مجله علوم گیاهان زراعی ایران
سال پنجاه و چهارم شماره 2 (تابستان 1402)

To identify soybean with higher grain yield and stability in low water regions of the country, 14 superior soybean lines along with two control lines (Saba, Kowsar) were evaluated in two separate experiments in a randomized complete block design with three replications in two years 2015-16 in Karaj. In this study, both experiments were similarly irrigated until seedling establishment and the emergence of stage V4-V5, which coincided with the full development of the fourth to fifth leaflets. After that, in the first and second experiments, were irrigated every week and every other week, respectively. At the end of two years, the stability of the lines was evaluated by 16 stability methods and a three-dimensional graph of mean grain yield, rank and rank variance of stability statistics were investigated. The results of combined analysis of variance showed that the line effect and the interactions of year by stress, year in line and year by stress in the evaluated line were significant and lines G1, G3, and G2 had the lowest average of sum stability statistics (Ar) and standard deviation of rankings (SD) and had been higher yield than average yield and control regions cultivars of Kowsar and Saba and were identified as stable lines. Therefore, these lines can be selected and introduced as a high yield and sustainable cultivar for cultivation in low water areas.

In order to investigate the effect of different levels of vermicomposting and irrigation on the yield and quality of quinoa forage, this experiment was conducted as a split plot based on a randomized complete block design in the research farm of Kurdistan University located in Dehgolan in 1400. The experimental factors included 4 levels of irrigation equal to 50, 75, 100, and 125% of the water requirement of the quinoa plant and the sub-factor included 4 levels of vermicompost fertilizer equal to 0, 5, 10 and 15 tons per hectare respectively. The highest plant height (111.47 cm), grain yield (2374.51 kg/ha), biological yield (5415.84 kg/ha), and digestible dry matter (59.49 %) in the treatment of 125% of plant water requirement and 15 tons per hectare of vermicompost was observed. The highest amount of crude protein of forage (15.71%) forage ash (18.91%) and water use efficiency (0.53 kg/m3) was in the treatment of 15 tons of vermicompost per hectare. Therefore, by improving the environmental conditions through the application of vermicompost and the water consumption required by the quinoa plant, its yield and quality can be increased.

In agriculture, nitrogen fertilizer does not effectively absorb by plants. Several biological activities in the soil convert N into various compounds. Nitrogen oxide (N2O) is an influential greenhouse gas formed in soils due to nitrification and denitrification process. Nitrapyrin (NI) combined with ammonium (NH₄⁺) based fertilizers is an effective technique for minimizing the N loss in agricultural soils by regulating ammonia-oxidizing. This research was conducted during 2019-2020 to determine the effect of NI on nitrogen emissions in soil and crop yield of wheat cultivars at three urea (UR) levels, NI+urea (NIU), and control (CO) on two cultivars (Rakhshan and Pishgam) and two tillage systems (No tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT)). The highest amounts of NH₄⁺, NO3- and N2O were found at the stem elongation stage. While NIU fertilizer treatment yielded the highest NH₄⁺ (18.38 mg kg⁻¹), the UR fertilizer treatment yielded the highest NO3- (25.96 mg kg⁻¹) and N2O (0.0192 kg N2O-N ha⁻¹ day⁻¹). At all developmental stages in the CT and NT systems, the NIU treatment decreased the average nitrification of NH₄⁺ and its conversion to NO3- by 27.81 and 15.45%, respectively. Our findings, thus, showed that NI application in conjunction with UR could highly reduce N2O emissions. In addition to the favorable economic impact, increasing N availability in the soil through minimizing nitrification by NI may reduce detrimental environmental consequences on water resources and greenhouse gas emissions.

