Agrotechniques in Industrial Crops
Volume:3 Issue: 2, Spring 2023

The chemical constituents of essential oils of Datura stramonium L. and D. innoxia (family Solanaceae) are being reported. In this study, the collected seeds of Ardabil and Urmia were planted in grow bags and placed for three months in a greenhouse of the College of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran. Under greenhouse conditions, the average air temperature was 25 °C. Air-dried areal parts of D. stramonium and D. innoxia were prepared and their essential oils (EOs) were isolated by hydrodistillation for 3 h in a Clevenger-type apparatus. EOs content and composition were examined with gas chromatography techniques. The EOs yield of D. stramonium and D. innoxia were 0.03% and 0.02% (v/w), respectively. The major compounds in the D. stramonium EOs were Camphor (29.9%), Selin-11-en-4alpha-ol (13.0%), and Borneol (10.4%). Those in the D. innoxia were mostly fatty alkanes, including n-Decane (19.99%), 7-Pentadecyne (11.78%), and Linoleic acid (6.13%). The other important components identified in the EOs of Datura were Dihydrocitronellol, n-Dodecane, Isobornyl acetate, Germacrene D, and n-Tetradecane. Generally, the EOs of the areal parts in D. stramonium showed oxygenated monoterpenes.

The purpose of this study was to address the influence of melatonin foliar application on the flowering and fruit formation of olive cultivars of Sevillana and Roughani at the Dalaho Olive Research Station conditions of Kermanshah province. The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design in a factorial arrangement and three factors (MEL concentration, irrigation regime and olive cultivar) with 3 replicates and implemented in the crop year 2021-2022. The trees were sprayed with melatonin [0 (as a control), 50 and 100 µM] before flowering and during rapid fruit growth (two growth stages) on leaves. Irrigation treatments included 100% (control), 75 and 50% evapotranspiration. In order to investigate the state of flowering and fruit formation of olive cultivars under drought stress and melatonin foliar application, flower and fruit formation were recorded. Statistical analysis of variance and comparison of averages was done by Duncan for multiple comparisons between pairs of treatment as a post-hoc test. The results showed that flower traits and fruit formation were significant under the impact of variety, various levels of melatonin and irrigation regime at the probability level of 1%. The decrease in the amount of irrigation water affected flower characteristics and fruit formation. Melatonin foliar spraying improved the condition of flowering and fruit formation in Sevillana and Roughani cultivars.

In the present investigation, 81 safflower genotypes were studied in a 9×9 simple lattice design for several plants per plot (NPP), plant height (PH), the height of the first lateral branch (HFL), the height of the first lateral capitulum (HFC), stem diameter (SD), number of lateral branches per plant (NLB), number of main branches per plant (NMB), number of capitula per plant (NCP), number of seeds per main capitulum (SMC), number of seeds per lateral capitulum (SLC), seed yield (SY) and thousand seed weight (TSW). The genotype by trait (G×T) interaction biplot tool was used to indicate the pattern of G×T interaction two-way interaction data in a graph with 73% description of observed variation whereas the first principal component (PC) effect explained 49%, and the second PC, 24%, of the observed interaction variability. The vector view displayed that NCP with NMB, and SMC with SY were positively associated while there was a negative association between HFC with TSW, and between NLB with NPP. The polygon-view graph is divided into eleven sectors, and the sector of genotype G80 was a winner for most traits. Genotype G58 followed by genotypes G30, G33 and G72, were the most favorable genotypes in regard to SY while regarding this trait as a reference, SMC was identified as the most related trait which is followed by SLC, SD. Applying G×T biplot to the safflower multiple trait data demonstrated that this model visually showed the associations among seed yield with the number of seeds per main and lateral capitula followed by the number of capitula per plant and thousand seed weight, and provide ease of visual genotype comparisons and choosing. We found that choose of seed yield alone was not only dependent on the number of seeds per main and lateral capitula but also related to the other traits in safflower breeding.

