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Among environmental stresses, drought is the main limiting factor of crop yield. The use of nanomaterials has been considered a strategy to enhance the drought tolerance of plants. To evaluate the beneficial effect of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs; 0 (T0), 50 (T50), and 100 (T100) mg l−1) and deficit irrigation (70 as control (I70), 105 (I105), and 140 (I140) mm evaporation from Class A evaporation pan) on drought tolerance of sweet corn cv. chase, an open field experiment was performed in 2018–2019. The results showed that deficit irrigation decreased the maximum efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm), but T50 improved Fv/Fm. 50 mg l−1 TiO2-NPs enhanced leaf SOD, APX, and CAT antioxidant activities by 17%, 10%, and 24%, respectively, over the control. I140T50 increased leaf proline content 8% and 17% over I140T0 and I140T100, respectively. Grain number per ear with the highest correlation with grain yield (r = 0.97) was the most determining grain yield component. The greatest grain yield was obtained from I0T50 and I105T50 (760 and 809 g m−2, respectively). Therefore, I105, due to less water consumption, and T50 may be considered to produce sweet corn with a desired performance under water-limited conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the effects of different intercropping ratios of black cumin and fenugreek on yield, yield components and oil percentage under weedy and weed-free conditions, a factorial experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications at Vali-e-Asr Rafsanjan University in 2015. The treatments included five intercropping ratios (black cumin sole cropping, fenugreek sole cropping, 25% black cumin + 75% fenugreek, 50% black cumin + 50% fenugreek and 75% black cumin + 25% fenugreek) and weed management (with and without weed control). Results showed that yield of both plants were greater in sole cropping treatments, whereas the highest plant height, 1000- seed weight and seed oil were obtained from intercroppings. Intercropping systems had a relative advantage than sole cropping and total relative yield (TRY) was more than 1 in all intercropping ratios. The highest TRY was achieved in 25% black cumin +75% fenugreek (1.55) treatment under weed control conditions. Intercropping caused better weeds control, so that the number and dry weight of weeds was reduced in intercropping treatments. The yield loss due to weeds was 87.2% in sole crop and in 25% black cumin +75% fenugreek, 75% black cumin +25% fenugreek and 50% black cumin +50% fenugreek treatments were 34.8%, 27.1% and 25%, respectively. Overall, the result of this research revealed that while 25% black cumin +75% fenugreek intercropping increased TRY, it also improved weeds control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]