Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology
Volume:25 Issue: 3, May 2023

Research on the rural entrepreneurial process is relatively limited. This quantitative study appraised an opportunity-based model of rural entrepreneurial process that consisted of two components including the principal stages and the important factors in each stage. Using tree analysis, the pathways passed by the rural entrepreneurs and the drivers of the process were investigated. A survey was conducted with a sample of 193 rural entrepreneurs supported by Omid Entrepreneurship Fund, Iran. Based on the results, the rural entrepreneurs passed 7 pathways to get from opportunity recognition to opportunity exploitation. Process of analyzing the regression tree indicated that the rural entrepreneurial process resulted from a complex set of various stages and drivers. The first determinant stage of the predicted value of opportunity exploitation as the dependent variable was opportunity evaluation. All rural entrepreneurs were divided into two categories of low and high opportunity evaluation. The most important drivers of this stage were prior knowledge, access to expertise, and access to financial resources. According to the results, social supports, proactiveness, and expectancy for success were the most effective drivers of the rural entrepreneurial process in which opportunity revision was the most determinant stage. Opportunity examination was another determinant stage influenced by normative environment and self-efficacy. Innovativeness and social networks were the best drivers for the rural entrepreneurs who passed the rural entrepreneurial process with high ability of opportunity recognition. According to the results, both individual and contextual factors were important, in almost all pathways. To facilitate and accelerate the rural entrepreneurial process and promote its quality, it is important to consider the rural entrepreneurs’ abilities.

Adoption of multiple climate change adaptation strategies is the most important solution to mitigate the negative consequences of climate change. Therefore, in the present study, economic and social characteristics that affect the intensity of adaptation strategies in the Bakhtegan-Tashk Basin, Iran, were examined using an ordered probit model. A total of 300 farmers were selected using a multi-stage sampling method. The results showed that household income level, access to the credit, availability of irrigation water, number of crops, and farmer membership in agricultural extension classes had significant positive effects on the intensity of adaptation to climate change. Therefore, it is suggested that the government facilitates the use of different climate change adaptive strategies by increasing financial incentives. Also, changing the cropping pattern by planting less water demanding crops that are appropriate for the region is recommended.

Three different levels of biochar addition in soil (0, 1, 2 kg m-2) and simultaneous irrigation treatments (50, 85, and 120% of crop Evapotranspiration (ETc)) were applied to basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) for two consecutive years (2018 and 2019). Central Composite Design (CCD) was used as an experimental optimization method, and 13 given experiments were carried out. The study was performed at the research farm of the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran. The effects of these treatments were evaluated on biochemical attributes (total chlorophyll, total phenol, and total soluble carbohydrates) and morphological criteria (biological yield, height, seed yield, and harvest index). Then, all the results were statistically analyzed. The results revealed that biochar amendment in the soil decreased all examined biochemical characteristics. Meanwhile, biochar in the soil strengthened the morphological properties of the basil plant. Also, the basil plant significantly responded to the amount of irrigation levels. High levels of water treatments reduced total phenol and total soluble carbohydrates and raised all other measured factors. Statistical analysis shows no significant relationship between 2-way-interaction (biochar×irrigation) and measured factors, except total soluble carbohydrates.

Farmers’ trust in extension staff may improve the performance of agricultural extension services and productivity through transferred knowledge and new farming practices. Using the trust game and trust questionnaire, this study measured farmers’ trust in extension staff. Measures obtained from the two methods were statistically different. We examined the relationship between the measured trust and agricultural productivity to control socio-economic factors. The findings revealed an insignificant relationship between trust and productivity that might be due to inappropriate attributes of extension programs. This emphasizes the need for more participation of farmers in researching and structuring training programs. While age had a negative impact on trust, traditional farmers with high experience showed a high level of trust. This indicates that young farmers who mostly inherited their lands from their parents and have occupations other than farming or practice modern farming, do not trust the extension staff. Farm size positively influences productivity by reducing the number of laborers per hectare. This emphasizes that the traditional way of farming is the cause of low productivity in Iranian agriculture.

