Plant Production Technology
Year:2016 | Volume:15 | Issue:2|Papers Count:16

Response of seed germination crops to temperature is important in aspect of fast and uniformity germination. In order to determination the cardinal temperatures and the effect of different levels of temperature on germination indices in basil ecotypes an experiment was carried out in completely randomized design with 4 replications in factorial experimental arrangement. The first factor was 7 basil ecotypes (Includes: Purple Bandar Abbas, Kerman Purple, Dezfol Green, Yazd green, Mahallat green, Shiraz green and Isfahan green) and second factor was 8 levels of temperatures (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40oC). Results showed that the effect of temperature and basil ecotypes were significant difference on seed germination indices. The highest germination indices (speed and percent of germination, seedling vigor index, radicle and plumule length, radicle to plumule ratio) were obtain from of 20oC. All of basil ecotypes had the highest germination percent (GP) and germination rate (GR) at 25oC. The maximum germination rate with 39.1 seed per day was found in Yazd green ecotype at 25°C and the lowest of this trait was also obtain from Isfehan green ecotype with 13.2 seed per day in this temperature (25oC). With increasing temperature above 25oC, all of germination indices were reduced and when temperature was higher than 35oC all germination indices were declined very sharply. With increasing temperature from 15oC was considerable increased GP and GR. Based on linear regression between germination rate and temperature, the cardinal temperatures in all basil ecotypes: minimum (Tmin), optimum (To) and maximum (Tmax) were determined in the range 3.5-7.1, 24-27.8 and 42.5-45.7oC respectively.

The present research was accomplished in order to investigate the effects of different fertilizers and corm size on corm characteristics of saffron, in Mahvelate, during 2012. The experiment was conducted as a split plot factorial design with four replications. Treatments were comprised of manure and chemical fertilizers (in three levels of 100%, 50% and control) considered as main plot, and combination of biological fertilizer (in three levels of nitroxin, bio-superphosphate and control) and mother corm weight (in three levels of 4-6, 8-10 and 12-14 g) as sub plot. Result showed that application of manure and chemical fertilizers increased number and weight of daughter corm significantly, but had no significant effect on corm diameter. Use of biological fertilizers caused weight of corm to be increased by 3.7%, whereas didn’t change the number of corm and corm diameter. The highest number, diameter and weight of daughter corm was also recorded btained with use of the largest mother corm. Since big corms producted more yield in next years, it is suggested that use of big corms in saffron production. Also use of biological fertilizers caused improvement characteristics of dauther corm and reduction use of manure and chemical fertilizers.

In order to evaluate the dry forage, crude protein yield, interplant competition and advantage mixed cropping annual forage crops with barley in dryland condition, two Field experiments were condncted throngh a randomized complete block design with 9 treatments and four replications in two cold locations of Gilan province. Experimental treatments included pure cultures, barley, grass pea, hairy vetch, Hungarian vetch, field pea and mixed cropping each of forage crops with barley in 50: 50 seeding ratio. In simple and combined analysis results, dry forage yields in each of forage crops mixed cropping were higher than their pure cultures in significant (P<0.01). Among mixed cropping treatments based on dry forage and crude protein yields difference was not significant. Field pea pure culture among forage crops pure cultures, had highest dry forage (4.37 t/ha) and crude protein yield (866 kg/ha) values. In evaluate interplant competition indices, in each four mixed cropping treatments, barley was dominant plant. Results aggregate from this study showed that, mixed cropping forage crops prefer to pure culture these plants. Mixed cropping Hungarian vetch with barley because of having highest economic indices values, land equivalent ratio (1.115), intercropping advantage (+26.08), system productivity index (3.57) and monetary advantage index (+71.93), was selected most advantage forage crop for planting in dry land conditions.

