JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (JAST)
Year:2016 | Volume:18 | Issue:3|Papers Count:23

In small orchards, gardeners face several problems such as irregular tree planting, hard trafficability for tractors, economic problems for buying tractors, high drift in high height sprayers, low height of spraying, and difficulty of working with conventional sprayers. In this study, in order to solve some of these problems, a telescoping boom sprayer was designed and fabricated. The sprayer equipped with This Boom (TS) was evaluated in comparison with the conventional sprayers [Wheel Barrow (WBS), Electrostatic (ES), Side Pump (SPS) Sprayers] in terms of drift, spraying quality, solution consumption, fuel consumption, spray height, spraying time, and spray loss. Results showed that the spraying quality coefficient of ES was better than that of SPS; WBS and TS could not be evaluated because the surface of sensitive papers was wetted completely, but distribution of droplets on each card and between the cards was more uniform in TS.Due to differences in drift, WBS had the highest mean of droplet area and TS had the lowest. Also, WBS, TS, SPS, and ES had the maximum amount of solution consumption while ES, TS, and WBS had the minimum. SPS and ES did not spray at high height; however, TS and WBS could spray at high height. The maximum and minimum spraying times were recorded for WBS and SPS, respectively. Values of 9.93 and 2.80 mm2 were obtained for mean spray loss area of SPS and ES, respectively. Spray loss area of the TS and WBS was not calculated.

Effects of combined use of black barberry (Berberis crataegina L.) extract and sodium nitrite on the quality and shelf life of cooked beef sausages were investigated. Different concentrations of the extract (30, 60 and 90 mg kg-1) in combination with nitrite (30, 60 and 90 mg kg-1) were added to sausage formulations. Total viable counts, pH, proximate analysis, residual nitrite level, lipid oxidation, color and sensory data were studied against the blank and control samples during the storage for 30 days at 4oC. A gradual decrease in the nitrite level was observed during the storage for all samples studied. Samples using the extract from this study showed similar redness but lower lightness when compared to the control sausage sample with 120 mg kg-1 sodium nitrite. Sensory evaluation of the samples indicated similar results to those of the control. Accordingly, there is a potential benefit for partial replacement of sodium nitrite with barberry extract in the cured meat products.

In this work, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) were employed for the data reduction of a numerically simulated extraction process of sugar in an industrial RT2 extractor. The numerical model developed in Open FOAM library was first validated using actual plant data and its stability and sensitivity to the processing variables was tested. Then, the model was used to generate data of juice and pulp sugar concentrations as affected by the main processing parameters including draft, Silin number, and capacity. The data were modelled using RSM and ANN. Both RSM and ANN were able to predict the data accurately, however, R2values obtained for ANN were slightly higher. Since the numerical model can be time consuming to be solved for all data ranges, the regression equation obtained by the RSM method or the network created according to the ANN model can be utilized as fast and ready to use tools to optimize the extractor.

Olive cultivars Bladi and Arbequina were collected and their oil was extracted (cold press). Oil was refined under bleaching and deodorization conditions for 30 minutes at 55-50oC and their property was compared with the virgin olive oil. Virgin and refined oils of the cultivars were processed by fryer heating at 180oC (intervals of 0, 1, 2, 4, and 8 hours) and indexes of fatty acid, free fatty acid, peroxide, thiobarbituric acid, polar compounds, conjugated dienes and trienes, Rancimat, color, total polyphenol, tocopherol, chlorophyll and carotenoid were compared. Results showed that these oils mainly contained oleic (48.69-60.18%), palmitic (18.31-27.02%), linoleic (7.54-18.58%), palmitoleic (3.9-3.08%), stearic (1.78-2.53%), and linoleic acids (1.87-0.22%). According to the results, it was recommended to refine virgin olive oil by mild bleaching and deodorization to save bioactive compounds. Due to the heating condition, the relative amounts of unsaturated fatty acids (22.37-50.6%), polyphenols, tocopherols, chlorophyll, carotenoid and oxidative stability decreased and the relative amounts of saturated fatty acids (14.2-17.1%), acidity, peroxide, conjugated dienes and trienes, polar compounds, and thiobarbituric acid increased significantly, but the colorant initially decreased and then increased (P<0.05). Due to polar compounds, for frying process, mild refined oil was better than extra virgin oil.

