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There are different climate classes in Iran where about 85% of the agricultural lands are located in arid and semi-arid regions. To mitigate or compensate effects of drought stress and increase crop fitting and yield, effects of micronutrient application have been studied by several researchers. Field experiments were conducted during the 2021–2022 and 2022–2023 crop seasons to investigate the effect of micronutrients on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of canola cultivars under late-season drought stress conditions. The experiments were arranged in a factorial split-plot design, with two irrigation treatments – normal irrigation (control) or restricted irrigation at flowering stage – and four foliar applications of Zn and Mn after rosette stage (F1: Water, F2: ZnSO4, F3: MnSO4 and F4: ZnSO4 + MnSO4) as the main factor. Winter canola cultivars, including Okapy, Hyola401 and Hyola308, as sub-factor. The results showed that limited irrigation at flowering reduced seed yield, oil percentage and fatty acids content in different canola cultivars. Most of the canola oil is composed of unsaturated fatty acids, and the occurrence of drought stress at the reproductive stage reduced oil quality. By contrast, the minimum yield loss was obtained from Hylon401 cultivar, an early mature cultivar. Overall, it is recommended Hylon401 cultivar for normal irrigation and Hylon308 cultivar for a drought environment when considered the acceptable seed yield in canola. In general, it is suggested that a suitable performance of canola seeds is achieved by foliar application of manganese and zinc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field experiments were conducted in the cropping years 2012 and 2013 with four irrigation treatments, I1, I2, I3, and I4, respectively, corresponding to full irrigation, 20, 35, and 50% less than the crop water requirement in a semi-arid region of Iran. Data were used for calibration (2012) and validation (2013) of biomass (B), grain yield (GY), soil water content (SWC), canopy cover (CC), and evapotranspiration (ET) of canola by the AquaCrop model. Model coefficients were calibrated for I1 treatment in 2012, and the calibrated parameters were used for other treatments in both years. Based on the results, the NRMSE value for SWC ranged from 10 to 20%. Simulated and measured SWC for the four water treatments showed that AquaCrop has good accuracy. Overall, the results of the model in simulating SWC for both years were satisfactory. AquaCrop provided overestimation in the calibration phase of ET and underestimation in the ET validation phase. The results also showed that AquaCrop is overestimated in the simulation and prediction of CC and is less satisfactory under water stress. The model evaluation showed that AquaCrop can simulate B and GY with high accuracy. In general, AquaCrop was identified as a good tool for studying irrigation management, crop B and GY, CC, SWC, and other factors affecting the canola growth in the studied fields and climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study investigated the spatiotemporal distribution and detection of drought severity using ground indices in R-Studio software and applying indices on the images of Landsat 8 and Sentinel 2 satellites in the growing season and annually. The outcomes showed that typical months had the largest range in terrestrial indices results, and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) index had the greatest compatibility with the Standard Precipitation Evaporation Index (SPEI). By comparing these two times, during the growing season, plant health was evident in the northwest and annual images in the northeast. Moreover, a negative correlation was found between Land Surface Temperature (LST) and NDVI in elevation, which was more moderate at northern heights. High mean annual temperatures during growing seasons were common in the east and south. The eastern side of the study area had high annual vegetation density, but soil moisture was higher in the southwest. Floods negatively affected plant health; with the 2019 flood, the canola yield was very low. In summary, Sentinel 2 images showed drought better in the growing season and Landsat 8 images showed drought better in the dry season or at the end of plant growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study utilizes a system dynamics approach (SD) to assess the effects of water productivity improvement strategies on the Qazvin plain, Iran, and the uncertainty of the individual and interactive effects. The key indicators included in the important strategies are cropping pattern scenarios (CPS), deficit irrigation (DI), and modern irrigation systems development (MISD). Plain-scale results show that CPS 7, CPS 4, and CPS 8 had the highest physical water productivity (WPp) at 2.11, 1.99, and 1.95 kg/m3, respectively, representing a 21, 14, and 12 percent increase over CPS 1. Compared with CPS 1, CPS 4, CPS 6, and CPS 8 showed the highest values of WPe (5678, 5568, and 5503 Rials/m3, respectively). At the field scale, under DI, WPp increased for all crops (except corn, which was the most sensitive), but WPe is only increased for tomato, canola, pea, and barley and reduced for corn, potato, beans, lentils, and sugar beet. The WPe was affected by the DI, the irrigation system type, and the CPS. CPS 7 and CPS 6 had the highest and lowest water requirements, respectively, with 11,699 and 8207 m3/ha. Volume decline in aquifers is significantly affected by both CPS and DI. The CPS6, CPS8, and CPS2 were better than other scenarios. By modifying the cropping pattern, it is possible to prevent aquifer decline, thus improving the aquifer status (CPS5). MISD increased both field and plain WPp for all crops. The MISD improved groundwater resources and reduced demand by increasing efficiency to improve aquifer condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The excessive consumption of fossil fuels has sparked debates and caused environmental damage, leading the global community to search for a suitable alternative. To achieve sustainable development goals and prevent harmful climate scenarios, the world needs to increase its use of renewable energy. Biodiesel, a clean and eco-friendly fuel with a high flash point and more lubrication than petroleum-based fuels, and without the emission of harmful environmental gases, has emerged as one of the fossil fuel alternatives. To promote the mass-level production of biodiesel, a sustainable supply chain (SC) that does not depend on laboratory production is necessary. For this purpose, this research proposes a multi-objective mixed-integer non-linear mathematical programming (MINLP) model to design a sustainable canola oil-based biodiesel supply chain network (CO-BSCND) under supply and demand uncertainty. This mathematical model aims to minimize the total cost (TC) and total carbon emission while maximizing the total number of job opportunities simultaneously. A scenario-based robust optimization (SBRO) approach is applied to deal with uncertainty. The proposed model is implemented in a real case study in Iran, and numerical experiments and sensitivity analysis are conducted to demonstrate its applicability. The results of this research demonstrate that designing a sustainable supply chain network for the production and distribution of biodiesel fuel is achievable. Moreover, this mathematical modeling makes mass-scale production of biodiesel fuel a possibility. In addition, the SBRO method adopted in this research enables managers and researchers to explore the design conditions of the supply chain network by controlling the uncertainties that affect it. This approach allows the chain's performance to be as close as possible to the actual conditions. As a result, the SBRO method enhances the efficiency of the supply chain network and boosts productivity toward achieving desired goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecosystem services (ESs) are the benefits and functions that ecosystems provide to people. They make human life possible by provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural services. Quantifying the services of agroecosystems is one of the most important strategies to increase attention to these services and provide appropriate solutions to maintain and sustain these services. In this study, some services of canola agroecosystems were evaluated and quantified based on Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES) framework under nine plots from an agricultural landscape located in Mazandaran Province, north of Iran, during 2019–2020. We investigated the ecological indicators, such as biodiversity (plant and insect), grain yield, grain oil content, soil microbial respiration, carbon sequestration, oxygen production, organic matter content, earthworm population density and soil conservation through the stability of aggregates indices. To measure the microbial respiration and organic matters, soil samples were taken from a depth of 0–30 cm before September 2019 and after harvest in June 2020. Oxygen production amount was estimated based on net primary productivity. In addition, insects community was studied in three groups: pollinator, beneficial and pest. The results showed that canola agroecosystems provide a variety of services. For example, the highest oxygen production and carbon sequestration as regulating services were obtained as 18.24 t.ha−1 and 2.49 t.ha−1, respectively. In addition, the highest amount of microbial respiration was observed about 100.41 and 49.83 mg CO2 per kg of soil per day, before sowing and after harvesting, respectively. From the perspective of supporting services, the maximum amounts of the Shannon–Weiner index were obtained 2.79 for plants community and 2.87 for insect community. We were recorded four beneficial insects (Syrphus ribesii, Chrysoperla carnea, Apis ellifera mellifica, and Tromatobia oculatoria) in studied plots. In general, carbon sequestration, organic matter, microbial respiration, earthworm's abundance, and