نشریه بوم شناسی کشاورزی
سال نهم شماره 2 (تابستان 1396)

Roselle or Maki tea (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) is a subtropical medicinal and aromatic plant belongs to the family Malvaceae that sepals of it's due to its medicinal properties and culinary uses. To evaluate the effect of bio-fertilizers in combination with different rates of chemical fertilizers on the growth characters, sepals yield and yield components of roselle, an experiment was conducted in randomized coplete block design with three replications, at the Research Station in Zabol University, during 2012 and 2013. Experimental treatments were plant nutrition with NPK, biophosphate, biophosphate% NPK, biophosphate% NPK, biophosphate 100% NPK, nitroxin, nitroxin%NPK, nitroxin%NPK, nitroxin흍%NPK, nitroxin渪⦆謩薫, nitroxin biophosphate% NPK, nitroxin渪⦆謩薫廻% NPK, nitroxin渪⦆謩薫廻崴% NPK and control (non-use of any fertilizer). Plant traits such as plant height, no. of branches.plant-1, fresh and dry weight of vegetative, roots fresh and dry weight, calyx no.plant-1, sepal dry weight, sepals yield of roselle were measured. The results of combined analysis of variance showed that the effect of fertilizer were significant (P≤0.01) for all studied traits. Calyx no.plant-1 was the most important component in determining the sepals yield. The highest of all studied triates belong to nitroxin渪⦆謩薫廻崴% NPK treatment that its difference with nitroxin biophosphate% NPK treatment was not significant. Thus, with respect to the production of medicinal plants in cropping systems and attention to the cultivation of these plants in low input systems, to improve plant growth and increase the sepals yield of roselle, 50% of the recommended dose of fertilizers with bio-fertilizers is recommended.

Though chemical fertilizers increase crop production; their overuse has hardened the soil, decreased fertility, strengthened pesticides, polluted air and water, and released greenhouse gases, thereby bringing hazards to human health and environment as well. Using of chemical fertilizer in agriculture has a history of more than fifty years in Iran. Recently, nitrogen fertilizers consume more than 61 percent of the chemical fertilizer in our country. Globally, the role of chemical fertilizers especially nitrogen fertilizers in agricultural production has been widely studied over the past 50 years, and in our country a considerable amount of research in universities has been dedicated to studying in this field. Meta-analysis is a method for analyzing the results of various studies on a subject. In fact, meta-analysis is a type of research on other research to re-examine the various studies carried out on a particular topic, compare them statistically and, using specific statistical techniques, the results of all those studies combine into a single result. Experiments on the effects of nitrogen fertilizers on cereals yield have a long history in Iran. However, because of high variation in the results, a final conclusion is not readily achieved.
In this study, the researches of the effect of different levels of nitrogen fertilizers on yield and yield components of cereals (wheat, corn and rice) over the past 20 years have been investigated. These studies included a variety of scientific-research articles. So, 46 papers were selected and the information was extracted from them. To overcome such a difficulty meta-analysis was used to combine and re-analyze the data of independent experiments. For this, 46 published papers related to nitrogen application on cereals including 23, 14 and 9 papers, respectively on wheat, corn and rice were selected based on criteria to satisfy the required data for meta-analysis. Fertilizer application rates for wheat, corn and rice varied in the range of 20-250, 25-275 and 10-90 kg.ha-1 N, respectively.
About 86% of the experiments used treatments between 25 and 150 kg.ha-1 nitrogen, and the frequency of nitrogen levels above 200 kg.ha-1 was very low in corn experiments. In the case of wheat, the range of nitrogen levels in the experiments was between 20 and 250 kg.ha-1. In rice, the range of nitrogen uptake was far more limited than wheat and corn, it is between 10 and 90 kg ha-1. On average in all nitrogen levels, grain yield of wheat, corn and rice compared to control were increased by 2477, 4699 and 1509 kg.ha-1, respectively. Meta-analysis results showed that nitrogen fertilizers significantly increased both grain yield and Biological yield of the studied cereals. However, harvest index was not statistically affected. Maximum grain and biological yields were attained by 50-100 and 100-150 kg.ha-1 N, respectively. Meta-analysis was also conducted for each crop separately. The results indicated that optimal nitrogen levels for the grain and biological yields were 75-100 and 100 kg.ha-1 N except corn. For corn maximum amount could be achieved from 50-100 kg.ha-1 N for grain yield and from 50-100 kg.ha-1 N for biological yield. For rice, maximum of grain and biological yields were reported by 75-90 kg.ha-1 N. The studied cereals harvest index showed no significant response to nitrogen fertilizers.
The results of this study showed that despite the long history of using this inputs in the agricultural sector, the optimal use is still unclear. In this study, statistical comparisons between fertilizer levels were performed, while the ecological dimensions of nitrogen application were also significant. Further studies can compare types of efficacy, soil health and environmental aspects of nitrogen use and other chemical fertilizers, provide a wider range of possibilities for sustainable field management and sustainable management of the country.

Recently, the impact of chemical farming and the negative consequences on the environment and human health are on rise in Iran. Organic farming is gaining attention and increasing globally because it is eco-friendly, safe and has benefits for human health. The use of organic fertilizers in agriculture improves soil structure. Plant spacing and fertilizer applications have significant influence on the growth and yield in crop production. Optimum plant spacing ensures the proper use of land, as well as growth and nutrition in plants. Balangu (Lallemantia royleana Benth.) is a medicinal plant from Lamiaceae family, containing essential oils and mucilage. The most important feature of this plant is the mucilage of the seeds. The seeds are a good source of fiber, oil and protein, and have medicinal and nutritional properties. Using the appropriate plant density and environmental friendly methods like organic fertilizers can improve the quality and quantity of medicinal plants production.
In order to study the effect of organic fertilizers and plant density on the qualitative characteristics of Balangu (Lallemantia royleana Benth.) as a medicinal plant, an experiment was conducted at the Research Station of Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, during the growing season of 2011-2012. Soil samples were collected from the 15 cm depth of each experimental plots for laboratory analysis. This experiment was carried out as factorial layout based on randomized complete block design with three replications. Treatments were included five levels of fertilizer (cow manure, sheep manure, chicken manure, municipal solid waste compost and control) and three levels of plant density (20, 30 and 40 plant m-2). The studied traits were included amount of mucilage, swelling factor, swelling per gram mucilage, mucilage and seed yield. Data were analyzed with SAS software. The F test was used to test the significance of mean squares and means were compared with Duncan’s test at the 5% level of probability
The results showed that fertilizer treatments had no significant effects on the studies criteria except mucilage and seed yield. Mucilage yield, seed yield and swelling factor were significantly affected by plant density. Maximum quality yield was obtained in treatment of chicken manure and highest plant density (40 plant m-2). The highest amount of mucilage (0.19 grams mucilage per gram seed) was obtained in treatment of municipal solid waste compost and sheep manure. The highest inflation rate per ml of mucilage was obtained in cow manure treatment (96.5 ml per gram of mucilage). Different levels of density had no significant effect on the amount of inflation per gram of mucilage. Plant density had significant effect on the seed yield (p≤0.05). So that the maximum of this trait (437 kg ha-1) was obtained at 40 plants per m2 density.
The highest and lowest amount of mucilage yield were obtained in treatments of 40 and 20 plant m-2 density, respectively. The interaction effect between fertilizer and plant density had significant (p≤0.05) effect on the seed yield, so that the maximum of this trait (605 kg ha-1) was obtained in treatment of fertilizer application and 40 plant m-2 density.
In general, the results of this experiment showed that fertilizer treatments had no effect on the quality of Balangao except mucilage, but the organic fertilizers could affect mucilage content. Among the qualitative characteristics of the Balangao, the swelling and mucilage content were affected by the plant density treatments. It seems that the mucilage is significantly affected by the effect of plant density on the seed yield. The lack of the effect of plant density on qualitative characteristics of the Balangao showed that these characteristics are more affected by genetic, not environmental control.