To reduce sucrose consumption in biscuits, Date Syrup (DS) and Date Liquid Sugar (DLS) were replaced with sucrose at different levels (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100%) and physicochemical properties of dough and the resultant biscuits were compared. Dough pH and cohesiveness decreased while softness and adhesiveness increased with addition of DS and DLS. The pH, softness and adhesiveness of the DS dough were higher than the DLS samples. The DS and DLS biscuits had lower pH, higher ash and moisture contents than the sucrose biscuits. The DS biscuits had more ash content than the DLS sample. Addition of DS and DLS resulted in biscuits with higher density, spread ratio, harder texture, and darker color. These changes were more pronounced when DS was used. Sucrose replacement with less than 40% DS or 60% DLS resulted in biscuits with sensory characteristics similar to the control, and higher antioxidant and mineral contents.

The date fruit is of high nutritional value and its chemical composition is unique in providing energy, minerals, and vitamins for human. Date syrup, date concentrate and liquid date sugar are among semi-finished liquid products produced from low quality dates at industrial scale. In this research, some physicochemical properties of date syrup, concentrate, and liquid sugar in comparison with sucrose solutions were studied and the possibility of replacing sucrose with date liquid products was investigated. The results showed that the main chemical component of all three date products was simple sugars of fructose and glucose. Ash and protein contents of date liquid sugar were much lower than date syrup. pH values of date liquid products were also significantly different.Concentration of total phenolic and flavonoid compounds in date syrup was much greater than date liquid sugar. Overall, processing of date syrup to date liquid sugar reduced its nutritional quality while improving technological properties. It can be concluded that in choosing date liquid products as raw materials in food formulation, for the products that brown color of date liquid products does not affect the appearance of the final products, usage of date syrup or date concentrate is proposed. However, in other foods where brownish color of date syrup or date concentrate deteriorates sensory attributes of the final products, date liquid sugar is suggested. Date liquid products are also good candidates for high sugar products with sugar crystallization problem.

Five demersal trawl surveys were conducted in the Pakistani waters in October, November 2009 and August, October, November 2010. A total of 819 length-weight and 7, 240 length-frequency data of Atrobucca alcocki were collected, the length ranged from 10 cm to 45 cm with the dominant length group from 19 to 29 cm. The total weight ranged from 14 to 928 g. The length-weight relationship can be expressed as W=0.012* L 2.925 (R2= 0.972). Using the ELEFAN program in FiSAT computer package, the calculated von Bertalanffy growth function parameters were L¥ =47.25cm, K=0.180 yr-1. Total mortality (Z) was computed using the length-converted catch curve analysis at Z=1.07 yr-1. Natural mortality was computed as M=0.494 yr-1 at an annual average sea surface temperature of 26°C, hence, the fishing mortality was computed as F=Z-M=0.576 yr-1. The Exploitation ratios (E) were computed as Emax=0.421, E10=0.355, E50=0.278. Yield per recruit analysis revealed that whentc was assumed to be 2, Fmax was calculated at 0.75 and F0.1 at 0.6. When tc was assumed to be 1, Fmax was calculated at 0.55 and F1.0 at 0.45. Current age at first capture was about 1 year andFcurrent was 0.576, therefore, Fcurrent was larger than F0.1and Fmax. When biological reference point was Fopt equal to M (0.494), current fishing mortality rate of 0.576 was larger than the target biological reference point.

