mostafa jafarian

Investigating of energy flow and greenhouse gas emissions is one of the methods to compare energy efficiency, production efficiency and environmental hazards of agroecosystems. This study investigates the patterns of energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and global warming potential of dryland chickpea production in rural areas of Qoshkhaneh region of Shirvan city. Data for this experiment were collected through a face-to-face questionnaire. Farms were selected by random sampling. In this study, energy inputs included: labor, machinery, diesel, chemical fertilizers, chemical pesticides and seeds, and the study output was grain yield and shoot yield (straw). The results showed that the average labor used per hectare of dryland chickpea farms in rural areas of North Khorasan was 21 people, nitrogen fertilizer 50 and phosphorus and potassium fertilizers 70 kg/ha, as well as diesel fuel consumption of 35 liters and the use of machinery 8 h/ha. Evaluation of energy consumption showed that among the inputs, nitrogen fertilizer with 3307 MJ/ha accounted for 40.06% of the total energy input and diesel fuel with 1970.85 MJ/ha, Consumed 23.23% of the total input energy. labor and seeds also had the lowest share of energy inputs with 0.49 and 1.87 percent, respectively. Total energy consumption efficiency (chickpea + straw) was 1.91, energy productivity was 0.08 kg/MJ and specific energy was 12.32 MJ/kg. In terms of greenhouse gas emissions was 399.20 kg/ha, the share of CO2 was 398.60, the share of N2O and CH4 was 0.02 and 0.57 kg/ha respectively. Global warming production potential per hectare of dryland chickpeas in North Khorasan Province was 419.13 kg CO2 equivalence. In general, the results showed that dryland chickpea fields have low energy consumption due to dependence on rainwater and lack of electricity consumption, as well as low consumption of chemical fertilizers. The most important strategies to reduce energy consumption in the production of dryland chickpeas is the use of appropriate crop rotation to reduce the use of herbicides and chemical fertilizers and also to observe the rules of farm traffic to reduce the movement of agricultural implements on farms.

Marketability of the produced products largely depends on their appearance. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to develop the required algorithms to extract, select, and classify the images’ features of hawthorn samples in order to classify different fruit classes based on the ripeness stages. Six hundred of hawthorn fruit samples were prepared. Afterward, a lighting box was designed and constructed to capture images from hawthorn specimens under controlled lighting conditions. After imaging and saving the images of hawthorn samples, image processing operation in MATLAB Software was done. In this step after image preprocessing, color and texture features were extracted. Through all extracted features, some features were selected as efficient ones by sequential selection method with quadratic base in MATLAB Software. Linear and quadratic discriminant analysis methods were used to classify the efficient features. The obtained results indicated that the methods were able to classify the images of hawthorn samples with same accuracies (98.67 %). Furthermore, accuracy, precision, sensitivity, and specificity parameters were calculated for the classifier models. The results indicated that the accuracy of hawthorn samples by classifier models based on linear and quadratic discriminant analysis models were 98.67 and 99.33 %, respectively in the train step and they were same as 98.67 % in the test step. Also based on the results of the determined parameters, the quadratic discriminant analysis model hade better performance than the linear discriminant analysis model.

Carbon sequestration in biomass and soils is one of the simplest and least expensive ecological strategies for removing carbon dioxide (Uri, 2000). According to researchers, carbon sequestration is an important factor in reducing global warming (Wiesmeier et al., 2014). It was demonstrated that returning fifty percent of plant residues increased the soil's capacity to sequester carbon (Yan et al., 2007). Another study revealed that the wheat-rice cultivation system sequestered 55% more carbon in fields with animal manure and 70% more carbon in fields with chemical fertilizer than the wheat-corn system (Kukal and Benbi, 2009). Given the low levels of soil organic matter in Iran's arid and semi-arid regions, particularly in the agricultural ecosystems of North Khorasan, it is crucial to employ strategies that increase the carbon content of soil organic matter. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the carbon sequestration capacity of the aerial and subterranean portions of wheat and the global warming potential of the wheat production ecosystems in the province of North Khorasan.

In order to assess the carbon sequestration and global warming potentials of irrigated and rainfed wheat cultivars, an experiment was conducted in Shirvan, North Khorasan province, during the 2020-2021 growing season. For this purpose, systematic random sampling was conducted in 30 farms with 0-30 cm of soil depth, and a face-to-face questionnaire was used to assess greenhouse gas emissions and global warming potential. The studied irrigated varieties included Mihan, Pishgam, and Heydari, while the studied rainfed varieties include Azar 2 and Baran.  In order to carry out the research, systematic random sampling (Chambers, 1983) was done from six points in 30 farms from a soil depth of 0-30 cm (Mahdavi et al., 2009). In the spring, vegetative and reproductive organs such as seed + spike, stem, leaf, and root were harvested at three distinct phenological stages (shooting, flowering and physiological ripening). To study the soil, six 30-cm-deep profiles were dug under each plant and soil samples were collected. The combustion method (Abdi et al., 2008; Foroozeh and Mirzaali, 2006) was utilized to determine the organ conversion coefficients.

