نشریه دانش کشاورزی و تولید پایدار
سال سی و دوم شماره 1 (بهار 1401)

The present study was performed to evaluate the effects of transplanting and hydro-priming in different planting dates on maize yield, water use efficiency (WUE) and some morphological traits of two grain maize cultivars.

This study was carried out as a factorial split-plot design based on a randomized complete block design at the seed and plant improvement institute, Karaj, Iran in 2017. Planting date (July 1, 11, 23) was allocated to the main plot and planting methods (hydro-priming, transplanting and direct seedling) and maize cultivars (S.C. 704, S.C. 260) were randomly placed in the subplots.

The results showed that grain yield, biomass, leaf area index and leaf dry weight significantly decreased respectively, 58.3%, 26.0%, 8.6% and 10.2% under late planting (23 July) compared with earlier planting (11 July). Transplanting significantly increased grain yield, biomass, leaf area index and leaf dry weight compared with hydro-priming and direct planting methods. Assessing the interaction between sowing date and cultivar revealed that highest grain yield and biomass (9193.2, 19767 kg.ha-1, respectively) were obtained from sowing SC704 in the earliest planting date (1 July). Also the highest WUE for grain production and biomass were observed in SC704 planted in 11 July (1.49, 3.34 kg.m-3, respectively).

Overall, in order to achieve maximum grain yield, biomass and WUE in Karaj region with semi-arid climate, transplanting of SC704 on July 1, can be recommended. Also if planting is delayed transplanting of SC260 could compensate yield loss.

 Nowadays demand for producing agricultural products has been increasing. So to investigate the effect of tillage and planting pattern using crop residue for corn forage a research was carried out in the research field of in the Dezful city of Khuzestan province.

A split strip plot design was applied using 3 replications based on randomized complete block design. Treatments tillage methods at three levels (tillage, minimum tillage and no-tillage) was as the main factor and management of wheat residues (Chamran cultivar) at two levels (maintaining residues standing and removing all crop residues from the soil surface) was as a secondary factor.

The results were shown that conventional tillage under no residue and no-tillage under residue condition product the most and the least emergence rate of 3.73 and 1.96 respectively. Also conventional tillage under no residue used 10230 m3/ha compared to no-tillage covered by residue 6341 m3/ha (p≤0.01).No-tillage with an average of 2.74 and conventional tillage with 2.19 kg/m3 showed the highest and lowest physical efficiency of water consumption, respectively (p≤0.01).

The use and development of conservation cultivation systems (especially minimum tillage) in corn can help maintain conservation of production resources such as water, soil and the environment. The use of conservation tillage systems along with the preservation of residues at the soil surface, increasing moisture storage, reducing irrigation water consumption, increasing soil organic matter and fertility and saving labor and time spent on tillage operations can be a model suitable for planting corn.

The present study was conducted to study the effect of mycorrhiza and vermicompost biological fertilizers on the quantitative and qualitative yield of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.).

An experiment based on randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four treatment and four replications was conducted at the Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz farm in 2015-2016. The treatments were included mycorrhiza fungi (combination of Glomus mosseae, G.intraradices, G.etunicatum), vermicompost, chemical fertilizer and control. After ripening 50% of fruits, the number of umbels per plant, number of seed per umbel, seed weight per umbel and seed yield were measured. Phosphorus content and percentage of root symbiosis with mycorrhiza were measured by colorimetric and root staining methods, respectively. The essential oil of plants was extracted by water distillation method.

The results of mean comparison of data showed that the highest of number of umbels per plant (31.05), seed yield (673.24 g.m-2), percentage of mycorrhizal symbiosis (60.25%), phosphorus content of leaf (1.63 %) and essential oil content (0.44 %) were obtained in plants inoculated with mycorrhiza. Also, highest of plant height and number of seed per umbel were observed in chemical fertilizer and mycorrhiza treatments. The control plants had the least of the above traits. Among the components identified in coriander essential oil, Linalool was the most abundant component of essential oil in all treatments.

Overall, according to the results, the application of mycorrhizal fungi can be effective in increasing yield, yield components and essential oil of coriander.

This research was conducted in order to study the possibility of increasing yield, yield components and chlorophyll content of artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) by mycorrhizal inoculation and living and non-living mulches.

