Bioresource potential of chaenomeles (<i>Chaenomeles</i> L.) in the humid subtropics of Russia

Agricultural nitrogen (N) use is a major contributor to environmental problems arising from nitrous oxide emissions and N loading to groundwater. Advances in the adoption of conservation practices requires a better understanding of the agronomic context for cropping systems. This paper tests hypotheses about how agronomic and knowledge barriers influence the adoption of conservation practices for N management in orchard agroecosystems. Agronomic barriers are characterized by farm size, irrigation systems and access to water resources, and knowledge barriers are influenced by the availability of information and use of information sources. Our study focuses on the California’s San Joaquin Valley where we collected 879 in-person surveys from fruit and nut growers focused on ten different conservation practices related to fertilizer use, irrigation and soil health. We used logistic regression models to identify parameters influencing adoption and differences in adoption between fruit and nut growers. Our results indicate that overall growers report higher adoption for practices for fertilizer use compared to irrigation and soil health. Growers with larger parcels, microirrigation and more water security had a higher probability of practice adoption. Nut crops are more agronomically intense than fruit crops requiring higher rates of N fertilizer and water use. Nut growers adopted significantly more practices than fruit growers, and also utilized significantly more information sources and experienced significantly fewer practice challenges. Our results collectively support our hypotheses that agronomic and knowledge barriers differ between fruit and nut growers, and help to explain the variance in adoption of conversation practices in orchard agroecosystems. Furthermore, the significance of our work offers a case study for other regions and agroecosystems to address the need for linking agronomic and knowledge barriers to adoption in an effort to promote global climate-smart and regenerative agriculture initiatives.

In Ireland the mild moist climate is favourable for the growth of weeds throughout the year. Investigations on the use of herbicides in fruit crops began at Loughgall, Co. Armagh in 1955 and at Clonroche, Co. Wexford in 1962. Good control of weeds has been achieved in all crops by using flexible programmes according to the weed species present or anticipated. Studies on the effect of repeated annual applications of herbicides and the elimination of tillage showed no significant adverse effect on soil structure. However, considerable change has occurred in the weed flora in fruit plantations during the last 30 years. In the 1950s and early 1960s the most prevalent species included Poa annua, Senecio vulgaris, Stellaria media and Ranunculus repens. These species have been replaced to some extent in the 1980s by weeds such as Galium aparine, Viola arvensis, Epilobium ciliatum, Vicia sativa, Convolvulus arvensis and volunteer crops. Work in the 1950s and 1960s gave results that were quickly taken up by fruit growers. However, some practices, e.g. the use of simazine on charcoal-dipped strawberry runners, have been superceded by more convenient treatments. Because of significant changes in the composition of weed populations and differences in herbicide tolerance between fruit cultivars, there is a need for a wide range of herbicides to deal with specific problems. Some of the early introduced herbicides and practices may still have a role in certain situations as a result of changing circumstances.

Pteropodid bats damage a wide range of fruit crops, exacerbated by continuing loss of their natural food as forests are cleared. In some countries where such damage occurs, bats are not legally protected. In others, as a result of pressure from fruit growers, legal protection is either not implemented or overridden by legislation specifically allowing the killing of bats. Lethal control is generally ineffective and often carried out with shotguns making it an animal welfare issue, as many more animals are injured or orphaned than are killed. Here, we review the literature and current state of the conflict between fruit growers and pteropodids and describe a wide range of potential mitigation techniques. We compile an extensive list of bats and the fruit crops on which they feed where this has resulted in conflicts, or could lead to conflict, with fruit growers. We also discuss the legal status of bats in some countries where such conflicts occur. We found the most effective means of preventing bat damage to crops is the use of fixed nets (that generally prevent entanglement) covering a whole orchard. Netting individual trees, or fruit panicles, using small net bags, is also effective. Management methods that assist netting include pruning to maintain low stature of trees. These exclusion techniques are the best management options considering both conservation and public health issues. Although lights, sonic and ultrasonic noises, noxious smells and tastes have been used to deter bats from eating fruit, there have been no large-scale systematic trials of their effectiveness. Nevertheless, broadcasting the sound of discharging shotguns followed by the sound of wounded bats has proved effective in Australia. The use of decoy fruit trees is the least investigated method of mitigation and requires detailed knowledge of the natural diet of the bat species involved. The few studies of dietary preferences undertaken to date suggest that bats prefer non-commercial fruit when it is available, and we highlight this as an area for future research.

