پژوهشهای زراعی ایران (Jun 2024)
Evaluation of Agricultural Characteristics and Yield of Different Populations of Dragon's Head (Lallemantia iberica Fisch. et Mey) Collected from Different Regions of Iran
Abstract
Introduction The great importance of identifying, studying, evaluating, and protecting native ecotypes of medicinal plants as human heritage, collecting agricultural medicinal plants and ecological evaluation of their native ecotypes, and introducing their compatible ecotypes is a necessity for farmers. Considering the few studies in the field of the agricultural role of non-native plants such as Dragon's head in Iran to meet the country's nutritional needs, the present research aims to study and evaluate the performance of local medicinal and multi-purpose plant stands of urban sycamore and also to obtain new scientific materials in the case of these local masses has been done in the research farm of University of Tabriz Faculty of Agriculture. It is necessary to explain that in recent years, due to the crisis of water shortage and drought, this plant is in line with changing the cultivation pattern of the region from plants with high water requirement to plants with low water requirement or dry land has been added to the official cultivation pattern of East Azerbaijan province and is being promoted among the farmers of the region.Materials and Methods To evaluate and investigate the agronomic characteristics and performance of 49 selected Dragon’s head stands from different regions of the country, an experiment was carried out in the form of a simple 7*7 square lattice design with three replications. A field experiment was carried out at the research station of the Faculty of Agriculture of University of Tabriz, located in building number 2 of the Faculty of Agriculture in Basmanj. According to meteorological maps, the climate of this region is among the steppe and semi-arid climates of the world. In this area, although rain sometimes occurs in the summer season, it generally has a dry season in the summer. The area is located at an altitude of 1360 meters above sea level, with a latitude of 38 degrees and five minutes north and a longitude of 46 degrees and 17 minutes east, and its annual rainfall is 285 millimeters. The average annual temperature is 10 degrees Celsius, the average annual maximum temperature is 16.6 degrees Celsius, and the average annual minimum temperature is 4.2 degrees Celsius.Results and DiscussionIn the comparison of the average traits, the best ecotypes in terms of yield were the ecotypes of Kolvang local population 10 and 15, Tabriz local population 3 and 4 and Ahar local population 1 respectively, simple correlation analysis, stepwise regression, and causality showed that biomass traits, number of seeds per plant, number of seeds in capsule and weight of 1000 seeds are the most important factors affecting the increase of seed yield. By analyzing it into components, the first four components explained 80.44% of the changes related to primary traits. Ecotypes Kolvang 10, Tabriz 3, and number Tabriz 4 yield 1661, 1464, and 1404 kg ha-1 respectively, and 3848, 4119, and 3848 kg ha-1 respectively. They produced 4581 kg ha-1 of biomass and were superior in most traits related to economic performance.ConclusionTaking into account the crisis of Lake Urmia and the lack of water in most regions, especially the Azerbaijan region, the medicinal plant Dragon’s head is one of the few plants that can be placed in the spring cycle in most areas of rainfed and irrigated cultivation and in improving the water balance. Lake Urmia and agriculture in the region can play a positive role. Therefore, the ecotypes of Tabriz native population 3, Kolvanagh native population 10, and Tabriz native population 4, which had more grain yield and were superior in most of the traits related to yield, can be considered the most suitable ecotypes of Dragon’s head for use in water conditions and the air of the region advised the farmers for the next crops.AcknowledgementsWe are grateful to all the colleagues located in the Agricultural Research Station of the Faculty of Agriculture.
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