جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه "گندمیان" در نشریات گروه "کشاورزی"

The use of plants with the ability of second or summer cultivation in cold regions such as Shahrekord can increase production per unit area and the optimal use of productive resources such as land. Unlike sole cropping system, intercropping in line with ecological goals (Salama, 2020) brings increased resource consumption efficiency and yield stability (Bitew et al., 2021). Therefore, this study was designed and implemented: (i) to investigate the forage yield of Proso millet and Berseem clover in sole cropping and intercropping systems; (ii) to examine the effect of competition between the used species (legume and grass) in the intercropping; (iii) to analyze the interrelationships between the components of the intercropping using different competition indices; and (iv) to evaluate which intercropping managements is better for resource management with respect to forage yield and competition indices.

A field experiment based on randomized complete block design was conducted with three replications and five treatments in June 2019 in Shahrekord, Iran. The treatments included intercropping of Berseem clover- Proso millet (75%- 25%, 50%- 50%, 25%- 75%) and sole cropping of each component crops. Harvesting of all treatments was done in the milking stage of seed millet (late September). The evaluated traits were wet forage yield (ton/ha), dry forage yield (ton/ha), forage crude protein (%) and forage protein yield (ton/ha). Some competition indices such as land equality ratio (LER) and relative crowding coefficient (RCC) were used to evaluate intercropping systems (Midya et al., 2005). All data were subjected to analysis of variance using the GLM procedure of the SAS statistical program. Also, significant differences among the means were measured using the LSD test (P<0.05).

Results showed that intercropping patterns had significant effect on all of the studied traits of Proso millet and Berseem clover. The maximum wet forage yield (16.0 ton/ha) and dry forage yield (5.0 ton/ha) were obtained at 25% Proso millet- 75% Berseem clover and 50% Proso millet- 50% Berseem clover, respectively. The highest percentage of forage crude protein and forage protein yield were found in the sole cropping of Berseem clover, and with the decrease in the share of Berseem clover in intercropping, a downward trend was observed in crude protein as well as yield of forage protein. The highest LER values (1.25) was obtained from 25% Proso millet- 75% Berseem clover. Proso millet with RCC>1 was identified as the dominant species with a higher relative forage yield value compared to Berseem clover in all intercropping systems.

The present study showed that the mixture of Berseem clover with Proso millet, in each of the planted ratios, has the functional advantage of forage production to exploit the available environmental resources compared to their respective monocultures. However, considering the lower competitive power of Berseem clover compared to Proso millet based on the RCC, Berseem clover needs a higher planting density than Proso millet to benefit more from the advantages of intercropping. In general, based on the results of the present study, the treatment combination of 25% Proso millet-75% Berseem clover, is significant in terms of forage production with the desired quantity and quality. On the other hand, the results obtained from the LER confirmed the superior advantage of this combination due to the better efficiency of land use compared to other treatments. This combination can be economically and environmentally promising in the development of sustainable crop production (forage) as a second or summer crop in Shahrekord region or other cold regions.Keywords: Grass, Leguminous, Dominant species, Equal ratio of land; Forage productionReferencesBitew, Y., Alemayehu, G., Adgo, E., and Assefa, A. 2021. Competition, production efficiency and yield stability of finger millet and legume additive design intercropping. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 36(1): 108-119.Midya, A., Bhattacharjee, K., Ghose, S. S., and Banik, P. 2005. Deferred seeding of blackgram (Phaseolus mungo L.) in rice (Oryza sativa L.) field on yield advantages and smothering of weeds. Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science, 191(3): 195-201.Salama, H. S. A., and Badry, H. H. 2015. Influence of variable mixing rates and nitrogen fertilization levels on the fodder quality of Egyptian clover (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) and annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.). African Journal of Agricultural Research, 10(53): 4858-4864.

