JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

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Using a deterministic model for dairy herd according to milk pricing system in Iran, the economic weights of milk production, fat percentage, protein percentage and herd life with minimized cost were identified, while restricted total input and total costs were variable in animal unit. By data simulation and the data obtained from 3 different dairy herds in Iran, the sensitivity of economic values with the assumption of 20% change in forage and concentrate price, forage to concentrate ratio, feed-cost, non-feed cost, base price of milk, free-market price of milk, average milk production, fat percentage, protein percentage and herd life were estimated. In the base condition, the economic weights of milk production, fat and protein percentage and herd life in three herds were -0.55, -0.24, -0.54 -34, -20, -11 -34, -37, -33 -0.37, 0.67, -0.39, respectively. The effect of change in different factors of production system on economic weights of three farms was variable. The economic weights of milk production, fat percentage, protein percentage and herd life had the most sensitivity to change in the average milk productoin, base price of milk and herd life, respectively.

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This experiment was carried out to determine the effects of different levels of (Kabuli) chickpea grains with different processing methods on the performance of broilers. In a factorial experiment with completely randomized design, 576 Rose broiler chicks were divided into 16 treatments with three replications of 12 chicks each. The first factor comprised three levels of chickpea (10, 20 and 30 percent) in ration, and the second factor five processing methods of chickpea (raw, cooked for 10 and 20 mins, and soaked for 24 and 48 hrs). Treatments included one control ration (without chickpea) and 15 experimental rations, all of which were isoenergetic and isonitrogenous. The experimental period lasted 8 weeks for the 1 to 56 day old chicks. Body weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio were determined at three age periods of 7 to 21, 7 to 42 and 7 to 56 days. Carcass, abdominal fat, intestine and pancreas weight percentages to live weight were measured. Maximum body weight gain belonged to chickens fed on %30 chickpea grains soaked for 48h in age periods of 7 to 42 and 7 to 56 days, which was significantly different from control diet (P<0.05). The effect of chickpea grains levels and processing methods on chicken feed intake in age periods of 7 to 56 days was not significant. Interaction effects of chickpea levels with processing methods on feed conversion ratio in three age periods was not significant either. The effect of chickpea grains levels and processing methods on carcass, abdominal fat and intestine weight percentages to live weight were not significant except for the pancreas weight percentage (P<0.05). Therefore, it seems that chickpea grain is a suitable source of energy and protein in broiler diet (20% as raw or 30% as soaked for 48% h) when soyabean meals and corn grains are unavailable.

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Endophytic fungi, Neotyphodium spp. symbiotically infect host grasses, Fescue arundinacea Schreb. and F. pratensis Huds. and Mealybug, Phenococcus solani Ferris attacks some forage plants. To evaluate the role of these fungi to control this pest, four genotypes of F. arundinacea and two genotypes of F. pratensis were used. Plant tillers were split into two sections, one section of which was freed from endophyte using a fungicide mixture. The mixture contained 2 grams of active ingredients of Propiconazol and 1 ml of Folicur per liter of water. New tillers from endophyte-infected and endophyte-free plants were transferred into the field. The number of mealybugs was measured after the first visible sign of infestation on roots. To count mealybug, one plant hill of each plot was randomly selected. Hay yield of each plot was measured by clipping the plants 5 cm above ground level. Correlation of hay yield and other growth characteristics with the number of mealybugs on roots as an index for mealybug damage on infested plants was determined. The results indicated that endophyte-free plants were highly infested with mealybug, P. solani compared with endophyte-infected plants that were completely free of P. solani, correlation coefficients showed that there was significant negative correlation between forage yield and mealybug numbers, indicating mealybug damage on infested plants. It seems that endophytic fungi are effective biocontrol factors for some root feeding pest such as mealybug, P. solani.