In order to evaluate the tolerance of rapeseed genotypes to heat stress, an experiment was carried out in the two crop years of 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 in the experimental farm of Shahid Chamran, University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz. The experiment was conducted as a combine analysis in the frame of a randomized complete block design with three replications in two conventional sowing dates (normal conditions) and delayed planting dates (stress conditions) on 9 rapeseed genotypes (including 8 hybrids and one free-pollinating variety). The results of combine analysis of variance showed that the seed yield of the genotypes differed with each other at the probability level of 1%. Also, there was a significant difference between the environments (conventional and delayed cultivation) in both years and the year effects. The average yield of genotypes under normal and stress conditions in the first year was estimated as 3.467 and 1.667 tons per hectare and in the second year as 3.358 and 1.687 tons per hectare, respectively. The increase in yield under normal conditions in the first year compared to the second year was due to more rainfall and more suitable temperature in the first months of cultivation. In this experiment, the stress intensity was estimated at 0.51 in the first year and 0.46 in the second year, which indicated high stress intensity during two years. The delay in planting followed by heat stress caused a 48% decrease in yield per unit area in average. The results of the analysis of indices based on grain yield showed that harmonic mean indices, stress tolerance index, geometric mean productivity, and average productivity are the best indices in assessing heat tolerance in rapeseed. And these four indicators had a positive and significant correlation with performance in both normal and stressful conditions. Drawing a three-dimensional diagram based on grain yield under stress and normal conditions and the selected indices showed that Hayola 50 and Hayola 61 hybrids are more heat tolerant than other cultivars and hybrids and have higher yield stability under heat stress conditions. Therefore, for areas with heat stress at the end of the growing season, Hayola 50 and Hayola 61 hybrids are more suitable than other hybrids and are recommended for cultivation in those areas.

In addition to plant growth enhancing bacteria, the effect of gibberellic acid on increasing the ability of germination and seedling vigor index has been investigated and confirmed. To determine the best treatments for coating along with Enterobacter cloacae+Pseudomonas fluorescens and gibberellic acid on germination characteristics and establishment of parsley seed, three experiments were conducted in the seed laboratory of Yasouj University in 2015 and 2016. The first experiment was conducted based on a CRD design on non-primed seeds to select the most suitable coating materials for covering parsley seeds with 4 pelleting treatments including control, vermiculite (V), perlite (P) and kaolin (K). To determine the most suitable combination of coating material, biopriming and hormone priming for seed coating, the second experiment was conducted in a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design with 12 treatments and 4 replications. The treatments of the second experiment were also used in the third experiment in the greenhouse condition. The best treatments for the first experiments were P20K10 (perlite with a weight ratio of 20 and kaolin 10), P20K20V5 (perlite with a weight ratio of 20, kaolin 20 and vermiculite 5) and P30K10 and in the second experiment were P20K10-GA3-50ppm-6h and also P20K20V5-GA3-50ppm-12h. Finally, in the greenhouse experiment, the use of P20K10-GA3-50ppm-6h treatment was determined as the best treatment to increase the percentage of final field emergence and field emergence rate. The results of this study showed that the use of P20K10-GA3-50ppm-6, other than increasing the volume and physical characteristics, can be useful as a strategy to improve the quality of germination and seedling of parsley.

Ellagic acid is a natural polyphenol compound that has strong antioxidant properties and reduces the effects of various stresses in plants. In order to investigate the effect of ellagic acid on protein percentage and soybean yield, an experiment was conducted in the two crop years of 2018 and 2019 in the research farm of Shahrood University of Technology. Treatments include accelerated aging on two levels of normal seed and aged seed and the application of ellagic acid on four levels (control, seed pre-treatment, foliar spraying and the combination of seed pre-treatment and foliar spraying with ellagic acid with a concentration of 50 mg/L) in the form of a factorial experiment with a basic design of randomized complete blocks in three replications. The number of pods per plant, the number of seeds per pod and the 100 seed weight per plant obtained from aged seeds decreased by 11.64, 4.16, and 13.13%, respectively, compared to the control. The combined use of seed pretreatment and foliar spraying of ellagic acid in normal and aging conditions caused a significant increase of 10.00 and 11.30% in the number of seeds in the pod compared to the non-application of this substance in these conditions. The combined use of seed pretreatment and foliar spraying of ellagic acid caused an increase of 20.89 and 51.93% in the weight of 100 seed and seed yield, respectively, compared to the control. The application of ellagic acid in normal conditions did not show any effect on the protein percentage, while the use of this substance in aging conditions by the form of seed pretreatment, foliar spraying and the combined use of seed pretreatment and foliar spraying, led to an increase of 0.88, 0.40, and 0.86 percent of protein, respectively. It is possible to suggest the combined use of pretreatment and foliar spraying with ellagic acid to increase seed yield and protein percentage in plants obtained from normal and aged soybean seeds.

