AGROECOLOGY (بوم شناسی کشاورزی)
Year:2016 | Volume:8 | Issue:2|Papers Count:8

Introduction During the last decades interest in organic production of seed specially for medicinal plants take into consideration because of higher quality of organic products (Hermes, 2010). Seed germination is one of the principal stages in the plant life cycle and seeds with higher quality and vigour resulted in more pronounced seedlings growth and development. Therefore, investigation of agronomic practices specially nutrient management in the field is important because of its effective role in the promotion of plant growth, yield and consequently seeds with good quality criteria.Materials and methods In order to investigate seed quantitative and qualitative criteria of black cumin (Nigella sativa L.), isabgol (Plantago ovate Forsk.) and fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) under application of organic fertilizers including cow manure, spent mushroom compost, municipal waste compost and control, an experiment was conducted in a complete randomized block design with three replications at Agricultural Research Station of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, during two growing season of 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. Consequently, their seed quality criteria were evaluated in a factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with three replications in Laboratory of Seed Technology at College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran. Criteria such as biological and seed yield, harvest index, 1000- seed weight, length, width and diameter of seed, seed germination percentage and rate, seed vigour index, length and weight of seedling were investigated.Results and discussion Results indicated that organic fertilizers caused a significant increase in seed yield and biological yield in which spent mushroom compost had the highest effect on mentioned criteria compared to control in both years of experiment. Harvest index was not affected by fertilizers in isabgol and black cumin in both years while showing a significant effect in fennel. Application of spent mushroom composts in the first year of experiment and municipal waste compost in the second year of the experiment affected 1000- seed weight of isabgol and black cumin, respectively. Also, seed germination percentage and rate, seedling length and weight and seed vigour index were affected by organic fertilizers in three studied species, in which cow manure performed better and caused the highest amount of seed criteria compared to control. Based on the results, application of cow manure, spent mushroom compost and municipal waste compost resulted in an increase of 43.75, 26.62 and 10.3 % in seed vigour index in comparison with control, respectively. Non-application of organic fertilizers caused 23.5, 17.66 and 8.48% reduction of mean seedling length compared to using cow manure, spent mushroom compost and municipal waste compost, respectively. Also, seedling dry weight had a similar trend like seedling length. Interaction effect of species and organic inputs affected seed length significantly, in which, spent mushroom compost caused the highest amount of seed length in studied species. Fennel seeds by using spentmushroom compost showed the highest seed length (6.19 mm) among different studied species and organic inputs. It seems black cumin, isabgol and fennel under organic nutrition showed more pronounce growth and yield in which resulted in production of seeds with higher vigour and germination criteria. Probably adequate balance of nutrients in seeds caused better growth of seedlings and consequently increased their length and dry weight compared to non application of organic fertilizers.Conclusion In general, the results of this experiment revealed that application of organic fertilizers such as cow manure, spent mushroom compost, municipal waste compost promoted both yield and seed quality characteristics of three studied species, black cumin, isabgol and fennel, which seems a promising result in production of organic medicinal plants.Acknowledgments This project was supported by the fund provided by the vice chancellor for research and technology of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad for which the authorsare thankful.

