حسین نستری نصرابادی

Aridity is a climatic characteristic that has a significant impact on many aspects of life, mainly in agriculture but also in other economic sectors. In this study, a Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform was implemented to monitor and Evaluation of two aridity indexes, such as the De Martonne aridity index, and FAO aridity index at ten stations in Razavi Khorasan province from 2000 to 2021. The University of Idaho's monthly climate data set (TerraClimate) is used to calculate monthly potential evaporation and transpiration. MODIS dataset (MOD11A1 V6.1) used to calculate temperature. The product dataset (CHIRPS) is used for calculating the monthly rainfall. Satellite data, in comparison to the aridity index calculated with ground data, is evaluated using widely accepted statistical indices such as the correlation coefficient (CC), relative bias (RBIAS), root mean squared error (RMSE), Nash–Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficient (NSE), and probability of detection (POD). The results showed that the De Martonne aridity index in Mashhad, Torbat Jam, Neishabour, Gonabad, and Golmakan stations, with a correlation coefficient in the range of 0.704-0.851, root mean square error in the range of 1.228-2.419, relative bias (negative) in the range of 0.096-0.227, Nash-Sutcliffe index in the range of 0.142-0.633, and the probability of estimation in the range of 0.773-1, was chosen as the best method of calculating the yearly aridity index. In other studied stations, the FAO method is the best. Overall, the current study's use of satellite data is appropriate and yields dependable and satisfying results because of its suitable spatiotemporal separation.

In order to investigate the effects of drought stress and different LED lights spectra on yield, water productivity and morphologic characteristics of wheat plant, a factorial experiment was performed in the form of completely randomized design in 2022 in the university of Torbat-e Jam, The effects of drought stress include three levels (100, 75 and 50 percent of water requirements) and the effect of different light spectra including six levels (white, 70% red + 30% blue, 100% red, 70% blue + 30% red, 100% blue and 50% red + 50% blue) on wheat plant was investigated. The results showed that by applying drought stress to the amount of 75 and 50% of the water requirement of the plant, fresh weight of aerial parts, dry weight of aerial parts, root fresh weight, root dry weight, plant length, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, carotenoids, potassium, phosphorus and magnesium concentration decreased and water productivity increased by 18.52% and 27.94% respectively. Also, the results showed that among the different types of LED light spectra application, the highest amount of fresh and dry weight of aerial parts, fresh and dry weight of roots, plant length and water productivity in 70% red + 30% blue light and the highest amount of photosynthetic pigments parameters were obtained in wheat plant under 50% red + 50% blue light. the results showed that the highest concentration of potassium occurred in 100% red light, phosphorus concentration in white light and magnesium concentration in 50% red + 50% blue light.

Water shortage stress is the most important obstacle to melon cultivation in arid and semi-arid regions of Iran. Regarding to the importance of melon production in Razavi Khorasan Province, this pot study was conducted with the aim of investigating the response of melon growth to drought stress and salicylic acid application in Torbat Jam Higher Education Complex in 1401. Melon seeds were planted in the growing bags filling with field soil, and the bags were placed in the outdoors to apply the treatments. Drought stress treatment included available soil water at different levels of 85, 75, 65, 55, 45 and 35% and salicylic acid treatment at two levels of zero and one millimolar. The results showed that drought stress had a significant effect on all measured growth traits, but the effect of salicylic acid was significant only on the content of chlorophyll a and b, carotenoids and relative leaf water. Decreasing soil water to less than 7% and 65%, respectively, caused a significant decrease in chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b. Soil moisture less than 65% also caused a significant decrease in leaf area, relative leaf water content, nitrogen uptake and root and shoot dry weight. In general, for each unit of moisture reduction to less than 67% of available soil water, the amount of aerial dry matter decreased by 2.4% compared to optimal moisture conditions. According to the results of this research, the best time to irrigate Khatouni melon is when only 40% of available soil moisture has been depleted.

