Abiotic stresses such as cold, heat, and drought are the main causes of universal crop losses. Plants have generated adaptive responses which prevent them from oxidative damage caused by environmental stresses. The present research aimed to evaluate the effect of cold stress on lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzyme activity in the leaves of eight cultivars / advanced lines of chickpea (<em>Cicer arietinum</em> L.). Three-week-old plantlets were subjected to cold stress (0°C) for 24 or 48 hours. Selected antioxidant enzyme activity and oxidative status of chickpea plantlets under cold stress were determined. In most genotypes, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase activities were increased and guaiacol peroxidase activity decreased under stress conditions but the activity of superoxide dismutase remained almost constant. Based on its ranking, <em>Cicer arietinum</em> ‘Saral’, a newly released cold-resistant Iranian chickpea cultivar, had the strongest, and FLIP 05-77C had the weakest antioxidative defense system under low temperature stress.

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E GGPLANT (Solanum melongena L.) is one of the drought-tolerant vegetable crops, however, recently climate change has had a devastating impact on crop cultivation in many parts of Iran. The present research aimed to investigate the application of date straw mulches (DSM) and plastic mulches (PM) on yield and morphological and physiological characters of the plant under different crop water requirements. A split-split plot experiment using an RCB design with three replications in Rodan, Hormozgan, Iran at 2017. The three levels of crop water requirement (CWR), i.e. 40, 70, and 100%, the two levels of DSM (i.e. control and DSM), and the three levels of PM (i.e. 0, 100, and 120 cm in soil depths), were allocated in the main, sub and sub-sub plots, respectively. The results of the analysis of variance revealed that the triple-interaction effects of the DSM, PM, and CWR were statically significant for all traits (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). However, none of the simple and interactions effects were not statically significant for leaf length and width. The results revealed that 40% of CWR reduced the yield by 49% compared with 100% CWR. Also, the application of the DSM and PM alleviated the deleterious effects of water deficit. Finally, the application of the mulches is recommended for eggplant in areas affected by water shortages.