International Journal of Horticultural Science and Technology
Volume:10 Issue: 4, Autumn 2023

Farmers and experts are continuously searching for optimal conditions to improve the productivity of tomatoes in greenhouses. To provide an answer to their concerns, we have developed a modeling approach to automate the functioning of a greenhouse cultivated with tomato plants. For the aeration, heating, and irrigation systems, we compared the Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controller response to the Fuzzy logic (FL) controller response. For the aeration system, the response of both controllers was stable, with a pick of about 1.09 for the PID controller and zero for the fuzzy controller. Likewise, there was no overtaking for the fuzzy controller but about 8.28% for the PID controller. The rise time for the fuzzy controller was less than that of the PID controller (627 s). We signaled a stable response for the PID controller and the fuzzy logic controller for the irrigation system. The pick and the overtake were equal to zero for the fuzzy logic controller but were 1.28 and 28.2 s for the PID controller, respectively. In the case of both controllers, the rise time was the same, equaling 18.3 s. The regulation time was less than 35 s for the fuzzy logic controller and 31.1 s for the PID controller.

In order to determine the effects of organic fertilizers on morphological traits and yield of basil, an experiment was conducted as factorial experiment based on Completely Randomized Design with three replications under controlled conditions. Experimental factors were basil ecotypes (green and purple) and organic fertilizers (cow manure, vermicompost, sulfur granular compost and control. Results indicated that the highest plant height, fresh and dry weight of lateral branches, leaf number, leaf area, leaf fresh and dry weight and plant biomass were found in green basil when vermicompost was applied and the lowest means of these parameters were observed in control. Application of vermicompost, cow manure and sulfur granular compost caused (30, 29 and 28), and (61, 49 and 28%) increase in plant biomass in purple and green basil, respectively. Also, the fitted experimental allometric relationship indicated a significant relationship between average leaf number and average leaf area (r2=0.95). Allometric relationships between root and shoot dry weight also indicated more symmetric growth of these two parameters in green basil compared to the purple. Therefore, the analyze the growth relationships between plant components and production could be evaluated based on morphological components (leaf number, leaf area, root and shoot dry weight) and allometric equations.

Galanthus transcaucasicus is still unknown species whose highest distribution is in southern regions of the Caspian Sea in Iran. No precise study has not been done on Galanthus transcaucasicus in the literature so far. This study aimed to collect and introduce the morphological and anatomical characters of endemic Galanthus transcaucasicus in detail. 50 Galanthus transcaucasicus accessions belonging to 5 populations (Randomly ten plants from each population) were collected from four provinces, including Mazandaran, Gilan, Golestan, and Ardabil of Iran. In total, 12 morphological and ten anatomical parameters were measured. The largest size of flowers was found for K7 from Khalkhal population with (24.22 and 11.43 mm for outer perianth-segments length and width) and (14.26 and 8.68 mm for inner perianth-segments length and width). Anatomical analysis showed that the cells on the lower (abaxial) epidermis were spherical and short, but on the upper (adaxial) epidermis were oblong and strongly elongated. Stomata were occurred on both the adaxial and abaxial surface of leaves (amphistomatous leaves, but on the upper surface, they were located around the central vein. The number of stomata on the upper surface was less (ranging from 0.37 μm to 0.6 μm per mm2). Anatomically, there is a significant difference between populations from different regions. Maximum leaf thickness was found in the Gorgan population (775 μm).