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The masculinization effects of 17α-methyltestosterone were investigated on the two developmental stages of guppy (Poecilia reticulate), namely, newly born fry and gravid females. The first group was treated with two doses of androgen, (30 and 60 mg/kg food), each for a period of 15 and 30 days and the second group (gravid females) was treated with the food doses of 400, 450 & 500 mg/kg in a 10 day duration prior to parturition. After three months, the first group masculinization ratio of 62.14% was attained only in 60 mg/kg at three-day long treatment and other treatments had no significant effect on masculinization. In this group all the treated fish developed male secondary sexual characteristics after 3 or 4 weeks. However, the above-mentioned characteristics disappeared gradually when hormone therapy was stopped. In the second group, all the treatments were significantly different from control group. 450 and 500 mg/kg treatments had the highest masculinization percentage (90.82 and 97.07, respectively) but the differences were not significant. Also there were 9.18% females in 450 mg/kg treatment and 2.93% intersex in 500 mg/kg treatment. But the so-called group mortality was higher and fecundity lower than those in the control group. Finally, it should be noted that hormonal treatment had not any significant effect on masculinization of newly born fry and with the regard to the effect of 450 mg/kg treatment on masculinization and mortality percentage, it can be introduced as the best treatment.

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In the present research, for the development of Fars province minimum temperature atlas, minimum daily temperature data of 20 evaporative stations of Fars Regional Water Organization and five synoptic stations of Fars Meteorological Organization were used. At first, two starting times were selected for all of the stations. The first was the first day of Farvardin for analyzing the spring frost and the secend was the first day of Mehr for analyzing the autumn and winter frost. Also, the temperature range of 0 to –1.5 was classified as mild frost or freeze, the temperature range of -1.5 to –3 as the moderate frost or freeze and temperature below –3 as severe frost or freeze. The data of minimum temperatures, the first and the last days in which the three temperature ranges occurred and the day of the lowest temperature based on the two starting times were recorded. The selected number of days (dates) were fitted to the distribution functions by SMADA software and the best distribution function was identified using the statistical parameter Root Mean Square. The best fitted distribution functions were Pearson type III and log Pearson type III. Then, based on the fitted distribution function, the number of days for the occurrence of the first and last frost and number of days for the occurrence of the first lowest temperature were determined at 50 and 70% probability levels. Finally, each of these occurrence dates was plotted with Surfer software using the geographical positions of each station (longitude and latitude) for Fars province. Based on these plotted maps, the best days of planting and harvesting of the crops can be determined throughout the Fars province.

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Orumiyeh Lake basin is one of the important regions in Iran from water resources and environment standpoints. In this basin, substantial part of the annual precipitation occurrs in spring, winter, and fall seasons. Due to semi-arid climate of the basin, rainfall forecasting is an important issue for proper water resources planning and management, particularly in drought years. On the other hand, investigations around the world show that there is a good conection between climatic signals and the amount of precipitation. In this paper, the relationship between climatic signals and seasonal rainfall was investigated in Orumiyeh Lake basin. For this purpose, monthly SPI (Standard Precipitation Index) was calculated and used along with six climatic signals including SOI (Southern Oscillation Index), PDO (Pacific Decadal Oscillation), PNA (Pacific North America), NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation), NINO3.4 and, NOI (North Oscillation Index). A new method employing the negative and positive phases of signals was proposed and tested to distinguish the relationship between the climatic signals and the individual stations rainfall in the basin. Furthermore, it was found that using joint signals substantially improves the precision of the forcast rainfalls. The results showed that fall and winter rainfalls had the highest correlatetions with SOI and NAO, respectively. Therefore, it would be possible to forecast the basin rainfall using climatic signals of the previous seasons.

