نشریه تحقیقات علوم زراعی در مناطق خشک
سال سوم شماره 2 (پیاپی 6، پاییز و زمستان 1400)

The aim of this study was to investigate the response of anise to the occurrence of drought stress in different stages of growth of this plant and also the effect of humic acid in reducing the negative effects of drought stress and improving plant growth characteristics in climatic conditions of Quchan city. For this purpose, an experiment was conducted in the form of split plots based on randomized complete block design with three replications in the 2019-2020 cropping year. The irrigation treatment in four levels was as the main factor of the experiment and consumption of Humic acid was considered as sub-factor in three levels. According to the obtained results, stopping irrigation at the seeding stage and nonuse of humic acid in comparison with full irrigation and consumption of 4 kg of humic acid reduced the 1000-seed weight of anise by 23.45%. Also, cessation of irrigation at the stages of stemming, flowering and seeding reduced the grain yields by 7.80, 29.46 and 24.08%, respectively, compared to the control. The use of humic acid at both levels of 2 and 4 kg/ha increased grain yields by 5.01 and 10.64%, respectively, compared to the control. According to the results obtained in this study, despite the problem of water shortage in the study area, one solution to solve this problem is to stop irrigation in the pre-shoot stage, which can reduce water consumption in the production of anise. Also, the application of humic acid at the rate of 4 kg/ha will significantly compensate for the negative effects of drought stress during vegetative and reproductive growth stages.

To determine the morphological and qualitative characteristics of five (Stachys inflate Benth) populations, a study was conducted according completely randomized design layout with three replications in 2021 season. In each growth habitat, plant samples collected from ground surface in 1×1 quadrate size. Each Stachys inflate Benth population belongs to a habitat including Yam, Bonab, Aralan, Zonozag and Galajar. Result showed that measured traits among populations had great variation. Altitude compare to soil traits had a maximum effect on percentage of essential oil, chlorophyll content and anthocyanin. Percentage of essential oil was more than 37% in Aralan population (0.186%) compare to Yam population (0.116%). The greatest accumulation of chlorophyll and anthocyanin amounts was observed in maximum altitude in Yam population. The chlorophyll content was more than 44 percent in Yam population compare to Aralan population. Generally, Aralan and Yam populations were identified as best treatments due to the highest essential oil content as well as high anthocyanin amount and using these populations can be cause to produce cultivars with desirable crop traits.

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) is a medicinal and industrial plant that has a variety of culinary and therapeutic purposes. The leaf essential oil percentage and compositions of 11 fennel ecotypes obtained from various geographical regions of Iran were evaluated in this study. The essential oil proportion of fennel leaves ranged from 0.47 (Khash ecotype) to 1.58% (Sari ecotype). The amount of essential oil and the percentage of α-pinene (r = 0.72*), sabinene (r = 0.61*), endo-fenchyl acetate (r = 0.64*), fenchone (r = 0.70*), and germacrene D (r = 0.73*) correlated positively and significantly. The primary constituents of the leaf essential oil were trans-anethole, limonene, and fenchone. Trans-anethole concentrations ranged from 30.36% (Sari ecotype) to 56.67% (Qazvin ecotype) and correlated negatively with -Pinene and Germacrene D. The amount of limonene ranged from 15.48% (Fasa ecotype) to 22.79% (Mahalat ecotype), and the level of fenchon ranged from 1.34% (Sardasht ecotype) to 9.72% (Fasa ecotype). Six independent and major factors explained 89.91% of the total variance in all ecotypes, according to factor analysis. Ward method cluster analysis correctly categorized five separate groups for studied ecotypes with 100% of original grouped cases. As a result, it is advised that in future breeding operations, superior ecotypes should be crossed with progeny tests and superior ecotypes should be selected to develop ecotypes with high essential oil quality.

The field experiment was carried out as spilt plot experiment with four replications based on a randomized complete block design at the University of Shahrekord's research farm in 2017-2018 to investigate the competitive indices and yield of two medicinal plant species, namely hyssop and fenugreek. The main plot has two soil moisture levels, with irrigation after drainage at 25 and 50% of field capacity. The sub-plot had five levels of planting pattern, including 100% hyssop, 100% fenugreek, hyssop 50%: fenugreek 50%, hyssop 75%: fenugreek 25%, and hyssop 25%: fenugreek 75% based on replacement series. The results showed that under drought stress, the land equivalent ratio (LER) of hyssop intercropped with fenugreek was higher than mono-cropping, with a significant difference (p£0.01). In this study, intercropping hyssop (50%) with fenugreek (50%) under mild stress increased the LER by 25.6% when compared to mono-cropping. When compared to mono-cropping, the average total relative density (K) increased in all intercropping ratios, and the total actual yield loss (ALYt) was positive in all intercropping ratios, indicating the usefulness of intercropping the two plants. Overall, the highest value of the system productivity index (SPI) was obtained in the intercropping hyssop (75%) with fenugreek (25%). Finally, intercropping hyssop with fenugreek can increase the productivity of a hyssop cultivation system.