The complexity of rainfall-runoff-sediment yield hydrological processes remains a challenge for runoff and sediment yield prediction for large mountainous watersheds. In this study, a simple Non-Linear Dynamic (NLD) model has been employed for predicting daily runoff and sediment yield by considering the watershed memory based rainfall and runoff, and rainfall-runoff and sediment yield, respectively. The results were compared with two commonly used Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Wavelet based ANN (WNN) models by taking maximum input parameters of values of time memory for rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield derived from the developed NLD model through stepwise regression. The feed forward ANN models with back propagation algorithm was used. Twenty-six years’ daily rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield data of Bino Watershed, Uttarakhand, were used in this study. The coefficient of determination, root mean square error, and model efficiency were adopted to evaluate the model’s performance. The results revealed a better performance by the ANN and WNN rainfall-runoff models compared to the NLD, however, NLD rainfall-runoff-sediment model showed higher efficiency than the ANN and WNN models in case of considering whole time series data. Under-prediction of sediment yield by all the models resulted from sudden landslides/flash floods in Himalayan Watersheds. The study showed that though WNN was better than ANN and NLD, its application cannot be generalized for entire mountainous watersheds. Again, criteria for successful selection of a useful subcomponent in WNN need to be developed. The study also indicates the greater capturing power of WNN for simulation of extreme flows with lowest percent-error-peak-flow values.

Soil erosion may cause serious environmental impacts on soil and water resources such as excessive sedimentation, especially on steep terrain and erodible soils in arid and semiarid areas. The sediment yield due to erosion has also economic consequences on dam watersheds by affecting economic life of dams, which are one of the most important infrastructure investments in Turkey. Thus, it is very important to determine potential erosion risk in order to develop adequate erosion prevention measures in dam watersheds. This study aimed to develop erosion risk map for Goz Watershed of Menzelet Dam in the eastern Mediterranean city of Kahramanmaras in Turkey. In the methodology, Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies were employed based on COoRdination of INformation on the Environment (CORINE) methodology. The results indicated that 54.52% of the Goz Watershed was under moderate erosion risk, while there was a high erosion risk in 45.48% of the watershed based on the potential erosion risk map. According to actual erosion risk maps, 11.97 and 88.03% of the watershed area was subject to moderate and high erosion risk, respectively. It was found that the most important factors for erosion risks in the watershed were steep slope (average of 38%) and lack of vegetation cover (only 11.67% of forest cover). Besides, the results indicated that potential and actual erosion risk mapping by CORINE method is a quite efficient and cost effective approach.

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of salinity stress (16 dS m-1) on proline accumulation and expression pattern of three genes involved in the proline synthesis (P5CS, P5CR) and degradation (PDH) in the fourth and the flag leaves. The experimental treatments consisted of two levels of salinity stress including 1.6 (control) and 16 dS m-1 and three wheat cultivars, namely, Hirmand and Chamran (as tolerant cultivars) and Atrak (as sensitive). These were arranged as factorial based on a Completely Randomized Design with three replications. There was an increase in Na+ concentration and decrease in K+concentration in salinity stress compared to the control condition in the fourth and the flag leaves of all cultivars. However, the tolerant cultivars showed lower level of Na+ concentration and higher level of K+concentration and K+/ Na+ ratio. Seemingly, the increase in proline accumulation was due to P5CS, P5CR up-regulation and PDH downregulation.On the other hand, the higher proline degradation in the fourth leaf of the tolerant cultivars was probably due to the provision of a source for energy or nitrogen, which helped to enhance the yield of these cultivars under salinity stress.