The aim of this study is investigating the changes of macro elements in soil and vegetation based on the different life form with changes in elevation. For this purpose, soil and vegetation sampling was performed in 13 places in the elevation gradient of 300 to 3300 meters in 2016. In each site were placed three transects of 100 meters with 50 meters distance from each other and along each transect were placed  five plots of 1m2.  In Each plot, Vegetation was harvested based on vegetative form including grasses, forbs and shrubs and Soil samples were taken from two depths of 0 to 15 cm and 15 to 30 cm. Then calcium, potassium, sodium, phosphorus and nitrogen were measured for vegetation samples based on life form and soil samples. The amount of macro elements in soil and vegetation in different elevation classes were compared with each other using one-way analysis of variance test. The results showed that the concentration of soil macro elements in different elevation classes has significant difference. Maximum nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and calcium were at the elevations of 3300-3000 m (0.47%), 1500-1200 m (87.8 ppm), 3300-3000 m (57.6 ppm), 3300-3000 m (69.8 ppm) and 3300-3000 m (16.53 meq/l). Also, the macro elements of vegetation were significantly different in different elevation classes. Maximum nitrogen was in the shrubs at 2400-2100 m (3.06%), phosphorus in forbs at 3300-3000 m (548.2 ppm), potassium in forbs at 900-600 m (400.3 ppm), Sodium in shrubs at 300-300 m (58.4 ppm) and calcium in forbs at 0-300 m (261.7 ppm). It seems that the amount of nutrients in vegetation changes by changing amount of these elements in the soil through elevation. The results show that the Soil Macro Elements affect the amount of Minerals of plants. Due to the fact that balance in the amount of Minerals in plants is very important in animal nutrition, knowledge of the amount of these elements in soil and plants will be effective in providing animals with a proper diet and increasing the quantity and quality of livestock products.

In order to identify, study phylogenetic relationships and evaluate the pathogenicity of graminicolous fungi on cereals in southern Iran during the spring and summer of 2017, some roots, stems and rhizosphere soil were collected from barley, maize, millet, rice, and wheat fields in Bushehr, Fars, Khuzestan and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Provinces, Iran. Based on morphological and phylogenetic studies, 141 recovered isolates were identified as three species of Bipolaris (B. sorokiniana and two probable new taxa Bipolaris sp1 and Bipolaris sp.2), four species of Curvularia (C. australiensis, C. papendorfii, C. spicifera, C. verruculosa) and one species of Exserohilum (E. rostratum). pathogenicity test was conducted on leaves and roots of Eram cultivar of barley, 504 cultivar of maize, Parosou cultivar of millet, Lanjan cultivar of rice, and Azar cultivar of wheat. In both pathogenicity tests pathogenic and nonpathogenic isolates were observed. This is the first report of potential pathogenicity of C. papendorfii in all tested plants; C. verruculosa in barley, millet, rice and wheat; C. spicifera in barley, millet and maize; and C. australiensis in barley, maize and rice.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of livestock grazing intensities (lenient, moderate, heavy and no-grazing) on herbaceous plant species composition and diversity (grasses and forbs) in understory of Quercus spp. and Pistacia spp. forest in Kebirkouh Mountain, Darehshahr city, Ilam Province, Iran. Vegetation sampling was carried out with randomized-systematic method at flowering time of the dominant plant species in April 2017. Within each quadrat, number of species, name of plants, density, life form and palatability class were recorded for herbaceous plants. Species diversity with the Simpson’s and Shannon-Weiner indices, species richness with Margalef and Menhinick indexes, and evenness with Peet and Sheldon indices were calculated in Ecological Methodology software version 6.1.4. The highest value of Simpson index for grasses and forbs was 0.972 (moderate grazing) and 96.95 (exclosure). Also, the highest value of Shannon index for grasses and forbs was 4.51 (heavy grazing) and 4.56 (heavy grazing), respectively. The highest richness of grasses and forbs was observed in grazed area with moderate intensity and no-grazing area, respectively. In the area without grazing, the richness of forbs was 4.4 and 2.75 according to Margalef and Menhinick indexes. The values of the Margalef and Menhinick richness indexes for grasses in grazed area with a moderate intensity were18 and 15 percent higher than the grazed area with heavy intensity. Peet and Sheldon evenness indexes were the highest for grasses and forbs in heavily grazed area and the lowest for grasses in the moderate grazing intensity and for forbs in the exclosure.