Biochemical diversity may result from geographic and environmental changes. In the present study, 16 ecotypes of yellow flag species were identified and collected through field studies. The identified ecotypes were then grouped into three populations based on their geographical locations. Eight biochemical properties, including chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, carotenoids, phenol and flavonoid content, antioxidant capacity, and anthocyanin, were carefully measured by spectrophotometric methods. The biochemical traits were analyzed in a completely randomized design with three replications using SAS software and principal component analysis using SPSS software. The analysis of variance showed that all biochemical traits studied in the ecotypes of the yellow flag showed significant differences (p<0.05; p<0.01). Photosynthetic pigments were most frequently found in ecotype Q, phenol and flavonoids of ecotype K, ecotype O's antioxidant capacity, and ecotype L's anthocyanin content. The studied populations were divided into three main groups using cluster analysis. The results obtained from the correlation table of traits show that the most positive and significant correlations are related to chlorophyll a and total chlorophyll (r = 90%), total chlorophyll and carotenoids (r = 67%), as well as phenol content and flavonoid content (r = 56 %). The results indicate that the studied ecotypes have considerable diversity in terms of biochemical traits.

The present study was carried out to evaluate the effects of different pollen sources, i.e. genotypes 7001 (control), 7005, 7013, 7030, and tissue culture-derived ‘Boyer 11’, on two maternal plant cultivars, i.e. ‘Barhi’ and ‘Piarom’ (tissue culture-derived and offshoot-derived). The quantitative properties of fruits were evaluated for a period of two years (2018-2019). A population of 30 ten-year-old trees was selected from each cultivar. Fruit physical properties were measured, including fruit length and diameter, the fruit length-to-diameter ratio, fruit volume, seed length and diameter, seed weight, and yield. The results showed that the highest percentage of natural fruit set was related to offshoot-derived trees of cv. ‘Barhiʼ, with pollen from genotypes 7030 and 7013. The lowest was found in tissue culture-derived trees of cv. ‘Piaromʼ, with pollen from the genotype 7001 (control). In general, offshoot-derived ‘Barhi’ and ‘Piarom’ cultivars were preferable to their tissue culture-derived trees, since they caused better quantitative and qualitative traits. Furthermore, genotypes 7013 and 7030 were selected as the most suitable pollinizers because of increasing the percentage of fruit set, reducing the number of parthenocarpic fruits, and improving the quantitative and qualitative properties of fruits in tissue culturederived and offshoot-derived date palm cultivars (‘Barhi’ and ‘Piarom’).

The synthetic seed method refers to encapsulated plant parts and any meristematic tissue which can develop into plantlets under in-vitro or in-vivo conditions. various parameters and evaluating’ one-variable-at-a-time’ could be time-consuming, expensive, and inefficient. Thus, the application of process modeling approaches including Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) and the Radial-Basis Function (RBF) can be required and beneficial for the prediction of synthetic seed weight. In the present study, two different types of artificial neural network (ANN) algorithms, the MLP and RBF models, have been developed to predict the weight of Phalanopsis orchid synthetic seed using an encapsulation set-up especially developed for this purpose. Various topologies of ANN were configured based on different concentrations of sodium alginate (3, 4, and 5 (w/v)), calcium chloride (100,125, and 150 (mM), and droplet falling height of sodium alginate (1, 1.5, and 2 cm) as input variables and the values of synthetic seed weights as output variable. Results show that the RBF algorithm (R= 0.98 and SSE= 0. 13× 10-3) outperformed the MLP algorithm (R = 0.91and SSE= 0.14× 10-3) owing to its better ability for predicting capsule weight. The study has presented a machine learning-based approach for the classification of synthetic seeds. Algorithms for extraction of capsule features have been developed, which are in turn used to train artificial neural network (ANN) classifiers. The outputs of ANNs have been successfully applied to model the synthetic seeds production process indicating the appropriateness of the model equation in predicting orchid synthetic seed weight are mathematically combined.