Introduction: Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is cultivated on alarge scale in arid and semiarid environments. Terminal drought and heat stress, among other abiotic and biotic stresses, are the major constraints of yield in most regions of chickpea production. The study of the effects of climate change could help to develop adaptation strategies to promote and stabilize crop yield. This research was aimed to assess adoption strategies in rainfed chickpea in response to Zanjan province’s climate change using a crop simulation model along with providing simulated yield maps using geographical information system (GIS).Materials and methods To study the effects of climate change and simulation the adaptation strategies, the model of Soltani and Sinclair (Soltani & Sinclair, 2011) was used. This model simulates phenological development, leaf development and senescence, mass partitioning, plant nitrogen balance, yield formation and soil water balance. For each location, a baseline period of daily weather data was available (Table 1). Investigated scenarios were historical climate (control) and future climate scenarios that included both direct effects of doubling CO2 (350 to 700 ppm) and its indirect effects (10% reduced rainfall, 4ºC increase in temperature). The crop model was performed for the different years of baseline period for current and future climate under typical management and cultivar and also under three adaptation strategies in the future climate including Management adaptation (M), Genetic adaptation (G) and a combination of both Management and Genetic adaptation (M & G) as described below (Table 2): Management – In various studies changing the planting dates as the simplest and least-cost adaptation strategy has been emphasized (Luo et al., 2009); hence a shift in planting dates i.e. sowing 15 days in advance was explored in this study to reduce the risk of the late season drought.Genetics-Changes in genotype have been suggested to be the most promising adaptation option in the world. Earlier maturity cultivars may be needed to match future drier conditions. Thus alternative genotype was a cultivar with 20% lesser of the required biological day from emergence to flowering.M & G-The third adaptation practice was an attempt to combine both earliness and early sowing date (15 days).A randomized complete-block design was used for data analysis in which climate condition with considered treatment and years was considered as blocks. When it was necessary, mean comparison was done using a Least Significant Difference (LSD) procedure at 5% level.Results and discussion The results showed that in future climatic change, mean yield for Zanjan province will reach to 1036 kg.ha-1 with 38.4% increasing which was statistically different compared to current situation (760 kg.ha-1). The possibilities for gathering more benefits of grain yield were tested by changing traditional management and genetics of the locations in the future climate which involved three management options as adaptation strategies (Earlier Sowing, Earlier maturity Cultivars and combination of these two options). Applying earlier sowing date in comparison with conventional sowing date, increased mean yield by 67.7% (1268 kg.ha-1). In addition, applied earlier maturity cultivar led to 1212 kg.ha-1 (63.9% increase in comparison with current cultivar). Resultsrevealed that using earlier maturity cultivars in combination with earlier sowing date will increase mean yield up to 1452 kg.ha-1 (94.5% increase), whichwasthe consequence of a shift in growing season to a wetter part of the year and reduced the risk of late season drought stress. Furthermore, breeding for earliness by reducing the vegetative period would save more water to be used for grain filling. Under these circumstances, according to decreased environmental risks, yield sustainability will increase up to 28.4%.Conclusion The Results of this study can also be extended to water-limited regions of chickpea producing with similar climatic and edaphic conditions. New varieties should be released with shorter growth periods than current ones and their sowing dates must be advanced if possible. Other management practices such as conservation tillage or keeping residue on the soil surface in order to save and increase soil water content were not included in this study which is suggested to evaluate the effects of these factors on the yield of crops in the future climate change studies.

Introduction Growth analysis has been widely used in breeding programs to identify the important plant developmental phases and components related to higher yield under a particular set of environmental conditions. Castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) is an important commercial crop. Castor oil based by products is used in manufacturing of several commercially important commodities like surfactants, coatings, greases, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, polyesters, polymers, etc. Interference (Interactive effects among species on inter-species populations) is one of the main issues on the eco-physiology of plant populations where weeds impose negative effects by approaching the plant to compete in light, water and nutrient elements availability and results in reduced growth and yield (Shinggu et al., 2011). Growth indices are useful for interpreting plant reactions to the crop and weed density.Various reasons have been attributed for the low productivity among the most important is weed competition (Radosevich, 1987). The aim of the present experiment was evaluating the interference effects of redroot