Participation in collective actions refers to an individual's behavioral, mental, and emotional engagement in group-situations that motivates him or her to achieve group goals, including environmental protection. The present study aimed at analyzing the intention of members of environmental NGOs to participate in collective pro-environmental activities. To do this, the psychological Dual-pathway Model of Collective Action (DMCA) was used. The research method was descriptive-correlational and was done using survey technique. The statistical population included members of the pro-environmental NGOs in Tehran Province, Iran (N= 680). Out of the population, 248 cases were selected as a sample using stratified random sampling method with proportional assignment. The research instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire and its validity was verified using a panel of case experts and AVE index. Besides, the reliability was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha coefficients, principal component analysis, and composite reliability indices. According to the DMCA, the effects of Perceived Behavioral Control variables about Collective Pro-Environmental Activities (PBCCPEA), Attitude towards Participation in Collective Pro-Environmental Activities (APCPEA), Subjective Norms about Participation in Collective Pro-Environmental Activities (SNPCPEA), Social Identity about Participation in Collective Pro-Environmental Activities (SIPCPEA) were tested on Intention towards Participation in Collective Pro-Environmental Activities (IPCPEA). The results show that this model is able to explain 66% of the variance of IPCPEA changes. The results of this study indicate the need for special attention from the perspective of collective action to make significant changes in the creation of IPCPEA.

Alternative splicing, alternative transcript start site, and alternative transcript polyadenylation site are the main factors resulting in diversity of the transcripts of a gene. The main objectives of this study were to analyze the alternation process in breeds of sheep and goat, and to identify its role in differentiation of breeds of a species. RNA-seq data were prepared from ovarian tissue of two breeds of Shal and Sangsari sheep and two breeds of Tibetan and Jintang black goats. Reads were aligned to the reference genome and significant genes with respect to differential exon usage were identified. The statistical comparison revealed that 8,104 genes were significantly different in exon usage between the sheep breeds and 173 genes differed between the goat breeds. Out of the 121,861 studied exons, only 22.7% were preserved during future generations between the breeds, of which 99.3% did not display any alternatives. The high protection was probably due to the lack of involvement of the exons in alternative process. The genes with differential exon usage in goat had a higher percentage of alternatives than those in sheep. The interracial analysis showed that alternative splicing was the most influential type of alternatives in the breeds of sheep and goats. It seems that the conservation process of the exons is related to the contribution of these exons in alterative process in both sheep and goat breeds. The significant PI3K-Akt and alternative splicing pathways play a role in cell growth, development of ovaries, and mRNAs splicing.

Despite the developing technology, extraction of Sulfured Dried Apricot (Prunus armeniaca) (SDA) stones is still done manually and thus requires a significant amount of labor and time and also causes serious problems in terms of hygiene. According to International Food Standards (CXS 130-1981) and Turkish Standard 485, the SDA stones must be extracted from the peduncle side of the apricot. Therefore, the correct position of the apricot peduncle and style side must be determined. In this study, a deep learning architecture was improved for the first time to determine the position of SDA stones as a component of the agricultural machine developed to extract SDA stones. In this study, a new Capsule Network architecture was used. With the original capsule network, SDA images were classified with 86.23% accuracy, while it increased to 94.47%with the improved capsule network. Also, the processing time of the developed network architecture was about twice as fast as the original. The result clearly demonstrates that the SDA stone positions are easily determined. Therefore, the designed agricultural machine can extract the SDA stones hygienically and rapidly, without any need for human power.

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of dipping solutions [Moringa Leaf Extract 5% (MLE), Olive Leaf Extract 5% (OLE) and Calcium Chloride 5% (CaCl2)] on fruit quality of two peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch) cultivars (Blanvio 10 and Plagold 15). The treatments consisted of dipping fruits for 5 min in the corresponding solution followed by 30 minutes drying at room temperature. Then, fruits were stored at 5°C and 95% relative humidity for 2 and 4 weeks of cold storage followed by 2 days at room temperature. Physicochemical traits, antioxidant compounds, sugar content and chilling injury symptoms were analyzed. There were significant improvements in fruits storability resulting from the CaCl2, MLE (5%) and OLE (5%) dipping solutions. These treatments improved firmness, maintained the Soluble Solids Content, and increased the ripening index (SSC/TA). The lowest fruit weight loss was observed in the OLE treatment, whereas the untreated fruits showed the highest loss. The flavonoids, total phenolics, vitamin C and antioxidant capacity showed a gradual decrease during the storage periods. Mealiness and internal browning were the major chilling injury symptoms observed in the two peach cultivars after 4 weeks of cold storage. The applied treatments were efficient and delayed the presence of chilling injury symptoms and fruit decay during the two cold storage periods.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Artemisia absinthium L. Essential Oil (EO) incorporation at various concentrations on the properties and oxidative stability of butter during 2 months of refrigerated storage. The obtained results on peroxide value, acidity, fatty acids, antiradical scavenging activity, and physical and microbiological properties confirmed the effectiveness of Artemisia EO incorporation in fat rich dairy foods. New produced butters can be classified as functional products due to their strong antioxidant activity, better oxidative stability, and richness in essential unsaturated fatty acids when compared to the control. All quality parameters were improved with Artemisia EO enrichment, however, descriptive sensorial analysis showed that the lowest concentration of about 45 ppm of the product was the most preferred in terms of color, odor, taste, firmness and overall acceptability. Due to its positive effects on all butter properties, Artemisia absinthium EO can be used as natural antioxidant and antimicrobial agent in food industries.

