SOIL AND PLANT INTERACTIONS (JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF GREENHOUSE CULTURE)
Year:2019 | Volume:10 | Issue:2 (38) |Papers Count:7

The current study was conducted to investigate the effect of 24-hour short treatment of benzyl adenine (zero and 0. 1 mM) and salicylic acid (zero, 0. 001, 0. 01, 0. 1 and 1. 0 mM) on the vase life of Lily cv. Fangio. The measured traits were leaf fresh weight (on zero, first, third, and seventh days), the contents of anthocyanin, flavonoids, carotenoids, chlorophylls a, b and total (on zero and seventh day) and vase life. Results showed that maximum vase life was obtained in 1. 0 mM salicylic acid and zero benzyl adenine. In addition, the leaf fresh weight was increased by 9. 67% in 1. 0 mM salicylic acid and 0. 1 mM benzyl adenine from the first to the seventh day after treatment. The values of photosynthetic pigments (chlorophylls a, b and total, and carotenoids) remained constant in 0. 1 mM benzyl adenine and 0. 1 mM salicylic acid treatment during this period. The highest increase of anthocyanin content was observed in the 0. 001 mM salicylic acid and no benzyl adenine treatment, as compared to control. The highest flavonoid content was observed in zero mM salicylic acid and 0. 1 mM benzyl adenine, which was significantly increased during the first to the seventh days after treatment. In conclusion, 1. 0 mM salicylic acid treatment is recommended to increase the vase life of Lily cv. Fangio.

The use of organic materials is increasing in agriculture and industrial products due to their less side effects than chemical materials. In order to study the effect of pine wood vinegar (Pyroligneous acid) on growth and physiological traits of basil, two experiments were designed and conducted in 2014, based on a completely randomized design with 6 treatments (0, 1250, 2000, 2500, 3333 and 5000 mg/L) and 4 replications. The first experiment was conducted in the laboratory in order to study the wood vinegar priming on basil seeds and the second experiment was performed in the Research Greenhouse of College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology. Application of 1250 mg/L wood vinegar increased germination percentage of the basil seeds and 2500 mg/L treatment speeded up the germination process. In the second experiment, maximum volume and length of roots were observed in the 3333 mg/L treatment and the highest root surface was measured in the 5000 mg/L treatment. Nitrogen concentration in the 3333 mg/L treatment, potassium concentration in the 5000 mg/L treatment, and calcium and iron concentrations in the 1250 mg/L treatment were at the highest level compared to other treatments. Chlorophyll fluorescence, SPAD, ion leakage and chlorophyll a content showed the highest levels in the 3333 mg/L treatment. Based on the results of the second experiment, most growth parameters of the basil were at the highest level by application of 3333 mg/L pine wood vinegar. Therefore, this concentration of pine wood vinegar can be recommended.

Genetic diversity in strawberry is low due to its asexual propagation. One method of increasing genetic diversity, as an important tool in plant breeding, is the use of gamma rays to induce mutation. In order to determine the appropriate dosage of gamma irradiation for genetic diversity creation by mutation in strawberry, Kurdistan cultivar, and to study the influence of various doses of gamma ray (zero (control), 15, 30, 60 and 90 gray) on different traits of strawbery, this research was conducted in Faculty of Agriculture, Yasouj University, in 2012-2013. Results showed that irradiated plants had a lower rates in comparison to the control plants for most of the studied characteristics, except for number of leaves, fruit sugar and anthocyanin. Leaf area, fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit fresh and dried weight, and fruit volume, shape, and juice decreased with an increase in the gamma irradiation dosage. Moreover, multifoliate and dwarfism were increased in the irradiated plants. The appropriate dosage of gamma irradiation for mutation induction in strawberry, Kurdistan cultivar, for threshold 50% plants mortality (LD50) treated by gamma ray, was approximately 65-70 gray. Therefore, gamma ray intensity in the recommended limit could be used for the highest genetic diversity creation with the lowest plant mortality in strawberry breeding programs such as in fruit quality improvement.

