مجله پژوهش های حبوبات ایران
سال نهم شماره 1 (پیاپی 17، بهار و تابستان 1397)

Phaseolus vulgaris or common bean, is an herbaceous annual plant in the Fabaceae is cultivated in many parts of the world. Bean varieties have been developed to have both bush and twining forms. Numerous cultivars of common beans have been developed, including string beans, stringless varieties (such as the slender French haricot varieties), and snap beans. Intensive agricultural activities have led to profound land use transformations. As a result of intensive successive croppings, there has been physical, chemical, and biological degradation of soils, resulting in decreased crop productivity. This trend is incurring high economic and environmental costs. The use of organic fertilizers, such as animal manures has been proposed as one of the main pillars of sustainable agriculture. Animal manure is a valuable resource as a soil fertilizer because it provides large amounts of nutrients for crop growth and is a low-cost, environmentally friendly alternative to mineral fertilizers. The environment within a canopy of given density will be affected both by plant architecture and row spacing. As seed is a major input cost for dry bean production, optimum plant density should maximize yield while minimizing seed cost. Solutions based on the principles of ecological agriculture in agricultural ecosystems, in addition to the current needs of the plant, also lead to long-term sustainability of agricultural systems. To evaluate the yield and yield components of common beans by planting density, manure and cultivar, a factorial layout based on randomized complete block design with four replications was conducted at the Agricultural Research Station, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad during growing season 2014-2015. Experimental factors including cow manure levels, three levels (0, 15 and 30 t.ha-1), plant density on row, three levels (5, 10 and 15 plants.m-2) and cultivar, three levels (Akhtar, D-81083, Naz and Goli). Before harvesting, plant height, pod number per plant, seed number per pod, seed weight per pod and 100-seed weight were measured in 10 randomly selected plants. Biological and seed yields of bean were determined at the end of growing season. Studied traits were plant height, pod number per plant, seed number per pod, seed weight per pod, 100-seed weight, seed yield, biological yield and harvest index (HI) of bean. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and least significant difference were performed using SAS version 9.3 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). The results showed that the simple effects of manure, density and cultivar were significant (p≤0.05) on more studied traits of bean. By increasing manure level yield and yield components of bean were enhanced. By increasing manure level up to 15 and 30 t.ha-1 seed yield was improved due to improvement in physical and chemical characteristics of soil up to 7 and 15% compared to control, respectively. Also, by enhancing plant density an increasing trend for yield was observed. In comparing different cultivars the highest seed yield was observed for Naz (291.04 g.m-2) and the lowest was for Akhtar (236.63 g.m-2). The maximum seed yield was related to 30 t manure per ha-1 + Naz (305.59 g.m-2) and the minimum was for control +Akhtar (220.33 g.m-2). Seed yield had positive correlation with plant height, number of pod per plant, number of seed per pod, seed weight per pod and 100- seed weight and the highest correlation coefficient was computed for 100-seed weight (R2=0.723**). Genetic potentials between cultivers created differences in yield and yield components, so the highest yield among cultivars was obtained by Naz. By increasing manure level seed yield and yield components were enhanced due to improvement in physical and chemical characteristics of soil. By increasing plant density up to 20 plants.m-2 seed yield of bean was increased. The highest yield among cultivars was obtained by Naz.

Chickpea is an important source of protein supply in human diet. Drought decreases the yield and has the potential for leading into a total crop failure. However, chickpea is known for its better drought tolerance when compared to most of the other cool season legumes. Furthermore, drought stress is one of the fundamental reasons for reducing the amount of growth and yield of chickpea. One of plant response to drought stress is change in photosynthetic efficiency and photosynthetic pigment content. Fv/Fm ratio is a parameter that determinate any damage to photosystems and possible photo inhibition. Photosynthetic pigments play important roles in harvesting light. Drought stress decreases CO2 assimilation rate and root growing index leading to reduction of yield. Under drought stress condition plants close their stomata to reduce water loss and retain relative water content. So decrease in internal CO2 concentration and net photosynthetic rate would occur. Reduced inhibition of CO2 assimilation rate under drought stress is so important for resistant chickpea genotypes. The effects of drought stress on membrane stability index, relative water content and leaf water potential have also been investigated in many studies. This study is designed to investigate effective traits regarding growth retain under drought stress and recovery stages in resistant and susceptible chickpea genotypes. In addition, the study aims at determining the role of physiological indexes in growth retaining in drought stressed chickpea plants. In order to evaluate the effective traits regarding growth retain under drought stress and recovery stage in chickpea genotypes, an experiment was conducted in controlled conditions with two tolerant genotypes (MCC392 and MCC877) and one susceptible genotypes (MCC68) were grown under controlled (field capacity) and drought stress (25% field capacity) conditions in growth chamber under 12.5 hours photoperiod (21°C day/8°C night) for the first month and 13 hours, photoperiod (27°C day/12°C night) for the second month similar to normal field situations in chickpea growing region. Drought stress induced for 9 days in the flowering stage and then plants were watering up to field capacity (recovery stage). Water use efficiency (WUE), CO2 assimilation rate (A), transpiration rate (E), leaf water potential, chlorophyll fluorescence, membrane stability index (MSI), relative water content (RWC), stomatal resistance, and leaf, area, dry weight and volume of roots were investigated before drought stress, 24 hours and 48 hours after drought stress and recovery stages in investigated genotypes. Drought stress significantly decreased CO2 assimilation rate, transpiration rate, and PSII photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm), RWC and MSI in all genotypes. In the recovery stage, MCC877 genotype had the highest WUE and the lowest transpiration rate as compared to other genotypes. Also in this stage, MSI in all genotypes was lower than control plants. MCC68 genotype (susceptible genotype) had the lowest MSI in recovery stage as compared to drought stressed plant after 48 hours According to these results, MCC68 genotype (as a susceptible genotype) could not retain MSI under drought stress and recovery stage while in resistant genotypes (MCC392 and MCC877) there was no significant difference for MSI in recovery stage as compared to drought stressed plant after 48 hours. Water potential was higher in recovered plant as compared to drought stressed plant after 48 hours while control plant in recovery stage had lower water potential as compared to drought stressed plant. MCC392 (resistant genotype) and MCC68 (susceptible genotype) recovered genotypes had the highest and the lowest increasing in leaf water potential as compared to drought stressed plant after 48 hours. Higher water potential in chickpea genotypes is effective in increasing drought tolerance and growth retaining after drought. CO2 assimilation rate and water use efficiency was higher in resistant genotypes (MCC392 and MCC877) as compared to susceptible genotype (MCC68) in all drought stress stages. Resistant genotypes had lower transpiration rate under drought stress as compared to control plants in all investigated stages. According to the results, higher membrane stability index, lower transpiration rate and higher water use efficiency can be effective in growth retain under drought stress and recovery stage. Also tolerant genotypes (MCC392 and MCC877) that have prevented the sharp decreased in photochemical efficiency and CO2 assimilation rate under drought stress had higher ability to growth retain after drought stress.

