2 treatment. The interaction of different fertilizer treatments at different growth stages showed that municipal solid waste compost + phosphate Barvar-2 treatment had the highest and nitroxin + phosphate Barvar-2 treatment the lowest effects on fresh and dry leaf weight، chlorophyll a، b، total chlorophyll and carotenoid contents. Moreover، fertilizers had no significant effects on relative water content (RWC) compared to the control. Overall، it was found that municipal solid waste compost + phosphate Barvar-2 treatment is a suitable growing substrate for Zinnia.

Fritillaria imperialis is a mono-cotyledon plant from the Liliaceae family that grows wild in some parts of Iran. Fritillaria is a medicinal plant، in addition to being a beautiful flower. Due to the uncontrolled harvesting of flower and bulbs، Fritillaria survival is threatened in some areas in Iran. Fritillaria can be propagated by seed. In favorite condition. Its propagation by seed and production of flower-beating bulbs takes about 6 years. In addition، plants grown from seed would not be like their parents due mainly to occurrence of cross-polination. Mass propagation of Fritillaria through conventional methods such as bulb culture is not efficient. Thus، its in vitro propagation as a criteria for preserving this valuable plant in its natural habitats was studied. We investigated direct embryogenesis of sterilized bulbs scale segments in MS medium at the presence of different plant growth regulators including NAA، IAA، TDZ، Kinetin and BA and the combination of kinetin and NAA in different concentrations. The highest number of direct somatic bulblets (8. 33 bulblets)، the biggest bulblets (26 mm) and the greatest number of roots (8 roots) were formed in 2 mg/L NAA. The least direct bulblet somatic generation was observed in TDZ treatments، bulblets formed tended to produce callus instead of growing. In the medium containing BA hormone no bulblet was produced. In conclusion، the results of this study revealed that propagation of Fritillaria imperialis is possible through in vitro culture by using 2 mg/L NAA.

In order to study the effects of nitrogen application rate and timing on grain yield، phyllochron and leaf appearance rate of corn (Zea mays L.)، an experiment was conducted as split plot based on randomized complete block design with three replications at the Research Farm of University of Mohaghegh Ardabili، Ardabil، Iran during 2009 growing season. Nitrogen rates were arranged in main plot with four levels including: 0، 75، 150 and 225 Kg N ha-1 and nitrogen application timing in sub plots at three levels: (1/3 in planting + 1/3 in 8-10 leaf stages + 1/3 in tasseling)، (½ planting + ½ in tasseling) and (½planting + ¼ in 8-10 leaf stages + ¼ in tasseling) as T1، T2 and T3 respectively. The results showed that phyllochron was significantly affected by nitrogen rate، application timing and interaction of rate × nitrogen application timing. Phyllochron was decreased with increasing nitrogen rates، but the reverse was true for leaf appearance rate. Leaf appearance rate in T1 nitrogen application was more than the other methods. The highest leaf appearance rate and the least phyllochron belonged to treatment of 225 Kg N ha-1 and T1 nitrogen application timing. The highest grain yield (7928. 6 Kg ha-1) belonged to treatment of 225 Kg N ha-1 and T1 nitrogen application timing. Thus، it seems that in order to increase the grain yield and leaf appearance rate، 225 Kg N ha-1 should be applied as T1 in conditions of Ardabil climate.

In order to evaluate the effect of different levels of nitrogen on yield، yield components and some quality characteristics of two cultivars of rapeseed، a field experiment was conducted in Dezfoul، southwest of Iran during 2011-2012. The experimental design was a split plot in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Nitrogen levels (0، 80، 160 and 240 kg ha-1) were the main-plots and two cultivars of rapeseed (Hyola 308 and Hyola 401) were the sub-plots. The results revealed that the highest number of pods per plant and seeds per pod were obtained at 240 kg N ha-1. The highest oil percentage was obtained with the zero kg ha-1 N fertilizer (control). Hyola 401 cultivar was proven superior، in terms of different parameters، to Hyola 308. The regression analysis showed that the highest grain yield could be obtained from Hyola 308 (1998 kgha-1) and Hyola 401 (2375 kgha-1) using 225 and 228 kg N ha-1، respectively. Since the grain yield and quality of Hyola 401 were found to be higher than Hayola 308، Hyola 401 seems to have better ability to absorb and transport nitrogen and therefore produce more grain yield.

