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The decrease in rainfall in recent decades and the occurrence of drought in Iran, which is one of the arid and semi-arid regions, as well as the significant wastage of water in the agricultural sector, have caused many researchers to look for new irrigation methods that lead to improve water consumption. Therefore, the importance of conducting this experiment is to reduce surface water evaporation, save water, reduce leaching and use of nitrogen fertilizer in maize cultivation. Nowadays, due to the decrease in rainfall and the excessive water consumption in the agricultural sector, the importance of water resources management has received more attention from researchers. Therefore, simulation models an effective role in evaluating irrigation management methods to improve water consumption in the agricultural sector. This study aimed to assess the AquaCrop model in terms of simulating the yield and biomass of maize under two methods of irrigation (wick and surface) and nitrogen fertilization (topdressing and fertigation).

This experiment was carried out in 2020 and 2021 in the Faculty of Agriculture of Razi University. Experimental treatments included wick irrigation and surface irrigation (at three levels of 100, 70, and 50%) and two levels of nitrogen fertilizer 100 and 50% of the plant's fertilizer requirement. The statistical design was factorial in the form of randomized complete blocks and was implemented in three replications. In the wick irrigation method, fertilizer was provided to the plant through tanks and in solution. In the surface irrigation method, fertilizer was topdressing on the soil surface. Nitrogen fertilizer was applied in three stages. In each watering, the amount of water used will be measured and recorded through the meter. At the end of the experiment, the data measured in the first and second years were used for calibration and validation, respectively. For both stages of calibration and validation of the model, the measured (observed) and simulated values of yield, biomass, canopy cover, and water productivity were compared and statistically analyzed. For statistical evaluation, root mean square error (RMSE), efficiency coefficient of the Nash-Sutcliffe model (EF), and Wilmot agreement index (d) were used.

The results indicated that the root mean square error (RMSE) for simulating canopy cover development under various irrigation and fertilizer treatments ranged from 1.5% to 6.1% during the calibration stage (2020) and from 2% to 6.4% during the verification stage (2021). The model's efficiency factor (EF) for canopy cover simulation was between 0.91 and 0.99 during the calibration stage and between 0.93 and 0.99 during the validation stage. For biomass simulation, the RMSE values ranged from 1.07 to 2.1 tons/ha in the calibration stage and from 1.4 to 2.9 tons/ha in the validation stage. The model's EF for biomass simulation ranged from 0.87 to 0.98 in the calibration stage and from 0.92 to 0.99 in the validation stage. These results demonstrate the model's high accuracy and reliability in simulating both canopy cover and biomass development across different treatments. AquaCrop simulation results showed that the model was able to simulate water productivity better than yield and total biomass so the coefficient of determination (R2) related to water productivity, yield, and biomass of maize was obtained as 0.82, 0.52, and 0.54 respectively.

The simulation of yield, dry matter, and water productivity in the calibration and verification stage was lower than the actual value in all treatments. The biggest difference between the observed and simulated values of yield, biomass and water productivity was observed in the wick treatment (first and second year). According to the obtained results, it can be concluded that AquaCrop was chosen well and within the expectations for the studied area and the ability of AquaCrop in the field to provide a low irrigation model like the wick method is suitable and practical.

Drought stress is one of the major environmental stresses affecting more than 60% of Iran's area. The use of drought resistant plants, especially Almonds (Amygdalus communis L.)  that grow in hilly areas with calcareous and stony soils, is of great importance. Iran is recognized as the fifth largest almond producer in the world. Almond cultivation not only has high nutritional value but can also contribute to ecosystem improvement, increase farmers' income, and create job opportunities. Fars province is one of the suitable regions for almond cultivation, ranking first in terms of under cultivation of dry almonds and sixth in terms of under cultivation of irrigated almonds. However, almond performance in this province is not satisfactory and is positioned lower. It appears that the province has not fully utilized its potential, and almond cultivation in many suitable lands has been neglected. Therefore, this study focuses on analyzing land suitability for almond cultivation in Fars province by integrating the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and fuzzy algorithm with Geographic Information System (GIS).

