JOURNAL OF CROP PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING
Year:2018 | Volume:8 | Issue:1 |Papers Count:9

The aim of this research was to investigate the effect of different concentrations of chitosan coating on the quality and shelf life of a local cultivar of banana. The factorial experiments of this research were conducted on a completely random basis and also replicated three times in a warehouse at 15˚C and in relative humidity of 85-90%. The treatments consisted of four chitosan concentrations (0, 0.5, 1 and 2%) and characteristics such as weight, hardness, rottenness, phenol content, antioxidant content, pH, titratable acidity and soluble solid materials, vitamin C, polyphenol oxidase enzyme, level of browning and coloring were measured on days 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20. The obtained results showed that chitosan treatment improved some qualitative characteristics in banana fruits. Chitosan delayed water loss and weight loss, hardness, ascorbic acid content and coloring. The highest incidence index (8.09%) was obtained from the control treatment and its lowest value (2.45%) was obtained from applying 2% chitosan after 20 days. The contents of the soluble solid materials and organic acids increased during storage and the banana fruits treated with 1 and 2% chitosan had the lowest soluble solid materials and acid contents. Also, at the end of the storage period, the fruits treated with 1 and 2% chitosan had the highest pH, phenol content and total antioxidant content. Finally, it was concluded that chitosan treatments with concentrations of 1 and 2 % can significantly increase and maintain the quality of banana fruits during storage.

Water resources are limited. Thus, one of the ways to prevent the decline of maize yield under water shortage conditions is the use of growth regulators. In this study, the effects of proline (150 mg/L) and salicylic acid (0.5 mmol) on the yield and water use efficiency of maize were investigated under three irrigation regimes, including complete irrigation (control), 75% of complete irrigation (mild stress) and 50% of complete irrigation (severe stress). The experiment was performed as a split plot in a randomized complete block design with three replications in 2016. The results showed that drought stress significantly reduced the relative water content, chlorophyll and carotenoids concentrations, leaf area index, leaf weight, stem weight, ear weight, yield, and water use efficiency, as compared to complete irrigation. However, the extent of the drought-induced decreases in the latter traits varied, such that the smallest and greatest decreases were found in leaf area index (9.66%) and the carotenoids concentration (78%), respectively. According to our results, although drought stress suppressed maize yield and its components, the application of proline under mild drought stress led to the improvment in forage yield and water use efficiency by increasing the leaf relative water content and partial amelioration of the suppressions in leaf, stem and ear weights. Foliar-applied proline indicated a greater efficacy in ameliorating drought stress effects on forage yield and water use efficiency, compared to foliar-applied salicylic acid. Therefore, foliar application of proline is potent to be adopted as a suitable criterion to increase tolerance to drought stress in silage maize.

Adding compost and vermicompost organic fertilizers to soil can improve soil physical conditions, nutrient elements and microorganisms. In the present study, the effect of the cow manure, vermicompost, and urea chemical fertilizer, alone or in combination, on the yield and qualitative characteristics of basil (Ocimuom basilicum L.) was investigated. The experiment was conducted as a split plot based on the complete randomized block design in 2013. The treatments included 6 levels of fertilizers as the main factor, and two green and purple basil cultivars as the sub factor; three harvest times were taken as the sub-sub factor. Dual treatments of organic fertilizers and urea, as compared with the organic fertilizers treatment alone, did not lead to any statistically significant increase in the yield of fresh and dry plants. However, the amount of nitrate in the plant organs was increased in the combination treatments of organic fertilizers with urea. Except for the amount of plant’s nitrate, the green basil was better than purple one with regard to the antioxidant capacity, yield and vegetative traits. In terms of the harvest time, the highest yield and antioxidant capacity were observed in the second harvest. These results clearly showed the positive effect of the use of organic fertilizers on increasing the yield and quality of the basil plant. Therefore, according to the findings of this experiment, by using animal manure and vermicompost organic fertilizers, it is possible to lower the application of chemical fertilizers and prevent their harmful effects on the environment.

