The recent decades emphasis on reducing pesticide use especially herbicide has led to increased interest in alternative weed control methods. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the hilling time and simultaneous interseeding of two cover crops as living mulch to control weeds in potato and to determine the impact of these actions on potato yield. A randomized complete block design as split plot with three replications was used with hilling time (two levels containing 3 and 5 weeks after potato planting) and cover crops (four levels containing barley, persian clover, no-cover and chemical control) as main and subplot treatments, respectively. The barley cover crop in the first hilling time was needed to control using sethoxydim (0.21 Kg ai ha-1).Weed and cover crop numbers were recorded three weeks after hilling time and their biomass was measured at harvest time. Generally the hilling time had no effect on weed and cover crop numbers but was effective on their biomass so that the average weed biomass in second hilling time was less than its first but the cover crop biomass in second hilling time was more than its first because of controlling barley in first hilling time. Barley cover crop was superior to Persian clover in weed control and because of slow growth of Persian clover, its weed biomass was as no-cover crop treatment. However the potato yields were highest with the chemical control but considering to hilling time and cover crop interaction on potato yield, the controlled barley in the first hilling time was to able to provide yields comparable to chemical control. Thus the results suggest that early interseeding of barley as cover crop supplemented with a postemergence narrow leaves herbicide may both control weed adequately with less herbicide and provide yields comparable with conventional potato production systems.

Field experiments were conducted in Amirkabir sugarcane Agro-industry (Khuzestan province, Iran) farms to evaluate the efficacy of integrated chemical and mechanical methods in controlling weeds. Experiments were carried out in a split plotrandomized complete blocks design with four replications. The main plot consisted of four mechanical treatments, namely: hilling up, sweep cultivator, disc cultivator vs. no tillage. The sub-plots included six herbicide treatments (tebuthioron (Tebusan®) +ametryn, trifluxysulforon-sodium (Envok®) +ametryn, ametryn-trifluxysulforonsodium (Krismat®) +2, 4-D-MCPA, mesotrion (Lumax®), Ametryn+2, 4-D-MCPA & Control). Evaluations consisted of a grading of weed control and sugarcane crop appearance, a measurement of weeds’ dry weight as well as crop’s yield, quality and quantitywise. Results indicated that a hilling up treatment can merely act as a replacement for herbicide by 75% of control, whereas sweep cultivator and disc cultivator acted some measures of 15% and 5% of control respectively with the need for band spraying as a complement. Mixtures of Krismat®+ (2, 4-D+MCPA), Envok®+ametryn and Lumax+cytogate® provided a good control of weeds, especially in combination with mechanical control measures, but they didn’t reflect any significant difference with ametryn+2, 4-D as a standard control measure. All the herbicides, as well as their mixtures had significant differences with the untreated control. Overall, it is concluded that mechanical control integrated with band spraying is a very cost effective method in sugarcane weed control.

