Agrotechniques in Industrial Crops
Volume:2 Issue: 3, Summer 2022

Chia (Salvia hispanica L.), an annual herbaceous plant, is one member of the Lamiaceae family. Its center of origin is between Mexico and Guatemala. It is a wonderful pool of omega-3 fatty acids, protein, antioxidants and dietary fiber for healthful diets. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has encouraged the cultivation of chia as an industrial crop. The genetic basis of the chia cultivars is narrow due to self-pollination and the selection of pure lines. Therefore, further genetic improvement through molecular breeding is necessary for the profitability and sustainability of chia production. Unfortunately, little is known about the basic genetic characteristics of this species, such as karyotype, nuclear genome size, and diversity of molecular markers. According to scientific proof, dietary phytochemicals are very important and useful for treating and preventing many diseases in the human diet. People request functional foods with countless health advantages by growing the universal health consciousness. In addition to the traditional use of seeds, innovative uses of its seeds and leaves have been started due to its high protein content and mucilage production that have various applications. Chia seed is used as a functional food or a nutritional supplement. It also uses for medicinal purposes.

This research aimed to determine the most suitable time to harvest olive fruits (Olea euopeae cv. Zard) infected with olive fly larvae based on the quality and quantity of the extracted oil. The experiment factors included the fruit type at two levels (1: infected fruits, 2: healthy fruits) and the harvest time at six levels (0: the time of olive fly larvae exit, 1: one week after the fly larvae exit, 2: two weeks after the olive fly larvae exit, 3: three weeks after the olive fly larvae exit, 4: four weeks after the olive fly larvae exit and 5: five weeks after the fly larvae exit). The fresh oil of fruit was extracted and analyzed for measuring qualitative and quantitative characteristics. The results showed that the effect of fruit type was significant on the extinction coefficient at 232 and 270nm (K232 and K270). The effect of harvest times was significant on K320, oil percent (p≤0.05) and acidity (p≤0.05), but had no significant effect on K270 and peroxide (p≤0.05). The interaction effect of fruit type and harvest time was significant only on acidity (p≤0.05) and was not significant on other parameters. Based on the results, the healthy fruits had lower acidity and peroxide number and higher oil percentage than infected fruits and therefore had better quality. It can be concluded that the best time to harvest the fruit was two weeks after the larva leaves the fruit because, after that, the negative effects of olive fly larvae on the quantity and quality of fruit oil are high, while before that, quality indicators of the fruit are not affected by olive fly larvae.

For the first time, the potential fumigation toxicity of the essential oils (EOs) extracted from the flower and root tissues of Ferula persica were evaluated against the adult insects of Tribolium castaneum and the fourth instar larvae of Ephestia kuehniella. The EOs from the flower and root tissues of F. persica were initially prepared using the water distillation method and subsequently utilized for fumigation toxicity assays. To this end, four different series of EO concentrations (each one contained a group of six different concentrations) belonging to both tissues were applied for T. castaneum and E. kuehniella. The experiment was based on a completely randomized design with three replicates, and the mortality rate after 24 hours was employed as a dependent criterion. According to the four individual ANOVA results, in all cases, EO concentration substantially affected the mortality rate of both storage pests of interest. Furthermore, the median lethal concentrations (LC50) of EOs from the flower and root of F. persica against T. castaneum were calculated as 220.832 and 371.475 μL L−1 air, respectively. However, higher LC50 values of 860.041 μL L−1 air and 1268.148 μL L−1 air were respectively detected upon exposure of the fourth instar larvae of E. kuehniella versus EOs from flower and root tissues. Considering LC50 values of the current fumigant assay, it seems that the insecticidal activity of EOs from both flower and root tissues of the plant is less toxic against E. kuehniella rather than T. castaneum. Altogether, the results revealed that these EOs could be possibly nominated as safe botanical pesticides for biocontrol of storage pests, including E. kuehniella and particularly T. castaneum.