The present experiment was conducted to study the effect of pre-harvest bagging and spray of CaCl2 and K2SO4 on quality and shelf life of mango fruits cv. Amrapali during two succeeding years. Trees of Amrapali mango were sprayed three times at 30, 20, and10 days before harvesting and bagging with brown paper bag 20 days before harvesting of fruits. Harvested fruits were stored under the ambient temperature (storage at room temperature) and observations were taken at three days intervals upto 18 days. The results indicated that the pre-harvest treatment of 2% CaCl2+1% K2SO4+bagging was found superior to improve the quality of fruits in respect of highest fruits weight, firmness, TSS, ascorbic acid, total sugars, and -carotene content with minimum black spotted fruits per cent and maintained it throughout the storage period upto 18 days.Fruits treated with 2% CaCl2+1% K2SO4+bagging showed shelf life up to 12 days with lowest weight loss and highest organoleptic quality as against 6 days of untreated fruits (control).

A greenhouse study was carried out to determine the effect of nitrogen forms and different O2 levels on growth and mineral nutrient concentrations of eggplant. The experimental design was a completely randomized factorial experiment with two factors, namely: (i) Two nitrogen forms (Ca (NO3) 2 and (NH4) 2SO4) and (ii) Three O2 levels of the nutrient solutions (1± 0.3, 2 ± 0.3, 3 ± 0.3, and 4 ± 0.3 mg L-1 O2). The results showed that ammonium application reduced all measured parameters of vegetative growth, whereas high oxygen levels increased the vegetative growth. Comparing with nitrate-N, ammonium application increased the concentrations of NPK and Zn in leaves and Zn and Cu in roots, while it decreased the concentration of Mg, Ca, Cu, Mn, and Na in leaves and Ca, Mg, Mn, and Na in roots. High levels of O2 increased N, Mg, Ca, Cu, and Mn content of leaves, as well as Mn and Na content in roots, while it decreased the concentration of K in leaves and P and Zn in roots. According to the results, the increase in O2 amount of the nutrient solutions partly alleviated ammonium toxicity in eggplant. Therefore, in floating hydroponic cultures, O2 level and its distribution should be controlled and must not be lower than 4 mg L-1.

The aim of this study was to investigate thein vitro proliferation of Astragalus adscendens. Explants were taken from hypocotyl and cotyledon and were cultured on the basic medium of Murashige and Skoog (MS) complemented with various plant growth regulators, (NAA, BAP, KIN, ZEA), to induce direct shoot regeneration. Callus induction was significantly affected by different concentrations of PGRs. Callus formation was observed from hypocotyl explants, but they were not induced to adventitious shoot regeneration and most of them were turned into brown. Therefore, rapid multiplication, performed using shoot apical buds, and obtained from 15-day old sterile seedlings. Apical buds were cultured on MS medium containing various levels of BAP, KIN and ZEA (0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 4.0 mg L-1) alone or in combination with 0.5 mg L-1 NAA. The highest number of shoot regenerants (8.5/explants) and leaves (22.4/explants) obtained on MS medium with 4 mg L-1 BAP. The highest root induction (100%) was obtained from MS media supplemented with 0.3 mg L-1 NAA. Rooted plantlets were successfully acclimatized in pots with 1: 1: 1 mixture of soil, peat, and perlite.

Yellow Vein Mosaic Virus (YVMV) disease of okra is the single major production constraint and causes yield loss to the tune of 50-90% in India. Hence continuous search for new sources of resistance and development of better varieties/hybrids with durable level of resistance should receive attention of breeder. An attempt was made to screen twenty-six advanced lines/varieties of okra in one of the hot spots of YVMV disease in eastern India to identify suitable parents for resistant breeding program. The study revealed high magnitude of genetic variability and high degree of transmission of majority of the growth, earliness, and yield component traits under consideration.Based on the degree of divergence, the genotypes were grouped into four clusters. Hybridization between genotypes belonging to Cluster II and Cluster III could combine early maturity, higher yield, and having high tolerance against YVMV disease. Dendrogram among the genotypes also revealed high diversity along with strong inter cluster relationships. Based on averages and principal component analysis, six genotypesviz., BCO-1, A. caillei, A.manihot, 11/RES-6, VNR Green and 12/RES-2 appeared very promising candidates for future use in resistant breeding programs.