Experiments were conducted for the quality evaluation of developed gluten-free protein enriched pasta. The pasta was formulated by taking a different proportion of Pre-gelatinized broken basmati Rice Flour, freeze-dried Carrot Pomace, and Groundnut Meal in the ratios of T1 (100:0:0::PRF:CP:GM), T2 (97:1:2::PRF:CP:GM), T3 (94:2:4), T4 (91:3:6), T5 (88:4:8), T6 (85:5:10), T7 (82:6:12), and T8 (79:7:14) respectively. Pre-gelatinized broken basmati rice flour (T1) was considered as the control pasta. Each pasta sample after drying was packaged in polypropylene bags and stored for 3 months at ambient conditions (28±2°C). Results revealed that the Lightness (L*) value of gluten-free protein enriched pasta decreased, while a* and b* values increased with the increase in the incorporation level of freeze-dried carrot pomace and groundnut meal to broken basmati rice flour. Also, water activity, bulk density, swelling power (g g-1), water absorption index (g g-1), and cooking time were greatly influenced by the increased incorporation level. There was a significant decrease in cooking time and smoothness of gluten-free protein enriched pasta because of fibre addition. On the other hand, incorporation resulted in little clumpiness and disintegration.

Asian sea bass (Lates calcarifer) an important marine species of high economic value and excellent meat quality, has suffered great losses due to disease in high-density aquaculture. The macroalgae, Gracilaria pygmaea, which include various bioactive compounds, may serve as an immunostimulant in the aquaculture industry. This study aimed to assess the effect of dietary fish meal replacement with Gracilaria pygmaea meal on immunity, activity of liver antioxidant enzymes, intestinal tissue, lysozyme gene activity, and IGF-I gene activity in Asian sea bass (Lates calcarifer). To this end, 120 individuals of Asian sea bass with an average weight of 28±0.5 g were divided into four treatments and three replicates and kept in 12 tanks (10 fish per 300-liter tank). Blends of soybean meal and fish meal were used as a Control diet (C). Experimental diets were prepared to substitute the fish meal with 3 (GL3), 6 (GL6), and 9% (GL9) of G. pygmaea in the basal diet. Fish were fed three times daily for six weeks. Dietary supplementation of G. pygmaea led to significantly increase in total immunoglobulin level compared to the control. The inclusion of G. pygmaea in the diet did not affect the antioxidant status of the fish. The histological analysis showed that fish of all groups exhibited normal morphology of anterior intestine and pyloric caeca. The obtained results showed that fish of GL9 and the control groups had the highest IGF-1 mRNA transcript abundance in the liver compared to the other groups. The changes of lysozyme expression noticed among the groups were statistically insignificant. Overall, the results obtained in this study indicated that dietary G. pygmaea did not cause adverse effects on immune status, antioxidant status, intestinal morphology, and lysozyme gene activity in Asian sea bass.

This study was conducted to examine the sensitivity of weather parameters and CO2 concentration to wheat production under two irrigation regimes viz. full irrigation and limited irrigation, using CERES-Wheat model. Field experiment data from the 2016-17 and 2017-18 rabi seasons on wheat cultivar HD-2967 with three sowing dates and five irrigation regimes were used to calibrate and validate the CERES-Wheat crop simulation model. Validation results indicated very good agreement between simulated and observed values under five, four, and three irrigations regimes as compared to lower irrigation regimes. Under full irrigation and limited irrigation, grain yield sensitivity to incremental unit of mean temperature from 1 to 3°C revealed a decrease of 6 to 22% and 8 to 16%, respectively. Temperature decreases of 1-3°C resulted in a gradual increase in yield of 10-28 and 6.5- 20%, respectively, under full and limited irrigation. The combined effect of higher mean temperature and lower solar radiation revealed that wheat yield was more sensitive to temperature than solar radiation. Furthermore, the combined effect of mean temperature and CO2 level revealed that higher levels of CO2 concentration yielded the greatest benefits with a 1 °C increase in temperature, but further increases in temperature reduced the beneficial effect of elevated CO2 level under both irrigation conditions.