Soybean is a diploid plant with relatively wide range of environmental conditions and climate adaptation. Water deficit is first limitation that cause soybean yield reduction in dried and semi-dried regions. In addition to the physiological changes that occurs due to water deficiency in plants, oxidative damage is also an important factor limiting plant growth and production. In this study, the level of super-oxide and hydrogen peroxide were measured, also the amount (of) super-oxide dismutase and catalase enzyme as well as ascorbic acid, α-tochopheroll, cartenoid and TBARM (cellular oxidative level) were assessed. Three soybean genotyps (DPX, sari and WE6 Line) were evaluated for above traits in three drought stress treatments included 50mm evaporation (as control), 100mm and 150mm evaporation from A class evaporation pot. Leaf samples collected for each treatments in three reproductive stages (flowering, pod elongation and seed filling). The variance analysis results showed that drought stress treatment had significant effect on all measured traits. Base on this, enzyme activity (super oxide and catalase) and non-enzymatic antioxidants (ascorbic acid, carotenoid and α-tocopherol) had a key role in response to drought stress in studied soybean genotypes. DPX cultivar and WE6 line showed superior antioxidant agents activity in comparison with sari cultivar in drought stress conditions.

In order to investigate the effects of nitrate to ammonium ratios and different levels of a super absorbent on some traits of dill a factorial experiment was conducted in randomized complete block design during 2013 agronomic growing seasons in Jiroft region. Nitrogen fertilizer (150 kg ha-1) in five levels (0:100, 25:75, 50:50, 75:25, 100:0) and super absorbent in four levels (0, 10, 20, 30 g m-2) were studied. The results indicated that the consumption of various ratios of nitrate to ammonium and different levels of super absorbent had a significant effect on the dry matter, number of umbel per plant, number of umbellate per umbel, number of seed per umbellate, seed yield and percentage of essence. The highest seed yield was obtained from the simultaneous consumption of 25 percent nitrate, 75 percent ammonium and 20 g super absorbent. The lowest seed yield was also obtained from the application of 100 percent nitrate and no super absorbent. The highest essence percentage was obtained from the application of 100 percent nitrate and 30 g super absorbent and the lowest essence percent was obtained from the application of 100 percent ammonium and 10 g super absorbent. According to the results, in order to increase the seed yield, ammonium ratio should be increased and to increase the essence percentage nitrate ratio should be increased.

In order to investigate the impact of green manure on soil organic matter contents and some growth indices of forage maize (Zea mays L.), a field experiment was conducted as complete randomized blocks design with two factors and four replications at farm of Abbas Abad Agriculture School of Rafsanjan, Iran. Factors included rocket plant (Eruca sativa L.), chikling vetch (Lathyrus sativus L.), combination of rocket and chickling vetch as green manure plants and fallow (control), and nitrogen levels (60 and 180 kg.ha-1). Seeds of plants were sown at middle of autumn and completely ploughed and buried at flowering time in late winter. Three weeks later, forage maize was sown. Results showed that both rocket plant and rocket plant- chickling vetch combination had higher biomass compared to chikling vetch alone, however rocket plant and chickling vetch significantly increased soil organic matter contents compared to fallow conditions. On the other hand, sowing rocket plant significantly increased leaf area index and crop growth rate of maize 50 days after sowing, but nitrogen had significant effect of maize only two weeks later, biological yield of maize was significantly higher than control with 60 Nkg.ha-1 after rocket plant and chickling vetch. It seems that positive effects of these plants as green manure may be limited to early growth stages of maize.

In order to evaluate the effect of planting date, row spacing and seed amount on yield of Faba Bean (Vicia faba L.) as a second crop after rice, a split factorial experiment based on the complete randomized block design with 3 replications was conducted at research station of Rice Research Institute of Iran (Rasht) during 2008-2010 for two years. Experimental treatments were planting date in three levels of September 30, October 10 and 15 as main plot and row spacing in three levels of 30, 40 and 50 cm and seed rate in two levels of 100 and 150 kgha-1 as sub plots. The results showed significant differences between the years, planting dates, row spacing and seed amounts in pod yield and grain yield. Planting date of October 10, row spacing of 40 cm and seed rate of 150 kgha-1 produced maximum pod yield with average of 30152, 33645 and 31223 kgha-1, respectively. Maximum grain yield was observed for the first year, planting date of October 10, row spacing of 40 cm and seed amount of 150 kgha-1 with average of 6734, 7311, 6622 and 6750 kgha-1, respectively. In general, the use of early planting date, narrow row spacing and more amount of seed may increase the pod and grain yields of faba bean (Vicia Faba L.) and is recommended for planting in experimental conditions.