The normal nodulating chickpea cultivar (HC5) and revertant of non-nodulating cultivar ICC 4993 NN designated as ICC 4993 (R) were used to study and characterize the rhizobia infecting both cultivars. On the basis of growth characteristic and nodulation, 43 rhizobial isolates from revertant of non-nodulating cultivar and 8 rhizobial isolates from normal nodulating cultivar were selected. Heterogeneity of the rhizobia infecting both of the cultivars was estimated by ERIC (Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus) as well as RFLP (Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism) analysis of 16S rDNA sequence. Based on the presence of different ERIC profiles, rhizobial isolates from cv.ICC4993 (R) formed eight different clusters and those from cv. HC5 formed three clusters at 80% similarity. A combined dendrogram of all the mesorhizobial isolates from the two cultivars showed two clusters at 70% similarity and eight subclusters at 80% similarity level. Similarly, RFLP patterns showed that rhizobial isolates from cv. ICC4993 (R) formed eleven clusters while those from cv. HC5 formed two clusters at 80% similarity. A combined dendrogram of mesorhizobial isolates from the two cultivars formed twelve clusters at 80% level of similarity. Using both methodologies, heterogeneity (if any) of mesorhizobia nodulating cvs. ICC4993 (R) and HC5 could not be ascertained.Further sequencing of partially amplified 16S rDNA of three rhizobial isolate from cv.ICC4993 (R) and one from cv. HC5 showed more than 98% similarity with Mesorhizobium muleienseand Mesorhizobium mediterraneum. The phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA partial sequence revealed 11 monophyletic clades. The isolates NN78 and HC 1065 were clustered along withMesorhizobium mediterraneum strain PECA20 while NNs13 and NN90 formed a separate cluster.

Bio-inoculants have potential role in plant growth promotion. The present study evaluated the potential of Pseudomonas strains as bio-inoculants in wheat on the basis of plant growth promotion and physiological characterization. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing and phylogenetic analysis revealed that four isolated strains belonged to genus Pseudomonas. These strains were positive for phosphorus solubilization and indole acetic acid production, whereas only two strains were positive candidate for their nitrogen fixing ability as determined by presence or absence of nifH gene through amplification from polymerase chain reaction. The pot experiment showed that the integrated use of Pseudomonasstrains as co-inoculant and 50% applied mineral fertilizers enhanced the maximum wheat growth and development from 58 to 140% for different shoot and root growth parameters. The strain NCCP-45 and NCCP-237 were closely related to Pseudomonas beteliand Pseudomonas lini, respectively. These isolated strains can be used to increase crop productivity by using as a bio-fertilizer inoculum.

Multi-environment trials have a significant role in selecting the best cultivars to be used at different locations. The objectives of the present study were to evaluate GE interactions for grain yield in barley doubled haploid lines, to determine their stability and general adaptability and to compare different parametric and nonparametric stability and adaptability measures. For these purposes, 40 doubled haploid lines as well as two parental cultivars (Morex and Steptoe) were evaluated across eight variable environments (combinations of location-years-water regime) during the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 growing seasons in Iran. The Additive Main effect and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI) analysis revealed that environments, genotypes, and GE interaction as well as the first four Interaction Principal Component Axes (IPCA1 to 4) were significant, indicating differential responses of the lines to the environments and the need for stability and general adaptability analysis. The stability parametersSi (3), Si (6), NP2, NP3, NP4 as well as Fox-rank (Top) were positively and significantly correlated with mean yield, suggesting these statistics can be used interchangeably as suitable parameters for selecting stable lines. The results of Principal Components Analysis (PCA) showed that the first two PCAs explained 92% of total variation for ranks of mean grain yield and parameters, and also clustered stability parameters on the basis of static and dynamic concepts of stability. In general, the parametric and non-parametric stability measures revealed that among tested doubled haploid lines at different environments, the line DH-30 followed by DH-29 and DH-3 were identified as lines with high grain yields as well as the most stable for variable environments of semi-arid regions of Iran.

