Agrotechniques in Industrial Crops
Volume:3 Issue: 4, Autumn 2023

Low soil organic matter is a prevalent problem in soils with semi-desert climates, which seems to have effects on the efficiency of the utilized chemical fertilizers. The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate the interaction between farmyard manure (FYM0=0, FYM10=10, and FYM20=20 t ha-1) and nitrogen fertilizer (N0=0, N40= 40 and N80=80 kg ha-1) on growth ad seed production of safflower in the west of Iran. Results showed that the application of nitrogen at all levels of animal manure increased the height of the plant. The effect of using small amounts of nitrogen (40) was more evident in the conditions of application of animal manure. The application of FYM10+N80 increased the number of lateral branches by about 56%. With the increase in nitrogen consumption, the chlorophyll content in the leaves increased linearly. The increasing effect of applying FYM20 on chlorophyll content was similar to the application of 40 kg of nitrogen and improved the chlorophyll content by about 26%. Canopy width increased by 80% with the utilization of FYM20+N80 compared to the control condition (FYM0+N0). Application of FYM10 and FYM20 increased capitulum diameter by canopy by 40% and 54%, respectively. Altogether, the best safflower performance was achieved under the conditions of using FYM20+N80, which improved the yield by 439 kg ha-1 over control. The use of FYM increased the positive effect of nitrogen on leaf chlorophyll, canopy width, and capitulum number and ultimately improved seed yield. Improving soil organic matter is one of the necessities to increase the efficiency of nitrogenous fertilizers in semi-arid areas.

Perennial aromatic crops' production, yield, and quality are significantly impacted by seasonal variations. Cymbopogon martinii (Roxb.) (Poaceae) is a perennial aromatic grass that produces valuable essential oil from the leaves and inflorescence containing high concentrations of geraniol and geranyl acetate. The current study intends to determine how seasonal changes (autumn, winter, and summer) affect the production of geraniol, geraniol acetate, and essential oils from various plant components, (leaves and inflorescence). The field study was conducted at the experimental farm of India's CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants for two years (May 2018 to May 2020). Four varieties viz. cv. Tripta, Trishna, PRC1, and CIMAP Harsh were grown, and harvesting was done in three entirely different seasons, i.e., autumn, winter, and summer, for two consecutive years; thus, a total of six harvests (two in each season) were obtained. The research findings revealed that under the sub-tropical climatic conditions, cv. CIMAP Harsh performs better in yield and productivity with maximum essential oil yield obtained in the summer, followed by autumn. Maximum geraniol (89.9% and 51.26 kg ha-1) and geraniol acetate (3.0% and 1.73 kg ha-1) yields in leaves were reported during the summer season. In contrast, in inflorescence, geraniol (76.8% and 12.77 kg ha-1) yields were recorded maximum during the autumn season, irrespective of variety. In terms of essential oil yield and quality of oil, harvesting during the winter months did not make any significant difference. Nevertheless, it is intriguing to notice that the CIMAP Harsh variety placed top for the traits N2, N3, N5, N6, N7, N8, N13, N15, N21, and N22 and second for N1. In the traits N2 to N8, N13, and N14, Trishna was the variety that placed second. Therefore, it is advised that these two palmarosa cultivars be grown commercially on a wide basis.

Finding the appropriate fertilizer level and the best transplanting dates of yarrow as one of the most important medicinal plants can help farmers achieve better cultivation results. Therefore, this study aimed to determine yarrow optimal transplanting dates and animal manure level and to investigate the effect of these two factors on yield and seed yield components. A split plate experiment was carried out based on a randomized complete block design in three replications during 2021-2022. The experimental treatments consisted of animal manure fertilizer as the main factor (0, 10, 20, 30 ton ha-1) and transplanting dates (April 4, April 24, May 14) as the sub-factor. The studied traits included essential oil content, yield, and seed yield components. The results showed that the application of animal manure has a positive effect on the numbers of inflorescences (0.77 m-2), florets (216.3 m-2), flowering stems (6.3 m-2), seeds per inflorescence (78840 m-2), and thousand seed weight (3.6 g). April 4 was the best transplanting date in terms of the evaluated traits. The highest essential oil yield (2.2 g m-2) was observed for 30 ton ha-1 animal manure treatment on April 4. In general, based on the results of this study, applying 30 ton ha-1 of animal manure and choosing April 4 as the transplanting date can promote essential oil content, yield, and seed yield components. Therefore, it is possible to consider the use of animal manure as an organic fertilizer to improve the yield of medicinal plants, including yarrow.