The effects of chemical, biological and manure fertilizers combinations on corn (SC.704) yield and nitrogen uptake was investigated in a field experiment at the faculty of Agriculture, University of Guilan in 2011. The experimental design was conducted as a randomized complete blocks design with ten treatments in three replications. Treatments included: no- fertilizer (control), %100 chemical fertilizer (150 kg N/ha and 40 kg P/ha), biofertilizer (Pseudomonas fluorescens + Azospririllum brasileneset), manure (28 ton/ha), and different proportions of these fertilizers (seven levels). Results showed that the highest dry matter yield was observed in %100 chemical fertilizers, %50 manure + %50 chemical and biofertilizer + %50 chemical treatments, showing no significant difference. These treatments also showed the highest number of leaves and the maximum stem diameter, in addition to the lowest leaf defoliation. Moreover, analysis of qualitative properties revealed that the highest protein yield and plant nitrogen absorption were observed in 100% chemical fertilizers, %50 manure + %50 chemical, biofertilizer + %75 chemical and biofertilizer + %50 chemical. The highest nitrogen ues efficiency, nitrogen agronomic efficiency and nitrogen uptake efficiency (95.13, 1.17 and 42.17 respectivley) were achieved in biofertilizer + %50 chemical treatment, and the highest nitrogen utilization efficiency and nitrogen physiological efficiency was taken in biological treatment. Finally, the results showed that dry matter and protein yield were statistically the same in %100 chemical and % 50 chemical + biofertilizer, showing higher nitrogen use efficiency in the integrated biofertilizer and chemical fertilizer treatment. Therefore, it can be concluded that integrated application of chemical and biological fertilizers is the best combination for maize crop production, resulting no significant decline in yield quantity and quantity.

Amino chelates represent the new form of chemical fertilizers for agronomy, while plant responses to these compounds aren’t well known. In this study foliar application of aminochelates on growth and development of pot marigold was investigated under completely randomized design with 7 treatment and 5 replications. Treatments were control (only spray of distilled water), soil applied NPK, foliar application of a synthesized macro-micro fertilizer, two and four sprays of Biomin aminochelate, two and four sprays of Delfon Plus aminochelate. The analysis of variances showed that the effect of treatments on N concentration (P≤0.05) and on the rest of traits (P≤0.01) was significant. Comparisons of means also revealed that there was significant difference among treatments regarding all plant parameters at 5% level of Duncan test. The highest plant height (24.1 cm), number of flowers/plant (7), flowering stem length (24.1 cm), plant fresh weight (20.2 g) and dry weight (3.01 g) and leaf concentrations of N (2.4%) were obtained in plants sprayed four times using Delfon Plus, showing no significant difference with soil applied NPK treatment. The highest number of leaves (22.4) and lateral shoots (4.2) as well as the highest K concentration (2.2%) was obtained from soil applied NPK, showing no significant difference with four times spray of Delfun Plus treatment. The longest (17.2 day) and shortest (12 day) life of flower on plant was also in four times sprays of Delfon Plus and control, respectively. In general the results showed that aminochelates sprays could be a good alternative for soil applied fertilizers for marigold cultivation.