In order to optimized nitrogen fertilizer recommendation for a new safflower cultivar called “Padideh” an experiment was conducted in two regions of East Azerbaijan، Tikmehdash and Shabestar. Experimental design was a randomized complete blocks design arranged in factorial with three replications. The first factor was different nitrogen rates including 30، 60، 120 and 180 kg ha-1 nitrogen supplied from urea and the second factor was three times of split nitrogen application (including seed sowing، rosette and before flowering stage) at 1-0-0، 0-1-0، 1/3-1/3-1/3، 0-2/3-1/3 and 0-1/3-2/3 ratios. The results showed that، there was significant difference between the two regions in terms of studied traits so that safflower in Tikmehdash out-performed it at Shabestar. In addition، different nitrogen rates had significant effects on safflower traits. In general، increase in nitrogen rate led to increase in vegetative growth and improved yield and yield components. Furthermore، some parameters such as nitrogen agronomic efficiency، nitrogen use efficiency، nitrogen physiologic efficiency and apparent nitrogen recovery increased with increasing nitrogen application. Spliting nitrogen application showed a significant effect on some vegetative and yield related traits as well as nitrogen agronomic efficiency. Interaction between nitrogen rate and time of application was significant on plant height، seed number in capitulum، seed yield and oil yield. Safflower grain yield in Tikmehdash region using 180 kg ha-1 nitrogen and applied at rosette and prior to flowering stage was found to be greater than Shabestar.

In order to evaluate the effects of plastic bed mulch and sowing date on early maturity، growth and yield of Ahvazi-Okra and obtaining the highest production during the peak price period، an experiment was executed in Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center of Khuzestan. The experiment was laid out as split plot design in RCBD with four replications. Four sowing dates including Feb. 14، Feb. 24، Mar. 6، and Mar. 16 were considered as main plots and three different kinds of mulch including black plastic، clear plastic and control (without mulch) were considered as sub plots. The results showed that the effects of sowing date، kind of mulch، and their interactions on early maturity، early production، total production، germination period، and the number of days to harvest time were significant. The mulch application led to the acceleration of growth stages، and 2. 64، 1. 53، and 0. 9 °C increases respectively in soil temperature at 10cm depth، soil surface temperature and crop canopy temperature، compared to the control treatment. Sowing date did not have significant effect on weeds population. Black plastic mulch could control weeds population effectively. The results demonstrated that the Feb. 14 sowing date together with using clear bed plastic mulch had the highest early production yield (1. 9 t/ha)، total yield (6. 4 t/ha)، and the longest crop growth cycle (135 days)، the longest fruit production period (70 days) and the most number of harvestings (22 times) among the other ones.

The current research was carried out to investigate grain yield and components and their genetic diversity and heritability of some important agronomic traits، in 19 chickpea genotypes، based on a randomized complete block design with 3 replications in Research Field of Bu-Ali Sina University، Hamadan، Iran in 2011-2012 growing seasons. The ANOVA results showed that، there were highly significant differences (p < 0. 01) among genotypes for the SPAD number، number of sub-branch per plant، pod number per plant، 100-kernel weight، grain yield، biological yield، and harvest index. The mean comparisons results indicated that the genotypes 14، 12، 4 and 19 (with 234. 7، 240، 250. 3 and 259. 4 kilogram of grain yield per ha، respectively) and the genotypes 18، 8، 15، and 6 (with 151. 01، 167. 6، 167. 8 and 189 kilogram of grain yield per ha، respectively) had the maximum and minimum economic yield، respectively. According to phonotypical correlation results، there were positive and significant (p < 0. 01) correlations between grain yield and pod number per plant (0. 623**)، plant height (0. 432**)، harvest index (0. 425**) and biomass (0. 349**). Step-wise regression indicated that the pod number per plant، harvest index، biomass، number of sub-branch per plant، and plant height were the most effective traits on economic yield and they explained 84. 68 percent of the variation in economic yield. Furthermore، harvest index and seed number per plant had the maximum and minimum heritability، respectively، indicating that they could be hired as sources of variation for improving the grain yield and selecting superior genotypes.

