Application of nano iron and iron nitrate in wheat and pea intercropping: An approach to sustainable agriculture

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph. D. Student, Dept. of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Engineering, Agriculture and Natural Resources Campus, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

2 Assoc. Prof., Dept. of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Engineering, Agriculture and Natural Resources Campus, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

3 Research Assist. Prof., Dept. of Nanotechnology, Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran (ABRII), Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran

Abstract

Nano-fertilizers due to the small amount of used fertilizer and the accuracy of plant acquisition are considered as a strategy to reduce inputs and achieve sustainability in agriculture production. In this experiment, the effects of nano iron and iron nitrate on the growth characteristics of wheat in different wheat and chickpea intercropping systems were investigated. The experiment was performed as split-split plot in randomized complete plot design with three replications in the research field of Campus of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran, in 2019. The main plots included five planting patterns (wheat monoculture, pea monoculture and three intercroppings of wheat:pea with 50:50, 70:50 and 90:50 ratio), sub-plots included three fertilizer treatments (control, nano-iron and iron nitrate) and sub-sub-plots included two fertilizer concentrations (1500 and 750 mg/L). The results showed that the 50:70 intercropping and concentration of 750 nano-iron had the highest iron use efficiency of wheat and in total, the iron use efficiency of wheat in 50:70 intercropping was higher than the other planting patterns. In contrast, the highest iron use efficiency of pea was observed in 50:90 intercropping and 750 concentration of iron nitrate. In all intercropping treatments, the fertilizer use efficiency by wheat and pea in nano-iron was higher than iron-nitrate. The highest wheat biomass and grain yield was obtained in monoculture + nano-iron (16371 and 5042 kg/ha, respectively) and monoculture + iron-nitrate (16062 and 5554, respectively), and the lowest wheat biomass and grain yield was related to 90:50 intercropping and iron-nitrate, but the highest pea biomass and grain yield in most fertilizer treatments at the concentrations of 750 and 1500 mg/L was related to iron-nitrate and nano-iron, respectively. The results of this experiment showed that in most of the planting pattern treatments and in all studied traits, the concentration of 750 mg/L iron nano-fertilizer was similar or even higher than the concentration of 1500 mg/L and therefore, a lower concentration of nano-fertilizer can be used and the consumption of fertilizer can be reduced.

