THE SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE (SJA)
Year:2009 | Volume:31 | Issue:2|Papers Count:21

The purpose of this investigation was to study factors influencing wheat farmers' attitude toward technologies applying mitigation of wheat losses during waterless and drought.The research method of this study was correlation. The target population in this research included all wheat farmers in Razavi Khorasan province (N=22,119) out of whom a number of 357 were selected as multi-stage cluster sampling method by using Cochran's formula and finally 291 questionnaires were filled out and analyzed (n=291). Validity of the instrument was established using a panel of experts. Cronbach's alpha, an internal consistency measure, was used to estimate the reliability, and was found to be in acceptable range from 0.86 to 0.88. Finding in the study indicates that a majority of the wheat farmers' knowledge and attitude toward these technologies apply was considered to be at moderate and relative favorable respectively. The results of spearman correlation test showed that education rate, the extent of caused damages by waterless and drought, the extent of extension. contacts, the extent of participation in extension activities and knowledge level of wheat farmers had a positive relationship with their attitude toward applying these technologies. The results of the bivariate regression revealed that 27.4 percent of variability in attitude toward applying these technologies stems from farmers' technical knowledge level.

In order to assess the effects of different bunch thinning methods and multiple foliar application of nutrients on some fruit characteristics of 'Zahedi' and 'Kabkab' date palm cultivars, two field trials were carried out in 'Kazeroon'(Fars province, Iran). Selected female uniform date palm trees of each cultivar were hand pollinated using compatible pollenizer ('Zahedi') and treatments were applied 4 weeks after pollination. The fruit and pit weight, length and diameter, pulp weight, pulp/pit weigth ratio, fruit and pit length/diameter ratios per tree were measured. In the first experiment, the effect of foliar application of nutrients (complete fertilizer, 0.3%, for three times in 15 days intervals) alone or in combination with different thinning methods (8 leaves per bunch+ elimination of 10 or 20% of strands, 8 leaves per bunch+ tip cutting of strands or cutting of 1/3 strands) on 'Zahedi' fiuit characteristics was studied. Results showed that retention of 8 leaves per bunch+ elimination of 20% strands in combination with spray of nutrients induced the significant increase in fruit weight and length, pulp weight, pit diameter and pulp/pit weight ratio. In the second experiment, the effect of spray of nutrients alone or in combination of different thinning methods (retention of 8 leaves per bunch+thinning 10% or 20% of strands) on 'Kabkab' fruit characteristics was studied. Thinning of bunch+removal ofl 0% of strands alone or in combination with spray of nutrient increased significantlyfruit and pulp weight and fruit length and diameter, pit length and pupl/pit weight ratio decreased fruit length/diameter ratio. Results showed that in both cultivar thinning of bunch influenced fruit characteristics, the significant thinning effect on fiuit characteristics remained strong when the leaves were sprayed by nutrients.

The effect of second crop cultivations in paddy fields on overwintering larvae of rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis was studied in Amol Rice Research Institute during 1999- 2002. The experiments were conducted based on the Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) as factorial with four replications at two different experiments. Of the first experiment which included the effect of second crop cultivations on population density of overwintering larvae, the studied factors were the second crop cultivations (including, potato, rapeseed, clover, cabbage, control) and different sampling stages of the larvae. Of the second experiment (effect of the mentioned crops on the rice infestation at crop season), the studied factors were second crop cultivations and rice varieties (Fajr, Tarom Mahal1i).In order to sampling, five spots of each plot were chosen randomly and the alive and dead larvae in the rice stubbles and also the infested and uninfested tillages were counted. Results of the mean comparison for effect of years showed that number of alive and dead larvae were the highest in 2000 and the lowest in 1999. The effect of different sampling steps on the larvae indicated that average number of alive and dead larvae were the highest and lowest at the first (after harvesting the rice) and last steps, respectively. Also the highest density of the alive larvae was observed in control and the lowest in treatment potato. The results of the effect of second crop cultivations on rice varieties' infestation indicated that Tarom Mahal1i had the higher amount of dead hearts and white heads than the Fajr. This research indicates that the second crop cultivations in paddy fields reduce the density population of overwintering larvae and also the infestation of the rice plants to C. suppressalis, significantly; surely in this case the application of pesticides will be reduced in paddy fields.

