Fatemeh Nejatzadeh-Barandozi

Purpose: The effect of vermicompost and nitrogen fertilizers on the growth and production of Aloe vera were conducted using factorial based on Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). Background: Vermicompost can be used in sustainable agriculture to support growing populations by increasing water holding capacity, nutrient supply, high porosity, adequate ventilation and drainage, and production of plant hormones that have beneficial effects on seed germination. Methods: According to the RCBD method, treatments were included: four levels of vermicompost (V0: Control, V1: 75, V2: 150 and V3: 200 g per pot) and four levels of nitrogen fertilizer (N0: control, N1: 500, N2: 1000, and N3: 1500 mg per pot) using urea. Results: The results showed that application of 150 g of vermicompost and 1000 mg of nitrogen had the highest effect on growth traits, and application of 200 g of vermicompost and 1500 mg of nitrogen had the greatest effect on sucker characteristics, so that the highest number of suckers was obtained by using 200 g of vermicompost and 1000 and 1500 mg of nitrogen. However, simultaneous application of 150 g of vermicompost and 1000 mg of nitrogen had the greatest effect on plant height, number of leaves, and leaf diameter, and treatment with 200 g of vermicompost and 1500 mg of nitrogen had the greatest effect on the number of suckers, stem weight, number of leaves, sucker height, total biomass and Aloin content. Conclusions: Therefore, simultaneous use of vermicompost and nitrogen fertilizer in Aloe vera cultivation plays an important role in the production and enhancement of sucker and plant yield.

Ultrasonic (US) and UV-C disinfection technologies have been successfully used in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) for disinfection purposes. The US technology is typically used as a pre-treatment step to break down larger particles and make them more susceptible to disinfection. The UV-C technology is commonly used as a final disinfection step in many WWTPs. The study aimed to assess the potential of using Zinc Oxide (ZnO) Nanoparticles (NPs) to improve the effectiveness of UV-C and US disinfection methods in treating wastewater effluent, offering a more comprehensive solution to wastewater treatment. In this experimental study, a Laboratory US Bath (40[ ]kHz) and a UV-C lamp (16[ ]W) were used. In order to investigate the effectiveness of ZnO NPs in the reduction of microbial load, 5[ ]mg/L of ZnO NPs was added to the effluent samples. Then, samples were examined for Total Coliform (TC) and Fecal Coliform (FC) reduction by the standard MPN/100[ ]mL test. The Chick‘s law was used to calculate the efficiency of microbial load. The relationship between variables was determined by regression analysis using Excel and SPSS-ver 21 software. In this study, the samples were examined in three groups: Samples that were only exposed to sonication or received UV-C radiation with Turbidity of 18 NTU (Group A) and Turbidity of 5 NTU (Group B), and Samples that received 5 mg/L of ZnO NPs (Group C). By increasing the time from 0.5 min to 10 min in the presence of UV-C, the amount of microbial population decreased, and 2 min was considered the optimal time. The maximum removal efficiencies by US for TC were 74.07,77.7, 85.1% (40∘C) and 92.5,100, and 100% (60∘C) in group A (in 30 min sonication), 85.7, 85.7, 100% (40∘C), respectively, and were 100% in other groups (B and C), respectively. The maximum removal efficiencies by US for FC were 76.4%, 88.2%, and 100% (40∘C) and 88.2%, 100%, and 100% (60∘C) in group A (in 30 min sonication), respectively, and were 100% in other groups (B and C). In this study, an important increase in the disinfection ability of ZnO NPs has been observed in the presence of US and UV-C. So, the ZnO NPs/UV-C and ZnO NPs/US processes are valuable alternatives to conventional disinfection processes by over 90% improvement of disinfection efficiency.

This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of kaolin clay application and deficit irrigation on quantitative characteristics of pumpkin in a field located in Siahbaz village of Khoy, Iran. In order to investigate the effect of irrigation and kaolin clay on yield and yield components of (Cucurbita pepo L.), this experimental was considered. An experiment was performed with irrigation at four levels (complete irrigation, deficit irrigation from the shoot stage, deficit irrigation from flowering stage and deficit irrigation from seed filling stage) and three levels of kaolin foliar application (control, 3% kaolin and 6% kaolin) was considered. Analysis of variance showed that deficit irrigation and kaolin had significant effect on number of seeds per fruit, fruit yield, 1000 grain weight, grain and biological yield, harvest index, oil and protein percentage, oil yield and protein yield. Maximum grain weight (294.5 gr), grain yield (807 kg ha⁻¹), oil percentage (46.2) and oil yield (373.3 kg ha⁻¹) were related to complete irrigation treatment. The highest grain weight (257.07 gr), grain yield (733 kg ha⁻¹) and fruit yield (23.8 kg ha⁻¹) were observed in the 3% kaolin. Based on the results, deficit irrigation at seed filling stage was superior to other treatments. Kaolin had no effect on grain yield and could be interrupted once without irrigation. Kaolin used in this experiment under irrigation limitation conditions could partially offset the water-deficit yield due to control treatment. Due to lack of water, yield of untreated plants was lower than kaolin-treated ones.

Ocimum basilicum L. is an herbaceous plant from the Labiate family that used fresh, as a spice, and as a medicinal plant. Mulch is technique capable of reducing evaporation from the surface of the soil in basil production systems; it has more impacts on yield and essential oil quality of a basil crop. This research was performed in order to study the effects of different mulch types and irrigation regimes on various growth parameters and the essential oil content of basil. Treatments included two mulch types (black plastic, wood chips, and control) and three irrigation levels (100, 80, and 60% of water requirements, calculated by evaporation pan class A), following a randomised complete block design with four replications. Results showed that the effect of irrigation on fresh weight, dry weight, leaf relative water content, leaf area, and essential oil yield was significant (P<0.05). The effect of mulch on fresh weight, dry weight, leaf area, inter-node distance, number of branches, and essential oil yield was significant (P<0.05). Interaction between irrigation and mulch on inter-node distance, fresh weight, dry weight, and leaf area was significant (P<0.05). This study identified wood chips as the best mulch treatment. The highest dry weight yield (38.35 g/plant) and the highest essential oil yield (82.83 L/ha) resulted when wood chip mulch was used in combination with irrigation at 100% of the water requirement. This combination also resulted in the highest water productivity in basil production. Highlights - Different levels of irrigation alone did not always increase plant growth and yield of basil. - Different levels of mulch alone did not always increase plant growth and yield of basil. - Different levels of irrigation and mulch in combination used, increased, growth and essential oil yield of basil. - This study identified wood chips as the best mulch treatment. - The highest essential oil yield resulted with wood chip mulch and irrigation at 100% of the water requirement.