Phosphorus (P) is a nutrient essential for plant, which its availability in soils changes with aging process, leaching, precipitation processes, and the landform change. There is limited information available on kinetics release of P in calcareous soils. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate distribution of P and the effect of physicochemical properties and clay minerals on its release in some dominant orders of the calcareous soils in Kohgiluyeh-and-Boyer-Ahmad province, using the 0.01 M calcium chloride ( ) extractant. The results showed that the P released rapidly from the soil and continued slowly. After 72 h, the amount of P released in the studied soils ranged between 3.2 and 25.4 mg kg-1. Evaluation of the fitted different equations on P released in the studied soils revealed that the Simple Elovich and power function equations could well predict the P release process in the studied soils. The results of the correlation between soil properties and released P contents showed that P release coefficients (including the slope and intercept in the Simple Elovich equation) have a significant negative relationship with the amount of smectite and vermiculite minerals. Also, the release coefficient of the parabolic diffusion equation had a significant negative relationship with pH and the amount of illite and palygorskite minerals.
It is crucial to benefit from the lentil genetic resources to select them for greater economic yield and take advantage of the maximum production potential by local germplasm. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the phenological, morphological characteristics, yield, and yield components of 15 lentil genotypes in Research Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, during 2018-19 growing season. The experiment was carried out based on completely randomized blocks with three replications. According to the results, the MLC47 genotype was superior to other genotypes with a plant height of 44.7 cm and 4.4 branches per plant. In addition, the MLC33 genotype had the most filled pods with 79.4% fertility, and no significant difference was observed between this genotype and 60% of the entire genotypes in this regard. Moreover, the MLC454 and MLC47 genotypes had the highest grain yield per plant with 133.8 and 125 g per plant, respectively. Cluster grouping and comparison of means of the groups with the total mean showed that the MLC33 and MLC454 genotypes had a higher mean, compared to other genotypes in 69% of the studied traits. So that these two genotypes could be used in future research projects to identify and select the superior lentil genotypes.
ABSTRACT-Zeolite is used to improve the soil hydraulic properties, i.e., soil hydraulic diffusivity (D) and sorptivity (S) that should be determined. A simple method that relates S to D was evaluated by horizontal water absorption experiment in sandy loam, loam and silty clay soils and zeolite application rates of 0, 4, 8, and 12 g kg-1 soil. Results indicated that zeolite application was not effective on the a and b values of hydraulic diffusivity function (D=aEXP(bθ), θ is the soil water content, cm3 cm-3), while maximum value of a and b in sandy loam and silty clay soils, respectively occurred by zeolite application of 8 g kg -1 soil. The values of a and b for loam soil were not influenced by zeolite application rates. Sorptivity for sandy loam soil was reduced by zeolite application rate, while minimum value of S for loam and silty clay soils occurred at zeolite application rate of 8 g kg-1 soil. It is indicated that indirect determination of S for different soil textures and zeolite application rates were closely similar to the direct determination of S. Therefore, by determination of S value by simple horizontal absorption test at two different initial soil water contents or two different absorption suction heads in tension infiltrometer the values of Ds and α for hydraulic diffusivity function (D=Dsθα) can be estimated.
To investigate the effect of some edible coatings on weight loss and storage life of two thorny cucumber cultivars including Tiba’ and ‘Kurage’ cultivars, this research was conducted in a factorial experiment using a completely randomized design with three replications. The experiment comprised five treatments including three edible coatings (olive oil, almond oil and liquid paraffin), packing in brown paper bag without any edible coating and control treatment. All of the treated samples were placed in a thin plastic container having eight holes and control samples were placed in a plastic box solely. Packages were stored at 10 ºC and 85-90% RH for 14 days. The results showed that ‘Tiba’ cultivar had higher firmness than ‘Kurage’ cultivar. Cucumbers coated with almond oil had the least weight loss in comparison with other coating materials, but the differences between two cultivars were not significant. The highest color difference was belonged to the paper bag treatment which had the significant difference with control and the other coating treatments. Cucumbers placed in paper bag resulted in the highest greenness value. In conclusion, both thorny cucumber cultivars covered with coating materials showed the best appearance and luster shape which was related to the effects of edible coatings on reducing water loss, chlorophyll degradation and softening.
To investigate the effects of drought stress and delayed planting on oil quality and fatty acids composition of canola cultivars, a factorial split-plot test was conducted in a randomized complete blocks design with three replications at Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, Karaj, Iran for two years (2015-2017) .Planting date at two levels of timely planting (Oct. 27) and late planting (Nov. 27) and irrigation at two levels of normal irrigation (control) and restricted irrigation from pod formation stage onwards were considered the main factors. Canola cultivars including Kodiak, Traviata, Compass, Diffusion, Mehr2, Elvise and Tassilo were the variables. The simple effects of planting date, irrigation, and cultivar on all research parameters were significant. The interaction effect of planting date × irrigation was significant on oil yield and oil content at the level of 5% and in terms of linoleic and palmitic acids, and stomatal resistance, it was significant at the level of 1%. The interaction effect of irrigation × cultivar was significant on palmitic acid, glucosinolate and stomatal resistance at the level of 1%. Late season drought stress and late planting dramatically reduced oil yield (58%), oil content (8%) and qualitative characteristics of canola cultivars. Among the studied cultivars, Tassilo cultivar was recommended for all conditions of this research with the seed yield (4407 kg ha-1), oil yield (2007 kg ha-1), chlorophyll content (1.43 mg g-1fw), high oleic and linoleic fatty acids, as well as low and standard erucic acid (0.41%) and glucosinolate (22.8 μmol g-1).