This research aims to investigate the effect of low irrigation and foliar application of nano nitrogen fertilizer on quantitative (height, biological and seed yield, thousand seed weight and harvest index) and qualitative (essential oil percentage and yield) traits of black cumin seeds in 2018 in a split plot arrangment complete blocks. A random experiment with three replications was carried out on the farm of the Payame Noor Milajerd University. Irrigation levels include: Irrigation of all furrows (control), irrigation once in between furrows (fixed watering of only odd furrows) and intermittent irrigation of furrows (irrigation in rounds of one week for odd furrows and the next week for even furrows) as main plots and levels of nitrogen foliar application include: No foliar application of fertilizer (control of foliar application of distilled water), application of 1.5 and 3 liters per hectare of nanofertilizer were considered as sub-plots. The results of the experiment showed that the interaction effect of the treatments on all studied traits was significant at the one percent level, so the highest values of quantitative traits (plant height, biological and seed yield, 1000-seed weight, and harvest index) in normal furrow irrigation treatments (without drought stress) with the application of nitrogen nanofertilizer was obtained. While the highest and lowest percentage and yield of essential oil (qualitative properties) were obtained, respectively, in the furrow irrigation method with 3 liters of nitrogen nanofertilizer and constant irrigation treatment without nitrogen nanofertilizer. Considering the economic importance of essential oil performance in the production of medicinal plants and in water shortage conditions and the need for optimal consumption of inputs (water and fertilizer) in the direction of sustainable agriculture, the use of an intermittent irrigation pattern and foliar spraying of 3 liters of nitrogen nanofertilizer, while saving consumption water and production of the highest yield of essential oil in black cumin in the study area is recommended.

Nowadays, agricultural products are moving towards organic farming in response to consumers' desire for healthier products. One of the ways to produce and increase yield in these conditions is using biological and organic inputs such as biochar and mycorrhiza. Therefore, this experiment was conducted at Safadasht Golazin Agro-industrial in Safadasht, Tehran, in order to investigate spinach yield. The experiment was carried out as split plots in the form of a randomized complete block design in 3 replications. The experimental treatments included four levels of control, two, four, and six tons per hectare of biochar as the main factor and two inoculation levels with mycorrhiza and control as secondary factors. The results showed that the effect of the investigated treatments on the measured traits was significant. The highest plant height (15.24 cm), total chlorophyll (2.44 mg/g fresh weight), root fresh weight (19.56 g), and shoot (30.95 g) at the application level of mycorrhiza and six tons of biochar per hectare was observed. The effectiveness of mycorrhiza increased with the increase of biochar level. In general, the results showed that the synergism effect of biochar and mycorrhiza increased the yield of spinach traits; this synergy can be one of the strategies to reduce the consumption of chemical fertilizers.

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the widely cultivated cereals and several pathogenic factors affect its grain yield quantity and quality. The fungal pathogen Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei (Bgh) causes powdery mildew, which is a common leaf disease, and identifying genotypes resistant to this disease is one of the goals of breeding programs to combat this disease. The present study was conducted to investigate the resistance of 104 barley genotypes (including 99 advanced lines of barley along with five control cultivars) to powdery mildew disease under field (in two planting dates) and greenhouse conditions. The assessed traits included the severity of the disease, the infection type, and the area under the disease progression curve (AUDPC). The results of analysis of variance of the data showed that the effect of genotype on all the evaluated traits was significant (P<0.01). Considering the evaluation of genotypes under the field on two planting dates for the severity of the disease, and the results of cluster analysis of genotypes based on the different traits investigated in the greenhouse, totally 15 and 19 genotypes were identified as the most resistant and sensitive genotypes to this disease, respectively. These identified genotypes can be used for introducing to the disease-prone regions and also exploited in the formation of breeding populations and as important sources of candidate resistance genes to this disease.

