STRATEGIC RESEARCH JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND NATURAL RESOURCES
Year:2015 | Volume:1 | Issue:1 |Papers Count:6

The present state and determining the production problems and also presenting the guidance for quantitative and qualitative improvements of almond, walnut, pistachio and hazelnut, a research was conducted from 2004 to 2005. Firstly, using the statistics published by Ministry of Agricultural Jihad, 19 provinces of important fruit producing and a few cities in each province were selected.Then, using a questionnaire, all aspects of information from these centers were collected. Provinces selected were east Azarbayejan, west Azarbayejan, Ardebil, Isfahan, Tehran, Chaharmahal Bakhtiari, Razavi Khorasan, north Khorasan, south Khorasan, Fars, Kurdestan, Kerman, Kermanshah, Kohkiluieh and Boyerahmad, Lorestan, Mazandaran, Markazi, Hamedan and Yazd.The results showed that in spite of some problems in cultivation of these fruits, especially early spring frost which damages early fruiting species, like almond, walnut and pistachio, average yields per hectare of these species are not less than average yields of important countries in Europe and in some cases they are higher. In the year of experiment, according to FAO report, average yields per hectare of almond were 0.84 in Iran, 4.25 in France, 1.84 in Turkey and 0.33 tons in Spain.Similarly, average yields per hectare of walnut were 2.31 in Iran, 1.66 in France, 1.85 in Turkey and 3.85 tons in Spain. Average yields per hectare of 0.63 and 1.13 tons for hazelnut and pistachio in Iran, respectively, 2.49 tons in France for hazelnut, 0.79 tons in Turkey for pistachio, and 1.00 tons in Spain for hazelnut were reported. These achievements are under situations that a number of reducing factors are present in Iran. The results of this investigation showed that in the years of the study, the production problems include lack of covering insurance or guaranteed market, low knowledge of fruit producers on orchard management particularly pruning irrigation, spraying against insects and deseases, fertilizing etc. It can be concluded that in Iran the potentials for increasing the yields of these crops for internal consumptions and export are available.

Variations that occur in vegetation cover and ecosystem function can be discussed in terms of equilibrium and non-equilibrium theories. In this research, the variation trend of a desert ecosystem, affected by hydrologic regime, was investigated. For this purpose, we recorded floristic data and quantity characteristics of vegetation cover before management initiatives and monitored their trend along a year to identify the pattern of variations. Results indicated after 6 times water spreading and vertical water’s infiltration over 2 meters, plant composition change from perennial grasses to shrubs and finally to semi trees as a result of soil water storage development in the ecosystem. Also their vegetative cover has increased from below 1% in the primary condition of the ecosystem to 34.7% after 3 years of project implementation. The comparison of variations with existed ecological models indicated that variations can be explained based on State and Transition model because of three distinct states that were observed in the site. These states that were derived from the management of transition have led to stability of the area and improvement in environmental conditions.

Due to shortage in the natural resources in Iran especially of water supply, it may be impossible to produce sufficient food for the growing population in the future while avoiding food imports. However, it is possible to find ways to mitigate food problem for the growing population.These solutions are sustainable uses of water and soil resources, use of advanced technology in agricultural inputs, increase in photosynthesis efficiency by use of biotechnology, decrease in loss of agricultural products, decrease in food calorie consumption and red meat based food, avoiding in conversion of feed and forage to biofuels, increase in agricultural products for food, intensification by breeding perennial grain crops, domestication of perennial plants, using biotechnology to produce crops and trees that are resistant to biotic and abiotic stresses, efficient uses of precipitation in rain-fed tree plantation, pasture and forest, use of treated wastewater, desalinization of saline and seawater by solar radiation and reverse osmosis, decrease in water use for crop production by greenhouse cropping, production of medical plants by lower water use, planting new crops and forage plants suitable for saline and seawater use and consideration of virtual water in import of non-strategic agricultural products.