The use of suitable substrate for vegetable production may reduce losses in production caused by salinity. In order to determine suitable substrate for bell pepper cv. 'California Wonder' under salinity stress conditions, a factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with 4 replications was performed. The experiment consisted of three factors of substrate (coconut fibre, 50% fine perlite+50% coarse perlite, vermiculite, 50% perlite +50% pumice), NaCl at two levels (0 and 100 mM) and super absorbent at two levels (0 and 2 g/pot). Results showed that salt treatment significantly reduced the growth traits such as plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, fresh weight of shoots and fresh weight of roots. The yield was significantly decreased because of the reduction in fruit weight and number of fruits under salinity stress. Minimum and maximum values of vegetative and reproductive traits were observed in perlite+pumice and perlite substrates, respectively. Inaddition, the vermiculite substrate showed minimum reduction in fresh weight of shoots, and roots and plant height under 100 mM NaCl salinity stress.

Water valuation is one of the most important economic instruments for managing the increasing demand for water in agriculture. Hence, the main objective of this study is to estimate the economic value of water in greenhouse cultivation in Qazvin plain. To achieve the desired goals, the Positive Mathematical Programming (PMP) was used. In this research, the economic value of agricultural water was determined in the study area. Then, sensitivities such as changes in water resources inventories, increasing product prices, and lowering the production costs were analyzed and evaluated for the economic value of water. Data were collected for 2016-2017 agronomic year from greenhouse owners in a field survey questionnaire. After runing the model, the economic value of each cubic meter of agricultural water at the greenhouse level of Qazvin Plain was estimated to be 24730 Rials. Results showed that as the water supply decreases, the economic value of water will increase significantly. In addition, by applying the sensitivity of lowering the production costs and increasing the price of products, the economic value of water will increase. Therefore, considering the results of this research, more attention should be given to greenhouse crop production, in order to save water consumption and increase the irrigation efficiency.

The effect of different compost-soil ratios on the incidence of Pythium aphanidermatum causing tomato damping off was tested in a greenhouse experiment. The inoculum density of 5% was determined to be suitable for inoculation in compost experiments based on investigations of disease incidence with 5, 10 and 20% inoculum densities. To evaluate the effect of compost on incidence of tomato damping off, tomato seeds were sown in compost/soil mixtures at 10, 30 and 50% V: V containing 5% of P. aphanidermatum inoculum. The number of dead tomato seedlings was recorded in two-day intervals and disease incidence was calculated. Results showed that compost/soil mixtures at 30 and 50% ratios significantly suppressed Pythium damping off in tomato seedlings, while 10% compost/soil mixture had no significant effect on disease suppression. This suppression was biologically based since heat-sterilized compost offered little protection from the pathogen. There are antagonistic microorganisms in the composts which are potential biocontrol agents and can be used in bio-pesticides.

To evaluate the effects of pollen source and grafting on morphological characteristics and color of tomatoes, different cultivars with various fruit colors were grown and investigated in three experiments. In the first experiment, the red sweet olive cultivar was used as female parent and yellow pear, violet cherry, yellow palm garden and orange olive cultivars were used as male parents. In the second experiment, the orange olive cultivar was used as female parent and yellow palm garden, yellow pear and violet cherry cultivars were used as male parents. In the third experiment, the red cherry cultivar was used as scion and grafted on large red and yellow palm garden cultivars, and red cherry cultivar was used as control without grafting. Manual pollination was used in the first and the second experiments. Based on the results of the first experiment, different pollen sources significantly affected volume of fruit in red olive cultivar (P≤ 0. 05). In the second experiment, different pollen sources significantly affected weight and volume of fruits in the orange olive cultivar (P≤ 0. 05). In the third experiment, different rootstocks significantly affected fruit length of red cherry tomato cultivar (P≤ 0. 05). Results of this research showed that selection of hybrid fruits is possible by fruit volume and weight and also rootstock affects scion fruit characteristics.