JOURNAL OF CROP PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING
Year:2021 | Volume:10 | Issue:4|Papers Count:10

Due to genetic erosion over evolution events, the genetic diversity of domesticated safflower species for drought tolerance is limited. Wild species has been considered as useful genetic resources for improvement of abiotic stress tolerance. In this study, a cultivated species (C. tinctorius) was crossed by two wild species (C. palaestinus and C. oxyacanthus) and the genotypes were purified until advanced generations. Then, 159 safflower recombinant lines derived from three inter-specific hybridizations were investigated during two years in terms of agronomical traits and drought tolerance at the research farm of Isfahan University of Technology. The results showed that there was considerable genetic variation in most of the agronomic and seed yield related traits among parental species and also between and within three crosses. The C. palaestinus and C. tinctorius had the highest value for seed yield under both normal and drought conditions. Under normal condition, the population derived from hybridization of cultivated species with C. palaestinus showed the highest seed yield and other agronomic traits. Therefore this population was superior relative to other populations. Under stress conditions, all three populations showed a potential for drought tolerance due to the inheritance of the resistance from two wild parents. In each of the three populations, transgressive segregants were identified for drought stress tolerance. Finally, the results revealed that the progenies of these crosses could be used to improve the seed and oil yield to promote this plant in arid regions.

Cultivation of legume species as the second crop in rotation with rice and using plant growth promoting bacteria can be a good approach to improve rice production sustainability. This experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of plant growth promoting bacteria on accelerating vegetative growth of crimson clover (Alborz 1) and rice (Hashemi) yield in a rice-based cropping system. A factorial experiment in randomized complete block design with three replications at Rice Research Institute of Iran was conducted during 2015-2017. Experimental factors included four inoculation levels of clover seeds with Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii and four inoculation levels of clover seeds with non-symbiotic plant growth promoting Rhizobacteria including control, Pseudomonas fluorescence, Azotobacter chroococcum and combined treatment of these bacteria. The combined treatment of symbiotic strains led to significant increase in plant height (68. 3 cm), fresh forage yield (32704. 4 kg/ha) and dry forage yield (7783. 7 kg/ha) of clover compared to the control treatment (61. 8 cm, 28248. 2 and 6765 kg/ha, for plant height, fresh forage yield and dry forage yield, respectively). Assessing inoculation of clover seeds with non-symbiotic bacteria and subsequent rice cultivation showed that the combined treatment led to increase in number of filled grains (112. 8) and paddy yield (3336. 4 kg/ha) relative to the other treatments. The findings of this research showed that the application of plant growth promoting bacteria is potent to increase the clover's agronomic performance and rice yield in a rice-based cropping system.

In temperate and sub-temperate regions, short length of growing season is one of the main obstacles to successful commercial production of grapes. In a quest to overcome this concern, a factorial experiment in a randomized complete block design was conducted with three replications to evaluate the effect of application of dormax (1%) on earlyblooming, followed by spraying ethephon (150 and 300 ppm), brassinosteroids (0. 4 and 0. 6 mg /L) and leaf removal at the onset of the leaf discoloration to examine the ripening time and quality characteristics of Askari grape (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Askari). Application of dormax had no significant increasing effect on carotenoid and decreasing effect on chlorophyll content of fruits. Leaf removal led to decreases in yield components such as cluster weight, number of berry in cluster and grape yield, and increases in the quality characteristics of grapes such as soluble solids, firmness, carotenoid content and color indices. Foliar-applied brassinosteroids (0. 6 mg/L) + 1% dormax led to the best quantitative characteristics of grapes. The most desirable quality and color characteristics of fruits were observed with application of 1% dormax + 300 ppm ethephon.

