Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1
Department of Production Engineering and Plant Genetic,Faculty of Agriculture,Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran.
2
Department of Production Engineering and Plant Genetic,Faculty of Agriculture,Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan, Mollasani. Iran.
10.22034/saps.2026.70318.3435
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is one of the most important oilseed crops worldwide. The use of green manure and different nutritional systems can be an effective strategy to improve soil fertility, increase yield and reduce the consumption of chemical fertilizers. This research was conducted to investigate the effects of different green manure, including: (control (no green manure), barley, berseem clover, mixture of barley and berseem clover) in combination with four different nutritional levels: (control (no chemical, organic or biological fertilizer), chemical (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium), integrated (chemical (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium), organic (vermicompost), biological (nitrogen- and phosphorus-fixing bacteria)) and organic (organic (vermicompost and powdered humic acid) and biological (nitrogen-and phosphorus-fixing bacteria and liquid seaweed extract)) on some morphological traits and yield of sunflower under the climatic conditions of Ahvaz.
Materials and Methods: The experiment was conducted during the 2023-2024 growing season at the educational farm of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, using a split-plot design based on randomized complete block design with three replications. The main factor consisted of four types of green manure: (control (no green manure), barley, berseem clover and mixture of barley and berseem clover). The sub-factor included four nutritional systems: (control (no chemical, organic or biological fertilizer), chemical (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium), integrated (chemical (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium), organic (vermicompost), biological (nitrogen- and phosphorus-fixing bacteria)) and organic (organic (vermicompost and powdered humic acid) and biological (nitrogen-and phosphorus-fixing bacteria and liquid seaweed extract)). In this study, some morphological traits (plant height, stem diameter, head diameter), biologic yield, seed yield and harvest index were evaluated. Data analysis of variance was performed using SAS software version 9.4.
Results:The results indicated that the interaction effect of green manure and nutrition system was significant for all studied traits. The highest plant height (190.67 cm) was recorded in the control treatment (without green manure) with integrated nutrition, while the greatest stem diameter (18.81 mm) and head diameter (16.85 cm) were obtained in the barley-clover mixture with integrated nutrition. The highest grain yield (6.29 t ha⁻¹) was observed in the barley-clover mixture with chemical nutrition, which showed no significant difference compared to chemical, integrated, and no-fertilizer nutrition treatments under the clover green manure level. The lowest grain yield (3.5 t ha⁻¹) was obtained from barley in the control treatment (without fertilizer nutrition). Grain yield showed a significant positive correlation with harvest index (r = 0.72), head diameter (r = 0.45), total biomass (r = 0.44), and stem diameter (r = 0.37). The highest biological yield (14.13 t ha⁻¹) was also observed in the clover treatment with the control (no fertilizer application).
Conclusion: To achieve different objectives, a specific combination of green manure and nutrition system must be selected. The barley-clover mixture with chemical nutrition is an effective strategy for increasing economic grain yield up to 6.29 t ha⁻¹. However, if the goal is to reduce the consumption of chemical fertilizers, using clover with integrated management or without fertilizer nutrition is recommended as a sustainable strategy for increasing grain yield to 5.93 t ha⁻¹ and 5.88 t ha⁻¹, respectively, in hot and arid regions.
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