Introduction Sugarcane cultivation in Khuzestan province is in the form of planting in-furrow. Due to the fact that in a machine harvesting, the reaper is not able to fully harvest the straw in the furrow, in the planting in-furrow method, it is necessary to transfer the rows of straw to the stack. So one of the measures at the time was hilling up operations or stacking reeds planted in the furrow. Therefore, due to the salinity of irrigation water and high groundwater levels, which have increased the salinity of sugarcane fields in Khuzestan province, planting this product in summer to protect the seedlings against salinity is mandatory in the furrow. On one hand, due to the difficulty of harvesting operations in the furrow during the harvest season, and on the other hand, because of the reduction of waste during harvesting, the plant needs to be located on the ridge. Therefore, in sugarcane fields, when the seedlings are established and grown, the furrow and ridges are replaced, and to perform this operation special machines are required. According to the study, so far there has been no scientific and reasoned report on the study and evaluation of different types of hilling up devices and different speeds in sugarcane cultivation, and the use of machines in sugarcane cultivation and industry is based solely on objective observations. Therefore, in this study, three different types of devices have been evaluated in two soil textures and three different forward speeds as a step towards choosing the best type of machine and optimal speed of hilling up operations in sugarcane cultivation.Materials and Methods The purpose of this study was to evaluate three different methods of sugarcane hilling up in two soil textures and three different forward speeds. Research treatments include: soil texture (clay loam and silty clay loam), hilling up methods (6-shanks subsoil + 10-shanks subsoil, 8-shanks subsoil + hilling up device No. 1 and 8-shanks subsoil + hilling up device No. 2), and forward speeds (5, 6, and 7 kilometers per hour). Design of a factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design with three replications in Amirkabir field 208 (ALC 200 field 8) with clay loam texture and cultivar CP69-1062 and farm ARC14-22 with silty clay loam texture and cultivar CP69-1062, 15% moisture, and first-year cultivation was performed. The test plot includes 108 furrows. The area of each plot was two furrows. The length of each furrow was 250 meters (equal to the length of the sugarcane rows). To avoid affecting the interactions of the treatments, a distance was given between the treatments. The farms being tested were newly cultivated farms. The surface of the farm was furrowed and ridged. Care was taken in selecting the farm so that the humidity was similar in its different sections. After setting the right time for the hilling up and before starting the operation, soil sampling is required to determine the soil cone index and soil moisture. The physical properties of this study include Mean Weight Diameter (MWD), bulk density, soil surface uniformity, soil water permeability, and furrow depth (stack height). Analysis of variance and Duncan test were used to compare the treatments using SAS 9.4 software.Results and Discussion The results showed that there was a significant difference between soil Mean Weight Diameter, bulk density, soil surface uniformity, and soil water permeability in soil texture treatments, type of hilling up machine, and forward speed. Furrow depth index (stack height) was significantly different in treatments of type of machine and forward speed but not in soil texture treatments. The comparison of means showed that the whole loam texture treatment had 6-shanks + 10-shanks at a speed of 7 km h-1 with the smallest mean weight diameter (16.06 mm). The use of 6-shanks subsoil + 10-shanks subsoil in hilling up in whole texture and speed of 5 km h-1 significantly reduced soil bulk density. The lowest coefficient of variation of soil surface uniformity was obtained with 8-shanks subsoil + hilling up device No. 1 in clay loam texture and 7 km h-1 forward speed. The highest rate of water permeability in the soil was obtained after the hilling up operation with 6-shanks subsoil + 10-shanks subsoil in a total texture of 2.32 cm h-1. Furrow depth index (stack height) was also within the acceptable range (10-15 cm) in all treatments. But in addition to height, the appearance of the ridges is also important. In the treatment of 6-shanks + 10-shanks in plant stacking and embankment operations, sometimes in fields, there are parts where this operation is not done well and the machine is not capable enough and is in the middle of the created ridges. Harvesting operations do not cause proper reed flooring. Therefore, to solve this problem, it is necessary to perform the hilling up operation at the appropriate speed and humidity so that the soil is well placed on the rows of reeds and the proper appearance of the ridge is maintained.Conclusion In this study, three different types of devices have been evaluated in two soil textures and three different forward speeds as a step towards choosing the best type of machine and optimal speed of hilling up operations in sugarcane cultivation. The physical properties of the soil, including the soil Mean Weight Diameter, bulk density, soil surface uniformity, soil water permeability, and the size of the furrow depth (ridge height) were measured, and the best treatments were identified. Considering the importance of hilling up operations in sugarcane cultivation and to complete the results of this experiment, the following items that could not be studied in this study are suggested. The effect of using different methods on hilling up should be investigated on the yield of sugarcane. The effect of using different devices on hilling up in terms of tensile strength, work efficiency, and time required to do the work, fuel consumption, cost of timely work, and maintenance costs in operations on sugarcane hilling up should be investigated.

Bean root rot disease caused by Fusarium solani f. sp. phaseoli is one of the major diseases associated with beans. In order to evaluate effective agronomic strategies to control this disease, an experiment has been carried out as a factorial split plot arrangement in randomized complete block design with three replications over two years. The experiment takes place in a farm with a history of infection with the causal agent of root rot disease at the Bean Research and Education Campus of Khomein City. Type of cultivation includes flat-striped method, furrowing method without hilling up, furrowing method with one time hilling up, and furrowing method with two times of hilling up in main plot. Also, the two red bean cultivars involve Ofogh and Yaghout and the three plant density include 20, 30, and 40 plant/m2 in a sub-plot with factorial arrangement. Results show that among the studied cultivars, the highest grainyield and minimum bean root rot severity belong to Yaghout cultivar. Additionally, , increasing the plant density adds to the severity of Fusarium root rot disease. Among the different methods of planting, the least root rot severity occurs in the furrowing method with one time of hilling up, while the highest grain yield is obtained from cultivation of Yaghout at a density of 30 plant/m2 in furrowing planting method with one time hilling up. Therefore, in those areas where the occurrence of this disease is very potential, it is necessary to change the method of bean planting from flat to furrowing method and hilling up the plants.