In this research, biology, population growth parameters and functional response of Lysiphlebus fabarum on black bean aphid Aphis fabae were studied under laboratory conditions of 21±1oC, R.H. 70±5%and a photoperiod of 14±10 (L:D). Preimaginal development of male and female of L. fabarum was 13.4±0.5and 13.8±0.3 days, respectively. The maximum longevity of adult male and female of L. fabarum by. feeding on water and honey was 11.4±0.7 and 12.2±0.5days, respectively. The mean numbers of offspring of L. fabarum was 133±21.6 per female. The oviposition period of L. fabarum was 4-14 days. The net reproductive rate (R0), gross reproductive rate (GRR), intrinsic rate of increase (rm),finite rate of increase (l), mean generation time (Tc) and doubling time (Dt) were 96.8, 108.8 (female/female), 0.287, 1.3 (female/female/day) and 15.4, 2.5 days, respectively. The functional response of L. fabarum to 3rd instar of A. fabae was type II.

This study investigates the temporal and spatial variability of the minimum temperature in the apple orchard of the Agricultural College of Shiraz University from January 2004 until May 2005 with the aim of determining the number of thermometers for estimation of minimum temperature. For this purpose, 21 maximum-minimum thermometers were installed in different parts of the orchard. The minimum temperature in the days of January varied from-7oC to -11.5oC, in February From-7oC to -10.5oc and in March From-7oC to -4oc. The minimum temperature in April was also below zero and ranged From-2.5oc to -5oC. This shows that the probability of the frost is very high in this month. In May, the minimum temperature was above zero and increased to 2.5oc for all parts of the orchard. The results show that, for the estimate of the minimum temperature in the orchard at the 99% or 95% level, we must use 3 or 2 thermometers, respectively. If one thermometer installation in the orchard, the error of the minimum temperature estimation increased to a significant degree at 80%, level.

In this study, Mycorrhizal symbiosis status of plants in serpentine soils of Anarak were determined. Serpentine soils of Anarak contains high levels of heavy metals and low levels of macro nutrients, wich have unfavorable conditions for plant grow the and establishment. 81 species were collected in two forms (herbaceous and arbustive). Perennial grasses showed higher colonization in comparison with the others. Sixty- two. species showed mycorrhizal colonization. Roots were colonized for over 70% of their length in these species. Nineteen species had no colonization, of which 12 belonged to nonmycorrhizal families. Six species of nonmycorrhizal families were found to be colonized. All the mycorrhizae recovered, belonged to the Genus Glumus.

The effects of mulberry leaves enrichment with Pyridoxine (I 0, 100, 500 and 1000 mg/ml concentrations) and riboflavin (7, 37, 77 and 127 mg/ml) concentrations on larval weight, silk gland and cocoon characters of Silkworm, Bombyx mori L. were studied. Silkworm larvae in 4th and 5th instars were fed on ken muchi mulberry variety enriched with pyridoxine and riboflavin once a day. Prepared solution sprayed on mulberry leaves was dried in air flow and fed to the silkworm larvae. Results showed that mulberry leaves enrichment increased larval weight at 100 mg/ml concentration of pyridoxine. Silk gland weight increased at 1000 mg/ml concentration of pyridoxine but it could not lead to insignificant increase of economic characters at 1000 mg/mt. Riboflavin could not increase larval and silk gland weight and economic characters of cocoon. According to the results of this investigation, mulberry leaves enrichment with pyridoxine and riboflavin could not improve silk production and economic yield.