Crown rot caused by Colletotrichum siamense is a serious disease of strawberry in the Yangtze River region, China. The metabolites involved in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis increase susceptibility of crown rot in octoploid strawberry. Exogenous coumaric acid, caffeic acid, and ferulic acid involved in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis were used to explore whether the increased susceptibility was associated with reactive oxygen species, antioxidant substance and key genes of phenylpropanoid metabolism. According to the results, H2O2, O2.−, and MDA contents showed different responses to C. siamense infection in root, petiole and leaf. The H2O2, O2.− and MDA were increased by C. siamense in petiole. Exogenous coumaric acid, caffeic acid and ferulic acid promoted the H2O2, O2.− and MDA as positive control. The POD activity was significantly induced in response to C. siamense infection in petiole. The coumaric acid treatment inhibited the POD activity but increased total phenolics. The ferulic acid only promoted POD activity in petiole. In addition, the expressions of transcripts involved in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis were regulated by exogenous coumaric acid, caffeic acid, and ferulic acid. Together, our results demonstrated that exogenous coumaric acid, caffeic acid, and ferulic acid increased susceptibility of octoploid strawberry to crown rot by regulated ROS, antioxidant substance, and transcripts expression of phenylpropanoid biosynthesis.

Ethephon was widely used in rubber tree plantation to stimulate latex production. Numerous studies demonstrated that ethephon treatment prolongs the flow of the latex and promotes latex regeneration in the trunk of mature rubber tree seedlings. However, how rubber tree leaves responded to ethephon treatment on the trunk is still unknown. We used rubber tree seedlings to detect the physiological response of leaves after the trunk treatment with ethephon. The photosynthetic rate, the sugar and starch content, as well as the enzyme activities involved in sugar metabolism were measured after 0, 12, 24, 36 and 48 hours with 0.6% ethephon treatment. The result demonstrated that ethephon treatment increased latex production on the trunk, while the net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, and stomatal conductance in leaves were significantly reduced. At the same time, sucrose decreased significantly with concomitant slight increase in glucose and fructose. Also, the enzymatic activities of Sucrose Phosphate Synthase (SPS), Sucrose Synthase (SS) and Neutral/alkaline Invertase (NI) increased significantly after ethephon treatment. Ethephon treatment affected the starch content, but did not change the composition of starch in rubber tree seedlings leaves; the overall starch changing pattern was similar to that of sucrose in leaves. It can be concluded that ethylene-stimulated latex production in rubber tree seedlings is partly due to the alteration of sucrose metabolism in leaves, and ethylene has an adverse physiological effect on rubber trees.

Dorema ammoniacum D. Don. is a perennial medicinal plant from Apiaceae family. There is some evidence in Iranian traditional medicine about the anticonvulsant and anthelmintic properties of D. ammoniacum gum resin exudating from its root and stem. In this study, D. ammoniacum was collected from southwestern part of Iran and their Essential Oils (EOs) content and compositions were investigated by gas chromatography techniques. The EO yield of D. ammoniacum root, stem, leaves, flower and gum were 0.4, 0.2, 0.24, 0.46, and 1.0 v/w%, respectively. Although there were some variations among different organs EOs, some similarities could be easily observed. The major compounds in the gum EO were (2E, 6E)-farnesol (12.2%), cuparene (11.5%), (2Z,6Z)-farnesol (8.7%), β-bisabolene (6.1%). The root oil had thymol (14.7%), heptacosane (12.8%), tridecanol (12.7%) and 4-methylene-5-hexenal (6.8 %) as the major compounds. Endo-Fenchyl acetate (13.1%), elemicin (10.5%), p-cymen-8-ol (6.8%) and thymol (5.6%) were identified in the stem oil. The major constituents of the leaves oil were n-hexadecanol (9.1%), cuparene (8.2%), Di-n-butyl phthalate (6.6%), n-eicosane (6.6%), bicyclogermacrene (5.4%) and β-bisabolene (5.2%). The major compounds in flower oil were tridecanol (13.2%), δ-elemene (11.2%), n-eicosane (8.2%), and heptadecanoic acid (7.8%). According to different applications, nine different extracts were also prepared from all organs and their Antioxidant Activity (AA), Total Phenol Content (TPC) and Total Flavonoid Content (TFC) were evaluated. Analysis of variance showed that there was a significant difference among all extracts of D. ammoniacum in AA, TPC and TFC (P≤ 0.01). Results showed that the highest radical scavenging activity was observed in M2F (second Methanolic extract of Flower) and M2L (second Methanolic extract of Leaves) samples with IC50 of 40.3 μg mL-1 and 43.6 μg mL-1 compared to BHT (26.0 μg mL-1). The highest TPC in M2F and M2R (second Methanolic extract of Root) samples were 36.4 and 35.7 mg GAE g-1 DW of extracts, respectively. The highest TFC belonged to M2L with 26.4 mg QE g-1 DW of extract. Results also showed that D. ammoniacum organs extracts contained moderate to high amounts of AA and TPC.