Phosphorus (P) after nitrogen is the most important nutrient limiting the yield of crops especially in acidic and alkaline soils. Extensive studies indicate considerable genetic variation in the efficiency of uptake and utilization of phosphorus which is related to concentration, accumulation and allocation of phosphorus to different parts of the plant. The use of this diversity in order to increase the growth and yield of crops, as well as to reduce the need for phosphorus fertilizers, especially in low-phosphorous soils, has attracted the attention of researchers in recent years. In addition, accurate information on this issue can be used in the efficient management of mineral nutrition of crops. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the variations in concentration, accumulation and allocation of P to different parts of the plant in some important crops and weeds species of the Poaceae family. This experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with a factorial arrangement with three replications in Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences using a low (4.85 mg / kg) available P soil during 2016-17 growing season. In this pot study, 6 crop and weed species of Poaceae family including durum wheat, common barley, naked barley, triticale, wild oat and canary grass were studied under two conditions of non-consumption and use of fertilizer as amount as recommended. In the physiological maturity, P concentration in different parts of plants separately, and P accumulation and allocation coefficients were calculated using P concentration and dry weight of the organs. The results of analysis of variance showed that the effect of genotype, fertilization and their interactions on the amount of accumulated P in all parts of the plant and total plant were significant. The average of P content of the whole plant in the studied species indicates an increase of 4.2 times the amount of P absorbed by fertilizer application. In fertilization conditions, the lowest P content in plant parts and total plant was observed in two weed species, while under non- fertilization conditions, there was no significant difference between species in the plant parts. Alterations in P content in the studied species were due to changes in its determinant components, i.e. the amount of dry matter and P concentration. Although, both the amount of dry matter and P concentration in all parts of the plant significantly (P = 0.01) were influenced by the factors of the experiment, and in most of the cases, their interactions, the amount of alterations in the dry matter and as a result , its contribution to changes in the P content was more than the P concentration. The average of P content allocated to grain in all species was 54.3%, in the crop species was 64.1 and in the two weed species was 34.7, which shows a much higher allocation of P to the grains in the crop species. This study showed that the accumulation of P, followed by P concentration and P allocation coefficients to different parts of the plant in physiological maturity stage were influenced by fertilization and genotype and the interactions of these two factors. Further alterations in P accumulation can be attributed to its dependence on variations in dry matter and P concentrations. The obtained results showed a small variation of the studied species in terms of P accumulation in low available P conditions compared to the conditions of fertilizer application as amount as recommended which is a sign of the similarity of these species in terms of tolerance to P deficiency as well as different response of species to P fertilizer application.

In order to investigate the host range of various populations of causal agent of wheat leaf rust, Puccinia. recondita sensu lato, during 2010-2016, fifty isolates of the pathogen were collected from different hosts of Poaceae in various parts of Iran including: Ardabil, Fars, Golestan, Ilam, Kerman, Khuzestan, Khorasan Razavi, Kurdistan, Mazandaran and West Azerbaijan. Pathogenicity of all isolates on seven hosts, including bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L., cv. Boolani), durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf., cv. Karkhe & cv. Yavaroos), barley (Hordeum vulgare L., cv. Afzal), oat (Avena sativa L.), rye (Secale montanum Guss.) and triticale (Triticosecale Wittm. Ex A. Camus) was examined. Results indicated that all isolates had high disease severity on bread wheat (cv. Boolani) and triticale. Bread wheat isolates were avirulent on all hosts except for triticale, which showed a hypersensitive reaction or small, dispersed pustules. Triticale isolates were only pathogenic on triticale and bread wheat. Durum wheat isolates were virulent on bread wheat, durum wheat, and triticale, and were avirulent on barley and rye plants. Oat isolates showed an avirulence response on barley, rye and various genotypes of durum wheat and rye. Barley isolates were also pathogenic on bread wheat, triticale and barley and avirulent on durum wheat and rye. Although wild barley isolates were virulent on bread wheat, durum wheat, and triticale, they were avirulent on other hosts. Oat is a non-host for all leaf rust isolates, except for its own isolates. The findings indicate that in the absence of wheat, leaf rust populations are able to survive on other members of the Poaceae family.

