J. Ghaderi; F. Nourgholipour
Abstract
Introduction: Due to the compatibility of canola with different conditions, economic value, its price and importance of rotation with cereals, it has the highest level of cultivation area among the oilseed crops in Iran. Phosphorus (P) deficiency is a widespread macronutrient deficiency and is one of ...
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Introduction: Due to the compatibility of canola with different conditions, economic value, its price and importance of rotation with cereals, it has the highest level of cultivation area among the oilseed crops in Iran. Phosphorus (P) deficiency is a widespread macronutrient deficiency and is one of the major limiting constraints for canola production. Despite its importance, it limits crop yield on more than 40% of the world’s arable land and 70.2% in Iran. Moreover, global P reserves are being depleted at a higher rate and according to some estimates, there will be no economic P reserve by the year 2050. This is a potential threat to sustainable canola production. Most of the P applied in the form of fertilizers may be adsorbed by the soil, and would not be available for plants lacking specific adaptations. It is widely accepted that the most realistic solution to the problem of P deficiency is to develop new plant cultivars that adapt to P-deficient soils. Phosphorus efficiency is a term that generally describes the ability of crop species/genotypes to give higher yield under P-limiting condition. Plant species as well as genotypes within the same species may differ in P efficiency. This study was conducted to determine the effect of phosphorus fertilization on the grain yield and phosphorus efficiency indices in different canola cultivars.
Materials and Methods: The present study was carried out at the research farm of the Mahidasht Agricultural Research Station located 20 km away from Kermanshah (with elevation of 1265 m). This experiment was conducted as factorial in a randomized complete block design with three replications with 2 factors including canola varieties and different amounts of phosphorus fertilizer. The first factor consisted of five triple superphosphate (TSP) levels (0, 16, 32, 49, and 61 kg per ha) and the second factor consisted of three cultivars (Okapi, Opera and Zarfam). This research was conducted on soil where the amount of available phosphorus was lower than the critical level required for canola (15 mg kg-1). Prior to sowing, all phosphorus treatments with 30 kg ha-1 of zinc sulfate fertilizer as well as one-third of nitrogen fertilizer (100 kg ha-1 urea) were applied during planting and mixed thoroughly with the soil. The remaining urea fertilizer was applied at two stages of stem growth (120 kg ha-1) and early flowering (100 kg ha-1). Each experimental plot had an area of 12 m2. Irrigation method was sprinkler. Grain and straw yield were determined after the harvest and seed samples (harvesting stage) were taken and rinsed with distilled water, oven dried at 70 °C, ground, digested and analyzed for determining the P concentration. Analysis of variance was performed using SAS software and mean comparisons performed by Duncan’s multiple range tests (P ≤ 0.05).
Results and Discussion: The results showed that the interaction effects of phosphorus fertilizer rate and canola cultivars on leaf P concentration, grain and straw yield, grain P concentration and uptake, and P efficiency indices were significant. In average of the two-years, the highest grain and straw yields (3203 and 4613 kg ha-1, respectively) were obtained from 300 kg ha-1 P fertilizer rate for Okapi cultivar. Under the P deficiency condition, no significant difference was observed between cultivars in terms of grain yield. Significant differences were observed among three cultivars in terms of P efficiency. Opera cultivar was efficient in absorption (0.84) and Zarfam cultivar was efficient in phosphorus utilization (152 kg grain / kg fertilizer), but Opera was phosphorus efficient. With application of phosphorus fertilizer, phosphorus use efficiency decreased and the highest amount was found for the control treatment which produced 169 kg seeds per kg of phosphorus. The lowest amount of this characteristic was obtained for 300 kg phosphorus fertilizer treatment. Considering the correlation between phosphorus stress factor and P uptake efficiency, it seems that P efficiency was dependent on P uptake (R2 = 0.477 **) rather than P utilization (R2 = 0.076 ns).
Conclusion: Phosphorus uptake efficiency can be used for selecting P efficient cultivars of canola under farm condition. Application of Opera and Okapi cultivars with 80 kg of fertilizer per ha in similar conditions of this experiment would be advisable and excess phosphorus fertilizer application would not significantly increase grain yield. Selecting suitable varieties could decrease application of chemical fertilizers in the soil.
H. Asadi Rahmani; A. Lakzian; J. Ghaderi; P. Keshavarz; H. Haghighatnia; K. Mirzashahi; M. R. Ramezanpour; A. Charati Arayi; A. Mohammadi Torkashvand
Abstract
Intoduction: Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are a diverse group of bacteria consisting different species like Pseudomonas, Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Flavobacterium, Bacillus and Serratia with ability of enhancing plant growth and yield by different mechanisms. Flavobacteria are aerobic, ...
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Intoduction: Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are a diverse group of bacteria consisting different species like Pseudomonas, Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Flavobacterium, Bacillus and Serratia with ability of enhancing plant growth and yield by different mechanisms. Flavobacteria are aerobic, gram negative, rod shape bacteria with more than 100 species living in different habitats ranging from soil and water to the foods. There are reports indicating that Flavobacteria are of dominant rhizosphere bacteria with beneficial effects on agricultural crops. Studies in Iran showed that six species of Flavobacterium were isolated and identified from rhizosphere of wheat. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of four strains of Flavobacterium on growth and yield of wheat under field conditions.
Materials and Methods: In this study four strains of Flavobacterium F9, F11, F21 and F40 were used. Bacterial strains were propagated in liquid NB growth medium and were used in field experiments. Fields were prepared in Khorasan Razavi, Khuzestan, Fars, Mazandran and Kermanshah and wheat seeds were inoculated with strains and sowed in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with five treatments (four strains and a un-inoculated control) with four replications. Wheat varieties were Pishtaz in Khorasan and Fars, Marvdasht in Kermanshah, Chamran in Khuzestan and Milan in Mazandaran. Chemical fertilizers were used based on soil analysis. The rate of inoculation was 10 ml of bacteria per kg of seed. Plants were harvested at the end of the experiment and seed yield, total shoot biomass, 1000-seed weight, plant height, number of panicles per m2, number of seeds per panicle and panicle length were measured. Data analysis was performed by SPSS software, and the means were compared at α꞊5% by Duncan test.
Results and discussion: Results of the study showed that bacterial strains increased growth and yield of wheat in all provinces. In Mazandaran, all strains promoted seed yield although the effect of F21 was not significant. F40 had the highest effect on factors measures in the study. In Khuzestan, inoculation had no significant effect of seed yield production, although yield production was increased compared to control treatment. There was a similar trend regarding to other factors. In Khorasan, all factors were increased except for seed yield and 1000-seed weight due to inoculation with Flavobacterium strains. In Fars, inoculation with strain F40 significantly increased seed yield production by 11.5% compared to control treatment. In Kermanshah, seed yield, total biomass and plant height were significantly affected by inoculation with bacterial strains. Results showed that strain F40 was the most effective strain to increase yield of wheat. This study showed that Flavobacterium as a PGPR bacteria is able to positively affect the growth of wheat in Iran. This is in agreement with experiments in other parts of the world. In Khuzestan, bacteria were not effective on growth of wheat probably due to high soil temperature in this province compared to other provinces.
Conclusions: This study revealed that Flavobacteria are present in rhizosphere of wheat in Iran and could improve growth characteristics and yield of wheat in field experiments. Finally, strain F40 was the superior strain which increased seed yield by 15 % compared to control treatment.