Experiment was conducted during 2017 and 2018 at the research farm of the University of Zanjan. A three-replicate split plot design based on randomized complete block design (RCBD) was conducted. Two levels of inoculation (inoculation with Rhizophagus irregularis and non- inoculation) were considered as main plots and a variety of living mulches (Trifolium alexandrinum, Lathyrus sativus), non-living mulches (plastic mulch (silver external side and black internal one), wheat straw) and Complete handweeding, one-hand weeding and no-weeding were considered as sub plots.

The highest of fresh weight (336.01 ton/ha) and dry weight (34.21 ton/ha) were recorded in plastic mulch treatment under mycorrhizal inoculation conditions. Mycorrhizal colonization increased plant height, Leaf Area Index (LAI), chlorophyll a and chlorophyll (a+b) by 2.1%, 9.1%, 6.6% and 5.2%, respectively. Highest plant height (167 cm), leaf area index (122.18), number of leaves per plant (43), chlorophyll a, b and )a+b( (0.697, 0.388 and 1.085 mg g -1 FW) were obtained in plastic mulch treatment.

Generally, mycorrhizal inoculation and the use of living and non-living mulches can be suggested as a solution to increase the yield of artichoke.

The analyses of genotype × environment interaction in multi-environment yield trials are very important for evaluation, selection and recommendation of crop varieties. The purpose of this study was to identify high yielding and stable barley lines for introduction in different regions of warm climates of the Iran.

17 barley promising lines (with two checks Auxin and WB-94-3) will be evaluated in two years (2017 – 2019) using RCBD with three replications in five stations of warm zone including Ahvaz, Darab, Zabol, Gonbad and Moghan.

The results of variance analysis showed that the effects of location, genotype and genotype × location, genotype × year and genotype × year × location interactions were significant at the 0.01 probability level. The polygon-view of GGE biplot led to the identification of four superior lines (G18, G10, G19, and G17), six poor lines and three mega-environments. Among the test locations, Gonbad had a high discriminating ability to show differences between the genotypes and Moghan showed the least of discriminating; Also, Gonbad showed the highest amount of broad sense heritability of grain yield (0.780) and Moghan showed the lowest amount of broad sense heritability of grain yield (0.018).

Comparison of the studied lines with the ideal genotype showed that lines G18, G10, G19 and G17 were the closest lines to the ideal genotype with high yield and relative yield stability. Finally, these four lines were selected as the top lines for additional studies.

This research was conducted to determine the effect of sulfur and cattle manure on yield and amino acids of two Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) varieties.

The experiment was done by a factorial experiment in randomized block design with 3 replications in 2016 and 2017 at Kerman Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center. The treatments consisted of powdered sulfur at four levels (0, 2, 4 and 8 ton.ha-1), Cow manure at two levels (0 and 20 ton.ha-1) and Jiroft-13 and Jiroft local varieties.

The results showed that the number of capsules per plant in the second year was higher than the first year and the number of seeds per capsule in the second year was lower. Also, the leaf phosphorus content in the second year was higher than the first year. The number of branches, number of capsules per plant, 1000-grain weight, grain yield and Methionine in 20 ton.ha-1treatment of cow manure was higher than the control. The effect of sulfur treatment on yield, yield components, seed oil, Leaf phosphorus, Methionine and Cysteine were significant and according to the significance of the interaction between cow manure and sulfur, the highest grain yield (1353.28 Kg.ha-1) was obtained from of 20 Ton.ha-1 treatment of cow manure and 8 ton.ha-1of sulfur. The Jiroft-13 variety had higher oil seed, grain and biological yield than Jiroft local variety.

According to the experiment conditions, more desirable results can be obtained using 20 ton.ha-1 manure, with lower rates of sulfur.

In order to study of morpho-physiological attributes in corn under influence of weed, an experiment based on randomized complete block design with four replications was performed at the Moghan climate during 2020 growing season.

The experiment was included 14 treatments; seven weed-infested and seven weed free treatments were applied at regular intervals as 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 days after corn emergence in which weeds were allowed to grow until harvest, and weeds were removed, respectively. Total dry weight of weeds, plant height, length of ear, total biomass, leaf area index (LAI), crop growth rate (CGR), relative growth rate (RGR), net assimilation rate (NAR), leaf area duration (LAD), and yield of corn were measured.

The results showed that all measured traits were affected by weed interference duration and weed control period. Weed interference duration increased total dry weight of weeds and weed-free duration reduced total dry weight of weeds. Also, increase in weeds interference duration significantly reduced, plant height, length of ear, total biomass, LAI CGR, RGR, NAR, LAD, and grain yield of corn. On the other hand, total biomass, LAI, CGR, RGR, NAR, LAD, and grain of corn increased by rising weed-free duration.

