JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

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Rape seed (Brassica napus L.) containing more than 40 per cent oil is one of the best oilseeds for cultivation in Iran. Sclerotinia stem rot is one of the important diseases of the rape seed, the causal agent being Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. The aim of our study was to assess the effect of the disease on the quantity and quality of the extracted oil and remaining foodstuff in a field experiment. In this research three cultivars including Okapi, SLM046 and Talayeh were examined under field conditions using a factorial design (cultivars and inoculations were two factors under study). The cultivars were inoculated with SK₄ isolate of S. sclerotiorum. The inoculation was done on the plant stems at 30 cm height above the soil using Lewartosca method during mid flowering stage. One thousand- seed weight and glucosinolate, erucic and oleic fatty acids contents of the seeds were determind after the harvest. The results indicated that the infected plants in comparision with the controls had a lower 1000- seed weight and oleic acid content and a higher glucosinolates and erucic acid contents. There were significant differences among the genotypes in respect to all the studied traits except 1000- seed weight. Inverse correlation was observed between 1000- seed weight and erucic acid content or oil glucosinolates contents. It was concluded that the disease can reduce quantity and quality of seed oil and other nutrient contents.

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The effects of different levels of metabolizable energy and energy to protein ratios on the performance of Fars native laying hens were examined during the second laying phase. In a feeding trial, 216 Fars native hens 42 weeks old were randomly allotted to 9 experimental diets using 6 replicated groups of 4 birds per cage. The diets were formulated with 3 levels of ME (2700, 2900 and 3100 kcal/kg diet). At each level of energy, 3 energy to protein ratios (195, 215 and 239) were considered. The diets were fed ad libitum for a period of 20 weeks (42-62 weeks). The results indicated that there were no significant differences in egg production, egg weight, body weight gain and livability at the end of the experiment (65 week of age) (P>0.05). Daily feed intake was significantly lowered in hens fed the first (ME=3100 Kcal/kg, CP=15.87), second (ME=3100 Kcal/kg, CP=14.43), third ration (ME=3100 Kcal/kg, CP=12.99) and fifth (ME=2900k Kcal/kg, CP=13.5%) as compared with the seventh ration (ME=2700 Kcal/kg, CP=13.82). Feed intake and feed conversion ratios (FCR) significantly decreased as the dietary energy level increased (P<0.05). Feed consumption at the highest energy level was significantly lower than that at the lowest energy concentration. FCR was influenced by dietary energy level. Hens on the diet with 3100 Kcal ME /kg had lower FCR compared to 2700 Kcal ME/kg. The feed cost per 1 Kg egg production increased significantly with the elevation of dietary energy and protein levels (P<0.05).The results showed that a diet containing 11.31% CP and 2700 Kcal ME/kg adequately satisfied the maintenance and production requirements of Fars native hens during the second phase of production. Also, this ration was more economical.

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Increased chemical compounds in soil are the most important results of irrigation with domestic wastewater and treated effluents which contain some nutrients such as phosphorous (P). This process could increase the soil fertility, leading to the decrease of chemical nutrient consumption and consequently the cost of agricultural production. A research project was carried out in Tehran region for two years in order to investigate the capabilities of soil and plant in absorption and storage of wastewater contaminants, namely, phosphorous, and also the transmission of them to drain depth as a result of irrigation practice. To do the research, a series of lysimeters based on a statistical factorial experiment in the form of randomized complete design (3x3x3) were used. Raw and treated domestic wastewater, obtained from Ekbatan Housing Complex, and well water (control) were used to irrigate raw edible vegetables including parsley, carrot and tomato. The results showed that the amount of phosphorous leaching through soil to drain depth was between 0.90% and 3.56%, and between 1.03% and 4.15% of the phosphorous concentration in raw wastewater and treated one entered into the soil, respectively. Also, mass balance analyses showed the average phosphorous reduction ranged from 97.2% to 99.9% of the phosphorous entered with wastewater. During two years of study, the maximum concentration of PO₄ measured in drained water was about 0.21 mg/L obtained from lysimeters irrigated with raw wastewater. This was much lower than the permissible PO₄ amount for discharging the effluents to the surface water resources (6 mg/L PO₄ is permitted by Iranian Environmental Protection Organization).

