نشریه تحقیقات علوم زراعی در مناطق خشک
سال پنجم شماره 3 (پیاپی 11، زمستان 1402)

Legumes are the second most important food source in the world after cereals. Beans are very effective in stabilizing nitrogen and fertility of agricultural soil due to their coexistence with bacteria, and large amounts of nitrogen are added to the soil every year after harvesting this plant. Environmental factors, especially drought stress conditions, play a major role in the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of crops. Reduction of available water, especially at the beginning of the flowering stage and the occurrence of drought stress in legumes, while reducing the rate of vegetative growth and shortening the stage of reproductive growth has a negative effect on grain quality. Nutritional deficiencies in plants cause them to be sensitive to environmental stresses. Excessive use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture to provide the phosphate needed by plants has always caused adverse environmental effects and has led to a decline in the quality of agricultural products. However, the use of biofertilizers has many benefits over chemical fertilizers. Therefore, considering the importance of the above, the purpose of this study is to investigate the role of biofertilizer and phosphorus fertilizer on bean plant elements in drought stress conditions. An experimental split-split plot with three replications was performed to investigate the effect of bio-fertilizer and phosphate fertilizer application on nutrient uptake in roots, stems, and seeds of beans under drought stress in season 2016-2017 in Ilam city. Treatments included three levels of irrigation interruption (non-stress conditions, cut off in flowering stage, and cut off in pod formation stage) in the main plot and three levels of phosphate fertilizer (25, 50, and 100 kg. ha1) and application and non-application of biofertilizer. Drought stress treatment in this experiment was performed by stopping irrigation in two stages of full flowering and podding. All phosphorus fertilizer related to each treatment was applied to the ground at once during cultivation. After germination and establishment of the plants in the 2-4 leaf stage, the plants were thinned and one plant was kept in each pile. Weed control was done manually in two stages before flowering. The results showed that the highest nitrogen concentrations in roots, stems, and seeds under non-stress conditions (full irrigation) were 1.12, 1.77, and 3.19%, respectively. Also, the lowest nitrogen concentrations of roots, stems, and seeds in the cut-off flowering stage were 0.92, 1.46, and 2.63%, respectively. The mean comparison results showed that the highest grain nitrogen concentration in non-stress conditions (full irrigation) was 3.19%, which increased by 21.29% compared to the cut-off irrigation treatment at the flowering stage. The results showed that the highest concentration of root potassium in the conditions of irrigation interruption in the flowering stage and biofertilizer application was 2.63% and the lowest was obtained in the treatment without stress and non-application of biofertilizer (2%). The average comparison results showed that the highest concentration of potassium in the stem was obtained in the condition of cut off irrigation in the flowering stage at the rate of 4.35% and the lowest amount was obtained in the full irrigation at the rate of 3.60%. The results showed that in the treatment of biofertilizer application, the highest concentration of phosphorus in the grain was 0.265 percent, while the lowest in the treatment of non-application of biofertilizer was 0.226 percent.The application of phosphate fertilizer significantly increased the absorption of elements. The application of biofertilizer also significantly increased the concentration of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus in bean plants. In general, the results of this study showed that the use of biofertilizer and phosphate fertilizer could reduce the adverse effects of drought stress on bean plants and increase the absorption of elements in bean organs.

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is the most widely used natural fiber and the most important dual-purpose industrial plant in the world. Delayed transplanting of cotton using early cultivars is one of the effective methods to increase the cultivated area and increase the production of this strategic crop. Plant growth regulators can be effective in the source-sink balance in different plants and are progressively used to increase yield in many plants. Cytokinins are one of the most important plant growth regulators, which increase cell division and differentiation, reduce the effect of terminal dominance, increase leaf surface development, increase the number of lateral branches, increase mobility of nutrients, prevent chlorophyll decomposition, and prevent aging. Growth regulators containing mepiquat chloride, such as pix, reduce vegetative growth in cotton by preventing the synthesis of gibberellic acid. Controlling the growth of cotton as a result of the use of pix, allocates the photosynthetic assimilates to the fruit organs and growing bolls, which increases the weight of the bolls.

To investigate the effect of foliar application of 6-benzylaminopurine and pix on the growth and yield of cotton (cv. May 344) in delayed transplanting, a factorial experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications in Sabzevar during 2020. The factors studied were foliar application of pix at two levels of no foliar application and foliar application at the rate of 1.5 liters per hectare and 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) foliar application at five concentrations of 0, 5, 25, 50 and 100 mg l-1. May 344 cotton cultivar was used in this experiment.

The results showed that foliar application of pix significantly increased the content of chlorophyll a compared to the no foliar application conditions. Foliar application with concentrations of 50 and 100 mg l-1 BAP also caused a significant increase in the content of chlorophyll a compared to the no foliar application conditions. The highest content of chlorophyll a was observed in the concentration of 50 mg l-1 BAP, which had an increase of 17.7% compared to the control treatment. The highest height of the plant (67.9 cm) was obtained by foliar application of 25 mg l-1 BAP alone, which showed an increase of 15.1% compared to the control. The lowest plant height (51.6 cm) was also observed in the treatment of foliar application of pix along with 100 mg l-1 BAP. Foliar application of pix along with 25 mg l-1 BAP produced the highest number of bolls per plant, which was 29.8% higher than the control. The highest average boll weight (5.4 g) and the highest percentage of open bolls (83.8%) were obtained in the foliar application treatment of pix with 100 mg l-1 BAP, which was not significantly different from the control treatment. Foliar application of 1.5 liters per hectare of pix alone produced the highest seed cotton yield (2754.3 kg ha-1), which had a 40.2% increase compared to the control. The highest biological yield was produced in the foliar application treatment of PIX along with 5 mg l-1  of BAP, which had an increase of 26.5% compared to the control treatment. The lowest biological yield was obtained in the treatment of foliar application with 100 mg l-1  of BAP, which was not significantly different from the control treatment. The highest percentage of lint (52.2%) was observed in the pix foliar application treatment along with 50 mg l-1 BAP, which showed an increase of 20.3% compared to the control.