Water scarcity is the main natural limitation for agricultural production in arid and semi-arid regions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of mycorrhizal fungi and salicylic acid on yield and quality of watermelon under water stress. For this purpose, a split factorial experiment was conducted with three replications based on a randomized complete block design in two years. Irrigation treatment at three levels of receiving 100%, 80% and 60% of water requirement were placed as the main factor in the main plots. Mycorrhizal fungus in two levels (including no inoculation and soil inoculation by 20 g m-2) along with spraying of salicylic acid in three levels (including 0, 50 and 100 mg L-1) were designated to the subplots. The highest amounts of proline concentration, peroxidase and catalase enzymes activities were recorded in 60% irrigation treatment. Electrolyte leakage decreased by salicylic acid application, though in each irrigation treatment the lowest electrolyte leakage was recorded in 100 mg L-1 treatment of salicylic acid. Electrolyte leakage was significantly reduced by mycorrhizal fungi application. The highest (9.12%) and the lowest (8.08%) level of total soluble solids were recorded respectively in 80% and 100% irrigation treatments. The highest amount of TSS (9.07%) was obtained with mycorrhizal fungi. TSS was significantly increased by 6.70% and 11.20% with 50 and 100 mg L-1 salicylic acid treatments, respectively, compared to the control. The lowest fruit yield (34.76 t ha-1) was obtained when the plants were exposed to 60% irrigation treatment and no mycorrhizal fungus inoculation conditions. Fruit yield increased significantly in the presence of mycorrhizal fungi inoculation across all irrigation treatment levels, with the highest fruit yield (68.82 t ha-1) being obtained when plants were grown under 100% irrigation treatment and mycorrhizal fungi inoculation conditions. It may be concluded that using mycorrhizal fungus as a biofertilizer and salicylic acid as a plant growth regulator can reduce the harmful effects of drought stress and, hence, it can be recommended to increase the fruit yield and quality of watermelon at least in arid-semiarid conditions.

 The Genus Thymus is one of the most important genera of the Lamiaceae family. According to Jalas (1971), Thymus is divided into eight sections: Micantes, Mastichina, Piperella, Teucrioides, Pseudothymbra, Thymus, Hyphodromi, and Serpyllum. About 18 species exist in some areas of Iran and most of them belong to Serpyllum Section and kotschiani Subsection. Chromosomal information is an important key for taxonomy, phylogeny, evolution, genetics and breeding in thyme. Therefore, this work was carried out to study the cytogenetic characteristics of genus Thymus belonging to the Subsection Kotschyani for breeding purposes and taxonomy.

Seeds were collected from 5 wild populations and germinated on wet filter paper at 20 oC. One cm long roots were pretreated with 8-hydroxyquinolin and then washed in distilled water and fixed in carnoy solution for 24 hours. Hydrochloric acid (1N) was applied for 7 min to hydrolyze the roots. Staining was done by orcein for 24 h at room temperature. Stained roots squashed in one drop of 45% acetic acid and examined by a ZEISS Axiophot compound microscope. Cells in metaphase stage were photographed with a D450; Canon Inc. Japan digital camera. Ten well prepared metaphasic cells were selected and some chromosomal characteristics such as total chromosomal length (TL), long arm length (L), short arm length (S), the arm ratio (AR) [LA/SA], and centromeric index (CI), were measured using Micro Measure ver. 3.3 software. The following karyological parameters were determined: total chromosome form (TF%), intrachromosomal asymmetry index (A1) and interchromosomal asymmetry index (A2). Karyotypic characteristics have been determined using the symmetry classes of Stebbins (SC). Karyotype formula was determined from chromosome morphology based on centromere position in accordance with the classification of Levan.

 This study reports the chromosome number and meiotic behavior of 31 populations belonging to 8 species of Thymus Subsect. kotschyani from Iran. In most species of this subsection, the base number of chromosome x = 15 and two diploid and tetraploid ploidy levels with chromosome number of 2n = 30 and 60 were observed. Only in T. migricus species, the base number of chromosome x = 14 was reported with two levels of diploid and tetraploid ploidy and chromosome numbers of 2n= 28 and 56. The chromosomes were mostly metacentric (m) or sub-metacentric (sm) in all species Among the various species with basic number of x= 15, the highest percentage of TF and the lowest amount of A1 were observed in populations belonging to T. eriocalyx (T7) indicating that this species has the most symmetric karyotypes. The lowest percentage of TF and the highest amount of A1 are in population of T. lancifolious (27) and T. fedtschenkoi (T28) species; this shows that the species has the most asymmetric karyotype among the species of this subsection. The highest amount of A2 was observed in T. eriocalyx (T7) species, indicated the asymmetry between chromosomes and chromosomal length. The difference in the number of chromosomes, ploidy levels and karyotype asymmetry in the populations and different species may be related to different environmental conditions in their habitat, pollination system (cross pollination) or polyploidy (Aneuploidy) in this genus.