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The cottony Cushion Scale, Icerya purchasi Mask., is a polyphagous, cosmopolitan and destructive pest that infests more than 200 plant species apart from citrus. Laboratory studies were carried out on the orange at three temperatures, 17±1, 27±1 and 40±1°C 65±5% RH and 14:10 (L:D). The duration of nymphal stages, female longevity and the life cycle at 17±1°C were 85.8±3.83, 74.9±3.53 and 173.6±7.63 days and at 27±1°C were 62.6±4.40, 72.6±4.59 and 144.1±9.26 days, respectively. The duration of pupal stage and the life cycle of male at 27±1°C were 16.1±0.78 and 59.4±1.30 days, respectively. Field studies on the pest were conducted from July 2003 to September 2004 at Sharafabad region of Dezful. At 10-days intervals, five randomly selected orange trees in a citrus orchards (3ha) were sampled by taking 75 twigs, 15cm in length, at random. Number of eggs, nymphal stages and adults were recorded. From these observations I. purchasi had three generations in a year that were recorded as spring, summer and autumn-winter generation for I. purchasi. The autumn-winter generation developed in 6 months. I. purchasi overwinters as different developmental stages on different host plants with the 2nd nymphal stage was more abundant. Apart from different citrus cultivars, altogether 41 species of 22 different families of plants were recorded as the host plants of this scale in Khuzestan province.

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An experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of different levels of energy (2700, 2900 and 3100 kcal/kg) and protein (13, 14.5 and 16 %) on laying performance of Fars native hens during the first phase of production. Two hundred and sixteen 25-week-old native pullets were put into fifty four groups of similar live weight (994 ± 169 gr) of four chickens, which were randomly allocated to nine experimental diets. Each treatment was replicated six times in factorial CRD design (3×3). At each level of energy, three diets were formulated to contain three levels of protein (16, 14.5 and 13%). The diets were fed ad libitum for a period of 20 weeks (week 25-45). The treatments 1 with 3100 kcal/kg ME and 16% protein and 3 with3100 kcal/kg ME and 13% protein had less daily feed consumption than treatment 7 with 2700 kcal/kg ME and 16% protein (90.50 and 87.30 vs 101.20 gr respectively, P<0.05). The effect of energy levels on daily feed and energy consumption and feed conversion ratio was significant (P< 0.05). Feed conversion ratio for energy level of 3100 kcal/kg was significantly different from 2700 kcal/kg (2.85 vs 3.08 respectively). The effect of protein levels on uric acid content of excreta and daily protein consumption was significant (P< 0.05) and protein level of 16% was significantly differed from protein level of 13% (11.40 vs 10.50 gr respectively). The results of this experiment showed that it is preferable to use the energy level of 2700 kcal/kg and protein level of 13% during the first phase of production of Fars native hens.

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To evaluate the effects of heat treatments on sprouting weight, loss and other charactristics of two potato cultivars (Agria and Diamont) in cold (9±1) and ambient (18±1) storage, a series of experiments were conducted in 2004. In this study, after curing, the tubers of both cultivars were treated with warm air, at 25, 35, 45 and 57^oC for 4, 8 and 12 h and with warm water at 22, 54 and 57 for 15 and 30 min. Treated tubers were packed in net bags and were kept in cold and ambinent storage for 2 and 4 months. The results of the study indicated that warm air at 45^oC for 8 and 24 h and warm water at 57^oC for 15 min. in comparison to control reduced the percentage of tuber sprouting significantly, without internal changes in tubers composition.

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A karyotypic study was performed on seven species of Hordeum Genus including, H. vulgare, H. spontaneum, H. glaucum, H. distichon, H. geniculatum , H. bulbosum and H. violaceum. According to the cytological studies in the laboratory, chromosome numbers and ploidy levels of species were identified. Chromosome analysese including the length of each chromosome, long and short arms length and long - short arm ratio were also done. For each species, the karyotype as an ideogram was drawn. The results showed that H. geniculatum, H. bulbosum, and H. violaceum were tetraploid (2n=4x=28) and the other species were diploid (2n=2x=14). Chromosomal study of H. geniculatum and H. distichon is reported for the first time from Iran. Karyotypic formula showed that the diploid species were 7m and tetraploid were 12m +2sm. According to the karyotypic symmetry, all species were in the 1A class. Using the S%, TF%, D.R.L., T.V. and X parameters, karyotypic symmetry of species was analyzed and determined.

