This experiment was conducted to study the effects of sowing date and hydropriming on the yield of twocotton cultivars using a factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design in threereplications at the Research Farm of Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj Branch in 2013 growing season. The first factor was sowing date with three levels: April 29, May 13, and May 27. The second factor washydropriming in two levels of control (without priming) and hydro-priming application and the thirdfactor was cultivar with two levels of Paak and Varamin cultivars. Results showed that seed hydroprimingat the first sowing date (April 29) significantly increased seed cotton yield in comparison with control(without priming), however hydropriming had no effects on seed cotton at the second and the thirdsowing dates. Varamin cultivar responded well to early planting and its yield at the first sowing date wassignificantly higher than that of Paak cultivar whereas there was no difference between two cultivarsregarding seed cotton yield at the other sowing dates. Delay in sowing date and non-priming treatmentsresulted in a significant decrease in oil content of Paak cultivar, but had no significant effect on the oilcontent of Varamin cultivar.

This study was carried out in Golestan-Hashemabad as split plot in a randomized complete block design with three replications in 2011 and 2012. Main plots were Planting date in three levels and sub-plots were seed coating in six levels. Except seed cotton yield, planting date hadn’ t significant effect on others yielding factors. Early planting with mean 12. 8 boll per plant, on time planting with mean weight of 30bolls 162. 9gr, early planting with 1955. 5 kg. ha-1mean seed cotton yield, 66. 8 gr lint and 41. 1% lint was better than other treatments. Interaction effect between planting date and year on all of yield factors non-significant. On time planting in secondth year with mean 18. 4 boll per plant and 30 bolls weight, 164 gr had better condition. Early planting in secondth year produced highest seed cotton (2845. 2 kg. ha-1). On time planting in secondth year produced the most lint weight and percent73. 2 gr and 45. 7% respectively. Seed coating hadn’ t significant effect on yield components except seed cotton. The highest boll per plant (13. 4) belonged to sulphur fuzzy seed coated. It can be related to sulphur role in flower fertilizing. Mentioned treatment produced heavier bolls (30 boll weight mean 164. 2 gr ). This result can be related to sulphur role in assimilation and carbohydrate allocation. Sulphur delinted seed coating produced the highest yield( 1896. 1 kg. ha-1). The delinted seed that coated with solution had the most lint weight and percent, 66. 2 gr and 41. 7% respectively.

Epoxidized vegetable oils are promising candidates as raw material substitutes for industrial applications. The Chemical modification of epoxies appears to be a pathway towards achieving this goal of replacing raw materials with industrial products. In this study, oil was extracted from cottonseed using a Soxhlet extractor, yielding 35% cottonseed oil. The results obtained in the cottonseed oil characterization were determined as follows: an iodine value of 114.7gI2/100g, acid value of 0.66mgKOH/g, saponification value of 191.2mgKOH/g, specific gravity of 0.923g, peroxide value of 10.42mEq/kg, pH 4.1. The oil was epoxidized using 30% aqueous hydrogen peroxide as the oxygen donor and glacial acetic acid as the oxygen carrier in the presence of sulphuric acid as catalyst. The fresh oil and the products of the epoxidation reaction were characterized using FTIR analysis, the results of which indicated the disappearance of the carbon-carbon double bond peak at 1655 cm-1 and the appearance of the epoxide peak at 785 cm-1. The analysis also showed the strength of the synthetic epoxy, cotton epoxy cured in 21 minutes versus commercial epoxy cured in 8 minutes. Vegetable oils that have undergone epoxidation are interesting alternatives to replace raw materials in industrial applications. Epoxies can potentially be chemically altered in order to replace raw materials with industrial goods. The following conclusions were drawn from the cottonseed oil characterisation results: the specific gravity is 0.923g, peroxide content is 10.42mEq/kg, pH is 4.1, iodine value is 114.7gI2/100g, acid value is 0.66mgKOH/g, and saponification value is 191.2mgKOH/g. FTIR analysis was employed to characterize the fresh oil and the epoxidation reaction's products.

Weed seed abscission and their accumulation in the soil annually, cause formation of a persistent weed seed bank that is the origin of future weed infection for many years. In order to survey the relationship between weed seeds in soil seed bank and the weed population during growing season of cotton field, this experiment was conducted in Golestan province in 2004-2005. Based on the results, 49 species of weeds belong to 19 families were recorded that Cyperus rotundus L., Amaranthus spp., Echinochloa spp., Hibiscus terionum L., Paspalum paspaloides (Michx. )Scribner had the highest density in cotton field respectively. The most frequent weeds were Amaranthus spp., C. rotundus, Solanum nigrum L., Abutilon theophrasti Medic., Convolvulus arvensis L. and Echinochloa spp. . Survey of soil samples showed, after Amaranthus spp. that were observed in 90 % of soil samples, the most frequent weeds in soil seed bank were Stellaria media L., Chenopodium album L., C. rotundus and Portulaca oleracea L. respectively. Poa annua L., S. media, C. album, Amaranthus spp. and C. rotundus had the highest density in soil seedbank. The results showed a strong linear relationship between weed seeds in soil seedbank and seedling numbers in the cotton fields for all of weeds.

