Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Zanjan University

2 University of Zanjan

3 Jiroft University

Abstract

Introduction: Water stress limits crop production throughout the world and contrary to other limiting factors (acidity, sodicity and salinity). It is highly variable within growing season and from year to year. Plants response to water deficit at morphological, anatomical and cellular levels by modifications allowing them to avoid stress or increase tolerance. When supply of water is limited, crop management practices that improve water stress resistance can benefit plant growth and improve water use efficiency.  Onion seed production has high requirements in inorganic fertilizers. The applied amount depends on the type and fertility status of the soil. The use of inorganic fertilizers is common in onion production. Onion is responsive to nitrogen fertilizer. The bulb refers to a fleshy structure serving as storage organ, and containing simple and sugars, sulfur, protein and nitrogen compound containing flavor precedents as well as a significant amount of water in the swollen cells producing the bulk of the bulb scales. In order to evaluate the effects of deficit irrigation, nitrogen levels and bulb size on seed yield and reproduction traits of onion (Allium cepa var. Ghooli gheseh), was conducted in Zanjan areas.
Materials and Methods: In order to study the effects of nitrogen levels, bulb size and water tension at various growth stages on onion seed yield (Allium cepa var. Ghooli gheseh), an experiment was conducted in Zanjan University in 2014. The experiment was strip split plot with a randomized complete block design with three replications. Water tension was applied at the beginning of flowering, end of flowering, as well as the milking stage of seed by avoiding irrigation at those stages. The obtained seed yield was compared with that of control or treatment with normal irrigation (no water tension). The irrigation treatments including control were located on horizontal plots and vertical plots allocated to nitrogen levels (0, 75, 150 and 300 kg N ha-1) and bulb sizes (5-7 and 7-9 cm diameter). Traits such as days to inflorescence emergence, days to flowering, number of inflorescence per plant and seed yield were measured. All data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using SAS 9.3 software. When F test indicated statistical significance at P< 0.01 or P < 0.05, the least significant difference (LSD) was used to calculate the means.
Results and Discussion: The effect of water tension on seed yield and days to seed ripening were significant at 1% probability level. Water tension at milking stage of seed, end of flowering and beginning of flowering reduced seed yield in comparison with the control and yield decreased by 10.5, 12 and 39.5%, respectively. The highest seed yield (659.4 kg ha-1) was obtained in the control. Although the main effect of nitrogen was not significant, application of 150 kg N/ha increased inflorescence diameter, percentage of fertile florets and seed yield about 5.6, 4.9 and 20%, respectively in comparison with the control (N0). Application of nitrogen up to 150 kg ha-1 significantly increased days to seed ripening. Days to inflorescence emergence, days to flowering, number of inflorescence per plant and seed yield were affected significantly by bulb size. In onions, many factors such as bulb weight, cultivars, spacing, date of planting, climate, soil, besides fertilizer application seem to affect seed yield and quality. Moreover, according to Mishra, (1994), applying nitrogen has been revealed to enhance the number of umbels per plant in onion. Based on Islam et al. (1998), the larger sets associated with the closest spacing resulted in the highest bulb yield. Smaller set with zero nitrogen level led to the maximum number of single bulbs. The closest spacing with 120 N/ha resulted in the highest bulb yield, as well. The highest bulb yield from the combination of larger sets and closest spacing was equal to 120 kg N/ha. Smaller sets and the closest spacing zero N level yielded the highest number of single bulbs.
Conclusion: For onion seed production in climatic conditions similar to those in Zanjan areas, application of normal irrigation, bulb diameter of 7-9 cm and 150 kg N ha-1 are recommended.