Citrullus lanatus var. citroides is one of the Khorasan region's major rainfed and cash crops. It is typically grown on marginal lands and mostly dependent on rainfall. Microsatellite markers were therefore employed in this study to determine the genetic diversity among the genotypes from these important production zones in the provinces of Razavi and North Khorasan in order to be used in the future breeding programs of this crop. With the aid of 15 pairs of microsatellite primers (SSR), the genetic diversity among 17 genotypes of C. Lanatus var. citroides collected from various parts of Khorasan province along with one edible variety (Ed) was examined in this study. These markers allowed for the DNA fingerprinting of genotypes, in which 11 markers were polymorphic. In two cases, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products were monomorphic and shared by all genotypes, but in the other two, no detectable PCR product was observed. The range of the polymorphic information content (PIC) was 0.13 to 0.86. The genetic similarity among genotypes was determined to be between 15% and 55% using the Jaccard similarity matrix in the NTSYS program (Ver. 2.02). Three major groups were formed by clustering 17 genotypes using the UPGMA method and the Jaccard similarity coefficient. These findings demonstrated that the Ed variety was classified into a different group due to its significant genetic differences from other seeded watermelon genotypes. While verifying the significant amount of genotype diversity, the results of principal component analysis (PCA) of the data were highly in agreement with those of cluster analysis, making the similarities of genetic relationships very clear. This study could be significant in terms of the first steps toward identifying genetic diversity and maintaining genetic reserves in native genotypes of seeded watermelon for future breeding purposes.

Two separate experiments were conducted to investigate the performance of peppermint (Mentha piperita L.) in different water deficit and salinity management in 2017 and 2018, a randomized complete block design factorial experiment with three replications was designed in a lysimeter station in the Department of Water Engineering, Campus Agriculture, and Natural Resources of Razi University, Iran. The experiment included three levels of irrigation: 100%, 80% and 60%, and four salinity levels: (control), 2, 3 and 4 dS/m. The results indicated that the water deficit stress effect on aerial characteristics (leaf fresh weight, shoot fresh weight, leaf area, shoot height) and underground organs (root dry weight, root volume, root area, and root length), was significant. The irrigation water salinity effect in two years of the experiment was significant on leaf wet and dry weight, shoot wet and dry weight, leaf area and root dry weight, root volume, root area and root length. The mean comparison test revealed that the effect of deficit irrigation on shoot wet and dry weight was not significant between the 80% and 60% water requirement treatments. For 100% and 60% of irrigation requirements, the maximum and minimum leaf dry weight was observed at 2.47 and 1.54 g/plant in 2017. The mean comparison test result for salinity on underground organs showed that the highest root length in two years was observed in the control treatment and the lowest value of this parameter was observed in the 4 dS/m treatment. In general, water deficit and salinity had a negative effect on peppermint yield during two years of experiments. Therefore, it is not recommended to apply water stress and use water with a salinity of more than 2 ds/m to achieve the maximum yield.

Since the beginning of life on earth, mankind has always used animals and plants for its nutrition and has continuously trained and developed them for their benefits and social, cultural, and economic needs. In the past, livestock and crop breeding were done by traditional farmers and ranchers. It improves the performance of livestock and crops, they performed the selection, which is one of the principles of plant breeding and livestock breeding. They made this choice with the help of information that was passed down to them from successive generations. It is a participatory plant breeding and production of crops with the help of researchers alongside farmers. Farmers work with researchers, scientists, and other stakeholders -even consumers- to improve crops and develop resilient plant varieties. Farmers are aware of their needs and have a conscious understanding of their agricultural land in terms of soil type, seed type, weather conditions, surface water, underground water conditions, etc. Therefore, they can play an important role in making decisions about the implementation of plant breeding and the type of planting pattern in the cultivated microclimates. In other words, farmers determine their cultivation goals based on their environments, conditions, tastes, and local cultures. The seed that is obtained in this way by the breed researchers with the help of the leading farmers, actually contributes significantly to the food governance of the people of that region and that country.