Hassan Mir; Ahmad Gholamalizadeh Ahangar; Noshin Mir
Abstract
Introduction: Increasing the production rate became considerable for farmers in various ways. Modern technologies, such as biotechnology and nanotechnology could play an important role in increasing the production and improving the quality of agricultural products. Research into the direct application ...
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Introduction: Increasing the production rate became considerable for farmers in various ways. Modern technologies, such as biotechnology and nanotechnology could play an important role in increasing the production and improving the quality of agricultural products. Research into the direct application of nanotechnology into agriculture is set to increase in the future. One of the most remarkable plant growth factors is its nutrition. Titanium plays a beneficial role in increasing and stimulating plants growth. Titanium's usage in nutrition solution or spraying on the plant will increase the biomass and growth of different plant species. With respect to Nano technology enhancement in recent years the application of nano-particles is increasing. All the positive effects of titanium dioxide depend on its ability to absorb light and the main disadvantages of this combination are the low ability to absorb visible light from the sun and absorbing more UV light. It is possible to improve its effectiveness due to the high proportion of sunlight in the visible range by absorbing the visible light of nano-particles. To achieve this goal a layer of color will be added on the surface of the nanoparticles, which is called the nanoparticle sensitization by color. Due to the absorption of light by titanium dioxide nano-particles, especially ultraviolet radiation, it is assumed that the creation of a color layer on these nano-particles increases the antibacterial and fungal properties of these nanoparticles. As a result, the goal of this experiment is to investigate the possible increase in light absorption and increase the yield of the sorghum plant by titanium dioxide nano-particles of Dye-Sensitized, which, some of the parameters were investigated by treating the seeds of the plant with both nanoparticles.
Materials and Methods: This research was performed in three replications in a completely randomized design with factorial arrangement and with 12 treatments containing 6 concentrations of titanium dioxide nano-particles (0, 1, 10, 50, 100 and 500 mg.L-1), 6 concentration of titanium dioxide nanoparticles of Dye-Sensitized (0, 1, 10, 50, 100 and 500 mg.L-1). Fresh and dry weight of plants, plant nutrients content (Phosphorus, Potassium, Manganese, and Zinc), activity of ascorbate peroxidase and guaiacol peroxidase and chlorophyll content parameters have been measured.
Discussion and Results: The saffron compounds have significant peaks in the UV-Vis spectrum. The spectrum of titanium dioxide nanoparticles has a specific peak in the ultraviolet range (Area between wavelengths of 200-400 nm) however there is no trace of absorption in visible areas. The spectrum of the saffron solution has two identifiable peaks at 328 and 258 nm, and a double peak at 466 and 442 nm. The observed peak at 258 nm is related to the combination of Picrocrocin, which is the same colorless bitter substance found in saffron. The dual peaks range between 400-500 nm and the peak appearing at 328 nm are related to the carotenoids found in saffron. Crocin also has similar peaks which are likely to be overlapping with trans-isomeric peaks and not separable. The Spectrum of titanium dioxide nano-particles covered with saffron color also represents two peaks at 322 and 260 nm, and a peak at 430 nm with a specific shoulder at 458 nm. What comes from the comparison of two saffron peaks alone and saffron coated on titanium dioxide nano-particles is that the Crocin molecules contained in saffron are attached to nano-particles. According to the results, dry weight and enzymatic activity of Guaiacol peroxide and Ascorbate peroxide showed a significant increase compared to the control and had the highest performance respectively at concentrations of 10, 100 and 500 mg.L-1of titanium dioxide nano-particles of Dye-Sensitized, and showed 1.25, 2.7 and 3.28 fold. The amount of plant nutrients such as phosphorus, potassium, manganese, and zinc at concentrations of 10, 100, 500 and 50 mg.L-1titanium dioxide nanoparticles of Dye-Sensitized had a 72.34, 42.85, 73.95 and 28.17 percent increase, except fresh weight and chlorophyll a. Chlorophyll a at a concentration of 500 mg.L-1of both nano-particles showed the highest amount, but the fresh weight, unlike other parameters, showed the best performance with normal nanoparticles.
Conclusion: It seems that these nano-particles, by coloring, intensify light-related reactions compared to normal nano-particles, which results in better performance.
Sabireh Golshahi; Ahmad Gholamalizadeh Ahangar; Noshin Mir; Maryam Ghorbani
Abstract
Introduction: First and the most important requirement of human being is food and food supply, which is directly, or indirectly associated with agriculture. Iron is a critical element for the growth, expansion and survival of the plant, since multiple metabolic and a physiological process is essential ...