Keywords


Al-Amri, N., Tombuloglu, H., Slimani, Y., Akhtar, S., Barghouthi, M., Almessiere, M., Alshammari, T., Baykal, A., Sabit, H., Ercan, I. and Ozcelik, S., 2020. Size effect of iron (III) oxide nanomaterials on the growth, and their uptake and translocation in common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 194: 1-11.##Ariel, C. E., Eduardo, O. A., Benito, G. E. and Lidia, G. 2013. Effects of two plant arrangements in corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean (Glycine max L. Merrill) intercropping on soil nitrogen and phosphorus status and growth of component crops at an Argentinean Argiudoll. American Journal of Agriculture and Forestry 1 (2): 22-31.##Bansal, R. L., Singh, S. P. and Nayyar, V. K. 1990. The critical Zinc deficiency level and response to Zinc application of Wheat on typic ustochrepts. Exprimental Agriculture 26 (3): 303-306.##Barker, S. and Dennett, M. D. 2013. Effect of density, cultivar and irrigation on spring sown monocrops and intercrops of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and faba beans (Vicia faba L.). European Journal of Agronomy 51: 108-116.##Bedoussac, L. and Justes, E. 2011. A comparison of commonly used indices for evaluating species interactions and intercrop efficiency: Application to durum wheat–winter pea intercrops. Field Crops Research 124: 25-36.##Brown, P. H., Cakmak I. and Zhang, Q. 1993. Form and function of zinc in plants. In: Zinc in soils and plants. Robson, A. D. (Ed.). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Netherlands. pp: 107- 118.##Cañasveras, J. C., del Campillo, M. C., Barrón, V. and Torrent, J. 2014. Intercropping with grasses helps to reduce iron chlorosis in olive. Soil Science and Plant Nutrition 14 (3): 554-564.##Chapagain, T. and Riseman, A. 2014. Barley-pea intercropping: Effects on land productivity, carbon and nitrogen transformations. Field Crops Researc. 166: 18-25.##Dahmardeh, M. and Hodiani, A. 2016. Assessment of soil elements in intercropping based on mathematical modeling. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 122: 218-224.##Delfani, M., Baradarn Firouzabadi, M., Farrokhi, N. and Makarian, H. 2014. Some physiological responses of black-eyed pea to iron and magnesium nanofertilizers. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 45: 530-540.##Delfani, M., Firouzabadi, M. B., Farrokhi N. and Makarian, H. 2014. Some physiological responses of black-eyed pea to iron and magnesium nanofertilizers. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 45: 530-540.##Gerdon, W. B., Whitney, B. A. and Raney, R. J. 1993. Nitrogen management in furrow irrigated, ridge- tilled corn. Production in Agriculture  6: 213-217.##Ghaley, B. B., Hauggaard-Nielsen, H., Jensen, H. H. and Jensen, E. S. 2005. Intercropping of wheat and pea as influenced by nitrogen fertilization. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystem. 73: 201-212.##Ghasemi-Fasaei, R. and Mansoorpoor, Y. 2015. Metal micronutrients relationships in crop, soil and common weeds of two maize (Zea mays L.) fields. Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science
61 (12): 1733-1741.##Gunes A., Inal, A., Adak, M. S., Alpaslan, M., Bagci, E. G., Erol, T. and Pilbeam, D. J. 2007. Mineral nutrition of wheat, chickpea and lentil as affected by intercropped cropping and soil moisture. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 78: 83-96.##Harsinia, M. G., Habibib, H. and Talaei, G. H. 2014. Study the effects of iron nano chelated fertilizers foliar application on yield and yield components of new line of wheat cold region of Kermanshah provence. Agricultural Advances 3 (4): 95-102.##Hemantaranjan, A. and Grag, O. K. 2008. Iron and zinc fertilization with reference to the grain quality of Triticum asetivum L. Plant Nurtition 7 (1-5): 23-46.##Hosseinabadi, A., Galavi, M. and Heidari, M. 2007. Effects of micronutrients (Fe, Zn and Mn) on quality and quantities yield of Hamoon cultivar wheat in the Sistan region. New Findings in Agriculture 1 (2): 103-110. (In Persian with English Abstract).##Karny, A., Zinger, A., Kajal, A., Shainsky-Roitman, J. and Schroeder, A. 2018. Therapeutic nanoparticles penetrate leaves and deliver nutrients to agricultural crops. Scientific Reports. 8: 7589.##Khalaj, H., Razazi, A., Nazaran, M.H., Labbafi, M.R. and Beheshti, B., 2009. Efficiency of a nanoorganic fertilizer with chelated iron in an external fertilizer on survival and quality characteristics of greenhouse cucumber. Proceedings of the 2nd National Conference on Application of Nanotechnology in Agriculture. 23-25 Sep., Karaj, Iran. (In Persian).##Kobayashi, T. and Nishizawa, N. K. 2012. Iron uptake translocation, and regulation in higher plants. Plant Biology 63: 131-152.##Kopittke, P. M., Lombi, E., Wang, P., chjoerring, J. K. and Husted, S. 2019. Nanomaterials as fertilizers for improving plant mineral nutrition and environmental outcomes. Environmental Science: Nano 6: 3513-3524.##Ksouri, R., Debez, A., Mahmoudi, H., Ouerghi, Z., Gharsalli, M. and Lachaa, M. 2007. Genotypic variability within Tunisian grapevine varieties (Vitis vinifeera L.) facing bicarbonate-induced iron deficiency. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry 45: 315-322.##Li, L., Tang, C., Rengel, Z. and Zhang, F. S. 2004. Calcium, magnesium and microelement uptake as affected by phosphorus sources and interspecific root interactions between wheat and chickpea. Plant and Soil 261: 29-37.##Lithourgidis, A. S., Vlachostergios, D. N., Dordas, C. A. and Damalas, C. A. 2011. Dry matter yield, nitrogen content, and competition in pea-cereal intercropping systems. European Journal of Agronomy 34: 287-294.##Liu, R. and Lal, R. 2015. Potentials of engineered nanoparticles as fertilizers for increasing agronomic productions. Science of the Total Environment 514: 131-139.##Liu, R., Zhang, H. and Lal, R. 2016. Effects of stabilized nanoparticles of copper, zinc, manganese, and iron oxides in low concentrations on lettuce (Lactuca sativa) seed germination: Nanotoxicants or nanonutrients? Water, Air and Soil Pollution 227 (42). doi: 10.1007/s11270-015-2738-2.##Mahmoudi, H., Ksouri, R., Gharsalli, M. and Lachaal, M. 2005. Differences in responses to iron deficiency between two legumes: lentil (Lens culinaris) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum). Plant Physiology 162 (11): 1237-1245.##Mazaheri, D., Madani, A. and Oveysi, M. 2006. Assessing the land equivalent ratio (LER) of two corn (Zea mays L.) varieties intercropping at various nitrogen levels in Karaj, Iran. Central European Agriculture 7 (2): 359- 364.##Mazaherinia, S., Astaraei, A. R., Fotovat, A. and Monshi, A. 2010. Nano iron oxide particles efficiency on Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu concentrations in wheat plant. World Applied Sciences Journal 7 (1): 36-40.##Mei, P. P., Gui, L. G., Wang, P., Hung, J. C., long, H. Y., Christie, P. and Li, L. 2012. Maize/faba bean intercropping with rhizobia inoculation enhances productivity and recovery of fertilizer P in a reclaimed desert soil. Field Crops Research 130: 19-27.##Naderi, M., Danesh-Shahraki, A. and Naderi, R. 2013. The role of nanotechnology in improving the use efficiency of nutrients and chemical fertilizers. Nanotechnology 11 (12): 16-32.##Najafi Disfani, M., Mikhak, A., Kassaee, M. Z. and Maghari, A. 2017. Effects of nano Fe/ SiO2 fertilizers on germination and growth of barley and maize. Agronomy and Soil Science 63 (6): 817-826.##Pourjafar, L., Zahedi, H. and Sharghi, Y. 2016. Effect of foliar application of nano iron and manganese chelated on yield and yield component of canola (Brassica napus L.) under water deficit stress at different plant growth stages. Agricultural Science Digest 36 (3): 172-178.##Rameshaiah, G. N., Pallavi, J. and Shabnam, S. 2015. Nano fertilizers and nano sensors: An attempt for developing smart agriculture. Engineering Research and General Science 3 (1): 314-320.##Sabeki, M., Asgharipour, M. R., Ghanbari A. and Miri, K. 2017. The effect of nano-iron chelate fertilizer on ecomorphological characteristics of pearl millet-cowpea intercropping. Journal of Agroecology 7 (1): 96-108. (In Persian with English Abstract).##Seilsepour, M. 2007. The study of Fe and Zn effects on quantitative and qualitative parameters of winter wheat and determination of critical levels of these elements in Varamin plain soils. Pajouhesh and Sazandegi 76: 123-133. (In Persian with English Abstract).##Sheykhbaglou, R., Sedghi, M., Tajbaksh Shishevan, M. and Seyed Sharifi, R. 2011. Effect on foliar nano oxide iron mineral elements in soybean. Proceedings of the First National Congress on Modern Agricultural Sciences and Technologies. 10-12 Sep. 2011, Zanjan, Iran. (In Persian).##Soleimanpour, L., Naderi, R., Bijanzadeh, E., Behpouri, A. and Emam, Y. 2016. Response of yield and yield components of wheat, barley and triticale to intercropping with legumes under weed interference. Plant Ecophysiology 9 (32): 1-12. (In Persian with English Abstract).##Soleimanpour, L., Naderi, R. and Najafi Ghiri, M. 2017. Evaluation of metal micronutrients uptake in cereal-legume intercropping. Crops Improvement 18 (4): 1017-1031. (In Persian with English Abstract).##Stoltz, E. and Nadeau, E. 2014. Effects of intercropping on yield, weed incidence, forage quality and soil residual N in organically grown forage maize (Zea mays L.) and faba bean (Vicia faba L.). Field Crops Research 169: 21-29.##Whitty, E. N. and Chambliss, C. G. 2005. Fertilization of field and forage crops. Nevada State University Publication.##Xue, Y., Xia, H., Christie, P., Zhang, Z., Li, L. and Tang, T. 2016. Crop acquisition of phosphorus, iron and zinc from soil in cereal/legume intercropping systems: a critical review. Annals of Botany 117 (3): 1-15.##Yadavalli, V., Neelam, S., Rao, A. S. V. C., Reddy, A. R. and Subramanyam, R. 2012. Differential degradation of photosystem I subunits under iron deficiency in rice. Plant Physiology 169: 753-759.##Yu, Y., Stomph, T. J., Makowski, D. and van der Werf, W. 2015. Temporal niche differentiation increases the land equivalent ratio of annual intercrops: A meta-analysis. Field Crops Research 184: 133-144.##Zuo, Y. and Zhang, F. 2009. Iron and zinc biofortification strategies in dicot plants by intercropping with gramineous species. A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development 29: 63-71.##