Iranian Journal of Soil and Water Research
Year:2020 | Volume:51 | Issue:6|Papers Count:20

The present study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of digital hemispherical photography (DHP) in deriving LAI in silage maize farms in the south of Tehran. For this purpose, the DHP as well as destructive measurements for comparison were used to estimate LAI in silage maize farms in Qaleh-Now County in the south of Tehran in 2018 considering the nature of spatio-temporal variability in agricultural fields during a growing season. The results showed LAI obtained through DHP at different periods of plant growth has a strong linear correlation with the values measured by the destructive method (R2 = 0. 92, RMSE = 0. 45 and Bias = 0. 31). However, the intermediate LAI range (LAI: 2-<5) with RMSE=0. 63 and Bias = 0. 49 is less accurate than the LAI<2 range (RMSE = 0. 36, Bias = 0. 24) and LAI≥ 5 range (RMSE = 0. 41, Bias = 0. 28). The extinction coefficient is a parameter required for the implementation of agricultural models that in most studies, its value is assumed through similar researches. But in this study, the extinction coefficient which is required to calculate LAI by DHP, was calculated to be K=0. 51.

Crop model parameters are influenced by different management and environmental conditions. Sensitivity analysis is recognized as an effective approach for identifying the most influential parameters in the modelling process and output uncertainty assessment. In present study, the sensitivity of AquaCrop model parameters for basil was evaluated under different nitrogen fertilizer stresses. For this purpose, an experiment was conducted in the research greenhouse of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran. Crop growth parameters used for sensitivity analysis include normalized water productivity (WP*), initial canopy cover (CC0), maximum transpiration coefficient (KCTrx), canopy growth coefficient (CGC) and canopy decline coefficient (CDC) which analyzed by Beven (1979) approach. The results showed that the highest sensitivity of the AquaCrop model was due to the change in the WP* parameter. Therefore, it is necessary to calibrate this parameter under different environmental conditions and for diverse crop species to increase the accuracy and performance of the model. Also, comparison of the sensitivity coefficients obtained for each of the growth parameters showed that by increasing nitrogen fertilizer stress, the model sensitivity also increased. But the growth rate was not the same among the selected parameters. In other words, the impressibility of parameters was different from nitrogen deficiency.

Investigation of water quality variations in rivers is one of the important criteria for determining the health of watershed. Quantitative and qualitative monitoring plays an important role in sustainable management of river ecosystems. In this regard, the present study was carried out to evaluate the water quality of Ziarat River in Golestan Province, after water sampling from six stations along the river from December 2016 to July 2017 using NSFWQI index. Correlation analysis and cluster analysis were also used to find out the relationships between physical and chemical parameters of water. The results were compared with the standard values of the World Health Organization (WHO) and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The results of this study shows higher values of BOD, Na, Ca and PO4 at the downstream station, as compared to the ones in the upstream stations due to reciving wastewater from different sources. Statistical analysis indicates that there is a significant and strong relationship between some physical and chemical parameters of the river. The results showed that the mean concentration of DO, TDS, Cl, Na, Po4 and NO3 are 5. 4, 627. 5, 110. 02, 48. 5 and 9. 25 mg/l respectively, and the mean value of Electrical Conductivity was 1028 μ s/cm. The comparison of NSFWQI values at the six stations of Ziarat River in different seasons indicated that the first station (Tolboneh, Upstream) had the highest value (55) in May, and the sixth station (Downstream) had the lowest value (35) in July. According to this index, the river water quality is medium in the upstream station and bad in the midstream and downstream stations. The results interpretation showed from upstream toward downstream stations, the pollution load increases and the water quality decreases. Therefore, in order to manage the river water quality, the focus should be done on emission control of point source and nonpoint sourec pollusions. The results of this study provide the opportunity for decision on monitoring and controlling pollutant sources and the proper measures for restoration of river ecosystem for effective use in various applications. Finally, according to the results obtained from NSFWQI index, it can be said that the NSFWQI index describes the quality of water resources easily and reliably and its application is usefull for water resources management of other rivers.