 The results showed that basic chromosome number in most species is 15 (x= 15). Two ploidy levels (diploid and tetraploid) were observed among different species. Chromosomes in most species, were metacentric and sub-metacentric. Based on intra- chromosomal symmetry (A1 and TF) T. eriocalyx species (T7) has the most symmetric and most primitive karyotype and the species T. lancifolius (T27) and T. fedtschenkoi (T28) have the most complete and the most asymmetric karyotypes. Also based on inter- chromosomal symmetry, (A2) T. eriocalyx (T) species has the most asymmetric karyotype.

Melon aphid Aphis gossypii is one of the economic pests of melon that has a high adaptability to various environmental conditions, including salinity. In this study, the lethal and sub-lethal (LD10) effects of Palizin soap insecticide (0, 450, 696, 1078, 1669, 2583 and 4000 ppm) were investigated on A. gossypii reared on melon seedlings under salinity stress (0, 20, 40 and 60 mM) in a Factorial experiment based on completely random design in growth chamber (25 ± 1°C, %70 ± 5 RH and 16L/8D h photoperiod). Bioassay was performed based on leaf deep bioassay method. The LD50 values after 24 hours were estimated as 1378, 1036, 860 and 749 ppm for treatments, respectively. An inverse relationship was observed between the toxicity of Palizin and increase in salinity. To determine the effect of LD10 of Palizin on aphids, biological parameters of insect fertility in each salinity treatment were determined based on the age-stage, two-sex life table theory. The nymphs had longer development duration in treated aphids than aphids that grew under similar salinity conditions, but adult insects had a shorter longevity and less fecundity. The average of intrinsic rate of increase varied from 0.31 to 0.17 ♀/♀/days-1 and the average of generation time varied from 11.16 to 12.65 days between 0 and 60 mM salinity treatments. Based on the results, Palizin insecticide with salinity stress can be recommended for successful integrated management of aphid on melon under salinity stress conditions.

Melons are vegetable crops belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae, which consists of about 118 genera and 825 species. Persian melon is one of the most important melons with high economical and nutritional values and widely cultivated in Khorasan Razavi province. Nitrogen is the main plant nutrient resources with a structural and functional roles that affect growth and yield of melon production. Regarding to the importance of melon production in Khorasan Razavi province, this study aimed to determine the required amount of nitrogen fertilizer to reach maximum melon yield and to reduce excessive nitrogen application by farmers.

A field experiment was conducted at Torbat-e Jam in 2019. The effect of five levels of nitrogen fertilizer (0, 70, 140, 210 and 280 kg ha-1) was evaluated in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The size of each individual plot was 6 by 8 m and the melon row spacing was 2 m. Melon seedlings at three-leaf stage were planted about 75 cm apart in rows, on 23 June 2019. The studied traits in the experiment included leaf chlorophyll and leaf area at fruiting stage, number of fruits per plant, average fruit weight per plant, fruit yield, percentage of soluble solids and total dry matter.

Analysis of variance showed that nitrogen fertilizer application had a significant effect on all measured traits, except soluble solids of fruits. The results also showed that nitrogen fertilizer application increased leaf area index and leaf chlorophyll content by 37 and 22%, respectively. The highest leaf chlorophyll content and leaf area index was obtained from 210 and 140 kg nitrogen fertilizer application, respectively; and more nitrogen application was not a significant increase in leaf area and chlorophyll content. The melon dry matter production increased by 42% with nitrogen fertilizer application compared to non-nitrogen fertilizer application. The highest dry matter production was obtained from 210 kg N ha-1, and more nitrogen application was not a significant increase in dry matter production. The highest amount of the produced fruit per plant and fruit weight was obtained from 280 kg N ha-1. Fruit yield increased by 41% with nitrogen application compared with no N application. Fruit yield of melon at 70, 140, 210 and 280 kg N ha-1 increased by 39, 57, 41 and 28%, respectively. The highest fruit yield (33 ton ha-1) obtained at 140 kg N ha-1, and the more nitrogen application significantly reduced melon yield.