There are many different factors that affect yield and quality of agricultural crops, including weed management. The abundance, distribution, density and composition of weed species in a cropped field varies due to the nature of the crop, cultural practices and cropping pattern/system, soil type, moisture availability, location and season, therefore identification of weed flora is important to identify the proper weed control options and enables farmers to use the best management strategies. Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an increasingly important cash crop for growers in western provinces of Iran. Due to the lack of basic information about the weed diversity in common bean fields in Lorestan province which is the mean producer of bean in Iran), the current study was conducted for exact identification of flora condition of weeds. The present investigation was carried out to find out weed floristic composition in common bean fields of Azna (33°45 N latitude, 49°45 E longitude, with a mean altitude of 1871 m above sea level), in the North of Lorestan province during 2014. In this study, 34 fields of bean using method of stratified random-sampling, and by assigning the suitable number of the samples for each level, were selected. The longitude and latitude and sea level of different fields were recorded exactly by global positioning system (GPS). In order to determine the density and composition of weeds, sampling in each field done using the pattern of W. According to the pattern of the W, 9 points in each field were selected and the distance between two sampling points was 20 meters and in each point by using a 0. 5 m × 0. 5m quadrate the density and composition of weed species was determined. For data analysis of weed flora in the fields, frequency, abundance index, distribution uniformity and mean density were calculated using appropriate equations. Weed frequency indicates the proportion of fields where the species was found. The diversity of weed species was described by species richness and weed density was determined by counting the number of plants in each sampling quadrate. Cluster analysis was done by JMP software using the data related to species richness index, species diversity and similarity. In the current experiment, 23 weed species from 14 families were collected and identified at the different bean fields in the studied region. The highest number of weed species belongs to Poaceae family (five species) and Asteraceae family (three species). Based on results, 78% and 22% of weed species were dicotyledonous and monocotyledon respectively. Among the identified weed about 65% were annual and the remaining species were biennial or perennial. It seems that intensive and high input cultivation of common bean in the studied region affected the composition and diversity and density of weeds. Previous studies also showed that perennial weed communities under less cultivation and reduced tillage systems are often more frequent whearase in conventional systems the annual weed are dominant. Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.), Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) and Redroot Pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L.) had the highest and Black Nightshade (Solanum nigrum L.) and Goat's Beard (Tragopogon pratensis L.) had the lowest density, uniformity and abundance in the common bean fields. The density of the weed species varied considerably in the different fields and the maximum density of weed (5. 5 plants. m2) in the fields was recorded for Hibiscus trionum. The most important noxious weed of studied regions were Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), (Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers. )، (Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. ) and (Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) Beauv. ). The highest value of species richness index (27. 5) and Simpsons diversity index (0. 94) were recorded for Southwest, whereas the lowest value of species richness index (17. 14) and Simpsons diversity index (0. 86) calculated for Southeast regions. Results of another study showed that species richness is related to geographical condition and increase with the height. Decrease of species richness in plain areas suggests that agronomic management has a strong effect on species diversity and weed abundance during the time. The occurrence of numerous weed species in bean fields means that different methods of weed control must be selected because some of these weeds such as redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L.) can produce a lot of small seed which may increase the problem of weeds in further years. The higher number of dicotyledonous weeds means that special cautions for the use of chemical herbicides is necessary because many of recommended herbicides for broadleaf weeds could result in serious damages to the common bean fields. It seems that in these conditions considering the integrated weed management (IWM) methods is justified.

One of the important abiotic stresses is salinity, with adverse effects on yield and product quality. Salinity damages to plants through ionic and osmotic stress are reflected in loss of water content, specific toxicity effect of ions, and disruption in nutrients uptake. Soil salinity can be raised by irrigation, inappropriate drainage, sea advancement to coastal regions and accumulation of salts in desert and semi-desert regions. Salinity is a limiting factor for plant growth because it limits the feeding of the plants by reduction the uptake of P, K, nitrate and Ca and increasing inter-cellular ion concentration and osmotic stress. In addition to its adverse impacts on the yield and yield components of crops, salinity affects most processes involved in the growth and development of the plants too. The present study was conducted in research greenhouse of Department of Agriculture, Birjand University on the basis of a Randomized Complete Block Design with four replications. The soil salinity treatments included five levels of 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 dSm-1. Soil texture was loam-sandy with the pH of 8.09 and EC of 1 dSm-1. The irrigation water was filtered with EC<350 μScm-1. The salinity was applied in accordance with soil saturation moisture percentage and field capacity moisture percentage. NaCl was used as the source of salinity. Irrigation was applied by daily weighing of pots in terms of field capacity moisture percentage. In flowering before yellowing of chickpea pods, number of leaves, leaf area and the concentration of sodium and potassium were measured. After full yellowing of the plants, pod number, grain yield, 100 grain weight and total dry weight per plant was recorded. It was found that salinity level significantly influenced all measured traits. Salinity adversely affected plant height, number of leaves and leaf area, so that the highest level of salinity resulted in 22.4% plant height, 15.8% number of leaves and 58.4% leaf area per plant. The salinity by reducing the water-absorbent, creates an imbalance in nutrient uptake and toxic effects of some ions and causes changes in the metabolism of plants and reduces their growth. Reduction in the number of leaves and leaf area, which in fact have been a reduction in the photosynthesis area can be one of the factors that reduce the dry weight of plants. Under salinity stress, the plants reduce their leaf area to counteract the stress and results in greater thickness of the leaves, the accumulation of more chloroplast per unit leaf area and increase in leaf chlorophyll content. Salinity enhanced the concentration of sodium, reduced concentration of potassium and concentration K:Na in chickpea. It was revealed that the increase in salinity level from 1 to 9 dS m-1 increased the concentration of sodium 76.75% and reduced concentration of potassium to 59.7%. Rising the entry of sodium into plant under salinity conditions cause cytoplasm to be replaced with potassium ions and ion toxicity effect. By increasing the amount of sodium or sodium ratio to potassium in root environment, the concentration of potassium in plant tissues was reduced. Also, the highest salinity levels as compared to control reduced pod number by 33.33%, grain yield by 59.83%, 100 grain weight by 44.44% and by 39.34% total dry weight per plant. Shoot dry weight loss as a result of salinity can be attributed less number of leaves and smaller leaves. One effect of salinity on grain yield is changing 1000-grain weight. Lower 1000-grain weight cane be associated with shorter grain filling period in salinity treatments and also with lower synthesis of assimilates. On the other hand, the change in the pathway of assimilate partitioning to roots for counteracting the salinity can be another reason for lower dry weight of the grains. The effect of different levels of salinity on the measured traits showed that salinity had negative impacts on morphological traits, plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, potassium concentration and concentration ratio of potassium to sodium. Sodium concentration in plants reduced dry matter accumulation in chickpea and grain yield. Application of these levels of salinity indicated that peas are moderately sensitive plants to salinity, particularly salinity stress level of >7 dS m-1.