Gully erosion is one of the most important types of water erosion, due to sediment production and severe soil degradation. There is a few information on development of gully erosion in agricultural rainfed areas. This study was carried out to investigate the relationship among gully morphometric characteristics and to find out the effect of land factors (gully length, slope, surface drainage area, land use and plough direction) on gully formation. Also, some conservation strategies for reducing soil losses were studied in a 900 km2 agricultural area in south of Eastern Azarbijan province. For this purpose, 223 gullies were identified in the study area and some characteristics including length, width, depth, elevation difference between the two sides of gully, cross section area and volume, along with land factors consist of slope gradient of land and upland, slope length, surface drainage area, and management factors (land use and plough direction) were determined. Based on the results, gullies have developed in the areas with a drainage surface ranged from 1. 5 to 45. 1 ha and their length varies from 52 to 2088 m and the volume is between 150 and 35088 m3. Significant correlations are found between gully volume and length, width, depth, shape factor and cross section area. The length is the most important morphometric characteristics to explain gully volume in the lands. Gully development is directly affected by land’ s factors including the elevation difference between the two sides of gully (r= 0. 51), surface drainage area (r= 0. 71), and length (r= 0. 78), while it inversely affected by land and upland slope. The gully length is the major factor controlling gully erosion in the area. So that in long slopes, the longitudinal development of the gully and consequently the volumetric expansion of the gully is more. In such areas it is necessary to carry out soil conservation practices.

Nickel toxicity in agricultural crops is one of the most common problems in recent years. However, few studies have been conducted on the effect of iron oxides on the reduction of nickel toxicity in crops. The goals of this research were to investigate the effects of non-stabilized and Na carboxymethylcellulose (Na-CMC)-stabilized hematite on mobility reduction and phytoavailability of nickel and to study their effects on some agronomic traits, concentrations of phosphorus, potassium, iron, zinc and nickel in maize. For this purpose, a factorial experiment was conducted using a completely randomized design with three replications. The experimental factors were types and dosages of adsorbents; two types of adsorbents including non-stabilized (H) and Na-CMC-stabilized hematite (H-CMC) at four levels (0, 0. 25, 0. 5 and 1%) and different levels of soil total Ni (25, 75, 125, 175 and 325 mg kg-1). The results showed that with increasing total soil nickel concentration, shoot height, shoot and root dry weight and concentrations of potassium, phosphorus, iron and zinc in the shoot of maize were decreased and nickel concentration increased. At the contaminated level of 325 mg/kg nickel, concentrations of potassium, phosphorus, iron and zinc were decreased about 43. 56, 47. 98, 73. 79 and 86. 03%, respectively, and shoot height and dry weight were decreased about 36. 86 and 42. 56% respectively as compared to control treatment. The results also showed that the application of adsorbents in soil increased the concentration of K, P, Fe and Zn and decreased the concentration of nickel in maize. By applying 0. 5% HCMC, the concentration of nickel in the shoot and root of maize decreased by 52. 61 and 46. 84% respectively, followed by the concentration of potassium, phosphorus, iron and zinc in the shoot increased about 20. 55, 18. 68, 61. 66 and 48. 81% respectively, as compared to control treatment.

Application of sewage sludge in low organic matter agricultural soils is one of the most important methods for healthy recycling of such organic waste. But the presence of contaminants such as heavy metals in sewage sludge may pose risks and hazards to humans and the environment, which must be evaluated before use. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of industrial abattoir refinery sludge, produced in Sanandaj city, on improving the soil quality and health. Furthermore, the effect of sludge on the soil chemical properties was investigated by treating the soil with 12 ton ha-1 of sludge and incubating it for 70 days. The results of comparing sludge properties with valid standards showed that this sludge is in the standard range of organic fertilizers for agricultural purposes in terms of pH, total C, N, K, Na, Mn, Fe, Zn, Pb, Ni and Cd. But the salinity of the sludge with a Hazard Quotient (HQ) of 1. 5 was slightly above the standard level of organic fertilizers for agricultural purposes. Furthermore, soil treated with the sludge increased N (148. 4%), NO3 (113. 7%), C (20%), P (118. 2%), Fe (90. 7%), Zn (440%) and Na (66%) as compared to the control soil. Based on the results of this assessment, in general the quality of the sludge is suitable for agricultural purposes. However, it is suggested that the sludge is examined in terms of microbial and organic contamination before it is used in agriculture.