Nitrogen application improved growth and fruit yield of melon plants. The highest quality and quantity of melon yield was achieved with application rate of 140 kg N ha-1, and application of excess nitrogen would reduce fruit yield. Nitrogen agronomic efficiency showed that fruit yield increased by 87 kg ha-1 for each unite of N application rate under the optimum nitrogen fertilizer treatment. The study of the net economic income from the use of nitrogen fertilizer showed that the growers can experience up to 50% more economic profit with the optimal application of nitrogen fertilizer.

Melon (Cucumis melo L.) is one of the most important vegetables in Cucurbitaceae family and one of the most important economic crops in the Torbat-e Jam city (Longitude: 60 ̊48', latitude: 35 ̊31', altitude: 928 m). Growth and yield of agricultural crops are affected by biotic and abiotic environmental stresses. Cold stress can be one of the most important environmental factors reducing crops yield. Cold acclimation in plant is a complex process involving many morphological, physiological and biochemical changes, including a significant reduction in tissue hydration during cold hardening. Melatonin (MEL, N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) is a conserved substance, which has been discovered in all living organisms, from bacteria to mammals. MEL regulates the growth of root, shoot, and explant, activates seed germination and rhizogenesis, and delays leaf senescence. In addition, the most frequently mentioned functions of MEL are related to various abiotic stresses such as drought, radiation, low/high temperature, heavy metals, and salinity stresses.
In order to investigate the effect of PEG priming and melatonin on cold stress resistance of melon seedlings, a factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications in Torbat-e-Jam University. In this experiment polyethylene glycol 6000 was used to produce drought stress at three levels (0, 0.18 and 0.58 MPa) and melatonin was used at two levels (0 and 200 μmol). When melon seedlings were at 4 leaf stage, the amount of polyethylene glycol was added to the irrigation solution for a week and to prevent drought stress, drought stress was increased for 3 days and increased one third of the required concentration daily. Recovery was performed for three days after drought stress and during this period melatonin was added to the irrigation solution at the required concentration. Seedlings were then exposed to cold stress (T0: non-stress and T1: cold conditions). Control plants were kept in greenhouse conditions.
Comparison of the mean results showed that there was an increasing trend in proline production by increasing drought stress. The highest amount of proline (0.80 µmol g-1 FW) was recorded at the highest level of drought pretreatment with no melatonin and without cold stress (D2M0T0), and then a decreasing trend in proline production was observed. The results showed that melatonin significantly increased leaf relative water content compared to the control. Interaction effects of drought pretreatment and temperature showed that there was a trend of decrease in relative water content by increasing drought pretreatment.  Ghanbari and Sayyari (8) reported that drought pretreatment stress maintains relative water content of tomato seedlings under cold stress conditions. Drought pretreatment significantly reduced the amount of chlorophyll a and total chlorophyll. The results showed that the highest levels of drought pretreatment stress (D2) and melatonin (M1) maintained chlorophyll a under cold stress conditions. Results showed that the amount of chlorophyll b was decreased by drought pretreatment stress, but it increased by melatonin application in all compounds. Based on the results, it was found that only simple effects of treatments at 1% of probability level had significant effects on soluble sugars content. Comparison of the mean simple effects of drought pretreatment showed that under drought stress the amount of soluble sugars increased significantly and the highest sugar content was recorded at the highest drought stress level. The amount of soluble sugars in plants under cold stress also increased significantly. Melatonin application also significantly increased the amount of soluble sugars. Kabiri et al. (19) reported that the use of melatonin increased soluble sugars in Moldavian balm seedlings under osmotic stress which is similar to this study results. It was found that melatonin significantly increased phenolic compounds under stress conditions and significantly decreased electrolyte leakage.