Due to importance of poaceae plants in Zagros zone, these crops allocated frequent cultivated crops in most fields of this area. Among different microorganisms, Fusarium species are one of the important pathogens in these crops. During 2015-2016, to determine Fusarium species associated with root and crown of poaceae crops in Lorestan province, crop and non-crop plants in cereal fields and rangelands of Lorestan were collected. Sampling was conducted from plants with crown and root rot symptoms or with color changing of this area, and desired agent was isolated by selective media. Isolates were identified by morphology and identification keys, and sequencing of Internal Transcribed Spacer. In this study, 13 Fusarium species were identified as follows: F. acuminatum, F. avenaceum, F. crookwellense, F. culmorum, F. equiseti, F. ensiforme, F. falciforme, F. fujikuroi, F. longipes, F. nygamai, F. proliferatum, F. reticulatum, F. scirpi, F. solani, and F. tricinctum. Results showed that F. proliferatum is most frequent in this province. F. ensiforme is reported for the first time from Iran and it is new for Iran flora. Also this is the first report of F. falciforme from wheat root in Iran.

Bromus danthoniae Trin. is an annual grass species which grows mainly on dry grassy rocky mountain slopes and grassy steppe, and is grazed by many herbivores and recognized as a useful pasture plant. The chromosome number, morphological and anatomical traits of 82 genotypes of B. danthoniae belonging to three sub-taxa were investigated. Twenty-seven quantitative and 20 qualitative morphological traits were evaluated. The results of analysis of variance showed that B. danthoniae genotypes varied significantly for all quantitatively tested traits. Based on cluster analysis, the genotypes were divided into four groups which mostly corresponded to their subspecies identities. According to correlation analysis, lemma length had strong positive correlations with other traits such as awn length (r=0.55**), lemma width (r=0.72**) and caryopsis length (r=0.84**). In addition, lemma width was significantly correlated with the traits like floret number per spikelet (r=0.47**) and caryopsis length (r=0.58**). Based on factor analysis, the first three factors encompass about 51% of total variation. Overall, lemma length and lemma width were the two reliable traits for morphological investigations in this species. The results of chromosome counting showed that B. danthoniae subsp. danthoniae and B. danthoniae var.lanuginusos Roshev. were diploid (2n=2x=14) whereas B. danthoniae subsp. pseudodanthoniae (Drobov) H. Scholz was tetraploid (2n=4x=28). The results of leaf surface anatomy showed that tetraploid genotypes had larger stomata but lower stomatal density than the diploid ones, thus a comprehensive relationship between genome size and guard cell size cannot be ruled out as a plausible explanation for differentiating the ploidy levels. The high morphological variations among the B. danthoniae genotypes explain the habitat distribution of this species and enable us to incorporate this knowledge into practice by exploiting the variation for improvement of pasture production.

Without knowing the characteristics and amount of forage plants in a rangeland during the grazing period, planning and management, and livestock grazing is not possible. So changes the production and consumption of important grasses was measured in the semi-steppe rangelands of Alamout mountain rangelands-Ghazvin. Every year the same number in the enclosure base and base outside the enclosure of the same species Bromus tomentellus Boiss. And Festuca ovina L. was chosen to investigate changes in production and consumption. In each month of the season forage production and consumption, 5 Base of each species harvested and transported to the laboratory separation in separate envelopes after air drying, dry weight difference inside and outside the enclosure, the calculation of forage produced and consumed at the site. Data from 1386 to 1389 (for four years), the combined analysis of variance was used in a completely randomized design. Analysis of variance results showed that the studied species the significant differences between years and months inventory is considered in terms of forage production and consumption of the species there. The consumption compared to the same species and time to peak strain it was also same between the months of operation.