In order to investigate the effect of cycocel on some biochemical characteristics of two olive cultivars (Mary and Mission), a greenhouse experiment was conducted taking into account three factors of: cycocel at three levels (0, 500 and 1000 mg L-1), drought stress of three levels (irrigated at 5, 10 and 15 days intervals) and tow olive cultivars (Mary and Mission) in a factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design with three replicates for the lasted four months. In the end of experiment the results showed that increased periods of drought have increased catalase activity (10.486 mm min-1/g Fw-1), ascorbate peroxidase (10.129 mm min-1/g Fw-1) and guaiacol peroxidase (17.879 mm min-1/g Fw-1). Anthocyanin content, total phenols and malondialdehyde content in both cultivars increased with drought stress too. Also, cycocel treatments increased the catalase and guaiacol peroxidase activity and decreased the malondialdehyde content as compared with the control. The plants treated with 500 mg L-1 cycocel, showed significant decreased in the anthocyanin content (12.137 mm/g FW) in leaf compared with the control (13.629 mm/g FW). Mission cultivar showed higher resistance to drought stress than the Mary cultivar. Results suggested that cycocel treatment can neutralize some negative effects of drought stress in Mary and Mission cultivars of olive.

In order to evaluate the tolerance of almond some genotypes to salinity a pot experiment was carried with 2 factors including cultivar and salinity in the year 2013. The cultivars were Touno, Nonparaeil, Mamaei, Shokoufeh, Sahand, Shahroud 12, 1-16, 1-25, A200, 13-40 all budded on GF677 and non-budded GF677 as control. The salinity was applied in five levels including 0, 1.2, 2.4, 3.6 and 4.8 g/l of sodium chloride with electrical conductivity equal to 0.5, 2.5, 4.9, 7.3 and 9.8 ds/m, respectively). Results revealed that in all of the studied genotypes branch height, branch diameter, number of total leaves, number of green leaves, leaf density on the main branch, fresh and dry weight, leaf area and leaf area ratio, relative humidity content, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophylls and carotenoid of upper and lower leaves, fresh and dry weight of leaves, shoots and root reduced when salinity level increased. But, number of necrotic leaves, number of downfall leave, aerial organ dry weight/fresh weight ratio, root/shoot fresh and dry weight ratio, relative ionic percentage and cell membrane injury percentage in upper and lower leaves were increased. According to the results here, scion type could highly critical for the tree tolerant to salinity. Overall, Shahroud 12 was found to be the most tolerant cultivar to salinity stress (7.3 ds/m) among the evaluated cultivars. In contrast, Sahand was the most sensitive cultivar to salinity stress.

In order to evaluate the response of two cultivars of sweet corn to salinity stress a greenhouse experiment was conducted at the Faculty of Agriculture, Shiraz University, in a factorial experiment based on completely randomized design in four replications. Treatments included two cultivars of sweet corn (KSC403 and Passion) and four salinity concentration 0, 25, 50 and 100 mM from NaCl and CaCl2 at a 1:1 ratio. The results showed that with increasing in salinity, plant height decreased and dry weight of both cultivars also decreased however this decline was more pronounced in Passion. KSC403 had more antioxidant enzymes activities and less shoot and root Na+ concentration compared with Passion. With increasing salinity, CAT and SOD activities of both cultivars decreased and increased, respectively, and POX activity increased to 50 mM of salinity and then decreased. With increasing in salinity level, total leaf chlorophyll decreased although these cultivars were not significantly different in this respect. Na+/K+ ratio of root and shoot increased in salinity and this ratio was more in Passion. The superiority of KSC403 in most of the traits could indicate its higher ability to tolerate salinity stress. Lower concentration of Na+ and more concentration of K+ in shoot and root of plant can be considered as a criterion in the selection of resistant cultivars to salinity stress.