According to the results, foliar application of 1.5 liters per hectare of pix is recommended to produce high seed cotton yield and increase the percentage of lint in delayed transplanting cotton.

Medicinal plants have a significant contribution in the production of existing medicines. Yarrow plant is one of the most important medicinal plants. The goal of the global community is to move towards sustainable agriculture, in order to reduce or eliminate chemical inputs and achieve performance stability and reduce adverse environmental effects. Sowing date is one of the factors that play a fundamental role in achieving the right conditions during the growth period to obtain the maximum yield of the plant. Finding the right level of fertilizer and the best sowing date it will help farmers to grow it as well as possible Therefore, the purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of sowing date and fertilizer levels on some growth characteristics of yarrow. This research was carried out in the organic agriculture form in Campus of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Razi University in 2019-2020. The experiment was conducted in the form of split plots based on complete blocks design in three replications. Experimental treatments included four levels of farmyard manure (zero, 10, 20, 30 ton ha-1) as the main factor and three sowing dates (April 15, May 4, and May 24) as sub factors. The examined traits included leaf area index, total dry weight, crop growth rate, relative growth rate and grain yield. Traits were measured in two ways: destructive and final sampling. Destructive traits started about 50 days after planting the seedlings in the ground. To calculate the crop growth rate and relative growth rate the derivation method from the total dry weight equation was used. At the time of harvest, in order to measure the yield after removing the marginal effects, 5 plants were randomly picked from each plot and then the plants were transferred to the laboratory. After drying the samples, the grain yield was measured. Finally, data analysis was done using SAS software version 4.9 and Duncan's multiple range test (P≤0.05) was used to compare the mean of the data. The results showed that with the increase in the levels of animal manure application, the leaf area index, the crop growth rate and the total dry weight increased in all three sowing dates. So that the highest (3.15, 5.83 g m-2 d-1 and 810 g m-2, respectively) and the lowest leaf area index, crop growth rate and total dry weight (1.185, 0.44 g m-2 d-1 and 87 g m-2, respectively) were observed the treatment of the first sowing date and 30 ton ha-1 animal manure application and the treatment of the third sowing date and 0 ton ha-1 animal manure application, respectively. Animal manure had a significant effect on grain yield so the highest (1.7 g m-2) and the lowest (0.2 g m-2) grain yield were observed in the treatment of the first sowing date and 30 ton ha-1 of animal manure application and 0 ton ha-1 animal manure application and the third sowing date, respectively. The results showed that for the yarrow plant, with the increase of sheep manure up to 30 tons per hectare and the sowing date of April 15, the studied growth characteristics such as leaf area index, total dry weight, crop growth rate, and relative growth ratio increased. Also, the sowing date of April 15 and the use of 30 tons of manure per hectare had a significant effect on the seed yield. According to the obtained results, the sowing date of April 15 was suitable which increased the growth period of yarrow plant. Therefore, using animal manures instead of chemical fertilizers can be a suitable alternative to increase yield and avoid the environmental harm of chemical fertilizers.

 Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is an annual plant and an ancient plant that has been cultivated in Asia and Africa for about 7500 years. Sesame seeds contains 40-60% oil and for this reason, it is cultivated as an oil plant in many countries. Drought is a serious problem for crop production in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. One of the most important research programs in drought management in different plants is the identification and grouping of sensitive, drought-tolerant genotypes. Mehran region in Ilam province is one of the sesame growing regions in the country. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to cultivate sesame cultivars in Mehran under drought non- stress and stress  conditions in order to identify superior cultivars in terms of yield and tolerance to drought stress. 14 sesame cultivars were planted in the form of a split-plot design based on a randomized complete block with three replications in the Agricultural Research Farm of Ilam University in Mehran. The main factor of irrigation levels included irrigation after 100 mm of evaporation from the class a pan (conventional irrigation) and irrigation after 200 mm of evaporation from the class a pan, and the secondary factor was the studied sesame genotypes. Traits were measured based on 10 plants harvested from two central lines and taking into account the marginal effect. The measured traits were economic yield and number of capsules per plant, number of sub-branches, number of leaves, capsule length, capsule width, capsule weight and plant height. In order to determine resistant and sensitive cultivars to stress, various indices related to stress resistance were calculated. The studied genotypes showed a significant difference in terms of the traits measured in the conditions of no stress and drought stress. The results of the table show that the effect of irrigation for the characteristics of capsule fresh weight, seed weight and capsule width showed a significant difference at the level of 1% and for capsule dry weight and plant height showed a significant difference at the level of 5%. Which indicates that the studied traits change under stress conditions. Other traits did not have significant differences. In the evaluation of tolerance to drought stress in different genotypes of sesame, plant height, biological yield and grain yield per surface unit decreased significantly with increasing drought stress intensity. According to the correlation of performance under stress (YS) and no stress (YP) conditions with drought tolerance indices, GMP, STI and MP indices have a correlation coefficient of 0.93, 0.905 and 0.853, respectively. Performance as the best indicators of drought tolerance in stress conditions and MP, GMP, STI and TOL indicators with correlation coefficient of 0.984, 0.935, 0.925 and 0.735 respectively with performance as the best indicator. The tolerances were under stress-free conditions. These indices can be used to identify genotypes tolerant to water stress with high yield. Based on this, Holeil variety is introduced as the most tolerant variety to drought stress.  In water conditions, the cultivar Yellow white had the highest yield and the cultivar Nashkofa had the lowest yield. Under stress conditions, Holeil variety had the highest yield and Nazmultib had the lowest yield. GMP, STI and MP indices had the highest correlation with performance in water and stress conditions and therefore were chosen as the best indices. Based on this, Holeil variety is introduced as the most tolerant variety to drought stress.

