To investigate the effect of weed interference and weed-free periods on Balangu (Lallemantia royleana Benth. in Wall) and to evaluate the critical period of weed control (CPWC) in this oilseed crop, an experiment was conducted as a randomized complete block design with three replications in Naghadeh region in 2018. Experimental consisted of two groups of treatments; weed infestation treatments (infestation for 144.2, 345.9, 574, 848.2, 1147.6 and 1451.3 growing degree day (GDD) after transplanting and then plots were remained weed-free the rest of the growing season) and weed-free treatments (weeding for 144.2, 345.9, 574, 848.2, 1147.6 and 1451.3 GDD after transplanting and then plots were remained infested until harvesting time). In each block, one weed free and weed infested control was for all the growing season. Results indicated that the density and dry biomass of weeds were increased as weed removal was delayed. In contrast, density and dry biomass of weeds were decreased as weeds establishment was delayed. Height, tetrachenes fruits, ripened achenes, 1000-seed weight and biological, seed and relative yields of Balangu were decreased and increased as the duration of weed-infested and weed-free period increased, respectively. Also, logistic and Gompertz curves fitted to data showed that the beginning and end of the CPWC based on a 10% yield loss of relative yield, was estimated to be from 11 to 108 days after transplanting (97 days weed-free period) in order to prevent a noticeable yield loss.

Fars province is one of the main agricultural poles in Iran. It would be a main center of production and export of agricultural crops, if a suitable policy and planned investment be used in the agricultural sector. A delicate attention to the comparative advantage of field crops is an important aspect of economic planning. In the current research comparative advantage and problems of the oilseed crops production such as rapeseed, sunflower, safflower and sesame were studied in 2002-2003.To obtain the objectives of the research, two groups of indices were used. The first one included Net Social Profitability (NSP), Domestic Resources Cost (DRC) and Social Cost- Benefit (SCB) ratio. Absolute and relative power purchasing parity (ppp) price were used to determine the mentioned indices. The second one included Efficiency Advantage Index (EFI), Scale Advantage Index (SCI) and Aggregate Advantage Index (AAI).Based on the first group of indices and also absolute and relative ppp, rapeseed, sunflower and sesame had comparative advantage in production when Safflower had none.Based on the EAI index, rapeseed had comparative advantage in yield, but the other oilseed crops had no comparative advantage in yield. SAI was more than one for sunflower and sesame. It shows that there is more concentration for sunflower and sesame than other oilseed crops in Fars province in comparison to the whole country.AAI was also more than one only in sunflower. It means that sunflower had a more comparative advantage in the region than in the national average, but it was less for other oilseed crops.

Water is a valuable and irreplaceable natural resource and plays an important role in development, which is one of the most important components in producing and maintaining the balance and stability of ecosystems and environment. The average annual rainfall in Iran is one third of the global average rainfall (about 250 mm) and its evapotranspiration potential is three times the global potential. Therefore, Iran is in the group of arid and semi-arid countries. Nowadays, the vegetable oil production industry is considered a strategic industry in most countries of the world. In Iran, there are large arable lands and favorable fields for growing oilseeds. However, according to available statistics, more than 85-90% of the required oil is still supplied from abroad. Common oilseeds such as soybean, sunflower and canola, despite their many advantages, are limited in various aspects of cultivation and climatic conditions. For example, soybean is an ideal crop in the North American corn belt and is not well adapted to other regions. Sunflower also need a lot of fertilizer and is susceptible to a variety of diseases and pests. Therefore, the need for new oil crops with more adaptation and fewer needs is strongly felt. In recent years, the planting of new oilseeds in drylands has attracted a lot of attention. The most important advantage of these crops is the high resistance to drought and spring cold. In this paper, three of these crops (safflower, camelina and dragon's head) are mentioned, which are hoped to enter the country's dryland crop rotation.

Background and Objective: Today, due to high prices and destructive effects of uncontrolled use of chemical fertilizers on the environment and the quantity and quality of agricultural products, use of sulfur as a micro element and also acidifying agent in soil is too important and necessary. Material and Methodology: In order to evaluate and compare the effect of sulfur on yield and the ability to micro elements absorption with oilseed safflower, canola, corn and fodder plants sorghum and pigweed in a calcareous soil a factorial experiment was conducted based on randomized complete blocks design with three replications. The experimental factors were contain sulfur fertilizer in two levels (without application and consumed 500 kilograms per hectare). Findings: Results showed that the use of sulfur caused a significant increase in wet and dry weight in all plant species and the maximum increase was observed in corn and sorghum species. The use of sulfur causes significant increase absorption of iron and zinc in roots and shoots of all species of plant. Discussion and Conclusion: Among the oilseeds, the effect of sulfur application on corn and canola was higher than safflower and the sorghum forage had better performance than the pigweed.