In order to investigate the agrophysiological response of cotton to foliar application of stress modulators in different planting date, an experimental was conducted as split-plot factorial in a randomized complete block design with three replications in 2017-2018. Factors were: planting date (early (May 15 and 20, for the first and second year, and late (June 20 and 17, for the first and second year, respectively) as the main plot and type of stress modulator at four levels (control, salicylic acid, glycine betaine and sodium nitroprusside) and time of stress modulators application (flowering and flowering + bolling stage) as a factorial in the sub-plot. Both in early and late planting date, foliar application in flowering+bolling stage increased the number of reproductive branches, number of bolls per plant, seed cotton and lint yield. The highest number of bolls per plant was obtained in early planting date by foliar application of glycine betaine (15.7) and in late planting date by foliar application of salicylic acid (8.7). While salicylic acid foliar application increased the seed cotton yield in early planting date (47%), but in late planting date, seed cotton yield did not respond to the stress moderator application. In both flowering and flowering+bolling stage, the highest seed cotton yield was obtained by spraying sodium nitroprusside (1265 and 1537 kg/ha, respectively). In terms of lint and seed yield, in early planting date, foliar application of sodium nitroprusside and in late planting date, foliar application of salicylic acid was better than other modifiers. Overall, the results of this experiment showed that sowing at the appropriate date and foliar application with salicylic acid in the flowering + bolling stage is the most appropriate treatment to obtain the highest seed cotton yield in saline condition.

The first step in cultivating wild medicinal plants is to observe how they respond to agronomical treatments in controlled environments. In 2017, this experiment was carried out at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad's Research Institute of Plant Sciences to investigate the morphological and physiological changes of the medicinal plant Barazamble (Proveskia abrotanoides). With three replications, a factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design in 6, 12, 18, and 24 g/kg of nitrogen (N1 to N4) and 4, 6, 8, and 10 g/kg of phosphorus (P1 to P4) was used. P4 (17.77 µmol.m-2s-1, 7.44 and 1.70 mmol.m-2s-1, respectively) and N4 (16.88 µmol.m-2s-1, 8.62 and 1.74 mmol.m-2s-1, respectively) had the highest photosynthesis rate, transpiration rate, and stomatal conductance. In terms of photosynthesis and transpiration rate, there was no significant difference between N3 and N4. The highest chlorophyll a content (0.464 mg. g-1fw) was found in the N3P3 treatment, while the highest chlorophyll b content (0.464 mg. g-1fw) was found in the N3 treatment. The P4 and N3 treatments had the highest root dry weight, while the N3 and P3 treatments had the highest shoot dry weight, biomass accumulation, root/shoot ratio, total biomass, and root volume. More research is needed before recommending fertilizers, but the third level of nitrogen (N3) and phosphorus (P3) application had the greatest effect on the measured traits of Proveskia abrotanoides.

Autumn planting of sugar beet has more water use efficiency and agricultural advantages than spring planting. In order to investigate the possibility of autumn planting of two sugar beet cultivars and compare their root yield, a study was conducted in the Faculty of Agriculture of Lorestan University during two cropping years (2017-2018 and 2018-2019). This study was conducted in the form of a split factorial design with three replications. The main factor has two levels and includes planting method 50-50 (P1), 25-50 (P2), and the sub-factors including two varieties of autumn sugar beet (Rosagold and Chimene) and four levels of fertilizer (F1: application of 300 kg.ha-1 nitrogen (Control), F2: application of 270 kg.ha-1 nitrogen and foliar application of zinc sulfate, F3: application of 240 kg.ha-1 nitrogen and foliar application of zinc sulfate, F4: application of 210 kg.ha-1 nitrogen and foliar application of zinc sulfate in the amount of 5 per thousand. Rosagold cultivar with F2 treatment significantly (p<0.01) increased the photosynthesis active rate. The highest amount of stomatal conductance was observed in P1 planting arrangement with Rosagold cultivar. The highest CGR (16 g.m-2.day-1) and root yield (98.70 t.ha-1) were obtained from P1 planting arrangement, Rosagold cultivar and F2 fertilizer level. According to the obtained results, it can be stated that zinc sulfate foliar application has the ability to compensate for the reduction of nitrogen consumption by 10%, without reducing the yield and quality of autumn sugar beet.

An experiment was conducted in the research field of Shahroud University as a factorial based on completely randomized blocks in three replications to study the effects of marjoram extract on some qualitative characteristics and grain yield of soybean. The first factor was foliar application of extract in three levels (distilled water spraying, extract spraying of 40 and 60%) and the second factor was marjoram extract in five levels (no pretreatment, pretreatment with extract of 40 and 60% each for 6 and 9 hours). Foliar applications of 40% and 60% marjoram extract increased leaf anthocyanin by 11.2 and 6.5%, respectively, when compared to the control. The highest grain number per pod and grain yield were observed after a 6-hour pre-treatment with concentrations of 40 and 60% extract, followed by a foliar application of 40% extract. Pre-treatment with concentrations of 40% and 60% for 9 hours increased relative water content by 34% when compared to the control. Foliar application of 40 and 60% marjoram extract increased leaf flavonoid content by 1.56 and 1.71%, respectively, when compared to the control. According to the findings, a pre-treatment with a 40% concentration for 6 hours followed by a foliar application of a 40% extract is the best treatment combination for improving the quality characteristics and grain yield of soybean.