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Introduction: First and the most important requirement of human being is food and food supply, which is directly, or indirectly associated with agriculture. Iron is a critical element for the growth, expansion and survival of the plant, since multiple metabolic and a physiological process is essential for the proper functioning. Agricultural areas in the world have a high pH in soil, which in turn decreases iron absorption by plants. Iron deficiency depending on many soil and environmental factors as well as plant genetic that in turns can decrease the yield and product quality. One method of overcome iron deficiency in plants is foliar application. A foliar application of iron fertilizer in agriculture is the common practice, especially in soils that accompanied with iron deficiency. The proper use of various types of fertilizers is the main solution to improve and maintaining soil fertility and increase crop production. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of foliar application of iron sources on growth parameters, concentration and absorption of iron in shoot and root and enzymes activity of catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and guaiacol peroxidase (GPOX) on forage sorghum plant to determine the best combination of iron fertilizer.
Materials and Methods: An experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with factorial arrangement and three replications in greenhouse condition on forage sorghum (Sorghum Bicolor (L.) Moench) varieties of speed feed. The treatments included two levels of iron (0.25 and 0.5 g Fe.L-1 with Control (C)) from nine iron sources (Iron chelate (F1), Iron sulfate (F2), Iron oxide nanoparticles (F3), Monodisperse iron oxide nanoparticles (F4), Green nano iron (F5), Polymeric iron chelate (F6), Polymeric iron sulfate (F7), Polymeric iron oxide nanoparticles (F8) and Polymeric monodisperse iron oxide nanoparticles (F9)). The soil was obtained from educational and research greenhouses of Zabol university and after air drying and sieving passing 2 mm, some physical and chemical characteristics of soil such as texture, pH, electrical conductivity, cations exchange capacity, calcium carbonate equivalent, organic matter, total nitrogen contents, available P contents, available K contents and available Fe contents was measurement. Spraying of iron resources performed in two stages (4 leaf and the two weeks after first spraying). After two months of planting, the shoot cut from the surface of the soil and roots of the plants collected. Some parameters such as shoot and root dry weight, chlorophyll a, b and carotenoids, iron concentration in shoot and root, iron absorption in shoot and root, and activity of the enzyme (catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, guaiacol peroxidase) was measured. The experimental data examined using Excel and SAS 9.4 statistical software and the averages were compared using Duncan’s Multiple Range Tests at 0.01 and 0.05 significance level.
Results: Results analysis of variance indicated that the interaction effects between iron resources and iron level on the dry weight of shoots and roots, chlorophyll a and b, iron absorption in shoots and roots, enzymes guaiacol peroxidase. Ascorbate peroxidase and catalase were significant at the level of 5 percent and iron concentrations in shoots and roots were significant at the level of 1 percent. The carotenoid content in leaves in the simple effects of iron resources was significant at the level of 5 percent. According to the results, foliar application of treatments on dry weight of shoots and roots, Fe concentration and Fe absorption by shoots and roots, chlorophyll a, b and the enzyme activity of APX, GPOX in addition CAT were significantly increased compared to Control. Foliar application at 0.25 g Fe.L-1, chlorophyll b in the treatment of monodisperse iron oxide nanoparticles, Fe concentration and Fe absorption in the shoots in treatments of polymeric iron sulfate and polymeric iron chelate, respectively. Fe concentration and Fe absorption in the roots in treatment of polymeric monodisperse iron oxide nanoparticles and APX activity in iron chelate treatment increased significantly compared to control. At level of 0.5 g Fe.L-1, dry weight of shoots in the treatment of iron chelate, dry weight of roots and CAT enzyme in the treatment of green nano iron, chlorophyll a in the treatment of polymeric iron chelate and GPOX enzyme in the treatment of monodisperse iron oxide nanoparticles were compared with the control increased significantly. The simple effects of iron sources indicated that the highest level of carotenoids observed in the foliar application of polymeric iron chelate.
M. Hashemi; Ahmad Gholamalizadeh Ahangar; Abolfazl Bameri; F. Sarani; A. Hejazizadeh
Abstract
Introduction: In order to provide a database, it is essential having access to accurate information on soil spatial variation for soil sustainable management such as proper application of fertilizers. Spatial variations in soil properties are common but it is important for understanding these changes, ...
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Introduction: In order to provide a database, it is essential having access to accurate information on soil spatial variation for soil sustainable management such as proper application of fertilizers. Spatial variations in soil properties are common but it is important for understanding these changes, particularly in agricultural lands for careful planning and land management.