Soil forming processes of ancient man-made soils (cultural layers) by the example of sites in humid (Dunino) and arid (Ar-Dolong) regions of Russia: A first approach

The selection of rootstocks presenting traits of interest, such as resistance to pests and diseases, and compatibility with scion capable of producing fruits attractive to the market, has revolutionized fruit crops worldwide. However, the enormous potential of plants to be selected based on their nutrient uptake efficiency is yet to be properly explored; it can be done based on knowledge about kinetic parameters such as Influx, Maximum uptake velocity, Constant ion affinity with the carrier, and Minimum concentration. The adaptation of a methodology elaborated for annual crops to set kinetic parameters, as well as the Brazilian development of the Influx software, enabled selecting not only peach rootstocks with different nutrient uptake capacities, but also observing the influence the grafting of a particular cultivar crown has on rootstock’s ability to uptake a given nutrient from the soil. Thus, fruit tree rootstocks and cultivars can always be selected based on traits desired by fruit growers and consumers, with emphasis on yield and quality of fruits. They can also be more efficient in taking up nutrients from low natural-fertility soils that require lower nutrient amounts, a fact that increases fertilizer use rationalization and reduces environmental contamination processes resulting from excessive nutrient applications.

A problem of assessing the sustainability in crops, for which the humid subtropical zone of Russia is quite favorable, has a great value since there are a lot of stress factors (for example droughts, high or low temperatures, fogs etc.) due to climatic features of the region. For the first time we have carried out a 20-year comprehensive study of physiological and biochemical responses of plants, their organs, tissues and systems to the effect of abiotic stressors with the aim to identify some specific adaptation mechanisms of subtropical, southern fruit and ornamental crops as well as tea to the environment. This paper reports the peculiarities in water regime and photosynthetic apparatus (basic physiological functions), activity of catalase enzyme and carotenoid content (protective components in plants' oxidant-antioxidant system). As a result, there were selected some physiological and biochemical parameters (quantity of water scarcity, concentration of cell sap, catalase activity, carotenoids content, etc.), which allowed to estimate the crop state and resistance to abiotic stressors in Corylus pontica C. Koch, Prunus persica (L.) Batsch, Actinidia deliciosa Chevalier, Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze, beautifully-blossoming shrubs Hydrangea macrophylla Ser., Weigela ½ wagneri L.H. Bailey, etc. The regularities in changing physiological parameters as a response to the impact of adverse conditions are identified; the criteria, scales and methodology are proposed for assessing adaptive capacity of the studied cultures. Specific features of the dynamics of photosynthetic pigments accumulation for all the cultures are studied; the dependence of this process on the main regional factors was revealed; the parameters of water regime and drought resistance coefficients are determined; the influence of hydrothermal factors on enzyme activity is identified, as well as correlation between enzyme activity and abiotic environmental factors; the effect of microelements on increase of plants adaptive properties (for example, tea) was determined. As a result, there were developed some recommendations on micronutrients foliar feeding for young tea plantations and mature tea plants, as well as on the diagnostics of plants micronutrient requirements, on the application of sustainability indicators of tea plants to stress factors, and on evaluation of H. macrophylla Ser. drought resistance. The most adaptive cultivars of subtropical, southern fruit, ornamental crops and tea are identified and recommended for growing. They are characterized by increased resistance to stress factors in humid subtropics of Russia (for kiwi Monty cultivar, for filbert President cultivar originated by All-Russian Research Institute of Floriculture and Subtropical Crops; for peach Donetskii zheltii, Medin Red, Earley Red, Earley Blow, Larisa, Slavutich and Redhaven; for H. macrophylla Mariesii Perfecta, Draps Wonder и Madame Maurice Hamard. The data obtained relate to the fundamental physiological bases of adaptation to stress conditions, and in particular to plant adaptive features in specific conditions of Russian subtropics.

Paul Howe Shepard (1892-1961) is best known today both as a student athlete and longstanding Director of the Missouri State Fruit Experiment Station, where he pursued his passion for growing fruit. As a fruit breeder, he introduced 39 fruit cultivars from 1935 to 1956 when drought and high temperature extremes were the norm. His most enduring fruit cultivars are ‘Loring’ peach, ‘Bluefre’ and ‘Ozark Premier’ plums, and ‘Ozark Gold’ apple, although he also released 12 grape hybrids and a black raspberry cultivar. During the lean years of the Great Depression, Dust Bowl, and post–World War II, Shepard provided economic opportunity for families who had suffered great losses by breeding locally-adapted fruit cultivars and developing orchard plans and cultural methods to grow them on small parcels of land. For more than 25 years, he influenced millions of fruit growers with his Country Gentlemanmagazine articles and weekly newspaper columns. In 1954, Shepard was the recipient of the Wilder Medal and served as President of the American Pomological Society (APS) for the following five years. In honor of his lifelong service, the P.H. Shepard Award is presented annually to the authors of the best paper published in the Journal of American Pomological Society. A seminal plant breeder and horticulturalist, Paul Howe Shepard’s work was never done as he was always pursuing a superior fruit cultivar and a better production method.