Melon (Cucumis melo L.) is one of the most important vegetables in Cucurbitaceae family and one of the most important economic crops in the Torbat-e Jam. Growth and yield of agricultural crops are affected by biotic and abiotic environmental stresses. Salinity stress can be one of the most important environmental factors limiting the yield of plants, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. It has been reported that by application of bio-fertilizers, root and shoot dry weight and nitrogen concentration in alfalfa increased under salt stress. Sarabi et al (44) in a study of different genotypes of melons under salinity stress reported that salinity stress increases soluble sugars and proline content and decreases photosynthetic pigments. Growth-promoting bacteria can help plants under stress conditions by stabilizing atmospheric nitrogen, increasing the accessibility of nutrients, and interfering by the production of plant hormones such as auxin, cytokinin, and gibberellins. Soliman et al. (49) also reported that growth-promoting bacteria increase the absorption of elements, especially nitrogen, in Acacia saligana. Basilio et al. (7) showed that growth-promoting bacteria increase plant height and yield of wheat. The use of salicylic acid to create plant reactions to environmental stresses has been suggested. Raghami et al (39) reported that salicylic acid improves vegetative indexes and photosynthetic pigments in eggplant under salt stress. It has been reported that salicylic acid treatment increased K in wheat under salt stress. Due to the expansion of saline soils as well as the reduction of fresh water resources, the purpose of this experiment is to better establish melon seedlings under adverse environmental conditions and to maintain and develop this valuable crop.

In order to study the effect of biological fertilizers and salicylic acid on physiological parameters and growth of Khatooni melon under salinity stress conditions, a factorial experiment was conducted based on completely randomized design with three replications in Torbat-e-Jam University. Salicylic acid treatment was selected at two levels, without (SA0) and one mM (SA1) salicylic acid. Bacteria treatments were including Azotobacter (B1), Azospirilium (B2), Azotobacter and Azospirilum (B3) and without inoculation (B0) and salinity treatments were prepared in five concentrations: control (S0), 50 (S1), 100 (S2), 150 (S3) and 200 (S4) mM of sodium chloride.

Interaction effects of salinity, salicylic acid and bacteria showed, proline content was increased by salinity stress. The highest of proline content was obtained by combination of 200 mM salinity, one mM of salicylic acid and Azetobacter + Azospirilum (S4 SA1 B3) and the minimum of it was recorded in contorol (S0 SA0 B0). Under salinity conditions, the accumulation of compatible solutions such as proline, glycine, betaine and other organic solutions in the plant occurs, which play an important role in protecting the plant against the harmful effects of stress. On the other hand, the increase in proline content by growth-promoting bacteria may be due to an increase in the absorption of nutrients, especially nitrogen, because proline has a nitrogenous structure.
Without salinity stress no significant difference observed between salicylic acid treatments on soluble sugars, but soluble sugars content were significantly increased by increasing salinity stress. The maximum and minimum of soluble sugars content were recorded in combination 200 mM salinity and one mM of salicylic acid (S4 SA1) and control (S0 SA0) respectively. Plants try to overcome salinity stress by producing organic compounds that are osmotically active such as soluble sugars.
It has been reported that the use of salicylic acid in eggplant and barley under salinity stress has increased the production of soluble sugars, which is consistent with the results of this study. In general, accumulation of proline and soluble sugars content might be due to increased synthesis and decreased degradation under stress conditions. According to the results, photosynthetic pigments and relative water content percentage (RWC %) were decreased under salinity stress. Simple effects of salicylic acid (SA1) and bacteria treatments especially combination of bacteria (B3) significantly improved Chlorophyll a, b, carotenoids and RWC. Sarabi et al. (43) reported that chlorophyll content, carotenoids and RWC were decreased in melon under salinity stress. Kheirizadeh Arough et al (29) reported that application of bio-fertilizers and nano zinc oxid increased content of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and carotenoids in Triticale under salinity conditions.   

Based on the obtained results in this study, we can use Azotobacter and Azospirillum together for seed inoculation and spraying with salicylic acid for obtaining better growth and yield under salt stress.

