Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Mohammad Hossein Lebaschi ¹
• Fatemeh Sefidkon ²
• Ebrahim Sharifi Ashoorabadi ²
• Bohloul Abaszadeh ²
• ءasoumeh Layeghhaghighi ³
• Ahmad Mirjalili ⁴
• Ali Saki ⁵
• Ali Hosseini ⁵
• Niloufar Rezaei ⁶
• Maryam Makkizadeh Tafti ²
• Meysam Ansari ²
• Mohammad Bakhtiari Ramezani ²
• Samaneh Asadi-Sanam ²

¹ Medicinal Plants and By-products Research Division, Research Institutes of Forest and Rangelands, Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran

² Research Institutes of Forest and Rangelands, Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran

³ Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran

⁴ PhD graduate, Department of Horticultural Science and Agronomy, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

⁵ PhD graduate, Department of Horticultural Science and Agronomy, Shahr-e-Qods Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

⁶ PhD graduate, Deputy of Horticulture, Agricultural Jihad Organization of Tehran Province, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Valuable and adapted medicinal plants used in dry farming can create green cover during dry seasons, prevent soil erosion on slopes, and increase rainfall productivity in the vast drylands of Iran. Four species of medicinal plants from the genus Satureja, Satureja bachtiarica, S. mutica, S. spicigera, and S. sahendica, belonging to the mint family, are perennial, valuable, adaptable, and exclusive to Iran. We used these species in this project under rainfed conditions.
Methodology: To test this hypothesis, we conducted four separate experiments in dryland regions near Tehran (Damavand Research Station, affiliated with the Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, RIFR) during 2016–2021. In these experiments, we used four Satureja species (S. mutica, S. spicigera, S. sahendica, and S. bachtiarica) as valuable, adapted, and exclusive medicinal plants under a dry farming system. We conducted the field experiments in a split-plot design with three nutrition treatments (30 tons of manure, 10 tons of straw enriched with ammonium sulfate, and a control) as main plots and three plant density treatments (26,666, 40,000, and 80,000 plants/ha) as subplots. The measured traits included plant height, canopy diameter, main stems, dry matter yield, dry/fresh yield ratio, essential oil percentage, and essential oil yield.
Results: The trait results across the experimental years showed an increasing trend, demonstrating the growth and tolerance of Satureja species under dry farming in the Damavand region. The highest dry matter yield (1821 kg/ha) and essential oil percentage (2.86%) were observed in S. mutica, the valuable and chosen species, in the third year. In these experiments comparing four Satureja species, morphological and yield traits were high in the control and manure application treatments at high densities for S. sahendica and S. bachtiarica (limited canopy) and at medium densities for S. mutica and S. spicigera.
Conclusion: The highest rates for most traits in the control treatment indicated fertilization restrictions and the health of savory produced under dryland farming. Successful cultivation, establishment, and growth of Satureja species in dryland farming demonstrate the adaptability and economic yield of these species under dry farming in cold semi-steppe regions with 300–400 mm of annual rainfall in Iran.

Keywords

• Economic performance
• exclusive varieties of savory
• rainfed
• organic fertilizer
• density
• essential oil

Main Subjects

• Agriculture and horticulture