Pulses are the second important for human diet. Pulses planting in agriculture systems had multiple outputs. In addition to their food importance for human and livestock, these plants play an important role in soil fertility. Growth and yield of French bean are substantially reduced by weed competition for nutrients, water and light. Application of pre emergence herbicides is quite common for weed control and it is often associated with post-emergence herbicide treatments. Alternatively, French bean growers rely on machine hoeing techniques, especially in organic farming systems. These techniques are often expensive, time consuming but they are not often successful or cost effective. The Critical Period of Weed Competition (CPWC) is a key consideration for IWMS programs and for the development of alternative weed management strategies. By definition, the critical period of crop growth cycle is length of time during which weeds must be controlled to prevent the unacceptable yield losses. The results showed that the bean is vulnerable to weeds, and weed control in bean production is the main problems in many countries, including Iran. The objectives of this study were to determine the CPWC in French bean, to gather specific information on the competition effects of weeds to this crop, and to understand the time during which yield-reducing competition occurs. Field experiments were conducted in 2009-2010 at Azad University Shoushtar Branch Agricultural Research Station (32o 15′ N, 48o 28′ E). The soil was as: 42% clay, 51% silt and 7% sand, pH=7.8, total organic matter 0.4%, and a height of 84 meters above sea level. The soil was prepared according to the local practice for French bean production. Primary tillage consisted of spring chisel plugging and it was followed by two harrowing. The trials were preceded by wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). French bean was sown at 40 seeds m-2 with the rows spaced 0.9 m apart and at a depth of 4 cm. A randomized complete block design with 3 replicates was used for all trials. Individual plots consisted of 5 rows of French bean plants, each 4 m long. In order to determine the critical period of weed removal, the duration of tolerated competition (DTC) and weed- free period (WFP) were calculated. In order to determine the DTC, plots were left weedy for 12,24, 36, 48, 60, 72 and 84 days after emergence (DAE) corresponding with 2-6, 6-10, 10-14, 14-18, 18-22 leaves, 50% flowering and 50% pod production respectively and weed free for the rest of the growing period. To determine the WFP, plots were kept weed-free for 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72 and 84 DAE and weedy for the rest of the growing period. The treatments were compared with two control plots kept weed-free and weed-infested throughout the crop cycle, respectively. We used MSTAT-C software to variance analyze of data. In addition, we used Duncan test to compare mean. In this research, among wide leaf weeds Physali divaricat and Amaranthus viridis has the highest density. Narrow leaf weeds included Cyperus rotundus and Echinochloa crus-galli that Cyperus rotundus had the highest number. With prolongation of interference period of weeds the number of weeds primarily showed an increasing trend, and then decreased. In interference treatments the population of broad and narrow leaves reached the highest value i.e. 45 and 49 plant m-2 respectively 48 days after germination of French bean (14-18 leaves stage). After that their population decreased. Finally, their density respectively reached to 26 and 28 plant m-2 at harvest stage (Tables 1 and 2). The impact of interference and interference free treatments on dry weight of broad and narrow leaf weeds was significant (Table 3). With increase of competition period interference length treatments, dry weight of weeds increased such that the highest value of aggregated dry matter in broad leaves in throughout season interference treatment was 426.7 gm-2, and in narrow leaves was related to interference treatment up to 72 days after germination of French bean (50% flowering) that reached 78.3 gm-2. Dry weight of broad leaves in interference treatments was higher than narrow leaves (Table 8). With the closure of crop canopy a significant reduction occurred in density and biomass of narrow-leaf weeds. The results showed that the impact of weed interference and weed free period treatments on the performance of green pod and biological yield of French bean is significant at 1% probability level (Table 4). The comparison of green pod yield means of French bean showed that interference treatments significantly decreased the yield so that the lowest yield of green pod was seen in interference treatment up to 84 days. Its value was 349.8 gm-2 that were located in the same statistical group with complete interference. In weed free period treatments, the highest value of yield was related to control treatment up to 84 days after germination that was 1959.4 gm-2, and was located in the same statistical group with complete weed free treatment. Decreasing trend of pod yield can be attributed to weeds shade, flowers fall due to the presence of competition and more allocation of photosynthesis materials to growth. Therefore, French bean yield was decreased by increasing interference periods of weeds (Table 8). According to our research, the critical period for weeds control in French bean was determined 58 and 72 days after germination for acceptable reduction yield of 5% and 10%, respectively. The results revealed the sensitivity of French bean in competition with weeds. Cultivation of beans requires correct implementation of weeds control operation particularly before planting and germination.

Pulses have an important role in supply of households' protein needs and income resource of farmers in farm level. Also, it has abundant positive services and functions as economic, social, agronomic and environment-ecological and negative externality such as greenhouse gases emissions. This paper tried to estimate the value of Pulses' goods and services (PGS) in agronomic systems in 2014 using benefit transfer methods, data of several local research and selected pulses' data of Iran. Broadly defined, value can be defined as a framework for identifying positive or negative qualities in events, objects, or situations. The total economics value (TEV) of any resource is a sum of two types of values: Use values and Non-use values. In this study, only use values are considered. Economic valuation assumes that these resources somehow impact on the utility or well-being of individuals. A number of methods have been developed to elicit these changes in the utility (or well-being) of individuals. Generally, these are classified into two major groups-Market-based approaches, and Non-market based approaches. One of the conditions of market-based valuation is that the commodity is traded in a working market.
Market Based Valuation: Under market-based valuation, a link between the Pulses' service (goods generated) and society’s preference is developed. If the good is commercial, it is bought and sold through the marketplace. Its level reflects social preference (or value). If market price for a certain Pulses' service in the marketplace exists, the price is directly used to evaluate the value of PGS.
Non-Market Valuation Methods Non-market goods do not have a market price. Majority of PGS are non-market goods, and require a different type of valuation methods. Main methods of non-market valuation are the contingent valuation method, the travel cost method, hedonic pricing, and choice experiments. These methods require data collection, which is both time consuming and resource-rich. If such methods cannot be implemented, the next best alternative is to use the method of benefit transfer.
Benefit Transfer Method When there is no market price for Pulses' goods and service and a primary non-market valuation study is not an option due to time and cost constraints, method of value transfer (VT) or benefit transfer (BT) is considered a key option to estimate the value of such a service.