Saffron is among the most precious agricultural and medicinal plants of the world and has a specific placement in Iran exports. In Iran total cultivation area was 93000 ha in 2017 that from which about 96% devoted to two main provinces of saffron production including Khorasan-Razavi and South Khorasan with total production of 351 ton saffron. Saffron has unique characters including low water requirement, saffron irrigation in times that other crops do not need, farm utilization for some years, ease of transportation, lack of need to special machinery and complex technology, high capacity to use labor in time of picking flowers, occupation and in the end prevention from immigration and exchange income that make this crop becomes superior in those regions that lack of industrial perspectives and having water limitations. Organic fertilizers have effective role in saffron production including physical improvement of saffron soil, temperature relief, penetration improvement, porosity increase, and soil reducdtion in hardiness, and cause to saffron flowering. Several factors like climate, diseases, irrigation, storage, planting date, chemical and biological fertilizers and animal manure are very effective in saffron quantity and quality. Saffron yield depends on several factors like soil, crop density, planting method, corm size, geographical location, climatic factors like temperature fluctuations specially in time of flowering, rate of rainfall, cultural management and utilization period. The aim of this study was to determine possible effects of corm density and bed type on flower yield components and stigma yield of saffron.
In order to evaluate effects of corm density and bed type on reproductive characters, yield components of flower and saffron stigma an experiment was conducted in the form of factorial as RCBD with three replicates at the research farm of Khorasan Science and Technology Part (KSTP) during growing season of 2010-2011.The treatments under study were density with three levels of 50,100,150 corms per m2 and five bed types of 10 t.ha urban compost, 30 t.ha decayed cow manure, 20 t.ha mushroom bed residues,10 t.ha wheat straw, and control that were applied in planting time. Traits measured were number of flowers, fresh and dry weight of flowers, fresh and dry weight of stigma, fresh and dry weight of style of saffron. Statistical analysis of the first year of data was done with SAS software and mean comparisons were as DUNCAN multiple range test at 5% level with MSTAT-C.
Results showed that corm density had significant effect on all traits under study at p≤0.01 but effect of bed type was only insignificant on number of flowers .m-2 and in other traits were significant at p≤0.01. Increasing corm density from 50 to 150 corms.m-2 increased flower number from 16.8 to 46.8 . m-2 (about 179%) and fresh weight by 177 and stigma dry weight by 155%.The highest fresh and dry weight of stigma style were found in wheat straw that were 14.43 and 2.59 kg.ha, respectively. Interaction between corm density and bed type was not significant in all traits under study.Variation of flower number .m-2 had high correlation with corm density.m-2 that shows trend of increasing flower number due to increasing corm number.
Therefore, it is concluded that for production of more flowers and dry weight of stigma in the first year corm density of 150 corms.m-2 and bed type of wheat straw is recommended.Saffron yield in the first year of cultivation is not economical and it seems that by using high density planting it almost compensates for low yield at the first year.Recently, farmers are willing to apply high corms for planting saffron farms. Saffron is an organic crop and preparing beds with organic fertilizers specially wheat straw due to its improvement of environmental conditions have positive effect in saffron yield and environmental improvement.

Undoubtedly, planning and providing appropriate management strategies for weed management requires accurate understanding of plant growth. In fact, by identifying plant growth flora and determining the abundance and distribution of weed species, we can obtain important background information for designing weed management plans. Usually the composition and density of weed flora reflect the system of production and agronomic operations. In fact, by identifying the weed flora and determining the abundance and distribution of weed species, we can provide important background information for designing weed management plans. In this case, Cheat grass is problematic weed in winter crops like wheat and barley.
Material and The distribution of this weed as random sampling method in 2012 was surveyed in 40 irrigated wheat farms in Khorramabad, 27 farms in Mashhad and 28 farms in Neyshaboor. Factors related to relative abundance, species richness, density and relative uniformity as well as variability and dominance indices were measured. Sampling in each farm was a W pattern. At almost all fields monitored, sampling was done in the post-stemming phase of the wheat before filling the seeds. Also, using the GIS technique, the distribution map of grass plots was drawn in these areas.
Results showed that sixteen weed species from poaceae family other than cheat grass were observed. Relative frequency of hirsotum ecotype of cheat grass (with 8.76%) was higher than tectorum ecotypes (with 4.76%) in Khorramabad. The Animated animated oat with 19.65% and then Wild barley with 13.52% in mean of 5 samples had the highest relative frequency. In Mashhad relative frequency of tectorum ecotype with 12.44% was higher than of hirsotum ecotype with 7.25%. Common wild oat with 13.99 and then Wild barley with 12.95% had the highest frequency. In wheat farms of Neyshaboor, two ecotypes had similar relative frequency with 10.75%. Common wild oat with 14.52 and then Secale with 12.29% had the highest frequency. In this case only Johnson grass and Bermuda grass were perennial and other weed species were annual. The properties of annual plants are capable of retrieval and rapid reproduction after the destruction occurring in the environment. Therefore, the abundance of more than one year in agricultural lands that are associated with continuous degradation is not unexpected. Additionally, most of the crops are annual, and it is normal that annual crop rotations that have the same growing needs as a crop are more abundant than perennial weeds Similar results were also obtained in thi sstudy. Furthermore, it was shown that the latitude had no large effect on density of grasses and cheat grass ecotypes. Shannon-Weiner diversity index in Khorramabad 2.24, in Mashhad 2.16, in Neyshaboor 2.29, Simpson's diversity index 1.04, in Mashhad 1.31 and in Neyshabour 1.16 and Simpson dominance index in khorramabad 0.960, in Mashhad 0.764 and in neyshaboor 0.862 was calculated. Also using GIS techniques distribution map of cheat grass were drawn in these areas.
The characteristics of annual plants such as grasshopper can be recovered and are capable of rapid replication after the destruction occurring in the environment. Therefore, the abundance of more than one year in agricultural lands that are associated with continuous degradation is not unexpected. In addition to theaccording to the findings of this research, the difference in the indices of species diversity and dominance were associated with the level and type of management practices on farms.
In general, farms with a higher diversity can be said to be managed with weaker management practices that minimize the use of agricultural machinery and the inadequacy of chemical inputs such as pesticides and fertilizers.

