IntroductionNowadays, machine vision systems are extensively used in agriculture. The application of this technology in the field can help preserve agricultural resources while reducing manual labor and production costs. In the field of agricultural automation, accurately detecting crop rows is recognized as a crucial and challenging issue for weed identification and the automatic guidance of machines. Therefore, it is necessary to explore practical solutions to optimize this process. Hence, the purpose of this study is the precise identification of basil cultivation rows to enable the automatic navigation of robots in the cultivation field.Materials and MethodsIn the first stage of this research, six images from each growth period of basil plants (third, fourth, and fifth week) were taken and weeds were removed from the area between the crop rows using three different methods of area opening, dimensional removal, and masking. In the next stage, six images of crop rows without weeds were examined by performing image processing operations and implementing several routing algorithms, namely, Hough transform, wavelet transform, Gabor filter, linear regression, and an additional algorithm proposed in this study. The output of each of these algorithms was compared with the ideal path identified by the user. For this purpose, after capturing an image, green areas were extracted from it by performing the segmentation process. By applying each of the routing algorithms to the image, plant cultivation lines were identified and their equations were determined. Finally, the performance of the designed robot was evaluated using the most appropriate routing algorithm.Results and DiscussionExamining the performance of three different methods of weed removal in three periods of plant growth (third, fourth, and fifth week) showed that during this interval, the masking method had the lowest error rate compared to the ideal path and the shortest average operation time of 1.64 seconds, followed by the dimensional removal and the area opening methods. Comparing the routes detected by different routing algorithms with the ideal routes and according to the results of the t-test at 5% probability level, the order of the studied routing methods from the most superior is as follows: the proposed algorithm, Gabor filter, linear regression, Hough transform and wavelet transform algorithm. Overall, the proposed algorithm had the highest rate of adaptation to the ideal path (with an average error of 3.65 pixels) and the shortest operation time (4.79 seconds) and was selected as the most appropriate routing algorithm and the performance of the designed robot was evaluated using it.ConclusionA reliable crop row detection algorithm can reduce production costs and preserve the environment. In this study, the masking method was used for removing weeds from the images. The new proposed routing algorithm has superior performance when compared with common routing algorithms such as the Gabor filter, linear regression, Hough transform, and wavelet transform. Additionally, it was shown that the designed robot using the proposed algorithm (with an average error of 3.65 pixels) has the desired performance.AcknowledgmentThe authors express appreciation for the financial support provided by Tarbiat Modares University.

Desalination is one of the ways to cope with water scarcity in agriculture sector, especially in areas with saline water. The condensation irrigation as a method for irrigating with saline water and solar energy, is a combination of subsurface irrigation and simple solar distillation. In this study, a condensation irrigation with area of two square meters was developed in a greenhouse, in order to study the feasibility for meeting plant water requirement, so a humidifier with dimensions of 170×70×15 cm was made in which saline water was evaporated using a heating element. The vapor humidified the air above the salty water surface and warmed it. The air was blown into 5 two-meter-long perforated pipes buried with 20 cm intervals at deep of 8 cm. The water vapor then condensed inside the pipe wall and soil, providing the required water for the basil plants grown in the soil. The results showed that daily average of humidifier insertion into the perforated pipes was 12550 ml of water, of which 4167 ml were converted into liquid water in the soil and tubes. Also, this system with average daily irrigation of more than two millimeters was able to meet basil water requirement and production of wet and dry matter in this system was 32% and 63% more than control pots.

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L. ) is a multi-purpose crop, mainly planted in South-western (SW) parts of Iran. However, the capability of sugarcane farms to sequestrate carbon into soil and plant is not well documented. In this research, the carbon sequestration in sugarcane plant and soil in a ratooning traditional cultivation system at the Amirkabir Sugarcane Agro-Industry Complex in Khuzestan Province was evaluated during 2013-2014. The soil samples were randomly collected at 0-30 cm top layer and soil organic carbon (SOC) was analysed in laboratory. Simultaneously, both aboveground and underground parts of sugarcane plants were sampled and the carbon content of each part was measured separately. The carbon stored in the aboveground parts (leaves and shoots) was significantly (p≤ 0. 01) higher (1292 kg ha-1) than that (655 kg ha-1) of underground organs (roots). The total SOC (1987. 3 kg ha-1) was not considerably higher than the sequestrated carbon (1947 kg ha-1) in plant parts. Furthermore, a positive and significant correlation was found between SOC and soil clay content. Overall, 3934. 5 kg ha-1 sequestrated carbon equal to 14439. 6 kg ha-1 atmospheric CO2 was estimated to be in sugarcane farms. In conclusion, the results showed that the Ratoon I has the highest potential of carbon sequestration than other treatments. Current sugarcane farming practices in Khuzestan could act as an important pool for carbon sequestration and consequently enhancing the mitigation of climate change impacts. It seems that changing the current sugarcane traditional harvesting system which is predominantly based on burning the residues towards the suitable management could enhance the capability of carbon sequestration even more.

