نشریه علوم و فناوری پسته
پیاپی 10 (پاییز و زمستان 1399)

Pistachio trees have different diseases. Some of these diseases are more common and some less well known. In the current study, the successful application of knowledge and experience of farmers for control of pistachio die-back disorder was investigated. The data used is related to 286 pistachio orchards in Anar and Rafsanjan districts that were collected over a 9 year period (2010 to 2018) and in three cross times, years of 2012, 2015 and 2018. To evaluate the effect of different management factors on reducing or increasing the severity of orchard disorder and its effects on the quantity and quality of pistachio crop yield and profit, the methods of correlation coefficient, mean comparison and regression was used. Results showed that the total damage caused by this disorder is 237 million Rials per hectare per year and a 5% increase in closed shell pistachio. Also, 97% of the studied farmers knew pistachio die-back disorder but did not identify the causes. Factors such as high plant density, severe deficit irrigation, deficiency of potassium and manganese nutrients, severe alternate bearing and repeated application of volck oil to meet cold requirements exacerbate the die-back disorder. In contrast, the application of poultry, the use of phosphate and sulopotas fertilizers, and micro nutrients reduce the risk of die-back disorder. Investigating the role of farmers' abilities in controlling pistachio die-back disorder showed that knowledge and understanding of this disorder is not enough. Rather, the other three tools required are good soil and water conditions, knowledge, desire and ability to feed the pistachio orchards and the belief in sustainable orchard management and the long-term goal of maintaining the trees and crop production.

The importance of pistachio production and water resource shortage in Iran reveals the necessity of irrigation system selection, as an important driving-force to upgrade agricultural. Therefore, ranking evaluation of irrigation systems in pistachio orchards is considered as a practical and useful problem in the water and economic fields. In the present study, a multi-criteria decision-making approach as integrated method of grey relational analysis-TOPSIS-Entropy (GRA-TOPSIS-Entropy) was applied for ranking of modern pressurized systems in pistachio orchards. The results of GRA-TOPSIS-Entropy method were compared with ranks of systems from principal component analysis (PCA). For this purpose, 7 surface drip irrigation systems, 4 subsurface drip irrigation systems, and 2 perforated low-pressure PVC pipes systems in the pistachio orchards of Kerman province were assessed and ranked. The evaluation was processed using important quantity and quality variables of leaf area, new branch length, yield, percentage of blank nuts, percentage of split nuts, pistachio ounce, and water use efficiency. The mean ultimate decision index of surface drip irrigation, subsurface drip irrigation, and perforated low-pressure PVC pipes systems using GRA-TOPSIS-Entropy method were equal to 0.57, 0.52, and 0.51, respectively that had not significant difference. The results indicated that surface drip irrigation and perforated low-pressure PVC pipes systems are the optimal systems in the studied area. The results of discrimination degree as an index for investigating stability and reliability of GRA-TOPSIS-Entropy and PCA methods calculated as 1.10 and 1.08 that showed the ranking results are reasonable. Based on the achieved results, the integrated GRA-TOPSIS-Entropy method with strong mathematical and non-linear optimization background can be useful to select appropriate pressurized irrigation systems in pistachio orchards.

One of the important steps in the economic production of fruit trees, especially pistachio is pollination and inoculation. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct experiments to improve the quality and quantity of the fruit. In order to investigate the effects of free and controlled pollination of pollen grains of domestic and Integerrima species on some quantitative and qualitative characteristics of Fandoghi pistachio fruit an experiment was conducted in a factorial arrangement in Completely Randomized Design with three replications in one of Astan Ghods Razavi Pistachio Gardens in Bardaskan City Executed in 2017. Experimental treatments consisted of two methods of injection pollinators and the use of a brush with four flour-pollen combinations with control with three replications. The results of statistical analysis showed that the use of free pollen of domestic species had a significant positive effect on most of the traits compared to other Integerrima pollen treatments. On the other hand, Integerrima pollen showed better results in IF4 treatment (0.50 g of Integerrima pollen + 0.25 g flour) than control and other treatments. Also, the highest reduction of traits was observed in IF1 treatment (2 g of Integerrima pollen + 0.25 g of flour) compared to other treatments in the traits of deformity. In addition, the injection pollinator method showed more favorable effects than the brush pollinator method in most traits except deformed and half kernel traits. Based on the results of the present study, it seems that using IF4 treatment in the injection pollination method can increase some traits such as the final number of fruits, kernel weight and reduce the percentage of fruit drop and indehiscent in pistachio orchards.