This research was conducted to determine the effect of planting depth corm peeling, and the use of livestock manure, as well as the foliage application of micronutrients on the length and number of florets of Gladiolus cut flower. The research was carried out in the research field of Horticultural Science Department, located on Shahid Chamran University Campus. A factorial experiment was carried out in a completely randomized block design with 24 treatments and 4 replications (each replicate was one plot 1.0x1.5 m). The treatments were planting depth in 3 levels (7.5, 10 and 12.5 cm), corm peeling in 2 levels (with or without peeling), livestock manure in 2 levels (with or without manure) and micronutrient fertilizer in 2 levels (with or without fertilizer). The data were then analyzed and the means of treatments were compared at 5% level using LSD test. The Gladiolus corms cv 'Oscar' were initially prepared from Mahallat city. In order to break dormancy, the corms were kept in the cold room at +5oC for 4-5 weeks. The corms were cultured in plots in 3 different depths of 7.5, 10 and 12.5 cm in the month of Azar (December). After the preparation of plots, the manure was added to the plots (30 t/ha). Micronutrients (commercial name, Micro) in the concentration of 0.3% were applied to the foliage when the plants had 6 leaves. Subsequently, such factors as length of the stem at flowering time, the number of florets, and the ratio between the numbers of florets to the stem length were measured. Results showed that in the first year of the culture, the number of florets significantly decreased when the peeled corms were cultured in 7.5 cm depth with micronutrients as well as livestock manure used. The highest number of florets was obtained when non-peeled corms were cultured in 10 cm depth: neither organic manure nor micronutrients were used. Also, peeled corms, with the increased planting depth (10 and 12.5 cm) using livestock manure but not using micronutrients negatively affected the height of flowering stem. The highest height of cut flower was observed when non-peeled corms were cultured in 7.5 cm depth, using livestock manure as well as micronutrients. This showed that the treatments had various effects on factors measured. It seems that the treatments were also affected by environmental factors, suggesting that the effects of papery husk (tunic) of corms should be deeply considered. Furthermore, the application of micronutrients on foliage at different stages of growth and their interaction with organic manure should be considered and studied in details.

Gorgak basin is located in Chahar Mahale bakhtiary Province about 30 km. west of Sharekord. Like most western parts of Iran, the soils of this basin is very sensitive to erosion, therefore the study of soil genesis and soil erosion for the purpose of improving the management of natural resources in the Zagros region is very important. To study, differeces in soil genesis and erosin in different geomorphology units of the Gorgak basin, two hillslopes with northward and southward aspects within the catchment were selected. Seventheen soil profiles were dug in different geomorphic units of the two hill slopes and their soil samples were analyzed. The results showed that significant differences exist between the soil development in different landform units. Soil erosion rates were obtained by Cesium-137 technique. Soils were sampled along transect and analyzed for cesium-I37 determination. The main goal of this field investigation was to study the 137Cs 3-D distribution pattern within key sites and to apply it for the assessment of soil redistribution. Estimated erosion rates was about 19.5 kg/ha/ y for the top of the slope (the shoulder landform), and about 12.1 kg/ha/y for the middle of the slope soil profile (back slope landform). In the foot slope there was 4.7 kg/ha/y/deposition.

Phenotypic correlations between lactation function parameters and characteristics of Iranian buffalo ecotypes estimated by Wood's Gamma function was studied. The lactation function parameters and characteristics were milk production at the beginning 0f lactation (a); slope of the lactation curve up to the peak of milk production (b); slope after the peak of milk production(c); peak time; peak yield and persistency. The phenotypic correlation between milk yield with persistency and (a) were positive and low and positive but with medium values, respectively. The correlation between (b) and (c) with persistency were negative. Positive correlations between milk yield with persistency and peak yield are very important in phenotypic selection or culling animals at the beginning of lactation. Phenotypic trend of milk yield was increasing and it's regression against the time was significant. Phenotypic trend of Persistency and peak time were also increasing and significant.