In order to estimate the extent of suitable areas for dry almond cultivation in Fars province, four criteria (including climatic, topographic, environmental adaptation, and socio-economic) and 14 sub-criteria were used. These sub-criteria include elevation, land slope, slope aspects, land use, soil texture, seedling growth temperature, minimum temperature during flowering stage, relative humidity flowering stage, growth cycle temperature, fruit formation and ripening stage temperature, mean annual precipitation, distance from the road, distance from water levels and distance from population centers. The weights of criteria and sub-criteria in the study were calculated using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) process and Expert Choice software. After fuzzy mapping and combining fuzzy scores with the weights obtained from the AHP analysis, the Fuzzy overlay algorithm was used to overlay different thematic layers (climatic, topographic, socio-economic, environmental adaptation). Finally, the map estimating the extent of suitable areas for almond cultivation was classified into five classes.

In this research, suitable areas for almond cultivation have been identified using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and GIS. These areas were selected based on 14 different sub-criteria. The findings identified mean annual precipitation as the most critical sub-criterion for almond tree cultivation, followed by elevation, mean seedling growth temperature, and relative humidity during the flowering stage. After fuzzifying the maps and combining the fuzzy scores with the assigned weights, thematic maps were generated for each criterion. Analysis of these maps revealed that the most limiting factors for almond cultivation in Fars Province are climatic conditions (including precipitation, mean minimum temperature during the flowering stage, and temperatures during the fruit formation and ripening stages) and topography (slope percentage and elevation). Despite these limitations, the study found that Fars Province has significant potential for dry almond cultivation. Specifically, the study determined that highly suitable, suitable, and moderately suitable lands for almond cultivation account for 9.02%, 16.46%, and 21.63% of the province's area, respectively. The highly suitable zones, covering approximately 9.02% of the province, are particularly favorable for almond cultivation. Additionally, suitable and moderately suitable zones make up 16.46% and 21.63% of the region's area, respectively, further supporting the potential for almond farming in the province. However, the suitability of about 17.09% of the region for almond cultivation is low, and 5.01% of the province area is unsuitable for almond cultivation. Additionally, around 30.79% of the total province area is not recommended for almond cultivation due to land use types. In general, the northwestern, western, and southwestern areas of Fars province have suitable capability, and the southeastern region of Fars province has unsuitable capability for dry almond tree cultivation. Based on the analysis and results obtained, the importance of proper planning for agricultural crop cultivation and appropriate land suitability analysis for optimal land resource utilization for sustainable agricultural development is evident.

Based on the findings, Fars province holds significant potential for dry almond cultivation development, yet it has not fully utilized all of its capabilities to date. Consequently, it is recommended that the expansion of almond tree cultivation in this province be prioritized. Proper planning and optimal utilization of suitable areas in Fars province, considering environmental conditions and defined criteria, will enhance the performance of almond cultivation and facilitate sustainable agricultural development in this region. The results of this study can be valuable to all individuals and organizations active in the field of agricultural development and land resource management (including farmers and horticulturists in Fars province, officials and policymakers related to agriculture and rural development, researchers, and academics in geology, agriculture, and sustainable natural resource development in Fars province) and assist them in decision making regarding almond cultivation development.

In recent years, attention has been attracted to the environmental pollution resulting from the production of products, and as a result, the interest of the communities to know more about the environmental protection and destruction factors has increased. Eco-labels are defined to respond to this need of society. Estimating the economic value of eco-labels of agricultural products that provide environmental information about products and their production process to consumers, shows what share of the costs necessary to collect such information and data will be paid by consumers and in this way, the value of labels can be determined for consumers. In Iran, especially in Mashhad, where a significant part of fresh agricultural products is irrigated with urban and industrial wastewater and the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in the production of agricultural products is common, the implementation of the labeling scheme for fresh agricultural products due to its impact on the health of consumers and the environment is very important. A large number of consumers of the above products want to have information about the level of contamination of these products and use healthier products, and therefore they are willing to pay for providing this information. 

In this research, the evaluation of eco-labels on freshly packaged agricultural products by measuring people's willingness to pay for these products in 11 regions of Mashhad is discussed. In the present study, the contingent valuation method and single bound dichotomous questionnaires were used, and the bid amounts used in the questionnaire were designed using the Boyle and Bishop method. The spike model has been used to measure the willingness to pay and check the factors affecting it.