Productivity of rainfed crops may be predicted using the climatic parameters. Crop yield prediction has an important role in agricultural policies including determining the crop price. Well-known prediction methods are regression method and arterial neural networks. In this paper soybean yield is predicted using Adaptive Nero-Fuzzy Interface System (ANFIS) and 11 years of climatic data (1998-2009) in Gonbad-e-Kavous region of Golestan province، Iran. Mean weekly rainfall، mean weekly temperature، mean weekly relative humidity and mean weekly sun shine hours were ANFIS inputs and its output was soybean grain yield (kg/ha). Stepwise Regression for Feature selection from climatic data was done with the SPSS18 software and ANFIS was created، trained and tested with MATLAB R2011a software. Trained ANFIS has ‘constant’ membership function in output layer and ‘gaussmf’ membership function in input layer. Each input has 3 membership functions and each output has one membership function. Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) criterion was used to evaluate the performance of the ANFIS. The results showed that the proposed ANFIS with 21 rules has a prediction error (RMSE) of 102. 170.

In order to investigate the effect of bio-fertilizers on the yield and yield components of flax lines، a study was conducted during 2010 growing season at the Agricultural Research Station of Saatlo in Urmia. A split plot design based on randomized complete blocks with four replications was performed in this study. Main factor (a) consisted of fertilizer application form (a1 = control; without nitrogen fertilizer، a2 = nitrogen fertilizer، a3 = nitroxin + N، a4 = phosphate barvar 2 + N، and a5 = nitroxin + phosphate barvar 2 + N) and sub factor (b) consisted of five lines of oily flax (b1 = 97-26، b2 = 97-14، b3 = 97-3، b4 = 97-21، b5 = 97-19). Quantitative and qualitative traits such as number of sub stems، leaf weight، capsule weight per main stem and sub stems، seed yield، oil and protein content were calculated or estimated. Results showed that the main factor (fertilizer form) had significant effect (at α=0. 01 probability level) on all the parameters which have been studied in this experiment. Sub factor (linseed lines) and interaction between the two factors had statistically significant effects on all traits. The highest seed yield (4781 kg h-1) and the highest seed oil content (36. 5%) were obtained from applying nitroxin + phosphateye barvare 2 + N on 97-14 and 97-3 lines. Results showed that using of Nitroxin and Phosphateye barvare 2 biofertilizers could be effective in increasing grain yield of linseed. Therefore، application of Nitroxin and Phosphateye barvare 2 biofertilizers could be used to improve soil physio-chemical properties and to increase quantitative and qualitative yield parameters of linseed.

Drying of fruits and vegetables is one of the oldest methods for preserving foods. Drying not only affects the moisture content of the product، but also changes other physical، chemical and biological properties of the product including enzymatic activity، microbial spoilage، viscosity، hardness، taste and aroma. In order to study the occurring changes in dried product، qualitative characteristics including shrinkage، color and water rehydration are commonly evaluated. The purpose of this research was to study the effect of drying methods on qualitative indices for dried Istamaran dates. The drying methods were hot air، microwave and vacuum drying. The photos of the final product were taken using a digital camera. Then، color parameters (L*، a* and b*) of the samples were measured using Photoshop software. The amount of shrinkage for dried product was determined by liquid displacement method. For evaluating rehydration ability، water absorption capacity (WAC)، dry matter holding capacity (DHC)، and rehydration ability (RA) were also estimated. Results showed that the effect of drying method on WAC، DHC، and RA was significant (p<0. 01). Means comparison revealed that the structural damage into the final dried product occurred by microwave method was higher than that for hot air and vacuum drying methods. Drying method did not lead to any significant difference among shrinkage values. Drying temperature influenced shrinkage more than drying time. Analysis of variance showed that the effect of drying method on L*، a* and b* parameters was not significant. Since the temperature of drying in microwave method is very high، it is possible that caramelization occurs during this method. This phenomenon can be considered as the reason of color darkness caused by microwave method.