This review analyses the historical evolution and current state of scientific research in fruit growing (including fruit, berry, and nut crops) in Ukraine in the context of changing political strategies. It highlights the influence of government policies, funding mechanisms, European integration, and wartime challenges on scientific advancement. Starting from the foundational contributions of Levko and Volodymyr Symyrenko in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the review traces key political periods, from Soviet centralization and post-independence stagnation to modern efforts at alignment with the European Research Area. It explores the development of funding legislation, the impact of agricultural support programmes, regulation of biotechnology, and the role of digital transformation. The consequences of war, including the loss of genetic resources and research infrastructure, are also analysed. The review concludes that effective policy-science integration is essential for resilience, innovation, and competitiveness in fruit growing in Ukrainian.

Based on a great number of literatures, we established the database about the Chinese endemic seed plants and analyzed the compositions, growth form, distribution and angiosperm original families of them within three big natural areas and seven natural regions. The results indicate that the above characters of Chinese endemic plants take on relative rule at the different geographical scales. Among the three big natural areas, Eastern Monsoon area has the highest endemic plants richness, whereas Northwest Dryness area is the lowest. For life forms, herbs dominate. In contrast, the proportion of herbs of Eastern Monsoon area is remarkable under other two areas. Correspondingly the proportions of trees and shrubs are substantially higher than other two. For angiosperm original families, the number is the highest in Eastern Monsoon area, and lowest in Northwest Dryness area. On the other hand, among the seven natural regions, the humid and subtropical zone in Central and Southern China has the highest endemic plants richness, whereas the humid, hemi-humid region and temperate zone in Northeast China has the lowest. For life forms, the proportion of herbs tends to decrease from humid, hemi-humid region and temperate zone in Northeast China to humid and tropical zone in Southern China. Comparably, trees, shrubs and vines or lianas increase with the same directions. This fully represents these characters of Chinese endemic plants vary with latitudinal gradients. Furthermore, as to the number of endemic plants belonging to angiosperm original families, the number is the most in humid and subtropical zone in Center and Southern China, and tropical zone in Southern China in the next place. In contrast, the endemic plant of these two regions relatively is richer than that of The Qinghai-Tibet alpine and cold region. All above results sufficiently reflect that the Chinese endemic plants mainly distribute in Eastern Monsoon area, especially humid and subtropical zone in Center and Southern China and tropical zone in Southern China. Furthermore, the flora of Eastern Monsoon area, in particular humid and subtropical zone in Center and Southern China and tropical zone in Southern China, is more ancient and original than that of Northwest Dryness area and Qinghai-Tibet alpine and cold area.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, a crop protection scheme along with the government of Jammu and Kashmir was launched to save the farmers/fruit growers from the unexpected events occurring due to bad weather on subsidised rates. The study was conducted to know the approach and behaviour of fruits growers regarding the insurance scheme and the amount they are willing/ready to pay for saving the crop/fruit against such untoward events. Contingent valuation through willingness to pay method was used to assess the impact of such scheme in a dominant fruit growing area district Shopian of Kashmir valley where most fruit cultivation is irrigation based. Present study was carried out on a sample of 400 fruit growers from 8 community blocks consisting of 8 villages and 50 samples from each village. The results of the study revealed that fruit growers are willing to pay Rs. 309 per kanal of land as premium to save the fruit from damages.

Temperate fruit trees require exposure to chill and heat conditions to overcome the dormant period in winter and resume growth in spring. Rising temperatures due to climate change have already impacted winter chill accumulation in horticulturally vital growing regions worldwide. Afghanistan’s intra-regional differences make the country favorable for producing a wide range of fruits and nuts, which constitute approximately 30% of the country’s total export earnings. However, expected future temperature increases may be detrimental to the trees’ ability to fulfill their chilling requirements. To quantify this risk, we computed and mapped historical and future chill accumulation in Afghanistan. For this purpose, we used long-term daily temperature data from 1980 to 2020 for 51 hydrometeorological stations across the country. Based on the temperature data, we produced four future Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) scenarios (SSP126, SSP245, SSP370, and SSP585) for five General Circulation Models (GCMs) from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6). We used the RMAWGEN weather generator to produce 100 synthetic realizations of weather records for historical (1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020) and future conditions (2035–2065 and 2070–2100). We quantified winter chill using the Dynamic Model. Additionally, we computed Safe Winter Chill (SWC), which is defined as the level of chill that is expected to be exceeded in 90% of years. We find that SWC has decreased in historical scenarios in the low-lying regions mainly in the eastern, southern, and parts of the northern regions, and is projected to further decrease in the future. This reveals a possible future chill risk for high chill-requiring cultivars of different fruit and nut species, including apricot, peach, plum, pistachio and almond, in these regions. In contrast, we record an increase in SWC in the northern and central regions, suggesting these regions as potentially favorable for high-chill species in the future. Our findings support fruit and nut growers in Afghanistan in adapting their orchards to match chill requirements of species and cultivars to the expected future winter chill.