Value (benefit) transfer is the process by which a value or demand function of a characteristic or a set of environmental characteristics obtained from each valuation method in a location (original location) is used to evaluate environmental goods or services in another location (location transfer). The VT method is widely applied in the economic valuation of non-market environmental goods and services. There is no unanimity in the economic literature for the use of the VT method. Some economists do not consider BT as a methodology, but simply consider as transfer of estimates from one location to other location. Desvousges et al, (1998) believed that transfer studies involve all advanced skills required to the main research. It is recommended that caution must be exercised to ensure the validity of the method. Three principles are suggested: (a) Population of both regions should be similar; (b) Goods or services in both locations should have about the same characteristics; and (c) Initial estimated values should not be old because preferences change over time. This study showed that that value of PGS in acreage unit and macro-level in Iran are 60882.22 thousand rail per hectare and 48704071.12 million rial. Total share of the economic and social goods and services of Pulses is 60.84 percent. Also, the total share of agronomic and environment-ecological services of pulses is 39.16 percent. The value of water saving of rainfed selected Pulses have been computed equal to 797570.02 million rial. Furthermore, total environment cost of N2O and CO2 gases emission of selected Pulses has been estimated equal to 8722.04 million rial. This study showed that Pulses' have high value in agronomic systems of Iran specialy on water saving in rainfed lands. Furthermore, it has several goods and services that has market and non market value. Regard to results, considering of externality of Pulses in agronomic systems of Iran in national policy making especially in research budget allocation has been suggested.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is the third most important food legume. Drought is one of the main constraints restricting the growth and yield of crop plants. Most chickpea producing areas are in the arid and semi-arid zones, and approximately 90% of world’s chickpea is grown under rainfed conditions. The water deficit stress condition decrease chickpea yield and produced biomass. If the drought stress lasts long, the plant will face the oxidative damage inevitably, and can be resulted in producing reactive oxygen species (ROS) which are the result of incomplete reduction of oxygen. It is suggested that antioxidants, like salicylic acid (SA) and ascorbic acid (AA), may enhance drought tolerance in plants. Salicylic acid is one of the antioxidants which prevent the high activity of ROS and is introduced as an important messenger molecule in plant responses to different biotic and abiotic stresses. It is reported that ascorbic acid increases the cell division and causes increasing dry and fresh weight of leaf on plants and also antioxidant decreases the damage from oxygen radicals produced due to drought stress. The purpose of this research was to study the effects of SA and AA foliar application on physiological traits of two chickpea genotypes under different drought stress conditions. In this study the effects of drought stress and foliar application of salicylic acid and ascorbic acid on different characteristics of chickpea including seed yield, seed protein content, leaf relative water content and photosynthetic pigments were investigated in Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Station of Sanandaj. The experimental layout was a split plot factorial as RCBD with four replications. Four levels of water stress were considered arrangement in main plots including: Complete irrigation as control, Drought stress at vegetative stage, Drought stress at reproductive stage, and Drought stress at vegetative and reproductive stages. Combination of chickpea cultivars (ILC482 and local landrace) and ascorbic acid (100 mg/l) and salicylic acid (200 mg/l) were allocated to subplot. All the experimental plots from sowing to branching were fully watered to achieve a proper stand establishment. Foliar spraying of the plants was performed when the fifth lateral branch emerged. Plots were irrigated by a drip irrigation system. Soil moisture content was measured by gravimetric method and thus the volume of water applied to each plot was determined. Transparent plastic covers over the plots were used to avoid the effects of periodic rains and then removed when the rain stopped. Accumulated rainfall and irrigation were determined in four levels of irrigation. The measured data were analyzed statistically by analysis of variance operations using the SAS computer package version 9.1. Means of treatments were compared by Duncan’s multiple range test at the 0.05 level of significance. Results showed that drought stress reduced seed yield, biomass, hundred-seed weight, relative water content, leaf protein content, concentration of chlorophyll a and b, carotenoids and total chlorophyll. The mean seed yield of chickpea under the stress treatments of vegetative, reproductive and continues stress was decreased at the ratios of 53, 63 and 68% respectively as compared with control. In well watered conditions, photosynthesis rate and assimilates production are increased which consequently results in the elevation of seed yield through increasing in seed filling rate and seed weight. Moreover comparison between the recorded yields in vegetative and reproductive stress treatments revealed that the yield reduction in reproductive stress treatment was more pronounced compared to vegetative stress, indicating the vulnerability of chickpea yield to terminal drought stress prevailing and occurring at reproductive stage of chickpea development. Terminal drought stress is considered as a primary constraint to chickpea productivity in countries such as Iran, where the crop is generally sown after the main rainy season and grown on stored soil moisture. The results indicated that ascorbic acid application resulted in the increase of seed yield, chlorophyll a, carotenoids and total chlorophyll. Results also indicated that application of salicylic acid increased the amount of chlorophyll a content. Whereas hundred-seed weight and leaf relative water content were not affected by growth regulator substances. Results showed that drought stress decreased agronomic and physiological characteristics in this study. Generally it was concluded that SA and AA have the potential of diminishing injury effects of drought stress and promoting crop productivity. Results also indicated that application of ascorbic acid and ILC482 cultivar are suitable in climatic conditions of Sanandaj.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important food legume, is presently grown in more than 50 countries and imported by more than 150 countries. It is the second largest grown and produced food legume after dry beans. During 2011, chickpea was grown on 13.2 million ha and about 80% of this area was in south and southeast Asia (India 68%, Pakistan 8.9% and Myanmar 2.3%). The other major chickpea growing countries include Turkey, Australia, Ethiopia, Iran, Mexico, Canada and USA. Weeds are a serious constraint to increased production. Chickpea, however, is a poor competitor with weeds because of slow growth rate and limited leaf area development at early life stages. Weeds compete with chickpea plants for water, nutrients, sunlight and also harbor insect-pests and diseases. If the weeds are not controlled, they can significantly reduce chickpea yield. Significant yield losses (up to 84%) due to weeds have been reported in chickpea, and even more severely (up to 98%) in autumn-sown chickpea. Thus, weed management is crucial in chickpea to realize maximum yields and also to maintain high its quality. Because of the sensitivity of chickpea to herbicides, most effective are the pre-emergence herbicides, and choices for post-emergence herbicides are limited. The pre-emergence herbicides are effective in controlling weeds at early stage of seedling growth, but weeds germinating after crop emergence become dominant in the field and cause substantial yield loses. Therefore, chickpea cultivars with improved herbicide tolerance, which can offer greater flexibility for use of post-emergence herbicides, are required by the farmers. There are few reports on identification of herbicide tolerance in chickpea. However, these reports indicate presence of genotypic variations for herbicide tolerance in chickpea. This study was aimed to identify chickpea cultivars tolerance to pyridate, imazethapyr, foramsulforun and rimsolforun herbicides by screening. In order to study chickpea cultivars toleration against some post-emergence herbicides, a pot experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design in four replications at research greenhouse Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. Factors included herbicides application in 4 levels (foramsulfuron, rimsulfuron, imazethapyr and Pyridate), herbicide dose in 3 levels (100 and 75% of the herbicides recommended dose for weed control with control treatment without of herbicide use) and chickpea cultivars in 5 levels, (Hashem, ILC 482, Kaka, Azad and Arman). Chickpea seeds were prepared from chickpea seed bank of Research Center for Plant Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. Plants were in pots with 14 cm diameter and sprayed at 2nd true leaf of chickpea cultivars. To evaluate the effects of experimental results, survival and dry matter of chickpea cultivars were indicated, 2 and 4 weeks after herbicides spraying. Analysis of variance of data was carried out after their conversion to plant with MSTATC software and for means comparisons LSD (p≤0.05) test was used. Based on the results, chickpea cultivars were not significantly different in terms of dry matter, but they had a different reaction to the herbicides application. It is indicated that foramsulfuron and rimsulfuron had the highest phytotoxicity and negative effects on chickpea; and the lowest negative impact was related to pyridate herbicide application. Also reduced dose of imazethapyr herbicide had no effect on chickpea cultivars. According to the results ILC 482 and Azad chickpea cultivars were the most tolerant and Arman cultivar was the most susceptible cultivars toward mentioned herbicides application, especially pyridate and imazethapyr. According to this study, the effects of pyridate, imazethapyr, rimsulfuron and foramsulfuron herbicides in chickpea cultivars were different. The intensity of phytotoxicity effects of investigated herbicides were ranked as rimsulfuron > foramsulfuron> Imazethapyr> pyridate. So, use of rimsulfuron and foramsulfuron herbicides chickpea not recommended in chickpea weed control. The research findings will increase our awareness regarding chickpea tolerance to the above herbicides and provide guidelines for adjustment for minimizing crop injury.