At global level nitrogen (N) fertilizers had drastic effects on crop yields increment during the last century. However, high application rates of this input have resulted to environmental pollution all around the world in addition decreased yields per unit of applied N is also reported in some countries. To fulfill increasing demands for agricultural crops with conservative application of N fertilizers, increasing N use efficiencies is recognized as a sustainable management. This calls for systematic studies on N use efficiency and its components at crop, field and regional levels. However, N efficiencies of agricultural crops at national level are not fully analyzed in Iran. In this research, forty years (1960-2010) data on yield and N application rate were analyzed for yield trend, N efficiencies and its related components for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production systems of Iran.
Required data of wheat yield and nitrogen fertilizer application rates during the 40 years study period was obtained from official web sites of national agricultural statistics as well as Ministry of Jihad Agriculture. Using these data partial nitrogen productivity (kg yield kg N-1); nitrogen use efficiency (kg yield kg-1 N, ignoring soil N), nitrogen uptake efficiency (%); nitrogen utilization efficiency (kg yield kg-1 absorbed N); and relative contribution of Nitrogen to grain yield (%) was estimated based on previously reported methods. Yield and N fertilizer application rate were subjected to time series analysis and fertilizer rates were predicted for the next decade over the studied period.
The results indicated that during the studied period mean annual growth rate of wheat yield and nitrogen application were 2.9 and 6.9%, respectively leading to 3.4 fold increase in yield and 9.5 fold increase in N fertilizers so that fertilize application rate was changed from 25 to 240 kg ha-1. However, N fertilizer application rate in wheat production systems of Iran is reducing since 80’s and prediction based on time series indicted that this rate will not exceed 250 kg ha-1 by 2020. Partial N productivity was estimated as 22.5 kg grain .kg-1 applied N which is reduced linearly over the studied period with the slope of -0.19 kg ha-1.y-1. Mean N use efficiency (NUE) in wheat production systems over the country averaged over four studied decades was 14.5 kg grain kg-1 applied N. Separation of NUE to its components showed that on average 35.5% of applied N was recovered in wheat agroecosystems of Iran and due decreasing trend of recovery N uptake efficiency was reached to 30% in the late 80’s. However, mean N utilization efficiency was estimated as 40 kg grain kg-1 absorbed N and increased slightly during the last four decades. Relative contribution of N fertilizers to wheat yield was increased with a positive slope from 24% in the first decade of the study period to 32% after 40 years. Based on the results it seems that the decreasing trend in NUE of wheat production systems of Iran is mainly due to low uptake efficiency which was not compensated for by slight improvement of N utilization efficiency.
Nitrogen application rate in wheat production systems of Iran has increased expansively during the last four decades. However, nitrogen uptake efficiency in wheat production systems of the country is considerably low and has resulted in a decreasing trend in nitrogen use efficiency over the last 40 years despite relative increase of N utilization efficiency over this period. Increasing N recovery through protecting N losses at field level, genetic improvement of N utilization efficiency and regulation of N fertilizers price compared to the price of wheat grain are urgent priorities to sustain wheat yield at national level with lower N application rates.

Natural and human hazards arising from the use of chemical pesticides to reduce pest damage are significantly increased. In this way, tend to use alternatives with similar efficacy and less risk like plant to control pests has increased. Therefore, it seems that plant compounds can be used as alternatives to chemical insecticides to protect agricultural products in the future. These compounds have no harmful and negative effects on nature and are safer than chemical insecticides; they decompose rapidly, do not remain in soil and water and have no effect on non-target populations. One of the important agricultural products around the world is potato and a major pest of it around the world and in Iran that damage the product is Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say). Nowadays chemical control is the most common method to control of this pest but causes resistance. According to the Colorado potato beetle resistant to conventional chemical pesticides for controlling them, in recent year tendency to use insecticide with plant origin become more for this pest.One of the most important plant compounds are essential oils. Due to the low risk of essential oils to humans and the environment and their insecticidal effect, we motivated to investigate the insecticidal effects of three important medicinal plants on Colorado potato beetle for reducing the environmental hazards arising from the use of chemical insecticides.
Three insecticides thiamethoxam, diniteforane, imidacloprid were bought and three essential oils Satureja khuzistanica Jamzad, Ocimum basilicum L. and Mentha spicata L. were gathered in spring then dried in shade at room temperature and for later use in special plastic bags were stored at -24 ° C. With Clevenger essential oils were extracted. In the spring and summer 4th instars larvae of Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say from potato fields of Ardabil plain collected. Investigation against this pest in a completely randomized block design with four replications under field conditions was done. Mortalities were recorded at 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 days after spraying insecticides and essential oils. The control plants were treated with water. Data analysis was done in SPSS16 software and the mean of the data was compared with Turkey's test.
Result showed that in this study thiamethoxam had greatest effect on fourth instar larvae of Colorado potato beetle. In 15 cc a.i./ha of thiamethoxam in the environment after 15 days 95 % mortality happen . Imidacloprid and diniteforane after 15 days have 68 and 73.6 percent mortality respectively. Imidacloprid and thiamethoxam are two most common Colorado potato beetle insecticides that are used by farmers. Diniteforane is not so common insecticides in country. Also investigated showed that essential oil of S. khuzistanica had greatest effect on fourth instar larvae of Colorado potato beetle. In 15 cc a.i./ha of S. khuzistanica in the environment after 15 days 90.2 % mortality happen . O. basilicum and M. spicata after 15 days have 48 and 46 percent mortality respectively. Data showed that essential oils are highly selective and because of their effect (actopamin receptor) usually have no adverse effect on mammals. These compounds in contrast to synthetic carbamates, organophosphouros, and pyretroid that have adverse effect on the environment and people are safe for the environment.
Therefore, using plant material is effective step for reducing environmental risk of chemical insecticides that used for agricultural crop in country. In order to reduce the environmental hazards caused by the use of chemical pesticides, we can say: 1- Limit the use of chemical pesticides.
2. Use plant materials that are safe for humans and creatures.
3. Promote and educate the use of these compounds among farmers.
Acknowledgment
Thereby researcher thanks and appreciated from the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences of University of Mohaghegh Ardabili for doing this project.

Agriculture is a major consumer of chemical resources. Increasing use of the inputs in agriculture has led to numerous environmental problems such as high consumption of nonrenewable energy resources, loss of biodiversity and pollution of the aquatic environment (Moradi et al., 2014). This environmental change will have the serious impacts on different growth and development processes of crops. The latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that future emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) will continue to increase and cause to climatic change (IPCC, 2007). This condition is also true for Iran. The three greenhouse gases associated with agriculture are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). Consistent with the development of agricultural production systems and move towards modernization in this sector increased dependence of the chemical resource (Salinger, 2005). There is even less data on CO2, N2O, and CH4 gas emission analysis as affected by cultivating various crops in Kerman province. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission and global warming potential (GWP) caused by chemical inputs (various chemical fertilizers and pesticides) for cultivating wheat, barley and maize in some regions of Kerman province at 2011-2012 growth season.
The study was conducted in Kerman province of Iran. Information about planting area of potato, onion and watermelon in various regions of Kerman was collected. Data were collected from potato, onion and watermelon growers by using a face to face questionnaire in 2014 for different regions of Kerman. In addition to the data obtained by surveys, previous studies of related organization (Agricultural Ministry of Kerman) were also utilized during the study. The application rates of the chemical inputs were collected by using a face-to-face questionnaire in various regions (Bardsir, Bam, Jiroft, Kerman, Ravar, Rafsanjan and Sirjan) of Kerman province. The amounts of GHG emissions from chemical inputs in the studied crops were calculated by using CO2, N2O and CH4 emissions coefficient of chemical inputs. Each greenhouse gas, i.e. CO2, CH4 and N2O has a GWP, which is the warming influence relative to that of CO2. The emission was measured in terms of CO2. The GWP coefficient based on CO2 is shown in Table 1.
The results showed that N and P fertilizers had the highest application share of chemical inputs. Maize had the significant different with wheat and barley based on N application per hectare. P application for maize and wheat was about 58 and 28% more than barley.
In all conditions, CO2 was obtained extremely higher emission rather than N2O and CH4. This issue was due to the highest coefficient emission of CO2 compared to N2O and CH4. Due to higher usage value and coefficient emission of N fertilizer, GHGs emission for N fertilizer was higher than the other inputs in all three crops and all the regions. The pesticide inputs had lower GHGs emission in comparison with chemical fertilizers. The highest emission of CO2, N2O and CH4 was gained for wheat fallowed by maize, and barely had the lowest value. Jiroft and Rafsanjan were obtained the highest and lowest GHGs emission through the studied regions, respectively. Higher GHGs emission in Jiroft was due to the higher planting area compared with the others regions. Annual GWP in studied regions and cereals had the same trend with GHGs emission, whereas, the highest and lowest values of GWP per hectare were related to Jiroft and Sirjan, respectively. The GWP in maize (504 t. ha-1) was higher than wheat (404 ton.ha-1) and barely (431 ton.ha-1). Among the chemical inputs, N fertilizer brought about 87% of GWP.
Generally, the results showed that nitrogen fertilizer is the most important factor in greenhouse gas emissions in cereal. Corn cultivation has more share than wheat and barley in the global warming potential. According to this research, the following strategies can be considered for reducing greenhouse gas emissions: Improvement of the nitrogen use efficiency
Use of crop rotations: Use of organic (manure, compost, green manure, plant debris) and bio (nitrogen fixation microcrystalline) resources than chemical fertilizers
Use of ecological and biological methods for pest and weed management
Use of intercropping systems