Hop stunt viroid (HSVd) infects a large number of woody plants such as grapevine, citrus, plum, peach, fig, mulberry, pear, pistachio, and almond. Kerman province is the most major pistachio‐growing region in Iran. During 2015–2016, pistachio cultivars were surveyed in the province to detect HSVd. A total of 106 asymptomatic and symptomatic leaf samples showing mosaic, yellowing, and chlorosis symptoms were collected from pistachio trees and assayed for the HSVd infection by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, and dot‐blot hybridization. Results showed that four pistachio cultivars (Momtaze, Kalleh‐Ghouchi, Ohadi, Ahmad-aghaei) are infected by HSVd, while no HSVd infection was detected in the Akbari cultivar. In this study, bioassay tests including the mechanical transmission of viroid to pistachio rootstocks were used to evaluate the biological characteristics of Iranian HSVd pistachio variants. The infectivity of one HSVd variant (Ker.Ana.P1) was further verified by mechanical inoculation. The viroid variant was transmitted to two different healthy pistachio rootstocks (Badami, University of California Berkeley I (UCB-1)) using infected sap by three inoculation methods i.e. slashing, rubbing, and RNA injection. Results indicated that all three methods cause infection of the pistachio rootstocks with HSVd. However, the slashing inoculation showed higher transmission efficiency in Badami and UCB-1 at the rate of 86.67 and 80 percent, respectively. According to this study, it seems that HSVd infection is increasing on pistachio trees in Kerman province due to lack of attention to sanitary measures during agricultural operations such as pruning, which leads to transmission of disease agents like viroids.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the morpho-biochemical reactions of pistachio rootstocks and their interspecific hybrids to frost and freezing temperature stress. The experiment was performed as a factorial in a completely randomized design with three replications. The first factor was temperature (4, 0 and -4 °C) and the second factor was rootstock ((pistachio domestic rootstocks (Badami Zarand, Sarakhs and Qazvini), hybrids (Qazvini×Khinjuk, Qazvini× Mutica, Qazvini × Baneh Baghi, Qazvini × Atlantica, Qazvini× Integerrima), non-domesticated species including Atlantica ((Pistacia atlantica, Integerrima, Khinjuk, Sarakhs, Mutica (P. atlantica sub. mutica) and Baneh Baghi (P. mutica × P. vera) and UCB1 hybrid. The results of this study showed that morphological and biochemical indices were statistically significant by the applied treatments. According to the results, with decreasing the temperature to -4 °C, the percentage and severity of damage significantly increased (p <0.01). The evaluation of the damage severity showed that the Mutica, hybrid Qazvini × Mutica, Sarakhs, Qazvini were tolerant to freezing temperature and the highest damage index was observed in UCB1, Integerrima and Khinjuk. Based on the results, the highest percentage of seedling drought damage was observed in UCB1 rootstock and the highest percentage of shoot tip drought was related to Integerrima and Khinjuk rootstock. The highest activity of Ascorbate peroxidase enzyme was in Sarakhs, Qazvini and Mutica rootstocks and the highest activity of Superoxide dismutase enzyme was related to Mutica rootstock and hybrid Qazvini× Mutica. The interaction effect showed that the activity of Catalase, Ascorbate peroxidase, Superoxide dismutase, and Guaiacol peroxidase enzymes in cold-tolerant rootstocks was significantly higher than cold-susceptible rootstocks. The results of cluster diagrams based on the evaluated indices showed that in cold temperature stresses, Mutica, Qazvini × Baneh, Sarakhs, Qazvini, and Qazvini ×Atlantica were in a subgroup which indicated the close proximity can be considered as the tolerant rootstocks to frost and freezing temperature stress in the breeding program.