The weed interference duration had a significant effect on the final yield of corn and with interference of the all weed season, grain yield of corn decreased. Weed interference duration increased total dry weight of weeds and weed-free duration reduced total dry weight of weeds.

To evaluate the effect of different nitrogen splitting on yield and some eco-physiological traits of two maize cultivars (SC 704 and maxima) under normal irrigation and stress conditions an experiment was performed as a factorial split plot based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. The main factors include irrigation at two levels: Normal irrigation (irrigation after 60 mm evaporation from Class A pan) and stress (irrigation after 120 mm evaporation) and nitrogen split at four levels (50% after emergence + 50% after 8 leaves, 33% after emergence + 33% after 8 leaves + 33% after appearance of tassel, 25% after emergence + 50% after 8 leaves + 25% after appearance of tassel and 25% after emergence + 25% after 8 leaves + 50% after the appearance of tassel) and cultivar as sub-factor at two levels (single cross cultivar 704 and Maxima cultivar) were considered.Normal irrigation with an average of 10351 kg.ha-1 had the highest grain yield, which was 26% higher than stress conditions. N3 treatment with an average of 9541 kg.ha-1 had the highest grain yield compared to other treatments. Due to the improvement of physiological traits and yield, the use of single cross 704 with N3 treatment under water restriction condition in summer is recommended.

The use of biofertilizers is very effective in soil fertility, food safety of consumers and environmental health. In this study, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi were produced with two types of culture media in greenhouses.

this experiment, seven species of mycorrhizal fungi were propagated in two types of pot substrates in the presence of corn plant in greenhouse conditions with a growth period of four months. Fungal species were Rhizophagus intraradices, Glomus versiforme, Rhizophagus irregularis, Scutellospora calospora, Claroideoglomus etunicatum and Funneliformis mosseae. Two types of pot substrates including A substrate: (cocopeat, vermiculite with a volume ratio of 1:1 and Humic acid with a concentration of 250 mg/L) and B substrate: cocopeat, vermiculite and compost (With a volume ratio of 1: 1: 0.4) were used for plant culture.

The results showed that the percentage of root colonization had no significant difference between the substrates type, but the simple effects of the fungi (P <0.01) and the interactions of the fungi × substrate (P <0.05) were significant. In A substrate, Rhizophagus irregularis (72.87%) and in B substrate Rhizophagus irregularis-Sweden (67.12%) and Glomus versiforme-Tabriz (67.85%) showed the highest percentage of root colonization. The fungi Rhizophagus irregularis and Glomus versiforme were tested for inoculum potential by MPN method and the number of their propagules were 30 and 22.5 in 50 ml of substrate, respectively.

Based on the test results, the use of organic compost is recommended compared to humic acid in terms of economics and easy accessibility.

This study was conducted to investigate the combined use of duck in different rice cultivation systems on growth indices, photosynthesis and water productivity of fields.

The experiment was carried out as a split plot factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design with three replications in Research Farm, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Guilan, in 2017 and 2018 years. Treatments included of three levels of cultivation system; Conventional Cultivation (CC), Improved Cultivation (IC) and SRI (System of Rice Intensification) as the main factor and combined of two levels of duck (control and 750 duck per hectare) and three levels of weed control (control, once and twice weeding) factorials as a sub-factor.

The results showed that the beginning of the growing period, all experiment treatments showed a significant difference in terms of leaf area index and with increasing the length of the growing period; the increase in leaf area index was greater in terms of combine treatments of 750 ducks per hectare and SRI. At the beginning of growth, CGR in SRI system was slower than the others and in the middle to late growth period, CGR rate values were in SRI>IC>CC. In un-use duck conditions,

In general, the combined application of rice-duck in different cultivation systems can be considered suitable for improving the quantitative yield and growth and physiological indicators of rice to achieve sustainable agricultural goals and increase farmers' income per unit area in the plain areas of Guilan.