The success of hybrid breeding programs across the world depends on an understanding of the impacts of gene activity, combining ability, and heterosis on desired characteristics. This project's major goals included the identification of better-inbred lines and hybrids based on combining prowess and heterosis effects in genotypes of super-sweet maize (Zea mays L. Saccharate) and the research of genetic factors and gene activity influencing agronomic attributes. In 2021, three inbred lines (as female parents) were crossed with three testers (as male parents) using the line-to-tester mating design. In a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications in 2022, nine F1 hybrids with six parental lines were assessed for thirteen agronomic variables, including tillering potential (TP), conservable grain yield (CGY), and yield components. The findings showed that for all the attributes under study, the genotype-related mean squares and their distributions to parents crosses, and parents' crosses were significant (P 0.05). Numerous agronomic characteristics, including TP, CGY, plant height, and tassel length, were considerably influenced by additive gene action, while others were influenced by non-additive gene action, according to the ratio of 2GCA / 2SCA and narrow-sense heritability (Hns2). For CGY and TP characteristics, the SSBas-1 and SSChall-5 combination showed positive specific combining ability (SCA) benefits. Most hybrids also showed positive heterosis and SCA effects, which explained the heterosis in the hybrid's performance. The best general combiners for the majority of the analyzed traits were the parents SBas-1 among the lines and Chal-3 among the testers, which might be employed in further research to create high-yielding super-sweet corn hybrids.

Bitter cucumber (Momordica charantia L., fam. Cucurbitaceae) is a good source of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and minerals with the highest nutritional-medicinal value among gourds. The present study aimed at investigating the morphological and biochemical traits of some bitter cucumber genotypes. The results showed that all morphological traits except lobe width, length to lobe width ratio, and number of nodes to the first male flower, photosynthetic pigments of leaf (carotenoids only) and fruit, qualitative traits of fruit (except total acidity), and biochemical traits of leaf or fruit (except phenols) were significantly affected by genotype. The genotype “Bankok orange” had the lowest number of days until the appearance of the first male or female flowers or fruit. The first four components in the principal component analysis showed the total data diversity. The PC1 emphasized on the morphological traits, PC2 the leaf photosynthetic pigments, fruit flavonoids, and fruit dry weight percentage, PC3 on the fruit quality and phenology, and PC4 on the fruit photosynthetic pigments and leaf biochemical traits. Based on the results of traits correlation, internode length on main stem had a high correlation with stem thickness, leaf length, and lobe depth. Fruit weight also had a significant negative correlation with fruit dry weight percentage, leaf chlorophyll-b, total leaf chlorophyll, and fruit flavonoids. The results of genetic estimation of traits showed that fruit length, fruit peduncle length, fruit carotenoids, and leaf phenols had the highest coefficient of phenotypic and genetic changes, respectively, and had the highest diversity compared to the other traits. Also, fruit chlorophyll-b had the highest heritability (99%). Examining the hydroalcoholic extracts of the plant showed that this plant contains significant amounts of phenolics, especially total flavonoids, which confirms its medicinal value. It could be suggested to extract the species phytochemicals and examine their biological and pharmacological properties.

To study the effective morphological and physiological characteristics and the cognition of main factors affecting pollination yield and seed production of phalaenopsis orchid, five varieties and their crossing were studied in a greenhouse of the Agriculture Institute, Research Institute of Zabol on 2019-2022. Eight morphological and physiological characteristics of pollination were evaluated in this research for three years and their grouping was according to a completely randomized design. The results of cluster analysis with the method of UPGMA based on the maximum distance between the clusters, 25 pollination states were divided into two groups. The results of detection of function analysis significantly correlated with cluster analysis. Also, factors analysis showed that two main factors fitted 77.1% of the data variation considered in the breeding of characteristics with the most variations in each factor. Morphological characteristics such as fresh weight of capsule (FWC), capsule volume (CV), and weight of seed in capsule (WSC) had the most positive variations between factors, and physiological traits such as TCS (Time to Capsule formation Sign) and TPS (Time to first Pollination Sign) showed the most negative one. The most amounts of FWC, CV, and WSC characteristics belonged to Nottingham× Nottingham with 9.66 g, 23.5 cm3, and 3.58 g, respectively and in the cross-pollination of Andorra× Nottingham with 8.67 g, 20.8 cm3, and 3.4 g respectively. The results of the factors analysis showed the importance of morphological pollination characteristics (FWC, CV, and WSC) and physiological traits (TPS and TCS) in the indirect selection of desired genotypes for pollination of orchid varieties.