Due to the importance of irrigation management and optimum use of fertilizer in each region, a factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design was conducted to investigate the effect of different irrigation and fertilizer levels on yield and water productivity of autumn wheat (Chamran-2) in Khorramabad. Totally 27 plots including three irrigation levels (100%, 75% and 50% of water requirement), three fertilizer levels (100, 150 and 200 kg ha-1) and three replications were used in the research farm of the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources of Lorestan University. In this study, grain yield, biological yield, thousand seed weight, pod length, plant height, irrigation water productivity (grain yield and biological yield) and rain water productivity (grain yield and biological yield) were investigated. The results showed that the highest amount of traits were obtained in I100N200 treatment, so that the grain yield and biological yield were measured to be 3407/41 and 11097/51 kg ha-1, respectively. Also, the lowest amounts of grain yield and biological yield were observed in I50N100 treatment with 45. 65 and 32. 60% reduction in yield, respectively, as compared to full irrigation treatment. Interaction of water stress and nitrogen in all irrigation treatments showed by increasing nitrogen fertilizer up to 200 kg ha-1, the grain yield and biological yield increased. The results also showed that the interaction of irrigation and nitrogen fertilizer treatments on irrigation water productivity (grain yield) and rain water productivity (grain and biological yield) is significant at 1% level. The I50N200 treatment with 3. 24 kg m-3 (grain yield) and 10. 78 kg m-3 (biological yield) had the highest irrigation water productivity.

One of the new methods for estimation of rainfall is SM2Rain algorithm which calculates rainfall using soil moisture variations and inverse solution of soil water balance equation. This research addressed the efficiency of SM2Rain algorithm for rainfall estimation over the semi-arid (Khorasan-Razavi) and humid (Mazandaran) climate regions of Iran using ASCAT surface soil moisture dataset during 2006-2013. Findings indicate that the basin-averaged value of correlation coefficient (CC) between the estimated and observed datasets for Khorasan-Razavi and Mazandaran areas is 0. 70 and 0. 62, respectively. Results in the south and south-west regions of Khorasan-Razavi showed that the SM2Rain algorithm with the CC value of 0. 84 and RMSE value of 3. 9 mm/day (basin-averaged) performs very well, while in the north parts of the province with the CC value of 0. 54 and RMSE value of 7. 7 mm/day, the performance of this algorithm is relatively low. Also, the performance of SM2Rain algorithm in most parts of the Mazandaran province, especially in east and central parts, is acceptable and the basin-averaged values of CC and RMSE are 0. 72 and 3. 9 mm/day, respectively. The results also showed that by adding evapotranspiration term to SM2Rain algorithm, the efficiency of modified algorithm in estimation of rainfall increases about 10-18% in both regions. Furthermore, by using the modified SM2Rain algorithm over the Khorasan-Razavi, the basin-averaged value of relative bias (RBias) decreases from-21. 9% to 9. 3% and in Mazandaran region, the RBias decreases from-36. 9 to 7. 9%. The findings of this research indicate that the estimated rainfall with the SM2Rain algorithm can be considered as an alternative or supplementary dataset for ground-based observations, especially in ungauged catchments or data-limited areas.

In order to study the effect of nitrogen and irrigation application with sugar-cane effluent on yield, yield components, grain nitrogen and nitrogen use efficiency of Quinoa (Gizzavan), a field trial was conducted as split plot design in 2018-19. In this experiment, four levels of nitrogen fertilizer (0, 75, 150, 225 kg ha-1) using urea fertilizer as a main factor and three levels of irrigation water including control (Karun river water with 2. 5 dS m-1 salinity), alternative irrigation with river water and sugar-cane effluent (with salinity of about 5 dS m-1), and irrigation with sugar-cane effluent (with 7. 5 dS m-1 salinity) as sub-factor were performed in three replications. The maximum leaf area index, grain yield, index harvesting and nitrogen content of quinoa seed were obtained with application of 150 kg N ha-1. The maximum 1000-grain weight (2. 77 g) was observed in treatment irrigated with Karun river water. Application of 150 kg N ha-1 and alternative irrigation improved leaf area index (51%), grain yield (79%), harvest index (60%), grain nitrogen content (61%) and finally increased nitrogen use efficiency. In irrigation treatment using sugarcane effluent, increasing nitrogen levell in the soil, not only did not mitigate the adverse effects of salinity, but also decreased the nitrogen content of the seed. Generally, the results of this study indicated that using adequate nitrogen fertilizer can mitigate the detrimental effects of salinity on plant growth and yield.