This study was performed to find halophilic bacteria that have the ability to increase salinity resistance in wheat seedlings, so that any type of wheat cultivar can be grown in saline areas by inoculation with these bacteria without the need for genetic manipulation.A number of highly saline farm soils from several areas around Tabriz and Urmia Lake were screened to isolate bacterial isolates. A total of six highly halophilic isolates were isolated for the study. The effect of bacteria on salinity tolerance in wheat was determined as a factorial of two factors (salinity and bacteria) based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. The effect of six bacterial isolates at three high concentrations of salt (NaCl) (0.5, 1 and 1.5%) on wheat seed growth under standard laboratory conditions for four weeks was evaluated. Two bacterial isolates that had the best performance - in most growth indices such as fresh and dry size and weight of roots and stems - were selected and their effect was assayed under greenhouse conditions. Finally, the best bacteria in terms of function were selected and identified by molecular methodsFrom the six highly halophilic bacterial isolates, two bacteria were selected for greenhouse studies, one of which, caused a 50% increase in most growth factors, was selected for identification. Molecular identification based on barcoding 16S rDNA region showed that this bacterium belongs to Oceanbacillus picturae with 99% probability.This is the first report of the presence of Oceanbacillus picturae in the soils of

The importance and necessity of planning the rainfed cropping pattern of each region can be attributed to the need for optimal use of rainfall and the provision of solutions to increase production efficiency in rainfed agricultural lands. This study was carried out with the aim of taking into account the water footprint to determine the optimal cropping pattern of rainfed agricultural lands in Ghaenat and Zirkoh counties.

 In this study, the appropriate cropping model of rainfed crops was investigated using multi-objective non-linear programming with the aim of reducing green and gray water footprints while maximizing net profit in counties of Zirkoh and Ghaenat. The data was collected in 2018-2019 through surveys and desk studies from databases and weather stations.

The results showed that the optimal cropping model while maintaining the current income in the region reduced the green water footprint by 1898384 m3 ton-1 and 249886 m3 ton-1 in the multi-objective planning model in the region. The results also showed that by reducing the amount of green water footprint in the cropping model, the amount of economic water footprint in rainfed agricultural land decreases. In general, to achieve economic objectives and reduce the water footprint, in the form of multi-objective planning, the reduction of 121 and 58 ha of cultivated area compared to the current pattern in Ghaenat and Zirkoh is inevitable.

Every year a number of new potato cultivars enter our country. Therefore, the study of widely used potato cultivars is necessary. Accordingly, in this study, the aim is to determine and introduce the best cultivars in terms of yield and quality.

In this experiment 10 common cultivars included Banba, Sante, Red Scarlett, Agria, Sifra, Picasso, Arinda, Invator, Fontane and Challenger, based on RCBD were assesed. The studied traits included tuber fresh and dry weight, tuber yield, tuber diameter, number of tubers, volume weight, stiffness, soluble solids, total antioxidant activity, total phenol content, total carbohydrates, vitamin C, starch, peroxidase, total soluble protein and beta-carotene.

The results displayed that there was a considerable diversity between the genotypes in Maragheh climatic conditions. The highest yield was observed in Cifra cultivar, which in terms of quality traits such as starch, firmness, vitamin C was significantly lower than others with a significant difference, and after Cifra cultivar, the highest yield belonged to Picasso cultivar. Picasso, Challenger and Invator cultivars were superior in quality traits such as starch and dry weight.

The results of the experiment indicated that Picasso, Inverter and Challenger due to starch, dry matter and high total phenol content as well as peroxidase and low carbohydrates are suitable for processing and production of chips. Of course, if the goal and priority of the producers is more yield, the Cifra cultivar is recommended.

In order to investigate the effect of density and urea fertilizer on agronomic characteristics of corn hybrids and dry matter accumulation in pigweed.

The Experimental during two cropping years, a factorial split plot was used as a randomized complete block design with four replications. The main factors included corn cultivars (Single Cross hybrids of 370 and 704) and sub factors included different levels of corn densities (60000, 70000, 80000 and 90000 plant/ha) and different levels of nitrogen fertilizer including 200, 300, 400 and 500 Kg.ha-1.

The results showed that effect of density on all traits was significant, but the effect of cultivar on chlorophyll and nitrogen effect on number of ear per square meters were not significant. Corn cultivar of 704 had significantly higher number of grain per spike, 1000-grain weight and grain yield compared to cultivar 370 but the number of spikes per square meters was significantly lower than that of cultivar 370 and there was no significant difference in chlorophyll index between the two cultivars. The highest grain yield was obtained at densities of 80000 plants pet hectare and application of 400 kg N per hectare. The lowest weed biomass was obtained at density of 90,000 plant/ha and application of 200 kg N per hectare. However, cultivar 704 significantly decreased pigweed biomass compared to cultivar 370.