The detection of Genetically Modified (GM) organisms is becoming a legal necessity.This study was carried out to detect genetically modified events in soybeans imported into Iran using simplex and multiplex PCR. Therefore, five samples of imported soybean were obtained from Bandar Imam Khomeini customs. Modified CTAB method was used to extract DNA from soybean seeds. The result indicates that the modified method is suitable for DNA extraction from soybean seeds and probably can be used for other oilseeds.Using specific primers for CaMV 35S promoter, NOS terminator and epsps gene PCR reactions were performed. In this study soybeanlectin gene was used as internal control.The results revealed that soybean samples imported from Canada and Paraguay were genetically modified and they hadCaMV 35S promoter, NOS terminator and epsps gene in their genomes. The result of simplex PCR was the same as multiplex PCR, but multiplex PCR detected the GM soybeans very quickly and in a cost-saving and time consuming way. Based on PCR analysis using GM soybean event-specific primers, it is suggested that the soybean plants may be GTS 40-3-2. No fragment was amplified when the DNA of US or Non-GM soybeans were used as template in the PCR reaction. This is the first report that shows GM soybeans imported to Iran without use of the "GMO" label in the shipment's documentation.

This study was conducted to determine the effects of different lateral spacings and wetting factors on the yield and yield components of drip-irrigated potato under the Middle Anatolian climatic conditions in Konya, Turkey. The experiments were carried out during the growth seasons of 2008 and 2009. The Russet Burbank potato variety was used as a plant material in this study. The irrigation design treatments consisted of two different lateral spacings (A1=0.7 m and A2=1.4 m) and three different wetting factors (P1=1.0, P2=0.5, and P3: A variable percentage of the wetted area depending on the lateral spacing). The results showed that the total amounts of applied irrigation water ranged from 297 to 625 mm and from 288 to 598 mm in 2008 and 2009, respectively.Considering the average yields for the two years, the highest tuber yield (50.87 t ha-1) was obtained from the A1P1 treatment, and the lowest tuber yield (27.37 t ha–1) was obtained from the A2P3 treatment. It was found that the different lateral spacings and wetting factors statistically affected the mean tuber weight, the number of tubers per plant, the tuber diameter, the tuber size, and the marketable tuber yield (P<0.01). The highest Water Use Efficiency (WUE) and Irrigation Water Use Efficiency (IWUE) calculated were 7.78 and 9.40 kg m-3, respectively, in the A1P3 treatment. A single lateral design for two crop rows resulted in less income than one lateral design for each crop row for dripirrigated marketable potatoes.

Maize response to deficit water and planting methods was studied for assessing phenological development and yield under Punjab conditions. Experiment was planned with eleven (9+2) treatments; nine treatments were the combinations of three levels of Cumulative Pan Evaporation (CPE) i.e. Drip Irrigation (DI) to replenish 60, 80, and 100% of base (30 mm) CPE and three planting methods i.e.1Row/Ridge, 1Row/Bed and 1Row (zigzag) /Bed. The additional two treatments i.e. flat and ridge sown, were kept as control. Each increase from DI60 to DI100 caused significant earliness in visibility of collar of the 8th leaf, tasselling, and silking and significant delay in dough stage and physiological maturity. Irrigation water applied was linearly related to the duration of the reproductive phase and grain yield. Higher Dry Matter (DM) production and longer reproductive phase led to significantly higher grain yield under DI100. All phenological stages were delayed under flat sown as compared to ridge sown control. Ridge sown was better than flat sown control with respect to DM and grain yield. Drip irrigation treatments showed advancement in tasselling and silking and significantly late physiological maturity with longer reproductive phase that resulted in significantly higher crop DM and grain yield as compared to the mean of the two control treatments. Crop phenology was affected by drip irrigation regimes and increase in drip irrigation regimes was linearly and positively related with length of reproductive phase. Thus, grain yield was also increased significantly. However, crop phenology and yield were not affected much by the planting methods used.