Water balance estimation techniques are one of the main issues in hydrology and the tools to face the important hydrological problems. One of the most important challenges to estimate the groundwater balance components is uncertainty in the proposed inflow and outflow parameters, such as recharge rate. The recharge rate is varied temporally and spatially and it's directly measurement is very difficult. For this purpose, in this study to accurately estimate the recharge rate component of groundwater balance, WetSpass-M distributed model was applied using the meteorological data, landuse map, soil texture map, leaf area index map using Landsat8 images and operation wells data (irrigation of gardens and agricultural lands, industrial and drinking uses) in the study area of Rafsanjan plain, Kerman province. The model was run monthly for 8 years. In order to calibrate and validate the model, monthly surface flow measured data of the hydrometric station was used. Due to the negligible surface flow rates in the study area, actual evapotranspiration data estimated by remote sensing techniques were also used to evaluate and control the reliability of the data and different components of the water balance. According to the previous studies, the mean total precipitation and the average withdrawal from the operation wells during the simulation period are 300 and 683 MCM/year, respectively. The estimated evapotranspiration and groundwater recharge rate were averagely 564. 7 and 422. 1 MCM/year, respectively. The model results indicated that the two components of recharge and evapotranspiration rates contribute a large portion in the water balance of the plain.

At the same time with development of agricultural and industrial activities and reduction of quantity and quality of water resources, assessment of surface water resources quality has been paid more attention. Due to limitations of conventional methods for surface water quality assessment, development of alternative methods has been considered for monitoring water quality. For example, biomonitoring using alga is a proper indicator for surface water quality assessment. In this study, the relationship between epilithic alga population and concentration of common nutrient residuals including nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, sulfate and water-soluble iron in Bozhan and Kharw Rivers in Neishabour was determined in two consecutive years; 2017 and 2018. IRWQISC quality index for Bozhan and Kharw River was calculated as 50. 03, 66. 65% and 47. 66, 55. 69% during 2017-2018 respectively, which ranged between moderate to relatively good. Significant differences were observed in the concentrations of phosphate and iron in Bozhan River. The source of iron could be due to effluent from Bozhan village gardens. This gardens use Sequesteren iron fertilizer with no management. Due to the direct role of these nutrients in stimulating growth of alga communities, distribution rate of epilithic alga in Bozhan River was shown to be more than the ones in Kharw River. Therefore, investigation of changes in alga communities as a proper bioindicator could be useful for assessment and prediction of residuals such as phosphate and iron ions in water resources. These findings could be used in better recommendations for gardening and more accurate management of drainage water entering the riverside by studying the distribution of algal communities.

There are different models for estimation of evaporationspiration that are based on humidity, radiation, temperature and compound groups. The main purpose of this study is to calibrate the evaporationspiration methods and to select the best one for different climatical conditions in provinces of Iran. Meteorological data were collected from 10 synoptic stations in provinces of Iran. The comparison among the potential evaporationspiration, calculated based on the available four experimental groups and observational lysimeter data, for selection of the best model showed that the Hargreaves-Samani method (1985) with R2< 0. 94 and RMSE < 1mm/day was the superior one in the proposed seven provinces and was identified as the best method in the provinces with dry and semi-arid climate. While, the humid methods showed proper results in central provinces and Caspian Sea basin (with moderate and humid climate) and Albrecht (1950) method was selected as the best method among them in these provinces.

In this paper, using a 3D numerical model, the flow pattern at lateral intake was simulated. A three-dimensional finite volume model with standard   k was developed to solve turbulence equations. In order to simulate the main and diversion channels, only one block with varied domain arrays was used. The Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations are solved in a curvilinear non-orthogonal coordinate system with collocated grid. Pressure correction algorithm of SIMPLE and convection schemes of Power Law are applied to the model. In addition, for velocity-pressure coupling; the Rhie and Chow method were used. Experimental data obtained from laboratory study is utilized to verify the model computations. The flow pattern at lateral intake with oneblock numerical method was modeled. The numerically modeled results show acceptable agreement with the measured data and demonstrate the capability of the developed numerical model.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of subsurface drip irrigation on leaf area index, root distribution, quality and yield of sugarcane for the first ratoon. Two fields including one field with subsurface drip irrigation and other field with closed-end furrow irrigation were studied as control. Three measurement stations were selected in each field. The results were statistically analyzed. Number of plants, number of green leaves, leaf length and width over one meter were counted and measured six times at 91, 99, 105, 112, 119 and 128 days after harvesting of plant, respectively. Leaf number and leaf length and leaf width were not significantly different in both irrigations. Number, length and width of leaves in furrow irrigation averaged 7. 6, 100 and 3. 2 cm and in subsurface drip irrigation averaged 7. 2, 101 and 2. 9 cm. The number of plants and LAI were significantly different at 99 and 95% level. The number of plants and LAI were in subsurface drip irrigation 2. 06 and 1. 77 times higher than furrow irrigation, respectively. The LAI value was affected by the number of plants. The value of all qualitative parameters in subsurface drip irrigation was higher than furrow irrigation, but none of them had significant differences in two types of irrigation. Weight of 20 stalks, brix, POL, purity (PTY), yield (Y) and sugar yield (SY) in subsurface drip irrigation 9. 7%, 1. 3%, 2%, 0. 08%, 2. 8% and 45. 4% were more than furrow irrigation respectively. Weight, length, area and volume in subsurface drip irrigation were 32. 9%, 42. 4%, 42. 4% and 42. 5% more than furrow irrigation, respectively. Diameter of root in subsurface drip irrigation was 1. 9 times less than furrow irrigation. Therefore, roots in subsurface drip irrigation were finer and deeper than the furrow irrigation. Also, in subsurface drip irrigation the roots were 20% deeper than furrow irrigation. The efficiency of subsurface drip irrigation and furrow irrigation was 88. 2% and 62. 3%, respectively. Water use efficiency in subsurface drip and furrow irrigation was 9. 43 and 8. 01 kg/mm. ha, respectively.