The results indicated that irrigated cultivars had a higher shoot conversion efficiency than rainfed cultivars, with the Pishgam cultivar having the highest average conversion efficiency at 49.68%. Among the irrigated cultivars studied, the Mihan cultivar had the highest total carbon sequestration capacity, averaging 3,398.70 kg/ha. Among rainfed cultivars, the Baran cultivar had a higher total carbon sequestration than the Azar 2 cultivar, which had an average of 512.60 kg/ha. The amount of greenhouse gases (CO2, N2O, and CH4) produced in irrigated and rainfed wheat fields in Shirvan was estimated to be 1626.932 kg/ha and 651.33 kg/ha, respectively, and the global warming potential of one hectare of wheat was equal to 3404.890 kg of carbon dioxide and one hectare of rainfed wheat was equal to 919.263 kg of carbon dioxide. The cultivation of Mihan (irrigated) and Baran (rainfed) cultivars in the agroecosystem of North Khorasan will increase carbon sequestration capacity and decrease CO2 emissions, according to the findings of this study.

Based on the results of this study, the aerial carbon sequestration capacity of irrigated wheat cultivars was greater than that of rainfed cultivars. Moreover, among plant organs, the wheat leaves had a greater capacity for carbon sequestration than the wheat roots. Mihan was the cultivar with the highest aerial carbon sequestration capacity among irrigated cultivars, while Baran was the cultivar with the highest aerial carbon sequestration capacity among rainfed cultivars.

The presence of soil surface roughness and plant residues can slow down the erosion process, particularly on rainfed fields. The aim of this study was to select the most suitable tillage method, which has the highest soil surface roughness index and the lowest rate of the burial of plant residues. Three factors of plowing machine (Moldboard-plow, Moldboard-plow + Disc harrow, Disc plow and Chisel plow), speed (3, 5 and 7 km/h) and tillage depth (15-20 cm and 25-30 cm) were evaluated in a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design. The soil surface roughness was measured using a pin-meter. Image processing techniques were used to determine the percentage of burial of plant residues. The results showed that the effect of all main factors on the soil surface roughness index was significant and the highest and lowest roughness indices were related to moldboard plow (12.8cm) and Moldboard plow+Disc harrow (3.6cm), respectively. In addition, Chisel plows and Disc harrow+Moldboard plow treatment showed the lowest and highest rates of plant residue burial of 29.3% and 92.9%, respectively. Taking into account the results, chisel plow can be selected as the most suitable tillage method in terms of soil protection against wind and water erosion.

One of the most practical methods for thermal energy storage is the use of phase change materials (PCMs). In this study, the effect of nanomaterial loading on some important thermophysical properties of PCMs including melting enthalpy and thermal diffusivity coefficient was investigated. Silica (SiO2) and copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO) were incorporated into Paraffin wax as a PCM to enhance its thermal properties. To produce the samples, the most accurate methods were used and their morphology was studied by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). Melting enthalpy and thermal diffusivity were measured by a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and a laser flash apparatus (LFA), respectively. The experiments were performed in a factorial arrangement in a completely randomized design with three main factors including the weight percentage of nanoparticles (three levels), the type of nanoparticle (two levels), and the size of the nanoparticles (three levels), and pure Paraffin wax as a control sample with three replications. The results showed that the melting enthalpy of the nanocomposite decreased with the increasing weight percentage of nanoparticles while the size of the nanoparticles displayed no significant effect. In addition, the size and type of nanoparticles affected thermal diffusivity coefficient of Ne-PCMs significantly (p<0.01). Since the enhancement of thermophysical properties of the nanocomposites containing silica nanoparticles was better than copper oxide, it can be concluded that this nanoparticle is more effective in improving the thermal energy storage properties of PCMs.

The aim of this study was to investigate the response of anise to the occurrence of drought stress in different stages of growth of this plant and also the effect of humic acid in reducing the negative effects of drought stress and improving plant growth characteristics in climatic conditions of Quchan city. For this purpose, an experiment was conducted in the form of split plots based on randomized complete block design with three replications in the 2019-2020 cropping year. The irrigation treatment in four levels was as the main factor of the experiment and consumption of Humic acid was considered as sub-factor in three levels. According to the obtained results, stopping irrigation at the seeding stage and nonuse of humic acid in comparison with full irrigation and consumption of 4 kg of humic acid reduced the 1000-seed weight of anise by 23.45%. Also, cessation of irrigation at the stages of stemming, flowering and seeding reduced the grain yields by 7.80, 29.46 and 24.08%, respectively, compared to the control. The use of humic acid at both levels of 2 and 4 kg/ha increased grain yields by 5.01 and 10.64%, respectively, compared to the control. According to the results obtained in this study, despite the problem of water shortage in the study area, one solution to solve this problem is to stop irrigation in the pre-shoot stage, which can reduce water consumption in the production of anise. Also, the application of humic acid at the rate of 4 kg/ha will significantly compensate for the negative effects of drought stress during vegetative and reproductive growth stages.