A rapid, complete, and uniform seed germination is important to establish a healthy seedling that is a critical key to successful crop production. Therefore, identification of effective factors on germination and plant response to various conditions are important to use an appropriate agronomic managements. Temperature and water are the most important environmental factors controlling seed germination in plants. The crop growth models are among the most effective tools for using in crop management decisions. The response of seed germination to temperature and water potential can be simulated by thermal time, hydrotime and hydrothermal time models. Regarding the importance of watermelon production in Iran, this study was conducted to determine the cardinal temperatures of germination in watermelon plant, and also to quantify its germination in response to the temperature and water potential interaction. .

In order to investigate the effects of temperature and drought stress on seed germination and quantifying the germination responses; a factorial experiment was conducted with seven  levels  of temperature including  10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 °C and  the  six levels of water potential including 0, –0.25, –0.5, −0.75, –1.0, and –1.25 MPa, respectively. A Ψ of 0 MPa was obtained using distilled water. The negative Ψ levels were prepared by polyethylene glycol (PEG 6000; Merck, Germany) according to Michel and Kaufman (1973). For each treatment, four 25-seed replicates were placed in 9-cm petri dishes containing one disk of Whatman No. 1 filter paper, with 7 mL of test solutions. Cumulative germination percentage was transformed to probit regression against time log (Finney, 1971; Steinmaus et al., 2000), and the time taken for cumulative germination (tg) to reach subpopulation percentiles (10–90%) was estimated from this function according to Steinmaus et al. (2000). Then the germination rates (GR) were calculated as the inverses of the germination times for each percentile at each T or Ψ. The preliminary estimation of the parameters in the TT, and HT models were obtained by plotting GR versus T and Ψ for each percentile. Then using repeated probit analysis developed by Ellis et al. (1986), the exact parameters for the TT, HT and HTT models were determined for the whole seed population. All statistical procedure were done by SAS and Excel software, and the figures were drawn by SigmaPlot10 software.

The analysis of variance showed that the temperature, water potential and their interaction had significant effect on the germination percentage of the watermelon plant. Seed germination of watermelon was about 96 % under the optimal conditions. However, the germination ability was affected by the temperature and water potential of the seedbed. The results showed that the germination was decreased by decreasing water potential, at all temperature levels. The seeds of watermelon germinated over a range of water potentials from 0 to -1 MPa. Furthermore, the lowest germination loss associated with decreasing water potential observed at temperature range of 20-30 °C (compared to temperatures below and above this range). The maximum percentage of germination was recorded at 20-30 °C, while no seeds germinated at 10 and 40 ° C. The results also showed that the highest germination rate was obtained at 25 °C and the germination rate decreased at lower and higher temperature than this range. While watermelon seeds were grown under no water stress condition, the estimated base and ceiling temperatures of germination by a linear regression method were 10.7 and 40.0 °C, respectively. However thermal time model was used, but the base and the maximum temperatures were estimated as 11.5 and 40.1 °C, respectively. Furthermore, an optimum temperature of 25.2 °C was predicted by hydrothermal time model for watermelon germination. The results showed that the base temperature and median thermal time to germination were varied with changing water potential. The hydrotime analysis showed that the base water potentials was in a range from -0.45 to -1.23 Mpa, that differed with changing water potential. Watermelon seeds had higher base water potential and also required a longer hydrotime for germination under non-optimal temperature. Hydrothermal time analysis showed that seed germination responses to temperature and water potential might as well quantified by parameters derived from hydrothermal time models (R2= 0.90-0.92). The amount of hydrothermal time required to germinate was 40.5 MPa °C days on the suboptimal and supra optimal temperature ranges. The HTT model showed that the Ψb(50) increased by 0.09 MPa with every degree increase in temperature above optimum temperature.

The thermal time, hydrotime and hydrothermal time models well described germination time course of watermelon seeds in response to temperature and water potential.Thus, the estimated parameters of these germination models allowed us to characterize the germination behavior of watermelon seeds under varying environmental conditions and global warming.