pigweed on growth indices of castor bean in northwest of Iran.Materials and methods This experiment was conducted in Urmia, Iran (Agricultural Research of West Azarbayjan, Saatlo Station (37°44´18״ N Latitude and 45o 10´ 53 ״ E Longitude, at 1338 m above sea level)) in 2012. The soil of the experimental field was sandy - loam, with pH of 7.2. Competitive pattern of experiment was in two-factor based on a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications arranged in four castor plant densities (3, 4, 5 and 6 plants.m-2) and four redroot pigweed densities (0, 5, 10 and 15 plants.m-2). Redroot pigweed and castor seeds were simultaneously directly planted on the 22th May in 2012. Redroot pigweed plants were weeded at the times related to the treatments level. Irrigation and intercultural operations were performed whenever necessary. Plots were 3m x 5m with 60 cm between rows. Seven times during plant growth stage castor plants were harvested from each plot considering marginal effects. The plants were transferred to the laboratory for evaluating of dry matter. Excel (Microsoft Office, 2007) was used for drawing of diagrams.Results and discussion The results showed that the highest dry matter (DM), leaf area index (LAI), crop growth rate (CGR) and relative growth rate (RGR) of castor were observed in pure stands of castor. Among pure stands, the highest and the lowest DM and CGR were achieved in castor densities of 5 and 3 plants.m-2, respectively. The highest (4.06) and lowest (0.90) of castor LAI were observed in 6 plants.m-2 of castor density and 3 plants.m-2 of castor with 15 plants.m-2 of pigweed at 1046 GDDs, respectively. The Maximum (0.317 g.m-2.g.d.d-1) and minimum (0.114 g.m-2. g.d.d-1) of crop growth rate for castor plants were achieved at the same GDDs in 5 plants.m-2 of castor, and 3 plants.m-2 of castor with 15 plants.m-2 of pigweed, respectively. These parameters were decreased by increasing pigweed densities. Therefore, it can be concluded that DM and CGR are decreased, due to increasing pigweed density; these parameters are slightly affected by castor density. Measurement results of pigweed characteristics indicated reduction in LAI, DM, Weed Rate Growth (WRG) and RGR of pigweed in presence of castor bean.Increasing in castor density caused a greater reduction in the mentioned characteristics whereas in the highest density of pigweed (15 plants.m-2), increasing in castor density caused 44, 40 and 134 % decrease in LAI, DM, WRG, respectively.Conclusion The results of this study showed that increasing plant density to 6 plant.m-2 increased LAI, DM, CGR and RGR. Therefore, it (6 plants.m-2 of Castor bean density) can be recommended for reducing redroot pigweed damage in Castor bean field.Acknowledgments The authors acknowledge the financial support of the project byVice President for Research and Technology, Urmia University, and West Azarbaijan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center, Iran.

Introduction Kermanshah province, Iran, comprises an area, of 24640 km2 and is located between 33o37′-35o17′N and45°20′-48°1′E. The average annual precipitation is 450 mm. Most of the fields surveyed in this study lie between 542 and 1554 m a.s.l. Among the factors decreasing the wheat yields, weeds have an important role. The results of some researches show that the weeds flora depends on climatic conditions, temperature and amount of rainfall in spring and in summer. Environmental factor splay a key role in the weed cover. These differences affected by climatic conditions, latitude and longitude. Multivariate statistical methods that have been addressed in this study area powerful tool to study the relationship between environmental factors and ecological weed community composition (Hassannejad & Pourhaydar Ghafarbi, 2013; Lososova et al., 2004). Correlation and regression of data floristic and environmental factors were used in the CCA (Canonical Correspondence Analysis) technique (Legendre & Legendre, 1998).Materials and methods A survey was conducted to study the effects of soil and climatic factors on distribution of weeds in 85 irrigated wheat fields in 11 counties based on its area under irrigated wheat. An Experiment was conducted in Kermanshah province during 2011-2012. After choosing the field to be surveyed, the surveyor followed a “w”-designated set pattern to enumerate the weeds in each type of field. The pattern and number of 0.25 m2 quadrats varied according to the size of the fields. The field surveys were made during the wheat tillering to stem elongation stages. Frequency, density and mean density index of species in each county were calculated. After weed species were collected in the fields, we arranged the samples into the first matrix where weed species are represented by columns and fields of different districts by rows. Also, in the second matrix, environmental factors are represented by columns and fields of different districts by rows. Data on weed communities and environmental factors of all districts were analyzed through with ordination methods like canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) and weed species distribution and environmental factors displayed in ordination diagrams. These ordination methods were done with mean density of 29 abundant weed species for CCA using CANOCO (Version 4.5). Ordination plots were produced for both sampling sites and weed species associated with environmental factors. For CCA, we used site elevation, humidity for 10 years period, daily raining for a 10 years period. Soil characteristic included calcium, phosphor, potassium, nitrogen, sodium, magnesium, pH