Distribution of leaf area and dry matter are the effective factors that influence on absorption the radiation, evaporation and transpiration of canopy and eventually dry matter accumulation and grain yield in plants. Plant canopy is the spatial arrangement of shoots in a plant population. In plant canopy, leaves are responsible for radiation absorption and gas exchange with the outside. Stem and branches arrange photosynthetic organs somehow, which gas exchange and light distribution best done. The effect of canopy structure on gas exchange and absorption of radiation in plant communities caused detailed study of the canopy structure to be more important.
In order to investigate the vertical distribution of leaf area and dry matter of borage and sweet basil in competition with weeds by cover crops treatments, a field experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design with 8 treatments and 3 replications in Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Sari in 2013. Treatments were cover crops mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) and Persian clover (Trifolium resupinatum L.) in the rows between the sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) and borage (Borago officinalis L.). Moreover, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of cover crops to control weeds, pure stand of sweet basil and borage in terms of weeding and no weed controls per replicates were used. Each plot was included 5 rows of medicinal plants. Cover crop inter-seeded simultaneously in the main crop. Estimation of leaf area and dry matter of each plant in different canopy layers (0-20, 20-40, 40-60, 80.100, 100-120 and 120-140 cm) were done after 75 planting days, with 1 m × 1 m quadrate per plot. For this purpose a vertical card board frame marked in 20-cm increments was used in the field as a guide to cut standing plants (crops, cover crops and weeds) into 20-cm strata increments (Mosier & Oliver, 1995). All samples were transferred to the laboratory, leaves and stem were separated and for every sample the area of green leaves was measured with a leaf area meter LICOR- 3000 A (LI-COR, Lincoln, NE, USA). Afterwards all samples were oven-dried at 70 ºC for 48 hours and weighted. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed by application SAS (Ver. 9.2). In order to compare the average, least significant differences test (LSD) were used. Excel was used for charting.
Results presented that vertical distribution of sweet basil leaf area was limited in top layer of canopy (40-60 cm) in all treatments except presence of weeds. But dry matter of sweet basil canopy was distributed in all layers in weed free treatment. In borage, omitting the competition with weeds, causes to distribute leaf area and dry matter in all three layers. Results showed that mung bean and Persian clover have same distribution of leaf area and dry matter in all layers in neighboring with sweet basil. Generally, the vertical distribution of dry matter of weeds in the fields of borage and sweet basil had more uniformity in the absence of cover crops. Planting cover crops between rows of main plants causes rapid occupation of empty spaces and lack of weed seed germination and also prevent seedling growth and development of weeds.
Shading can cause leaf abscission of sweet basil and borage in lower layers when competing with weeds. While, presence of cover crop made dry matter allocation to these lower layers in sweet basil. Moreover, borage allocated its dry matter in presence of Persian clover and also in weed free. No applying cover crops caused weed height increment, so with planting suitable cover crop, weed growing can be decreased.

Environmental stresses are one of the main causes of severe yield reductions. Drought is still a serious agronomic problem and also one of the most important factors contributing to crop yield loss in arid and semi-arid areas in the world. Filter Cake is a byproduct of sugarcane industry and experiments on corn showed that the use of 20 tons per hectare Filter Cake increases crop productivity, total amount of dry matter, protein and forage yield compared with the control.
This experiment was conducted at the Research Station of the Ramin Agricultural University of Khuzestan in 2012. The experiment was done as a split plot based on randomized complete block design with three replications. Drought stress at the end of the growth period in three levels, non-stress, mild and severe drought stress, respectively irrigated after 25, 50 and 75% depletion of available water, and was considered as the main factor. Drought stress was applied in early stage of the male inflorescence of plants to maturity for 35 days, due to the critical stage of the plant in late spring. Soil moisture was determined by gravimetric method. Different doses of Filter Cake (0, 10, 20 and 30 tons per hectare) were considered as subplot factor and was added to the soil two days before the seeding. The final harvest as green corn was performed in the first phase of dough by hand in three times and two midfields of each subplot was considered as the margin of half a meter for each side. Finally, the data were analyzed using SAS 9.1 and means were compared by Duncan’s multiple range test at probability level of 5%.
In non-stress conditions, Filter Cake is significantly increased plant height, So the amounts of 20 and 30 tons per hectare increased by 11.7% and 10.1% of the plant’s height, respectively, but the use of 10 tons of Filter Cake did not have a significant effect on it. In severe stress conditions, the use of different levels of Filter Cake significantly reduced the plant’s height. Although Mild stress did not have a significant effect on membrane stability index, severe drought stress reduced it about 17.5% compared with non-stress treatments. The osmotic potential in normal conditions was the highest, however, it was decreased with increasing stress. Therefore, in severe stress conditions and treatment without Filter Cake, osmotic potential was -1.71 MPa. Mild and severe drought stress significantly reduced soluble proteins of the leaf by 12.5% and 17.1%, respectively compared with the control. Application of 10 tons per hectare of Filter Cake had no significant effect on sodium ion concentration, but using 20 and 30 tons per hectare of Filter Cake increased the concentration by 39% and 44%, respectivelycompared with the control. The use of 10 tons of Filter Cake in non-stress conditions had no significant effect on Na, but using 20 and 30 tons per hectare of Filter Cake increased the amount of Na by 10% and 13.7%,, respectively compared with the control. In severe stress conditions, the use of 20 and 30 tons per hectare of Filter Cake decreased fresh weight yield by 9% and 14.5%,, respectively. Under non-stress conditions, the use of Filter Cake led to increased dry matter production. In severe stress conditions the use of 10 tons per hectare of Filter Cake did not have significant effects on biological yield, but application of 20 and 30 tons per hectare of Filter Cake decreased biological yield by19% and 23%, respectively compared with treatment without Filter Cake.
The results showed that: (1) Drought stress reduces the growth and yield of sweet corn and economic benefit in spring planting in Khuzestan province. (2) The use of Filter Cake through physical modification of the soil, causes uniformity of germination and early growth acceleration of product, and in non-stress conditions increases economic performance. (3) In drought stress conditions, the use of Filter Cake, due to high salinity and salt accumulation in the root zone, causes secondary oxidative stress and increases damage to cell membranes and reduces the economic benefit.
In order to investigate the effect of Filter Cake levels application on some morpho-physiological characteristics and ear yield of sweet corn (Zea mays var saccharata) under late drought stress condition, an experiment was conducted in Ramin Agriculture and Natural Resources University, Khuzestan, at 2012. The experiment was arranged in split-plots design in RCBD (Randomized Complete Block Design) with three replications. Treatments of experiment were drought stress (irrigation after 25, 50 and 75% depletion of available water content) in main plots and filter cake (0, 10, 20 and 30 ton.ha-1) arranged in sub-plots. Results showed that the effect of drought stress significant on more traits and led to decrease of plant height, leaf area index (LAI), membrane stability index(MSI), leaf osmotic potential, soluble protein contents, ear and biological yield while effect of drought stress on shoot sodium concentration was not significant. The intensive drought stress led to decrease 21.7 and 27.3% ear and biological yield compared to control respectively. Application of filter cake on non-stress led to increase height of plant and ear and biological yield. But high levels of filter cake in intensive stress led to increase salinity and damage to cell membranes and reduce LAI and MSI and thus reduce economic performance. It also the amount of 30 ton.ha-1 of filter cake in intensive stress condition has been decrease ear and biological yield 18.7 and 23.3% compared to non-filter cake application respectively.