Since the beginning of life on earth, mankind has always used animals and plants for its nutrition and has continuously trained and developed them for their benefits and social, cultural, and economic needs. In the past, livestock and crop breeding were done by traditional farmers and ranchers. It improves the performance of livestock and crops, they performed the selection, which is one of the principles of plant breeding and livestock breeding. They made this choice with the help of information that was passed down to them from successive generations. It is a participatory plant breeding and production of crops with the help of researchers alongside farmers. Farmers work with researchers, scientists, and other stakeholders-even consumers-to improve crops and develop resilient plant varieties. Farmers are aware of their needs and have a conscious understanding of their agricultural land in terms of soil type, seed type, weather conditions, surface water, underground water conditions, etc. Therefore, they can play an important role in making decisions about the implementation of plant breeding and the type of planting pattern in the cultivated microclimates. In other words, farmers determine their cultivation goals based on their environments, conditions, tastes, and local cultures. The seed that is obtained in this way by the breed researchers with the help of the leading farmers, actually contributes significantly to the food governance of the people of that region and that country.

In the present study Dragon's head (Lallemantia iberica F. & C. M.) landraces that collected from different parts of Iran, were evaluated in nine dryland agricultural research stations in mainly fall planting during 2010 to 2019. At the beging, three Dragon’s head landraces belong to Zanjan, Kurdestan and West Azarbaijane proviences evaluated in Maraghe (cold region) agricultural research station in 2010 and Sararood (semi-cold region) agricultural research station in 2010 and 2012 under rainfed condition, then superior genotypes selected. Twelve landraces were evaluated for adaptation in eight cold, semi-cold and warm agricultural research stations including: Sararood (Kermanshah), Maragheh (East Azarbaijan), Ghamloo (Kurdestan), Gachsaran (Kohgiluieh and Boierahmad), Shirvan (North Khorasan), Shirvan Chardavol (Ilam), Sarabchangaee (Lorestan) and Khodabandeh (Zanjan) under rainfed condition durind three years, 2014-2017. Results showed that, Kurdestan genotype had the highest seed yield, the best rank and the lowest rank standard deviation among all landraces. Onfarm trials conducted in Kermanshah, Lorestan and Zanjan farmer’s fields revealed that in total, Sara veraiety (Kurdestan genotype) had the highest performance and yield stability in most of locations. Overall, Sara variety with average of 42% oil content, high seed and oil yield (929 and 392 kgha-1 respectively) and high oil quality (the highest omega3 among oilseed crops) was suitable crop for fall planting in cold, semi-cold and warm drylands of Iran. Results from Gonbad agricultural research station showed that all genotypes at the beginning of generative growth stage infected to Fusarium culmorum, Rhizoctonia solani and Alternaria solani diseases and had the low performance therefore, growing Dragon’s head under high rain and moderate climates such as Gonbad is not recommended. Results of complementary studies showed that Sara variety had 42% oil content and 62.87% linolenic acid, also 400 plants m-2 was the best plant density.

The growth and production of plants are largely determined by the stages of seed germination through seedling development. To promote the development and growth of plants, the use of natural substances has attracted a lot of interest recently, however, little is known about how they specifically affect soybean (Glycine max) seed development and subsequent seedling growth. This study was executed to assess how humic acid (HA) and triacontanol (TRIA) affected the germination and growth of soybean seeds. The experiment was divided into two phases; a laboratory trial measuring germination and associated variables, and a field trial examining seedling vigor Maintaining a control group (T0) and three treatment groups (T1 for humic acid, T2 for triacontanol, and T3 for both humic acid and triacontanol). Humic acid as well as triacontanol treatments (Humic acid (5g/L) + Triacontanol (0.6 ml/L) had a favorable impact on the germination rates, leaf characteristics, and root morphology of soybean seeds. The best germination rates and earliest seedling development were consistently seen in treatment T3. T2 showed very modest gains, whereas T1 exhibited favorable impacts on leaf development. These results point to the advantages of utilizing these plant growth enhancers in soybean farming. To maximize their impacts on soybean production, more study is required to investigate the underlying processes and to improve the dose and application techniques.

Sunflower, one of the important oilseed plants, is affected by drought stress, consequently leading to yield decreases. Direct selection for improving seed yield, as the end product of multiple traits, is often ineffective due to the significant impact of environmental conditions. For many years, indirect selection through other traits or selection indices has been proposed to improve seed yield. In the present experiment, 100 oilseed sunflower genotypes were evaluated in terms of some agro-morphological traits using a simple 10 × 10 lattice design under normal and drought stress conditions during two consecutive croping seasons. In drought stress conditions, irrigation was applied after 180 mm of evaporation from class A evaporation pan, compared to 90 mm in normal irrigation conditions. Brim, Smith-Hazel, Robinson and Pesek-Baker selection indices were calculated to select genotypes under two environmental conditions. In order to evaluate and compare the efficiency of selection indices and select the best index, the genetic gain of traits (∆G), expected gain (∆H) and relative efficiency of selection index (RE) were calculated. The results of this study showed that the direct response to selection for the traits including kernel oil content, days to maturity and leaf length under both environmental conditions was more favorable compared to the correlated response. However, for head and stem diameter traits, the lowest efficiency of direct selection was observed under both environmental conditions compared to other investigated traits. Considering the two criteria; the genetic gain of traits (∆G) and expected gain (∆H) under normal and drought stress conditions, the two indexes of Brim and Smith-Hazel were introduced as the best index and the genotype ENSAT-254 was introduced as the superior genotype. The selected ENSAT-254 genotype can be considered in developing hybrid cultivars for cultivation under drought stress conditions, provided it is validated at the molecular level by analyzing the expression of genes related to water deficit stress tolerance.