Materials and Methods: To this end, in winter 1391, 189 undisturbed soil samples (0-30 cm depth) in a regular lattice with a spacing of 500 m were gathered from the surface of Miankangi land, Sistan plain, and their physical and chemical properties were studied. The land area of the region is about 4,500 hectares; the average elevation of studied area is 489.2 meters above sea level with different land uses. Soil texture was measured by the hydrometer methods (11), Also EC and pH (39), calcium carbonate equivalent (37) and the saturation percentage of soils were determined. Kriging, Co-Kriging, Inverse Distance Weighting and Local Polynomial Interpolation techniques were evaluated to produce a soil characteristics map of the study area zoning and to select the best geostatistical methods. Cross-validation techniques and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) were used.
Results and Discussion: Normalized test results showed that all of the soil properties except calcium carbonate and soil clay content had normal distribution. In addition, the results of correlation test showed that the soil saturation percentage was positively correlated with silt content (r=0.43 and p
S. Poormand; Ahmad Gholamalizadeh Ahangar; A. Dehvari
Abstract
Introduction: Wind erosion is one of the most important factors in desert environments. Prevailing winds can shift sand dunes and affect their accumulation and morphology. Also, wind regime determines the direction of sand dune mobility in different ways. Therefore, the wind regime, frequency, direction ...
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Introduction: Wind erosion is one of the most important factors in desert environments. Prevailing winds can shift sand dunes and affect their accumulation and morphology. Also, wind regime determines the direction of sand dune mobility in different ways. Therefore, the wind regime, frequency, direction and velocity are supposed to be the most important factors to form the morphology of sand dunes. Wind energy and changes in different directions (wind regime) have large impacts on the morphology, maintenance and transformation of wind features. Having a global knowledge of the magnitude of aeolian processes, we can assess the powerful impact of sand dune mobility on residential areas and infrastructures. The most important factors including the frequency, magnitude and directional mobility of aeolian processes have a very important effect on the entrainment and form of sand dunes.
Materials and Methods: To understand and identify the wind erosion regions, wind regime is a useful way since there is a strong correlation between wind regimes and sand dune morphology and structure. Sand rose and wind rose are assumed to be easy, fast and most accurate methods for the identification of wind erosion. Wind regimes processes have been studied by many researchers who believed that investigating wind regimes and sand dune mobility gives a measure of drift potential. Drift potential is a measure of the sand-moving capability by wind; derived from reduction of surface-wind data through a weighting equation. To predict drift potential, wind velocity and direction data from meteorological synoptic stations were used. Regarding the estimation of sand transport rate by wind, many formulas exist such as Bagnold, Kawamura, and Lattau. Also, many software applications have been suggested. However, among these formulas, Fryberger’s is the best and has been widely used since 1979.
Results and Discussion: The aim of this study was to analyze wind velocities and directions from 1992 to 2003 in order to predict the volume of sand transportation and its direction using sand-rose and wind-rose softwares. As described earlier, in this research, the drift potential (DP) is estimated for all possible wind speed categories, summed up for all categories of each direction sector using Fryberger’s Equation. The sand drift potential in Shileh was estimated about 3439 vector units with a resultant drift direction along the Southeast, which places it in the high class of wind erosive power based on the Fryberger and Dean (1979) classification method. The sand drift potential values show that the resultant drift direction is from the Northwest towards the Southeast. It was also found that the most powerful winds (the prevailing winds) blow in the summer and the spring seasons, respectively. In contrast, the percentage of calm winds increases during autumn and winter times. The sand transport discharge was predicted to be 20.422 t m-1 year-1 using Lattau and Lattau Equation. With regard to the monthly sand rose, it was seen that the resultant drift potential was low in December and January and high in June and July. The prevailing wind direction ranged from North to Northwest in all seasons. The winds with the highest velocities were observed in the summer, while the winds with lower velocities were observed during the winter. Wind velocities higher than 11 m s-1 had the largest frequencies in the summer and the lowest frequencies in the winter. Wind unidirectional index (UDI) is estimated to be 0.95, implying that the index provides a suitable condition for the creation of transverse (barchanoid) dunes.