Development of numerical models for management and assessment of irrigation systems is an important step for establishing farm decision support systems. In this study, a coupled model has been developed for simulation of furrow irrigation using 1D fully hydrodynamic form of Saint-Venant equations and 3D fullyform of Richards’ equation. The Saint-Venant equations have been discretized by an explicit scheme while the Richards’ equation has been solved by an implicit scheme. Furthermore, coordinate transformation technique was employed to handle non-orthogonal grids of 3D Richards’ equation. The model was subsequently validated using experimental and numerical data and in all cases acceptable accuracy was observed. Root mean square error and mean absolute error for the advance phase were 0. 63 and 2. 63 sec, respectively. Furthermore, the maximum root mean square error and the mean absolute error for pressure head distribution were obtained 0. 24 and 0. 45 m, respectively. Finally, the proposed model was employed to simulate furrow irrigation for five irrigation events and the results were analyzed. The results showed that the proposed model is able to simulate advance phase of furrow irrigation.

In order to investigate the effect of biofertilizers on growth indices of maize (Zea mays L. ) in lead-contaminated soils, a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design with three replications was conducted in the greenhouse of soil science department at Zanjan University in 2015. Factor I included: soil contamination levels of lead (0, 50, 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg soil) and Factor Ι Ι , No inoculation (C), inoculation with soluble bacteria, Phosphate (Pseudomonas putida) (P), inoculation with Funneliformis mosseae (M), inoculation with mycorrhizal fungus Funneliformis mosseae + phosphate solubilizing bacterium (M + P), inoculation with Rhizophagus intraradices mycorrhizal (I), inoculation with mycorrhizal fungi Rhizophagus intraradices + phosphate-solubilizing bacterium (I + P). The measured parameters were leaf chlorophyll index, plant height, lead of shoot and root, Copper and Iron of root and shoot. Inoculation of soil with mycorrhizal fungi and bacteria improved plant growth and yield indices in the absence of lead. Inoculation with mycorrhizal fungus Funneliformis mosseae + phosphate-solubilizing bacterium (I + P) increased leaf chlorophyll index 11. 65% compared to the no-inoculation treatment (control). Also, biofertilizers were able to increase the amount of absorbed lead in the plant root compared to the control treatment by 61. 9%. In other words, they are able to retain the absorbed lead from the soil by plant root. According to the obtained results at the critical concentration of lead (400 mg/kg soil), biofertilizers could not have a beneficial and increasing effect on chlorophyll index and plant height. However, at lower concentrations of Pb, biofertilizers can decrease the harmful and adverse effects of these heavy metals on shoot and root of plant.

Dust storms can be one of the most important causes of air pollution in areas with dust sources and also in nearby areas. The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes rate of deposition and the pattern of particle size distribution of dust due to climatic factors around the dust. For this purpose, 30 stations were selected to install marine sediment Marbles traps in the city of Hoveizeh and Susangerd. Each month after collecting the dust samples, the rate of deposition and particle size distribution pattern of the dust were determined. The results of the dust particle deposition showed that the highest and the lowest monthly dust deposition occurred in May and March, respectively. The particle size distribution results showed that silt components form more than 80% of the deposited dust particles. Regarding the similarity of the texture of dust particles with the soil texture of the Hoveizeh-Khorramshahr dust source and also the land features and wind direction pattern of the study area, the origin of these dust storms is known to be from the neighboring areas of Khuzestan province, and probably from the Hoveizeh dust source and the dried wetlands in Iran-Iraq border.