Chilling injury decreases the storage life of nectarines at low temperatures. Then enhancement of nectarin fruit resistance to chilling injury will increasese the possibility of it’s storage at low temperatures. In this research, the effect of methyl jasmonate at 0, 8 and 16 ml L-1 on chilling injury and fruit quality of nectarin during storage at 0±0.5oC with 90-95% relative humidity for 42 days was studied. Fruit quality attributes including chilling injury index, ion leakage, vitamin C content, weight loss, polyphenol oxidase activity, total soluble solids content and pH were evaluated during and at the end of storage period. The results showed that methyl jasmonate treatment significantly decreased the chilling injury, ion leakage, polyphenol oxidase activity and weight loss and retained fruit vitamin C. The highest rate of chilling injury, ion leakage and polyphenol oxidase activity was recorded in control fruits and the lowest rate of these indices was recorded in fruits treated with 16 ml L-1 methyl jasmonate. There was no significant differences between control and methyl jasmonate treated fruits in total soluble solids (TSS) content and pH. The results of this study indicated the positive effects of methyl jasmonate in reducing 'Red Gold' nectarine fruit chilling injury and maintaining fruit quality in low-temperature storage.

In this study, the effects of foliar application of potassium sulfate were evaluated on yield and quality of grape (Vitis vinifera cv. Rashe). Five foliar spray treatments including control, once foliar spray at two concentrations of 1.5 g.l-1 and 3 g.l-1 and two foliar sprays at two concentrations of 1.5 g.l-1 and 3 g.l-1 were used. The first and second foliar spray were done at the end of flowering period and fifteen days after the first spraying, respectively. The results showed that the average berry and cluster weight, total soluble carbohydrates and vitamin C significantly increased compared to control in potassium applied treatments. The difference was not significant between different treatments of potassium sulfate. Foliar application of potassium sulfate significantly increased the average berry volume, berry pulp and berry skin anthocyanin. Twice foliar applications of potassium sulfate treatment at concentration of 3 g.l-1 had the highest amounts of anthocyanin contents. Potassium-sprayed treatments increased total soluble solids and pH of the fruit juice. Titratable acidity was at least in 3 g.l-1 treatment and other treatments were not significantly different. In general, the results of this experiment showed that foliar application of potassium sulfate improves the quantity and quality of the grape berry.

In this research, peach fruits cv. Kousari, were treated at different temperatures of CaCl2 concentrations for 5 minutes as a dipping method. After treatment, fruits were stored at 2-3oC with a relative humidity of 80-90% for 28 days and then, the role of temperature and calcium chloride on qualitative characteristics and shelf life were evaluated every week. The experiment was carried out with five treatments of temperature(4, 8, 16, 32, 64oC) for five minutes and two levels of calcium chloride (0 and 60 mM) as a factorial experiment based on complete randomized design with three replications. The results showed that the temperature of 64oC with calcium chloride was found to be the best treatment to maintain fruit qualitative parameters such as fruit firmness, vitamin C content, total soluble solids, fresh weight loss and calcium content. High temperature treatment without CaCl2 was also effective in maintaining of fruit firmness and reducing fresh weight loss.

In vitro inflorescence development and fruit production can provide a valuable tool for researchers investigating the precise physiological stages of these processes. In this study, inflorescences clusters from Bidaneh Sefid and Seedless grapes were cut off the young shoots growing on canes at spring. Half strength MS medium was used for in vitro cultivation of flowers. After cultivation of each individual inflorescence branches, they continued to development until berry ripening of fruits grown from these explants in vitro. The experiments were set as a factorial using completely randomized design with gibberellin in two levels; (0 and 2.89 mM), benzylaminopurin in three levels; (0, 2.5 and 4 mM) and auxin (indole butyric acid) in three levels; of (0, 2.5 and 4.9 mM) with three replicates for each treatment. Hormone type and concentration were impressive in successful growth of cultivated inflorescences. The cultivated inflorescences started growing, the flowers opened and eventually set fruits in media with 4.9 mM auxin and 4 mM cytokinin treatments. Auxin and cytokinin showed important roles as key hormones involved in flowers opening and fruit set in grapes, while gibberellin was non-significant. Bidaneh Sefid as a Seedless cultivar showed long term survival in vitro and more stable, during growth period of explants compared to Seedless in acclimation to in vitro conditions. Control with no hormone treatment caused browning of flowers on the inflorescences in the medium and in some cases elucidation of browning in blooming flowers and stopped growth and eventually the flowers died.