were determined. Sand, clay and silt in soils were measured and elevation of each field was gained by GPS.Results and discussion 162 weed species belonging to 33 plant families were identified in these fields. Multivariate analyses with canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that changes in the weed species distribution were due to soil characters (pH, Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Nitrogen, Sodium, Potassium, silt percent, clay and loam in soil tissue, cation exchange capacity, EC) and environmental conditions during former years. The first and second RDA axes described 64% of variations in the weed populations affected by climatic factors. Winter wild oat (Avena ludoviciana L.), ryegrass (Lolium rigidum Gaud.), wild mustard (Sinapis arvensis L.) and canary seed(Phalaris brachystacys Link.) in areas of high temperature and low altitude, had a wide distribution. High evaporation increased wild barely (Hordeum spontaneum C. Koch.), Corn cleavers (Galium tricornutum Dandy.) and Vetch (Vicia assyriaca Boiss.) density during last decade. Where the soil nitrogen and phosphorus rates were high, Wild barely (Hordeum spontaneum C. Koch.) density was found frequently in wheat fields of Kermanshah. In the wheat fields of Kermanshah, Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis L.) and wild safflower (Carthamus oxyacantha M. B.) were more abundant in clay soils. High Corn cleaver (Galium tricornutum Dandy.) density was found in alkaloid and sandy soils.Conclusion Generally predict that if the temperature rise over the next few years, weed density and abundance of wild oat, ryegrass and wild mustard will be increased in irrigated wheat fields.Acknowledgments The authors acknowledge the financial support of the project by agricultural Research education and extension organization and College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Tehran University.

Introduction Agricultural biodiversity has spatial, temporal and scale dimensions especially at agro-ecosystem levels.These agro-ecosystems that are used for agriculture are determined by three sets of factors: the genetic resources (biodiversity), the physical environment and the human management practices. Most agricultural areas can be returned to their natural landscape after subsequent generations. Studies on spatial patterns of species diversity are fundamental to biological conservation. Agricultural biodiversity is essential to satisfy basic human needs for food and livelihood security and it is active lymanaged by farmers and many components need human interference (Maguran, 1996).FAO estimates that 75% of crop varieties have been lost during the last 100 years. One third of the 6.500 domestic livestock races are endangered. The genetic erosion of crops and livestocks threatens food security.Plant diversity of usually evaluated by many indexes of which Shannon index is the most important ones.This index in agroecosystem rarely exists. Koocheki et al. (2004) and Nassiri Mahallati et al. (2005) in comprehensive surveys evaluated agrobiodiversity of agricultural systems at species variety and cropping systems for Iran and they found that the diversity at all levels have been declining due to introduction of new agricultural technology. In consideration to the lack of studies, this study was conducted in order to evaluate the biodiversity of agronomical and horticultural productions in Isfahan province and to assess relation of biodiversity and climate.Materials and methods This study was performed for Isfahan province in 2014. For this purpose, 24 regions of the province were selected. Planting area, species richness, species evenness and alpha and beta diversity of different agronomical and horticultural productions were determined. The information about agronomical and horticultural planting area for different regions of Isfahan was gathered. Agronomical crops were classified to seven groups; cereal, pulses, vegetable, forage, industrial crops and medicinal plants and horticultural plant classified into 2 groups; temperate and tropical fruits. The Shannon index was calculated based on the cultivated area as equation 1. For determination of distribution condition of the crops we used from evenness index. Alpha and beta diversity was calculated by spices richness- area equation for different climate of province.Results and discussion The result showed that tropical fruits (76.2%) and cereal (59.36%) showed the highest planting area and medicinal plants (1.09%) were included the lowest planting area in Isfahan province. Semirom and Borkharomeymeh regions had the highest and lowest horticultural planting area, respectively. The highest planting area of agronomical products was observed in Isfahan and the lowest amount of the trait was gained in Khorobiabanak. The highest species richness in horticultural plants was in Kashan, Lenjan and Natanz (17 species) regions and the lowest was obtained in Aranobidgol (with three species) regions, respectively. This condition was in line with climate of the regions. Ardestan and Isfahan regions were contained the highest (29 species) and Khorobiabanak had the lowest (11 species) species richness of agronomical plants. The highest and lowest species evenness of horticultural productions was gained in Isfahan (0.83) and Semirom (0.192), respectively. Felavarjan, Khomeinishahr, Kashan, Nain and Najafabad regions had the highest and Isfahan region was contained the lowest species evenness of agronomical productions. Many study demonstrated that there is a positive and high correlation between species evenness and diversity. This