Today, numerous studies are being done to replace chemicals with natural substances in order to reduce synthetic compounds in food. Garlic (Allium sativum L. ) is an important bulb vegetable because of its high concentration of allicin, flavonoids and selenium accumulation. This research was carried out to investigate the effects of two levels of mycorrhiza (inoculation and non-inoculated), three levels of selenium (0 as control, 100 and 200 mg/l) on two ecotypes (Ramhormoz and Dezful) in terms of flavonoid, allicin, daily intake of selenium and yield of garlic. The experiment was performed as factorial in the form of completely randomized design. The highest values of flavonoid (27. 618 mg/g) and Allicin (5. 17 mg/g) were observed in Dezful ecotype and the highest daily selenium uptake (11. 08 mg/kg) was observed in Ramhormez ecotype. Mycorrhizal inoculation was significantly and positively correlated with flavonoid and garlic yield at 1% level and with allicin at 5% level, but it was reversed with daily selenium uptake (EDI) at 5 % level. Also, application of selenium fertilizer showed a positive and significant correlation with increasing daily selenium uptake and flavonoids in garlic Bulbs at 1 and 5% levels, respectively. But, it has inverse correlation with allicin content at 1 % level. Dezful ecotype had a better performance in terms of garlic weight and garlic cloves weight and there was a significant difference between two ecotypes at 1 % level. Finally, due to different effects of the treatments, if the purpose is to produce garlic enriched with Se, flavonoid or allicin, a decrease in some nutritional values and a change in ecotype must be accepted.

Currently, Water scarcity is one of the problems of food production, and irrigated agriculture has a significant impact on food security. Improving the level of knowledge and skills of human resources is one of the crucial factors for improving the optimal use of water in agriculture. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between irrigation system status and knowledge and skills of farmers in Qazvin province. 18 qualitative indices and 88 educational items were identified. The survey tool was Delphi method and Pearson correlation test was used for correlation analysis. The results of this study showed that the status of operation of surface irrigation systems in terms of "farmers", "experts" and "trainers" were 3/38± 1/15, 2/82± 1/03 and 2/05± 0/82 (out of 5 points), respectively for farmers, and 3/63± 1/06, 2/17± 0/94 and 2/19± 0/93 for horticulturists. Status of operation of pressurized irrigation systems in terms of three proposed views were 3/74± 1/16, 2/55± 0/72 and 2/62± 0/76 (out of 5 points), respectively for farmers and 4/07± 1/06, 2/54± 0/64 and 2/61± 0/69 (out of 5 points), respectively for horticulturists. This indicates that the operation situation of the irrigation systems is medium to low in terms of experts and trainers. The Significant disagreement between farmers, experts and trainers indicates that the farmers have insufficient knowledge of the principles of proper operation of irrigation systems. Also, farmers showed that the educational items with their weight of importance were 3/39± 0/77 and their status of the operation (surface and pressurized) was 3/53± 0/86. The Pearson correlation coefficients of the two variables "Farmers Knowledge and Skills" and "Irrigation System Operation Status" were 0. 561 (99% confidence level). This correlation shows the importance and necessity of training in various fields of recognition, design and operation of irrigation systems. Also, for farmers’ empowering in adoption to water deficit, investment in education is very determinant.

This study was carried out to evaluate the amount of soil contamination in Qaleh Mohammad-Ali-Khan (Ray city) rangelands and also to identify the phytoremediation ability of native species in soil contaminated with copper (Cu) and manganese (Mn) based on a completely randomized design in the dominant and opposite wind direction. Soil samples, shoot and root samples of rangeland plants were collected from 10 sites around the mine (5 sites in the dominant wind direction and 5 sites in the opposite wind direction). Soil and plant samples were extracted by oxidation method and the copper and manganese concentrations were analyzed by ICP. Concentrations of heavy metals of Cu and Mn in the direction and opposite direction of the dominant wind have different concentrations, so that the plots located near the mine have a higher concentration of heavy metals. Cu concentration in the shoots of plants (2. 01) in both direction was greater than that of the roots (1. 19) that means the TF value was greater than one (TF>1). Therefore, they can be an appropriate choice for the phytoremediation of Cu-contaminated soils. Thus, these native plants have an implication of carrying out phytoremediation in the rangeland soils.