In order to investigate the effect of foliar application on some physiological indicators of growth of barley cultivars, a study in the form of split plots in the form of complete randomized block design with three replications was performed at Kabutar Abad Agricultural Research Station in Isfahan in 2017-2018 cropping year. Treatments included five levels of foliar application ie: no foliar application, zinc sulfate, potassium sulfate, salicylic acid and superoxide dismutase in the tillering phase with an interval of seven days and in three turns, in the main plots and cultivar factor including Goharan, Mehr and Armaghan were placed in the sub-plots. Irrigation was complete and limited. The results showed that foliar application of zinc sulfate increased the leaf area index (50%), relative growth rate (11%), leaf area ratio (54%) and grain yield (18%) compared to the control and the highest leaf area index and leaf area ratio were obtained by the Armaghan cultivar. The highest total dry matter (1027 g.m-2) content and crop growth rate (24.17 g.m-2.day-1) were obtained by salicylic acid and the highest net absorption rate (10.99 g.m-2.day-1) was obtained by control solution. During the growing season, the highest amount of total dry matter, crop growth rate, net absorption rate and relative growth rate were produced by Goharan cultivar compared to other cultivars, which indicates the optimal use of environmental conditions and higher yield production.

In order to investigate the effect of municipal waste compost and nitrogen fertilizer on yield and some physiological traits of peanut in both irrigated and non-irrigated conditions, an experiment was conducted as a split-split plot based on the randomized complete block design with two levels of irrigation (irrigation and non-irrigation conditions) as the main plot, two levels of compost (0.0 and 5 t/ha) as the sub plot and four levels of nitrogen fertilizer (0.0, 20, 40, and 60 kg N/ha) as sub-sub plot factor during 2018 and 2019. The results showed application of 5 t/ha compost caused significant increase in pod length, chlorophyll b and carotenoids by 9.65%, 10.3% and 16.1%, respectively. The highest values of pod length and seed yield were observed under irrigated conditions and application of 40 and 60 kg N/ha and seed yield was increased by interaction of 5 t/ha compost × 60 kg N/ha. With increasing nitrogen consumption, the amount of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and SPAD reading increased significantly and the highest amount of these traits was obtained by using 60 and 40 kg N/ha. In addition, seed yield in the second year (under non-irrigation conditions and no application of nitrogen fertilizer) had a significant increase (equal to 21%) compared to the same conditions in the first year. In general, it seems that the application of 40 kg N/ha and 5 t/ha of municipal solid waste compost can improve morpho-physiological traits and seed yield in the peanut, especially under non-irrigation conditions.

To study the effect of drought stress on genetic parameters of yield and some morphophysiological traits of sunflower, the hybrids obtained from the cross of eight restorer lines with three sterile male lines and two normal irrigation and drought stress conditions were evaluated in a split-plot experiment based on randomized complete block design with three replications. The results of line × tester analysis showed that under normal conditions, line and tester effects were significant for all studied traits. Under stress conditions, the effect of lines was significant in chlorophyll index, initial growth rate, and plant height and the effects of tester were significant in early growth rate, plant height, stem diameter, and grain yield. Estimation of the effects of general combining ability of traits showed that two lines, C122, C123, and A19 tester had the highest positive combining ability in grain yield and could be used as good parents for producing suitable hybrids in breeding programs. Estimation of heterosis of the studied traits showed that the highest rate of heterosis of grain yield under normal and stress conditions were 126.6% and 123.9%, respectively, for the A112×C41 hybrid. Two traits stem diameter, and head diameter showed a significant correlation with grain yield under normal conditions, while four traits, initial growth rate, plant height, stem diameter, and head diameter, was correlated positively with grain yield under stress conditions.

To investigate the allelopathic effect of aqueous extract of Malva sylvestris weed on the germination characteristics of Triticum aestivum (hamoon cultivar), an experiment was conducted in 2019 in the Biotechnology Research Institute, University of Zabol. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications. The aqueous extracts concentrations of Mallow included 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 ml/L. The experimental results show that the aqueous extract of Malva sylvestris had a significant effect on radicle length, hypocotyl length, germination percentage, chlorophyll b, and phenol. The results indicated that different concentrations of aqueous extract of Malva sylvestris have a different trend on the measured traits. Although with increasing the concentration of Malva sylvestris extract, the percentage of germination, radicle, and hypocotyl length has decreased, the synthesis of chlorophyll and phenol in wheat treated with 50 ml of aqueous extract of Malva sylvestris has reached its maximum. At a concentration of 100 ml of aqueous extract of cottage cheese, root length and germination percentage decreased by 65% and 85%, respectively, compared to the control. The results of this study showed that aqueous extract of cheese had a negative effect on the growth characteristics of wheat.