{"title":"The green granary of the Empire? Insights into olive agroforestry in Sicily (Italy) from the Roman past and the present","authors":"V. Ferrara, G. Sala, D. Ingemark, T. La Mantia","doi":"10.4081/ija.2023.2184","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2023.2184","url":null,"abstract":"Groves with ancient olive trees (Olea europaea L.) could be considered remnants of old agroforestry systems. Anything but static, these agro-ecosystems have undergone drastic transformational processes in Mediterranean countries, where abandonment or intensification have been observed far more than continuity, expansion or renaissance, leading to environmental degradation of rural areas. Starting from this assumption and inspired by historical ecology and historical geography, we consider centuries-old olive trees as living archives of human-nature interactions and are thus proxies of past agroforestry. Our aim is to better understand what has driven dynamics of change and persistence, happening today as well as in the past. We first travel backward in time, looking at the ecology of land management systems during the Roman period (ca 200 BC-400 AD) and late Antiquity (ca AD 400-700). The special focus is the island of Sicily, the granary of the Empire, well known as a region where cereal production increased around the latifundia economy. We reconstruct the diversity of land tenure and the ecology of such complex systems, by combining records from Roman agriculturalists and palaeoenvironmental evidence of the past. We then zoom out, to look at today’s management practices in olive groves, thus drawing a parallel between Antiquity and today. Our work provides valuable insights into the correlation between certain organisation models, ecological strategies and adaptation capacity over the long term, clearly showing that human and nature dimensions are interconnected. Such entanglement may be a key element for ensuring these agroecosystems resilience. All elements that may contribute to the re-invention of sustainable forms of their management, for the present and the future.","PeriodicalId":14618,"journal":{"name":"Italian Journal of Agronomy","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-05-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42279866","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effects of seed pre-soaking on bioactive phytochemical levels of wheat and barley microgreens grown under hydroponics versus organic soil conditions","authors":"M. Z. Islam, Buem‐Jun Park, Young‐Tack Lee","doi":"10.4081/ija.2023.2183","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2023.2183","url":null,"abstract":"This study was conducted to examine the effects of seed presoaking on bioactive phytochemicals in barley and wheat microgreens grown under two different growing media, i.e., hydroponics and organic soil. Microgreens were cultivated for 12 days in a plant growth chamber consistent with the following: light-dark interval (12/12 hours), light-dark temperature (20/15°C), light intensity (150 μmol‧m–2‧s–1), and relative humidity (60%). Both wheat and barley microgreens grown in organic soil from presoaked seeds showed increased levels of bioactive compounds, especially carotenoids, flavonoids, phenolics, total vitamin C, and anthocyanins. Antioxidant activities [2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, 2,2’-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical scavenging activity, nitrite scavenging activity, and superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activity] and antioxidant enzymes (catalase activity, glutathione reductase, and guaiacol peroxidase activity) were highest in both barley and wheat microgreens grown in organic soil from pre-soaked seeds.","PeriodicalId":14618,"journal":{"name":"Italian Journal of Agronomy","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-05-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44102991","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Shah, S. Rauf, S. Nazir, R. Ortiz, A. Naveed, Seerat Fatima
{"title":"Stability analyses of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) hybrids for oleic acid and yield traits under multi location trials in Pakistan","authors":"M. Shah, S. Rauf, S. Nazir, R. Ortiz, A. Naveed, Seerat Fatima","doi":"10.4081/ija.2023.2079","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2023.2079","url":null,"abstract":"The development of a hybrid with high oleic acid is an important breeding goal for sunflower. High oleic acid sunflower has better cooking quality due to low oxidation and rancidity. Hence, inbred lines differing for oleic acid content were selected, alongside the development of hybrids where one or both parents exhibited high oleic acid content in edible oil, and then evaluated at various sites (i.e. with comparatively low temperature during sunflower reproductive phase at Sargodha and Faisalabad; while high temperature and low humidity at Bhawalpur and Multan) in Pakistan during spring