This study focused on soil degradation of Ukrainian Mollisols and investigated the effect of conservation practices on soil physical, chemical, and biological properties over the past 50 years. And the policies and relevant legislation are also outlined in this paper.The results showed conversion from plow-tillage to minimum tillage and no-till improved infiltration rate, pH, and Soil Organic Matter (SOM) in 0-10 cm layer and led to carbon accumulation in fulvic acids and humins. No significant differences in SOM storage were observed among tillage systems in the 0-100 cm layer. The five crop rotation increased 0.8, 0.71, and 0.94 t ha-1 yield of cereals and 5.8, 1.0, and 4.2 t ha-1 sugar beet under conventional tillage, deep minimum tillage, and reduced minimum tillage, respectively.Application of fertilizer in conservation agriculture, including NPK and manure, was 12 t ha-1 in the humid zone, 10-12 t ha1 manure in semi-humid zone and 8-10 t ha-1 manure in the Mollisols region of semi-arid zone. Green manure, cover crops, and inter crops increased crop yield by 2-10% on Forest-Steppe and Steppe Mollisols. The combination of strip cropping, contour farming, contour bunds, and terracing are particularly recommended for the sloping farmland in order to reduce soil erosion. In conclusion, soil conservation practices should be applied in Ukraine to prevent soil degradation.

Salinity is a major abiotic stress that reduces crop productivity in arid and semiarid soils. About 25% of the country's arable land is affected by different levels of salt. A considerable part of this land is under wheat cultivation each year as the country's most important crop. ACC deaminase producing bacteria increase plant resistance to stress condition by reducing stress ethylene in a variety of environmental stresses such as salinity. In this study, 167 halotolerant bacterial strains were isolated from the saline habitats and screened for growth at different NaCl concentrations. These halotolerant bacterial strains were then tested for 1 AminoCyclopropane-1-Carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase activity. Among six isolates of halotolerant bacteria containing ACC deaminase, the K78 strain produced the highest level of this enzyme. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of this bacterium indicated that this strain belonged to Bacillus mojavensis. Inoculation of Bacillus mojavensis to salt stressed wheat plants produced an increase in root and shoot weight, chlorophyll content, and nutrient uptake in comparison with the un-inoculated soils. In summary, this study indicates that the use of ACC deaminase-producing halotolerant bacteria mitigates salinity stress effects on growth of wheat plants by reducing salt-stress-induced ethylene production.

Little information is available about Soil Quality (SQ) in Iran, especially in saffron [Crocus sativus (L.) Iridaceae] fields. The objectives of this research were to: (i) Establish a Minimum Data Set (MDS) for quantifying soil quality in saffron fields; (ii) Evaluate soil quality status using two indices of Integrated Quality Index (IQI) and Nemoro Quality Index (NQI), and (iii) Investigate the relationship between soil quality and the economics of saffron production. Thirty soil samples were collected from the Ghayen area of South Khorasan, Iran, and analyzed for soil physical and chemical properties. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to identify a Minimum Data Set (MDS) consisting of sand, Relative Field Capacity (RFC), zinc, SAR, Ca, CaCO3, Fe and Bulk Density (BD).Soil Quality was evaluated using the IQI and the NQI for both the Total Data Set (TDS), and MDS. Four SQ indices i.e., IQITDS, IQIMDS, NQITDS, and NQIMDS were used to evaluate soil quality in saffron fields in the study area. A significant correlation (P<0.05) was shown between the IQITDS (r=0.44), NQITDS (r=0.41) and economic yield of saffron.Correlation analysis indicated that the IQITDS performed better compared to the NQITDS for evaluating the soil quality. Use of the TDS with the IQI index was the most effective approach for evaluating SQ in saffron fields.