The aim of the present work was to evaluate and analyze the growth and mineral nutrition response of stone pine (Pinus pinea L.) seedlings, an economically important forest species. We analyzed the salinity effects on the kinetics of growth, development, and absorption of nutrients of plants cultivated under controlled conditions on a solid organic substrate. Pinus pinea plants were able to tolerate 25 mM NaCl concentration without reduced growth compared to the non-saline control. However, the salt concentration of 50 mM significantly affected the seedling growth after two weeks of treatment. Root growth activity was decreased more than the aerial parts at applied NaCl concentrations. On the other hand, seedlings restricted the transport of Na+ ions to the aerial parts and were strongly selective in favour of K+ ions. The presence of NaCl in the culture medium decreased the absorption rate and the export of K+ and Na+ ions to the aerial parts. This was reflected in the accumulation way of these two ions in the whole plant.

This review emphasizes the potential of WEFE technologies in addressing challenges in African drylands, including water scarcity, energy access, and food shortages. It also delves into comprehensive research and approaches for enhancing community well-being and resource sustainability.

Agroclimatic classification identifies zones for efficient use of natural resources leading to optimal and non-optimal crop production. The aim of this paper is the development of a methodology to determine sustainable agricultural zones in three Mediterranean study areas, namely, “La Mancha Oriental” in Spain, “Sidi Bouzid” in Tunisia, and “Bekaa” valley in Lebanon. To achieve this, time series analysis with advanced geoinformatic techniques is applied. The agroclimatic classification methodology is based on three-stages: first, the microclimate features of the region are considered using aridity and vegetation health indices leading to water-limited growth environment (WLGE) zones based on water availability; second, landform features and soil types are associated with WLGE zones to identify non-crop-specific agroclimatic zones (NCSAZ); finally, specific restricted crop parameters are combined with NCSAZ to create the suitability zones. The results are promising as compared with the current crop production systems of the three areas under investigation. Due to climate change, the results indicate that these arid or semi-arid regions are also faced with insufficient amounts of precipitation for supporting rainfed annual crops. Finally, the proposed methodology reveals that the employment and use of remote sensing data and methods could be a significant tool for quickly creating detailed, and up to date agroclimatic zones.

Background Phytopathogenic fungi remain the main infectious agents in plants, causing severe damage to the environment and human health. Thus, to reduce the usage of synthetically derived fungicides and perform agricultural crop production, the search for new control strategies including plant extracts constitutes an eco-friendly and safe alternative. Objectives This study aimed to quantify the phytochemical constituents of the three plant ( Mentha pulegium L., Mentha spicata L., and Mentha longifolia L.) extracts and to screen their phytochemical composition including total phenolic (TPC), flavonoids (TFC) and condensed tannins contents (TCTC), and to evaluate their antioxidant activities. The efficacy of all mint extracts will be investigated against phytopathogenic fungal species. Materials and Methods The three plant extracts were screened to assess their total phenolic, flavonoids, and condensed tannin contents using spectrophotometric assays. The antioxidant activities include 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and β-carotene assays. The antifungal activities were investigated on phytopathogenic species including Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium culmorum, Fusarium oxysporum, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, and Trichoderma sp. Results Quantitative analyses of phytochemical constituents of Mentha genus extracts revealed that both ethyl acetate (EtAc) and chloroformic (Chl) extracts are a rich source of phenols, flavonoids, and condensed tannins. Ethyl acetate extract of M. longifolia (EtAc L) displayed the highest content of phenols (69.9 ± 1.35 mg GAE/g DW) and flavonoids (53.26 ± 2.11 mg CE/g DW), while M. pulegium ethyl acetate extract (EtAc P) has the highest condensed tannins content (2.13 ± 0.4 mg CE/g DW). Moreover, the tested extracts exhibited potent antioxidant activities at low concentrations for EtAc L, followed by M. spicata (EtAc S), and EtAc P (IC50 = 35.76 ± 1.32 µg/mL for scavenging DPPH free radicals; EC50 527.96 ± 5.45 µg/mL for FRAP, and IC50 = 106.3 ± 3.75 µg/mL for β-carotene bleaching test). Finally, all tested extracts were able to inhibit the growth of several phytopathogenic micro-organisms on both agar and broth media. Conclusion The Mentha extracts derived from the three mint species (i.e., L, P, and S) could be used for their antifungal activities to provide sustainable crop pest management.