Today, soil pollution is one of the important environmental issues that must be taken into consideration. Industrial activities cause pollution and accumulation of heavy metals in the soil. The rate of absorption of pollutants, especially heavy metals, by different plants is different.  If resistant plants can be found that are able to reduce some of the pollution in water or soil, they can be used to remove pollution from polluted sources. Heavy metals are considered as an important environmental problem due to their toxicity, cumulative effects, long persistence time in the environment, carcinogenicity and non-degradability. Chemical phytoremediation is a method in which different chelating agents are used to increase the absorption of metals by the plant. The purpose of this research is to investigate the ability of morale as a weed with a wide geographical spread in the country, to absorb cadmium metal pollution. This research was carried out in the agricultural year of 2018-2019 in the greenhouse of agricultural Research Institute of Zabul University, located in Zahak city, with a geographic location of 61˚ 41' east longitude and 30˚ and 54' north latitude and an altitude of 483 meters above sea level. The research was carried out as a factorial experiment in the form of a completely randomized design with three replications. The experimental treatments include EDTA and PIOA chelate at four levels (0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 mg/kg of soil) as the first and second factors, respectively, and cadmium at three levels (0, 15 and 30 mg/kg of soil) from the source of cadmium nitrate as the third factor. This research aims to investigate the phytoremediation ability of Morale in the presence of EDTA and PIOA chelating agents in a selected soil from the drainage area of zabol in the form of a pot test on a soil contaminated with cadmium, in the greenhouse of the agricultural research institute was done of the zabol university. In each pot, 4 morale seedlings prepared from the treasury of Zabol University Agricultural Research Institute were planted at a depth of 10 cm. Analysis of data was done using SAS software version 9.1. The mean comparison of the treatments was analyzed using Duncan's multiple range test at the 5% level. The application of chelating agent increased chlorophyll a in all treatments affected by cadmium, so that the highest amount of chlorophyll a (878.33 mg/g) was in the treatment of 1.5 mg/kg EDTA and soil without cadmium, which ratio It showed an increase of about 3.75% compared to the control (without chelating agent and without cadmium). The highest amount of cadmium in aerial parts (8.57 mg/kg) corresponds to the treatment containing 1.5 mg/kg of EDTA chelated and soil with 30 mg/kg of cadmium and the lowest amount of cadmium in aerial parts (0.427 mg/kg) was related to the control treatment (without chelating agent and without cadmium). The application of chelating agent increased root cadmium in all treatments under the influence of cadmium, in a way that showed an increase of about 94.42% compared to the control (without chelating agent and without cadmium). In sum, the results of this research show that the Morale plant is a plant resistant to soil pollution and can tolerate the levels of pollution to a certain extent. Refinement and separation of cadmium metal from the soil was done better by the plant. Due to the high tendency of EDTA to bind to metals, when EDTA is used in high concentrations. It has a potential effect on the release of metals from the solid phase by forming soluble complexes, and the formation of EDTA complexes with metals in the soil solution may advance the balance of precipitation and absorption towards the dissolution of metals.

In the arid and semi-arid lands of Iran, due to calcareousness, lack of nutrients that can be absorbed by plants, unsuitable physical conditions of the soil, and the salinity of the soil, it is very important to pay attention to organic fertilizers and soil microorganisms to improve these lands. This experiment was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of compost obtained from the contents of sheep rumen and humic acid on the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil and the performance of the turnip plant in saline, sodic, and calcareous soil with a clay texture.

This study was conducted in clay-textured soil from the Meianjolgae of the Neyshabur plain (Shahrabad village), with a saline soil (ECe: 9.1 dS m-1) and 15% lime. In this study, two levels of compost with rumen contents of zero and 5 tons per hectare (S0: 0 ton/ha and S1: 5 ton/ha) and two levels of humic acid of zero and 5 mg/kg (H0: 0 mg/kg and H1: 5 mg/kg) were used. To prepare rumen compost, 200 kg of fresh rumen contents were mixed with 10% wheat straw and processed according to standard composting methods. The experiment was conducted in the form of a completely randomized design with a factorial arrangement. The experiment was conducted in field conditions in one-square-meter plots with a border distance of half a meter. The experimental treatments were randomly added to the experimental plots and were completely mixed with the soil to a depth of 30 cm. 10 white turnip plants were planted in each plot and kept in the field for 3 months.Irrigation was done every 15 days and the plant was kept in the field for 4 months.

