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This research was conducted in two regions of Ardakan and Bafgh in Yazd province in 2021-22. In the first stage, by examining different farm management conditions in the two studied areas, 40 farms with different yields were selected. During the growing season, these farms were visited, and necessary measurements were taken to determine soil salinity, crop management, growth, yield, and plant phenology. Farmers' crop management, such as planting time and method, nutrition management (type and rate of fertilizer) and irrigation (irrigation system, amount and volume of water consumed), farm area and age, harvest time, and yield, were examined and evaluated. Soil parameters such as soil texture, salinity, and pH of water and soil were also collected. The relationship between the characteristics of each farm and the management factor and yield was examined, and the most important factors affecting root and forage yield were determined. All surviving farms in both regions were in saline conditions (water and soil), and many of them used very saline water; so, the minimum electrical conductivity (EC) of irrigation water in Ardakan and Bafgh was 8.5 and 10.8 dS m-1, respectively, and the maximum EC was 22.0 and 18.5 dS m-1, respectively. The study of various factors on root, forage, and seed yield showed that the yield of the madder plant was more affected by the amount of manure and nitrogen fertilizer used, as well as the EC of water and soil, and the pH of water and soil. Using up to 20 t ha-1 of manure and 150 kg ha-1 of nitrogen fertilizer (depending on the soil analysis) can lead to higher yields of madder. Of course, farms with complete nutrition (especially N and P) also had higher yields. Although madder is a halophyte plant with high salt tolerance, irrigation water with lower EC led to better growth and yield. In general, considering that the effects of the aforementioned factors were similar in the two regions of Ardakan and Bafgh, the yields of madder in the Ardakan farms were much higher. The average yield of roots, forage, and seeds in Ardakan was 11.75, 4.80, and 0.80 t h-1 per hectare, respectively, and in Bafgh it was 6.98, 3.39, and 0.52 t h-1, respectively. However, even in Bafq farms with full nutrition and lower water and soil salinities, lower yields were achieved. Therefore, it can be concluded that the lower average yield of madder in Bafq farms is due to the indigenous knowledge of the farmers rather than agronomic, climatic, or soil factors.
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