JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

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One of the main criteria for salt tolerance is cell membrane stability under stress. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), activity of lipoxygenase (Lox) and lipid peroxidation are considered to be destructive to cell membrane under salt stress. In this study, the effects of 0, 75 and 150 mM NaCI, over a period of 14 days on the activity of lipoxygenease, the amount of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and malon dialdehyde (MDA. as a lipid peroxidation) in the leaves of Pistacia vera L. (cv. 'Qazvini' and wild 'Sarakhs' pistachio) and 'Mastic' (P. mutica F. & M.) were studied. The results indicated that by increasing salinity Lox activity increased in the leaves of all the three rootstocks. This activity reached a climax on the 7^th day and then decreased on the 14^th day. Among the three species, Mastic reached the highest amount of the Lox activity on the 14^th day with the lowest amount of Lox reduction. The amounts of H₂O₂ in the leaves of all the three rootstocks increased, on the 14^th day the highest amount of hydrogen peroxide was found in 'Mastic' and 'Sarakhs' after treating them with 150 mM NaCl. The amounts of MDA were also reached the highest level in all three rootstocks on the 7^th and 14^th days. The results also indicated the possibility of the use of lipid peroxidation index and Lox activity for selecting salt tolerant Pistacia rootstocks. More studies are needed for understanding the biochemical changes and enzyme activities in Pistacia rootstocks under salt stress.

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Studies show that excessive rotation of rice, when the grains revolve inside the milling chamber, increase the breakage. Ease of grain movement in the milling chamber could minimize this problem by utilizing screw conveyor at the first part of rotor. In this study the rotor of a conventional milling was equipped with a screw conveyor. The effects of two rotor types (modified and conventional rotors), three output rates (412, 654 and 915 kg/h) and three blade distances from the agitator (11, 12 and 13mm) were examined on indices of rice quality using a split-split plot design. In this experiment, the percentage of whole white rice and breakage, degree of milling and milling performance index were either measured or calculated. Results showed that only the effect of blade distance on percentage of breakage was significant whereas the effect of feed rate on all measured parameters was significant. In addition, the interaction effects of rotor type and blade distance, rotor type and feed rate on percentage of whole white rice and breakage were significant, respectively. The milling performance index showed that the best conditions for both rotors can be obtained at output rate of 412kg/hr and 11or 12mm blade distance from the agitator. For this adjustment, the average of percentage of breakage in the modified and conventional rotors were 20.5 and 23, respectively.

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The influence of Nitrogen (N) rates on mineral nutrient uptake in stem and seeds, proline and carbohydrate in flag leaves of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L . Var Chamran) under saline conditions was studied in a field experiment in 2003 and 2004. The experiment was conducted using a split plot design with three replications. The treatments comprised five levels of salinity: 1.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20 ds/m in main plot and three nitrogen levels: 50 , 100 and 150 kg N/ha in sub plot. Salinity treatments were applied in a clay–loam soil by water with NaCl and CaCl₂ (5:1 by wt ). The results showed, the nutrient uptake was influenced by both salinity and N treatments. With the Exception of magnesium in seed, salinity increased nitrogen, calcium and magnesium concentrations in seed and stem in both years. By increasing salinity levels, the concentration of potassium in stem and seed decreased and Sodium concentration increased. In the stem the concentration of Sodium in the 20 ds/m was about 17 and 22 times more in the first and second year, respectively. In these experiments, by increasing salinity and nitrogen treatments, proline concentration in flag leaves increased in the two stages (flowering and milky stages) in both years. Salinity had similar effect on carbohydrate accumulation in both stages, but nitrogen treatment had two different effects on carohydrate concentration. In flowering stage, by increasing nitrogen application, carohydrate concentration increased but in milky stage decreased.

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In this study the effects of irrigation with raw or diluted municipal effluents along with foliar micro-nutrients fertilizer spray were examined on the growth, yield and mineral nutrient in foxtail millet plants. The experimental design was a split-plot with three irrigation sources (namely raw sewage, 50% diluted sewage and well water) as main-treatment and four combinations of Mn and Zn foliar spraying as sub-treatments, which were applied with three replications. The experiment was conducted at the Zabol University research farm during 2009. The applied municipal effluents contained higher levels of macro and micro-nutrients than the well water. The experimental results indicated that irrigation of plants by raw or diluted sewage improved the measured growth parameters and productivity of foxtail millet plants. In addition macro and micro-nutrients concentrations were improved. These improvements were attributed to the presence of high levels of essential nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic matters in wastewater. Manganese and Zn supplied through sewage water alone were not able to raise the productivity of millet to the level obtained through fertilizers at the recommended level, which indicated that additional nutrients through fertilizers are required to obtain higher productivity of millet under sewage farming. Despite the differences in nutrients concentration among different irrigation water sources, the micro-nutrients foliar spray did not affect concentration of macro and micro-nutrients in foxtail millet plant. Overall, the results suggest that municipal sewage could be efficiently utilized as an important source of water and nutrients in growing foxtail millet Sewage water irrigation did not have any appreciable harmful effect on crop productivity.