Journal of Research on Crop Ecophysiology
Volume:16 Issue: 1, Winter 2021

The phenomenon of water scarcity has been one of the biggest problems in human life for decades. Nowadays, in many cities of water-scarce regions of the world, pay attention to water-scarce and attractive urban landscapes by using natural spaces and suitable ecological conditions, using the design and implementation of water-scarce urban green spaces by reducing water consumption has become very important. Considering Iran's hot and dry climate, global temperature increase, consecutive droughts and water resource supply limitations, the necessity of research and finding scientific and practical strategies for dry landscaping and the design of urban green spaces with economic goals and the sustainability of green spaces should be suitable with maximum water saving and optimal water consumption.

Various surveys were conducted for many researchers regarding the flax crop in Iraq and countries with similar environmental conditions, its economic and medical importance, and the effect of ascorbic acid on the flax plant. It leads to an increase in the absorption of nutrients, which in turn increases the economic yield, medicinal compounds, and the percentage of oil in the seeds, as well as vitamin C, phenols, flavonoids, and total tannins in the seeds, and increases the plant’s tolerance to harsh environmental conditions. Also, the use of this acid increased by spraying it on the vegetative body of the plant because it is one of the antioxidant substances that leads to encouraging vegetative and fruiting growth, and its effect on plant growth is similar to the effect of growth regulators that encourage plant growth and also reduce stress resulting from temperatures and toxins, as well as lead to increased secretion of organic acids From the roots to the soil, which leads to an increase in most nutrients, which are released slowly and absorbed by plants, and its role also in protecting cells from the harmful effect of temperature and light oxidation and stimulating cell division.

Zarin-giyah (Dracocephalum kotschyi Bioss.) is a medicinal plant and an endemic species in Iran. It is grown and well adapted to high elevations. This plant can be found in some areas such as Tabriz, Yasuj, Mazandaran and Isfahan. Germination in Zarin-giyah seed is irregular and takes a long period of time. This study conducted in 2021-2022, and the potential of Zarin-giyah seed dormancy release was evaluated using eight different treatments which consisted of: scratching with sandpaper, 24 hours of running water + 12 weeks of cooling at 4˚C, 48 hours of running water + 12 weeks of cooling at 4˚C, 60 ˚C hot water for ten minutes, freezing the seeds for 48 hours at -18 ˚C, 24 hours of running water + 48 hours of freezing at -18 ˚C, 24 hours of running water + scratching and the control. The result showed that seedling germination index, root and shoot dry weight, shoot length, mean germination time and germination rate were significant at the 1% probability level. Also, these results showed that using 24 hours of running water and 12 weeks of cooling at 4˚C improved germination traits in Zarin-giyah. Reducing the duration of seed immersion in running water is suggested as a means of achieving better results.

Sustainable crop production in any region is subject to the production energy flow. Paying attention to the inputs and outputs in the production system regarding environmental management is important. In this study, energy consumption in olive production as well as the greenhouse gas emissions in Ilam province, were investigated in 2019. The survey was conducted on a population of 195 olive farmers. The information was collected using a face-to-face interview utilizing a questionnaire. Results have shown that the total input energy for olive production was 15107.17 MJ.ha-1, while the total output was 34389.7 MJ.ha-1, making the energy efficiency and energy productivity 2.28 and 0.19 kg MJ-1 respectively. Electricity (37.04%) and nitrogen fertilizer (27.74%) are the highest sources of energy intended for olive production in Ilam. The result from the Cobb-Douglas function has revealed that olive production in Ilam province is significantly affected by electricity, irrigation and workforce with 0.45, 0.27 and 0.13 regression coefficients respectively. The total emissions of greenhouse gases were equivalent to 1 kg of carbon dioxide per hectare. Electricity was found the most greenhouse-gas emitting agent (80.1%). Non-renewable energy was applied more than renewable energy. In Ilam province, the reduction of non-renewable energy allows for increase of energy efficiency; however, this requires appropriate mechanization methods to produce olives.

Adopting efficient irrigation strategies is necessary because of climate change and growing population especially in regions that receive low precipitation. A field experiment was performed at three replications for two years (2013 and 2014) as split-split-plot in Chaharmahal-Va-Bakhtiari Province, Shahrekord.The main plotswereirrigation type (furrow and tape drip irrigation), sub-plots including potato cultivars (Almeraand Burren) and secondary sub-plots were deficit irrigation (DI) managements (FI=100%, RDI80= 80%, RDI65= 65% of available water depletion and partial-root-zone-drying (PRD) during growth period).Influences of these treatments have been studied on tuber yield, dry matter, starch and proline content, water use efficiency (WUE) and water productivity (WP).Results declared that DI management had significant effects at P ≤0.01on entire studied parameters. The highest and lowest tubers yield 52.8 and 25.5 tonha-1 were related to FI and RDI65 treatments, respectively. Tubers yield reduced noticeably by 8% in plants receiving 80% IR and PRD irrigation and by 52% in plants receiving RDI65 irrigation. The means comparison revealed a relationship between PRD and RDI65 for the highest and lowest values of WUE with 14.5 and 8.46 kgm-3, respectively.Additionally, outcomes demonstrated that tape drip irrigation enhanced CPD by 79% compared to furrow irrigation. Means comparison showed that the highest values of CPD with 10.77 kgm-3 was related to Burren cultivar and this cultivar increased CPD by 21% compared to Almera cultivar. Therefore, it is essential to select irrigation method under environmental parameters of plant in order to enhance production per unit of water consumed. These findings highlight the importance of adopting efficient irrigation strategies to optimize water consumption and increase tuber yield in regions facing water scarcity and climate challenges.

Many random variables experience both spatial and temporal variability. In scientific terminology these variables have been called spatiotemporal variables. For example most of the data on agriculture, geography, medicine, etc have a spatiotemporal nature. To have a suitable understanding of these variables, it is a good idea to present them on a map having an animated format. One of the best platforms that can perform this duty is R. The reasons of popularity of R is as follows: R is an open-source, platform-independent, still growing software. It has lots of packages and is great for statistical analysis. R is well suited for Machine Learning, and lets you perform data wrangling. The R contains a package named t-map that can be used to create spatiotemporal maps. In this report, the creation of a spatiotemporal map of pesticide consumption per unit area for crop production in different continents between 1990 and 2020 with the aid of the open source R software has been summarized. The aim of this report to introduce this software Therefore, it focuses only on the methodology of map creation with the final goal of motivating agriculturalists to use this software in presenting their future studies.