condition was true for our study. The forage and vine crop showed the highest (0.929) and lowest (0.442) Shannon indices, respectively.The lowest and highest alpha diversity were observed in moderate and desert-hot climates, respectively. It because that the planted crop in moderate climate was higher than desert-hot climate. Desert-moderate climate was obtained the highest beta diversity.Conclusion The results showed that tropical fruits and cereal were content the main planting area and medicinal plants were included the lowest planting area of Isfahan. The highest species richness in horticultural plants was in Kashan, Lenjan and Natanz regions. Ardestan and Isfahan regions were contained the highest and Khorobiabanak had the lowest species richness of agronomical plants. The highest and lowest species evenness of horticultural productions was gained in Isfahan and Semirom, respectively. The lowest and highest alpha diversity was observed in moderate and desert-hot climates, respectively. Desert-moderate climate was obtained the highest beta diversity.

Introduction Weeds are main factors reducing crops yield, especially under organic farming conditions (). It has been reported that weed populations are more in organic farming compared to conventional cropping systems, resulting in more reduction of growth and yield. Although the chemical control is a fast and effective way for controlling weed populations, some negative impacts of the recent weed management on public health and the natural environment, increased the concerns of using weed chemical compositions. Thus, non-chemical weed control is in high importance. Intercropping, an agronomical operation in which two or more crops are grown simultaneously in the same field, is one of the most important methods for increasing biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems (Amosse et al., 2013; Rostami et al., 2009; Yuan-Quan et al., 2012). Therefore, the current research was aimed to evaluate the possible non chemical controlling of weeds in a maize-cowpea intercropping system.Materials and methods A field experiment was conducted in the north of Khuzestan during the growing season 2013-2014. The experiment was based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. Maize and cowpea were planted in two sole crop systems and four intercropping systems based on an additive series, including T1: 100 percent maize+25 percent cowpea, T2: 100 percent maize+50 percent cowpea, T3: 100 percent maize+75 percent cowpea and T4: 100 percent maize+100 percent cowpea. No chemical materials (fertilizer and pesticide) were used during growing season. Environmental usage by intercropping patterns was evaluated by measuring photosynthetically active radiations (PAR) (mean of five points in each plot, selected randomly) and soil moisture content at three stages. At harvest time, all plants of each plot were harvested and grouped and weighed according to their species type. Complementary effect of intercropping in using environmental resources was calculated using relative yield total (RYT) index. Weed smothering efficiency (WSE) was used to evaluate the effect of intercropping on reducing weeds the dry weight.Results and discussion Results indicated that soil moisture content, PAR interception and soil temperature were affected by cropping patterns. The lowest and highest values of soil temperatures were observed in intercropping and sole crop systems, respectively. Intercropping systems exploited soil water more than sole crops. PAR interception was higher in intercropping compared to sole cropping. However, sole cowpea showed lower PAR interception compared to maize sole crop. Relative yield total (RYT) index was more than unity in all intercropping systems.Weed smothering efficiency (WSE) showed that dry weight of weeds was reduced by 21-26 and 28-42 percentages in intercropping systems compared to sole maize and sole cowpea cropping systems, respectively.The growth of weeds (in terms of total dry weight) in intercropping systems were reduced in which from five recorded weed species, the dry weight of them, including amaranth (Amaranthus retondus L.), pigweed (Echinocloa cruss-gali L.), purslane (Portulaca oleraceae L.) and Halikakabon (Solanum nigrum L.) decreased in intercropping compared to sole cropping systems. Intercropping components showed a complementary relation in consuming environmental resources including soil moisture and PAR. Since the soil temperature was lower in intercropping compared to sole cropping, lower soil moisture in intercropping cannot be resulted from higher evaporation in intercropping, but also the widespread root system in intercropping resulted in higher efficiency in soil moisture consuming. Relative yield total more than unity, showing the advantages ofintercropping in environmental resources consumption. Soil covering and higher biodiversity are two main factors reducing weeds growth in intercropping because the two recent factors lower PAR availability for weeds which can reduce weed. The current research, taller maize absorbed incoming PAR and shorter cowpea intercepted PAR at ground surface, resulting in lower PAR for weeds. Higher plant populations in intercropping have been reported as a main factor for reducing environmental resources availability for weeds reducing their growth.Conclusion The Relative yield total was more than unity, indicating the complementarity of maize and cowpea in intercropping systems for environmental resources consumption which was resulted in lower weeds growth.Thus, intercropping can be used as a non-chemical method for weeds control.