season. Moreover, autumn season was relatively cool and high humid for sites (Faisalabad and Sargodha, Pakistan). DNA profiling of hybrids differing for oleic acid content using N1-3F/N2-1R confirmed the presence of a high oleic acid allele in the hybrids. Oleic acid content and seed yield components were increased at high temperature and low humidity to a greater extent in spring than in autumn season. Among the hybrids, one (H5) had stable high oleic acid content during the spring season with higher seed yield and kernel to seed percentage than the check cultivars (Hysun-33 and FH-331). Analysis of the combining ability of two locations revealed a relationship between mean oleic acid contents and combining ability, thereby suggesting the effectiveness of selection in developing high oleic acid inbred lines. Newly developed inbred C.112.P was a positive combiner for oleic acid at all sites except Sargodha, while restorer populations such as RH.344, RH.345 and RH.347 were positive male combiners.","PeriodicalId":14618,"journal":{"name":"Italian Journal of Agronomy","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70191248","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Efficiency of index-based selection for potential yield in durum wheat [Triticum turgidum (L.) ssp. turgidum convar. durum (Desf.) Mackey] lines","authors":"A. Hannachi, Z. Fellahi","doi":"10.4081/ija.2023.2182","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2023.2182","url":null,"abstract":"Wheat is a socioeconomically important crop in Algeria. Improving genetic gain of quantitative traits through selection is at the core of every successful breeding program. Selection is usually performed on grain yield, but other agronomically related characteristics can also help increase genetic gain through indirect or multi-trait selection. The objective of this work was to quantify genetic parameters and compare the efficiency of direct, indirect and simultaneous selection methods in terms of predicted genetic values of wheat progenies. For this purpose, 418 F4-derived lines were evaluated for six agronomic traits including heading date, flag leaf area, plant height, number of spikes, thousand kernel weight and grain yield in an augmented block design with three check varieties. Wide genetic variation with moderately high broad-sense heritability were observed for the recorded traits, except for heading date. The results from genetic gain revealed variation in gains for assessed traits and breeding methods employed. The classic index of Smith and Hazel (SHI) demonstrated a similar genetic gain in grain yield compared to gain from direct selection. Generally, the selection-based index showed the highest responses considering all traits simultaneously with a slight inferiority of the SHI index. The coincidence rates among the evaluated indices were higher than those obtained between the measured traits. Based on the comparisons between the selected lines, the SHI index and the selection base index of Williams were similar to grain yield and can reach up to 79.51% coincidence of breeding lines identified by these selection criteria. Breeding lines L252, L34, L24, L130 and L413 were the most common individuals identified according to number of coincidences from the different selection methods used. Of these, L34 and L24, and to a lesser extent L15 can be considered promising wheat lines for improving grain yield.","PeriodicalId":14618,"journal":{"name":"Italian Journal of Agronomy","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42699944","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Impacts of seeding rates of different Lolium species on winter overseeding of seashore paspalum in Mediterranean regions: turf quality and suitability for football pitches","authors":"S. Ozkan, B. Kir","doi":"10.4081/ija.2023.2180","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2023.2180","url":null,"abstract":"Overseeding is an essential management practice for turf cultivation in winter. Warm-season turfgrasses must be overseeded with cool-season turfgrass in the fall to provide green colour and maintain suitable playing surfaces by preventing wear on the dormant warm-season turfgrass throughout the winter months. The cool-season turfgrass species selected for overseeding affect the success or failure of the process in different ways via interaction with environmental conditions. A 2-year research study was conducted at the experimental areas of the Field Crops Department, Agriculture Faculty, Ege University in Izmir/Turkey during 2016-2018. The objectives of the study were to evaluate the overseeding performances of seashore paspalum cv. Sea Spray with different ryegrass (Lolium) species (diploid perennial ryegrass cv. Sun, tetraploid perennial ryegrass cv. Tetragreen, annual ryegrass cv. Axcella, intermediate ryegrass cv. TransAm), and determine the most suitable seeding rates (50, 75, 100 g m-2) for the Mediterranean climate. In the study, the evaluation of turf performance traits such