Abstract
Plant quality and survival prediction tools are useful when applied in the field in different agricultural sectors. The objectives of this study were to conduct a review and bibliometric analysis of the Dickson Quality Index (DQI) as a key plant quality indicator and with respect to its scientific applications. A third objective was to identify the main morphological and physiological parameters used in plant production research. The methodology and findings of 289 scientific articles were analysed based on the morphological, physiological, and mathematical parameters used as plant quality indicators in research on forest, medicinal, horticultural, aromatic, and ornamental species. During the last 10 years, the number of publications that have used the DQI as a plant quality parameter has increased by 150%, and Brazilian researchers stand out as the most frequent users. Forestry is the discipline where quality parameters and their biometric relationships are most often used to facilitate intensive plant production. Use of the DQI increases the certainty of prediction, selection, and productivity in the plant production chain. The DQI is a robust tool with scientific application and great potential for use in the preselection of plants with high quality standards among a wide range of plant species.
Highlights
In all agricultural sectors, the use of certified seeds and seedlings with high quality standards has been a key to increasing seedling survival and crop productivity and to preventing crop pest problems
To visualise the research topics, a bibliometric map was developed based on the keyword co-occurrence ratio and on the similarity index, where the unit of analysis was the set of keywords that includes the author’s keywords and indexed keywords, establishing a keyword frequency equal to or greater than 8 according to the criteria established by Chen et al [45]
Height is defined as the distance between the apical meristem and the level of the substrate and is one of the main morphological parameters used as a quality indicator in different areas of agriculture
Summary
The use of certified seeds and seedlings with high quality standards has been a key to increasing seedling survival and crop productivity and to preventing crop pest problems. The quality of a plant is determined based on the characteristics of its morphology (phenotypic characteristics), physiology (internal factors that regulate and determine plant appearance), and performance (measurements, such as vigour, that indicate plant behaviour when subjected to tests and specific conditions), as well as on the quality of its root system (the physiological capacity to readily generate new, healthy, and vigorous roots) These characteristics may indicate that a plant meets the necessary requirements to survive and develop properly after being transplanted into the field, while showing high vigour and increased resistance to adverse growth conditions [8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16]. A third objective was to identify the biometric ratios and main morphological and physiological parameters used to facilitate the production of quality plants
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