M. Dehestani-Ardakani, N. Khosravi, M. Shirmardi, J. Gholamnezhad, F. Naserinasab,
Volume 12, Issue 1 (5-2021)
Abstract
Narcissus is a bulbous plant in the Amaryllidaceae family. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of biological fertilizers and biochar on morphological and physiological properties of Narcissus cv. ‘Shahla’ (Narcissus tazetta L. cv. ‘Shahla’). The experiment was carried out in a factorial arrangement with a completely randomized design in a greenhouse at Ardakan University, in 2019-2020. The biochar was applied by mixing dry soil at three levels (0, 2 and 4 %w/w), whereas the biofertilizer was used at four levels: without amendment (control), 20 and 40 g kg-1 mycorrhizal fungi (MF) and Nitrozist biofertilizer (that bulbs were dipped in Nitrozist biofertilizer solution for 5 minutes). Results showed that a higher value for diameter of the largest flower (36.73 mm), diameter of sepal (10.53 mm), flowering stem (26 mm), number of leaves (8.66), width of leaf (20.44 cm), dry weight of root (3.18 g/pot), bulb diameter (1.66 mm), caretenoeid (2.22 mg g-1), chlorophyll (98.05 SPAD), calcium (3.83%) and phosphorus (0.96%) concentrations were obtained in combination of 2% biochar and 40 g per pot mycorrhizal fungi. For most studied traits, the use of biofertilizer and biochar alone improved the growth and flowering characteristics of plant compared to the control. However, the best results were obtained in the combined treatment of 2% biochar and 40 g kg-1 of mycorrhizal fungi, while by increasing levels of biochar and biofertilizer in the combined treatments the desired results were not obtained.
Dr Mostafa Shirmardi, Dr Mehdi Hayatzadeh, Dr Mohammad Javad Ghanei, Mis Neda Hemat, Mis Mahin Fooladi,
Volume 15, Issue 4 (Journal of Soil and Plant Interactions 2024)
Abstract
The trend of population increase has caused the need for more food sources, which can be obtained with the development of agriculture. One of the conventional methods to evaluate soil fertility is to examine the spatial changes of nutrient elements. The purpose of this research was the parameters related to soil fertility for saffron (Crocus sativus L.) cultivation in different areas of Bahabad city. For this purpose, soil samples are prepared from the depth of 0 to 30 cm by composite sampling method, and the characteristics was measured such as electrical conductivity (EC), pH, organic carbon, available potassium (K) and phosphorus (P), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn) and copper (Cu) extractable with DTPA extractant. Then, data processing was done in the form of normalization. The results showed only one of the 29 studied farms had high fertility and the rest of the farms were in the low or medium fertility category. The results show that to increase the yield of this product in the study area, more attention should be paid to soil nutrition. Also, according to the research results, there is a positive and significant correlation between saffron performance and absorbable phosphorus, absorbable potassium, soil organic carbon percentage, iron and manganese extractable with DTPA extractant, respectively. The results show that in order to increase the yield of this product in the study area and areas with similar conditions, more attention should be paid to soil nutrition. Another finding of this research is the non-uniformity of agricultural management in the region and taking measures based on personal experience of people without considering the principles and standards of planting, maintaining and harvesting this product.