Drought or water deficit stress is the most important environmental factor which has severe negative impacts on crop yields, especially when the water stress occurs in the flowering stage. Iran is located in arid and semi-arid areas, therefore, attention to the effects of water deficit stress in different stages of plants growth seems necessary. Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is one of the most important legumes that has a major contribution to human diet and provides an important part of the human protein. According to studies, cultivation areas of legumes in Iran are about 97300 hectares and its total production is about 208350 tons of grain. Bean is a fast-growing plant (Tran and Singh, 2002), thus soil water must be sufficiently available to ensure its desirable growth and yield. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of drought stress on yield and yield components of some pinto bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cultivated in Zanjan province.
An experiment was conducted as spilt plot based on randomized complete block design with four replications in Zanjan university research farm. Irrigation levels (control and drought stress) and genotypes (Local khomein, Sadri, Ks21193 and Ks21189) were set in the main and subplot, respectively. Water deficit stress was applied during flowering stage (50% of the plants were at anthesis). Sampling was performed to measure yield and yield components at the end of the growth period and final maturity. In this experiment number of pod per Plant, numberof grain per pod, 100 grain weight, grain yield, biological yield and harvest index were measured.
In this experiment it was observed that drought stress, genotype and interact irrigation×genotyps were significantly for all traits except biological yield. Drought stress reduced number of pod perplant, number of grain per pod, 100 grain weight, grain yield, biological yield and Harvest Index. Results indicated that Ks21189 genotype showed maximum number of pod perplant (9.2), number of grain per pod (2.91), 100 grain weight, grain yield (741.6 Kg.Ha-1), biological yield (2857 Kg.Ha-1) and Harvest Index (27.31%) under drought stress conditions. In addition, this genotype had the least reduction for all traits under water limitation conditions in comparison to control. These findings confirm the resistance of Ks21189 genotype to drought stress and stimulating this genotype to least reduction in Grain yield under water limitation conditions. Minimum number of pod per plant (4.52), number of grain per pod (1.62), grain yield (503.1 Kg.Ha-1), biological yield (2301.6 Kg.Ha-1) and Harvest Index (22.66%) was obtained in sadri genotype under drought conditions. Sadri genotype was identified as water deficit stress sensitive genotypes with reduction of yield up to 80.18%. In all genotypes, water deficit stress reduced grain yield due to reduced yield components (number of pod per plant, number of grain per pod and 100 grain weight).
The results of this experiment showed that water deficit stress on yield and yield components of bean genotypes had a negative effect. The highest and lowest yield and yield components were obtained from normal irrigation and drought stress treatments, respectively. Ks21189 genotype was more stable in water deficit treatment than other genotypes; however grain yield reduce in normal irrigation treatment was lower than other genotypes. Therefore, it seems that this genotype can be used as an appropriate genotype for supplemental evaluation in water deficit stress conditions. Correlation analysis showed significant and positive correlation between biological yield, number of pods per plant, number of grains per pod with grain yield. We concluded that genotypes with higher biological yield under drought stress conditions can produce maximum number of pods per plant, number of grains per pod and grain yield.
Acknowledgments: We would like to express our thanks to the Faculty of Agriculture, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University for supporting this study.

Despite the importance of oily crops in development of Iran, there are few studies on nutrition with micronutrient in these crops, especially for safflower. Safflower, a deep rooted oilseed crop, is grown in many areas of world because it can be used as oil crop, vegetable, birdfeed and spices. To achieve the acceptable growth and yield of safflower, it needs the sufficient micro- and macronutrient, so that recently, there has been an increased interest in evaluation of nutrient role in quality and quantity of safflower. Application of vermicompost in oil crop production systems of Iran has been increased; which it can improve soil structure by increasing aggregate stability as well as increase in water holding capacity and aeration. On the other hand, micronutrients are nutrients required by plants in small quantities to organize a range of physiological functions. The deficiency micronutrients is widespread in many parts of the country due to cultivation of high yielding varieties, intensive agriculture and increasing use of sulphur free fertilizers in large quantities with concomitant decrease in use of organic manures. There is little information on interaction of vermicompost and micronutrients combination on safflower. thus, this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of combinations of three important micronutrient consisted of sulphur, zinc and boron on yield and yield components as well as dry forage production of safflower in different vermicompost treatments.
Material and In this research, the effect of micronutrient application and vermicompost was examined on yield and yield components of safflower in Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Center of Kerman Province in two Kerman and Bardsir regions. The treatments were included vermicompost factor at two levels (0 and 6 t ha-1) and micronutrients combinations at 12 levels (no use, 100 kg ha-1 S, 200 kg ha-1 S, 3 ml L-1 Zn, 2 ml L-1 B, four twofold and two triplet combinations of the 3 micronutrients). A factorial experiment based on randomized block design (RCBD) was used. Vermicompost and S were used before planting as soil apply, while Zn and B were applied as foliar application. Dry forage at the flowering early and branch number per plant, head number per plant, grain number per head, weight of 1000 grains and grain yield at final ripening were determined. Analysis of variance, means comparisons (LSD at 5% probability level) and correlation coefficient were done in SAS software.
The results showed that application of vermicompost and micronutrient had positive and significant effect on head number per plant, grain number per head, weight of 1000 grains, dry forage and grain yield in both places. These could be attributed to improved soil porosity, water holding capacity and aeration caused by vermicompost. Vermicompost are also known as sources of plant nutrients and can improve soil physicochemical characteristics. Growth and yield of safflower plants in Kerman was significantly more than those in Bardsir, which was probably due to better conditions of soil in Kerman. Kerman had greater amount of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous as well as higher level of soil organic matter. On average, vermicompost application at 6 t ha-1 was associated with 347 and 54 kg.ha-1 increasing in dry forage and grain yield, respectively. In the other hand, the highest dry forage and grain yield were obtained from plants treated with 200 kg ha-1 S, Zn and B as 2104 and 1433 and 1433 kg ha-1, respectively. Stimulated photosynthetic activity and synthesis of chloroplast and protein in result of micronutrient application might be reason of greater yield in these treatments. The grain number had the highest correlation with forage production and yield.
In general, the result of this study revealed that in both places, vermicompost and micronutrient application had positive interaction, so that the greatest forage and grain production were observed in vermicompost application with triple combination of S, Zn and B.