Nonexchangeable potassium has a critical role in crops nutrition, therefore the study of nonexchangeable release rate in cultivated lands is necessary. Information about release kinetics of nonexchangeable potassium in Kerman province soils is limited. In this research 15 soil samples were collected from Rafsanjan lands under pistachio trees and mineralogical properties and release kinetics of nonexchangeable potassium using successive extraction with 0.01 M CaCl2 were determined. In order to determine correlation coefficient between the constant rate of kinetics equation and potassium concentration in pistachio leaf, leaf samples were collected from studied sites. Results indicated that montmorilonite, illite and chlorite clays are present in studied region and between kinetics equations including zero order, first order, second order, parabolic diffusion, power function(two constant rate) and elovich, according to R2 and SE values, power function model is able to describe nonexchangeable release rate satisfactorily. Constant rate values for this model varied between 57.83- 107.86. Constant rate of studied equations have not significant correlation with the potassium concentration of pistachio trees. It is recommended that release rate of nonexchangeable potassium be studied with other methods and extractants.

Pistachios are grown in hot, dry, and salt-rich area of some regions, such as the Mediterranean, Middle East, and the United States. Pistachio shell is produced in large quantities in most pistachio recording terminals and pistachio processing units in different parts of the Iran, which has no special application. The aim of this study was to create added value for this by-product by producing xylan. Chemical analysis of pistachio shell indicated that this lignocellulosic biomass, along with cellulose, contained 42.2% hemicellulose. Xylan in the pistachio shell was extracted using different levels of 4, 8, 12, and 16% sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide at two temperatures (25 °C/ 16 hours and steam treatment (121 °C, 15 lb/in2, 45 min). Statistical analysis indicated that variant levels of alkali and different temperatures had a significant effect on the true recovery of xylan extraction (p <0.05). The maximum true recovery of xylan extracted from pistachio shell with an average of 20.34 and in fact the relative recovery of 48.4%, belonged to the treatment with sodium hydroxide 16% in combination with steam. The results obtained from high performance liquid chromatography were confirmed by FT-IR, which characterized preliminary structure features of the extracted pistachio shell xylan. The treatment used enabled the recovery of xylan from this hard lignocellulosic biomass that can be used in food and pharmaceutical industries.

Increase of phenolic content is one of the defensive barriers against pathogenic disorders and environmental stresses. In this study the effects of fungal species of arbuscular mycorrhizal species Funneliformis mosseae, Rhizophagus intraradices, Funneliformis caledonius and Tricoderma, Tricoderma harzianum Tricoderma aureoviride on induction of phenolic compounds in pistachio plant Badami Riz Zarand at 0, 36, 72, 132 and 288 hours after nematode inoculation was performed in three replications based on completely randomized design. The results showed that the total phenol content in treated plants had a significant increase compared to the control. Pistachio seedling treated by mycorrhizia at 132 hours and Trichoderma after 72 hours showed slowly increase in at 132 hours post-nematode inoculation and Trichoderma slowly after 72 hours of inoculation, there was a slight increase in phenol content in the presence and absence of the nematode, so that in 288 hours had maximum of increase. Also, the growth factors of leaf number in Mycorrhiza-Trichoderma treatment were equal to 18.53 and 33.33%, respectively, causing an increase in leaf number weight in the presence and absence of nematodes. Also, mycorrhiza treatment compared to healthy control is equal to 24.77% and mycorrhiza-Trichoderma-nematode treatment with 69.19% have the highest number. The studied fungi can be suggested for using in biological control of root-knot nematode.

To study the species composition and the weed distribution of pistachio gardens (Pistacia vera L.) in Semnan province, 45 orchards from three cities of the Semnan province were randomly selected and sampled using 1 × 1 m quadrat according to W pattern. Then the weeds species were identified in each quadrate. We calculated some indices including the species frequency, uniformity of distribution, relative frequency and relative uniformity of distribution for each species. In sum, 90 weed species belonging to 23 families were identified of which dicotyledons with 72 species had more diversity than monocotyledons with 16 species. The results showed that in sum 50%, 4.5% and 45% of the weeds were annual, biennial and perennial respectively. Weeds of hoary cress (Cardaria draba), Saltwort (Salsola kali), fat hen (Chenopodium album), bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon), bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), Syrian mesquite (Prosopis farcta), Russian knapweed (Acroptilon repens) and Camelthorn (Alhagi camelorum) had the highest abundance respectively. In Damghan city, which has the highest level of pistachio orchards in the province, 12 species with a frequency of more than 60% and a uniformity of more than 20%, are the dominant weeds. The most important weeds in pistachio orchards of Damghan city were Fat hen, bermudagrass, hoary cress, saltwort, Syrian mesquite, bindweed, nut grass (Cyperus rotundus), Russian knapweed and common reed (Phragmites australis), respectively.