Mulberry (Morus spp.) is an economically important plant, and Iran is among the most important mulberry producer countries. Meager information is available on the number of mulberry species and the characteristics of genotypes in Kerman Province. In this study, we used Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to categorize a number of important mulberry traits from different parts of Kerman. A total of fifteen white and black mulberry genotypes were selected from four regions located in different parts of Kerman Province, in 2021. Fourteen qualitative and 15 quantitative variables were measured. The highest and the lowest Coefficient of Variance (CV) was found for leaf shape and fruit length, respectively. The strongest positive correlation was obtained between the number of second-degree shoots and number of shoots. PCA showed that the first five and six components among qualitative and quantitative variables explained 87.82 and 90.87% of the total variation, respectively. The dendrogram biplot classified genotypes into five groups based on quantitative and into four distinct groups in accordance to qualitative variables. The grouping of genotypes did not follow their geographical origin. This study revealed high morphological diversity in the mulberry genotypes dispersed in Kerman, supporting their potential uses for mulberry breeding programs.

Soil conservation practices aim to improve the degraded soil properties and to sustain soil quality. Intensive agriculture with conventional tillage in Igdır Province, Turkey, has led to soil degradation (compaction, loss of soil organic matter). For this reason, it is important to use soil conservation practices (minimum tillage, zero tillage, cover crops) in the region. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of different tillage practices and cover crops cultivated after corn (Zea mays L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) on selected soil properties during 2016-2018 in Igdır. In this study, wheat and corn were used as the main crops, conventional tillage and no tillage as tillage practices, and vetch, fodder beet, and mixture of vetch-fodder beet as cover crops. In the first year of the experiment, organic matter, aggregate stability, bulk density, plant available phosphorus and soil pH values were 1.5%, 20.88%, 1.71 g cm-3, 47.2 kg ha-1, and 8.57, respectively. In the last year, they were determined as 1.56%, 22.30%, 1.50 g cm-3, 56.4 kg ha-1, and 8.47, respectively. As the result of the study, it was determined that the use of cover crops and no tillage practices led to improvements in the selected soil properties and can be important for sustainability of soil quality in arid and semi-arid regions.

There is a growing demand for solving conflicts among water users and stakeholders under climate change conditions. This study applied ten CMIP5 climate models under the RCP8.5 scenario to simulate Doiraj Reservoir water allocation in Ilam Province. To reduce the uncertainty of climate models, the MOTP method was used by combining different GCM models. To predict reservoir inflow, the IHACRES Rainfall-Runoff model was considered and validated for the 2016 to 2044 time periods. Climate and hydrological indicators were extracted to monitor drought periods in the current and future projections. The WEAP model and the Asymmetric NASH Bargaining Method were used to simulate the water basin system and solve the conflict between stakeholders based on their utility functions, respectively. The results indicated that the rainfall would increase by 17.1 and 11.1% in spring and autumn and decrease by 9.4% in winter in the future projection. Furthermore, the highest temperature and runoff growth rate increased by 1.95°C in September and 6.3% compared to the base period, while demands would be increased by 55.75%. The long-term agricultural deficit are obtained as 10.9 and 10.2% by the WEAP model in the current and future conditions. Finally, the duration curve of reservoir storage showed that 20% of the time, the reservoir storage is empty for the Standard Operation Policy (SOP). By switching to the Nash bargaining policy, not only the minimum storage capacity reached 18 MCM for all the time, but also the effects of climate change would be adapted in the future, and the utility functions of all stakeholders would be satisfied as well.