The experiment was conducted to determine metabolisable energy content of the soybean, sunflower and canola meals using two methods of collecting ileum content and collecting excreta of male broiler chickens. The experiment was carried out on 200 broiler chickens (Rose 308) at 21 and 42 days of age, using metabolical cages and in form of CRD. Metabolizable energy content of the meals was determined by ,using titanium oxide as a marker. The average values of AME, AMEN, TME and TMEn for soybean meals were 2760/38, 2734/0, 2785/0 and 2756/0 kcal/kg respectively, for sunflower meals were 2597/26, 2576/30, 2213/51 and 2598/13 respectively and for canola meals were 2521/31, 2497/0, 2546/6 and 2515/90 kcal/kg in male broiler chickens at 21 days of age, whereas at 42 days of age, the values were 2421/0, 2410/50, 2447/20 and 2430/0 kcal/kg for soybean meals and 2490/50, 2476/50, 2515/80 and 2495/0 kcal/kg for sunflower and 2506/0, 2484/0, 2531/0 and 2503/0 kcal/kg for canola meals respectively. The data of two bioassay methods for estimating ME were indicated that the values of AME, AMEn, TME and TMEn for soybean meals by using method of collecting excreta were significantly more than those in the method of collecting ileum content of broiler chickens at 42 days of age. Results of experiment shown that the age of birds had significant affect on the metabolizable energy content of soybean meals.

The genetic variation of 36 Iranian and f9reign almond accessions Prunus dulcis Mill. and 3 wild species of Amygdalus were assessed using 32 microsatellite primers (developed in peach). Eighteen primers, which produced suitable banding patterns, were used for this analysis. These primers detected a total of 126 alleles with an average of 7 alleles per locus. Cluster analysis based on Jaccards coefficient of similarity and UPGMA method placed the genotypes and cultivars in two groups while 2 wild species including Amygdalus scoparia and Amygdalus orientalis were primarily seperated as out groups. Regarding the dendrogram and similarity matrix, it was concluded that the genetic similarity value among the studied genotypes was low and the genetic variation among them was relatively high. In general, the results of this study indicate the usefulness of cross-species transferability of SSR primers in the genus Prunus, allowing grouping genotypes and cultivars to be studied based on their geographical origin.

Variation of flow regime from super-critical to sub-critical establishes the hydraulic jump. Vast investigations were carried out to study the classical steady hydraulic jump. But many of jumps in open channels are formed due to varying boundary conditions in an unsteady flow 'named moving hydraulic jump'. The unsteadiness and shifting regime cause some difficulties for the study of recent kinds of jump. So there is not notable experimental research about moving hydraulic jump. One of the important parameters in hydraulic jump including the flow characteristics and the type of flow regime is non dimensional Froude number which could present a clear appearance of jump behavior and show differences between steady and moving jump. In this study, an experimental setup was constructed in which moving hydraulic jumps were triggered and data were collected under variety of boundary conditions. Based on the compiled data, the relationships between Froude number in super-critical region of jump and other non dimensional parameters and also boundary conditions were analyzed. The impact coefficient of Froude number on conjugated depth computations was investigated as well and the modified Belanger equation was proposed for the moving jump. In spite of the instinct of unsteady flow, the achieved relationships are time independent and so they are applicable for any time of flow reach.

The main purpose of this descriptive survey was to analyze wheat consultant engineers' project in Esfahan province. The main population consisted of 78 extension experts, and through randomized sampling 55 samples of extension experts, was selected to answer the questionnaire. The validity was cheeked by a panel of agricultural extension experts and university professors. Reliability was measured by Cronbach's- alpha and a=0.93, a=0.95 and a=0 showed the reliability of the questionnaire was acceptable. SPSS/Win1 1.5 software was used for data analyzing, and factor analysis method was employed in this research. According to the result, the main challenges set four factors. The first factor was constructive factor. As the first important factor, strategic, supportive and budgeting respectively explained 72.67% of the total variance.

A digital instrument for measuring slippage of farm tractors wheels was designed, fabricated and evaluated based on microcontroller 89c51. Microcontroller 89cSl was programmed using assembly language. The infrared sensor units were fixed on rear wheel axle of tractor and the fifth wheel axle as the source of pulse generation. The output pulses from these two sources were filtered and amplified before being the input to microcontroller. The output was displayed on a LCD monitor as a percentage of slip. The instrument performance was tested in both laboratory and field. Field tests were carried out using MF399 tractor with tow different levels of drawbar pull, namely high and low pull Data were obtained through 4 replication of experiments carried out in both conventional and digital method. The analysis of results showed that there was no significant difference between the manual and digital method at %1 probability level.