The results of climate change studies in recent years confirm this phenomenon occurrence in Iran. The climatic characteristics (potential and limitations of climate) are considered in the long run, to determine the pattern of cultivation and distribution of different plant species. Unfortunately, the agricultural sector due to the low speed and power compliance, will suffer the greatest impact of climate change. General circulation models provide accurate tools to predict future climatic conditions, and the necessary data for the implementation of simulation models and the development of crops under climate change conditions. The study of the effects of climate change on the agricultural sector seems to be necessary due to increase the demand for agricultural production. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of climate change on the rainfed barley farming calendar in Lorestan province as an effective pole in cereal cultivation in Iran.
In order to study the effects of climate change on the rainfed barley farming calendar, outputs from the HadCM3 model simulations were used. After evaluating the LARS-WG stochastic weather generator model using performance indicators and ensure the suitability of the model, this model was applied to downscale HadCM3 model outputs. A2 scenario was chosen to evaluate climate impacts for the period 2011–2030. In this study, due to the suitable temperature for germination in the region, has been emphasized only on the precipitation to find the most suitable time for barley cultivation. Planting date was calculated by Weibull probability with 50 and 75% confidence intervals. Growing degree days (GDD) were used to calculate the phenological stages. For the forecast period, the same method was used to determine the farming calendar.
Results The results showed that in the observation period, the earliest planting date was observed in northern province in Borujerd and Aleshtar cities, and as we go south, the planting date postponed. The beginning of the cultivation is a function of temperature, so that the latest planting date was observed in Poldokhtar city as the warmest region of the province. In the observation period, the latest harvesting date was observed in Aligoodarz and Aleshtar cities and the earliest harvesting date was observed in Poldokhtar city. In the forecast period, the beginning of crop cultivation did not change much and remained constant for less than 10 days compared to the observation period. However, many changes occurred in the harvesting date. So that the most changes with 60 days earlier occurred at the Poldokhtar city. The duration of the growth period reduced at all the stations. The greatest reduction in the duration of the growth period was observed at the Aligudarz city with 62 days. The decreasing duration of the growth period was due to changes in temperature and precipitation. This shows that the fall precipitation, which is related to the cold season, does not change much, but the precipitation of the warm season decreases. One of the limitations of rainfed barley cultivation in Lorestan province is temperature in the tillering stage. This restriction will continue in future. In the observation period, temperature of flowering and grain filling period was in optimal conditions, but in the forecast period, with increasing temperature, we will encounter high temperature stress in these two stages. The adaptation strategies are different depending on the type of farming and the climate change scenario. Among these strategies we can mention changes in planting date and crop rotation, use of resistant varieties to the warm conditions and irrigation management.
The results showed that at all stations, the planting date will be earlier and the duration of the growth period will decrease in the period 2011–2030.

In recent years, the effect of exogenous organic amendments on soil properties and plant growth characteristics has received renewed attention. Although the utilization of mineral fertilizers could be viewed as the best solution in terms of plant productivity, this approach is often inefficient in the long-term in tropical ecosystems due to the limited ability of low-activity clay soils to retain nutrients. Intensive use of agrochemicals in agricultural systems is also known to have irreversible effects on soil and water resources.
The use of organic and biological fertilizers are important strategies to reduce harmful effects of chemical fertilizers in sustainable management of agroecosystems.
Spent mushroom compost is the residual compost waste generated by the mushroom production industry. It is readily available and its formulation generally consists of a combination of wheat straw, dried blood, horse manure and ground chalk, composted together. It is an excellent source of humus, although much of its nitrogen content will have been used up by the composting and growing mushrooms. It remains, however, a good source of general nutrients, as well as a useful soil conditioner.
Most mineral soils contain mycorrhizal fungi, but often at levels that are too low for adequate colonization, especially in disturbed soils. Mycorrhizae are host specific and will only colonize certain plants; so in some soils, there are no native mycorrhizae that will benefit these plants. Therefore, most plants would benefit from mycorrhizae addition to the soil. Symbiosis begins when fungal spores germinate and emerging thread linke structures, called hyphae, enters the epidermis of plant roots. After colonization of the root, the fungus sends out a vast network of hyphae throughout the soil to form a greatly enhanced absorptive surface area. This results in improved nutrient acquisition and uptake by plant roots, particularly elemental phosphorus, zinc, manganese and copper and water. In return, the plant provides carbohydrates for the fungi.
In order to study the effect of mushroom compost and mycorrhiza on yield of garlic (Allium sativum L.), a split plot experiment based on RCBD design with three replications was conducted in 2010-11 growing season in research farm of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran. Mycorrhiza (Glomus mosseae) (use and non-use) and spent mushroom compost levels (SMC) (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 t ha-1) were considered as the main and sub factors. In order to determine the physic-chemical properties of soil, sampling was done at a depth of 0 to 30 cm. Distance on and between rows was considered 10 and 20 cm, respectively. In order to weeds control, manual weeding was done three times. At the end of the growing season, economic yield, biological yield, plant height, shoot dry weight, bulb diameter, bulblet weight per plant, bulblet volume per plant and bulblet number per plant were measured. Analysis of variance was done with SAS Ver 9.1 software.
Result and The results showed that the effect of different levels of mushroom compost was significant on the most studied traits, but mycorrhiza had no significant effect on yield and yield components of garlic. Based on the results, highest diameter and length of the bulb and bulblets were observed in application of 100 t ha-1 SMC. The highest economic yield (12760 kg ha-1) was observed in application of 100 t ha-1 SMC, so that the application of SMC increased economic yield by 48 percent compared to control. The highest dry matter production and harvest index also were observed in application of 100 t ha-1 SMC.
Organic and biological fertilizers are among the most significant resources for development of agricultural soil quality and increase in the yield of different medicinal plants. It has been reported that this ecological inputs provide favorable conditions for plant growth and development through improvement of physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil (Cabrera et al., 2009), therefore, it can be concluded that improvement of the most studied traits in the present study were due to use of organic fertilizers.
In general, the results showed that it seems use of SMC can improve quantitative and qualitative characteristics of garlic, thus it can be considered as a suitable alternative to chemical fertilizers.