Wheat as the most strategic agricultural crop has an important role in food security, and so the most cultivation area among the agronomic crops, belongs to wheat. Fungi associated with root and crown of wheat, are effective on crop production and yield. Therefore, in order to identify mycobiota of wheat root and crown in Zanjan province, sampling was carried out from 58 rainfed and irrigated wheat fields during cultivation season of 2011. Out of 286 fungal isolates obtained, 248 isolates belonged to hyphomycetes as identified morphologically. Sequence data of ITSrDNA region was used to confirm the identify of the isolates. Accoreding 10 genera and 23 species of Alternaria alternata, A. atrum, A. chlamydospora A. tenuissima, Aspergillus auricomus, A. niger, Bipolaris sorokiniana, Botrytis cinerea., Curvularia australiensis, C. inaequalis, Fusarium acuminatum, F. avenaceum, F. chlamydosporum, F. equiseti, F. redolens, F. sambucium, F. scirpi, F. solani, F. tricinctum, Microdochium nivale, Periconia circinata, Penicillium chrysogenum, Trichoderma atroviride were identified. Pathogenicity test of some fungal isolates were conducted based on completely randomized design with three replications under greenhouse condition. According to the results B. cinerea, B. sorokiniana, F. avenaceum, F. acuminatum, P. circinata, C. australiensis, F. equiseti, F. solani and A. chlamydospora caused disease with different severity on their host. Among the species, B. cinerea, B. sorokiniana, F. avenaceum and F. acuminatum caused visible root necrosis. A. auricomus was isolated for the first time from wheat rhizosphere in Iran. This study is the first report of A. tenuissima, B. cinerea, C. inaequalis, E. chlamydospora, F. avenaceum, F. chlamydosporum, F. scirpi, F. tricinctum, M. nivale (= F. nivale), P. circinata, P. chrysogenum and T. atroviride from Zanjan province. Also this is the first report of the pathogenicity of B. cinerea on wheat in Iran.

Drought is a natural phenomenon in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. It is created by low precipitation, high evaporation and reduced soil moisture. Today, they are the major threats to agricultural lands due to fluctuations in rainfall, limited water resources, wells salinization and subsequently abandoned farming lands. Iran is located on the world's dry belt and more than 90 percent of its area is located in the arid and semi-arid climatic regions. It has been reported that the annual rate of soil erosion is up to 33 tons per hectare and 5 to 6 times more than the standard limit. Also, 90% of the country's protein production comes from animals sources. Due to the lack of adequate forage production, the main burden of protein production is imposed on the natural resources and pastures. Therefore, In order to enhance soil stabilization and maintain its fertility, optimum use of off-season precipitations, preventing the flow of water and protecting the abandoned farming lands from the flood risk, increasing the water permeability in the soil, and helping to feed the underwater aquifers and finally the production of forage and seeds, the development of perennial plants cultivation is an important conservative practice. The aim of this study is to emphasize on the selection of the best perennial forage species with low water requirements and acceptable performance for renovation of the abandoned farming lands and moving towards sustainable agriculture approaches.
In this experiment, 10 species of perennial grasses (Agropyron elongatum Host., Secale montanum Guss., Festuca arundinaceae Schreb., Dactylis glomerata L., Agropyron intermedium Host., Agropyron repense L., Agropyron cristatum L., Panicum antidutale Retz., Bromus inermis Leyss., Bromus riparius Rehmann, Agropyron cristatum L.) and two legumes includes Trifolium pratense L., Onobrychis sativa Lam. were studied at Asatan-e-Ghods Razavi farm in Mashhad from 2013 to 2014. The seeds were sown in early November and well-watered for twice after planting and then irrigated by the end of rainfall from May to August, every 22 days.The harvesting time was late August.
The results showed that in the first year, the average of seedling establishment was 71% for all species with the lowest 13% for P. antidutale Retz. and the highest 99% for S. montanum Guss. Also, in the years 2013 and 2014 the average of dry forage yield were 1432 and 3663 kg.ha-1, respectively. In the second year, the highest dry forage yield among the species belonged to A. elongatum Host.and B. inermis Leyss. with 10584 and 4029 kg.ha-1, respectively. Also, the grain yield of perennial grasses varied between 185 for A. elongatum Host. to 1085 kg.ha-1for A. cristatum L. In the studied species harvest index was between 2 and 34%. In the first year of perennial species growth, emergence and seedling establishment are one of the most important factors affecting on the increasing seed yield and forage yield. Also, the grain yield was affected by the high number of fertile tillers or stem per plant and number of grains per spike. Another remarkable point was that some grasses showed good seed germination and seedling vigor after immediately harvesting time. The highest seed germination percentage for S. montanum Guss., A. elongatum Host., B. inermis Leyss., A. cristatum L. and B. riparius Rehmann were 96%, 90%, 58%, 55% and 40%, respectively.
The results suggest that the yield of perennial species in the first year was very low and weak to compete with weeds (except S. montanum Guss.). But in the second year, dry forage yield has increased up to 2 or 3 times. Due to limited water resources in Iran, area of abandoned lands (low yield) is increasing. Therefore, the selection of Agropyron genera as a drought tolerant species with the aim of increasing the productivity of the land and to prevent soil erosion and to produce forage or grain yield could be considered.
Acknowledgements: The authors acknowledge the financial support of the project by Mazra-e-Nemoneh of Astan Ghodes.