To evaluate drought tolerance in bread wheat, tritipyrum and triticale genotypes, 27 different genotypes were grown as a randomized complete block design under two irrigation regimes (control and drought) in two locations (Isfahan and Shiraz) during two growing seasons (2016 and 2017). Based on grain yield, several indices including stress tolerance index (STI), tolerance index (TOL), susceptibility index (SSI), mean productivity index (MP), geometric mean productivity index (GMP), drought sensitivity index (SDI), drought index (RDI), stress susceptibility percentage index (SSPI), Harmonic mean index (HARM) and Yield stability index (YSI) were calculated. According to the results of genotypes ranking in Isfahan region, triticale lines had the highest values of MP, GMP and STI indices over two years of study. In Shiraz region, triticale lines (4115 and 4116) had the highest values for drought tolerance indices. According to SSI and TOL indices, (triticale) and wheat genotypes (Bam, Omid and Alvand) were evaluated as drought tolerant genotypes in Isfahan region and Alvand and KaCr4 genotypes in Shiraz region in two years of evaluation. According to the correlation analyses, MP, GMP, HARM and STI indices had a positive and high correlation with grain yield in both stress and non-stress environments in both Isfahan and Shiraz regions. Superior-tolerant genotypes can be used in breeding programs to increase drought tolerance in future.

Too often crop production is facing with different intensity of cold damage. In some years the damage is severe and has a large social and economic consequence. Therefore, selection and introduction of cold tolerant cultivars is very effective in reducing cold damage and increasing crop production. Frequently, in winter safflower yield trails in Isfahan province, depending on the intensity of winter cold, different degrees of damage are observed. Cold tolerance study of safflower was conducted in Isfahan province in central Iran during 2007-2008. In this experiment, 20 safflower genotypes were compared in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The effect of genotype on the survival rate, the length of the rosette and ripening period, and their corresponding GDD, plant height, 1000 seed weight, seed yield, and oil content was significant at the 1% probability level. The correlation coefficients between the survival rate with seed yield, length of the rosette period, and corresponding GDD were positive and significant. The correlation coefficient between the survival rates with 1000 seed weight was negative and significant. Covariance analysis showed that Parnian and KW4 had the highest and lowest seed yield with 79 and 7. 9% winter survival, respectively. According to the results, genotypes with a longer rosette period such as Parnian, Varamin 295 and Zarghan 279 showed more tolerance to cold damage.

Relationship of nitrogen (N) supply to nitrogen remobilization and leaf and grain P, K, and N status of wheat lacks clarity. The present pot experiment was conducted to evaluate nitrogen remobilization and leaf and grain P, K, and N status of ancient wheats of different ploidy levels in response to nitrogen. The experiment was carried out in Fall 2017-Spring 2018 at the Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran. The experiment was designed as a 3-replicate factorial completely random design with N fertilization treatment (at four levels of 0, 18. 66, 37. 33, and 56 mg N kg-1 soil) and genotype (consisting of 12 genotypes) as experimental factors. Nitrogen remobilization of the ancient and hulled wheats were increased when exposed to the low and medium N supplies. However, the Nitrogen remobilization of the standard durum and bread wheats were increased with increases in the N supply. Leaf and grain P, leaf N, and grain K concentrations responded positively to the N supply and ancient and hulled wheats equaled or exceeded those of the improved wheats particularly when grown in the absence of high N supplies. The presented data indicates that in conditions of nitrogen deficiency, the ancient wheats outperform improved wheats in terms of absorption and utilization of macronutrients.

In order to evaluate the effect of harvesting time, storage temperature and non-toxic treatments of Putrescine (Pu), salicylic acid (SA) and thyme and cloves essential oils (TEO and CEO) on qualitative and quantitative characteristics of Mexican lime fruit, a factorial completely randomized design experiment was performed. This experiment was conducted with three storage temperature levels including ambient temperature (22± 3° C), 4± 1 and 8± 1° C, and the treatments including Pu (1, 2 and 3 mmol), SA (200, 400 and 600 mg/l), TEO and CEO (150, 300 and 450 mg/l) and distilled water as control treatment. The fruits were harvested in two stages including the maturity stage (early color change) and the ripening stage (yellow color) in four replications and 10 fruits in each replication. Effects of harvesting time, storage temperature and treatment type on fruit quality attributes were significant (p<0. 01). It was found that the green harvesting stage is the best time for harvesting. It was further found that storing at temperatures above 4° C is the most effective temperature in increasing the postharvest life of Mexican lime fruits. It was also found that the 2 and 3 mmol Pu applications can be used to preserve and maintain the Mexican lime fruits.