Iron chlorosis is a concern in self-rooted and grafted vines cultivated in calcareous soils. Susceptibility to Fe chlorosis in grapevine usually varies, depending on genotype. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the morpho-physiological responses of grapevine cultivars (‘Flame Seedless’ and ‘Thompson Seedless’) and their graft combinations (‘Flame Seedless’/‘Thompson Seedless’ (FS/TS) and ‘Thompson Seedless’/‘Flame Seedless’ (TS/FS)) to bicarbonate (30 mM) application and Fe deficiency, while also examining the effects of different Fe sources (FeEDTA and FeSO4.7H2O) in soilless culture condition. In this study, a factorial experiment was conducted based on a completely randomized design with 4 replications. Results indicated that chlorophyll a, b, and total, as well as carotenoids in the grafting combination of FS/TS were less affected and decreased by about 20% under bicarbonate treatment. The ‘Flame Seedless’ cultivar and grafting combination of TS/FS was more affected and decreased by about 50% under this condition. Results indicated that shoot and root fresh weights decreased by about 25% and 32%, respectively, in all cultivars under bicarbonate treatment in response to both iron sources. Root volume decreased in ‘Thompson Seedless’, ‘Flame Seedless’, and TS/FS by about 30%, 38%, and 50%, respectively, under the bicarbonate treatment when FeEDTA was used as an iron source. Adding bicarbonate to the nutrient solution increased some of the phenolic compounds in ‘Thompson Seedless’ and the graft combination of FS/TS roots. Generally, bicarbonate had more adverse effects on ‘Flame Seedless’ and the TS/FS graft combination, compared to ‘Thompson Seedless’ and FS/TS, confirming that the use of more iron-efficient rootstocks in the graft combination can contribute to bicarbonate tolerance in the scions of cultivars with lower tolerance to bicarbonate.

Genetic resources in each country are valuable assets for sustainable development. Accurate knowledge of genetic behaviour and identification of genomic loci associated with important economic traits will help breeders to run efficiently their breeding programs. Fourteen important pomological traits were measured on 45 table grape cultivars during three successive years (2016, 2017 and 2018). The molecular profile of the studied cultivars was prepared with 39 SSR primers pairs. Genetic structure analysis based on the SSR markers revealed two subpopulations in the association panel. In association analysis using the mixed linear model, seven loci were found to be significantly associated with the studied traits at the 5% probability level. Breeding values were also estimated for the pomological traits using BLUP. 'Saghal Solian', 'At Ouzum', 'Garmian', 'Rishbaba Qermez', 'Taifi', 'Shahroudi', 'Sahebi Qermez', 'Lal Qermez', 'Alhaghi', 'Sarghola', 'Chava Ga', 'Qzl Ouzum' and 'Agh Shani' table grape cultivars showed high and positive breeding values for cluster length, width and weight. Whereas 'Garmian', 'Rishbaba Qermez', 'Fakhri', 'Agh Shani', 'Lal Sefid' and 'Shirazi' had positive and high breeding value for pollen germination, fruit set in open pollination and fruit set under controlled pollination. Finally, 'Sarghola' and 'Qzl Ouzum' showed the positive and highest breeding value for berry weight, flesh weight, cluster length, cluster width, and cluster weight. The cultivar with high and positive breeding value can be used as a good parent for the breeding of the traits in hybridization programs because they can better transfer the desirable characteristics to the progeny in each case.

The efficiencies of menthol and thymol fumigation in combination with modified atmosphere packaging were studied to preserve apricot fruit quality. For this purpose, 0 (control), 20, and 30 μl of menthol or thymol were placed on a sterile gauze inside a package and sealed with low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film. Following the treatments, all packages were stored at 1.5±1 °C and 85±5% relative humidity for 30 days. They were analyzed for quality parameters during cold storage. The application of menthol 30 µl, thymol 20 µl, and 30 µl reduced the microbial population of the packed fruits to at least 53, 57, and 69%, respectively. Other parameters related to fruit quality such as weight loss, softening, color changes, and malondialdehyde content, which were delayed in treated fruits, compared to the control. The treated fruits exhibited higher bioactive compounds in terms of b-carotene, ascorbic acid, and titratable acidity, respectively, compared to the control at the end of the storage period. The combination of MAP with the vapor phase of menthol and thymol at appropriate concentrations can maintain apricot fruit quality for consumers and growers to increase the possibility of extending apricot shelf life.