One of the primary applications of satellite Land Surface Temperature (LST) observations lies in their utilization for modeling of actual evapotranspiration (ET) in agricultural crops, with the primary goals of monitoring and enhancing irrigation practices and improving crop water use productivity, as stipulated by Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 6.4.1. Evapotranspiration is a complex and dynamic process, both temporally and spatially, necessitating LST observations with high spatio-temporal resolution. Presently, none of the existing spaceborne thermal sensors can provide quasi-daily field-scale LST observations, prompting the development of methods for data fusion (thermal sharpening) of observations from various shortwave and thermal sensors to meet this spatio-temporal requirement. Previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of combining shortwave-multispectral Sentinel-2 observations with thermal-infrared Sentinel-3 observations to derive daily, field-scale LST and ET estimates. However, these studies also highlighted limitations in capturing the distinct thermal contrast between cooler LST in irrigated agricultural areas and the hotter, adjacent dry regions. In this study, we aim to address this limitation by incorporating information on thermal spatial variability observed by Landsat satellites into the data fusion process, without being constrained by infrequent or cloudy Landsat thermal observations and while retaining the longwave radiance emission captured by the Sentinel-3 thermal sensor at its native resolution. Two approaches are evaluated, both individually and as a complementary combination, and validated against in situ LST measurements. The best performing approach, which leads to reduction in root mean square error of up to 1.5 K when compared to previous research, is subsequently used to estimate parcel-level actual evapotranspiration. The ET modeling process has also undergone various improvements regarding the gap-filling of input and output data, input datasets and code implementation. The resulting ET is validated using lysimeters and eddy covariance towers in Spain, Lebanon, Tunisia, and Senegal resulting in minimal overall bias (systematic underestimation of less than 0.07 mm/day) and a low root mean square error (down to 0.84 mm/day) when using fully global input datasets. The enhanced LST sharpening methodology is sensor agnostic and should remain relevant for the upcoming thermal missions while the accuracy of the modeled ET fluxes is encouraging for further utilization of observations from Sentinel satellites, and other Copernicus data, for monitoring SDG indicator 6.4.1.

This study focuses on different chemo-types of Tunisian Eucalyptus essential oils (EOs) and their potential for controlling aphids, phytopathogenic fungi, weed germination and seedling growth. The EOs, obtained from Eucalyptus astringens (Maiden) Maiden and Eucalyptus lehmannii (Schauer) Benth. leaves through hydrodistillation, were analyzed using GC-MS. The chemical analysis revealed a significant presence of oxygenated monoterpenes (ranging from 41.0% to 83.0%), primarily 1,8-cineole (ranging from 30.5% to 58.5%), and oxygenated sesquiterpenes, mainly globulol (19.0%) for E. astringens. In contrast, α-pinene (7.0%) was the second most abundant chemical class for E. lehmannii. Statistical analysis demonstrated that both EOs were effective against aphids, fungi, and weeds based on their composition. E. lehmannii showed high efficacy against aphids, causing complete mortality in Aphis fabae Scopoli and an 87.28 ± 0.65% mortality rate in Aphis nerii Fonscolombe at a concentration of 0.6 mg/mL. E. astringens exhibited antifungal activity with consistent inhibitory effects exceeding 50.59 ± 0.87% against Fusarium oxysporum Schltdl., and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary displayed even higher susceptibility with an inhibition rate of 83.33 ± 1.10%. Similarly, E. lehmannii inhibited fungal growth by nearly 50%, with Fusarium culmorum Schltdl. exhibiting a minimum inhibition rate of 45.59 ± 0.71%. Both EOs also displayed significant herbicidal potential by impeding weed germination and seedling growth. Sinapis arvensis L. was particularly susceptible, with complete inhibition observed at a concentration of 2 mg/mL. Overall, these findings highlight the potential application of these Eucalyptus EOs for bio-control, underscoring their diverse characteristics.