STRATEGIC RESEARCH JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND NATURAL RESOURCES
Year:2018 | Volume:3 | Issue:2 |Papers Count:8

Natural resources provide some roles in the economic, social and environmental conditions. A reasonable planning coupled with management in the exploitation of these resources can be effective in the development of environmental sustainability. In this study, payment for ecosystem services (PES) as an economic tool for natural resources conservation were studied.Payments for ecosystem service are an innovative approach to conservation that has been applied increasingly often in both developed and developing countries. The basic principle behind PES is that resource users and communities that are in a position to provide environmental services should be compensated for the costs of their provision, and that those who benefit from these services should pay for them. PES, in the world, do not have unique description, but in general can be defined as "the benefits of nature to families, communities and economic systems" or simply "the good things that nature provides to us". Payments for environmental services are promoted as a sustainable alternative to reduce environmental degradation. The cooperation of stakeholders and local communities as well as increase in their income are advantages of this method.

To develop high yielding and environmental stresses tolerant wheat genotypes, quantitative trait loci (QTL) were mapped for various traits and nucleotide diversity of yellow (Yr) and leaf (Lr) rusts genes and resistance gene analogues in resistance and susceptible wheat cultivars and vernalization genes in Iranian wheat landraces were evaluated for development of SNP markers. Population structure of wheat landraces were assessed using microsatellites, vernalization, leaf rust resistance and low molecular glutamine subunits genes. Based on the identified genes and markers toolkit and genomic breeding values, QTL isogenic recombinant inbred lines and genotypes and varieties with multiple genes and QTLs were selected and crossed for development of multi-parental population. Selection of desirable genotypes was started from F3 generation based on grain yield and its components, yellow rust resistance under natural infection, shape and size of flag leaf. The selected genotypes at different generations were evaluated under normal irrigation and rainfed conditions. Under rainfed condition, in the selected F5 genotypes, length of spike varied from 10 to 19 with an average of 13.78 cm and number of grain per spike ranged from 38 to 180 with a mean of 94.20 grain. Under normal irrigation, length of spike and number of grain per spike of the selected genotypes varied from 13 to 24 with a mean of 16.33 cm and 20 to 90 with a mean of 128.14 grain, respectively. The results of this project indicated that application of genomics methods and techniques could increase the efficiency of development of high yielding and environmental stresses tolerant cultivars.

Onion is one of the main vegetable crops in the world and each year different local and foreign genotypes of onions are grown in Iran. Because of many morphological, physiological, cultural and biological differences among these genotypes and their interaction with environmental factors, studies of various onion traits are useful for solving problems related to onion growing in Iran. The results of researches showed that landraces and cultivars have high genetic diversity in relation to vegetative characteristics, yield, and bulb quality. Also, there are high correlations between some of these characteristics that are important for easy selection in breeding programs. The results of breeding researches showed that average yield of polycrossed genotypes is higher than inbred genotypes. Average bolting was higher in seed sowing and lower in seedling transplanting. From various irrigation methods, drip irrigation was better than furrow and basin irrigation in crop production. Use of organic manure increased yield, but the extent of yield increase depended on the chemical composition of the manures and their effects on the physical and chemical properties of the soil. Storage of onion is a way of controlling onion prices. Storage period is related to the number of tunics, the amount of tunic's adherence to scales, the diameter of onion neck and percentage of dry matter.

In 1954, with the importation of broiler pure breeds, industrial poultry farming began in Iran. The per capita chicken meat and egg consumption is now about 25 and 10 kg, respectively.Chicken meat and eggs provide more than 60% of the animal protein consumed by each Iranian individual. Due to wrongful production management and nutrition practices, the raw materials in poultry industry are used with low efficiency (70%). The production period of broiler chickens is too long in Iran and therefore it increases the cost of feed, energy and maintenance. The poor technical knowledge and incompatibility of climatic conditions of the country, such as altitude and lack of land planning, play an important role in reducing the efficiency of poultry farming.Investigating the diversity of the research projects, suggests its incompatibility with the needs of the country, whereas, the performance of poultry farms is equivalent to 73.8% of the genetic potential of commercial strains. With regard to the Iran ranking position in the world (eighth) in broiler chicken production, it may be possible to compensate for the losses caused by the low efficiency of the industry by addressing the problems and providing solutions. Therefore, it seems that in addition to more research efforts, the research direction should be changed toward the requirements of the industry.