Temperate fruit trees require exposure to chill and heat conditions to overcome the dormant period in winter and resume growth in spring. Rising temperatures due to climate change have already impacted winter chill accumulation in horticulturally vital growing regions worldwide. Afghanistan’s intra-regional differences make the country favorable for producing a wide range of fruits and nuts, which constitute approximately 30% of the country's total export earnings. However, expected future temperature increases may be detrimental to the trees’ ability to fulfill their chilling requirements. To quantify this risk, we computed and mapped historical and future chill accumulation in Afghanistan. For this purpose, we used long-term daily temperature data from 1980 to 2020 for 51 hydrometeorological stations across the country. Based on the temperature data, we produced four future Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) scenarios (SSP126, SSP245, SSP370, and SSP585) for five General Circulation Models (GCMs) from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6). We used the RMAWGEN weather generator to produce 100 synthetic realizations of weather records for historical (1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020) and future conditions (2035–2065 and 2070–2100). We quantified winter chill using the Dynamic Model. Additionally, we computed Safe Winter Chill (SWC), which is defined as the level of chill that is expected to be exceeded in 90% of years. We found that SWC has decreased in the low-lying regions mainly in the eastern, southern, and parts of the northern regions, and is projected to further decrease in the future. This reveals a possible future chill risk for high chill-requiring cultivars of different fruit and nut species, including apricot, peach, plum, pistachio and almond, in these regions. In contrast, we recorded an increase in SWC in the northern and central regions, marking these regions as potentially favorable for high-chill species in the future. Our findings support fruit and nut growers in Afghanistan in adapting their orchards to match species’ and cultivars' chill requirements with the expected future winter chill.

ISHS International Conference on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. Possibilities and Limitations of Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Production in the 21st Century 'BARBARA' AND 'DANIELA': TWO CULTIVARS FOR MYRTLE BERRIES PRODUCTION

During the period 1998–2000, thinning trials were conducted using bloom thinners on mature European plum trees at Ullensvang and at fruit growers’ sites in western Norway. In 1998, unsprayed control and hand-thinned ‘Victoria’ trees were compared with trees treated at full bloom with a single application of 1% Armothin® or 1.5% ammonium thiosulphate (ATS). The same programme was conducted in the following two years with the addition of a single full bloom treatment with 250 ppm ethephon and a post-bloom application one month after full bloom with the mixture 10 ppm 1-napththalene acetic acid (NAA) and 75 ppm ethephon. High volume sprays were conducted the first two years and low volume the last year. Thinning trials testing 1–1.5% ATS and 5–7% lime sulphur in comparison with unthinned and hand-thinned trees to the cultivars ‘Opal’ and ‘Victoria’ were conducted in 2000, at growers’ sites. Generally, thinning treatments reduced crop load and enhanced fruit quality (fruit size, soluble solid content, fruit firmness and ground and surface colour), but the results varied from year to year. Fruit set was reduced to about half of control values and the percentage of class 1 fruits was doubled compared to the control trees. High volume sprays to running off were more effective than low volume sprays. The cultivar ‘Opal’ was more sensitive to ATS than ‘Victoria’ and a low dosage is recommended. All thinning compounds caused some minor leaf injury but no fruit damage. The flower thinners were efficient at rather low temperature. No differences in the amount of gummosis (internal disorder of the fruits) were observed as a result of treatments on ‘Victoria’ plums. Return bloom was improved by thinning. In conclusion, a single dilute application at full bloom of 1% Armothin®, 1.5% ATS or 250 ppm ethephon or one application of the mixture 10 ppm NAA-75 ppm ethephon four weeks after bloom reduced fruit set and crop load and increased fruit quality and return bloom of the cultivar ‘Victoria’. Similar results were achieved with one dilute spray with 1% ATS or 5% lime sulphur at full bloom to the cultivar ‘Opal’.

Figure 15.1 demonstrates an important phenomenon of palaeoclimate distribution in the geological history of China. There are two distribution patterns of tropical, arid tropical, humid subtropical, and humid temperate zones in the northern hemisphere. In the central and western portions of the Afro-Eurasian supercontinent and western North America, where the humid NE trade winds from the ocean cannot reach, the four belts are arranged in a regular south north order (A, B, C of Fig. 15.1). In eastern Asia and eastern North America, however, the wet trade winds from the Pacific and Atlantic oceans have pushed the arid belt further westward, so that here, from south to north, are arranged wet tropical, humid subtropical, and humid temperate zones.