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Limitation of suitable water resources is the most important problem of agriculture in Iran. Considering the condition of shallow and saline groundwater in many parts of Iran, and relative resistance of safflower to salinity, it is necessary to study the contribution of groundwater to water consumption of safflower. In this research, the effects of different water table depths and salinity of groundwater on contribution of groundwater to evapotranspiration of safflower were studied. The treatments were four levels of water table depth (50, 70, 90, and 120 cm), two levels of groundwater salinity (EC of 0.6, and 10 dSm^-1 ), and two irrigation regimes (irrigation with a depth of water equal to 75 percent of evaporation from water surface and frequency of 5 days, and no irrigation). The experiment was performed in a randomized complete block design with treatment combinations arranged in factorial manner and three replications. For fixing the water table in the pots (PVC pipe 200 mm in diameter and 120 cm high), a special equipment was built on the principle of Marriot bottle that was able to measure the contribution of groundwater to evapotranspiration of the plants. Results showed that salinity of groundwater, irrigation regime, and their interactions have significant effects on evapotranspiration of safflower. In addition, effects of water table depth, salinity of groundwater, irrigation regime, interaction of salinity and water table depth, interaction of water table depth and irrigation regime, and interaction of water table depth, salinity, and irrigation regime on evaporation from soil surface were significant. The ratio of contribution of groundwater to plant water consumption and evapotranspiration was in the range of 52.5 and 54.9% for saline groundwater and 81.7 to 82.7% for fresh groundwater. The ratio of evaporation from soil surface and evapotranspiration was in the range of 4.5 to 53.6% for different treatments. In all treatments of groundwater depths, irrigation treatment significantly decreased evapotranspiration, but no significant change in evapotranspiration was observed in irrigated and no irrigated treatments. Maximum amount of evapotranspiration (251 cm) occurred in the 50 cm depth of groundwater with salinity of 0.6 dS/m under irrigated condition, and minimum amount (43.9 cm) occurred in the 90 cm depth to groundwater with salinity of 10 dS/m under no irrigation condition. Generally, salinity of groundwater caused significant decrease in evapotranspiration, evaporation from soil surface, transpiration, and contribution of groundwater to evapotranspiration.

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Sewage sludge and effluents, as cheap sources of irrigation water and fertilizer, can supply plants with water and nutrients however, contamination of these sources with heavy metals and the possibility of human food chain contamination using these sources should be considered. In this research, the effects of industrial sewage sludge and effluents on concentration of some nurtients, heavy metals and sodium and dry matter yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum), barley (Hordeum vulgare) and corn (Zea mays) were investigated. The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse using a complete randomized design with four replication. The treatments comprised well water, well water + sewage sludge(50 tons/ha), and three industrial effluents from Iran Polyacryl factory including the cooling tower, the over flow and the factory outlet effluents. Chemical analysis showed the following results: The concentration of the elements in the sludge and the effluents were below the critical contaminating levels. The application of the treatments did not supply enough nitrogen for corn the cooling tower effluent could not supply enough nitrogen for wheat and barley all the treatments supplied enough P for wheat. None of the treatments could supply enough P for corn. The cooling tower, over flow and the factory outlet effluents could not supply enough P for barley, the micronutrient and heavy metal concentrations in the plant tissues using the effluents and the sewage sludge were higher than those for well water the dry matter yield of plants’roots and shoots was highest using well water + sludge and in comparison with the well water, effluents could increase the shoot dry matter yield.

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Information about forms of zinc (Zn) is important for the evaluation of its status in soil and also understanding of the soil fertility and chemistry. To obtain such information, amounts and distribution of Zn in different fractions of 20 soil samples of Tehran province, Iran were determined by sequential extraction method and their relationships with each other and with soil characteristics were investigated. Total Zn of soils ranged from 70 to 169.9 mg/kg^-1. The amount of different Zn forms relative to the sum of forms was determined to be as follows: organic less than 0.1, soluble+exchangeable 0.1, manganese-oxide-associated 0.9, carbonate 1.6, crystalline iron-oxide-associated 3.8, amorphous iron-oxide-associated 4.2, and residual form 89.3%. Simple correlation coefficients showed that pH had a negative significant correlation with all forms of Zn except organic. Silt and clay contents had significant positive correlations with total, residual, and crystalline iron-oxide-asociated Zn but CEC had significant correlation only with total Zn. Calcium carbonate equivalent showed a significant correlation with soluble+exchangeable, manganese-oxide-associated and amorphous iron-oxide-associated Zn. DTPA-extractable Zn was significantly correlated with soluble+exchangeable, carbonate, and amorphous iron-oxide-associated Zn. A significant correlation was also observed between the Zn forms themselves, which is presumably a reflection of the existence of a dynamic relation between the chemical forms of an element in soil.