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Zn deficiency is one of the most important nutritional disorders after macro-nutrients in rice. There are considerable genotypic differences among rice genotypes in response to Zn deficiency. Determination of such differences and introduction of efficient genotypes could lead to significant reduction of fertilizer use for rice production. In this research, some of the most frequently cultivated rice genotypes in Northern Iran, were compared for their tolerance to Zn deficiency in a field (11 cultivars) and hydroponic (16 cultivars) experiment. Four levels of Zn fertilizer were used in field experiment including 0 (control), 25, 50 and 100 kg ha^-1 and three different activity of Zn in chelator-buffer experiment including 130 (control), 23 and 5 pM. Experiments were conducted using complete randomized block design and data was analyzed using two factorial analysis of variance including Zn level and genotypes. In addition to yield components in the field study and dry matter production in the hydroponic culture medium, concentration of Zn was also determined in shoot, root and seed. The comparison of all yield components showed that the cultivar Onda was the most Zn-inefficient (susceptible to Zn deficiency) and Khazar was the most Zn-efficient (tolerant to Zn deficiency) genotypes under field conditions. In hydroponic experiment, cultivars Fajr, Tarom Hashemi and Onda were determined as the most Zn-inefficient and Shafagh, Amol and Mianeh were recognized as the most Zn-efficient genotypes. The most significant response to Zn fertilizer, in terms of Zn accumulation in seeds, was observed in Nemat and Tarom Deilamani. In contrast, Cadoos accumulated Zn mostly in straw. Results of our experiments introduced not only the genotypes with the highest yield on soils low in available Zn, but also genotypes with the highest Zn accumulation in seeds in response to Zn fertilizers which are important for human nutrition.

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Certain microorganisms in soil have phosphate solubilizing ability. Phosphorus has an important role in plant nutrition and N₂ fixation in legumes. The interactive effect of three phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) and Bradyrhizobium japonicum on yield and N, P, K uptake and nodulation of soybean root (Glycin max L. CV. Harcor) was studied under greenhouse conditions. In greenhouse experiment treatments consisted of a factorial combination of four levels of PSB (without PSB M₀ ,Pseudomonas putida M₁ , Aeromonas hydrophila M₂ , Pseudomonas fluorescens M₃) and two levels of B.japonicum (without bacterium B₀ and with bacterium B₁) and three levels of P(P₀ = 0 , P₁=29, P₂ = 58 mg triple superphosphate/Kg soil) in a randomized complete block design with four replications. At harvest, shoot dry weight, seed weight, nodule number, dry and fresh weight of nodules and concentrations of N, P, K in shoot dry matter were measured. PSB significantly increased shoot dry weight, N, P, K concentrations in shoot, fresh and dry weight and number of root nodules. B.japonicum had positive significant effect on these parameters as well as on seed weight. Dual inoculation of plants with PSB and B.japonicum had significant effect on shoot dry weight, P and N concentrations in shoot. Increasing phosphorus levels significantly increased plant dry weight, shoot P concentration and seed weight. Highest P concentration in shoot was obtained at P₂ level but in plants inoculated with P.putida, dry weight at P₁ level was not significantly different from P₂ level.

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Sainfoin in believed as an important forage crop regarding its suitable agronomical characteristics and feeding livestock. Evaluation of general combining ability is a critical preliminary stage before selection of suitable parent and production of synthetic varieties. Thirty six sainfoin landraces which have been collected from different parts of Iran were grown in 2000 in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 24 replications as a polycross nursery. The resulting polycrosses were sown in 2001 in a triple lattice design. Characters such as fresh forage yield per plot based on unit length, fresh forage yield per plant, and dry forage yield for each cutting stage and for the whole season were measured. Also a yield index for the two first cuttings and forage palatability for the second cutting were determined. Results showed that there was no significant difference between partial blocks within each replication and therefore data was analyzed based on RCBD. High heritability was observed for forage palatability, yield index, and fresh forage yield per plant. So selection can be made to improve forage yield and palatibility in sainfoin. In terms of general combining ability, six landraces for fresh forage yield, six landraces for dry forage yield, nine landraces for yield index, and ten landraces for palatibility showed high estimates. The lanraces having highest amounts of general combining ability for each variable can be used as suitable parents to produce synthetic varieties of sainfoin.