Organic agriculture is a form of agriculture that relies on special ecological regulations and management practices with the goal of sustainability of production and not necessarily maximizing it. In this kind of agriculture, the health of individuals, producers and consumers communities are considered as one and indivisible quality of life. Following principles of health (organic agriculture should sustain and enhance the health of soil, plant, animal, human and planet), ecology (organic agriculture should be based on living ecological systems and cycles, work with them, emulate them and help sustain them), fairness (organic agriculture should build on relationships that ensure fairness with regard to the common environment and life opportunities), care (organic agriculture should be managed in a precautionary and responsible manner to protect the health and well-being of current and future generations and the environment) should be considered. Protection of biodiversity is the basis of this form of agriculture and food chains from production to distribution, marketing, processing and consumption, all are controlled and more attention is paid to quality than quantity. Organic agriculture is based on conservation and maintenance of agricultural resources. In this review article, all aspects of organic agriculture in different branches of agricultural science particularly horticultural science and their limitations are discussed and suggestions are made for developing organic agriculture in Iran.

Crop production challenges in Iran are: preserving natural resources, climate change and environmental sustainability. A nation who could not be able to save his environment including soil erosion, forests, climate change and increasing consumption of natural resources, would not be survived. Such nations, like Polynesians and Mayan people are cited in this article. Ignoring soil erosion through agricultural activities has been the cause of plaguing ancient civilizations, too.Increasing cultivated area without specific plans, deforestation, overgrazing, overusing of fertilizers, insecticides, and fossil fuels cause environmental contaminations, increase greenhouse gases, increasing air temperature which altogether result in change in precipitation pattern, incidence of droughts, floods, dust storms, and water shortage in the area. Confrontation of these challenges are: population control, sustainable consumption pattern, reducing the use of insecticides and fertilizers, range and forests conservation as carbon sequestering sources, suitable cultivation methods like notillage, replacing fossil energy by renewable energy, making logical balance between development and ecological strength of environment, breeding agronomic and horticultural cultivars resistant to heat, drought, pests and diseases, and using new agricultural management policies. Environmental factors affecting crop yields are: water, land, soil, soil nutrition, energy, food, biodiversity, solid waste recycling, management and climate change. In addition, drought, temperature, atmosphere CO2 and ozon, biotic and abiotic stresses affect crop production, too. The food needs of Iran for strategic crops such as wheat, rice, sugar, fat, barley, corn, and pulses for now and for 2025 and 2050, with respect to population growth, have been estimated. To meet the food needs of growing population in Iran, increasing cultivated areas should not be considered. Instead, genetics and breeding approaches to develop new cultivars and also production and management techniques should be taken into account. Management approaches such as efficient water use, new cultivation techniques, efficient use of fertilizers, precision seed planters, integrated pest management (IPM) and new cropping information technology have been discussed in this article. Our planet earth is sustainable in terms of water and sunshine. Natural resources and environment are the main background for agricultural activities and their safeguarding is the main factor for agricultural production in any habitat.

Climate change and water scarcity is the most important current and future challenge of Iran’s agriculture. Improving the resilience of climate depended socio-economic systems depends on understanding the climate change and it impacts. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to use available literature to develop a conceptual model to explain the link between climate change, poverty and vulnerability in developing countries including Iran.The conceptual model proposed by this study provides a clear and visual understanding of the processes involved. The phenomenon of climate change is happening and we will observe changes in average climatic conditions, climate variability, frequency and magnitude of extreme events such as heat stress, drought and flooding.The causal conditions of climate change are both natural and anthropogenic. The anthropogenic or human induced change is of great importance because they are responsible for unprecedented current and future climate change. Most predictive models indicate that the consequences of climate change for developing countries are increasing poverty and food insecurity. Historical analysis of Iran’s agricultural water resources indicated that the intrinsic sustainability of water resources has been lost and the country is facing water crisis. Farmers’ capacity for sustainable water management has reduced and it seems difficult for the waster system of the country to remain resilient. Population increase, decrease of per capita available water resources, reduction of possibility to increase cultivation area and increase in socioeconomic disparities will contribute to poverty and food insecurity. Therefore an integrated drought mitigation action plan is needed to improve the copying ability of agricultural socioeconomic systems of Iran.