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Stabilizng sand dunes has been one of the main challenges in the arid regions. So far, different kinds of mulches have been used extensively for sand dune stabilization. This study was carried out to determine the optimum composition, concentration and thickness of clay mulch for sand dune stabilization. For this purpose two soil samples from clay flats of a playa with different amount of salinity from Ardestan area were used to make clay mulches. A sand dune sample was selected as bed for applying the mulch. To select the right ingredient and treatments, clay samples were mixed with sand and different amount of water, and sprayed on sand dune bed. In addition, wheat straw was added to some mixture to test its effect on stability of the mulch. Treatments with lowest crack and highest penetration of mulch in sand bed were selected for the experiment in this study. Mulch treatments contained (1): 250g sand dune + 250g clay + 25g straw (2) 250g clay + 25g straw (3) 250g sand + 250g clay (4) 250g clay (5) 125g sand + 125g clay and (6) 125g clay. All treatments were mixed with 500ml water. The experimental design was a CRD with a 6(mulch) * 2(thickness)* 2 EC factorial method with 3 replications. The results showed that clay mulch were resistant to wind erosion, but erosion took place when they had been bombarded with sandblast. The mulches with straw showed the highest resistance to erosion as compared to other treatments. With increasing the number of mulch layers, resistant to erosion also increased. The added stability of mulch was due to the increase in mulch thickness and also increases in clay and silt content. The overall result of this study shows that the mulch with two layers and higher mixture of clay and sands was the best treatment for the stabilization of sand dunes.

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Rapid drying can increase brittleness of and induce internal cracks in the grain which predispose the product to breakage during subsequent activities. To fully understand the drying process requires an accurate description of the drying mechanism. Kernel equilibruim moisture content (EMC) is a property strongly related to agricultural products drying phenomena. Its accurate prediction can lead to optimisation of drying processes, especially in highly automated computer aided drying systems. In this study, a finite element formulation and solution of a set of coupled conductive heat and diffusive moisture transfer equations, to improve grain drying simulation of axisymmetric bodies are presented. Axisymmetric linear triangular elements with two degrees of freedom per node are used to discretize the rice grain in model for different equilibrium moisture content (from 7.5 to 0.12 d.b.%). For the purpose of this study, one medium grain, ‘Sepidrod CV.’, was used. During the thin layer drying, the drying air temperature of 69 °C and initial moisture content of 17.23 d.b.%, were adopted. A high relation has been observed when the output of model with 11.5 d.b.% EMC was compared to experimental data obtained by others. The least and most root mean square error analysis (RMSE) calculated for models at different EMC with experimental data were 0.0091 and 0.1025. The least and most mean relative deviation modulus were 1.394 and 5.129, respectively. Considering the mean errors of the models in relation to the obtained experimental data, the equilibrium moisture content for 11.5 d.b gave the best result.

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Consumption of foods with low glycemic index (G.I.) by diabetic patients helps maintain their blood sugar at acceptable levels. Ordinary jam has a high G.I. The purpose of the present investigation was to prepare a dietetic jam using nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners. The investigation was carried out in four steps. First, glycyrrhizin was extracted from licorice extract powder, its ammonium form was prepared, and its purity was assay by HPLC. Secondly, based on a completely randomized design various types of jam were prepared using different combinations of sorbitol, fructose and ammonium glycyrrhizin. Thirdly, the prepared jams and their reference controls were evaluated for color, flavor, texture and overall acceptability by a selected taste-panel and were also subjected to physical analysis using Hunter Lab colorimeter and Bostwick consistometer. Two jam preparations were finally selected on the basis of their overall acceptability. Finally, glycemic indices of the selected jams were determined using NIDDM volunteers. The results showed that ammonium-glycyrrhizin enhances the overall acceptability of the selected product (P<0.05). As G.I. values for the selected jams were low (23.5 and 23.9), their consumption by diabetic patients and their production on a commercial scale are recommended.

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Proteolytic enzymes play important roles in food and drug industries. Actinidin, the most abundant protein of kiwifruit is a cystein protease (EC 3.4.22.14). In the present study, protein contents and levels of actinidin in kiwifruit cultivars were assayed and the enzyme was purified by a simple procedure. Actinidin was purified using two steps: (1)) precipitation by ammonium sulfate and (2) ion-exchange chromatography on diethylaminoethyl Sepharose. Molecular mass and proteolytic activity of the purified enzyme were determined by SDS-PAGE and casein digestion test, respectively. Protein content of the cultivars was compared by three different methods, namely, Bradford, UV and Lowry methods. The yield and degree of enzyme purity were 65 and 95 percents, respectively. Molecular mass of the purified enzymes were estimated 29 KDa in reducing SDS-PAGE. Results of the protein assays showed that protein and actinidin contents of kiwifruit were overestimated using UV or Lowry methods for assay. It was concluded that Bradford method is more accurate than UV or Lowry methods for measurement of protein level in kiwifruit.