Potato tuber moth, Phothorimaea operculella (Zeller), is one of the most damaging pests of potato especially in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Management of this pest is commonly based on chemical control, but due to activity of the pest larvae inside the tubers chemical control of the pest is usually unsatisfactory. Therefore, the use of alternative and more efficient methods are necessary. In this study, the potato moth injury on nine cultivars of potato including Marfona, Sprit, Fontane, Agria, Jelly, Bamba, 82-10, S-12, and S-16 was assessed in the farm and greenhouse conditions. The effect of two important cultural factors including re-hilling of the soil and four different harvesting times were also evaluated against the potato tuber moth damage. The lowest and highest numbers of larval entry holes were observed on the cultivars Jelly and Marfona respectively. Also the samples taken from the plots that had been re-hilled displayed that there was significant differences in the contamination values (percentage of larvae holes) and there was less contamination for treatment groups. Also, the results obtained from samples taken on different harvesting dates showed that the lowest and highest percentages of infested tubers were in the harvesting dates of August 23 and October 7, respectively. Based on the results of present study, along with utilization of the Jelly and S-12 cultivars, the re-hilling of the plant and early harvesting of the tubers in late August are recommended to reduce potato tuber moth damage.

To evaluate the influence of nitrogen rate and split application method on tuber yield and other quantitative characteristics of different potato cultivars, a 2-yr experiment was conducted at Khorasan Razavi Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center. Experimental treatments consisted of four nitrogen rates (0, 90, 180 and 270 kg N ha-1) with two split applications (emergence and hilling stages) or three split applications (planting, emergence and hilling stages) and six potato cultivars (Fontane, Kuras, Agria, Miriam, Cosmos and Picasso) that were arranged in a randomized complete block split-split plot design. Shoot dry weight, average stem length, tuber number per plant, total tuber yield, marketable tuber yield (>85 g), misshapen tuber yield and jumbo tuber yield (>400 g) increased with the increasing of nitrogen application. However, there was no significant difference between 180 and 270 kg N ha-1 treatments. Split N application method affected potato tuber yields.Maximum total and marketable tuber yields and minimum misshapen and jumbo tuber yields were obtained with two split N applications. There were significant differences between potato cultivars. So that, Cosmos had maximum tuber yields among potato cultivars. Miriam produced minimum total and marketable tuber yields.Cosmos and Picasso had the most and least misshapen tuber yields, respectively. Minimum jumbo tuber yield was belonging to Kuras cultivar. The results showed that application of 180 kg N ha-1, half at emergence and half at hilling, produced the maximum total and marketable tuber yields in different potato cultivars.

In the conventional methods of herbicide and fertilizer application, a substantial amount of toxic chemicals is sprayed or broadcast into the furrows, which is later washed away by irrigation water and may contaminate ground water, human and animal environment. If herbicide and fertilizer application could be limited to the most needed parts of the field rather than overall broadcasting, the mentioned problems could be alleviated and the application efficiency could also be increased by reducing the consumption rate. In an attempt to achieve this goal, a combination cultivator capable of simultaneously performing cultivation practices such as weed control (mechanical + chemical), fertilizer application and pest control was developed and evaluated. This machine was able to perform band spraying (fungicide, insecticide and herbicide) and mechanical cultivation (within-the-row weed killing, furrow reforming and hilling) simultaneously and properly. The combination cultivator was able to reduce herbicide consumption up to 66%.

Seed is an important input in agriculture, which is currently many studies have focused ti produce it. This study was conducted from 1998 to 2000 to select a suitable sowing date under indirect (control) and direct planting methods at the Bablan field center (experimental site of Ardabil University) in 10 km of Ardabil. Sowing date were 25th June, 10th and 25th July. Direct planting methods were winter wheat as a cover crop, winter wheat mulch and hilling up around the sugar beet root. Results show that sowing date between 25th June and 25th July is the best date to produce roots with weight 100 to 150 g, which can successfully tolerate low temperature during winter. However, large roots resulted from earlier sowing date (25th June) has decreased seeds with diameter<3.5 mm to 28%. Results also show that direct planting methods were better than indirect method. Direct planting method with winter wheat as cover a crop has caused to increase seed yield and decreased seeds with diameter<3.5 mm.