The results showed that the experimental treatments (rumen compost and humic acid) had a significant effect on improving the physical parameters of the soil, including increasing the weighted average diameter of the soil grains in wet (MWDwet) and dry (MWDdry) conditions, respectively (83 and 44 percent). 62% increase in the stability of soil grains (AS). They had a 46% reduction in soil dispersible clay (DC). The simple effect of humic acid did not have a significant effect on soil moisture retention capacity, but the simple effect of rumen compost increased the soil moisture retention capacity by 33% in the case of field crop capacity (FC). The effect of experimental treatments on rumen compost and humic acid improved soil biological parameters. The interaction effect of rumen compost and humic acid increased microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) respectively (43% and 77%) and increased soil microbial respiration (BR) by 75%. Rumen compost and humic acid had a positive and significant effect on improving soil chemical parameters. Rumen compost and humic acid decreased the pH of the soil and increased the availability of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium nutrients in the soil. The use of rumen compost and humic acid increased the yield of turnip plants. The simultaneous application of rumen contents compost and humic acid had the greatest effect on increasing turnip yield (22%) compared to the control.

According to the obtained results, rumen compost and humic acid improved the physical and biological properties of the soil, followed by an increase in the availability of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium nutrients in the soil, and finally increased the yield of the turnip plant. Due to the nature of rumen compost, because it has a relatively acidic pH, the presence of beneficial microorganisms that increase the availability of soil nutrients, and fibrous fibers that maintain soil moisture, improve adverse soil conditions, and increase plant performance. It became a turnip. Humic acid is an aromatic compound that plays a good role in chelating soil nutrients. It seems that combining humic acid with rumen compost increases the effectiveness of rumen compost in improving soil conditions. And rumen compost preserves humic acid from leaching.

The Calotropis procera Aiton plant is a valuable and effective medicinal species used to treat various diseases, including as an anti-carminative and for indigestion, as well as for anticancer and anticonvulsant treatments. This species naturally inhabits fragmented habitats in southern Iran, particularly near the coasts of the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea, in the arid and semi-arid regions of Sistan and Baluchistan, Khuzestan, Bushehr, and Hormozgan. On the other hand, due to the discovery of adverse effects caused by chemical drugs, people have turned their attention towards using medicinal plants. The health of agricultural products, especially medicinal plants, has special importance. The symbiosis of plants with mycorrhiza can be lead to improve of the root development and will affect on the absorption of water and nutrients. Aim of this study was investigate the effects of symbiosis between C. procera Aiton. with three different species of mycorrhizal on some phytochemical and antioxidant activity, and content of potassium, phosphorus, and sodium in shoots of C. procera Aiton. This research was conducted in the greenhouse of the Horticultural Science Department, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran. Transplants were cultured in the soil medium in pot condition. This experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design with four treatments include inoculation with three different mycorrhizal fungi (Glomus intraradicese, Glomus fasiculatum, and Glomus mosseae) and control (without inoculation) and three replicate.  Meusered indices were assessed 8 weeks after transplanting. Measured parameters include; growth indices such as fresh and dry weight of root and shoot, and phytochemical indices are chlorophyll a and b, Carotenoid, phenol, flavonoid, antioxidant activity, protein, and concentration of potassium, phosphorus, and sodium in shoots. Data were analyzed by ANOVA test using JMP, and means were compared using the LSD test at P˂0.01. The results of variance analysis were shown significant effects of mycorrhizal symbiosis on all investigated indices (P ≤ 0.01). Also, means comparison shows a significant difference between the effects of different mycorrhiza species. The highest content of chlorophyll a and carotenoid was obtained in symbiosis with G. mossae, and the highest content of chlorophyll b existed in symbiosis with G. fasiculatum and G. intraradicese. In this regard, it has been found that mycorrhizal symbiosis leads to an increase in water absorption, and an improvement in the absorption of nutrients by the plant, thereby leading to an increase in chlorophyll synthesis enzymes activity. symbiosis of G. fasiculatum had the highest effects on increasing phenol and antioxidant activity. increase in antioxidant activity leading to strong suppression of reactive oxygen species, which ultimately increases the remedial capability of C. procera Aiton. The highest amount of flavonoid was observed in the condition of symbiosis with G. intraradicese and G. fasiculatum, and the highest content of protein was observed in condition of symbiosis with G. fasiculatum and G. mossae. Symbiosis with the G. intraradicese significantly increased the concentration of potassium and phosphorus in shoots of C. procera Aiton, while symbiosis with G. mossae causes to a significant increase in sodium concentration. Generally, the results of the current study were shown that symbiosis with G. fasiculatum and G. intraradicese are more useful than symbiosis with G. mossae. The symbiosis of plants with mycorrhiza fungi increases the volume and length of their roots, as a result of which the roots have more contact with the soil, and the amount of water and nutrient absorption from the soil increases. results of the current study demonstrate that the phytochemical, antioxidant activity, and concentration of potassium and phosphorus and sodium have differed among extract and shoots related to symbiosis of C. procera Aiton and species of fungi. And symbiosis with G. fasiculatum had the greatest effect in increasing the production of secondary metabolites.

Guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) is an annual plant from the legume family and tolerant to salinity and drought, which can be used as an alternative product in low water plains. Ascorbic acid is one of the antioxidants involved in the defense mechanisms of plants against various stresses, including drought, which plays a role in ROS detoxification. Calcium is also an essential element for plant growth, which, despite being immobile, has many electrochemical, structural and catalytic functions in plants. It has been reported that calcium ions can increase drought tolerance in plants by participating in the drought signal transduction process and stimulating abscisic acid synthesis. Therefore, this research was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of foliar spraying of ascorbic acid and calcium on some morpho-physiological traits of guar under drought stress conditions. In order to investigate the morpho-physiological responses of guar to foliar application of ascorbic acid and calcium under drought stress conditions, a factorial experiment was conducted with two factors in the form of a randomized complete block design with three replications in the research greenhouse of Saravan Higher Education Complex in 2020. The experimental treatments included three levels of drought stress (70, 50 and 30% of field capacity) and three levels of foliar application (no foliar application, foliar application with calcium carbonate and ascorbic acid with a concentration of 3‰). The results showed that in 50 and 30% of the field capacity, compared to the treatment of 70% of the field capacity, plant height, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, pod length, leaf dry weight and total protein showed a decreasing trend, but traits of reducing sugar, Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) enzyme activity and root length showed an increasing trend. The increase of reducing sugars is considered a mechanism to deal with drought in plants because reducing sugars are osmolytes that play a role in plant cells as regulators of the osmotic potential of the intracellular environment. Similarly, the increase in PPO activity during drought stress is justified by the increase in radical oxygen species generated during this stress, because the increase in the activity of antioxidant compounds as a defense mechanism is essential to maintain cellular processes and prevent the damaging effects of free radicals on plant physiological processes. Foliar application with ascorbic acid did not significantly change plant height and number of pods per plant compared to non-sprayed plants but increased leaf dry weight, total protein, reducing sugar and root length by 22%, 11%, and 21%, respectively. While, calcium foliar application significantly increased plant height, number of pods per plant and leaf dry weight by 16%, 24%, and 42%, respectively compared to non-foliar application and 8.5%, 12%, and 17.5% compared to foliar application with ascorbic acid, but total protein, reducing sugar, root length and dry weight of root remained statistically unchanged in calcium spraying respect to foliar application with ascorbic acid. However, both ascorbic acid and calcium application than no-foliar application showed a significant increase in the amount of total protein, reducing sugar, root length and dry weight of root and a decrease in PPO enzyme activity. The decrease in PPO activity can be considered as a result of reducing the harmful effects of drought stress caused by the application of calcium and ascorbic acid. In general, it seems that the availability of moisture in less than 70% of the field capacity has caused the formation of mechanisms to deal with drought stress in the guar, but foliar application with ascorbic acid and calcium can somewhat to be effective in modulating the effects of drought stress on this plant.

Drought stress or water deficit has been known as one of the most important abiotic stresses so it considerably is decreased crop production. Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is the fourth most important cereal crop in the world after wheat, rice and corn. Among cereals, barley is the most tolerant crop against abiotic stresses and due to this capability is cultivated in a wide range of climates. The objective of the current study was to identify the superior drought-tolerant genotypes using grain yield and several yield-based indices of tolerance and susceptibility by applying various multivariate selection models.

In the present study a set of promising genotypes of barley including 17 new genotypes along with a Jolge cultivar (as a check) was investigated through two separate experiments based on a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications at the Cereal research station, Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, Karaj, Iran during two consecutive growing seasons (2019-2020 and 2020-2021) cropping seasons. After sowing, the number of irrigations was one time in autumn and five times in spring. Drought stress treatment was applied after anthesis, and irrigation was stopped for all stressed plot until seed repining stage. After collecting experimental data and estimating grain yield, several yield-based drought tolerance and susceptible indices were calculated. A heatmap-based correlation method was used to investigate association among calculated indices and grain yield data. Then three selection indices such as multi-trait genotype-ideotype distance index (MGIDI), factor analysis and ideotype design via best linear unbiased prediction (FAI-BLUP), and Smith-Hazel (SH) were exploited to identify the most tolerant-genotypes. All statistical analyses were computed using iPASTIC and R softwares.

Based on combined analysis of variance for grain yield data showed significant differences for year, environment, and genotype main effects, as well as, the interaction effects for year × genotype, and year × environment × genotype. The result obtained from screening barley genotypes using drought tolerance and susceptible indices revealed good repeatability so that some of the investigated genotypes appeared in the same pattern in each year of experiments. Based on the Spearman’s correlation coefficients, grain yields (Yp and Ys) positively and significantly correlated with MP, GMP, and STI indices in the first year. In the second year, a positive and significant correlation was observed between grain yields with STI, MP, GMP, and HM indices. Based on the averaged two-year data, grain yields significantly and positively correlated with HM, STI, MP, and GMP indices, supporting the repeatability of our findings. To identify the most tolerant genotypes based on multi-indices, we used three multi-trait selection indices such as MGIDI, FAI-BLUP, and SH. Accordingly, genotypes numbers G7, G9, and G16 for the first year, G4, G13, and G17 for the second year, and three genotypes G7, G13, and G16 over two years were selected as superior genotypes using the MGIDI index. Based on the FAI-BLUP index, the following genotypes were identified as the most tolerant genotypes: G7, G9, and G17 in the first year; G4, G9, and G13 in the second year; G7, G13, and G16 in over two years. The result of screening genotypes using the Smith-Hazel index showed that three sets of genotypes including G4/G7/G13, G13/G14/G16, and G2/G3/G18 were identified as the high-yielding and most tolerant genotypes in each year and averaged two years, respectively. The venn-plot rendered based on three selection indices revealed that genotype numbers G7 and G13 were superior genotypes in the first and second years.

In conclusion, our results indicated that G13 “Comp.Cr229//As46/Pro/3/Srs/4/Express/5/D10*2” with the highest grain yield in both control and drought stress conditions as well as the best ranking pattern for all drought tolerance indices can be a candidate as a superior drought-tolerant genotype for further studies before commercial introduction.

