Modern methods of cultivating trees in a nursery plants require nursery stock of very good quality, free from viruses, with an extensive root system, strong growth and, most importantly, with the correct structure of the tree crown, i.e. the number of lateral shoots. High-quality planting material, properly branched, determines the productive efficiency of the trees in a nursery in subsequent years of cultivation and its profitability. The research was conducted in 2017-2019 at a private nursery farm near Lublin. The purpose of the research was to analyze the effect of mixtures of biostimulants with growth regulators of natural origin on the effectiveness of chemical treatment to stimulate the emergence of lateral shoots in apple trees of the 'Gloster' cv. The study showed that the height of maiden apple trees of the 'Gloster' cv. significantly depended on the concentration of growth regulators. The number of side shoots, the average length of one shoot and the sum of the lengths of side shoots significantly depended on the number of growth regulator applications.. The mere use of a biostimulation application in the form of the Agrimix preparation does not ensure the growth and quality of trees, but its use with a mixture of Maxifruit preparations confirmed the effectiveness of the solutions for these branching trees.

Plant infestations cause significant economic losses in agriculture, necessitating rapid and accurate detection for optimized agrotechnical operations and reduced environmental pollution. This study addresses this challenge by proposing a customized convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture for detecting corn leaf worm infestations in maize. The research focuses on developing unique CNN models through extensive experimentation, systematically adjusting hyperparameters like optimizers, filter numbers, and kernel sizes. The study’s main contributions include the design of an accurate CNN classifier, and its implementation in a user-friendly smartphone application. The research highlights the importance of hyperparameter tuning in CNN performance, demonstrating that optimal configurations lead to high accuracy (up to 95% for accuracy, precision, recall, specificity, and F1-score). While the current model focuses on a single pest, the findings underscore the potential of custom CNN classifiers in vision systems for automated crop inspection, offering a promising solution for minimizing crop losses and the environmental impact of chemical plant protection products.

Doświadczenie przeprowadzono w Instytucie Hodowli i Aklimatyzacji Roślin – Państwowym Instytucie Badawczym, w Oddziale w Bydgoszczy w trzech sezonach 2021/2022, 2022/2023 i 2023/2024. Celem eksperymentu była polowa ocena odporności dziewięciu jadalnych i siedmiu skrobiowych odmian ziemniaka na porażenie przez niszczyka ziemniaczaka (Ditylenchus destructor Thorne). Sadzeniaki ziemniaka zakażano sztucznie nicieniami i uprawiano w warunkach polowych w sposób konwencjonalny. Kontrolę stanowiły sadzeniaki ziemniaka nie zakażane nicieniami. Po zbiorze plonu wykonano ocenę ilościową plonu oraz dwukrotnie porażenia bulw potomnych przez nicienia (jesienią i wiosną). Bulwy wszystkich badanych odmian uległy porażeniu i charakteryzowały się gorszymi parametrami ilościowymi w porównaniu z kontrolą. Po zimowym przechowywaniu zakres porażenia wzrósł dla wszystkich badanych genotypów ziemniaka. Średnio większe nasilenie objawów obserwowano u odmian jadalnych niż skrobiowych. Spośród odmian jadalnych ziemniaka najmniej podatna na niszczyka ziemniaczaka okazała się odmiana Lawenda, spośród skrobiowych – Pokusa. Najbardziej porażone były bulwy jadalnej odmiany Otolia i skrobiowej odmiany Zuzanna.

The chrysanthemum is a significant species grown in Europe in pots and as a cut flower. In the cultivation of this species, peat substrate is used as a medium. The aim of the research was to assess the possibility of using composts from post-consumer wood used for in controlled cultivation of chrysanthemum Chrysanthemum morifolium (Ramat.) Hemsl. Mount Listou cultivar. Compost obtained from post-consumer wood waste, were used as the medium, and marked as: PCW I and PCW II. These were old furniture. The third compost marked with the symbol FB was obtained from fiber boards. The substrates used with the addition of compost made on wood waste had an impact on the quality of chrysanthemum. As studies have shown, composts from post-consumer wood they can be a valuable component of horticultural substrates when used appropriately.

In Poland, as in the global energy market, the popularity of renewable energy sources, whose main advantage over fossil fuels is climate neutrality, is growing. An alternative to dedicating land exclusively to renewable energy is agrivoltaics, which involves dual use of land: for agricultural production and for photovoltaic installations that convert solar energy into usable energy simultaneously. The study's main purpose was to answer two questions: to what extent are the agricultural lands of eastern Poland suitable for the development of agrivoltaics, and how does the selection of criteria affect the final result of the analysis in light of the Analytic Hierarchy Process. The study area was the Lublin Voivodeship, whose potential was evaluated based on 8 orography and land use criteria. The study focuses on spatial conditions, whereas legal and economic conditions have not been considered. The analysis showed that implementing agrivoltaics is theoretically feasible on 79% of the Voivodeship’s total agricultural land, of which 9,961 km2 can be considered at least moderately highly suitable. Additionally, two alternative scenarios were analysed: in the first, only orography criteria were assessed, and in the second, only land use. The comparative analysis revealed that the choice of criteria significantly impacts the results. The highest area suitability was obtained in the assessment considering land use only, and the lowest for orography.