Introduction: Nematodes are one of the harmful factors for cucumber production in the world. This research was conducted to identify plant parasitic nematodes in cucumber fields and greenhouses in Lorestan province in western Iran. Materials and Methods: Eighty-five soil samples containing cucumber roots were collected from different cities of Lorestan province in western Iran. Extraction of nematodes, their fixation and the production of permanent microscopic slides and species identification were carried out using scientific references. Results: Twenty plant-parasitic nematode species from 12 genera of the order Tylenchina have been identified. The morphological characteristics of Amplimerlinius globigerus and Meloidogyne incognita have been described as the most harmful cucumber nematodes in the province. Conclusion: Eleven new species of cucumber root-associated nematode for Iran are reported here.

Olive milling wastewater is a major problem facing the Mediterranean countries producing olive oil like Egypt. In the present study, olive milling wastewater rich with organic phenolic compounds, macro and micro nutrients was used as growing media for cyanobacteria. The cyanobacteria were grown on wastewater to obtain two biofertilizers, one bioformulated from single culture of Spirulina platensis and the second from mixed culture of S. platensis, N. muscorum and A. oryzae. The produced biofertilizers, were applied on a sandy soil to grow celery plant under different levels (25, 50 and 75%) of the recommended chemical fertilizers, while the control did not receive any fertilizers in a greenhouse experiment at Giza Research station, Agricultural Research Center, Egypt during the summer season of 2018. Results indicated that application of biofertilizers led to a significant (p<0. 05) increase in the height of plant, root and stem lengths over the control group. The number of leaves per plant as well as chlorophyll content were highest in the treatments of Bio-Mix 25 and 50%. Also, these treatments increased the total macro-and micronutrients of celery. There was very remarkable enhancement in some recorded sandy soil properties after harvest i. e., pH, total organic matter, total nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium by the treatments of Bio-Mix with 25 and 50%. The present study concluded that 1/4 or 1/2 of the recommended dose of NPK fertilizers could be saved for celery growth by using Bio-Mix product from cyanobacteria and olive milling wastewater as a promising eco-friendly bio-organic fertilizer.

Medicinal plants have a long history with human beings and are considered as one of the export items of the agricultural sector and one of the main sources of meeting human food and medicine needs. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of social capital and professional capabilities in the development of medicinal plants as an innovation in agriculture sector. The present quantitative research in terms of purpose is applied research in which the fieldwork (survey) method was used. The statistical population of the study included all farmers in Zanjan province. A total of 389 people were selected as the statistical sample and data was collected using a questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using SPSS24 and AMOS24 software. The results showed a positive and significant relationship between the communication, cognitive and structural dimensions of social capital with the development of medicinal plants. Also, the results showed that the total indirect effect of communication and cognitive dimension of social capital on the development of medicinal plants in Zanjan province is positive and significant through the professional capabilities of farmers; while the indirect effect of the structural dimension of social capital was not significant. Among the suggestions of this research is launching courses and holding short-term courses by active educational centers in the province.

The shortage and restriction of drinking water and even water consumption in many water-scarce countries of the globe, including Iran, has become an essential and vital issue. This is one of the key reasons that people and communities maximize the development of crops. The best management of crop production, taking into account the requirement for water in the agricultural sector, is one of the acceptable options in nations like Iran, which is also active in the field of agriculture. On the basis of this, it is vital to look at various analytical, planning, and decision-making techniques. Additionally, taking into account and calculating virtual water can significantly improve the cultivation pattern and decrease the amount of water currently consumed,as a result, optimizing the cultivation pattern using virtual water calculations can be highly beneficial. Coherent management and accurate decision-making in a variety of areas will result from the usage and implementation of spatial information systems, and taking into account virtual water will enhance navigation patterns and decrease water consumption. In order to achieve the best allocation of the cultivation pattern and as a result, the correct use of water in the agricultural lands of Ben-Rood district in the operations of Varzaneh city, located in the southeast of Isfahan province, was achieved in the current research by using the decision-making system that was created with the capabilities of GIS and artificial intelligence, along with the virtual water calculations of some agricultural plants. Using the collective intelligence algorithm of the ant community (ACO) in conjunction with the spatial information system, it was possible to achieve this goal after examining the optimization methods in decision-making using environmental parameters. This was done by taking into account the virtual water of cultivation and the growth of plants in the irrigation networks of the agricultural lands of the mentioned sector. Finally, the findings of this study demonstrate that the amount of water consumed may be decreased to 37% of the initial amount after optimizing the allocation of land for the cultivation of specific crops in that area, based on the virtual water of the crops.