Salinity is one of the main obstacles to increasing crop yield. The most severe problems in soil salinity occur in arid and semiarid regions. Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is widely planting in the arid and semiarid regions. It is the fourth most important cereal crop worldwide, and it has a long history as a model for genetic studies. It is the most salt tolerant cereal. Salt tolerance in crop plants is a genetic and physiological complex trait and is controlled by several quantitative trait loci. Both genetic diversity and the adaptation to a broad spectrum of micro-ecological conditions including water availability, temperature, soil type and altitude have strongly influenced the development of salt tolerance in barley.

In order to identify genomic regions controlling the agro-morphological characteristics and markers linked to them under normal and salinity stress conditions, an experiment with 136 double haploid lines of barley and their parents (Nure and Tremois) was conducted based on alpha lattice design with two replications at the Agricultural Research Center of Zabol, during 2020-2021 crop year. Agronomic traits were including tiller number per plant, spike number per plant, grain number per spike, awn length, internode length, node number, plant height, 1000-grain weight and grain yield. The combined analysis of variance, correlation coefficients between the traits and descriptive statistics calculated for normal and salt stress conditions. The data were analyses by the SAS (ver. 9.2) statistical software. QTL analysis was conducted by composite interval mapping (CIM) method using QTL Cartographer v2.5 for each of the normal and stress conditions and their averages separately (with threshold value (LOD) 2.5, minimum distance 2 cM between QTL).

The combined analysis of variance indicated significant differences among the genotypes for all studied traits. This indicates high levels of genetic diversity in this population. Since the population is double haploid lines, therefore, the diversity observed in this population is often caused by additive effects. Maximum correlations were observed between grain yield with tiller number, as well as spike number per plant. The high correlation between the traits may be due to the similar loci controlling QTLs or due to their linkage. According to the table of descriptive statistics, the studied double haploids are representative of all the possible double haploids resulting from the crossing of Tremois and Nure, and the studied traits are controlled by the additive effects of genes. In total, 24 QTL loci were identified for the studied traits: 9 QTLs were obtained under normal conditions, 8 QTLs were identified under stress conditions, and 7 QTLs were identified in the average of the two conditions. These QTLs explained 8 to 16% of the phenotypic variance (R2). The LOD value ranged of 2.5 - 5.04. The highest and lowest LOD values were related to QTLs of number of seeds per spike on chromosome 2H and number of nodes under stress conditions. Regarding marker-assisted selection, the stability of QTLs across different environments and genetic backgrounds is of utmost importance. Out of the 24 identified QTLs, only the QTL associated with the thousand seed weight trait (Qtgw1H) demonstrated stability, making it suitable for marker selection. The markers identified for this trait not only exhibit close linkage with the gene responsible for the thousand seed weight trait but also possess high heritability and are easily detectable. The markers associated with stable QTLs can be utilized in future studies.

Based on the findings of this research, significant statistical differences were observed among all genotypes. Transgressive segregation, both high and low, was evident across all traits. Two traits, namely the number of tillers per plant and the number of spikes per plant, exhibited QTLs at the same location, indicating a linkage and correlation between these traits. Among the 7 major QTLs identified in this study, the most prominent one was associated with the number of spikes per plant (Qng2Hma) on chromosome 2H, linked with marker E42M38_235-2H, which accounted for 16% of the phenotypic variance. Only one QTL (Qtgw1H) for 1000-grain weight, linked with marker WMC1E8, was identified as a stable QTL. These genomic regions, once validated across various genetic backgrounds and environments for salinity tolerance in barley, can be utilized in marker-assisted breeding.

Although the utilization of chemical fertilizers could be viewed as the best solution in terms of plant productivity, this approach is often inefficient in the long-term. Therefore, application of organic manures is one of the most important strategies for plant nutrition compared to chemical fertilizers, especially in ecological management of crops. In recent years, the effect of exogenous organic amendments on soil properties has received renewed attention. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the effect of organic and chemical fertilizers on growth characteristics and cucumber yield.

In order to evaluate the effects of different organic and chemical fertilizers on yield and growth characteristics of cucumber (Cucumis sativus cv. Super Dominus), a field experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design with seven treatment and three replications at the Agricultural Research Station, College of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, during growing seasons 2016-2017. The treatments included chemical fertilizer (200 kg ha-1 NPK, 100, 50 and 50 kg ha-1, respectively), cow manure (40-ton ha-1), vermicompost (10-ton ha-1), vermicompost + NPK (including 5-ton ha-1 vermicompost + 100 kg ha-1 NPK, 50, 25 and 25 kg ha-1, respectively), municipal solid waste compost (10-ton ha-1), plated organic fertilizer (10-ton ha-1) and no fertilizer. The traits such as plant length, number of main and sub branches, average fruit weight, number of fruits and the fruit yield per hectare were evaluated. Analysis of variance was performed by SAS 9.4 software, and means of different treatments were compared by LSD test at the probability level of 5%.

The effect of application of different fertilizer treatments was significant (p≤0.05) on the number of main and sub branches of cucumber. So, cow manure treatments and combination of vermicompost with NPK fertilizer showed the highest number of main and sub branches. Application of organic materials improves microbial activity and physical properties of the soil by increasing the water holding capacity in the soil and increasing the content of available plant nutrients. Therefore, it seems that the higher number of main and sub branches in cow manure treatment and other organic fertilizers is due to improvement of physical and nutritional conditions of the soil.All fertilizer treatments except municipal solid waste compost treatment compared with control significantly increased the yield of cucumber. So that, vermicompost + NPK, vermicompost, cow manure and NPK fertilizer showed the highest yield of cucumber with 35.41, 34.44, 34.5 and 31.59 ton ha-1, respectively, so increased yield by 47, 42, 33 and 28 percent compared with the control. However, the results of group comparison of treatments indicated that the yield of cucumber was not significantly different from that of organic fertilizers compared to NPK fertilizer and vermicompost + NPK, suggesting that nutrition management by organic fertilizers alone can be a very good alternative instead of applying chemical fertilizer in cucumber production. Also reported that application of organic fertilizers significantly improved the yield of tomato and cucumber.