The main objective of this research is to assess the daily rainfall data from the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM-3B42 V7) and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) products with rain gauge data and Comparison the performance of two widely-used models for spatial assessment over the semiarid climate of Khorasan Razavi Province, Iran. Measured rainfall data from 13 rain gauge stations for the period of 2 years, starting from Feb 2015 to Dec 2016 were collected and compared with the available annual GPM and TRMM-3B42 V7 data. In order to assess the efficiency of Kriging and Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) models for annual precipitation zoning, the statistical Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Mean Error (ME) methods were used in the Arc GIS software version 10.1.The results of statistical analysis comparing the two methods with the satellite production data showed that at the annual scale the results of the TRMM satellite data are close to the GPM satellite data. However, TRMM satellite simulates precipitation data with slightly higher correlation coefficient and lower relative bias than GPM satellite. The results also showed that in all three precipitation data, Kriging method performs more accurately than the inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) method. In both interpolation methods, zoning was performed with much less error in the GPM data. This study showed that the average annual precipitation of both TRMM and GPM satellite precipitation products can be used to estimate precipitation and could potentially be one of the reliable sources for hydrological modeling.This study showed that the average annual precipitation of both TRMM and GPM satellite precipitation products can be used to estimate precipitation and could potentially be one of the reliable sources for hydrological modeling.This study showed that the average annual precipitation of both TRMM and GPM satellite precipitation products can be used to estimate precipitation and could potentially be one of the reliable sources for hydrological modeling.

Wheat production is an important component for national food security. Studying the impact of future climate change on crop production is crucial to manage crop productivity. Improving our understanding of potential responses of the wheat plant to these changes while taking into consideration agricultural management is required for identifying best adaptation strategies. In Khorasan Razavi province, over 12% of the total cultivated wheat area is belong to Torbat-e Jam region. The current study aimed to quantify the potential impacts of climate change on irrigated wheat yield in the next 30 years for this region. In this study, information on regional cropping systems and meteorological data to study the effects of climate change were collected and finally, the impact of climate change on irrigated wheat yield was studied using simulation approaches under different climatic scenarios. Long-term daily weather data for future was generated using MarkSim weather generator software and the past meteorological data was gathered from regional weather station. Daily weather data generated by four scenarios RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6, and RCP8.5 for a 30-year period. The generated and measured daily weather data was used for running CERES-Wheat model. Finally, crop model outputs were used to interpret climate change impacts on wheat growth and production. The average air temperature during the wheat growth period showed that temperature increased about 1.6% in the last five years compared to the first five years of the baseline 30-years period. Furthermore, the average annual precipitation for the last 5 years was 51 mm less than the first 5 years of the baseline period. The air temperature will increase about 1.1, 1.6, 1.2 and 1.8 °C during the wheat growth period for the near future (30 years) under the RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6, and RCP8.5 scenarios, respectively. The precipitation over the wheat growth period will reduce by 9 and 8% under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios, respectively. Furthermore, the precipitation over the growth period would increase by 11 and 17% under RCP2.6 and RCP6 scenarios, respectively. The simulated wheat yield by the CEREC-Wheat model showed that the grain yield increased by 5% in the first 5 years compared to the last 5 years of the baseline period (1998-2017). The biomass production and harvest index (HI) also increased by 2.3 and 1%, respectively. The increased dry matter production and HI can be due to temperature increase during the cold seasons, and more amount of precipitation during the reproductive growth. The simulated wheat growth during the near future period (2018-2047) showed that wheat growth cycle will reduce from 5 to 7 days under different emission scenarios. In the different soil textures, wheat yield under RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6, and RCP8.5 scenarios will increase by 24.4, 19.9, 24.9 and 25.2%, respectively. Furthermore, the highest and the lowest yield were obtained from clay and sandy clay loam soils, respectively. Under the different emission scenarios, the mean incident light and light use efficiency during the growth period would be increased by 20.8-24.6% and 5.5-8.3%, respectively, in projected climate change as compare to baseline period. Reducing irrigation water as amount of 300 m3 ha-1 and simultaneous increase in irrigation water use efficiency are possible incident scenarios for the near future. Based on these scenarios, simulations showed that grain yield increased 26.3, 19.6, 27.2 and 25.6 % under RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6, and RCP8.5 emission scenarios, respectively.  The increased temperature and atmospheric CO2 concentration during the next 30 years will decrease wheat growth cycle, but increase the potential biomass and grain wheat yield under the different emission scenarios. The results showed that the increased yield production will occur under climate change conditions, even if the available irrigation water would decrease by 300 m3 ha-1.