The results from the questionnaires indicate that out of 150 participants, 27 stated they would not be willing to pay for eco-labels on freshly packaged agricultural products. Consequently, the bids, designed using Boyle and Bishop's method, were applied to the remaining 123 participants. The suggested bid amounts were 10%, 20%, 30%, 50%, and 80%. The results from the spike model show that the variables of marital status, monthly family income, the market where the product was purchased, the importance of the product's appearance, the individual's attitude towards the environmental impact of traditional agriculture, prior knowledge of eco-labels, and the bid amount all have a significant and positive effect. The variables of age and the importance of the shape product packaging have significant and negative effect on willingness to pay. The studied population is willing to pay about 71% more for freshly packaged agricultural products with an eco-label than the sample price without a label. The significant percentage of willingness to pay calculated in this research is due to the fact that the percentage results depend on the price of goods and for goods and services that have a lower price (such as fresh agricultural products considered in this research), the percentage of willingness to pay will be higher. It should also be noted that the statistical population of the present study is the 11th district of Mashhad, whose residents have a relatively high-income level (the opinion of municipal experts). The estimated willingness to pay also indicates the importance of eco-labels for freshly packaged agricultural products.

The studied population is willing to pay about 71% more for freshly packaged agricultural products with an eco-label than the sample price without a label. The significant percentage of willingness to pay for eco-labels indicates the importance of these labels for freshly packaged agricultural products from the consumers' point of view.

Agriculture plays a very important role in the realization of many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). If agriculture is to make a positive contribution to achieving these goals, ensuring the ecological resilience of farmers i.e. improving adaptation capacity of the households as well as the whole production system to a wide range of environmental changes and shocks is crucial. The intensification of climate change caused by global warming and its consequences, including the occurrence of long droughts, floods and other natural disasters, have threatened the food security of subsistence farmers and smallholders in the first place, and the food security of large communities in the long run. Also recently, the covid-19 pandemic and the possibility of similar epidemics have created more concerns. Therefore, the issue of resilience has been highly considered by researchers and international organizations, especially the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), so that resilience has been defined as one of the 10 elements of agroecology. On the other hand, numerous research evidences have shown that integrated systems (combination of crop cultivation and animal husbandry) in order to increase structural and functional diversity, increase ecological resilience against severe environmental stresses and climate changes. In addition, integrated systems have different resilience and ecological stability depending on the intensity, amount and type of integration. Therefore, in the recent years large number of researches are conducted to address the resilience of agricultural systems. Since the ecological dimensions of resilience have not been comprehensively investigated in Iran, the purpose of this research is to evaluate the ecological resilience of rural households in Razavi Khorasan province and compare systems based on agriculture, based on livestock and integrated systems of agriculture and livestock. In this research, the recommended method of FAO has been used to evaluate resilience.

The required informations were collected from 87 households from 10 cities within the province by completing a comprehensive questionnaire and face-to-face interviews with households. Data were analyzed using RIMA II-FAO method. Clustering of 87 households based on their corresponding cultivated area of crops, saffron and the number of livestock units was resulted in 4 livelihood groups, including only cropping (G1), the integrated crop-livestock at medium level (G2), only livestock at large level (G3) and integrated crop-livestock both at large level (G4). The resilience of households in each group was evaluated based on 5 components (asset, adaptive capacity, biodiversity, intensification, and use of ecosystem services), each measured by a number of indicators. The scores of 5 components were aggregated after weighting, by using factor analysis, and normalization to develop a composite resilience index in 1-5 scale.

The results showed a significant relationship between the resilience of rural households and the 5 mentioned components where intensification had negative correlation with resilience while the impact of assets, adaptation capacity, biodiversity and use of ecosystem services on household resilience was positive with the highest correlation for biodiversity. The households of integrated crop-livestock groups (G2) and (G4) had the highest resilience compared to households in single enterprise groups i.e. only cropping (G1) and only livestock (G3), with the lowest resilience in G3. In general, the high score of the components of biodiversity, ecosystem services, adaptive capacity, as well as the low level of intensification in small to medium scale integrated crop-livestock systems resulted to more resilient households while large scale single enterprise households had lower resilience despite their higher assets.