aggregate stability include average weight diameter index (MWD) and geometric mean diameter index (GMD), were better in plots with sustainable management. The results of this study showed that crop management and implementation of intensive agricultural system were effective in providing many ESs of canola fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cabbage aphid, Brevicoryne brassicae L. (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is one of the important pests of cruciferous plants throughout the world including Iran. In the present study, we grew cultivated canola plants under different fertilizers or distilled water and sprayed them with 100 µM abscisic acid (ABA) or a control solution (NaOH dissolved in water) to study (i) the antibiosis parameters of B. brassicae on these plants; (ii) the antixenosis of B. brassicae adults on these plants; (iii) the plant's peroxidase (POD), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity; and (iv) the plant's total phenolic and glucosinolate content. The results of antibiosis experiments showed that ABA and fertilizers have a profound and negative effect on the performance of B. brassicae. In the antixenosis experiment, control plants attracted a significantly higher number of adult females in comparison to treated plants. Also, B. brassicae had lower performance and preference when they were reared on the ABA-treated fertilized plants with higher levels of phenolic and glucosinolate content. These results prompted us to hypothesize that fertilizers enable canola plants to trigger a higher level of secondary metabolites. Our findings reveal that the type and level of nutrient availability may have different impacts on how the plant regulates its defense mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives A large part of Iran is located in arid and semi-arid climates. Despite the existing shortcomings, agricultural in Iran is highly dependent on applied irrigation water. Water is considered as the most important and limiting input of agricultural production in Iran (Zibai, 2007). Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) is the third annual oil crop in the world after palm oil and soybeans, which is cultivated for its edible oil and is easily replaced by cereals (Anonymous, 2013). The main goal for improving agricultural water productivity in the world is to increase agricultural products with less water consumption, thus reducing the share of water in the agricultural sector and allocating more water to other uses and, most importantly, the water needs of the environment (Heydari, 2014). So far, no report has been presented on the evaluation of different irrigation systems in rapeseed cultivation in East Khuzestan. The main purpose of this article was to measure irrigation water of rapeseed in Behbahan city and compare their physical and economic water productivity. In this way, the physical and economic productivity of water under different agricultural management and in irrigation systems can be compared and evaluated. Methodology This project was implemented in the field to determine canola irrigation water demand under the management of farmers in Behbahan city. In 26 farms, the volume of canola irrigation water (without interfering with their irrigation program) was measured. To determine the volume of irrigation water, the amount of inflow from the selected water source was measured with a suitable device (WSC flume, meter or ultrasonic flow meter). Linear multivariate regression analysis was used to investigate the effects of the independent variable on the above dependent parameters. Water requirement was calculated based on the FAO Penman-Monteith model using the daily statistics of Behbahan Synoptic Meteorological Station (minimum and maximum daily temperature, minimum and maximum daily humidity, wind speed and maximum sunny hours) and using ETCalculator software. One-way analysis of variance was used to show a statistically significant difference between the means of two or more independent groups. To compare physical and economic productivity indices of irrigation water, there was a need to resolve the difference. Therefore, the standard Z-Score standardization method was used to resolve the scale difference. SPSS16 software was used for statistical analysis. Findings The average irrigation water productivity in 26 farms ranged from 0.351 to 1.545 kg per cubic meter and economic water productivity ranged from 6940 to 3719660 Rials per cubic meter. Irrigation water volume with t-statistic (-11.193) and equivalent beta coefficient (-0.056) had a significant negative effect at the level of 1% on the irrigation water productivity and a significant negative effect at level 5% had on the economic water productivity. The method of irrigation of selected farms (surface or sprinkler) had a significant effect at the level of 5% on the physical and economic irrigation water productivity. The calculated scores according to Z-Score showed that 31% of the farms that had sprinkler irrigation system were in