Vermicomposting fertilizer is an ecological approach that improves both yield quantity and environmental quality. This study was carried out in the field of agriculture faculty of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz in 2021 at two stages. In the first stage, the experimental design was a split plot with 4 crop residues (i.e. wheat, rice, sugarcane, and corn) in the main plot and 2 weight ratios (i.e. 30 & 40%) were supplot with 3 replications. In the second stage, the experimental design was a randomized complete block with 3 replications which included 8 different vermicomposting that were produced in the first stage. Results of the first stage showed that wheat 40% residue treatment produced the highest mature worm weight due to the highest mature worm population which resulted in the highest total worm weight. For all crop residue treatments, the total worm number was reduced by the increase in crop residue quantity from 30% to 40%. This reduction was affected by the reduction in the immature worm population. Despite the increase in mature worm numbers, it could not compensate for the effects of reducing the number of immature worms. Increasing the percentage of the residue of each crops from 30% to 40%, the amount of vermicompost fertilizer production was reduced, but on the other hand, the amount of non-fertilizer compounds was added. The highest sesame seed yield (1154/6 kg/h) belonged to a wheat residue with a 30% weight ratio. This superiority is influenced by the superiority of seed weight in capsule, seed number in capsule, and seed 1000 weight characters. In conclusion, the results of this research showed the importance of paying attention to the raw material in the production of vermicompost both in terms of impact on the biological and chemical properties and on the agronomic properties of the crop. A point that is perhaps less noticed now. So, it is recommended that in sustainable agriculture or organic farming it is better to produce vermicompost fertilizer suitable for each crop.

As one of the most important food producers, the agricultural industry consumes a lot of energy to produce various products. Also, agriculture is the largest supplier of energy in the form of biological energy. This study was conducted in Khuzestan province with the aim of investigating the energy indicators of okra and the contribution of different inputs to the total energy in monoculture, intercropping (okra+cucumber) and agroforestry (okra+date palm) systems. The simple random sampling method was used to determine the survey volume and calculated sample size in this study was found to be 139. The data used in the study were collected from okra farms using a face-to-face questionnaire. The inputs and outputs were calculated per hectare and then, these input and output data were multiplied by the coefficient of energy equivalent. Following the calculation of energy input and output values, the energy ratio, energy productivity and net energy were determined. The results indicated that averages of energy inputs in monoculture, intercropping and agroforestry systems of okra were 78763.77, 81269.27 and 52502.42 respectively, while the energy output in these systems was 17575, 37380 and 113715 MJ ha-1, respectively. The energy ratio in monoculture, intercropping and agroforestry systems were calculated as 0.223, 0.460 and 2.166 respectively. The energy productivity in intercropping system was calculated as 0.470 kg MJ-1, which was about 302% and 64% more than monoculture and agroforestry, respectively. This issue is due to the higher yield of this cultivation system compared to other investigated systems.

Some important herbs have been overly utilized in all over the world, which threatening them as endangered species. In this regard, in vitro culture has efficiently improved production and propagation rates of these plants. Accordingly, this research aimed to determine the best genotype, and explant for callus induction, as well as the effect of optimum concentration of hormones on traits including length, width, height and the callus volume of the explants derived from Ferula assa-foetida seedlings that have been grown in jars. Therefore, this experiment has been implemented as factorial in completely randomized design with at least 3 replications. Purposefully, the explants were placed in MS media supplemented with different levels of BAP and NAA. After 40 days, the traits including the length, width and volume of the callus were measured for induced callus. Given the mean comparison, the maximum size of target traits have been achieved for root explants cultured medium supplemented with 2 mg.L-1 BAP and 1 mg.L-1 NAA, while none of calluses derived from leaf and stem explants survived. Among the genotypes, the Kerman demonstrated higher callus growth rate than the Yazd, though this trait intensively increased through the time of culture. In addition, the calluses derived from Isfahan showed low growth rate, so it was removed from the present study.