Faba bean with scientific name Vicia faba L one of the very old legume crops, is widely planted in temperate regions and high altitude tropical regions. Faba bean used in the human diet and also dry beans, green pods and dry straw used as livestock feed. One way to increase the yield in crop plants unlimited growth such as faba bean is top removal or cut off part of the plant after flowering. So in this regard the effect of top removal and variety on yield and yield components, grain filling rate, grain filling period and chlorophyll of Faba bean were studied. A factorial experiment was carried out based on randomized complete block design with three replications at farm research of Gonbad University in crop year 2014-2015. The first factor was included faba bean varieties (Zohreh, Shami, Sheshband, Saraziri and Barekat) and the second factors include top removal and non-top removal. In the experiments, seeds of different cultivars of faba bean were planted by hand in ten rows with four meter long and spacing of 12.5-cm between rows. Phenological stages, including the number of days from planting to poding (R5) and the number of days from planting to physiological maturity (R7) were recorded. Phenological stages on 10 plants were determined based on methods Fehr & Cavieness (1977). Top removal treatment was in stage poding. At harvest, after all plants reached physiological maturity, three m2 of each experimental plot was harvested to determine the yield components, number of pods per m2 and number of grains per pod. In addition, weight of pods, vegetative tissue weight, and seperated leaves from stems with petioles, were measured. Grain yield and weight of thousand grains as dry weight in three m2 of each experimental unit were evaluated. Harvest index was obtained by dividing grain dry weight on the total dry weight at the time of physiological maturity. Grain filling period was calculated from the difference between the number of days from planting to start filling pods and number of days from planting to maturity, respectively. Average of grain filling rate was calculated by dividing the grain yield on the grain filling period (gr/m2/day). Total chlorophyll was measured by using chlorophyll meter device (SPAD) DELTA-T model Results showed that pod length, 100-seed weight and plant height were affected by top removal. While on other traits there was no significant effect. The effect of variety on biomass, chlorophyll, the number of days from planting to filling and the number of days from planting to maturity was not significant but on the other components of the yield (number of branches per plant, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, pod length, 100- seed weight, grain yield and harvest index), rate and grain filling period was significant. While the interaction of top removal and variety was significant on plant height. Top removal reduced the length of the pod and 100-seed weight. The highest 100-seed weight and grain yield for Saraziri variety was 83.23 gr/m2 and 77.65 gr/m2 respectively. While the lowest of 100-seed weight and grain yield belonged to Shami variety with 63.74 gram and 180 gr/m2, respectively. The lowest harvest index with 32.32% and the highest of harvest index with 24.54% were observed in Saraziri and Shami varieties, respectively. The results correlation analysis indicated that positive correlation between seed weight with grain yield (r = 0.64) and the harvest index (r = 0.59) were significant, which shows that these two have an important role on seed weight. Strong positive correlation was observed between grain yield with biological yield and harvest index. Top removal did not have a great impact on study traits because of dry conditions of the farming location. Low rainfall in the time of poding and high temperature during growth season, especially in after poding stage decreased the growth length of Faba bean. Overall, results of this study revealed that according to the condition of Gonbad-Kavoos, Sarazeri, Zohreh and Barekat varieties were more favorable than other varieties.

Red bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) is an important legume cultivated in various areas with different climates worldwide. Bean damping-off, stem and root canker are caused by several fungal pathogens. Soil-borne pathogenic fungi are the most important pathogens in bean plants, which cause destructive diseases. Rhizoctonia solani is one of the most serious causal agents of stem and root canker that is reported in all kinds of beans. The Rhizoctonia species belong to Basidiomycota which are the causal agents of various diseases different monocots and dicots with high yield losses. The isolates of R. solani are classified into 13 anastomosis groups (AGs). The most common AGs of R. solani which infect bean plants are AG-1 IE, AG-1 IF, AG-2-2, AG-2-3, AG-BI, AG-4 and AG-5. In overall, isolates of AG-4 HG-II were more virulent in peas, soybeans and beans compared to other AGs. Knowledge of taxonomic status of Rhizoctonia spp. causing bean diseases in different geographic regions of Iran is still scarce. However, accurate identification of various taxonomic groups in Rhizoctonia spp. populations is necessary for designing effective disease management strategies. So, we identified the accurate taxonomic status of R. solani isolates causing bean diseases. Also, pathogenicity of these fungal isolates was investigated on red bean. Red bean plants with the symptoms of stem and root canker were sampled during growing season of 2014 in the fields of this crop for characterizing various taxonomic groups of pathogenic Rhizoctonia spp. Symptomatic bean tissues were surface-disinfected with 0.5% sodium hypochlorite solution for 2 min and rinsed three times with sterile distilled water. Then, pieces of the stem or root tissues were dried on sterilized filter paper, placed on a potato dextrose agar (PDA) petri dish containing chloramphenicol, and incubated at 28°C in dark conditions. After 2 to 3 days, cultures were examined microscopically for hyphal characteristics typical of Rhizoctonia spp. All plated samples readily yielded Rhizoctonia spp., and a hyphal tip of each isolate was subcultured onto AWA for further purification. Isolates were transferred to PDA test tube slants and maintained at 28°C. Fungal isolates were initially characterized as either binucleate or multinucleate by the trypan blue staining technique. Colonies of Rhizoctonia on PDA, 2 to 3 days old, were stained to determine nuclear number and were examined for the presence of a septal pore (dolipore) apparatus. The width of the main runner hyphae was investigated from the same preparations. Isolates were subcultured onto PDA petri dishes in triplicate, incubated at 28°C for 3 weeks, and compared for colony morphology and the size and shape of moniloid cells and sclerotia. Rhizoctonia spp. isolates were distinguished using specific primers for PCR amplification based on the ITS region of R. solani. PCR-RFLP of rDNA-ITS region was used to determine the taxonomic group of each R. solani isolate. Genomic DNA of the isolates was used for PCR amplification of the ITS region using a pair of primers, RS1 (5′-CCTGTGCACCTGTGAGACAG-3′) and RS4 (5′-TGTCCAAGTCAATGGACTAT-3′). Restriction polymorphisms were detected using two discriminating restriction enzymes, AvaII and HincII. 32 Rhizoctonia isolates were obtained from culturing the infected plant tissues. Identification of these isolates was carried out using morphological and molecular methods. Among 32 isolates, 29 isolates belonged to multinucleate R. solani and 3 were binucleate Rhizoctonia spp. Investigating restrictesd PCR products on agarose gel was performed and anastomosis gropus and subgroups were determined. Among 29 R. solani isolates, 17 isolates were AG4 HG-I and 12 isolates belonged to AG4 HG-II. Pathogenicity testes on red bean cv. Naz revealed that all isolates of R. solani were pathogenic on bean. Lower level of pathogenicity was observed for the binucleate Rhizoctonia isolates on the root and stem of host plant. Similar levels of pathogenicity were observed for the isolates of AG4 HG-I and AG4 HG-II. This is the first report on exact taxonomic status of Rhizoctonia isolates, on the anastomosis groups and subgroups levels, obtained from bean field of Iran. It can be concluded that R. solani AG4 HG-I is the main taxonomic group of Rhizoctonia, causing stem and root canker on bean plants in the regions investigated in this research. Binucleate Rhizoctonia isolates, which were hypovirulent or avirulent on bean plants bight be used in biocontrol assays to investigate their potential for inducing host defense responses against highly pathogenic R. solani isolates.

Mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.)Wilczek] is the most important source of protein in south and southeast Asia. This plant, have the most important sources of protein in arid and semiarid regions and played a major role in the economy of the regions. Seed mung bean has 51% carbohydrate, 26% protein, 10% moisture, 4% mineral and 3% vitamin. This crop can be successfully grown on marginal lands where other crops perform poorly. Legumes, have mainly poor competition against weeds. Yield decrease in crops due to the presence of weed, depending on the area and specific weed species its area. Raman & Krishnamoorthy (2005) reported that mungbean yield decreased in infested treatment to weeds to 35 percent. Optimum plant population density is an important factor to realize the potential yields as it directly affects plant growth and development. The sowing rate of 20 kg h-1 usually recommended for small to medium seed varieties might be too low to obtain optimal yield. Barary et al. (2002) observed the effect of row and plant spacing on seed yield but it was not significant. Among the yield components, number of pods plant-1 and number of grains pod-1 and 1000 seed weight decreased with increasing seed rate. Determining the optimum plant density is very important to obtain maximum quantity and quality of economic yield. Reports show that the suitable density range of mung bean depends on the distance between plants. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of density on the morpho-physiologic traits and seed yield of the mung bean and to determine the optimum planting density on weed management in the Khorramabad. Field experiments were conducted at Lorestan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center, Khorramabad, Iran (48.36° E, 33.48° N, altitude), 1,125 m above the sea level with annual average precipitation and temperature of 471.5 mm and 17.7 C˚, respectively. The fields were in fallow in the preceding year of the experiments. The soil at the test sites were a clay-silt with a pH of 7.7 and organic matter of 1.0% in 2014. Prato cultivar has a 1000-seed weight of approximately 25 g. Layout system was randomized complete block design (RCBD) with factorial arrangements, with 8 treatments in 3 replications. Weed factor with two levels (controlled and uncontrolled) and seed rate per unit area (25, 50, 75 and 100 kg. h-1) equivalent (6, 12, 18 and 24 plant m-2) was calculated for each plot. In this experiment, after sowing mapping, evaluated treatments were randomly assigned to experimental plots and any density considered on the 6 lines with 6 meters length, rows spacing of 60 cm and 5 cm sowing depth. Seeds planting was done by hand in June 12, 2014. Irrigation was done immediately after planting. Due to climatic conditions, farm irrigation was carried out flooding until the end of the growing season (every 10 days). In the plots of interference treatment no operations performed against the weed control. Assessing the density and weeds biomass were randomly at flowering time of crop with samples of the two frame 0.5× 0.5m per plot. Density and dry matter of weeds were counted and measured. At the end of the growing season after physiological maturity with marginal effects deletion (half a meter from the beginning and end of each row) area of 6 m-2 from 4 central rows of each plot was measured to estimate biomass, yield and seed yield by 14% seed moisture. Determining of morphological traits and yield components was selected 10 plants from each plot at final harvest. The traits measured, including biological and seed yield, plant density, pod number per plant, seed number per plant and seed weight per plant. Analysis was done by analysis variance and by using SAS 9.1. For comparing regression coefficient and latitude of origin two treatments consisting weed free and weed infested in level of seed amount was used. The experimental maximum yield (2011 kg. h-1) was achieved for weed control treatment with crop density of 25 kg. h-1, while, the lowest yield (672.7 kg. h-1) was related to weedy plots with crop density of 100 kg. h-1. The study revealed that crop density of 25 kg. h-1 mung bean (Vigna radiate) (equivalent to 60 plant. m-2) is optimum to obtain maximum mung bean yield. Results also indicated mung bean yield increased by 82.7 by weed control, the importance of weed interference in reducing mung bean yield and necessity of weed control to achieve higher yields. Among the yield components, number of pods plant-1 and number of grains pod-1 and 1000 seed weight decreased with increasing seeding rate. It seems that seeding rate of 25 kg.h-1 reduced mung bean density in area unit, and increased weed growth probably due to abundance of resources. However, seed rate of 100 kg. h-1, the Generally, the results of this research showed that selecting mung bean varieties with runner type and optimum density performance used against weeds can increase competitive pressure. Weeds management by weeding out, not only makes more seed yield but also prevented environmental damage and will help environmental sustainability.