The results of this study showed that cucumber growth and yield were significantly affected by the application of different treatments. So that, the highest and lowest of fruit yield were obtained in vermicompost + NPK and control treatments with corresponding values of 35.41 and 24.65 ton ha-1, respectively. Combined treatment of vermicompost and NPK, cow manure, vermicompost and NPK fertilizer had best results in this study. Since there was no significant difference between yields in these treatments and generally organic fertilizers compared to chemical fertilizer. Hence, given to environmental problems and high cost of chemical fertilizers, the use of vermicompost and cow manure can lead to good results in cucumber production in the field.

Clover is considered as one of the most important forage crops of the leguminous family which is appropriate for temperate and humid areas. Insufficient water can severely affect the production of forage legumes leading to a reduction in yield based on the severity and duration of drought stress. Due to the relative sensitivity of clover to drought stress, the yield of this crop is affected by water scarcity, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. One of the effective solutions in the field of plant breeding for drought resistance is to identify stress-tolerant genotypes. This study aimed to compare the forage yield and water productivity of Persian clover genotypes under full irrigation and drought stress conditions, as well as evaluate their drought tolerance. The experiment was conducted as a split plot based on a randomized complete block design with three replications at the Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, Karaj, Iran, during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cropping seasons. Irrigation regimes at two levels (full irrigation and deficit irrigation with supply 100% and 75% of clover water requirement, respectively) as the main factor and Persian clover genotypes at five levels (cultivar Pars, and ecotypes Zabol, Aleshtar, Eghlid, Harati) as sub-factor were evaluated. Each subplot consisted of four rows with a length of five meters and 50 cm between rows. The planting operation was carried out manually on September 11 of each year with 20 kg ha-1 seeding rate. The volume of irrigation water was determined by the Penman–Monteith method and the counter meter was used to accurately measure and control the amount of applied water. In the first and second cropping seasons, the total volume of irrigation water used were equal to 10125 and 11985 for full irrigation and 7594 and 8989 for deficit irrigation conditions, respectively. In this study, the fresh forage and dry matter yields, irrigation water efficiency for production of fresh forage and dry matter, the days to flowering, and drought tolerance indices were investigated. For all three cuts, clover cultivars were harvested at the 10% flowering stage. To determine the fresh forage yield, the middle four rows of each plot were harvested and weighed. To determine the dry matter yield, fresh samples (2 kg plot-1) were randomly selected and dried in a forced-air oven at 65 °C. Irrigation water-use efficiency was calculated from the ratio of yield to the amount of water consumed. The combined analysis of variance was performed using SAS9.1 and the means were compared by the LSD method at P < 0.05. The fresh forage and dry matter yields in the first, second and third cuttings, as well as their total and the irrigation water-use efficiency for forage and dry matter production were significantly affected by the year × irrigation × genotype interaction. Ecotype Harati had the highest total fresh forage and dry matter yields during three cuts (91.19 and 13.02 ton ha-1, respectively) in full irrigation conditions, whereas, under deficit irrigation conditions, the maximum total fresh forage and dry matter yields (68.07 and 10.79 ton ha-1, respectively) were obtained by ecotype Zabol. The maximum water-use efficiency (1.455 kg dry matter m-3) was obtained in the second year and by ecotype Zabul under deficit irrigation conditions, whereas the minimum efficiency (0.899 kg dry matter m-3) was recorded in the first year under full irrigation conditions and in the ecotype Zabol. Drought stress treatment in genotypes Pars, Aleshtar, Eghlid, Harati and Zabol compared to full irrigation caused a decrease in dry matter yield by 24.0, 21.7, 23.4, 23.8 and 11.9%, respectively. Among the drought tolerance indices, tolerance index (TOL), stress sensitivity index (SSI), yield stability index (YSI) and relative stress index (RSI) had the highest correlation with yield under full and defecit irrigation conditions. Based on the mentioned indices and principal components analysis (PCA), the ecotype Zabul, followed by ecotype Eleshtar were identified as the most tolerant genotypes to the defecit irrigation stress. Overall, the results of this experiment demonstrated that in the irrigation water availability conditions, the ecotype Harati and in the water limitation conditions, the ecotype Zabol are recommended for cultivation in the semi-arid regions of the country.