Based on the results, it is recommended that farmers in Miandab region use 80,000 plant/ha and 400 kg nitrogen per hectare for optimum yield.

This research was conducted in order to evaluate the effect of different rates of trifluralin in integration with non-chemical managements including living mulch, straw mulch and hand weeding on weeds, growth characteristics and yield of dill.

The experiment was conducted in Research Field of Agriculture-Jahad in Khoda Afarin County in 2019 as factorial based on randomized complete block design with three replications. The first factor was application of different rates of trifluralin at four levels including 0, 50, 75 and 100 % of recommended dose (2 L/ha) of herbicide and the second factor was different levels of non-chemical weed management and control (without non-chemical weed management). Also the weed-free treatment was considered in the experiment.

The results indicated that the weed biomass was affected by non-chemical weed management treatments. The effect of hand weeding treatment in reduction of weed biomass was higher than that in wheat straw mulch treatment. The greatest grain yield of dill (9840 kg/ha) was obtained in application of recommended dose of trifluralin + wheat straw mulch.

In living mulch treatments there were no significant difference in dill grain yield in 50 and 75% of herbicide recommended dose. Generally application of straw mulch and hand weeding had higher grain yield compared with fenugreek and bitter vetch living mulch treatments and could be recommended to the growers.

study aimed to Evaluating the production of potato superolite tubers by applying different pelleting methods based on randomized complete block design with three replications Experimental treatments included 17 different combinations. The results showed, Pelleting of minituber with zeolite and soil soil application of triple superphosphate had the largest diameter of the main stem, compared to the control, it showed anincrease of 29.31 percent, pelleting the tuber with cocopeat and soil application of triple superphosphate had the highest plant fresh weight and plant dry weight, which showed an increase of 33.8% and 29.72%, respectively, compared to the control, the highest number and yield of potato superolite tuber was obtained in T14 treatment with an increase of 29.9 and 33.89% compared to the control, treatment (T1) led to an increase in chlorophyll a, b and total chlorophyll, which compared to the control showed an increase of 21.92, 34.40 and 23.92%, respectively.The highest amount of carotenoids was observed in T13 which had an increase of 18.10% compared to the control treatment. The highest (fv/fm) was in T7 treatment Comparison with control treatment showed an increase of 21.29%.Treatment (T5) had the highest protein yield which had a 52.62% increase compared to the control treatment .In general, the results showed that the application of superabsorbent polymer and chitosan in tuber pelleting had good results in most traits. In addition, the use of zeolite with these compounds led to the improvement of most traits.Also, Potato tuber yield showed positive and significant correlation with most morphological traits.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of silica nanoparticles on the yield and water productivity of cucumber plant and to determine the most appropriate method of application of silica nanoparticles (leaf and root nutrition)In order to investigate the effects of silica nanoparticles on cucumber yield, an experiment was conducted in a factorial design based on completely randomized block design with 4 replications in two growing seasons during 2018and2019 in the greenhouse of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran. Treatments included silica nanoparticles with concentrations of 0,25,50,75 and 100 ppm and two methods of foliar application on leaves and root feeding.The results showed that the highest and lowest values of fruit weight in the first and second crops were in the treatment of 50mg/l nanoparticles by foliar application (first crop:weight10484.3and second crop:weight8039g) and 0mg/l nanoparticles were obtained by root solution (first culture:weight7700g and second culture: weight6280g). Also, the highest amount of water productivity was related to the treatment of nanoparticles with a concentration of 50ppm under foliar application (first culture:71.32and second culture:64.83).This study showed that the use of silica nanoparticles can have a positive effect on cucumber yield and caused a 32.11and21.2% increase in yield in the first and second crops, respectively, compared to the control treatment. The use of nanoparticles increases water productivity and increases cucumber plant yield, the use of silica nanoparticles with a concentration of 50 ppm as foliar application on the leaves can be a good option to increase yield in cucumber.

The purpose of this study was to evaluation of the application of SIIG index in the study of phenotypic variation and selection barley promising lines with desirable grain yield and agronomic traits.

A set of 107 pure lines in the non-repeating Augment design with four controls in three blocks were evaluated during of 2019-20 cropping year in the farm of Darab Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Station.