Introduction Dragonhead (Dracocephalum moldavica L.) is an annual herbaceous aromatic plant and belongs to Lamiaceae family. It is native to south of Siberia and Himalayan hillsides. The essential oil content shows great variation due to plant origin. The main constituents of dragonhead essential oil have been reported as geranial, geranyl acetate, neral and geraniol. Using organic manures and biofertilizers such as vermicompost and nitrogen fixing bacteria contain azotobacter and azospirillum has led to a decrease in the application of chemical fertilizers and has provided high quality agricultural products. Several studies have shown that organic and biofertilizers application such as vermicompost and Nitroxin can increase quantity and quality of essential oil of medicinal plants of dragonhead, anise and thyme (Darzi et al., 2013; Mafakheri et al., 2012; Mohammadpour Vashvaei et al., 2015). Therefore, the main objective of the present field experiment was to investigate the effects of vermicompst and Nitroxin biofertilizer on quantity and quality of essential oil of dragonhead.Materials and methods An experiment was conducted as afactorial experiment in the base of randomized complete blocks design with six treatments and three replications at research field of Agriculture Company of Ran in Firouzkuh of Iran in 2013. The factors were Vermicompost in three levels (0, 5 and 10 t.ha-1) and Nitroxinbiofertilizer (inoculated seeds and non-inoculated). Inoculation was carried out by immersing the dragonhead seeds in the cells suspension of 108 CFU/ml for 15 min. The required quantities of vermicompost were applied and incorporated to the top 5 cm layer of soil in the experimental beds before planting of dragonhead seeds. Each experimental plot was 3 m long and 2.28 m wide with the spacing of 10 cm between the plants and 38 cm between the rows. There was a space of one meter between the plots and 2 meters between replications. In this study, quantitative and qualitative traits of dragonhead essential oil content, granial percent, granyl acetate percent, neral percent, graniol percent and neryl acetate percent in essential oil were evaluated. For determine the essential oil content (%), about 100 g dried herb of dragonhead (dried in shadow) as sample from the each plot were selected and then were subjected to hydro-distillation (Clevenger type apparatus) for 2 till 3 hours. For identifying the essential oil components, essential oil fraction was collected and subjected to GC and GC/MS (gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry) analysis. Analysis of variance by using SAS software and mean comparisons by Duncan’s multiple range test (at the 5% probability level) was done.Results and discussion The present resultsshow that the highest essential oil content in applying 5 t.ha-1 vermicompost and the maximum geranyl acetate in essential oil in applying 10 t.ha-1 vermicompost were obtained. Nitroxin biofertilizer showed significant effects on geranyl acetate in essential oil only, as the highest geranyl acetate were obtained by using the Nitroxin (inoculated seeds). Also, the intractions effect of factors on essential oil content, geranyl acetate, graniol and neryl acetate in essential oil were significant, as the highest essential oil content and neryl acetate percent at treatment of 5 t.ha-1 vermicompost and without application of Nitroxin and the maximum geranyl acetate and the lowest geraniol in essential oil at treatment of 10 t.ha-1 vermicompost and application of Nitroxin were obtained. According to the results of this study, the maximum essential oil quantity at treatment of 5 t.ha-1 vermicompost and without application of Nitroxin and the highest essential oil quality at treatment of 10 t.ha-1 vermicompost and application of Nitroxin were obtained.Conclusion Vermicompost application positively influenced on quantity and quality of essential oil dragonhead, as the highest essential oil content in treatment of application of 5 t.ha-1 vermicompost and the highest essential oil quality in treatment of integrated application of 10 t.ha-1 vermicompost and Nitroxin were obtained. On the base of research results, organic and bio-fertilizers application such as vermicompost and Nitroxin in a sustainable agriculture system can be caused in improvement of qualitative characters of dragonhead.