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To determine the effects of different intensities of leaf removal at different reproduction stages of sunflower on seed yield and oil percentage, and the most sensitive stages to defoliation, an experiment was carried out by split-spilt plot design in randomized complete block with 3 replications at research farm, College of Agric. Urmia University, in 2004. The main factor, sub factor and sub-sub factor in our experiment were: 1. two cultivars, Uroflor and Alstar, 2. defoliation at four reproduction stages, star shape of inflorescence (R₂), pollination stage (R₅), seed setting initiation (R₆) and final period of seed setting (R₇), and 3. four defoliation intensities ( 0% as an undefoliated control, 25%, 50% and 75% ). Seeding was accomplished on May 23. Average triple factor interactions verified that different defoliations at R₂ stage have significantly reduced seed yield and oil percentage of both Uroflor and Alstar cultivars. Out of this reduction, 75 percent defoliation at R₂ was the most, while at R₅ and R₆ stages 50 and 75 defoliation caused significant reduction on seed yield in comparison with control. At R₇ stage different defoliations had no significant effect on seed yield of Uroflor cultivar, while, on Alstar cultivar, 75 percent defoliation at R₇ stage caused significant difference in relation to control. Also average triple interaction among factors showed that none of defoliation percentages had significant effect on oil percentage. In view of the fact that, seed development and filling occurred after defoliation at R₂ and R₅ , the most variation resulted from defoliation of valued traits like number of filled seed per head and weight of 1000 seeds, observed at R₂ and R₅ stages and consequently reduced seed and oil yields. On the bases of this experiment it could be concluded that sunflower cultivation with losses of 50 and 75 percent will be economically unprofitable and it will be more desirable to replace it with any other suitable crop in the region.

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Lots of investigation has been done in order to increase wheat yield per acre in Iran, but there is not enough study about quality of produced wheat. Bread quality in Iran has been deteriorated in recent years, mostly due to employing wheat flours of low quality. Thus the present study was conducted to find the chemical and rheological properties of four bread wheat cultivars (Omid, Rosshan, Golestani and “Kal”) produced in Sabzavar region. The results indicated that the quantity and quality of “Kal” wheat gluten are more desirable in comparison to the other varieties. The rheological experiment results indicated that the Omid wheat flour is the best regarding the dough resistance coefficient and alfa amylase activity. The alfa amylase activity of all flours was low. Appropriate time for fermentation of bread dough for all flours was 75 to 90 minutes. Mixture of one to ten ratio of Roshan and Omid flour produced bread with better quality. The results also indicated that the rheological properties of “Kal” flour dough such as mixing resistance, breaking point resistance and valorimeter value are acceptable. The bakery properties of “Kal” flour is better than Rosham flour. The “Kal” variety of wheat is the same as Roshan variety and the only difference between them is the region of production and farming conditions. It shows that farming condition is one of the important factors affecting bread wheat quality.

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The study was conducted to compare the efficiency of diets containing various levels of calcium(0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 percentage) in feeding freshwater crayfish, Astacus leptoductylus. 150 cray fish (10 individuals per tank) with mean weight of about 8-9 gram were stocked in each of 15 tanks, containing 100 L of water. In this research, The results showed that the mean values of some parameters such as weight gain (WG), weight increment rate (WIR), length increment rate (LIR), specific growth rate (SGR), biomass increment (BI), food efficiency rate (FER) and survival rate (SR) of animal fed on different diets were 0.75-1.46gr, 9.8-24.54%, 6.57-15.33% and 0.12-0.29% respectively. However, the diet with high levels of calcium (3-4%) showed the good weight and length increment, but there were no significants difference among these indices using different trial diets. The biomass of crayfish increased with increasing of calcium concentration. So, the highest biomass (11.65gr) of crayfish was observed in the diet containing calcium about 4%. Optimal calcium requirement in the freshwter crayfish was estimated about 3.4% with broken-line regression analysis. The lowest survival rate (30%) was obtained in the diet containing 2% calcium level. There were significant differences among survival rates in various experimental diets (p<0.05). These results indicate that the dietary calcium supplement is nesessary for crayfish. The diets with high levels of calcium had a good efficiency in freshwater crayfish feeding. So it is recommended to use 3-3.5% of calcium in formulated diets for freshwater crayfish