There are hard discussions in Iran and all over the world on accepting or rejecting the use of “Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)” in people’s food needs. The pro and con discussions include a wide variety of claims from ignorance, irresponsibility, emotionality, slogans, profitability, mafia and even terroristic objections. The authors of this paper as biologists support human scientific achievements and as biodiversity experts and environmentalists are very concerned about destruction of our environment and its irreversible consequences. Furthermore, the threatening of our green planet by global warming, desertification and instability of natural ecosystems are in the centre of our attention. The crucial question is: What Iran’s priority should be today? The present shortage of water as a result of mismanagement and overuse, drying up large number of wetlands and rivers, destroying of natural vegetation and in particular forests, and increasing soil erosion are among many alarming environmental problems in Iran. A main feature of Iran’s nature is the presence of microclimates and diverse habitats which support living of many “relicts”, “refugee” and “highly isolated” species. The developmental activities often lead to reduction of differences not only in human life styles but also in our activities such as agricultural practices which often lead to the loss of many genetic resources. We need urgent measures to end this kind of approach using scientific understanding, ethics and proper legislature.

Food security is one of the most important challenges with respect to the climate change and population growth. Investment in agricultural research in particular in the field of plant biotechnology can be considered as a powerful tool to comfront, these challenges. Historically, farmers used to harvest their best crop and save it as “seed” for planting in the next season. Plant breeders used the genetic knowledge to improve plants using different techniques. However, in spite of admirable achievements in producing more quality food in less land, traditional plant breeding techniques suffer from different limitations. Genetic engineering that can overcome the mentioned problems is considered as a complementary but more powerful tool to assist plant breeders to comfront their challenges and it is considered the fastest adopted technology in the history of agriculture. Recent advances in genetic engineering such as the advent and application of CRISPR-Cas9 and TALEN for genome editing and gene drive have revolutionized already existing revolutionary technology. These techniques can be used for the improvement of organisms without leaving any transgene inside the final product and hence are required less stringent regulatory procedures in different countries. “Synthetic Biology” provides the opportunity to design from scratch metabolic pathways to produce entirely new products never existed or produce already existing products in closed rooms with new methodologies.Increasing demand and market for these new products guarantee the successful mainstream of this new technology into food and industrially used material for years to come. In this article, these technologies, their applications for attainment of food security, safety considerations and future prospects and challenges, they may be facing, are reviewed.

In this research, the status of greenhouses and their productions in Iran were investigated.This was an applied research and questionnaire was used for to obtain the data. Data were collected for locations, technological conditions, water, soil, soilless culture, type of planting, pests and diseases, marketing, production costs and others. Monovariate statistic was used for descriptive analysis. Data were obtained from selected greenhouses of six provinces of Tehran, Isfahan, Kerman, Markazi, Alborz and Fars, which had the largest areas under greenhouse cultivation.Results showed that the highest frequencies of the ages of greenhouse owners and managers were between 31 to 40 years. Educational fields of 64.5% of greenhouse owners and 62.7% of managers were unrelated to greenhouse operation. Type of culture media in greenhouses were 53.6% soil, 37.3% hydroponics and 9.1% had both types of culture media. Greenhouse coverings of 42.7% of studied greenhouses were polyethylene. Only 38.2% of greenhouses automatically controlled the temperature. Water sources of 74.5% of greenhouses were supplied from the wells and drip irrigation was used in 79.1% of greenhouses. The main cultivated crops were cucumbers (37.3%), cut flowers (25.6%), strawberries (18.2%), and tomatoes (9.1%). Other vegetables and ornamental plants comprised about 10%. Other characteristics were evaluated and suggestions were proposed for improvement of greenhouse operations.

The problems of greenhouses and their production in Iran were evaluated using data based on questionnaire. This part of investigation was related to decision making of greenhouse owners in provinces of Tehran, Isfahan, Kerman, Markazi, Alborz and Fars. Multivariate analysis was used for inferential analysis. Indices were evaluated by sequentially independent variables and 5-step Likert spectrum was used. Also, in regression analyses decision making level was selected as independent variables and each variable which affected the decision making of greenhouse owners was used as independent variable. The results of decision making of greenhouse owners on management of pest control and use of chemical fertilizers were investigated. Results showed that the decisions of greenhouse owners of different cities were not different for using chemical fertilizers, but they made different decisions for pest control. Between number of training courses, distance to market, greenhouse area, type of crop and type of greenhouse cover with decision made by greenhouse owners for using chemical fertilizers were significantly different. Also, significant difference was found between level of education, experience of greenhouse owners, distance to market and type of greenhouse cover, with decision of greenhouse owners for pest control. Finally, the results were discussed and sugestions were made for the decision making of greenhouse owners.