Resilience is fundamental bases of sustainability and it refers to the ability of systems to return to its initial state after facing environmental tensions. The main purpose of the present study was to evaluate ecological resilience for agriculture ecosystems of Khorason Razavi province. The main findings indicated that the integrated farmlands with other activities particularly with animal husbandry is much more resilient than pure and monotype farm production systems.AcknowledgementsWe are grateful to the Honorable Vice Chancellor of Research and Technology of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad for providing the costs of this research.

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.), is an annual plant found in many countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe, and India is the largest producer in the world. There are two types of fenugreek, one botanically known as Trigonella foenum-gracum and the other Trigonella corniculata (Champa or Kasturi Methi) of the Leguminosae family. The integrated management system is a system in which reducing the use of chemical fertilizers and the combined use of chemical fertilizers and organic materials are considered. Among organic fertilizers, chicken manure is very important due to its high nitrogen concentration, high carbon quality, low carbon-nitrogen ratio, and providing large amounts of important nutrients required for plant growth. The appropriate amount of potassium sulfate fertilizer in the soil facilitates the osmotic adjustment in the soil, as a result of which the osmotic pressure remains in the leaves, and in this way, the plant's ability to cope with drought stress increases. Therefore, considering the mentioned cases and the lack of scientific information in the field of combining fertilizers, in this research, an attempt was made to find a suitable fertilizer combination consisting of chicken manure and potassium sulfate for the fenugreek plant.

To investigate the effect of chicken manure and potassium sulfate on the physiological characteristics of the fenugreek medicinal plant, factorial research was conducted based on randomized complete block design with three replications in the crop year 2021-2022 in Qochan city in the north of Razavi Khorasan province. Experimental treatments included chicken manure at three levels (0, 1000, and 2000 kg. h-1) and potassium sulfate at four levels (0, 1.5, 3, and 5 per thousand). The chicken manure concentrate was given to the ground according to the investigated area before planting. The planting depth of fenugreek seeds was considered to be 1.5 cm. To prevent the binding of seeds, the seeds were covered with fine sand mixed with animal manure. Then, at the 4-6 leaf stage, thinning was done to reach the appropriate density. The first irrigation after planting and subsequent irrigations were done once every six days until the end of the growing season. Also, Soluptas fertilizer was applied as a foliar spray after planting, from the six-leaf stage to the flowering stage, three times with an interval of 14 days. The investigated traits of this experiment included morphological and physiological traits, which were sampled after the plants were fruited and the pods turned yellow by removing the marginal effect.

The results showed that the highest level of secondary and main stem height, leaf dry weight and other growth traits were obtained with the highest level of chicken manure (2000 kg/ha), which of course was not significantly different from the level of 1000 kg/ha of chicken manure. The use of chicken manure, especially in arid and semi-arid areas, which mainly have low organic matter levels, in addition to increasing soil organic matter and availability of nutrients, can improve the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of these soils. Also, the highest amount of growth traits was obtained with the use of the highest level of Soluptas, i.e. five per thousand. In the interaction effect of two investigated fertilizers, it was observed that the interaction of organic and chemical fertilizers caused a double effect on the investigated growth traits. The level of 2000 kg of chicken manure caused a 16.38% increase in the weight of a thousand fenugreek seeds compared to no fertilization. The weight of 1,000 seeds was 10.408 gr at the 5 per thousand Soluptas level and 8.906 gr at the non-fertilization level. Also, the interaction of chicken manure 2000 kg/ha with each level of Soluptas caused the highest number of pods in the fenugreek plant. The highest levels of both treatments caused an increase of 83.76% and 93.28% of seed and biological yield compared to no fertilization (control level).

In general, it can be concluded that among the simple effects, the highest amount of traits was related to chicken manure, and among the investigated levels in two treatments, the highest yield of fenugreek dry matter was obtained with the consumption of 2000 kg/ha of chicken manure and 5 per thousand Soluptas.