JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

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Methods of seedbed preparation affect establishment, growth and yield of crops via manipulating physical and chemical properties of soil. These effects on wheat-mungbean double-cropping have not been studied in Isfahan. Therefore, the influences of various seedbed preparation methods on soil physical properties and nutrients content and on establishment of mungbean (experimental line 1-61-16) were studied in a wheat-mungbean double-cropping system during 1996 at the Agricultural Research Station, Isfahan University of Technology. Two residue management treatments (burned and unburned) along with four tillage systems (moldboard plow, disk, khishchee and no-till) were laid out in a strip plot design within a randomized complete block design with four replications. Bulk density and penetrability of soil at various depths were not affected by residue management at emergence. However, at the time of flowering, bulk density at 0-15 cm soil depth was lower and soil penetrability at 3-15 cm depth was higher in unburned treatment due to mineralization. Rate and coefficient of emergence of seeds were lower in unburned residue treatment. Soil bulk density at 0-30 cm depths was lower and penetrability at 3-21 cm depth was higher with moldboard plowing at both emergence and flowering time. In addition, lower soil N, P and K content at 0-15 cm depth at emergence and flowering time was obtained with moldboard plowing. Rate and coefficient of emergence were strongly lower in no-till treatment. Based on these results and considering sustainable agricultural goals, incorporating residue with disk tillage might be advantageous under conditions similar to this experiment.

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Limited time for crop residue decomposition and complete seedbed preparation in double-cropping necessitates reduced tillage which is associated with its shortcomings. Information about seedbed preparation aspects in double-cropping of wheat and mungbean in Isfahan is lacking. For this reason, the effects of various seedbed preparation methods on growth, seed yield and yield components of mungbean (experimental line 1-61-16) were studied in a wheat-mungbean double-cropping system during 1996 at the Agricultural Research Station, Isfahan University of Technology. Two residue management treatments (burned and nonburned) along with four tillage systems: moldboard plow, disk, khischee and no-till were laid out in a strip plot design within a randomized complete block design with four replications. Improved establishment and plant growth conditions associated with burning residue treatment significantly increased plant density, above ground plant weight, number of nodes per branch, plant height, number of pods per main stem and per square meter, number of seeds per pod on main stem and on branches, number of seeds per main stem, seed yield, biological yield and harvest index. Higher plant density in this treatment resulted in significant reduction in the number of branches and number of pods per branch. Desirable conditions for establishment and growth in disk and moldboard plow treatments significantly increased plant density, above ground plant weight, number of pods per main stem and per square meter, number of seeds per pod on main stem and on branches, number of seeds per main stem, seed yield, biological yield and harvest index. No-till treatment produced the least results in respect to the above traits. The results indicated that burning residues with disk tillage system might be an appropriate seedbed preparation method under conditions similar to this experiment.

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For milk fat modification, after decantation of its serum, it was fractionated at three temperature rates (30-35, 17-22 and 5-10 ºC) and times (6, 13.5, and 18 hours). After each stage, the solid phase or stearine fraction was separated from liquid phase or olein fraction by centrifugation at 1600 rpm for 15 minutes. The olein fraction was then used in the second step of fractionation. This process was repeated three times until the low, medium and high melting fractions (LMF, MMF and HMF, respectively) were isolated to 27 fractions. Iodine value (by Wejs’ method) and solid fat content (SFC by NMR) of these fractions were measured and compared. The results, showed significant differences between in IV and SFC for LMF with MMF and HMF (3-6 units or 10-20% for IV and 3-14% for SFC) it was also found that LMF, MMF and HMF could be used in ice cream, Danish pastry and ice cream coating formulations, respectively.

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Daily solar radiation intercepted at the earth’s surface is an input required for water resources, environmental and agricultural studies. However, the measurement of this parameter can only be done in a few places. This has led researchers to develop a number of methods for estimating solar radiation based on frequently available meteorological records such as hours of sunshine or air temperature. In this study two empirical Angestrom and Hargreaves- Samani models, which are respectively based on air temperature and sunshine duration were calibrated and evaluated for estimating solar radiation in southeast of Tehran, Iran. Also, two neural networks models were presented using similar inputs and above-mentioned empirical models. The results showed that the both empirical and neural network models provided closer agreement with the measured values, but the models based on sunshine hours gave better estimates than the models based on air temperature. The neural network model based on sunshine hours with a R2 of 0.97 and a RMSE of 1.34 MJ m-2 d-1 provided the best results

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Evaluation of pollutant transportation in soil is important from different environmental aspects such as soil and groundwater contamination. The purpose of this study is to measure 2, 4-D concentrations in a silty loam soil under two different treatments (normal and deficit irrigation) in a corn field and simulate the results using the PRZM-3 and LEACHP models. Total concentrations of 2, 4-D in the soil profile in 8, 13, 23, 30, 37, and 57 days after application for normal irrigation were 18.5, 16.36, 11.67, 10.47, 8.47 and 3.2 mg kg^-1, respectively. For these dates, PRZM-3 model simulated 18.5, 16.36, 11.67, 10.47, 8.47 and 3.2 mg kg^-1 of 2,4-D, respectively and LEACHP model simulated 23.34, 20.93, 16.7, 16.3, 12.9 and 11.41 mg kg^-1 of 2, 4-D, respectively. Total concentrations of 2, 4-D in the mentioned dates for deficit irrigation were 20.2, 16.7, 11.22, 10.05, 8.8 and 7.3 mgkg^-1, respectively. For these dates, PRZM-3 model simulation results were 21.9, 19.89, 14.2, 10.62, 9.6 and 8.22 mg kg^-1, respectively and LEACHP model simulation results were 25.22, 21.3, 19.43, 18.58, 18 and 16.27 mg kg^-1, respectively. The simulation results showed that performance of PRZM-3 model was better than LECHM model in both treatments. In this research, the half-lives of 2, 4-D for 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm of soil depth were 7 and 33 days in a normal irrigation, and 9 and 34.65 days in a deficit irrigation, respectively.

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