Currently, the idea of integrating nature and buildings through green roofs and green walls has been considered as a sustainable strategy in cities. However, studies on the substrates which allow the plants to fully establish in these systems are still lacking. It is also a challenge to find the substrates which provide the plants with proper growth, nutrition, and environmental sustainability. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of Frankenia thymifolia in four types of growing media (30% cocopit + 65% perlite + 5% vermicompost, 30% soil + 65% perlite + 5% vermicompost, 30% mushroom compost + 65% perlite + 5% vermicompost and common soil used in the green spaces as the control) in growing conditions of the external green walls. The experiment was conducted as a split-plot in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The main factor was different seasons of the year in four levels and the second factor was the substrates in four levels. The effect of different substrates on thermo-dynamic factors of the substrates and on morphological, qualitative, and water use efficiency characteristics of the plants were significant at the 5% probability level. The results showed that the temperature and humidity of the substrates containing organic compounds were higher than those of the soil. Also, plant height, number of nodes, percentage of coverage, and water use efficiency of the plants were higher in the growing medium containing mushroom compost. Having a high water use efficiency and keeping its qualitative characteristics to an acceptable level in the summer and spring, Frankenia was found to be a suitable species in these seasons. However, due to the cold-induced deleterious effects in winter on these characteristics, it was not a suitable plant species for external green wall systems in climatic conditions of the winter season of Mashhad. Based on this study's results, we suggest adding washed mushroom compost to the usual green wall substrate. Frankenia can also be considered a suitable plant for external green walls in spring, summer, and autumn in similar weather conditions to Mashhad.

Using a suitable planting density and proper weed control are important factors in achieving high yield in red beans. In order to investigate the effects of plant density and weed control on the growth and yield of red beans, a factorial experiment was conducted in three replications in completely randomized blocks at the Agricultural Research Center of Khoy, North-West of Iran in 2017-2018. Three planting densities (20, 25 and 30 plants/m2) and four weed control method strategies including uncontrolled, selective herbicide (Bentazone), manually controlled and non-selective herbicide application (Paraquat) were selected. The results showed that the interaction effect of planting density and weed control methods significantly affected the number of lateral branches, the distance of the first lateral branch from the ground, the main stem’ s diameter, the dry weight of the plant and seed yield. The highest seed yield (3391 kg/ha) was obtained in the planting density of 30 plants/m2 and manually controlled weeding and the highest seed protein percentage (24. 8%) was obtained in the planting density of 20 plants/m2 and manual-weeding method. The results of this study showed that the manual weed control method has a relative advantage over the other methods of weed control and the use of non-selective herbicide alone is not effective in controlling red bean weeds. The production of greatest seed yield with a population density of 30 plants/m2 indicates a positive response of red beans to high plant densities.

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. ) is one of the important horticultural crop species world-wide. Identifying superior genotypes with a high yield and acceptable fruit quality can pave the way for breeding programs. In order to identify the best tomato cultivars for some of fruit quality and yield related traits, a 3-replicate experiment with 20 commercial tomato hybrids in randomized complete block design was conducted in research field of Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran, in 2017. The examined traits included number of days to flowering, number of days to first fruit-set, plant height, number of primary branches, number of primary clusters, number of fruits per plant, fruit yield per plant, leaf chlorophyll index, fruit juice acidity, fruit electrical conductivity, water salinity, total dissolved solids, percentage of brix and fruit lycopene content. Hybrids were compared by two methods of the heatmap clustering and the analytical hierarchy process as a multivariate indicator. Among the 14 tested traits, four traits including number of days to flowering, leaf chlorophyll index, water salinity, and total dissolved solids, indicated low heritability and genotypic/phenotypic correlation with fruit yield and hence were denied for multivariate analysis. Hybrids Hypeel 108 and Queenty were superior to the other hybrids in fruit lycopene content and fruit yield, respectively, and both hybrids had an acceptable fruit juice acidity for processing in the food industry. Hybrids Queenty, Adora, Berlina, and Hypeel 108 indicated the highest AHP values and the highest genetic distances. Thus, they were found to be the most suitable genotypes for cultivating in areas with similar climatic conditions and formation of next breeding generation. These hybrids were superior to other hybrids, not only in fruit yield but also in a great majority of the traits.