In order to study the competitiveness of potato varieties against weeds, a field experiment was conducted in 2002 at agricultural research center of Hamedan. The experimental design was split plot in complete randomized blocks with four replications. In main plot, there were seven potato varieties (with variance in reaching), and subplots were divided into two treatments, one, with weeding, another without weeding. In this experiment, weed had natural growth. The results showed that medium-late varieties such as Cosmos and Diamante with the highest Competitive Index (CI) were competitor, Agria and Moren medium-late and lateseason varieties with the same CI were semicompetitor and Novita with the lowest CI was the weakest variety. The analysis of ABILITY of WITHSTAND COMPETITION (AWC) showed the medium-late and lateseason varieties such as Agria, Cosmos, Diamante and Moren (lateseason) were more tolerant varieties and on the other hand medium-early varieties such as Novita, Draga and Marfona had the lowest AWC so were recognized as sensitive varieties against weeds.

Introduction Weeds are among the main limiting factors in agriculture. In fact, the problem of weeds is a basic problem in farms, which can lead to major yield loss. Weeds can decrease soil nutrients and threaten crops by competing for water and light or by their allelopathic effects. Crop yield losses due to weeds depend on a number of factors such as grown species, weed number per area, weed competitive value, and crop developmental stage. Weeds can decrease grain quality, cause unequal maturation and harvesting difficulties, and act as the hosts for pathogens and pests. In addition, environmental and human health impact of herbicides, increasing resistance to herbicides, scarce by herbicides and increased conservation agriculture were the main factors stimulating the interest in developing new weed control methods. Chickpea is a weak crop against weed. Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L. ) is one of the earliest cultivated legumes and has been found in the Middle East 7500-years ago. It plays an important role in human nutrition as a source of protein, energy, fiber, vitamins, and minerals for large population sectors in the developing world and is considered a healthy food in many developed countries. Materials and Methods In order to evaluate yield components, yield and competitive power of chickpea cultivars, an experiment was conducted on a sand claysoil at the Agricultural Research Station (latitude 35˚, 1' N, longitude 48˚, 31' E and 1690 m altitude), Faculty of Agriculture, University of Bu-Ali Sina, Hamedan, Iran. The long-term average air temperature and average air temperature during the growing season was 12. 5˚, C and 22˚, C, respectively. The experiment was done within two seasons, 2013 and 2014. The same field was used in both years and the same treatments were applied to the same plots. Experiment was conducted as the factorial based on randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Experimental treatments included weeding, no weeding of weeds, and five cultivars of chickpea (Tork, Hashem, Arman, Azad and Mahali). Analysis of variance was used for statistical analyses (Version 9. 2, SAS). Differences between treatments were compared by least significant difference (LSD) test at the 5% probABILITY. Results and Discussion Analysis of variance showed that the effect of weed control on all traits except harvest index was significant. The effect of cultivar on all traits except harvest index was significant. The effect of weed control × cultivar interaction was statistically significant only on grain and biological yield. The highest grain yield (136. 00 g m-2) was obtained for Hashem cultivar in weeding condition. The lowest value of this trait with about 75% reduction was obseverd for Mahali cultivar under no weeding condition. Maximum biological yield (394. 75 g m-2) was observed for Hashem cultivar under weeding condition and the lowest value, with about 70% reduction, was found for Mahali cultivar under no weeding condition. Maximum and minimum weed biomass (104. 99 and 52. 50 g m-2, respectively) and weed density (20. 50 and 10. 67 per m2) was found for Hashem and Mahali cultivar, respectively. Therefore, results showed that the highest ABILITY WITHSTAND COMPETITION (52. 30) was observed for Hashem cultivar, and the lowest value of this index (39. 12) was for the Mahali cultivar. The results showed that increasing the biomass of chickpea plants increased the ABILITY WITHSTAND COMPETITION index, and decreased weed density and weed biomass. Therefore, Hashem cultivar can be known as a resistant cultivar against weeds, but Mahali cultivar has the lowest ABILITY against weed invasion. In general, the use of resistant varieties is a good solution to reduce weed damages. Conclusion The results of this experiment showed that the yield of different chickpea cultivars decreased in the presence of weeds. However, yield reduction in different cultivars was not the same. As a result, Hashem and local cultivars were identified as the strongest and weakest cultivars against weeds, respectively. By evaluating the yield of different chickpea varieties and competitiveness index, the varieties with good competitive ABILITY in the presence of weeds can be identified. Additionally, this has the potential for weed control management without chemical herbicides.