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To prepare a sheetable dough, potato granule and potato puree of Agria and Marfona potato-cultivars, corn flour, emulsifier ,shortening, water,starch, salt, garlic and pepper powder were used. Dough was sheeted to thickness of 1-2 mm and formed to desirable shape. These slices were baked at 125^oC for 30 minutes. Prepared potato chips were packed in air or nitrogen atmosphere and stored in dark at 25^oC. Peroxide value, bending strength and color of the samples were determined in 30 day intervals. Peroxide value was detected just at the end of the third month. Peroxide value in chips packed in nitrogen atmosphere was less than that in chips packed in air atmosphere. Atmosphere of packages had a significant effect on the bending strength of the chips (p<0.01). The bending strength of chips packed in nitrogen atmosphere was more than that of chips packed in air atmosphere. Storage time had significant effect on bending strength (p<0.01). Storage time and cultivar effects on lightness and darkness of chips (L in hunter lab system) were significant (p<0.01). Storage time and cultivar effects on yellowness and blueness (b) of chips were significant (p<0.05). Storage time, cultivar and packaging atmosphere had no significant effect on redness and greenness (a) of chips (p<0.05)

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Evaluating different aspects of government policy in terms of their indirect and welfare effects has been always of interest. In this study, the effects of gauranteed purchasing policy on land under cultivation and yields of cotton, potatoes and onions were investigated in Fars province. For this purpose, a Nerlove model was applied to time series data of 1972-02 after testing their stationary to estimate the cultivated lands and yields functions of these products. The use of protection rates as explantory varrables is one of the interesting characteristic of such a model. Although the results were not similar for all the products, the indication is that the policy has not had significant influence on the land areas and yields of cotton, potatoes and onions. However, taking into account that the policy has been recentely commenced in Fars, and that the policy takes time to become effective, the policy may result in different outcomes in the long run.

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The aim of this study was to detect change of the forest area in the north of Iran between 1994 and 2001. The study area was covered by a 1:25000 topographic map (about 15000 ha) in Babol forests. The forest map of 1994 was extracted from 1:25000 topographic digital map. Landsat 7 ETM+ image dated July 30, 2001 was analyzed to produce the forest map for the end of the period. Since the evaluation of the image quality illustrated it less than ±1DN in the ETM 2, 4, 5, the rectification of the stripping distortion was ignored. There were also duplicate scan lines and sweep distortions in all the spectral bands. Orthorectification was implemented using ephemeris data and digital elevation model. Several spectral transformations such as rationing, PCA, Tasseled cap and image fusion (using Color space transformation and Spectral response method) were performed on the ETM+ data. The sample ground-truth map was prepared using GPS in 3% of the study area. In order to classify the image, hybrid classification method (digital and visual), using original and synthetic bands, was employed. At first the image was classified using maximum likelihood classifier. The most accurate map (overall accuracy and kappa coefficient equal to 94.56% and 0.89, respectively) was converted to the vector format and then it was edited on the basis of various color composites, fused images and other ancillary data. The obtained map showed overall accuracy and kappa coefficient equal to 96.39% and 0.927, respectively. The comparison of the classified map with the forest map of 1994, illustrated that 751 ha of forest area (equal to 8.2% of the previous forest area), were decreased. This includes a 417 ha increase (mostly reforested areas) and a 1168 ha decrease over the study period. The findings indicate the high potential of ETM+ data in forest mapping and change detection over the whole extent of the northern forest of Iran.