Phytoremediation of lead using plants in lead-contaminated soils is a new and safe environmental technology. By adding chelators and increasing plant extraction, the efficiency of this technology can be increased. In this regard, we evaluated the effect of adding EDTA chelates to lead-contaminated soils to investigate the amount of lead accumulation in a medicinal plant, Calendula officinalis. We designed a factorial experiment in the form of a completely randomized, with three replicates in pots and two factors including EDTA at two levels (0, 50 mg kg-1) and lead at four levels (0, 30, 90, and 270 mg kg-1). In this plant, the accumulation of lead was accompanied by an increase in the amount of lead in the soil due to the addition of EDTA to the soil. The results showed that EDTA significantly increased the lead translocation of lead from roots to the aerial part of the plant.Total Chl. and shoot dry weight decrease significantly in EDTA treatment than control specific at a high level of Pb in the soil. Also, the results showed that EDTA increased lead removal from soil to soil solution and increased lead translocation from roots to the aerial part of the plant of Calendula officinalis. In general, the results of this research showed that with the careful management and EDTA use in lead extraction, it has provided a cost-effective and safe environmentally strategy.

The medicinal plant Prangos ferulaceae is considered one of the most valuable forage, protective, medicinal, and industrial plants in Iran. A significant part of plant species, including Prangos ferulaceae in Kohgiluyeh & Boyar-Ahmad province, have been exposed to damage and extinction for various reasons in recent years. In order to preserve it, some measures such as planting the species in fields or creating a pilot for preservation, its maintenance, propagation, and breeding are an urgent and necessary requirement. But its realization requires ecological studies and knowledge, such as identifying the potential of areas prone to optimal production of Prangos ferulaceae, which requires the location measurement of Prangos ferulaceae planting. According to climate zoning using factor-cluster analysis, this plant can be in the first zone (cold mountainous with heavy rainfall, including Yasouj and Sisakht stations as well as the Tang Khoshk region), the fourth zone (cold and semi-rainy, including the northern areas of Dena city and Pataweh station) should be planted and cultivated, but this plant cannot be planted in the eighth region (semi-warm and semi-arid north), including Dishmuk, Qale Raisi, and Charrosa. Also, this plant can be cultivated in the third region (central semi-arid and semi-temperate) includes Kabkian, Lodab, central Dehdasht, and Souq, and the sixth region (temperate semi-arid), which includes Margun. In the fifth area (very hot and humid tropical), including Babakallan and Bibi Hakimeh stations, and in the seventh area (hot and dry), including Likak, Mombi, and Sar Asiab Yousefi, the Prangos ferulaceae plant cannot be cultivated either.

The properties of different materials used as planting substrate exert direct and indirect effects on crop growth and production. Hence, the selection of a suitable substrate is one of the most important factors in the success of production in soilless cultivation. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of physical and chemical properties of different cultivation substrates on the growth and development of Crassula capitella. Thus, different organic and inorganic cultivation substrates such as sand, coco peat, charcoal, pumice, peat moss and zeolite were combined with each other in different ratios and tested. The measured traits were phytochemical compounds (chlorophyll a, b and total, carotenoid, supeoxide dismutase (SOD) activity level and malondialdehyde (MDA) content), fresh weight and dry weight of root and shoot, and element uptake (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium). Based on the results of the present research, there was a significant difference in terms of plant height, wet and dry weight, nutrient uptake rate and enzyme activity between different cultivation substrates. The plants grown in substrate (35 cm3 of fine pumice + 5 cm3 of coco peat + 5 cm3 of peat moss + 5 cm3 of charcoal) and substrate (35 cm3 of 3-5-mm fine sand + 5 cm3 of coco peat + 5 cm3 of charcoal) showed the highest and lowest numerical values of the evaluated traits, respectively. The use of combinations containing pumice, coco peat and zeolites seems to prevent the wastage of nutrients and preserves nutrient ions, and therefore results in increasing the fertilizer efficiency and improving the nutrient uptake and maintaining moisture, and ultimately improves the plant growth.