Agrotechniques in Industrial Crops
Volume:1 Issue: 3, Summer 2021

Cultivated strawberry (Fragaria×ananassa Duch.) is one of the most important fruit plants for both fresh consumption and food processing. The aim of this study was plant regeneration via direct somatic embryogenesis in three strawberry cultivars of Kurdistan, Paros and Camarosa. For this purpose, leaf blade of cultivars were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with Thidiazuron (TDZ) at 1, 2, 3, and 4 mg/L alone or in combinations with the different concentrations (0, 0.25, 0.5, and 1 mg/L) of auxin 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D). All data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) using factorial experimental based on completely randomized design with four replication and means were compared with Duncan’s tests at p< 0.05. The highest induction frequency of embryogenesis and number of somatic embryos per explants was obtained on MS medium containing 3 mg/L TDZ supplemented with 0.25 mg/L 2,4-D. In this medium, the maximum number of globular embryos per explants obtained for the cultivars of Camarosa (25.75), Paros (22.00) and Kurdistan (14.75). The globular embryos of the leaf explants developing into cotyledonary embryos were cultured on MS medium supplemented with sucrose at a concentration of 1.5, 3, 6, 9, and 12%. Among the tested concentrations, 6% sucrose was found superior for uniform embryo developmental stages.

Peppermint is one of the most important medicinal and industrial crops in the world, which due to the importance of water, it is necessary to determine its water requirements accurately. This study aimed to determine the water requirement, single and dual crop coefficients of Peppermint. For this purpose, 12 water balance drainable lysimeters were applied. Three lysimeters were used to determine grass and three were applied to estimate the evaporation of bare soil. In addition, in the 6 lysimeters, Peppermint was planted in two groups. The plants of group A and group B continued to grow until the end of flowering and appropriate extraction time, and the plants were harvested 3 times after reaching a height of 10-12 cm. The average water requirements of Peppermint for two lysimeters groups A and B were determined to be 646 and 532 mm, respectively. The single and base crop coefficients for lysimeters in group A were determined to be as 0.68, 1.07, 1.31 and 0.3, 0.88, 1.18 for the initial, development and middle growing stages. For lysimeters in group B, the average of single crop coefficients was determined to be 0.85, 0.92 and 0.95 respectively. Calibration and validation of the SIMDualKc model showed the model's capability and accuracy for proper irrigation planning and scheduling.

Water is a valuable and irreplaceable natural resource and plays an important role in development, which is one of the most important components in producing and maintaining the balance and stability of ecosystems and environment. The average annual rainfall in Iran is one third of the global average rainfall (about 250 mm) and its evapotranspiration potential is three times the global potential. Therefore, Iran is in the group of arid and semi-arid countries. Nowadays, the vegetable oil production industry is considered a strategic industry in most countries of the world. In Iran, there are large arable lands and favorable fields for growing oilseeds. However, according to available statistics, more than 85-90% of the required oil is still supplied from abroad. Common oilseeds such as soybean, sunflower and canola, despite their many advantages, are limited in various aspects of cultivation and climatic conditions.  For example, soybean is an ideal crop in the North American corn belt and is not well adapted to other regions. Sunflower also need a lot of fertilizer and is susceptible to a variety of diseases and pests. Therefore, the need for new oil crops with more adaptation and fewer needs is strongly felt. In recent years, the planting of new oilseeds in drylands has attracted a lot of attention. The most important advantage of these crops is the high resistance to drought and spring cold. In this paper, three of these crops (safflower, camelina and dragon's head) are mentioned, which are hoped to enter the country's dryland crop rotation.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of delay in planting date on the traits of the rosette stage and various phenological stages of oilseed rape. For this purpose, an experiment was conducted in split plots based on a randomized complete block design with three replications at the Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center of Hamedan Province Iran in 2012. The main factor was planting date in four levels, including 10 September, 20 September, 30 September, and 10 October. The second factor was four genotypes (Okapi cultivar, Tassilo, Octans-NK, and Elite hybrids). The results showed that the number of leaves per plant in the rosette stage was only affected by planting date. However, crown diameter, root length, root dry weight, and percentage of frost were affected by planting date, genotype, and their interactions. The studied genotypes in the first and fourth planting dates often did not differ in terms of seedling stage and rosette traits. Still, in the second and third dates, the genotypes' response was often different, and in general, the Octans-NK and Tassilo genotypes showed less susceptibility to planting. With the delay in sowing, the length of the emergence period increased in all genotypes, but the growing degree day required for this stage decreased, so the genotypes entered the rosette stage with weaker vigor. Almost all genotypes, regardless of planting time, emerged from the rosette simultaneously and went through the following stages with a slight difference, which caused a delay in planting time to significantly reduce the cumulative temperature and growth period length in all genotypes.

Nigella sativa L. is an annual species of the Ranunculaceae family whose essential oil is widely used in the medicinal, food and health industries. Drought stress is a major factor limiting plants growth and yield. The application of organic fertilizer is an effective method in the organic culture of medicinal plants. In order to study the impacts of drought stress and compost on the yield and essential oil content of black cumin, an experiment was conducted as split plots based on a randomized complete block design with three replications in the research farm of the University of Zabol. Treatments involved irrigation as the main factor in three levels: 1) the control (without any stress), with irrigation interval of every six days; 2) mild drought stress, with irrigation interval of every nine days; and 3) extreme drought stress, with irrigation interval of every 12 days along with municipal solid waste compost as the second factor which included: no use of compost (control) and compost of 10, 20, and 30 ton/ha. Drought stress had a meaningful impact on seed yield. Thus, seed yield declined as the stress increased. Increasing compost levels also increased seed yield, essence percentage, p-cymene, γ-terpinene, and thymoquinone contents in seed essential oil of black cumin. The highest seed yield (553.61kg/ha), percentage of p-cymene (24.6%) was observed in the compost treatment of 30 ton/ha and the least of them were (345.2kg/ha) and (15.4%) in the treatment without compost (the control) respectively. In general, using 30 ton/ha of compost seems appropriate, because of generates higher yield and essential oil.

Potato is one of the important agricultural products of different regions of Khorasan Razavi province, especially Quchan. The area under potato cultivation in the 2018-2019 crop year in this province was 4979 hectares and its production amount was 163151 tons with an average yield of 32.8 tons per hectare. In order to investigate the reaction of the potato plant to magnetized water, an experiment was conducted in Quchan city, Khorasan Razavi province. This experiment was performed with two types of water, "magnetic water (MW) and Tap water (N-MW)". Fertilization was performed based on the soil test. Row distances (130 cm) and planting distances (20 cm) were in accordance with local customs. The type of drip irrigation was tape and the distance between the drippers was 25 cm. During the growing season, the necessary measurements were performed to determine the important growth factors of potatoes and the effect of magnetized water on them. The EC of saline water was equal to 4.5 ds/m. The results showed that the use of magnetic water compared to the control (N-MW) on the yield of potato tubers was significant at the level of 5% probability. The results of mean comparison showed that the yield of potatoes under the effect of magnetic water treatment (25.4 tons per hectare) was about 30% higher than the control (19.4 tons per hectare). In general, magnetizing saline water significantly increased yield, quality, freshness, germination time, volume and weight of tubers, number of tubers per plant, reduction of weeds and reduction of crop pests.