Conclusion: The Sistan plain is one of the windiest places in the world that is exposed to wind erosion and dust storms. The result of this study is very important due to the construction of an international roadway that connects Chabahar port to Sistan plain and continues towards the Afghanistan border. Therefore, the practical result of this research could be used to protect this highway from sand dune migration. The residential areas and the infrastructure can be damaged by the migration of sand dunes since the sand dunes can move both spatially and temporally. For example, we can even notify the highway passengers about the rate of monthly and seasonal migration of sand dunes so that they avoid travelling during high-storm seasons. The results of this study are also important regarding wind-break design to protect the infrastructure such as highways and agricultural fields. Therefore, sand encroachment hazards affect man-made infrastructures due to wind speed and direction. Sand drift potential is a serious hazard to settlements and other lands as well. This problem is accelerated by the extreme arid conditions (such as the case of Shileh) that may occur in different months of summer.
Keywords: Resultant Drift Direction, Sand Drift Potential, Sand Dune, Wind Erosion, Wind Regime
Ahmad Gholamalizadeh Ahangar; F. Sarani; M. Hashemi; A. Shabani
Abstract
Knowledge of organic carbon spatial variations in different land uses will help to interpret and simulate the behavior of terrestrial ecosystems facing environmental and climate changes. The purpose of this study is comparing regression, geostatistics and artificial neural network (ANN) methods for predicting ...
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Knowledge of organic carbon spatial variations in different land uses will help to interpret and simulate the behavior of terrestrial ecosystems facing environmental and climate changes. The purpose of this study is comparing regression, geostatistics and artificial neural network (ANN) methods for predicting organic carbon content in 192 samples of surface soil (0 to 30 cm) of Sistan plain (Miankangi region). In this study, Only 25% of organic carbon variations were explained by variables used in linear regression model in the study area (R2= 0.25). Moreover, simple co-kriging (with clay as co-variable) which was the best geostatistical method in the current study, predicted organic carbon content weakly (R2= 0.23 and RMSE= 0.127). However, using latitude and longitude parameters, ANN performed much better than linear regression and geostatistical methods for predicting organic carbon content (R2= 0.79 and RMSE= 0.044).
H. Mir; Ahmad Gholamalizadeh Ahangar; A. Shabani
Abstract
Introduction: Phosphorus is important as an essential element in the production of agricultural products. On the other hand, its ability to induce essential micronutrient deficiency and its negative effects on the environment, have attracted more attention to this element. The knowledge of phosphorus ...
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Introduction: Phosphorus is important as an essential element in the production of agricultural products. On the other hand, its ability to induce essential micronutrient deficiency and its negative effects on the environment, have attracted more attention to this element. The knowledge of phosphorus availability conditions in the soil and consequently the accurate management of fertilizer consumption has a key role in the environmental protection. The degree of phosphorus absorption in the soil depends on the environmental factors, soil characteristics and compositions, and phosphorus fertilizer which have been used. The amount of available phosphorus in the soil has relationship with some of the physical and chemical properties of the soil. Since, the soil characteristics are important factors in the reaction of phosphorus in the soil, the present study aimed to investigate and determine the most important soil characteristics affecting the availability of phosphorus using regression and artificial neural network techniques, in the soils of Sistan plain.
Materials and Methods: Soil sampling was done in 1.5×1.5 km intervals, from 0-30 cm depth, and 200 soil samples were taken. The amounts of available phosphorus and the soil properties including the percentages of clay , organic matter, calcium carbonate and the amount of pH were measured. Then, stepwise multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to determine linear relation between available phosphorus and the soil properties. In order to model and validate the regression model, respectively 80 and 20% of data were selected and entered into SPSS software. To train the neural network, multilayer perceptron (MLP) network was used by MATLAB 7.6 package. In this type of network, 70% of data is selected for training, 15% for validation and 15% for testing the model. Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm and hyperbolic tangent (as a transfer function) were used to train the network. The numbers of neurons in the hidden layer were calculated based on the trial and error method and finally the best structure was selected according to the highest R2 and the lowest RMSE value. Moreover, quantifying the importance of variables in the neural network was done through employing connection weight approach. In this method, the connection weights of input-hidden and hidden-output neurons were used to indicate the significance of variables.