Undoubtedly, planning and providing appropriate management strategies for weed management requires accurate understanding of plant growth. In fact, by identifying plant growth flora and determining the abundance and distribution of weed species, we can obtain important background information for designing weed management plans. Usually the composition and density of weed flora reflect the system of production and agronomic operations. In fact, by identifying the weed flora and determining the abundance and distribution of weed species, we can provide important background information for designing weed management plans. In this case, Cheat grass is problematic weed in winter crops like wheat and barley.
Material and The distribution of this weed as random sampling method in 2012 was surveyed in 40 irrigated wheat farms in Khorramabad, 27 farms in Mashhad and 28 farms in Neyshaboor. Factors related to relative abundance, species richness, density and relative uniformity as well as variability and dominance indices were measured. Sampling in each farm was a W pattern. At almost all fields monitored, sampling was done in the post-stemming phase of the wheat before filling the seeds. Also, using the GIS technique, the distribution map of grass plots was drawn in these areas.
Results showed that sixteen weed species from poaceae family other than cheat grass were observed. Relative frequency of hirsotum ecotype of cheat grass (with 8.76%) was higher than tectorum ecotypes (with 4.76%) in Khorramabad. The Animated animated oat with 19.65% and then Wild barley with 13.52% in mean of 5 samples had the highest relative frequency. In Mashhad relative frequency of tectorum ecotype with 12.44% was higher than of hirsotum ecotype with 7.25%. Common wild oat with 13.99 and then Wild barley with 12.95% had the highest frequency. In wheat farms of Neyshaboor, two ecotypes had similar relative frequency with 10.75%. Common wild oat with 14.52 and then Secale with 12.29% had the highest frequency. In this case only Johnson grass and Bermuda grass were perennial and other weed species were annual. The properties of annual plants are capable of retrieval and rapid reproduction after the destruction occurring in the environment. Therefore, the abundance of more than one year in agricultural lands that are associated with continuous degradation is not unexpected. Additionally, most of the crops are annual, and it is normal that annual crop rotations that have the same growing needs as a crop are more abundant than perennial weeds Similar results were also obtained in thi sstudy. Furthermore, it was shown that the latitude had no large effect on density of grasses and cheat grass ecotypes. Shannon-Weiner diversity index in Khorramabad 2.24, in Mashhad 2.16, in Neyshaboor 2.29, Simpson's diversity index 1.04, in Mashhad 1.31 and in Neyshabour 1.16 and Simpson dominance index in khorramabad 0.960, in Mashhad 0.764 and in neyshaboor 0.862 was calculated. Also using GIS techniques distribution map of cheat grass were drawn in these areas.
The characteristics of annual plants such as grasshopper can be recovered and are capable of rapid replication after the destruction occurring in the environment. Therefore, the abundance of more than one year in agricultural lands that are associated with continuous degradation is not unexpected. In addition to theaccording to the findings of this research, the difference in the indices of species diversity and dominance were associated with the level and type of management practices on farms.
In general, farms with a higher diversity can be said to be managed with weaker management practices that minimize the use of agricultural machinery and the inadequacy of chemical inputs such as pesticides and fertilizers.