Root-knot nematode is one of the most important pistachio diseases which which causes huge damage to pistachio trees in recent years. The present study was undertaken to assess the efficacy of arbuscular mycorrhizal species including Funneliformis mosseae, Rhizophagus intraradices, F. caledonius and Tricoderma aureoviride and T. harzianum on growth factors and nutrients uptake in Meliodogyne Javanica inoculated seedling under greenhouse conditions. Overall, mixed inoculations of pistachio seedling with arbuscular mycorrhizal, Tricoderma species and nematorin resulted in the highest amount of shoot fresh and dry weight by 184 and 74.76%, followed by 129.3 and 74 % in mixture including arbuscular mycorrhizal and Trichoderma species, respectively, compared with no-inoculation control seedling. Fresh and dry weight of shoot in inoculations of seedling with mycorrhiza, mycorrhiza-Trichoderma and Trichoderma increased by 129.26, 86.58 and 68.75, 53.12 % compared to no-inoculated seedling, fresh and dry weight of roots in mycorrhiza and mycorrhizal Trichoderma- Trichoderma-nematicide were 153.67, 168.60 and 71.75 and 162.79% higher than those inoculated with M. javanica. The uptake of P, Zn and Cu in inoculated seedling with arbuscular mycorrhizal and Tricoderma species was increased, significantly. Phosphorus and potassium levels in mycorrhiza and mycorrhiza- Trichoderma treatments were increased 101.99% and 103.62%, respectively, in the presence of M. javanica compared to no-inoculated seedling. Based on the improvement of growth parameters, nutrients uptake, biocontrol capability, arbuscular mycorrhizal and Trichoderma species may be useful strategy to reduce the damage of root knot nematode, which required further research.

Today, paying attention to environmental indicators is considered as one of the most important approaches to agricultural production. For this purpose, it is necessary to identify and prioritize, measure the effect, the intensity of sensitivity of environmental indicators to changes in chemical inputs over time. The aim of this study is to identify and prioritize chemical inputs on environmental indicators of pistachio in Kerman province. The statistical population of the study included veteran experts of agricultural jihad in Kerman province. The sample consisted of 50 specialists who were purposefully selected. To prioritize the environmental indicators of chemical inputs used in pistachio orchards, the fuzzy hierarchical analysis process method (Chang method) was used. Findings of the study showed that soil contamination due to the use of chemical inputs has the highest priority. Water pollution caused by chemical inputs is in the second place. Air pollution caused by the use of chemical inputs is in the third degree. Exports of chemical inputs and risk aversion in the use of chemical fertilizers are the last ranking. It can be suggested that the use of organic fertilizers along with biological and natural methods of pest control in pistachio orchards can be alternative options related to environmental pollution.

Rafsanjan, as one of the main areas for pistachio production, which is one of Iran's export products, has faced major environmental problems in recent years, including drought and climate change. Therefore, it is very important to pay attention to the resilience behavior of pistachio growers against the adverse effects of climate change. The present study analyzed the factors affecting the resilience of Rafsanjan pistachio growers against climate change. The statistical population included all pistachio growers in rural areas of Rafsanjan (22721 people) of which 340 people were selected as sample using the size determination method in correlational studies. The data collection tool was a questionnaire that was validated by a group of experts and its reliability was determined by internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha method. For investigating the factors affecting the resilient behavior of growers in the face of climate change, path analysis was used. Data processing was also performed using SPSS ver25 software. The results indicated that the resilient behavior of the studied gardeners in the face of climate change is moderate. The results of path analysis showed that the variables of attitude with a total effect of 0.433, control of perceived behavior with a total effect of 0.426, social norms with a total effect of 0.399 and behavioral intention with a total effect of 0.387, respectively, had the greatest impact on gardeners' resilient behavior against climate change. Hence, by diversifying the skills and employment of gardeners, providing suitable agricultural infrastructure, increasing the financial support, information, the public participation, and social cohesion of society, the status of resilient behavior of gardeners would be improved.