ارزیابی زراعی اکولوژیکی و اقتصادی کشت مخلوط مریم گلی و نعناع فلفلی در سطوح مختلف آبیاری با کاربرد تعدیل کننده های تنش خشکی.

Background & Objectives: This study was performed to evaluate the effects of peppermint and sage intercropping with application of different fertilizer resources on the dry matter yield, essential oil content, and ecological indices under drought stress. Material and Methods: A field experiment was carried out as a split split plot based on a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 36 treatments and three replications at the faculty of Agriculture, University of Maragheh, Iran in 2019 and 2020. The main factor was three irrigation regimes included 25 (MAD₂₅), 50 (MAD₅₀), and 75% (MAD₇₅) maximum allowable depletion (MAD) percentage of the soil available water (SAW) as normal irrigation, mild and severe water stress, respectively. The sub-factor was different planting patterns included peppermint monoculture, sage monoculture, and intercropping of one row peppermint + one row sage and also sub-sub factor were application of different fertilizer sources including no‐fertilizer as control, TiO₂ nanoparticles (100 mg L^-1), arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculation, and integrative application of AMF and TiO₂ (AMF + TiO₂). Results: The results showed that the dry matter yield of peppermint and sage decreased significantly by 28.7, 27% in mild stress, 55.1%, and 64.1% in severe stress, respectively. The highest dry matter yield of peppermint (144.2 g m^-2) and sage (172.7 g m^-2) was obtained in the monoculture with integrative application of AMF + TiO₂. The maximum essential oil content of peppermint (1.51%) was observed in intercropping with integrative application of AMF + TiO₂. In addition, the highest land equivalent ratio (LER), actual yield loss (AYL), and monetary indices were achieved in normal irrigation with integrative application of AMF + TiO₂. Moreover, the maximum net income of two plants was recorded in intercropping with application of AMF + TiO₂ under normal irrigation, which was no significant difference with integrated application of AMF + TiO₂ in intercropping under mild water stress. Conclusion: Generally, it can be concluded that the integrative application of AMF + TiO₂ in intercropping of peppermint/sage could be suggested as a sustainable strategy to increasing the quantity and quality of essential oil of both plants under drought stress conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]