The results of REML analysis showed that, the lowest heritability of traits was related to 1000-kernel weight (0.417) and the highest heritability was related to days to maturity and days to flowering (0.891 and 0.887), respectively. The results of SIIG index showed that lines 102 and 9 with the highest (0.696) and lowest (0.200) values of SIIG were the best and weakest lines in this study, respectively. In order to selecting the best lines in terms of grain yield, 1000-kernel weight, plant height, days to flowering and days to maturity, lines were grouped according to SIIG index in four categories. The results showed that the SIIG index could well classify genotypes based on two traits of grain yield and 1000-kernal weight.

The results of grouping the lines according to the SIIG index showed all lines of group one and group two (except line 55) and lines number 13, 116, 29, 7, 77, 89 and 72 of Group three were the best in this study and can be considered for further testing, including compatibility testing.

The study was conducted to evaluate the energy use efficiency, greenhouse gas emission and evaluation of sustainability in the studied wheat and rapeseed fields of Khorramshahr. Input data and yield of fields were collected from 60 wheat and 57 rapeseed farms of Khorramshahr by using questionnaire method and face-to-face interview during 2018-2019 growing season. Results showed that input energy of wheat and rapeseed was 41810 and 33517 MJ ha-1. Electricity, nitrogen fertilizer and fuel had the greatest impact. Direct energy was 22606 and 19434 MJ ha-1 and indirect energy was 19204 and 14083 MJ ha-1 for wheat and rapeseed respectively. Also, the input energy of renewable wheat and rapeseed was 5546 and 314 MJ ha-1, and non-renewable energy was 36263 and 33202 MJ ha-1, respectively. Energy efficiency for wheat and rapeseed was 1.32 and 2.15. Greenhouse gas emissions per hectare of wheat and rapeseed fields was 1438.5 and 1466 kg, respectively. Equivalent to carbon dioxide per hectare and the global warming potential was 18223 and 2238 tons of carbon dioxide, respectively. In this study, the sustainability index based on the amount of carbon input and output in wheat was 2.45 and in rapeseed was 1.17. Energy management is important and effective for efficient and sustainable energy use in wheat and Rapeseed agroecosystems of Khorramshahr. Optimizing energy consumption and reducing energy costs is essential to maintain sustainable environment.

This study investigated the basin sustainability in the baseline and climate change status. Then the effects of water resources management scenarios such as agricultural water reducing, increasing irrigation efficiency and increasing the water price on sustainability indicators were investigated.

A hydro-economic model was used to evaluate the effects of climate change on hydrological and economic variables. Modeling of hydrologic behavior was performed by WEAP-MABIA model and economic behavior using quadratic risk programming. The LARS-WG downscaling model was used to simulate climate change under three future emission scenarios (A2, A1B and B1), for the period 2020-2050. Agricultural sustainability was evaluated using performance criteria such as reliability, resilience, vulnerability and the irrigation water deficit index.

Evaluation of the sustainability indicators in the current situation indicates the instability of water resource and under climate change conditions, the hydrological basin status will be more critical that it goes from 0.86 in the basin situation to 0.72 under A2 climate change scenario. Implementing water resource management scenarios improves the sustainability indicators compared to climate change and the largest increase is related to the increasing irrigation efficiency scenario. In this scenario, the average of agricultural sustainability compared to climate change increases by 11.1% and irrigation water deficit index decreases by 26.6%, which It indicates the improvement of the region sustainability.

Due to the high effectiveness of the increasing irrigation efficiency scenario, it was recommended to increase irrigation efficiency by changing irrigation technology and using modern irrigation methods.

The present study was conducted to identify the factors affecting agricultural sustainability in Meshkinshahr.

First, a complete and comprehensive review of domestic and foreign literature was conducted and based on it, a researcher-made questionnaire was developed as the main research tool. The statistical population of the study is farmers of Meshkinshahr city and sampling by simple random method to the number of statistical samples using Cochran's formula was obtained 217 people which was distributed among farmers in the 2009-2010 crop year. Also, the confirmatory factor analysis test was evaluated and the structural equation method was used.

The results of confirmatory factor analysis showed that all of the 75 items had two items with less than 0.5 factor loading were removed from the questionnaire, but the rest of the items had a factor loading greater than 0.5. Shows that effective indicators include; Individual characteristics including income, education, age and other variables that affect the latent variable of farmers' individual characteristics in the form of Likert spectrum. And the variable of extension-educational factors have a positive and significant effect on agricultural sustainability.

Therefore, the results show that the studied indicators in individual, economic, socio-cultural, political, educational and promotional, environmental and managerial dimensions are effective on agricultural sustainability.