In order to study the efficacy of nicosulfuron in the control of redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L.) using adjuvants, a greenhouse experiment was conducted at the Research Greenhouse, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ferdowsi, Mashhad, Iran. The experiment was carried out as a factorial based on a randomized complete block design with four replications. Treatments included adjuvant application in 11 levels (cotton oil, rapeseed oil, soybean oil, maize oils, AdigorÒ, VolckÒ, HydroMaxTM, Cytogate, TrendÒ 90, D-octil® and control (without the adjuvants), doses of nicosulfuron in six levels: 0 (control), 5, 10, 20, 40, and 80 g a.i ha-1 (0, 6.25, 1205, 25, 50, and 100% recommended herbicide dose). Dry weight, fresh weight, survival and control percent were measured. The results showed that herbicide rate, adjuvant use and their interaction had a significant effect on the examined attributes. Dry weight, fresh weight and pigweed survival were decreased, while the control percent was increased significantly, when herbicide dose was enhanced. Also, the results showed that by using the adjuvants, ED10, ED50 and ED90 values were decreased significantly, while nicosulfuron efficacy in the redroot pigweed control was raised significantly; further, the highest relative potential of hebricide was obtained by HydroMaxTM and TrendÒ. In other words, when HydroMaxTM and Trend Ò were combined with nicosulfuron, herbicide efficacy in controlling the dry weight and the fresh weight of redroot pigweed indicated a three-fold increase.

By storing the cantaloupe fruit in the optimum conditions, it can be provided over a longer period of time with a more optimal quality in the domestic markets; its exports to other countries can be expanded and developed. This study was intended to utilize ethylene absorbents in order to preserve postharvest characteristics in the cantaloupe fruit. Therefore, fruits of Cucumis melo were stored in nano-zeolite packets with 7% potassium permanganate (KMnO4) and 7% KMnO4 coated paper straws during 35 days of storage at 6°C and seven day intervals. Accordingly, significant quantitative and qualitative traits such as weight changes, fruit firmness, ascorbic acid, titratable acidity, pH of the fruit extract, soluble solids, electrolyte leakage, and ethylene production were investigated. The results revealed that at the end of the experiment, in the nano-zeolite treatment, the fruit weight was increased by 7%, fruit firmness was enhanced by 2 kg/cm2, and ascorbic acid content was increased by 29%, compared to those in the control samples. Also, the treatment with nano-zeolite, approximately 14 to 21 days after the start of storage, showed acceptable results in maintaining the desired characteristics of the fruit. However, the use of paper straws improved the quality of the cantaloupe fruit during the first two weeks of fruit storage. In addition, although the maximum amount of ethylene production by the cantaloupe fruit after 35 days of storage was recorded to be 8.93 mL/g-1/h-1 there was no significant difference in terms of ethylene production between treatments due to the minimum amount of ethylene produced by the cantaloupe fruit.

In order to investigate the effect of bio-fertilizers on the effective physiological characteristics and to improve the performance of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and black cumin (Nigella sativa L.) in different ratios of intercropping, a field experiment was conducted as a factorial based on a randomized complete block design with three replications; this study was carried out at the research farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, Urmia University, Iran, in 2016. Treatments included two levels of bio-fertilizers (consumption of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium supplier bacteria) and non bio-fertilizers, and 5 planting ratios (0: 100, 25: 75, 50: 50, 75: 25 and 100: 0) of common bean- black cumin. The maximum seed yield and the biological yield of black cumin (54.20 and 118.40 g m-2) were obtained by sole cropping with the use of bio-fertilizers. The percentage of oil and chlorophyll b of the black cumin was increased by 17.34 and 14.36%, respectively, in the 50: 50 planting ratio; On the other hand, chlorophyll b and carotenoids of bean were increased by 13.74 and 10.38%, respectively, in the 50: 50 planting ratio, as compared to the sole cropping systems. The highest yield of oil (1.24 g m-2) and essential oil (0.51%) of the black cumin belonged to sole cropping with the application of bio-fertilizers. The highest land equivalent ratio (1.50) was also obtained in the 50: 50 planting ratio with the application of bio-fertilizers. This means that seed yield per unit area in intercropping was improved up to 50%, as compared with seed yield by sole cropping. With respect to the higher yield (the quantitive and qualitive yield of both two species) and sustainable agricultural objectives, the 50: 50 planting ratio along with application of bio-fertilizers could be appropriate.