Introduction  Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa L.) is a highly nutritional seed crop from the Andean region with huge genetic variABILITY, enabling its cultivation across a wide range of environmental conditions. The area and production under quinoa in the world in 2020 was 189000 ha with 175000 tonnes production. There is some evidence for allelopathic activity of quinoa and this potential could be probably used in terms of integrated weed management. Agronomic practices such as nitrogen fertilization influence weed emergence, growth and COMPETITION in a crop. Nevertheless, despite the numerous studies on new and promising crops globally, there is a clear lack of information on the combined effect of weed density and nitrogen fertilizer sources on quinoa crop. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of nitrogen fertilizer sources and red root pigweed densities on growth, yield and competitive ABILITY of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd). This information could be helpful for the overall development of crop and weed management strategies in quinoa crop. Materials and Methods A field study was conducted during the 2021 growing season at the research farm of the School of Agriculture, Shiraz University, to assess the impact of nitrogen fertilizer sources on the growth, yield, and competitive ABILITY of quinoa in the presence of red root pigweed at different densities. The experiment was set up in a split-plot design with nitrogen fertilizer sources (control, urea, sulfur-coated urea, and ammonium nitrate) assigned to the main plots, and red root pigweed densities (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 plants per square meter) assigned to the sub-plots. There were three replications of each treatment. For the quinoa traits and weed traits, a 2-meter square area was harvested from each plot. Quinoa traits included plant height, leaf area index, number of grains per plant, 1000 grain weight, grain yield, biological yield, and harvest index. The quinoa plants were dried in an oven at 75°C for 72 hours to determine seed yield. Weeds were also harvested from a 2 m2 area in each plot to measure plant height, shoot height, panicle length, and leaf area index. The collected data were analyzed using SAS v. 9.1 software (SAS Institute 2003). When significant differences were found among treatments, mean comparisons were performed using Duncan's multiple range tests at a significance level of P < 0.05. Results and Discussion  The results of the experiment indicated that the use of sulfur coated urea had a positive effect on the competitive ABILITY of quinoa. Weed density had a detrimental impact on various growth and yield parameters of quinoa, including plant height, leaf area index, number of grains per plant, 1000 grain weight, grain yield, biological yield, and harvest index. However, the application of sulfur coated urea mitigated the negative effects of weed density. Specifically, when the highest weed density of 25 plants per square meter was present, the application of sulfur coated urea led to a 1.1-fold increase in plant height, a 2.5-fold increase in leaf area index, a 2.5-fold increase in the number of grains per plant, a 1.1-fold increase in 1000 grain weight, a 2.8-fold increase in grain yield, and a 1.8-fold increase in biological yield compared to the control. At different red root pigweed densities (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 plants per square meter), the application of sulfur coated urea resulted in significant improvements in quinoa performance. It increased the number of grains per plant by 86.5%, 118%, 139.4%, 168.8%, 149.6%, and 153.4% compared to the control at respective weed densities. Additionally, 1000 grain weight increased by 7.9% to 9.9%, and the ABILITY of quinoa to WITHSTAND COMPETITION increased by 19.6% to 55%. The findings of this study are consistent with previous research that has demonstrated the positive effects of organic nutrients on reducing weed COMPETITION in agricultural systems. It has also been observed that weeds tend to produce more biomass in the presence of fertilizer compared to the control. Therefore, it can be concluded that the improved grain yield of quinoa resulting from the application of sulfur coated urea was primarily attributed to its ABILITY to enhance the plant's competitive ABILITY against weeds. Conclusion  The application of sulfur coated urea led to a higher quinoa yield compared to using control. However, weed COMPETITION was greater with urea fertilization in comparison with sulfur coated urea fertilizer. In addition, most weeds are highly responsive to soil N, so the application of all fertilizer types should be carefully considered to reduce the competitive advantage of weeds over crops. Acknowledgements  We would like to thank the School of Agriculture, Shiraz University for their support, cooperation, and assistance throughout this research.