Despite the importance of oily crops in development of Iran, there are few studies on nutrition with micronutrient in these crops, especially for safflower. Safflower, a deep rooted oilseed crop, is grown in many areas of world because it can be used as oil crop, vegetable, birdfeed and spices. To achieve the acceptable growth and yield of safflower, it needs the sufficient micro- and macronutrient, so that recently, there has been an increased interest in evaluation of nutrient role in quality and quantity of safflower. Application of vermicompost in oil crop production systems of Iran has been increased; which it can improve soil structure by increasing aggregate stability as well as increase in water holding capacity and aeration. On the other hand, micronutrients are nutrients required by plants in small quantities to organize a range of physiological functions. The deficiency micronutrients is widespread in many parts of the country due to cultivation of high yielding varieties, intensive agriculture and increasing use of sulphur free fertilizers in large quantities with concomitant decrease in use of organic manures. There is little information on interaction of vermicompost and micronutrients combination on safflower. thus, this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of combinations of three important micronutrient consisted of sulphur, zinc and boron on yield and yield components as well as dry forage production of safflower in different vermicompost treatments.
Material and In this research, the effect of micronutrient application and vermicompost was examined on yield and yield components of safflower in Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Center of Kerman Province in two Kerman and Bardsir regions. The treatments were included vermicompost factor at two levels (0 and 6 t ha-1) and micronutrients combinations at 12 levels (no use, 100 kg ha-1 S, 200 kg ha-1 S, 3 ml L-1 Zn, 2 ml L-1 B, four twofold and two triplet combinations of the 3 micronutrients). A factorial experiment based on randomized block design (RCBD) was used. Vermicompost and S were used before planting as soil apply, while Zn and B were applied as foliar application. Dry forage at the flowering early and branch number per plant, head number per plant, grain number per head, weight of 1000 grains and grain yield at final ripening were determined. Analysis of variance, means comparisons (LSD at 5% probability level) and correlation coefficient were done in SAS software.
The results showed that application of vermicompost and micronutrient had positive and significant effect on head number per plant, grain number per head, weight of 1000 grains, dry forage and grain yield in both places. These could be attributed to improved soil porosity, water holding capacity and aeration caused by vermicompost. Vermicompost are also known as sources of plant nutrients and can improve soil physicochemical characteristics. Growth and yield of safflower plants in Kerman was significantly more than those in Bardsir, which was probably due to better conditions of soil in Kerman. Kerman had greater amount of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous as well as higher level of soil organic matter. On average, vermicompost application at 6 t ha-1 was associated with 347 and 54 kg.ha-1 increasing in dry forage and grain yield, respectively. In the other hand, the highest dry forage and grain yield were obtained from plants treated with 200 kg ha-1 S, Zn and B as 2104 and 1433 and 1433 kg ha-1, respectively. Stimulated photosynthetic activity and synthesis of chloroplast and protein in result of micronutrient application might be reason of greater yield in these treatments. The grain number had the highest correlation with forage production and yield.
In general, the result of this study revealed that in both places, vermicompost and micronutrient application had positive interaction, so that the greatest forage and grain production were observed in vermicompost application with triple combination of S, Zn and B.

Salinity as an abiotic stress can cause excessive disturbance for seed germination and plant sustainable production. Salinity with three different mechanisms of osmotic potential reduction, ionic toxicity and disturbance of plant nutritional balance, can reduce performance of the final product. Planning for optimal use of available water and saline water with poor quality in agricultural activities is of great importance. Wheat is one of the eight main food sources including rice, corn, sugar beet, cattle, sorghum, millet and cassava which provide 70-90% of all calories and 66-90% of the protein consumed in developing countries. Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L.) is an important crop grows in some arid and semi-arid areas of the world such as Middle East and North Africa. In these regions, in addition to soil salinity, sharp decline in rainfall and a sharp drop in groundwater levels in recent years has emphasized on the efficient use of limited soil and water resources. Consequently, in order to use brackish water for agricultural productions, it is required to analyze its quantitative response to salinity stress by simulation models in those regions. The objective of this study is to assess the capability of statistics and macro-simulation models of yield in saline conditions.
In this study, two general approach of simulation includes process-physical models and statistical-experimental models were investigated. For this purpose, in order to quantify the salinity effect on seed relative yield of durum wheat (Behrang Variety) at different levels of soil salinity, process-physical models of Maas & Hoffman, van Genuchten & Hoffman, Dirksen et al. and Homaee et al. models were used. Also, statistical-experimental models of Modified Gompertz Function, Bi-Exponential Function and Modified Weibull Function were used too. In order to get closer to real conditions of growth circumstances in saline soils, a natural saline water was taken from Maharlu Lake, Fars province, Iran. This natural and highly saline water with electrical conductivity of 512 dS/m diluted with fresh water to obtain the designated saline waters required for the experimental treatments. The designed experimental treatments were consisted of a non-saline water and five salinity levels of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 dS/m with three replicates. Three statistics of modified coefficient efficiency (E'), modified index of agreement (d') and coefficient of residual mass (CRM) were used to compare the used models and to assess their performances.
Comparing the relative performance of models based on statistical indices of Modified Coefficient Efficiency (E') and Modified Index of agreement (d') indicated that the nonlinear model of Homaee et al. is most accurate between process-physical models and Modified Gompertz Function is most accurate between statistical-experimental models. Comparison assessment of all models based on statistical index indicated that Homaee et al. model was the most accurate model for simulation of durum wheat yield. This is while the parameters of Homaee et al. equation is well-defined concept and is easily measurable, but in statistical-experimental models, parameters of each model have no biophysical concept and the absolute values of each parameter do not express any information about development status of the plant. So, the nonlinear model of Homaee et al. was chosen as the optimal model in this research.
Most of the plants such as wheat, are sensitive to salinity and by increasing the age, their sensitivity to salinity are reduced. Based on the obtained results of this study, by knowing and quantitative assessment of the dominant cultivars sensitivity of each region, as well as using appropriate simulation models, one can use brackish or saline waters to partly compensate fresh water shortage for scientific and extension Agricultural programs.

Dust storms over Middle East are one of the most important environmental and pollution problems. In order to assess the effects of dust deposition and supplemental irrigation on yield and yield components of chickpea, an experiment was conducted at the research farm of Agriculture and Natural Resources Campus of Razi University, Kermanshah, in 2013-2014 growing season based on RCDB with three replicatins. Treatments of the experiment included supplemental irrigation as the main plot factor with 2 levels (No-irrigation and irrigation at poding stage). and dust deposition as the sub plot factor with7 levels (Control, dust application at vegetative stage, dust application at poding stage, dust application at pod filling stage, Washing at the end of vegetative stage, Washing at the end of poding stage and Washing at the end of vegetative and poding stages).Supplemental irrigation and dust deposition had significant effect on yield and yield components of chickpea. Drought stress reduced yield and yield components. With dust application at vegetative stage (67.86 g.m-2), poding stage (79.37 g.m-2) and pod filling (79.52 g.m-2) seed yield reduced. With Washing leaves at the end of vegetative and poding stages seed yield (85.20 g.m-2) increased.
This study was conducted during 2013-2014 at the research Farm of Razi university in Kermanshah state in the west of Iran (47º 9′ E and 34º 21′ N), 1319 meters above sea level. The soil of the research area was clay loam (36.1% clay, 30.7% silt) and was cultivated with chickpea previously. Treatments included supplemental irrigation as the main plot at 2 levels (control (non-irrigation) and irrigation at poding stage. Other treatments included dust deposition as the sub plot at 7 levels (Control (non-treatment, dust application at vegetative stage, dust application at poding stage, dust application at pod filling stage, Washing at the end of vegetative stage, Washing at the end of poding stage and Washing at the end of vegetative and poding stages). Experiment was a randomized complete block design with three replications. The Analysis of variance using SAS softwares was performed for studied parameters. The means were compared using Duncan test at level of 0.05 probabilities.
Dust particles deposited on chickpea leaves resulted in the reduction of the total dry matter and seed yield. Interaction of supplemental irrigation and dust deposition on biological yield, seed yield, harvest index, number of seeds per plant, number of pods per plant and number of lateral branches were significant. The highest biological and seed yield were obtained due to the interaction of Supplemental irrigation and Control (no dust deposition) with 341 and 144 g.m-2, respectively. Zia-Khan et al., (2015) reported the mean reduction of yield in the dusted treatment was about 28%, indicating that the stress conditions in this experiment were relatively severe. Chaurasi et al (2013) reported a decrease in dry matter of groundnut planted in the vicinity of a cement factory, and an increasing rate of groundnut dry matter accumulation was observed while the distance of farm and factory increased.. By cleaning the dust particles of the leaves at the end of growth and poding stages, carbon assimilation and finally grain yield slightly increased. This findings are also according to Zia-khan et al., 2014. Chouhan & Joshi (2010) reported that the growth of wheat at 0.5km distance from a Cement industry was lesser than to plants farther from the cement industry. Armbrust, (1986) Reported a decrease in dry matter accumulation after three days of dust application.
According to the results of this experiment, the drought stress and the dust deposition on leaf surfaces, cause a reduction in light absorption of leaves, reduction stomata conductance, photosynthesis and transpiration and increase leaf temperature. The results of this study show that yield and yield components of chickpea adversely affected by dust deposition at different growth stages. Future researches should focus on the effect of dust deposition on other crops like wheat and the ability of crops to capture the dust deposition in different climatic regions.