Introduction: Energy is one of the most important commodities that make up a large proportion of international trade.Among all the countries in the world, Iran is known as semi-industrial developing country which is rich in energy such as non-renewable energy in particular fossil fuel. Use of energy affects the environment in various forms of pollution. In the agricultural sector, the FAO report states that livestock production has a major contribution to the world’s environmental problem (Sutton et al., 2011).Materials and methods This study analyzes energy flow and greenhouse gas emission in conventional dairy farms in Mazandaran province. The required data for this study was collected by conducting interviews and filling up questionnaires from 26 cattlemen. From the questionnaires, information on five inputs such as labor, livestock feeding, diesel fuel, electricity and technical equipment and machines as well as milk product for 159 dairy cattle was collected.Finally, energy productivity, efficiency and emissions of greenhouse gases were calculated for Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxid (N2O) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2).Results and discussion The results indicated that total energy which has been used to produce one liter of milk was 27.745 Mega Jul.Livestock feeding and fuel were energy inputs that has been extensively consumed. In this relation, 47.4% and 28.5% of the total energy consumption were drawn from the livestock feeding and fuel, respectively. In the study conducted by Sainz (2003), livestock feeding with 70% of the total energy consumption was also found as the largest input in terms of consuming energy. Technical equipment with 22.8% of the total energy consumption was found the third place. A low proportion (0.8%) of the total energy consumption was drawn from labor.Electric power with 0.5% of the total energy consumption was placed at the last. Energy efficiency was measured at 0.257. The proportion of renewable and non-renewable energy in one-litter milk production was measured by 48.2% and 51.8%, respectively. The total greenhouse gas emitted toproduceone litter of milk is equal to 0.622 kg of carbon dioxide that is higher than the amount of carbon dioxide generated from dairy farms in the United States (Sainz, 2003), but lower than the amount produced by dairy farms in Portugal (Castanheira et al., 2010). For the European countries, the average of greenhouse gas emission generated from dairy farms was calculated about 0.45 carbon dioxide equivalent. Technical equipment, machines and fuel with generating 0.45 and 0.16 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent were the most contribution to greenhouse gas emission. According to the calculations, the two inputs emitted 72.3% and 25.7% of the total greenhouse gas emission in producing one litter of milk. Only 2% of the total greenhouse gas emission that is equal to 0.012 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent was created from electricity generation. In the United States, diesel fuel and electricity with a contribution of 27% to 40% of the total greenhouse gasemissions were realized as the most polluted inputs.Furthermore, in Ireland and Britain, the diesel fuel and electricity with producing 0.03 and 0.002 of carbon dioxide equivalent were realized as the most polluted inputs for producing one litter of milk. This suggests that diet re-formulation with special consideration to the output is an effective solution to the problem mentioned above. Considering technical equipment and fuel as the most pollutant inputs, transferring equipment from natural gas consumption to diesel consumption decreases both energy consumption and negative-environmental externalities.Conclusion Considering that the livestock feeding has the largest amount of energy consumption, thedairy cow feed formulation should be considered as the most important concern. In relation to diesel fuel, replacement of natural gas with diesel fuel can reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a large extend.