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Sustainable improvements in agricultural production and productivity necessitate efficient resource utilization; relay intercropping can improve crop yield and land productivity while using fewer inputs. Thus, in a three-year field trial, different cucurbit vegetable crops were tested to see if they were suitable for relay intercropping with perennial castor (Ricinus communis L.). These treatments encompassed various intercropping strategies involving castor, each paired with a different cucurbit: bitter gourd (Momordica charantia), ridge gourd (Luffa acutangula), snake gourd (Trichsanthus cucumerina), bottle gourd (Legenaria siceraria), coccinia (Trichsanthus dioica), and cucumber (Cucumis sativus). Castor and cucumber relay intercropping systems produced the highest castor equivalent yield (1701 kg/ha), followed by castor and ridge gourd (1596 kg/ha). Among all the cucurbit intercropping systems, the castor + cucumber relay system had the highest productivity (4.66 kg/ha/day), profitability (338.8 Rs/ha/day), and relative economic efficiency (198.5%). The best moisture-use efficiency was achieved by castor and bitter gourd relay intercropping (6.58 kg/ha/mm), followed by castor and bottle gourd relay intercropping (6.35 kg/ha/mm). There was a higher net return for relay intercropping of castor and cucumber (Rs.1,23,662/ha), followed by castor and ridge gourd (Rs.1,20,515/ha). Perennial sole castor produced 1312 kg of seeds per hectare, despite its low monetary returns of Rs 41,801/hectare. It has been found that relay intercropping between castor and ridge gourd (3.29), followed by castor and bitter gourd (3.29), produces the highest benefit-cost ratio. As a result, the relay intercropping system, which determines the competitive interaction and productivity of castor and cucurbits, can provide the greatest benefits.

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Research subject: Iran is a country with high potentials for access to renewable energy sources such as solar, hydropower, wind, and biomass. Biodiesel is one of the renewable fuels that has always been proposed as a suitable and stable alternative (non-toxic, safe, and degradable) to fossil fuels.
Research approach: The experiences of different countries in the use of edible sources for biodiesel production shows that the use of edible sources has caused problems such as lack of food resources for human communities, lack of feed for livestock, and upsetting the balance in the food industry, and it can lead to a significant increase in the price of these resources. Therefore, many researchers have proposed the use of non-edible sources to address these problems. So far, very large non-edible sources for biodiesel production have been identified. In this paper, non-edible sources of biodiesel that are produced or have the potential to be produced in Iran are introduced and studied and a potential assessment study is presented for them.
Main results: In this work, the non-edible sources for biodiesel production are classified into four categories: agricultural waste, waste cooking oils, microalgae, and non-edible seeds. These sources are compared based on various parameters such as oil percentage, oil content per hectare, biodiesel production efficiency, viscosity, saponification number, and cultivation period, which according to the results, non-edible seeds, especially Nowruzak seeds, Castor, and safflower have been identified as the most rational and sustainable sources of biodiesel production in Iran. The present work also deals with the policies and incentives that the responsible institutions can apply for the prosperity of the biodiesel industry.

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Dragon’s head Lallemantia iberica, currently is grown as an oilseed crop in dry areas of Iran. In 2019, symptoms including seedling damping-off, yellows, and wilt were observed on the plants in a commercial field in Maragheh province, Iran. Based on the morphological and molecular characters, the fungus isolated from symptomatic plants was identified as Fusarium acuminatum. The pathogenicity of the fungus was confirmed through inoculation of the host plant. Subsequently, Koch’s postulates were fulfilled by re-isolation of the same fungus from the inoculated symptomatic plants. This is the first report of Fusarium wilt disease occurring in Dragon’s head in Iran and worldwide.