Using of plant growth regulators is one of the methods can improve plant growth against environmental stresses such as salinity. Salicylic acid plays an important role in physiological processes regulation, including germination. Today, using of growth promoting bacteria has been increased and it causes to raise the seed vigor, uniformity, germination percentage and better seedling establishment. Growth promoting bacteria can be effect on increasing plant resistance to adverse environmental conditions by interposition in plant hormones production such as auxin, GA, cytokinins, and as well as the stabilization of nitrogen or phosphorus availability and other nutrients This experiment was conducted as factorial in a completely randomized design with three replications. Salicylic acid factor (SA) was selected at two levels (0 and 1 mM). The bacterial treatments included Azotobacter (AZ), Azospirilum (AZP), complex of Azotobacter and Azospirillum (AZ + AZP), and without inoculation (C) and salinity treatment (S) was at five levels (0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mM). Results showed that all treatments had no significant effect on germination percentage. Radicle and plumule length, seed vigor index and seedling fresh weight was significantly increased at 50 mM NaCl. Generally speaking, the elongation of plant organs when treated with low concentrations of salts may induce osmotic adjustment activity in the plants which may improve growth. Germination rate, Radicle and plumule length and seed vigor index were significantly increased by salicylic acid treatment. AZ and AZ+AZP increased germination parameters significantly than control. Generally germination factors were better improved by combination salicylic acid with AZ than AZP and AZ+AZP. These results could indicate the synergistic relationship between growth promoting bacteria and salicylic acid.   According to the results pre-treatment of melon seeds by 1 mM salicylic acid and Azotobacter can be proposed to improve seed germination and seedling establishment under salinity stress.   Highlights: Effect of salinity on seed germination characteristics of melon. Effect of biofertilizer and salicylic acid on germination and seedling growth of melon under salt stress.

Using mulch to decrease and optimize water use is known as a practical method. For this purpose, a split-factorial experiment based on complete block design with three replications on two melon cultivars was conducted in spring season of 2010 in Torbat-e-Jam. Interval irrigation treatments in three levels (6, 8 and 10 days) were considered as main plot and mulch (straw plus paddy rice, plastic and no mulch) and cultivar (Khatooni and Ghasri) were considered as sub plots in a factorial design. Results showed that there was a significant difference between plactic mulch and the control and also between interval irrigation treatments for fruit yield, ripening period, suger percentage, fruit weight and number of fruits on plants. Interaction effect observed between interval irrigation and mulch for number of fruits on plants, marketable fruit, yield and ripening period traits. The shortest period of ripening was observed for the 8 and 10 dey interval irrigation together with plastic mulch. Plactic mulch caused the suger percentage of both cultivars to increase as well. Plactic mulch for 6 day interval irrigation caused yield and fruit quality to decrease, but it caused yield and fruit quality to increase for more than 8 day interval irrigation. Regarding the advantages of plactic mulch which is the decrease of water use and the improvement of yield and fruit quality, using plactic mulch is recommended for dry land.

Using mulch to decrease and optimize water use, increase yield and fruit quality is known as a practical method. For this purpose, a split-factorial experiment based on complete block design with three replications on two melon cultivars was conducted in Torbat-e-Jam, Iran. Interval irrigation treatments in three levels (six, eight and 10 days) were considered as main plot and mulch (rice straw and paddy, plastic and no mulch) and cultivar (Khatooni and Ghasri) were considered as sub plots in a factorial design. Results showed that there was a significant difference between plastic mulch and the control and also between interval irrigation treatments for yield, sugar percentage, resistance to damping off and spider mite, leaf area and soil moisture. The largest leaf area and soil moisture was observed with plastic mulch. The largest contamination to spider mite and damping off were occurred using straw plus paddy rice mulch. Plastic mulch increased the sugar percentage of both cultivars as well. Plastic mulch for six day interval irrigation increased yield and fruit quality through increased yield and fruit quality to increase for more than eight day interval irrigation. Regarding the advantages of plastic mulch for reduction of water use and improvement of yield and fruit quality, using plastic mulches is recommended for dry lands.