Legumes, such as common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) have the ability to form a symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria capable of trapping nitrogen gas (N2) from the atmosphere and converting it into ammonia, which can be used by the plant for growth, development and seed production. The capacity of legumes to fix atmospheric nitrogen gives them an advantage over non-leguminous crops when grown on soils low in nitrogen. In many region of the world where common beans are grown, nitrogen fixation is limited by unfavorable soil conditions, temperature and water stress. Despite the numerous factors that comprise nodulation and nitrogen fixation, legumes generally assimilate 50% to 70% of their nitrogen via symbiotic nitrogen fixation. However, relative to other legumes, the common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) are poor nitrogen fixers. The role of biological fertilizers is important in improvement of organic farming. Rhizobium is an economically and environmentally friendly microorganism that is used as biofertilizer. Because the Markazi province is one of the most important areas for bean cultivation in the country, therefore understanding the appropriate rhizobium strains with white bean varieties recommended for cultivation in the region is important. A field experiment was carried out based on a factorial randomized complete block design with three replications at Khomein Bean Research National Station (Longitude 49° 57' E, Latitude 33° 39' N and the height at the sea level 1930 m) in Markazi Province during 2010-2011. Treatments included as N1 or control (without inoculation and N fertilizer), N2 as = 100 kg N ha-1, and five different rhizobium strains (N3: R134, N4: R156, N5: R116, N6: R133 and N7: R109), and three white bean cultivars (V1: Daneshkadeh, V2: Shokoofa andV3: Dorsa). In bacterial treatments the 20 kg ha-1 N was used as starter. The plant samples were taken in two steps: 1) at the 50% flowering stage, the factors measured included: Shoot dry weight, N concentration and N uptake. 2) At the end of growing season stage the factors measured included: Shoot dry weight, N concentration, N uptake, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, 100-seed weight and seed yield. The results showed that cultivars had significant difference (p<0.01) on 100-seed weight, number of seeds per pod and dry matter weight, and there was significant difference (p<0.05) on number of pods per plant. Rhizobium inoculation and nitrogen levels showed significant differences (p<0.01) on grain nitrogen, dry matter weight, flowering stage nitrogen, flowering stage dry matter weight and straw nitrogen, and there was significant difference (p<0.05) on number of grains per pod. For the interaction between cultivars and rhizobium, there were significant differences (p<0.01) on 100-grain weight, dry matter weight at flowering stage, dry matter weight and straw nitrogen (p<0.05) on number of pods per plant at flowering stage nitrogen. The maximum and the minimum values of 100-grain weight obtained from V3N4 and V1N5 treatments amounts were 32.01 and 26.72 g, respectively. The maximum and the minimum values of pods per plant, obtained from V3N2 and V2N1 treatments counted were 10.7 and 6.6, respectively. The maximum dry matter weight obtained from V2N4 treatment was 209.3 g and the minimum dry matter weight belonged to V2N1 treatments was 97.3 g. The maximum nitrogen concentration gained belonged to V3N4 treatment, with 1.97 percent and the minimum nitrogen concentration belonged to V3N1 treatment, with 1.08 percent at the flowering stage. Among the rhizobium strains, the maximum grain yield and straw yield which were obtained from R156 strain amounted to 3308.3 and 3271.1 kg ha-1, respectively. The maximum amount of grain N concentration (3.09%) obtained from R116 strain. The high amount of grain nitrogen in the inoculated treatments emphasizes the use of rhizobium in the bean planted farms. Based on this study, rhizobium inoculation for new released beans for varieties of climbing bean production are of paramount importance, especially for farmers with limited resource in areas where land is scarce and productivity is low due to nutrients depletion. R156 strains recommended for this climatic conditions, because not only attainment of high grain yield, but also grain nitrogen content is at the upper limit. Thus rhizobium inoculation and supplementation with other nutrients such as phosphorus and potassium have constructive effect in improving photosynthesis, nutrient uptake, nodulation, growth, yield and economic benefits in beans. Also, the use of rhizobium other than nitrogen supply, reduces the activity of pathogens and increases the secretion of growth hormone. Thus, the inoculation with rhizobium for the resource poor farmers to enhance biological nitrogen fixation for small and large scale production of legume is strongly recommended in Iran.

A growing interest in intercropping systems has been initiated in developed countries due to the increasing awareness of environmental degradation arising from the heavy use of non-renewable resources such as water. Cereal-legume intercropping are common in natural ecosystems, but now are rarely used in developed countries, except for certain intercropping systems used for animal feed. A renewed interest in intercropping and particularly in intercropping of cereals with legumes has risen again lately. Intercropping can use the available environmental resources more efficiently and thus result in higher yields than monocropping. The reasons for the higher yield in such systems is that the intercropped species do not compete for exactly the same growth resource niche and thereby tend to use the available resources in a complementary way. Izaurralde et al, (1990) used chickpea intercropped with barley in different planting densities and found that grain, straw, and dry matter yields of the mixtures increased with increasing chickpea planting density. With respect to drought stress in late season of Sothern Iran because of cutting off rainfall in this area, and the importance of intercropping to reach stability and sustainability in production, the aim of this study was to assess the changes in yield and yield components of chickpea and faba bean intercropped with barley under late season drought stress. To evaluate the yield and yield components of intercropping chickpea and faba bean with barley cultivars under different irrigation regimes, a field experiment was conducted at College of Agriculture and Natural Resources of Darab, Shiraz University during 2014 growing season. Treatments were included two levels of irrigation regimes (full irrigation and cutting off irrigation at milk development of barley) and 8 cropping treatments consisted of monoculture of Nimroz tow-rowed barley, Zehak six-rowed barley, pea and faba bean and intercropping of Nimroz+pea, Nimroz+faba bean, Zehak+pea and Zehak+faba bean with a ratio of 1:1 which laid out as split plot arrangement in randomized complete block design with three replicates. At crop maturity, plants were hand harvested to measure yield and biological yield and yield components including number of pods/plant, number of seed/plant, and 100-kernel weight. Also, land equivalent ratio (LER) was calculated. LER is the most popular index for expressing the yield advantage of intercropping systems and defined as the relative land area that is required for monocrops to produce the same yields as intercrops. Finally, analysis of variance (ANOWA) was performed using MSTATC ver. 2.1 software (1991) and the means compared by LSD test at 5% probability level. Analysis of variance showed that main effects of irrigation regime and cropping treatments had significant effect on number of pods/plant in chickpea while these treatments had no significant effect on number of pods/plant of faba bean. Under drought stress, number of seeds/plant, 100-kernel weight, grain yield of pea decreased 40, 16, and 57% while in faba bean decreased 32, 18, and 40%, respectively. Interaction effect of irrigation regime and cropping treatment had significant effect on grain yield and harvest index of chickpea and faba bean while this interaction effect had no significant effect on biological yield of two legumes. In chickpea, the highest biological yield (9916 kg/ha) and grain yield (1630 kg/ha) were obtained in monoculture of chickpea and the highest 100-seed weight (25.5 g) and harvest index (%29.85) were obtained in Nimroz+pea intercropping. Also, in faba bean, the highest biological yield (11960 kg/ha) and grain yield (5175 kg/ha) were observed in monoculture of faba bean. Maximum harvest index (%45.58) was obtained in Zehak+faba bean intercropping. Interaction effect of irrigation regime and cropping treatment had significant effect on LERlegumes and LERtotal. Under drought stress, LER in legumes in all of the intercropping treatments increased from 13 to 80%. Likewise, the highest LERcereals (0.57), LERlegumes (0.83), and LERtotal (1.4) was obtained in Zehak+pea intercropping. It is concluded that intercropping of six-rowed Zehak barley cultivar with pea was advantageous system of each legumes in monoculture especially under drought stress condition because of better land use efficiency than sole cropping and the other mixtures. This intercropping system can be adopted by farmers for maximization of yield especially under late season drought stress in Southern Iran.