Investigating the potential global warming, greenhouse gas emissions and energy flow is one of the methods for comparing the agricultural systems in terms of environmental hazards. This research examines the energy flow and greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, N2O and CH4) in rapeseed in North khorasan province of Iran.

This research was studied separately in three regions of East, West and South in North Khorasan Province. Energy input values of rapeseed fields were collected using a face-to-face questionnaire in the 2020-2019 crop years.

The results showed that the total input energy was 33.33178 MJ.ha-1 and the total output energy was 128545.05 MJ.ha-1. Energy use efficiency was 3.87 and energy productivity was 0.06 kg/MJ.ha-1. Direct and indirect input energies were 61.77% and 38.23%, respectively, and renewable energies was 11.02% and non-renewable energies accounted 88.98% of the total energy input. The study of greenhouse gas emissions showed that CO2, N2O and CH4 emissions were estimated to be 1417.04, 3.09 and 1.90 kg.ha-1, respectively. The global warming potential was calculated as 2413.38 kg equivalent of carbon dioxide per hectare, with the share of CH41%, CO2 58% and N2O 41%.

The best area for rapeseed production in this province is the western area and the southern area is not a suitable area for the development of this crop. However, by managing energy consumption, planting date and managing the use of chemical fertilizers, energy efficiency in canola production in the southern region of North Khorasan province can be improved.

The aims of this study were the optimization and fabrication of a biodegradable film with suitable mechanical and physical properties and also the production of a biodegradable indicator based on curcumin to detect the fish spoilage. In order to fabrication of the biodegradable packaging, the effect of different concentrations of glycerol (30, 50 and 70%) on the physicomechanical properties of films was examined. The results showed, increasing glycerol concentration led to increase of the thickness, water absorption, solubility and elongation at beak of the films, while density and tensile strength of the films showed a decreasing trend. The result of microbial test revealed that curcumin-loaded film had a good antimicrobial effect against both gram positive and gram negative bacteria. The variation of color of the films was monitored in contacting with fish during storage time. Overall, it was observed that the developed intelligent films could effectively detect the spoilage of films.

Solar energy is a desirable type of renewable energies. However, it should be stored due to the sun radiation discontinuity. Phase-change materials (PCMs) store the thermal energy through their phase transitions, and the optimization of their thermal properties leads to more efficient thermal storage. In this study, paraffin wax was used as a PCM and aluminum oxide, and copper nanoparticles were used to improve its thermal properties. The morphology of the nanocomposites was studied with Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM). Experiments were conducted in a factorial arrangement in a completely randomized design with three main factors, including: the weight percentage of nanoparticles (three levels), the type of nanoparticles (two levels), and the size of the nanoparticles (three levels), and pure Paraffin wax as a control sample. The melting point and the latent heat of each sample were measured with differential scanning calorimetery (DSC). The results showed that by an increase in nanoparticles concentration, the melting point of nanocomposites decreased slightly. On the other hand, the type and size of nanoparticles had no significant effect on the melting point. The addition of nanoparticles increased the latent heat of nanocomposites noteworthy in an optimal concentration. With a decrease in the nanoparticles size, the latent heat of nanocomposites increased. The nanocomposite sample which was filled with copper nanoparticle at the concentration and size of 1% and 30 nm respectively, had the highest latent heat.

Among all kinds of renewable energies, the solar energy has the greatest application compared to the other types. However, the biggest shortage of solar collectors is their low effectiveness at night or in the cloudy weather. The latent heat storage of phase change materials (PCMs) can be utilized as a solution for the above-mentioned problem. However most PCMs have low thermal conductivities. In this research aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and copper (Cu) nanoparticles were used to enhance the thermal properties of Paraffin wax as a PCM. The morphology of the nanocomposites was studied by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy. The experiments were performed in a factorial arrangement in a completely randomized design with three main factors including weight percentage (three levels), type (two levels), and size of the nanoparticles (three levels) and pure Paraffin wax used as a control sample. Thermal conductivity of nanocomposites was measured at a temperature range for each sample and in the solid phase. The highest and lowest values of thermal conductivity coefficients compared to control sample have increased 442% and 122%, respectively. Analysis of variance results showed that the size, type and concentration of nanoparticles affected thermal conductivity of nanocomposites significantly (p<0.01). In different size of nanoparticles, thermal conductivity coefficient of nanocomposites has increased with increasing of the nanoparticle concentration. Also, the highest thermal conductivity coefficient of nanocomposites was obtained at the smallest size of the nanoparticles. The highest thermal conductivity coefficients of nanocomposites were achieved by addition of Cu nanoparticles at the weight percentage of 6% and sizes of 30 and 70 nm to Paraffin wax.

This paper extends a kind of evaluation process based on fuzzy TOPS IS approach. By focusing on determining the importance and weights of criteria which are effective on decision making, then selecting by lean on Anthropy and eigenvector methods in which comparison between criteria are linguistic and by achieving the weights we try to show the importance for criteria. The application and the mix of several methods in this paper are used to choose the best tickicide and to rank the available alternatives.