Leafy vegetables are considered as the main sources of nitrate in the human diet. In order to investigate the effect of nitrate levels and harvest times on nitrate accumulation، nitrate reductase activity، concentrations of Fe، Zn، Cu and K in Lettuce and Spinach and their relation to nitrate accumulation in these leafy vegetables، two harvest times (29 and 46 days after transplanting)، two vegetable species of lettuce and spinach and two concentrations of nitrate (10 and 20 mM) were used in a hydroponics greenhouse experiment with a completely randomized design and 3 replications. Modified Hoagland and Arnon nutrient solutions were used for the experiment. The results indicated that by increasing nitrate concentration of solution، nitrate accumulation in roots and shoots of lettuce and spinach increased significantly (P ≤ 0. 05)، and the same trend was observed for the nitrate reductase activity in the shoots of the two species. Increasing the nitrate concentrations of solution، reduced the shoot dry weight and the concentration of Fe and Cu in both species، where as it increased the K and Zn concentrations in the shoots of the two species in each both harvest times، the nitrate accumulation increased، but the nitrate reductase activity decreased in the shoots of the two species over the course of the growth. The Concentration of Fe، Cu and K decreased in the shoots of lettuce and the spinach with the time، despite the increase in Zn concentration in the shoots. The results also indicated that increasing nitrate concentrations of solution to the levels greater than the plant capacity for reduction and net uptake of nitrate، leads to the nitrate accumulation in the plants. Nitrate accumulation in plant tissue led to decreases in fresh shoot yield and Fe and Cu concentrations and nitrate reductase activities in both lettuce and spinach.

In this study، the effects of carboxymethyl cellulose-low methyl pectin based edible coatings containing ascorbic acid antioxidant were investigated on optimum immersion time during osmotic dehydration of quince sheets. The selection of coating type was based on natural composition of fruits peel، (i. e cellulose) and pectin and the osmotic solutions were formulated on the basis of natural ingredients in fruits (fructose، citric acid and calcium ions). The results showed that solid gain trends have been incremental until 240 min in both coating types; however، the coated samples showed lower solid gain in all testing times. The optimum immersion time was found to be 180 min based on the water loss (W. L)، solids gain (S. G)، process efficiency index and weight reduction (W. R). In next stage، the absorption of salt and citric acid from osmotic solution and loss of vitamin C from quince cylinders (dried by hot air) were measured. Absorption of salt and citric acid in the coated samples was smaller than the non-coated samples and coated and osmotic quince cylinders indicated smaller vitamin C losses than the uncoated and non-osmotic samples.

Chrysanthemum is one of the most important ornamental plants. The genus chrysanthemum is a popular cut flower، medicinal and pot plant. Morphological traits such as cut rooting and leaf characteristics and genetic diversity among 50 genotypes of chrysanthemum morifolium were analyzed. Based on analysis of variance of data all traits in the studied genotypes showed significant differences at 1% level. The results of correlation coefficient indicated a positive and significant correlation between stem length، leaf length، leaf width and leaf serration number. The leaf length showed the highest correlation (r = +0. 90**) with leaf width. Results showed that stem length and petiole length had the highest (h2>80%) heritability. Cluster analysis according to the morphological traits using the Ward method classified all the genotypes into six groups. In this classification، two genotypes (‘Takapo’ and ‘Poloneh’) were classified into one cluster that was characterized by tall stem and low branch number. In this study، canonical discriminant analysis of 20 morphological traits revealed that 3 canonical discriminant variables explained 89. 6% of the total variation among genotypes. Results revealed that among the studied traits، number of cutting root، leaf size، petiol length، stem length، number of branches and number of offsets were the most important traits for discriminating among chrysanthemum genotypes. The results of this study indicate that these traits are useful for selecting and identify superior genotypes of chrysanthemum germplasm. Using some of the genotypes belonging to cluster A (with a small size of plant) and genotypes belonging to cluster E (with a large size of plant) as parents can be practiced as a criteria for breeding programs.