Suitable and optimal land use requires an accurate assessment of agricultural ecological resources. Here the research process was done to determine the ecological potential of agricultural lands (EPAL) in Alborz province by identifying ecological resources and finally modeling ecological potential (EP). To prepare the EP map, the layers of effective ecological resources in the irrigated crop, dry farming, garden, and arboriculture uses, were determined according to the parametric method, and then the significance coefficient of each criterion was calculated by the AHP method and the couple criteria competition. The results showed that out of 22.6% of the lands in the province that are in the suitable class for irrigated agriculture, 6.7%, and 6.2% are in Savojbolagh and Nazarabad cities, respectively, and the rest of this area, is in the other uses. The cities of Savojbolagh and Nazarabad based on the results of ecological potential, a total of 70,699 hectares of land are suitable for gardening and arboriculture, which, according to the comparison with the current situation (33971 hectares) shows that about 36,728 hectares of agricultural lands in the province have a high ecological potential for gardening and tree planting. Unlike the other two lands, uses dry farming of 9064 hectares, which is currently satisfied regardless of the potential of 20097 hectares of land. Finally, we can point to the high EP of Alborz province in the agricultural sector, which, unfortunately, due to the lack of sufficient attention to land management policies, not all of this capacity is used.

This experiment in order to investigate the effect of cadmium on physiological characteristics and biochemical activities of corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean (Glycine max L.) in mono and mixed cultivation. An experiment in the greenhouse of Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources in a completely randomized design with four repeats. Cadmium concentrations included 0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mg of cadmium per kg of soil. Planting ratios included mono cultivation of corn and soybean and mixed cultivation of corn and soybean with a ratio of 50: 50. The results showed that chlorophyll a and b, decreased with increasing the level of cadmium in both mono and mixed cultures. The relative water content of corn and soybeans in mixed culture was higher than mono culture and corn plants in mono and mixed culture had higher relative leaf water content than soybeans. Corn plants in mono and mixed culture had higher relative leaf water content compared to soybean; while mixed cultivation increased the sugar content of corn and soybean leaves compared to mono cultivation. Also with increasing the concentration of cadmium in the soil increased the amount of proline in all planting ratios of both corn and soybean plants. In general, corn and soybeans by physiological and biochemical mechanisms, responded positively to reduce stress; especially in mixed culture.

In order to document effective crop managements on rice production and yield in Guilan province, a field experiment was carried out during two years 2018 and 2019. So, that the effect of management factors applied (seedling age, transplanting date, planting density, planting method, amount of nitrogen fertilizer and irrigation volume) by the farmers of three counties of Sangar, Khoshkebijar and Kouchesfahan on rice yield and yield components was investigated. Therefore, 36 farms were selected in the mentioned counties that represented the management in the entire province. The results showed that the highest yield of paddy with an average of 4500 kg.ha-1 was recorded for the two villages of Jorkuye Khoshkebijar and Ebrahimsara Kouchsefahan, and the lowest grain yield was related to the village of Gilvadashtan Kouchsefahan with an average of 3000 kg.ha-1. The reason for the high yield in the fields is related to the timely planting dates, transplanting with the suitable age, optimal plant density per m2, more soil organic carbon and the appropriate amount of nitrogen fertilizer used, which shows the impact of the crop management and soil characteristics on yield. Among all management factors, timely planting can be introduced as the most important management component of rice cultivation in the province. So that suitable weather conditions in timely planting dates, especially during flowering and seed filling, led to the use of appropriate temperature for a longer time and to take advantage of all the environmental and management factors that led to higher grain yield.

In order to investigate ascorbic acid effect on grain yield and some physiological traits of quinoa plant under water deficit stress conditions, an experimental in the form of split plots based on the randomized complete block design with three replications in two years at Research and Agriculture and Natural Resources Center Kerman was performed. The main factor included three levels of irrigation treatments (irrigation to the full maturity stage (control), irrigation to the beginning of the flowering stage, and irrigation to the beginning of the dough development stage) and the secondary factor included two levels of ascorbic acid foliar spraying (0 and 2 mM). The effect of irrigation factor and ascorbic acid and their interaction on seed yield and most of the measured physiological traits were significant. Water stress decreased grain yield, content of photosynthetic pigments, leaf protein content and relative water content and increased carbohydrate and proline content. The seed yield decreased by 40.5% and 18.7% under the conditions of irrigation to the beginning of the flowering stage and irrigation to the beginning of the dough development stage, respectively, compared to the control conditions. Foliar spraying with ascorbic acid led to the improvement of physiological traits and grain yield in all three irrigation treatments. Seed yield increased by 22.7% with ascorbic acid solution. Since foliar spraying with ascorbic acid improved seed yield in three irrigation treatments, it is suggested to use this substance to compensate for the damage caused to quinoa plant as a result of drought stress.