Barley is one of the most important sources of livestock feed and is tolerant to drought and salinity. Salinity of water and soil resources is one of the most important agricultural problems in Iran. In salinity conditions, the availability of nutrients in the soil solution is reduced due to the high concentration of chlorine and sodium ions, which leads to disturbance in the nutrition and upsetting of the balance of plant nutrients. Therefore, the role of proper nutrition in these conditions is very important to help maintain the balance of nutritional elements and provide the proper growth and plant performance (Ahmadi et al., 2006). Due to the reduction of fresh water resources and the increase of fresh water consumption on the other hand, the access to water with suitable quality for agriculture is very limited (Mahlooji et al., 2018). It is obvious that in such conditions, it is inevitable to use water of poor quality for the production of agricultural products. Therefore, the current research was conducted with the aim of studying the effect of chelate and nanozinc solution spraying on the yield and growth indices of three barley cultivars under irrigation water salinity conditions. In order to investigate the effect of irrigation water salinity and foliar application of chelate and zinc nano oxide on yield and some growth indices of barley cultivars, an experiment in the form of a randomized complete block design with arrangement of split blocks with three replications at the station Rodasht salinity research was conducted in Isfahan.Three water irrigation quality including w1=control, 1-2 dS/m (low salinity), W2=10 dS/m (common salinity in the region), W3=18 dS/m (high salinity) were evaluated in vertical factors. The horizontal factors were foliar spraying including (nano zinc-oxide, chelated zinc, mixture of nano and chelated and water spraying as a control). Three different barley including (Morocco as a moderate semi sensitive, Nosrat as a moderate tolerant and Khatam as a tolerant) cultivars spilted within vertical factors. Statistical analyzes and graphs were performed using SAS and Excel software and comparisons of means were performed using LSD test. The results showed that with increasing salinity of irrigation water, grain yield, dry weight (DM), crop growth rate (CGR), leaf area ratio (LAR) and specific leaf area (SLA) decreased. Foliar application of Zinc element compared with no Zinc increased TDM, RGR, CGR, LAR and grain yield. Khatam cultivar was superior to Morocco cultivar due to its DM, RGR, CGR, LAR, SLA and higher grain yield.Among physiological indices, SLA showed a positive and significant correlation with grain yield (r2 = 0.97). Overall, in order to increase plant growth indices as well as grain yield of barley under salinity irrigation water, foliar application of zinc fertilizer and the use of Khatam cultivar (salt-tolerant) is recommended. In general, the results showed that with increasing irrigation water salinity, grain yield, total dry weight, crop growth rate, leaf area ratio and specific leaf area of ​​barley decreased. Foliar application of zinc element compared to check (control) caused an increase in dry weight, relative growth rate, crop growth rate and leaf area ratio, and grain yield. Khatam variety was more tolerant to salinity due to its dry weight, relative growth rate, product growth rate and leaf area ratio, specific leaf area and grain yield compared to other varieties. It seems that the absorption of zinc from the soil by the plant roots is disturbed in the saline irrigation conditions, so the plant has shown a positive and appropriate reaction to the foliar application of zinc, which ultimately increases the growth and yield. He brought the plant with him. In general, it seems that in order to increase the growth indices and also the yield of barley grain under irrigation water salinity conditions, foliar feeding with zinc fertilizer and the use of Khatam variety are recommended.

This study was carried out to assess and compare to energy, management of resources, especially water and increase the efficiency of irrigated wheat and potato.With the increase in population and the limitations of production resources in the future, it will be difficult to access energy sources in sufficient quantity. Efficient use of agricultural energy is one of the important factors in achieving sustainable agriculture. Sustainability is one of the main components of agricultural production that leads to food security and utilization of production resources for present and future generations. The efficiency and stability of crop systems vary according to the type of input energy management.The study was conducted to evaluate and compares the course of energy, the productivity of resources, especially water, and increases in the efficiency of irrigated wheat and potato agroecosystems.                                                  

At present, in most conventionally managed crop ecosystems, the share of indirect, non-renewable and commercial energy was higher than direct, renewable and non-commercial energy...This research was conducted in the crop years of 2017 in Borujerd city, Lorestan province, in the geographical location of 34° 1′ N latitude and 48° 4′ E longitude. The data used in this study are collected by questionnaire. The number of samples was determined by Cochran formula. Accordingly, 130 irrigated wheat farms and 60 potato farms were selecte by stratified random sampling method. In order to calculate the energy equivalent of inputs and outputs in the two canvases of irrigated wheat and potato crop system, first the most important inputs and outputs and their energy equivalent in the two canvases of the system were determined. Then, the equivalent of each input energy as well as output was calculated by multiplying its raw value by the corresponding energy conversion factor, the input energy input and the water flow rate in the two potato and irrigated wheat cropping systems.

The total amount of input energy were in potato (92645.73 MJ ha-1) and in irrigated wheat (45215.33 MJ ha-1). In terms of electricity, fossil fuel, chemical fertilizers and irrigation water, the potato agroecosystem had the highest amount of energy consumption. The consumption of non-renewable and indirect energy from the total input energy was high in both agroecosystems, especially potato cultivation showed more dependence on these input energies. This can indicated the instability of the potato agoecosystem compared to irrigated wheat. The amount of net energy index in the potato cropping system is higher than that of irrigated wheat, and indicates lower energy loss in potato cultivation. But because of the higher energy consumption efficiency in irrigated wheat compared to potato cultivation, this indicates the greater than of efficiency of the irrigated wheat farming system in converting input energy into available energy for yield.

Production systems should not be used for more than of their capacity in order to generate high revenue. As energy input increases, energy efficiency decreases Proper and efficient use of available resources increases the sustainability of production Therefore, conventional potato production is not sustainable in terms of energy consumption, because a very high percentage of consumption inputs in the potato production are non-renewable energies.. The consumption of non-renewable and indirect energy from the total input energy was high in both agroecosystems. The amount of net energy index in the potato cropping system is higher than that of irrigated wheat, and indicates lower energy loss in potato cultivation. This can indicated the instability of the potato Therefore it is suggested the cultivation of irrigated wheat, which was more stable, to the farmers of the region.Therefore, autumn irrigated wheat cultivation is more practical than spring and summer potato cultivation, which has a high water requirement and higher cost.