good condition in terms of physical and economic productivity of irrigation water and none of the farms in the surface irrigation system were ranked well in terms of irrigation water productivity, but 8% of the irrigation farms had good economic productivity. The results of Pearson correlation coefficient showed that rapeseed yield had a positive and significant correlation at the level of 1% and 0.608 with irrigation water productivity, while yield had no significant correlation with economic water productivity. Conclusion Comparison of the results of average traits showed that the implementation of sprinkler irrigation system in the studied farms has increased the physical and economic productivity of irrigation water. The high cost of implementing the sprinkler irrigation system in agricultural lands has not caused these farms to have lower physical and economic productivity than surface irrigation farms, instead the cost of implementing the irrigation system during ten years of using this system has led to better management use of irrigation water, increase the physical and economic productivity of irrigation water. This management is mainly implemented by irrigation and drainage companies by shortening the irrigation period and increasing irrigation times. Prevents grain filling and by adjusting the irrigation hour at each irrigation time by moving the sprinklers by irrigation workers, prevents water wastage and deep percolation of water from the root zone and compared to surface irrigation from water losses prevents the end of irrigation furrows. This management, along with reducing labor costs while keeping the canola crop, has reduced costs and increased the physical and economic productivity of irrigation water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of different fertilizer management systems such as organic, chemical and integrated fertilizer systems in increasing total quality and quantity yields of canola and wheat in two rotations included canola–soybean–wheat and canola-wheat. In this experiment, the effects of zeolite incorporation with different organic and chemical fertilizers were investigated on the improvement of yield components, crop yield and nutrient uptake of canola and wheat in Iran during 2014–2018. Two crop rotations of canola-soybean-wheat and canola-wheat provided the whole-plot treatments with nine fertilization management (F1: urea, F2: urea + zeolite, F3: composted manure, F4: composted manure + zeolite, F5: urea + composted manure, F6: urea+ composted manure + zeolite, F7: urea+ azocompost, F8: urea+ azocompost + zeolite and F9: Control) providing the sub-plots. The highest yield of canola and wheat were observed under F6 and F8. Embedding soybean in the rotation was not significantly efficacious in increasing canola and wheat yields. Also, soybean did not reduce wheat and canola yield, it could fulfill its own requirements. Elemental composition of seeds in crops was affected by the treatments. Principal component analysis (PCA) perfectly displayed that organic fertilizers, especially composted manure accompanied with the application of 8 ton ha−1 zeolite and urea (F6) had the most predominant effect on yield and yield components in both wheat and canola. Crop rotation in the short-term programs might not produce desirable results, but it is expected to see the efficacy of crop rotation in long-term farming practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Nineteen non plant pathogenic pseudomonads strains were isolated for first time. • All strains were pathogenic to eggs and larvae of Ephestia keuhniella. • The strains cause 73.2 to 90.1% mortalities of this pest. • Females Habrabracon hebetor avoided the infection of the treated larvae by the strains. Pseudomonas bacteria include a variety of species with distinct characteristics. Some species within this genus are known for their ability to stimulate plant growth. Recently, the potential of these bacteria in controlling insect pests has been documented. In this study, 58 bacterial isolates were purified from rhizospheres of wheat, broad bean and canola that were collected from different fields of Khuzestan province in south-west of Iran. With biochemical tests 19 non plant pathogenic pseudomonads strains were detected and their lethal effects on the eggs and larvae of Ephestia keuhniella as an important pest that infests stored products, were evaluated under laboratory conditions. For the bioassays, two concentrations of each strain were administered, and the 5th instar larvae and eggs of the pest were subjected to treatment. Mortality rates were recorded after 24 h. The results showed that all isolated Pseudomonad strains of this study had insecticidal effects against eggs and larvae of E. keuhniella. The strains AWI1, AWI2, AWI7, ABI12, ABI15 and ABI16 displayed the highest mortality rate (91.1 %, 86.2 %, 82.3 %, 84.2, 90.5 % and 90.5 %, respectively). Molecular identification and phylogeny tree according to 16 s rRNA sequencing clarified that AWI1, AWI2 belong to P. plecoglossicida , AWI5 belongs to P. lini , ABI12, ABI15 and ABI16 belong to P. taiwanensis. Moreover, the bacterial efficacy at a suspension concentration of 0.5 OD (80 %) was significantly greater than that at a concentration of 0.2 OD (63.33 %). No significant difference was detected in the response of the pest larvae or eggs to the different strains. Furthermore, olfactory trials revealed that the female parasitoid wasp Habrabracon hebetor actively avoided the infection of the treated larvae by the strains. These findings have practical implications for the development of microbiological pest control strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimum use of nitrogen (N) fertilizers is necessary to achieve maximum profitability by farmers and to minimize the risks of environmental pollution. In this study, we used three statistical models to predict the grain yield response of wheat, safflower, and canola to N fertilizer based on combined data from 38 field experiments. Meanwhile, based on the yield response functions and fertilizer-to-product price ratios, the economic optimum N fertilizer rate for each crop for 2009 (before targeting subsidies) and 2015 (after targeting subsidies) was estimated. According to quadratic, exponential, and square root models, 82.5, 90, and 76 kg N ha−1 was estimated to be required for maximum agronomic yield of safflower. More than 300 kg N ha−1 was estimated by all three models to obtain the maximum agronomic yield of canola. In contrast with the government policies for reducing N fertilizer application rates by farmers, due to low fertilizer-to-product price ratios, all application rates of N fertilizer were economic for wheat production even after targeting subsidies. According to the results, to achieve the optimum use of N fertilizers, a proper ratio of the fertilizer cost to the product value should be considered in fertilizer subsidy programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blackleg, caused by a complex of Leptosphaeria species (L. maculans and L. biglobosa), is a fungal disease on Brassica species, especially important in canola (Brassica napus). Since the first report of L. biglobosa in Iran in 2007 and L. maculans in 2008, both species are now of major importance in Iran affecting 10 provinces and 30 regions, with a higher prevalence in the northern provinces of Mazandaran and Golestan. Despite the rapid progression of the disease and the emergence of new Leptosphaeria races in Iran, the research into this pathogen has not progressed at the same rate and is limited to phenotypic characterization studies, pathogenicity research, and to a lesser extent, disease management research. Given the rapid increase in canola cultivation in Iran and changes in the genetic diversity of the pathogen populations, it is likely that blackleg disease will increasingly become a severe threat to Iran's canola production. Therefore, systematic and prospective studies, along with fundamental research on the pathogen's biology, epidemiology, and genetic diversity, would provide critical information for the development of disease management strategies. Here, we review the research that has been carried out to date on blackleg disease in Iran and describe the extent of progress towards disease control, especially in disease‐prone regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pod drop and seed losses in rapeseed is one of the most important problems in the cultivation of this plant and determining the most appropriate harvesting time can greatly prevent this problem and subsequently reduce the grain yield reduction. Thus, the present research was conducted as a split-plot in time in the form of a randomized complete block design with three replications during the crop year of 2019-2020 in the Research Station of the Rice Research Institute of Iran in Rasht. The main factor was rapeseed genotypes at 22 levels and the subfactor was harvesting time at three levels (including the amount of moisture between 30-40, 20-30, and 10-20% in the third grade of the lower stage of the original stem). The results of analysis of variance showed that in addition to the significance of yield-related traits in rapeseed lines, the interaction of lines in time was also significant, which shows the effect of harvesting time on rapeseed lines is different. In most of the lines, the highest and lowest grain yields were related to the first and second harvesting time, respectively. The highest grain yield was found for SRL-98-17 with a mean of 3662 kg ha-1. Number of siliques per line due to loss of pods decreased from the first to the third harvesting time. However, SRL98-9, SR-98-19, SRL-98-1 and SRL-98-11 had the lowest loss of grains. According to these results, it seems that the first harvesting time results in the highest grain yield, hastens the harvest of rapeseed by one week, and potentiates it as a suitable choice for inclusion in the rotation after a rice crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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