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Tuberose is one of the tropical and subtropical bulbous cut flowers cultivated extensively in most floricultural regions of Iran. Although it has a high potential for a long vase life after harvest, tuberose declines rapidly at home. In order to overcome this problem, two experiments were conducted on a local cultivar, “Goldorosht-e-Mahalat”, using a completely randomized design. To find a suitable preservative which provides the longest vase life for tuberose, the experiment was carried out by applying the carelessness of most consumers: not recutting stem ends nor changing the vase solutions. In the first experiment the preservative solutions were: sucrose (1, 2 and 3%), silver thiosulphate (0.4, 0.8 and 1.2 mM), silver nitrate (50, 100 and 150 mgl^-1), citric acid (150, 300 and 450 mgl^-1) and tap water as the control. In the early days of the experiment, silver thiosulphate caused severe burning of the florets, silver nitrate caused the wilting of the florets and bent the end of the flower spikes and sucrose didn’t have any positive effect, but decreased the vase life. The longest vase life belonged to citric acid, after which the control (tap water) was placed. The second experiment was conducted to determine the role of the water quality and citric acid. The treatments were: sterilized distilled water, citric acid made with sterilized distilled water (150, 300 and 450 mgl^-1) and tap water as the control. The longest and the shortest vase life belonged to sterilized distilled water and the control (tap water) respectively. The citric acid prepared with sterilized distilled water had a desirable effect on the vase life of cut tuberose flowers. This effect increased with the increment of the acid up to 450 mgl^-1.

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This research was conducted to investigate the changes of GA₃-like substances in the stratified (0, 10, 20, 30 days at 10^oC) and non-stratified seeds of two olive cultivars, namely ‘Arbequina’ and ‘Zard’. In the first experiment stratified seeds of these cultivars (10 g) were extracted with ethanol (80%), purified by ethyl acetate, and then separated by thin layer chromatography (TLC). To compare the biological activity of separated zones, lettuce hypocolyl assauy was used. The results obtained in this part of study indicated that the amount of GA₃-like substances increased as the stratification period increased. In the second experiment extracts were made from different parts of non-stratified seeds of both cultivars. The result of the second experiment showed that the GA₃–like substances of embryos of non-stratified seeds were higher than other parts of the seed.

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Some strawberriy cultivars (Fragaria x ananassa Dutch. cv. Aliso, Selva, Gaviota and Camarosa) were grown hydroponically with five NH₄:NO₃ mM concentration ratios (0/6 (S1), 0.25/6 (S2), 0.5/6 (S3), 1/6 (S4), 2/6 (S5) and constant nitrate concentration in three replicates for two seasons: Summer and Winter, in greenhouses of Agriculture Faculty of Tehran University. The results are reported as Follows: In summer shoot dry weight and shoot/ root ratio were highest in 0.25 and 0.5 mM NH₄-N and were constant in remaining solutions with higher ammonium concentration. Increasing ammonium concentration resulted in decreasing the root dry weight. Aliso and Selva had the highest shoot and root dry matter respectively. Gaviota had the highest runner. In winter, shoot dry matter was highest in plants grown in S5 solution. Increasing ammonium from 0 to 0.5 mM decreased fruit yield but more ammonium in S4 and S5 solution increased yield. Root and fruit dry matter were highest in Selva. Yield and Fruit fresh weight were highest in Gaviota. Camarosa had the highest shoot dry weight. In summer shoot dry weight was significantly higher than in winter. Due to the high yeild, commercial use of the S5 solution and the cv. Gaviota is recommended.

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To facilitate the interpretation of data from a genotype by environment experiment (GE), a cluster method is proposed to group genotypics according to their response to the environments especially when the GE interaction is large. The interaction structure of two-way classification data often can be identified if the data stratified into homogeneous subsets. In this paper four GE interaction cluster methods are proposed for this purpose. The stability of the 10 maize hybrids including 9 hybrids that were the best hybrids in yield trials and KSC 301 (check hybrid) were evaluated for 2 years in 4 locations of Iran. The randomized complete block design with 4 replications was conducted for each environment with different layouts. Simple analysis of variance revealed significant genetic differences between hybrids for grain yield. The results of combined analysis of variance indicated that genotype × year, genotype × location, and genotype × year × location interaction effects were significant (P < 0.01). Results also showed that models 1 and 3 and models 2 and 4 had the same responses. Hybrids 8 (K1263/1 × KE8212/12) with high yield stability in both models 1 and 3 were in one group and other hybrids were in another group. In models 2 and 4 results led to 3 groups: Group1 included hybrids 3, 7 and 9 that were very stable and had high yield group 2 included hybrid 1 alone that had medium stability and yield and group 3 included other hybrids that had low stability and yield.