Results and Discussion: The values of the coefficient of variation for the soil properties were in the range of 5.66 for pH (the lowest) and 69.90 for available phosphorus (the highest). The high variation of the available phosphorus could be due to the different amounts of phosphorus fertilizers consumption and their diverse rate of conversion to less soluble forms. The validation results of regression and neural network methods showed that the latter technique was more accurate compared with the multivariate linear regression method, in the estimation of available phosphorus, as multi-layer perceptron neural network with 4-6-1 layout predicts nearly 90% of available phosphorus variability using soil properties (percentage of clay, organic matter, calcium carbonate and the amount of pH); however, the obtained regression equation could explain only 43% of phosphorus variances. The reasons for this could be: 1) considering nonlinear relations between the variables in the artificial neural network method, and 2) less sensitivity of this method to the existence of error in input data, comparing with the regression method. The values of R2 and RMSE were 0.43 and 11.23, respectively for training the multivariate linear regression method and 0.91 and 4.28, respectively for training the artificial neural network method. From the investigated soil properties in the current study, the percentage of organic matter and clay were entered in the regression model, and the values of standardized regression coefficient (beta) showed that the first variable is more important to explain the available phosphorus variability. The results of quantifying the importance of variables by the connection weight method showed that pH had the greatest contribution in the variability of phosphorus in the study area. In the other words, the high values of pH were the most important limiting factor for the availability of phosphorus in Sistan soils.
Conclusion: Considering nonlinear and complicated relations between variables, the artificial neural network model is an effective tool to assess the effect of soil properties on the availability of phosphorus in the study area. The results of quantifying the importance of variables by using the connection weight method showed that pH had the greatest contribution in the variability of phosphorus in the study area. In fact, the existence of lime in the soils of the study area, arid climate and lack of precipitation have resulted in the accumulation of basic cations in the soil and consequently increased pH values. Furthermore, the observed average values of pH that are more than 8.5 demonstrated the risk of soil sodicity in the study area. Thus, the management of this area by cultivating tolerant plants could be resulted in increasing organic matter content, which along with using chemical amendments such as sulfur will decrease pH values and increase the availability of phosphorus in Sistan plain. Applying such practices and through it modifying soil characteristics, decreasing the consumption of phosphate fertilizers and preventing their hazardous environmental effects would be expected in long run.
ghodsie hoseinian rostami; Ahmad Gholamalizadeh Ahangar
Abstract
Adding heavy metals to soils leads to change of their original distribution pattern. Heavy metals distribution in soils depends upon heavy metal, application level, application time and soil characteristics as well. This investigation was conducted to assess the time effect on distribution of different ...
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Adding heavy metals to soils leads to change of their original distribution pattern. Heavy metals distribution in soils depends upon heavy metal, application level, application time and soil characteristics as well. This investigation was conducted to assess the time effect on distribution of different fractions of Lead in soils. The experiment conducted as a factorial in a completely randomized design with three replications and two levels of cow manure (0 and 5%) and two levels of Lead using Lead nitrate (0 and 200 mg kg-1). Samples were incubated at 250C and 60% of field capacity for 120 days with different time intervals (0-30, 0-60, 0-90 and 0-120 day) to determine Lead fractions using sequential extraction methods. The results showed that Lead concentration decrease in exchangeable, carbonated and residual fractions during the time. Also the interactions between cow manure and time cause of decreases in the exchangeable and residual fractions and increases in the carbonated, Fe-Mn oxides-bound as well as organic matter-bond fractions. The interactions between time and Lead concentration lead to decrease in the exchangeable, carbonated and residual fractions and increase in the Fe-Mn oxides-bound and organic matter-bond Lead fractions. Since the most availability and toxic potential of lead is in the exchangeable-solution, the advantage of the this study is to reduce potion of this section during the time.
Ahmad Gholamalizadeh Ahangar; B. Kermanizadeh; S.K. Sabbagh; A. Sirousmehr
Abstract
This investigation was conducted in order to evaluate the direct effects of organic and bio - fertilizers on yield components of two native wheat cultivars, Bolani and cross - Bolani. The experiment conducted as a factorial in a completely randomized design with three replications. Treatment includes ...
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This investigation was conducted in order to evaluate the direct effects of organic and bio - fertilizers on yield components of two native wheat cultivars, Bolani and cross - Bolani. The experiment conducted as a factorial in a completely randomized design with three replications. Treatment includes fertilizer factor: vermicompost (F1), vermicompost + compost (F2), vermicompost + mycorrhiza (F3), compost + vermicompost + mycorrhiza (F4), compost (F5), mycorrhiza + compost (F6), mycorrhiza (F7) and control (no fertilizer application F8) and cultivar factor includes two cultivar Bolani (C1) and cross - Bolani (C2). The results showed that the interaction effect of combined treatments (F7C2) of high yield (1.13 g.pot-1) obtained. The treatment combination (F7C2) of (0.355) was highest harvest index. The high correlation between weight per plant with plant height, spike length, grain yield and harvest index were observed. Generally the combined application of vermicompost and mycorrhiza cultivar cross - Bolani is more suitable for grain production.
