JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

Obtaining high seed and oil yields of sunflower requires coincidence of vegetative and reproductive stages of growth of the plant with suitable environmental conditions via selecting appropriate planting date. Since the suitable date of planting for sunflower cultivars under Isfahan environmental conditions was not determined, this experiment was conducted in 1996 at the Agricultural Research Station, Isfahan University of Technology. In this study, five dates of planting (April 27, May 12 and 27 and June 12 and 29) and three open pollinated sunflower cultivars (Record, Vnimik 8931 and Armavirec) were evaluated using a randomized complete block design with split-plot layout in three replications. Date of planting was considered as the main plot and cultivars were randomized in the sub-plots.

Number of seeds per head (SH), l000-seed weight (SW), seed oil percent (SOP) and, consequently, yields of oil (OY) and seed (SY) were significantly reduced as planting was delayed. Reduction in these traits were considered to be related to the coincidence of vegetative and reproductive growth stages with higher temperatures prevailing at later plantings. Vnimik 8931 had higher SH and SW, and thus produced higher SY. This cultivar had lower SOP than Record, but produced higher OY than Record due to its higher SY. Armavirec was ranked the least for the measured traits, except for its SH that was slightly higher than that of Record. SH was the most contributing trait to the increase in SY, and SY was the most determining trait for the increase in OY. Date of planting by cultivar interactions for SH, SY and OY were significant. Nevertheless, the highest amount of the measured traits were obtained with Vnimik 8931 at the first planting date.

Sensitivity of developmental stages of three sunflower cultivars to day length and temperature changes under field conditions were evaluated, and their development rates during various growth stages were modeled in a field experiment conducted in 1996 at the Agricultural Research Station, Isfahan University of Technology. Five dates of planting (April 27, May 12 and 27, and June 12 and 29) and three open pollinated sunflower cultivars (Record, Vnimik 8931 and Armavirec) were evaluated using a randomized complete block design with split-plot layout in three replications. Date of planting was considered to be the main plot and cultivars were randomized in sub-plots.

Number of days from planting (P) to head visible (HV) and P to first anther (FA) were significantly reduced with delay in planting as the result of increase in temperature during these periods. Number of days from P to physiological maturity (PM) was also significantly reduced with delay in P. This response, however, could not be explained by changes in temperature variables or day length. Number of days from HV to FA, in harmony with the partial stability of maximum and minimum temperatures during this period, was not affected by date of planting. Duration from FA to PM of the last planting date was significantly shorter than the other planting dates. This response was related to the persistence of the effect of high and stable maximum temperatures prevailing during HV to FA period of the last planting date. Armavirec was significantly earlier than Record and Vnimic 8931 for number of days from P to HV and from P to FA Cultivars showed significantly large differences for the FA to PM and P to PM durations. Armavirec was the earliest and Record was the latest cultivar. Based on the results obtained, it may be concluded that the cultivars under study were non-sensitive to photoperiod. Development rate (DR) of Armavirec responded linearly and DR of Record and Vnimic 8931 responded non-linearly to increases in temperature variables during P to HV and P to FA Development of Vnimic 8931 was faster than Record at high temperatures. DR of the cultivars decreased linearly during P to PM as day length increased. The relationship between DR and photoperiod could be used as a practical model for estimating P to PM duration of these sunflower cultivars.

This experiment was carried out at the Agricultural Research Station of Bu-Ali Sina University to study the effect of different tillage methods on bulk density, yield, and yield components of barley (Hordeum vulgare) cultivars under rainfed conditions. Three levels of tillage (CT: conventional tillage, MT: minimum tillage and NT: no tillage) and five barely cultivars (V1: Local V2: AbidarV3: Valfagr V4: Bahman and V5: Makouei) were evaluated in a factorial arrangement in a completely randomized block design with three replications in the growing season of 2010-11. Traits of bulk density plant height, grain yield, yield components, biological yield, and harvest index (HI) were evaluated. The results showed that maximum value of bulk density (1.09, 1.26 and 1.29 g cm-3 for 0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm of sampling depth, respectively) was observed at MT treatment. But, there was no significant difference between MT and NT treatments for this trait. In comparison of cultivars, maximum bulk density was achieved with Valfagr cultivar. Using chisel plow (MT treatment) produced maximum plant height (70 cm) and yield components (513 numbers of spike m-2 and 19.2 grain spik-1). Also, among cultivars maximum plant height (72.7 cm) and grain number spike-1 (23.2 grain spike-1) belonged to Valfagr cultivar. Also, results showed that V3×MT treatment had the highest grain yield (3100 kg ha-1). Therefore, the findings of the study recommend using chisel plow (MT treatment) and Valfagr cultivar.