Introduction: The value of medicinal plant production depends on plant quality. StABILITY, on the other hand, is less important. Because they compete for light, soil moisture and nutrients, weeds can reduce the yield of medicinal plants (Uchino et al., 2009). Using herbicides for weed control increases species resistance, environmental problems and costs (Sadeghi et al., 2003). An alternative weed control method, however, is the use of cover crops (Compigla et al., 2010) which have a vital role in sustainable agriculture, soil conservation and a healthy environment. Thus, we can select suitable species according to their physical and chemical properties for COMPETITION and ABILITY to suppress weeds. The aim of this research is to investigate the role of two cover crops, mung bean (Vigna radiate L. ) and Persian clover (Trifolium resupinatum L. ) on weed control of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L. ) and borage (Borago officinalis L. ). Materials and methods: Two field experiments were carried out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. In the first experiment, treatments included cover crops in the rows between the sweet basil while in the second one in the rows between the borage. Moreover, pure stand of sweet basil and borage without cover crops with weed infestation and weed free were used as controls for both experiments. The plots with cover crops included five rows of medicinal plants (in 50-cm row spacing with 5 cm between sweet basil plants and 20 cm between borage plants in the same row) and six rows of cover crops. The cover crop was inter-seeded simultaneously with the main crop. Results and discussion: The results showed that a pure stand of sweet basil and borage in a weed free section had the highest number of leaves, stem diameter and fresh and dry weight. On the other hand, there was minimal fresh and dry weight of sweet basil and borage in the presence of mung bean as a cover crop. Moreover, the presence of mung bean also minimized values for all morphological traits of sweet basil and borage. Maximum essential oil concentration and yield in sweet basil and borage were observed in pure stand with no weed interference. The mung bean cover crop was more successful in suppressing weeds compared to Persian clover and a further reduction in weed density and biomass was measured when it reduced the density and biomass of weeds in the sweet basil and borage from 50% to 100% in the first to third sampling. The results also showed that sweet basil and borage could not compete with mung bean in terms of the ABILITY to WITHSTAND COMPETITION (AWC) with weeds. Conclusion: The conclusion is that using cover crops reduces weed growth, which can control weeds. Mung bean was more successful in suppressing weeds compared to Persian clover in sweet basil and borage farms, because it decreased weed density and biomass.

The use of densitiy and cultivars that have high competitiveness are effective ways to control weeds in the integrated management system. The present study aims at increasing competitive ABILITY of some dryland chickpea cultivars against weeds under different plant densities. Therefore, an experiment has been conducted as a split factorial in a Randomized Complete Block Design with four replications in the research farms of the Kurdistan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Garizeh Agricultural Research Station, Sanandaj, Iran, during the 2020-2021 growing seasons. Experimental treatments include different plant density (30, 36, and 42 plants. m-2) as main plot, seven cultivars (Azad, Jam, Hashem, ILC482, Pirooz, Kaka, and a local variety), and weed management (no weeding and hand weeding during the whole growing season) as subplots. Results indicate that weeding operations are effective in increasing the number of pod per plant by 35. 63%. Also, it is observed that there have beem significant differences among yield and yield components of the studied cultivars. ILC482 and Kaka cultivars have had the highest and lowest number of main branches at 3. 82 and 2. 58 values, respectively. The highest number of secondary branches obtained at a density of 30 plants. m-2. Furthermore, the highest number of pods per plant registered for Pirooz and Jam cultivars and the lowest number of pods per plant has been 7. 98 in Hashem cultivar. The highest grain yield, indices of tolerance and COMPETITION and the lowest weed density observed for the Jam cultivar. In all examined cultivars, the number of seeds per square meter, grain yield and ABILITY WITHSTAND COMPETITION index improve with increasing plant density so that the highest values are achieved at the plant density of 42 plants. m-2.