Production of forage protein is limited in arid and semi-arid environments. Grass-legume intercropping could be a viable option to obtain forage with higher protein content. To study the best composition of mixed cropping of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and three grass species (Agropyron elongatum, Agropyron desertrum and Festuca arundinacea) on vegetative characteristics and forage yield, a two-year experiment was conducted during 2009 and 2010 in Sisab station of the Natural Resources Research Station of North Khorasan province. The experimental design was a split plot based on randomized complete block design with three replications. The main factors were mix-cropping ratios and sub-factors were two methods of mixed cropping (including mixed and intercropping). Vegetative traits, forage yield, and land equivalency ratio(LER) were determined during the experiment. Data were analyzed by SAS software and means comparisons were made by Duncan's test. Results of analysis of variance showed that the effect of mixed cropping on growth characteristics of alfalfa and grass species was significant. The higher values of the leaf to stem ratio (81.66%) was obtained from mixed cropping of alfalfa 25% Festuca 75% treatment. The effects of sowing pattern (mixed and row intercropping) on vegetative traits were not significant. The effects of mixed cropping on the yield and LER of both alfalfa and grass forage were significant. The highest amount of dry matter production with average values of 2317 kgh-1 was obtained in mixed cropping of alfalfa 25% Agropyron elongatum 75%. The highest LER (1.53) was related to the treatment of Festuca 25% 75% alfalfa in intercropping patterns, representing 53% improvement in land use compared with monocultures of each of species.

This research was aimed to study the forage quality of narrow-leaf and broadleaf species, compatible with the warm steppe climate of Khuzestan. The study was conducted during 2011-2012 using a one-way analysis of variance and three replications. In this experiment, 14 common native species in the region from five botanical families were selected. The sampling was done at late flowering stage. Traits such as total dry matter, organic matter, ash, protein, crude fiber, crude energy, soluble carbohydrates and starch were investigated. According to the results, the highest percentage of protein and fiber was measured for the plants from the Leguminous and Poaceae families, respectively. In addition, a significant negative correlation was found between the protein and fiber percentage (r=-0.565**). Melilotus officinalis, from the leguminous family, had the highest crude energy with no significant difference with some species from the Poaceae family. The highest content of ash and lowest crude energy were recorded for Malva parviflora. Avena ludoviciana and Hordeum murinum from the Poaceae family had the highest and lowest content of soluble carbohydrates, respectively. Generally, planting of the species compatible with the climate of the region could be used both for forage production in rangelands and vegetation restoration in degraded rangelands.

There are various methods to measure the utilization of grasses that each of these methods has its own advantages and disadvantages. The use of utilization gauge for grasses and grass-like species is one of these methods. This research was aimed to investigate the efficiency of utilization gauge in determining the utilization rate of native grasses in Iran. Thus, the utilization rate of Agropyron cristatum and Stipa barbata was measured by utilization gauge method, and the conformity of results with the weight ratio method (control) was assessed by linear regression. Since the utilization scales are prerequisite to the use of utilization gauge, which currently do not exist in our country, first these scales were developed. For this purpose, 30 plant individuals were sampled, of which 25 individuals were used to provide utilization scales and five individuals were used to evaluate the conformity of the two methods. According to the results, the two methods showed good conformity, so that the utilization gauge could be used to estimate the utilization of grasses. Since this method is rapid, non-destructive, and cheap, the use of utilization gauge is recommended to estimate the utilization rate of native grasses.

Infected tissues of roots and leaves of various grasses as well as soil around their rhizosphere were sampled from Fars, Golestan, Isfahan, Khorasan Shomali, Khorasan Razavi, Mazandaran and Semnan provinces (Iran). Based on morphological characteristics and available keys, four species of Bipolaris including B. austreliensis, B. indica, B. micropus and B. spicifera, four species of Curvularia including C. akaiiensis, C. heteropogonicola, C. protuberata and C. verruculosa and two species of Exserhilum including E. gedarefense and E. pedicellatum were identified. Bipolaris austreliensis and B. spicifera widely distributed in Iran. Bipolaris micropus, C. protuberata, C. akaiiensis, E. pedicellatum and E. gedarefense are new to Iran mycobiota.