In the mass rearing of parasitoid wasps used in the biological control of important crop pests, the method for producing hosts, especially moths, is essential. Nowadays, in the insectarium, collecting of moths reared in covers is carried by laborers and due to the scattering of moths' scales, respiratory problems are created for them. In this project, the traditional collection was replaced with a mechanized method, and a system consisting of two blower air transfer paths was designed and implemented on the insect preservation enclosure. So that with creating the air flow blown from the top of the cover and suction flow in the cover base, which is also used as air conveyor, insects are directed to the collecting container. Also, some arrangements were considered for uniformity of airflow distribution, flow rate control, and so on. The modeling was performed using the computational fluid dynamics method to study the fluid flow and estimate the air velocity. Since geometry changes in this type of simulation are simple, it is possible to examine various laboratory conditions before testing. In assessing the performance of the machine and investigating the amount of eggs laid by moths automatically collected, there was no significant difference between the new method and the traditional method. It indicated that the new method did not have a negative effect on the moth’s oviposition. Considering the implementation of the system, the development and optimization of this method are investigable for several interconnected covers. This technique can increase laborers’ health and facilitation so development of biological control and, consequently reduction of chemical pesticides.

Heavy metal poisoning and its accumulation in food chains are one of modern societies' main bioenvironmental and health problems. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of arsenic contamination in soil on the physiological characteristics of pistachio and alfalfa in the form of a completely randomized design. Plant and soil sampling was done in 8 regions of the Kerman province. The results related to the pigments showed that they were influenced in both pistachio and alfalfa by the region. The highest levels of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total-chl in the alfalfa plant were related to the Shahr-e-Babak region where a similar result was seen for pistachio. chl a (alfalfa (28.50±0.37), pistachio (30.33±0.32)), Chl b ((Alfalfa: 0.13±0.23), pistachio (9.10±0.11)), total-chl (Alfalfa (8.63±0.38 (pistachio: 39.43±0.17)). The results of the regression trend of intra-tissue and peripheral arsenic changes also showed that the amount of peripheral arsenic was able to account for a higher percentage of changes in chl an in both plants and the changes model of chl due to changes in peripheral arsenic was as the second degree. But, the amount of chl b was affected by the amount of intera-tissue arsenic. The highest amount of flavonoid in pistachio was observed in Shahr-e-Babak and Bayaz regions (alfalfa (71.50±0.65), pistachio (74.50±1.32)) and the highest amount of carotenoid was obtained from Shahr-e-Babak, Bayaz, and Anar in alfalfa and pistachio. The amount of alfalfa flavonoid was more affected by intra-tissue arsenic, while in pistachio, the peripheral arsenic had more impact on flavonoids than intra-tissue arsenic. The highest amount of total carbohydrates in alfalfa and pistachios was observed from Shahr-e-Babak and Zarand regions, while the highest amount of protein was observed from Anar, Bayaz, and Kabutar-khan regions. In general, alfalfa is a more arsenic-accumulating plant, shows better resistance to it, and is less affected.

Nutrient elements are the most important factor limiting crop production in plants. In addition to reducing the yield and quality of the product, the lack of mineral elements causes nutrient deficiency in humans. Based on this, in order to study the effect of humic acid and mixed nano chelated fertilizer together with chemical fertilizers on the growth and yield of Yaqouti grape, an experiment was conducted as a randomized complete block design with 3 replications in Kandoleh area of Sahneh city of Kermanshah province in two successive years 2020 and 2021. For this purpose, ten different fertilizer treatments were considered include; mixed nano chelated fertilizer + chemical fertilizer (T1), mixed nano chelated fertilizer + humic acid with irrigation (T2), mixed nano chelated fertilizer + humic acid (T3), humic acid with irrigation + chemical fertilizer (T4), humic acid + chemical fertilizer (T5), humic acid with irrigation (T6), humic acid (T7), mixed nano chelated fertilizer (T8), chemical fertilizer (T9), control without fertilizer (T10). Fertilizer treatments have a statistically significant effect (P≤0.05) on the traits of number of berries per bunch, number of bunches per plant, bunch weight, bunch length and width, yield per plant, yield per hectare, Total Soluble Solid (TSS), Titratable Acid (TA), TSS/TA and pH of juice. Using a combination of treatments was more beneficial than single treatments. The practical result of this research is the use of treatments T1 and T3 for gardeners, respectively. Qualitative properties such as total soluble solids and TSS/TA were higher in most combined treatments, especially in the treatment of mixed nano chelated fertilizer + chemical fertilizer (T1), which was at the top.