Drought is a natural phenomenon in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. It is created by low precipitation, high evaporation and reduced soil moisture. Today, they are the major threats to agricultural lands due to fluctuations in rainfall, limited water resources, wells salinization and subsequently abandoned farming lands. Iran is located on the world's dry belt and more than 90 percent of its area is located in the arid and semi-arid climatic regions. It has been reported that the annual rate of soil erosion is up to 33 tons per hectare and 5 to 6 times more than the standard limit. Also, 90% of the country's protein production comes from animals sources. Due to the lack of adequate forage production, the main burden of protein production is imposed on the natural resources and pastures. Therefore, In order to enhance soil stabilization and maintain its fertility, optimum use of off-season precipitations, preventing the flow of water and protecting the abandoned farming lands from the flood risk, increasing the water permeability in the soil, and helping to feed the underwater aquifers and finally the production of forage and seeds, the development of perennial plants cultivation is an important conservative practice. The aim of this study is to emphasize on the selection of the best perennial forage species with low water requirements and acceptable performance for renovation of the abandoned farming lands and moving towards sustainable agriculture approaches.
In this experiment, 10 species of perennial grasses (Agropyron elongatum Host., Secale montanum Guss., Festuca arundinaceae Schreb., Dactylis glomerata L., Agropyron intermedium Host., Agropyron repense L., Agropyron cristatum L., Panicum antidutale Retz., Bromus inermis Leyss., Bromus riparius Rehmann, Agropyron cristatum L.) and two legumes includes Trifolium pratense L., Onobrychis sativa Lam. were studied at Asatan-e-Ghods Razavi farm in Mashhad from 2013 to 2014. The seeds were sown in early November and well-watered for twice after planting and then irrigated by the end of rainfall from May to August, every 22 days.The harvesting time was late August.
The results showed that in the first year, the average of seedling establishment was 71% for all species with the lowest 13% for P. antidutale Retz. and the highest 99% for S. montanum Guss. Also, in the years 2013 and 2014 the average of dry forage yield were 1432 and 3663 kg.ha-1, respectively. In the second year, the highest dry forage yield among the species belonged to A. elongatum Host.and B. inermis Leyss. with 10584 and 4029 kg.ha-1, respectively. Also, the grain yield of perennial grasses varied between 185 for A. elongatum Host. to 1085 kg.ha-1for A. cristatum L. In the studied species harvest index was between 2 and 34%. In the first year of perennial species growth, emergence and seedling establishment are one of the most important factors affecting on the increasing seed yield and forage yield. Also, the grain yield was affected by the high number of fertile tillers or stem per plant and number of grains per spike. Another remarkable point was that some grasses showed good seed germination and seedling vigor after immediately harvesting time. The highest seed germination percentage for S. montanum Guss., A. elongatum Host., B. inermis Leyss., A. cristatum L. and B. riparius Rehmann were 96%, 90%, 58%, 55% and 40%, respectively.
The results suggest that the yield of perennial species in the first year was very low and weak to compete with weeds (except S. montanum Guss.). But in the second year, dry forage yield has increased up to 2 or 3 times. Due to limited water resources in Iran, area of abandoned lands (low yield) is increasing. Therefore, the selection of Agropyron genera as a drought tolerant species with the aim of increasing the productivity of the land and to prevent soil erosion and to produce forage or grain yield could be considered.
Acknowledgements: The authors acknowledge the financial support of the project by Mazra-e-Nemoneh of Astan Ghodes.

Plants may be exposed to various stresses and water deficit is the most important limiting factor of growth and yield in many parts of the world and Iran. Stress induced growth decrement can be because of cell development decrease due to decrement of turgor pressure and meiosis and photosynthesis decrease due to stomata closure. Determination of desired planting density is one of the success factors of plant growth and production. Garlic (Allium sativum) has been an important medicinal plant over centuries in human life. According to the importance of medicinal plants and studying the effects of drought stress on them, the goal of this research is to investigate the effect of drought stress and planting density on growth and morphological characteristics of two ecotypes of garlic and determining the preferable ecotype and density from the perspective of these traits.
This experiment was performed in 2012 in a farm in south east of Semnan. It was conducted on a split-plot factorial arrangement based on randomized complete blocks design with three replications. Three levels of drought stress with 60, 80 and 100 percent of crop evapotranspiration (ETc) were the main plot factors and factorial combination of three planting density (30, 40 and 50 plants.m-2) and two ecotypes of Tabas and Toroud were the levels of sub plot factors. To estimate water requirement of garlic, daily measured meteorology parameters of Semnan synoptic station were used and water requirement was calculated based on FAO-56 instructions. From mid-January, the sampling of leaf area, bulb and leaf fresh and dry weight was started with destructive method every other week and continued until middle of Jun. three plant were selected randomly from each plot in each turn. From middle of May, height and number of leaves were measured. Leaf area measurement was done by leaf area meter (Delta-T). To estimate growth indices, dry weight of aerial and underground organs and leaf area from measured samples of treatments were used.
The results showed that the highest value of maximum leaf area index (LAI), maximum total dry matter accumulation (TDM), maximum crop growth rate (CGR) and maximum of net assimilation rate (NAR) were observed at 100% ETc with the value of 5.537, 387.53 gr.m-2, 10.47 gr m-2day-1 and 4.92 gr.m-2leaf.day-1 respectively; and by applying the irrigation treatment of 80% ETc these values decreased to 3.745, 262.60 gr.m-2, 6.31 gr.m-2day-1 and 3.71 gr.m-2leaf.day-1 respectively. Drought stress can decrease cell development and division and plant photosynthesis, and thus, it can decrease leaf area index and consequently decrease light absorption, photosynthetic area, dry matter and crop growth rate. Difference between ecotypes in terms of number of leaves, maximum total dry matter accumulation and maximum crop growth rate was significant. Maximum crop growth rate (CGR) in Toroud ecotype was higher than Tabas ecotype but number of leaves and maximum concentration of total dry matter (TDM) in Tabas ecotype were higher than corresponding values in Toruod ecotype. The effect of planting density on maximum leaf area index (LAI), maximum total dry matter (TDM) and maximum net assimilation rate (NAR) was significant. The highest value of maximum leaf area index (5.017) and maximum total dry matter (358.57 g.m-2) concentration were obtained from 50 plant.m-2 density. The highest value of maximum net assimilation rate (4.61) was obtained from 30 plant.m-2 density. It could be because of having leaves exposed to more light and less shading.
Applying drought stress at the irrigation treatment of 80% ETc decreased studied growth characteristics of garlic. Therefore, it is recommended that garlic should be avoided from facing drought stress and its water requirement must be met as much as possible. In general, under drought stress, two studied ecotypes did not have any preference related to the studied growth characteristics. Higher planting density, due to higher active photosynthetic area over unit area, increased the dry matter in unit area.