The aim of the present study was to estimate the growth and winterhardiness of thirteen strains of royal paulownia in south-east Poland. Paulownia plants were grown under stressful conditions, such as poor soil, high density, no mineral fertilisation and no irrigation. However, intensive plant growth was confirmed in the first two years of vegetation. Among the studied strains, the ‘LuP’, ‘LuD’ and ‘We’ strains showed high growth intensity, high yield potential and the highest winter survival. They also had a significantly higher SPAD index than others. The selected strains were probably more tolerant of abiotic stress. Some specimens showed even stronger growth. The fast-growing selected paulownia strains could give an estimated 1.8 t ha–1 of fresh and 0.4 t ha–1 of dry shoot biomass. The leaves of paulownia plants are also a valuable source of biomass. Therefore, the aboveground biomass yield could be double that previously estimated.

The study conducted in 2018-2020 aimed to determine the effect of irrigation and varied organic fertilization on potato yield, structure and chemical composition of tubers in an organic production system. Supplemental irrigation was carried out using a drip system. The fertilizer facilities were: Humac Agro; manure; manure + Humac Agro; vermicompost; vermicompost + Humac Agro; Fertil CN; Fertil CN + Humac Agro. Fertil CN applied alone and together with Humac Agro had the highest yield-forming efficiency; the average increase in total tuber yield in these fertilizer variants was 15.0 t ha-1 (87.2%), and in marketable yield by 15.8 t ha-1 (139.8%). Irrigation had a favorable effect on the accumulation of total and marketable tuber yield, the number of tubers set and their average weight, as well as their protein content. The irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) index was in a wide range from 24.5 to 123.8 kg mm-1 depending on the fertilizer variant and the year of the study.

Azot, jako najważniejszy pierwiastek warunkujący jakość i wielkość plonowania każdej rośliny uprawnej, powinien być dostarczany roślinie w sposób racjonalny, umożliwiając maksymalne wykorzystanie jego zasobów przez roślinę i nie dopuszczając do gromadzenia jego nadmiaru w profilu glebowym. Forma mineralna jest najwygodniejsza technologicznie oraz pozwala precyzyjnie zaplanować i podać odpowiednią dla uprawianego gatunku dawkę tego pierwiastka. Jednak z uwagi na potencjalne przenikanie nadmiaru azotu z nawozów mineralnych do gleby i wód gruntowych w praktyce rolniczej poszukuje się alternatywnych metod prowadzących do zwiększania plonowania. W niniejszej pracy opisano znaczenie azotu w odżywianiu roślin i jego wpływ na glebę. Przedstawiono także alternatywne do mineralnego nawożenia azotem sposoby jego dostarczania (przez stosowanie np. nawożenia naturalnego, organicznego, pochodzenia odpadowego, uprawę roślin przedplonowych wiążących azot z powietrza atmosferycznego) oraz sposoby modyfikacji metabolizmu roślin przez biostymulację preparatami zawierającymi: kwasy humusowe, glony, aminokwasy, a także mikroorganizmy. Ograniczenie gromadzenia się w środowisku przyrodniczym zanieczyszczeń pochodzenia rolniczego jest ważne, ponieważ służy przywróceniu biologicznej równowagi ekosystemów.

Od ponad stu lat wśród odmian roślin uprawnych widoczne jest zmniejszanie się różnorodności biologicznej. Zjawisko to, określane mianem erozji genetycznej roślin uprawnych, jest niepokojące i niebezpieczne w kontekście przyszłości człowieka na Ziemi. Racjonalne wykorzystanie oraz odpowiednia ochrona istniejącej bioróżnorodności, także wśród roślin uprawnych, są zatem konieczne, szczególnie w obliczu postępujących zmian klimatycznych. Zasoby genowe roślin uprawnych stanowią bowiem biologiczną podstawę bezpieczeństwa dla światowego rolnictwa i wyżywienia rosnącej liczby ludności. Odgrywają również kluczową rolę w hodowli nowych odmian, stanowiąc bogate źródło zmienności genetycznej cech użytkowych i odporności. W realizacji tych zadań dużą rolę odgrywają kolekcje roślin użytkowych, w których zgromadzone są obiekty reprezentujące szeroki zakres zmienności cech ważnych dla hodowli i rolnictwa, co w niniejszej pracy zostało przedstawione na przykładzie polskiej kolekcji pszenżyta.

Organic system is a farming model based on the harmonious realization of ecological, economic and social objectives together. This system is defined as a farming system with sustainable crop and livestock production. Organic production should combine environmentally friendly management practices, support a high degree of biodiversity, use natural processes and ensure proper animal keeping. This article presents the organizational and production results of organic livestock farms: dairy and meat farms, located in two regions of Poland: in the Lubelskie and Podlaskie voivodeships. The results showed that the production and economic efficiency of the tested farms depended on the organization of plant and animal production. The tested farms differed slightly in the organization of crop production, including its basic determinant, as cropping pattern. Dairy farms were characterized by a higher crop productivity expressed in terms of grain units, which amounted to 688 units and was 53% higher than on farms with meat production. On the other hand, the crop productivity index per unit area was respectively: 20.7 and 22.3. cereal units·ha–1. Organic farms keeping beef cattle achieved lower levels of production performance than dairy farms. Greater economic efficiency in the management of land resources was achieved by farms with a dairy farms.