COMPETITION law is a newcomer to the legal system recently. A sound understanding of COMPETITION policy can provide us with sufficient bases to apply a fundamental and normative view of the issues of COMPETITION law. The difference in supervision and regulation determines how the market functions and in order to understand this difference one must understand COMPETITION policy. COMPETITION policy may be based on governmental support for national production and industry or on a non-interventional and regulatory posture. Moreover, supervision, based on the principle of non-intervention in the market mechanism, is rooted in liberal ideas; however, regulation, whether as a rule or an exception, is based on the assertion that the market has been ineffective in attaining its goals. Therefore, the government will resort to interventions to regulate inefficiencies.  This paper aims to analyze Supervisory Authority in Implementing Competitive Policy by employing the description method. In this article the author tries to first delineate COMPETITION policy, its related requirements and imposed deviations to the market. Then, by defining the supervisory entity and clarifying its distinction from the regulatory institutions, the author considers the characteristics of an appropriate supervisory entity conducting a comparative study of this issue in Iran and the U.S.A. This form of COMPETITION policy because of its applicable experiences which have been well described by recent scholarship is considered suitable for the native system.

Introduction: Weed management systems for cotton production should be able to prevent weed interference with the crop growth and also be economically feasible and sustainable. To be successful, weed management systems require advance planning and timely execution. (Steckel, 2018). Early cotton establishment provides an impetus to growth and lower losses by weed COMPETITION. Efficacy of soil incorporated herbicides is greatly influenced by application methods. Application of pre-plant incorporation (PPI) or pre emergence (PRE) herbicides has been found effective in controlling weeds and achieving high cotton seed yield, but the sole use of herbicides is less effective and therefore requires the integration with hand/mechanical weeding...

This paper presents the results of studies performed to rehabilitate an existing seawall in Fujairah to WITHSTAND cyclone Gonu condition. The exiting section has not been designed for the cyclone Gonu condition. A desktop study was implemented to assess the functionality of the existing section by applying the methods recommended in the applicable standards and guidelines. This assessment showed that the existing seawall would be severely damaged and excessively overtopped during the cyclone wave condition. Some measures were implemented for the typical section of the seawall. The proposed improved sections were physical model tested and the results compared with the empirical methods.

Introduction: It seems that women have their own personal ways to manage Premenstrual Symptoms (PMS) before seeking professional treatment. Therefore, the present study has attempted to clarify the unprompted coping styles to WITHSTAND PMS using a thematic analysis method.Method: A thematic analysis method has been used in this study. The population included the university students studying in the academic year of 2022 and 2023. The sampling method in this research was done using purposive sampling. Data collection was performed via in-depth semi-structured interviews that took place on the Google Meet platform. All of the audio files were written word by word on the same day. The data analysis was done via MAXQDA-2020.Results: The number of eligible participants was eleven, between 27 to 34 years old. On the whole, the analysis demonstrated five groups of themes each with some subthemes (Purposeful/Purposeless Overwork, Accessible Comforter, Passivity, Help-seeking, trying to stay conscious).Conclusion: According to the findings of the present study it can be stated that spontaneous strategies to manage PMS have certain characteristics that can be classified into five main themes; So, the identified themes can be a clue that women are prepared to accept the behavioral measures when faced with PMS, because they themselves already use these kinds of methods spontaneously.