Introduction: Improved cultivars of crops are the most important factor in optimizing yield and quality of the products. Cotton is one of the most important industrial crops and enhancement of seed cotton yield, fiber quality as well earliness are among the objectives of new cotton cultivars development. Despite of the improvement and introduction of new cotton cultivars in Iran in recent years, new introducd cotton cultivars have also been registered, introduced and commercialized in the country. Therefore, the cultivation of new introduced cotton cultivars that are early maturity, high-yielding with good fiber quality has been included in the cotton production plan of the Ministry of Jihad-e-Agriculture of Iran. This experiment was carried out to evaluate and compare the seed cotton yield and its components, fiber quality characteristics as well as earliness of some new introduced and Iranian upland cotton cultivars. Materials and Methods:  To evaluate and compare the seed cotton yield, fiber quality and earliness of introduced and Iranian new upland cotton cultivars field experiments were conducted in two consequent growing seasons 2019-20 and 2020-21 in three provinces Ardabil (Moghan), South Khorasan (Birjand) and Fars (Darab) using randomized complete block design with four replications. Nine cotton cultivars including six introduced cultivars; Agn112, Agn117, Agn126, Speria, Tesla and Lodos and three Iranian cotton cultivars; Shayan, Armaghan and Golestan (control) were evaluated. Seed cotton yield and its components, boll number, boll weight, and fiber quality characters including fibers fineness, length, uniformity, strength, elongation, reflectance, yellowness and gin turn out as well as earliness was determined (ays from planting to the opening of 60% of bolls of each plot).   Results: Combined analysis of variance showed that the seed cotton yield and fiber quality were affected by cultivar, year and location at the 1% probability level. The highest seed cotton yield (4189.9 kg.ha-1), fiber fineness (4.73 micronair) and fiber strength (33.4 g.tex-1), earliness (116.5 days) and the lowest yellowness (7.98) belonged to the cv. Agn117. Seed cotton yield had positive and significant correlation with the number of bolls (r = 0.91***) and fiber fineness (r = 0.80**) and negative and significant correlation with fiber yellowness (r= -0.87**). Comparison of introduced and Iranian cultivars showed that introduced cultivars had higher mean seed cotton yield and boll number, and was late maturity as well as more gin turn out than Iranian cultivars. Cluster and biplot analysis results showed cv. Agn117 as the superior cultivar. Conclusion: Boll weight and number, earliness, gin turn out and fiber fineness were identified as determinant traits for improvement of seed cotton yield and fiber quality. These traits can be used for evaluation and selection of new improved cotton cultivars. Also, based on the results of this experiment the cv. Agn117 can be a suitable substitute for Iranian cotton cultivars in cotton growing areas in Iran.

Deterioration of seeds is an important factor to reduce seeds vigor and limit germination. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the influence of gibberellic acid hormone on recovery of seeds and improvement of quality and seedling growth in Varamin cotton seed, an experiment was conducted in a completely randomized way in three replications. Treatments included: two levels of deterioration (48 and 96 hours) plus control, Gibberellic acid solution with two concentrations of 500 and 1000 ppm plus control and the time to apply hormone treatment in three ways (before deterioration, after deterioration, before and after deterioration). The results showed that in non-deterioration treatments, in the concentration of 500 ppm, the peroxidase, carotenoid, and electrical conductivity ratios had the best conditions and at 1000 ppm, catalase and chlorophyll a and b had the best results. In primitive applications before deterioration at a concentration of 500 ppm, the electrical conductivity was the best and at concentration of 1000 ppm, catalase, peroxidase, chlorophyll a and b, and carotenoids were at the highest levels. In primer applications after the deterioration, at concentration of 500 ppm, electrical conductivity was in better conditions and had better conditions at 1000 ppm, catalase, peroxidase, chlorophyll a and b, and carotenoids. In the priming test before and after deterioration, at a concentration of 500 ppm, electrical conductivity has the best results. At 1000 ppm concentration, catalase, peroxidase, chlorophyll a and b and carotenes had the best value. In general, the use of gibberellic acid has led to retrieve and improved seeds are deteriorated.

Application of beneficial microorganisms in agriculture has a long background and its history goes back to the time that the American Nitrogen Company was founded more than 100 years ago. Biofertilizers have been widely used in former Soviet Union, China, India and Brazil in the last decades. Increasing the shelf life of these microorganisms in different carriers, by using a wide range of natural or synthetic additives is a very common practice. Although these additives are believed to enhance the viability of microorganisms of inoculants, their effect on germination of the seeds has yet to be studied. In this research the effect of additives used in mixed-culture inoculants of Azotobacter chroococcum, Azospirillum lipoferum and Pseudomonas fluorescens on germination of cotton seeds in sterile or non sterile condition was evaluated. Different concentrations of chitosan, sucrose, Fe-EDTA, glycerol and molasses were used as additives singly or in combination in a completely randomized design. The results showed that the additives can impose positive or negative effect on germination rate of cotton Seed. In non sterile situation Arabic gum increases the germination, in sterile situation it have negative effect But almost of additives has positive effect on germination.

The establishment of an acceptable population of cotton seedlings is important to obtain high yields. A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of planter type and seed variety on cotton seedling emergence uniformity and irrigated seed cotton yield. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with split-plot arranged in three replications. The seed varieties were in five levels of T2 (V1), Karisma (V2), Lidiya (3), Edisa (V4), B440 (V5) as the main plot and four cotton planter type as the subplot include: grain drill with knife opener and conical press wheel (P1), cultivation combination with cultivator (seed drill) with single disk opener and bar covering device (P2), row crop planter with runner opener and rubber smooth-crown press wheel (P3) and direct drill with double disk opener and double rubber band press wheel (P4). The results showed that variety and planter type had a significant effect on sowing depth, speed of emergence, plant distance, boll number, and seed cotton yield. The P2 treatment compared to P1, P3, and P4, caused sowing depth increasing by 39. 5%, and emergence speed reduction by 52. 1%. The maximum and the minimum number of boll was observed for V3 × P3 and V4 × P2 treatments, respectively. The findings revealed that seed cotton yield influenced by different planters was in the order P3>P4>P1>P2. The results of factor analysis indicated that sowing depth, plant distance, and boll number were identified as the most effective indicators for sowing performance and cotton morphological indexes.