To determine the appropriate proportion of oat mixed cropped with berseem clover under manure application levels, an experiment was carried out in the crop year 2015-2016; this study was carried out in Khuzestan Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, as a split-plot design on the basis of RCBD with three replications. In this experiment, manure levels including: 0, 12, 24and 36 ton.ha-1 from the composted cow manure, and five proportions of oat mixed cropped with clover, which included I: sole crop of oat, II: 75% oat+25% clover, III: 50% oat+50% clover, IV: 25% oat+75% clover, and V: clover sole cropped, were placed in the main plot and sub-plots, respectively. The results showed that the highest dry forage yield (12849 kg.ha-1) was obtained from the 50% oat mixed with the 50% clover, and the highest fresh forage yield was obtained from the 25% oat mixed with the 75% clover in the rate of 36 ton.ha-1 of manure. The highest N content of forage (3.41%) was observed by the sole cropping of clover. On the other hand, the highest amounts of N harvest from the soil (384.65 kg.ha-1), the P contents of forage (0.41%), and the P harvest from the soil (52.68 kg.ha-1) were obtained from the 50% oat mixed cropped with 50% of clover in the rate of 36 ton.ha-1 of manure. In addition, the highest fructose and glucose contents were observed in the sole cropping of oat in the rate of 24 ton.ha-1 of manure. The highest Ca and Fe contents were also found in the sole cropping of clover and the treatment of the 75% oat mixed cropped with the 25% clover, respectively. Generally, it could be concluded that the use of clover as some N fixing crop in the soil along with oat in the rate of 36 ton.ha-1 of manure could result in the optimum forage yield and quality.

This study was done to investigate and compare fruit yield, yield components, morphological traits and fruit quality of greenhouse tomato genotypes in order to use them as selection criteria. Progenies of 49 crosses of greenhouse tomato together with their 13 parents were evaluated using Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. The highest amount of fruit yield was observed in the progenies of the crosses 20, 25 and 46. On the other hand, the progenies of the crosses 17 and 18, which showed the highest amount of fruit quality, also had a suitable fruit yield. The highest number of fruits was observed in the progenies of the crosses 18, 16 and 19. In order to selecte the most effective traits as the selection criteria, broad and narrow sense heritabilities were estimated under two growing seasons by uniparentalperogeny, biparental-perogeny regression, and parental-perogeny correlation. The amount of broad sense heritability ranged from 45 to 92% in the first season and from 43 to 80% in the second one. Therefore, the traits including the total fruit yield, fruit weight, pericarp thickness, Brix, and PH were suggested for selecting the best genotypes, because of the higher level of heritability in these traits. Higher amounts of narrow-sense heritability in number of fruit per cluster and internode length suggested that these traits are appropriate as selection criteria. But the results showed that selection criteria varied in different environmental conditions.

Enhancing the quality of transplant to reduce production costs is an important in tomato production. For this reason, the effects of growth retardants and the planting date on the tomato plant (Cheff) were investigated in this study. The first experiment involved five treatments (Paclobutrazol 0, 250 and 500 mg/L and Cycocel 0, 500 and 1000 mg/L), based on a complete randomized design in Laboratory. The second experiment was conducted as a factorial complete randomized design with two factors. These factors included seed soaking by growth retardants at 5 levels (Paclobutrazol 0, 250 and 500 mg/L and Cycocel 0, 500 and 1000 mg/L) and 3 levels of planting date (mid-December, January and February), with three replications. The results indicated that the effects of the growth Retardant on the diameter of transplant and the interaction of two treatments on the transplant length, the fresh weight and dry weight of shoots and roots, leaf area, chlorophyll content, plant height at the first flowering, the number of flowers in the first cluster, and fruit quality were all significant. The thickest transplant (2.1 cm) was obtained by the application of paclobutrazol 500 and the lowest height of transplant (3.1 cm) was found in the combination of the first planting date with paclobutrazol in a 500 mg/L rate. The maximum yield of fruit (1.4 kg/plant) belonged to the first planting date. Overall, the findings indicated that to increase the quality of transplant, the 500 mg/L of paclobutrazol, and the first and second planting dates were more effective treatments.