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In order to determine the reciprocal relationship between the important characteristics of soil and the growth of Haloxylon ammodendron (C.A. Mey) plant in segsi plain of Isfahan., ordination method was used. The study was performed through the stratified random sampling and the regions were separated according to the plant age and physical physiognomy, then 10 samples of Haloxylon ammodendron (C.A. Mey) of the same age were selected in each region. Meanwhile, factors such as height, canopy cover area, canopy cover perimeter, canopy cover diameter, and basal area were considered. Also, 30 profiles from viewpoint of growth situations in 10 different regions were dug. Soil characteristics such as : pH, Ec, total soluble Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺, Cl^-, CO3^--, HCO3^-, SP%, CaCO3%, CaSO4%, organic matter%, total nitrogen percentage, phosphorous, Na⁺, K⁺, SAR, and hardpan depth were measured. Data was analyzed using ordination method. According to the results, samples of the same age showed significant differences in plant features. Other results showed that physical characteristics such as depth of hardpan from soil surface, SP%, and chemical characteristics such as salinity, alkalinity and total nitrogen had the highest effect on qualities of this kind of plant. In other words, the results mentioned above showed the important role of Haloxylon ammodendron (C.A. Mey) in sharp increase of salinity and alkanity in it's stratum.

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In this investigation, the effect of seed source on the germination and survival of Acer velutinum Boiss. was assessed. Seeds were collected from 11 seed sources ( located at 20 to 2200 meter a.s.l in Mazandaran forests) and planted in a mountain nursery (Orimelk located at 1550 meter a.s.l) as completely randomized block design with three replications. The results show that the effect of seed source on germination and survival was statistically significant (p<0.01). Germination and survival rates were lower for the Pasands, Ashak and Deis sources, and the maximum seed germination was related to Lamzer site. Effect of seed sources on survival of seedling was significant too. The maximum and minimum survival was related to Lajim and Ashak, respectively. Regarding plan table seedling, the effect of seed source was significant. The maximum efficiency of seedlings has been found in Lajim, Lamzer, Parke Noor and Sangdeh sites, while the minimum range of efficiency was related to Ashak and Pasand2.

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To investigate yield and water use efficiency (WUE) of potato with tape and furrow irrigations, an experiment was performed at Hamadan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center (Ekbatan station) in 2004. The experiment was arranged in a split-plot experimental design based on completely randomized block with 3 replications of irrigation water amount as the main factor (75%, 100%, 125% of cumulative evaporation from class A pan) and sub-factor of irrigation method [including tapes in the middle of furrow ridge on soil surface (T_D0), tapes in the middle of furrow ridge at the depth of 5 cm (T_D5), tapes on the sides of furrow ridge on soil surface (T_S0), and furrow irrigation (F)]. The results indicated that yield of potato increased with increasing water use. Regardless of irrigation method, maximum (32.51 ton/ha) and minimum (19.33 ton/ha) yield of potatoes was achieved with 125% and 75% irrigation water treatments, respectively. The lowest yield (21.35 ton/ha) was obtained in furrow irrigation and the highest yield (28.91 ton/ha) belonged to tape irrigation (T_D5 treatment). The highest WUE (4.68 kg/m³) belonged to tape irrigation (T_D5 treatment) and the lowest WUE (3.32 kg/m³) belonged to furrow irrigation (F). The difference in WUE between 75% and 100% irrigation water treatments was not significant. The highest WUE (4.49 kg/m³) was achieved in treatment 125%. Also, it is more economical to use irrigation water treatment of 125%, as compared with other irrigation water treatments.

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Defining interrelationship of growth analysis factors and yield of crop plants is important in the field crop production practices. This research was aimed at studying growth factors and grain yield of five maize hybrids, consisting of S.C.704, S.C.700, S.C.647, S.C.604, and S.C.301, using two 4-replicate RCBD experiments in Isfahan, in Summer 2004. While one experiment was irrigated normally, the other one was conducted under delayed irrigation conditions. Maize plants were seeded at 95000 plants/ha in 8-row plots, with rows spaced 0.70m apart and 0.15m distance between plants on each row. Delayed irrigation led to a significant decrease in LAI_max, LAD, LAD_Linear and LAD_s-m, but a significant increase in days to silking. While CGR_Linear significantly correlated with LAI_max, LAD, LAD_Linear and LAD_s-m, a significant correlation was observed between total biomass and grain yield. CGR_Linear, LAI_max, and LAD_s-m significantly correlated with total biomass, and grain yield significantly correlated with yield components, harvest index, CGR_Linear and LAI_max. In conclusion, an increase in LAI_max resulted in a higher CGR_Linear and in turn a greater total biomass. But, considering no significant correlation between total biomass and harvest index, it appears that with the genotypes and under conditions of the present study, allocation of dry matter to grain production did not correlate with the leaf area attributes of corn.