Common bean is the most important food legume and is an important source of calories, protein, dietary fiber, and minerals. In addition, common bean provides an essential source of protein for more than 300 million people worldwide. Drought is the major constraint to common bean production, resulting in significant yield reductions of 60% of global bean production areas. In addition, competition among crops for production area in certain regions has resulted in a shift of dry bean production to more marginal zones associated with increased abiotic stresses such as water stress and heat. Robust drought tolerance is conferred by traits that result in stable yield in the presence of water stress, as opposed to mechanisms of escape, such as early maturity. The evaluation and selection for drought tolerance should therefore be focused on the selection of traits that directly affect yield under stress conditions. The objective of this study was recognition of the reaction of bean genotypes and identifies tolerant genotypes to water stress in East Azarbaijan region, Iran. The experiment was carried out during 2011 cropping season in Azarshahr- East Azarbaijan, Iran. The experimental site was located at 1370 m asl and with sandy loam soil receives an annual average rainfall of 300 mm. Plant material consisted of nine genotypes of red, white and wax bean were provided from Khomein national bean research center. Genotypes were evaluated separately in a randomized complete block design under irrigation and water stress conditions. Each genotype was planted on a plot made of five rows of 3 m length with a row-to-row distance of 0.5 m and a plant-to-plant spacing of 5 cm. Irrigations in normal and drought stress conditions were applied after 70 and 100 mm evaporation from class A pan. Days to flowering and to maturity, plant height, shoot diameter, seeds in plant and in pod, pods in plant, 100 seed weight and seed yield traits were recorded. For identifying suitable bean genotypes, multiple drought tolerance and sensitivity indices were calculated. Orthogonal comparisons were used to compare bean genotypes for seed yield based on their colors in normal irrigation and water stress condition. Because irrigation effect was significant in combined analysis, so analysis of variance was performed separately for each set of experiment. Analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences among genotypes in both irrigation conditions for all traits. Water stress led bean genotypes to mature 12 days earlier and the greatest reduction was found 22 days in wax bean genotypes. The plant height reduction under water stress condition in both groups of bean was roughly equal. Orthogonal comparison of bean genotypes for seed yield based on their colors in normal irrigation and water stress condition showed wax bean genotypes were the best in two conditions and had more yield. The results showed that water stress decreased the yield of genotypes up to 47 percent. The response of bean genotypes was different for water stress and lowest and highest yield loss was observed for wax and white beans genotypes, respectively. Correlation coefficients between the normal irrigation and water stress condition were positive and highly significant for seed yield. The presence of strong correlation between yields of water stress and non-stress conditions indicated that genotypes which were performed under non-stress conditions also performed under water stress growing conditions. The results showed suitable bean genotypes can be identified with considering yield of genotypes in both conditions. Drought tolerance indices namely geometric mean (GMP), stress tolerance (STI) and arithmetic mean (MP) were better than others indices for tolerant bean genotype selecting. Drought stress decreased yield and its components in bean genotype, but the reaction of genotypes were different. The findings suggesting that, selection based on the absolute performance of the genotypes across environments is more successful than selecting across the minimum yield decrease under stress with respect to favorable condition. In water stress condition, wax bean genotypes were better than red and white bean genotypes. Between wax bean genotypes, genotypes GO140 was the superior and can be considered as best for similar climate conditions

Weeds have significant negative effects on agricultural ecosystems. They are responsible for the decline of crop yield because of competition with crops for water, nutrients and sunlight. Existing weed control methods are either expensive or hazardous. Heavy use of chemical herbicides in most integrated weed management systems is a major concern since it causes serious threats to the environment, public health and increase cost of crop production. Therefore, alternative strategies against weed must be developed. Allelopathy is defined as the inhibitory/stimulatory effect(s) of one plant on other plants through the release of chemical compounds into the surrounding environment. It is characterized by a reduction in plant emergence or growth, reducing their performance in the association. Allelopathy provides a relatively cheaper and environmental friendly weed control alternative. This can be considered as a possible alternative weed management strategy. A number of plants have also been known to exhibit allelopathic property on other plants. Allelopathy associated with plants due to the presence of allelochemicals such as monoterpences, phenolic and volatile compounds in their foliage. Therefore, the present study was done to develop management practices to reduce the use of agro-chemicals for sustainable agriculture. Therefore, the effects of allelopathic potential of sugar beet and canola on suppression of some weeds of chickpea farm were studied. A field experiment based on a randomized complete block design with four replications was carried out in a naturally weeds infested land to investigate the allelopatic effects of canola (Brassica napus L. var Ocapi) and sugar beet (Beta vulgaris Var Jolge) residues on weeds and yield of chickpea (Cicer arietinum) at research center of Shirvan Agricultural College (37° 23¢ north latitude and 57° 54¢ east longitude and altitude of 1060 meters), North Khorasan Province, Iran. Seven treatments including I: chopped residues of canola (1.5 kg m-2), II: chopped residues of sugar beet (1.5 kg m-2) both were separately incorporated to 25 cm depth soil uniformly 20 days before sowing, III: chopped residues of canola and sugar beet mix together (0.75 kg/m2 each), IV: shoot aqueous extract of canola, V: shoot aqueous extract of sugar beetVI: mixed adequate extract of canola & sugar beet, which were separately sprayed at post emergence stage (at 7, 15 and 30 days after sowing) and VII: without any residues and spraying as control. For preparation of aqueous extract, chopped shade dried residues of canola and sugar beet were separately ground into fine powder (using an electric mill). One hundred g of ground tissue of each of the tested species was placed in a 2 L Erlenmeyer flask and 1 L distilled water was added and left for 48 h at room temperature. The mixtures were then filtered through a double layer of cheese cloth followed by Whatman No.1 filter paper using a vacuum pump. Water extracts were applied between rows at the rate of 100 ml per square meter twice at 7 and 14 days after sowing (DAS) using a knapsack hand-sprayer fitted with a flat fan nozzle maintaining a pressure of 207 kpa. The result of experiment showed that growth traits of weeds and chickpea plant are significantly affedted by treatments. Maximum inhibition on weed density, weed dry weight, weed coverage (%) and the hight of chieckpea plants were recorded when using sugar beet residues incorporated with soil. So weed density, weed dry weight, weed coverage and the height of chickpea plants decreased by 52.4%, 90.15, 52.6% and 25.2%, respectively, compared to control. The highest (329.4 g m-2) and lowest (192.1 g m-2) chickpea dry weight were obtained in shoot aqueous extract of canola and shoot aqueous extract of sugar beet, respectively. The highest harvest index (59.2%) observed in plants treated with sugar beet residues. Some studies reported that allelochemicals like salt and drought stresses exhibited inhibitory effects on physiological processes that translate to growth. The effects of allelopathy on germination and plant growth may occur through a variety of mechanisms including reduced mitotic activity in roots and shoots, suppressed hormone activity, reduced rate of nutrient uptake, inhibited photosynthesis and respiration, inhibited protein formation, decreased permeability of cell membranes and/or inhibition of enzyme action. Weed cover reduction can be closely linked to slower leaf production and development of smaller leaves. It was reported that at stress condition leaf area decreases due to a combination of a decrease in cell number and in cell size. A possible reason for dry matter reduction could be the greater reduction in uptake and utillisation of mineral nutrients by plant under allelochemical stress condition. Hegab et al, (2008) found that higher concentration of allelochemical induced inhibitory effect on amylase activity in wheat seedlings. They also reported the application of allelochemicals at high concentrations decreased protein content of wheat seedlings. The present study concludes that integrating canola and sugar beet residues has the potential to suppress weeds germination and growth. These residues can be used as an eco-friendly approach to manage weeds in chickpea fields.