Keywords

1-Abou El-Magd M.M., Zaki- Faten M.F., Abd El-Al S. and Abd El-Samad E.H. 2013. Growth Analysis and Chemical Constituents of Garlic Plants in Relation to Morphological Growth Stages. Journal of Applied Sciences Research. 9 (2): 1170-1180.
2-Akbari M. 1998. Effect of irrigation deficit on sugar beet yield. 9th Seminar of Iranian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage. 21:177-183. (in Persian).
3- Ali Ehyaei M. and Behbahanizadeh A.A. 1993. Guidelines for Laboratory Analysis of Soil Samples. Water and soil research institute. Tehran. Iran. (in Persian).
4-Ali N., Baloch M.A., and Hussain A. S. 1998. Study of the effects of planting space and bulb size on seed production. Sarhad Journal of Agriculture. pp: 14.
5-Ambulkar M.R., Kale P.B., Gonge V.S., and Mahorkar V.K. 1995. Effect of bulb size and spacing on the yield and quality of onion seed (Allium cepa L.). P.K.V. Research Journal. 19 (2): 107-109.
6-Aminpour R. 1999. Principles of Onion Seed Production. Agricultural organization in Isfahan. Isfahan. Iran.60pp
7-Aminpour R. and Aqdaee M. 2003. Effect of irrigation regimes and onion size on yield and seed yield components of onion (Allium cepa L.). 8th Iranian soil science congress. p: 916-918. (in Persian).
8-Asaduzzaman M.D., Malnul- Hasan M.D., Mahmudul-Hasan M.D., Moniruzzaman M.D. and Kabir-Howlader M.H. 2012. Effect of bulb size and plant spacing on seed production of onion (Allium cepa L.). Bangladesh Journal of Agricultural Research. 37 (3): 405-414.
9-Ayas S. and Demittas C. 2009. Deficit irrigation effects on onion (Allium cepa L. E. T. Grano 502) yield in unheated greenhouse condition. Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment. 7 (3&4): 239-243.
10-Currah L. and Orchard J.E. 1996. Onion New Letter for the Tropics. Natural Resources Institute. 111pp.
11-Haghperasttanha, M.R. 1992. Nutrition and Metabolism of Plant. Ialamic Azad University – Rasht Beranch. Iran. 527pp. (in Persian).
12-Halder N.K., Zaman M.W.U., Chowdhury M.M.U., Vllah M.H., and Nag B.L. 1998. Effect of nitrogen and phosphorus on the uptake of different nutrient elements by onion bulb. Bangladesh Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research. 33 (3): 404-408.
13-Hassan M.S. 2001. Effects of frequency of irrigation and fertilizer nitrogen on yield and quality of onions in the arid tropics. VIII. African Symposium on Horticultural Crops. Wed Medani, Sudan
14-Ilin Z. 1994. Onion seed yield in relation to nitrogen nutrition. Poljoprivredni Fakultet, Novi Sad, Serbia, Yugos lavia. Selekcija i Semenarstvo. 1(1): 163- 165.
15-Islam K.M., Awal M.A., Ahmed S.U., and Baten M.A. 1998. Effects of different set size, spacing and nitrogen levels in the growth and bulb yield of onion. Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences. 2: 1143-1146.
16-Itali C. and Benzioni A. 1976. Water Stress and Hormone Response in Water and Plant Life. Spriger Verlag, Berlin. P 225.
17-Jilani M.S. Ahmed P., Waseem K. and Kiran M. 2010. Effect of plant spacing on growth and yield of two varities of onion (Allium cepa L.) undr the agro-climatic condition of D. I. Khan. Pakistan Journal of Science. 62 (1): 37-41.
18-Kadams A.M., and Amans E.B. 1991. Onion Seed Production in Relation to Field management in Nigeria. pp. 47–49. In. L., Currah. and J.E Orchard (ed.). Onion Newsletter for the Tropics. Natural Resources Institute.
19-Khirabi J., Tavakoli A., Entesari M. and Salamt A. 1996. Working group Guidelines Deficit Irrigation Water for Plants. Iranian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage. (in Persian).
20-Khodadadi M. 2012. The effects of planting date and mother bulb size on quantitative and qualitative seed traits of onion red variety. International Journal of Agriculture Research and Review. 2 (4), 324-327.
21-ldigbor C.M., Asawalam D.O., Onweremadu E.U. and Ndukwu B.N. 2009. Potassium quantity-intensity relationship of fauna modified soils of Abia State. International Journal of Sustainable Agriculture. 1 (2): 49-52.
22- Malakouti, M.J. and M.N. Gheybi, 1997. Determination of Nutrient Critical Levels in Strategic Crops and Correct Fertilizer Recommendation in Iran. Agricultural Education Publication, Iran Tehran, pp: 56. (in Persian).
23-Marschner H. 1995. Mineral nutrition of Higher Plants. Academic Press. New York.
24-Mishra H.P. 1994. Effect of nitrogen and potassium on onion seed production in calcareous soil. Journal of potassium research. 10: 236- 249.
25-Mobli M.1992. Quantitative effects of bulb size, pre- and post – planting environment on flowering and seed production in onions, Allium cepa L. Ph.D. Thesis. Department of horticulture. University of Reading, U.K. 286 P.
26-Nasripour-Yazdi M.T. and Tehranifar A. 1995. Vegetable Seed Production. Publications of the Jihad-e Daneshgahi of the Mashhad University, Mashhad. 300 pp. (in Persian).
27-Nikus O. and Mulugeta F. 2010. Onion Seed Production Techniques. FAO-CDMDP National Consultant on Seed and horticulture production. Asella, Ethiopia. p31.
28-Oladiran J.A., and Ifere S.O. 1996. Effects of onion (Allium cepa L.) bulb size and spacing on seed yield and quality at Minna, Nigeria. pp. 36–38. In. L., Currah. and J. E Orchard (ed.). Onion Newsletter for the Tropics. Natural Resources Institute.
29-Prats- Perez A., Munoz‌de‌con L., and Fundora Mayor Z. 1996. Influence of onion bulb size and its locality of origin on seed yield. pp. 25–32. In. L., Currah. and J.E Orchard (ed.). Onion Newsletter for the Tropics. Natural Resources Institute.
30-Rafieipour M., Motallebi_Azar A., Mahna N., Davati Kazemnia H., Kazemiani S. and Yarmohamadi F. 2011. Evaluation of genetic variability of six Iranian landraces of onion (Allium cepa L.) for seed yield and yield components .Russian Agricultural Sciences. 37 (5): 385-391.
31-Salami M. and Saadat S. 2013. Study of potassium and nitrogen fertilizer levels on the yield of sugar beet in jolge cultivar. Journal of Novel Applied Sciences. 2 (4): 94-100.
32-Singh D., Singh H., Rewal H.S., Brar S.S., and Singh L. 1990. Effect of bulb size, spacing, time of planting and insecticides and fungicides on the production of onion seed in the south-western region of Punjab, India. p. 40–41. In. L., Currah. and J.E Orchard (ed.). Onion Newsletter for the Tropics. Natural Resources Institute.
33-Tesfay S.Z., Bertling I., Odindo A.O., Greenfield P. L. and Workneh T.S. 2011. Growth responses of tropical onion cultivars to photoperiod and temperature based on growing degree days. African Journal of Biotechnology. 10 (71): 15875-15882.
CAPTCHA Image