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Plant pathogenic microorganisms produce a variety of enzymes capable of degrading different polysaccharides of the plant cell walls. Pathogens use these enzymes to penetrate and colonize host cells. Polygalacturonases are thought to be the first cell wall-degrading enzymes secreted by pathogens when they grow on plant cell walls. Oligogalacturonic acids with the polymerization degrees of 10 to 13 are intermediate products of pectin degradation by the action of polygalacturonases and are known to activate plant defense responses. PG- inhibiting proteins (PGIPs) present in the cell wall of many plants increase the stability of oligogalacturonic acids in the tissues by modulating fungal PG activities. These glycoproteins of the plant cell extracellular matrix retard the advancement of fungal hyphae, reduce tissue maceration, and prevent colonization of pathogen. In this study, Phaseolus vulgaris PGIPs were extracted from hypocotyle of Derakhshan and Naz bean cultivars. PvPGIPs were purified by afinity chromatography and analyzed by SDS-PAGE. Three major bands in the range of 47-55 kDa were detected. Average yield of The affinity-purified PGIPs was 1.68 mg per 100 gram of fresh bean hypocotyle. The inhibitory effect of PGIP was assayed on the PG activities of highly virulent isolates of Fusarium oxysporum (F15) and Ascochyta rabiei (IK04). The inhibitory activity of crude PGIP from Naz and Derakhshan cultivars on polygalacturonase activity of F. oxysporum was 18 and 28 units, respectively. These inhibitory activities increased to 40 units after purification. The inhibitory effect of crude PGIPs from both these two cultivars on PG activity of A. rabiei was 9 units, while purified PGIPs inhibited this PG activity to 18 and 29 units, respectively.

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  Parsi Zira, Bunium persicum (Boiss.) B. Fedtsch., which is called Mountainous or Black Zira, is one of the most important medicinal plants with high economic importance. Generally, there is a little information about in vitro culture of Bunium persicum. Fragmented embryo was used as an explant in Bunium persicum regeneration. In this method, a great callus induction and regeneration only on the same medium without any subculture occurred because of being young and having better interaction with medium, leading to reduction of tissue culture time, infection and chemical consumption. In this research, B5 media containing different concentrations of plant growth regulators, NAA and 2,4-D only or together with Kin, were used. The experiment was conducted using completely randomized design with 30 treatments and 10 replications per treatment. The highest callus number was obtained from the treatment containing 0.1 mg/l 2,4-D and 2 mg/l Kin or 1 mg/l NAA and 2 mg/l Kin. Regeneration occurred in some treatments without Kinetin, showing that Kinetin is not essential for Bunium persicum regeneration. The treatment containing 0.1 mg/l NAA and 4 mg/l Kin was the best one for regeneration. The best treatment for somatic embryogenesis was 2 mg/l 2,4-D.

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  Application of selection index for screening desired plants based on complex quantitative traits can be more effective than direct selection. This study was conducted using an F₂ rice population consisting of 87 plants derived from a cross between two cultivars Gharib and IR28. The purpose was to establish suitable selection indices for increasing yield and its related traits in research farm of Rice Research Institute of Iran (RRII), Rasht, in 2005. Studied traits included the days from sowing, germinated grain to maturity (MD), plant height (PH), panicle length (PL), flag leaf length (FL), flag leaf width (FW), number of panicles per plant (PP), number of grains per panicle (GP), number of spikelets per panicle (SP), 100-grain weight (GW), grain yield per plant (GY), biomass (BM), harvest index (HI), grain length (GL) and grain breadth (GB). Among the studied traits, 100-grain weight (GW), biomass (BM) and harvest index (HI) (0.99) and flag leaf width (FW) (0.35) showed the highest and lowest broad-sense heritability, respectively. Path coefficient analysis revealed that BM, HI, GP had positive direct effects on GY. Calculation of five different selection indices based on optimum and base indices indicated that selection for BM, HI and GP using genotypic path coefficients and their heritability as economic values would be a suitable selection criterion for improving population. Moreover, this study showed that both optimum and base indices show the same genetic progress for the studied traits. Since evaluation of base index, is much easier than the optimum index, it is highly recommended.