as colour, visual turf quality, cover, fall and spring transition was conducted in both years. Additionally, some football playing quality traits, including ball rebound, force reduction, and vertical deformation were measured during the research periods. According to the results, tetraploid perennial ryegrass cv. Tetragreen and diploid perennial ryegrass cv. Sun generally performed better than the others. Concerning the overseeding rate, 75 or 100 g m-2 applications are recommended as the most suitable for obtaining good turfgrass quality and football playability.","PeriodicalId":14618,"journal":{"name":"Italian Journal of Agronomy","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43006226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Some physio-biochemical traits of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) as affected by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inoculation under different irrigation treatments","authors":"Negin Noroozi, G. Mohammadi, M. Ghobadi","doi":"10.4081/ija.2023.2033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2023.2033","url":null,"abstract":"Plant-arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi association is one of the oldest symbiotic relationships between organisms. This relationship may be more important under stress conditions such as drought and can help the host plant tolerate drought. This study was conducted in 2016 and 2017 at the Agricultural Research Farm of Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran to evaluate the effect of AM fungi (AMF) inoculation (with either Funneliformis mosseae or Rhizophagus intraradices) on some physio-biochemical traits of three sunflower cultivars under different soil irrigation treatments (severe water deficit stress, mild water deficit stress and well-watered). In both years, water deficit conditions significantly reduced leaf relative water content (RWC), chlorophyll concentrations (a, b and total) and shoot phosphorus concentration (SPC) while simultaneously increasing shoot proline levels and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations. AMF inoculation had positive effects on RWC, chlorophyll concentrations and SPC irrespective of sunflower cultivar and irrigation treatment. Shoot proline concentration and MDA reduced more in AM than non-AM plants. In most cases F. mosseae performed better than R. intraradices in terms of plant performance. Moreover, the improvements caused by AM fungi were more evident under water deficit than well-watered condition. It may be concluded that AM inoculation can alleviate the negative effects of water deficit stress on some important physio-biochemical traits of sunflower grown in the field, and can be considered as a practical and economical approach to improve crop performance in environments exposed to water limitations.","PeriodicalId":14618,"journal":{"name":"Italian Journal of Agronomy","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45332466","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
V. P. Nguyen, Thi Van Anh Le, Huong Thi Mai To, Thi Kieu Oanh Nguyen, N. T. Mai
{"title":"Systemic adaptation of rice plants under low phosphate conditions and interaction with endophytic bacteria","authors":"V. P. Nguyen, Thi Van Anh Le, Huong Thi Mai To, Thi Kieu Oanh Nguyen, N. T. Mai","doi":"10.4081/ija.2023.2181","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2023.2181","url":null,"abstract":"Phosphate (Pi) is essential for plants. Plants have adapted mechanisms to overcome Pi deficiencies. This study examined the interaction of two contrasting rice varieties (G22 and G299) and two endophytic bacterial strains. Four different culture media were established: full Pi (P0), Pi starvation (P*), insoluble Pi with Pi-solubilizing Burkholderia sp. strain 205 (P+205), or Pi-insolubilizing strain 113 (P+113). We investigated the responses of rice to these media. Root length and weight and the number of crown roots were higher in the P* and P+113 medium than the two other media. However, shoot length, and weight were lower. Most amino acid families were higher in the P+113 medium than in the other media. The roots of G299 plants in the P+113 medium showed the highest relative expression of all phosphate-analyzed genes; however, these genes were expressed at low levels in the leaves of both rice varieties. Notably, the jasmonic acid gene OsJAZ5 showed the highest expression in the roots of G299 plants in the P+113 medium. Our results demonstrate the strong effects of the different genetic backgrounds of bacteria and rice plants on the response to low Pi. We also demonstrate the involvement of jasmonic acid in low Pi and soluble-phosphate-bacteria interaction in G299 plants. A positive interaction between Burkholderia sp. strain 205 and rice plants has been noticed in the promotion of plant growth. Further studies under field conditions should be undertaken to develop this potential strain as a biofertilizer.","PeriodicalId":14618,"journal":{"name":"Italian Journal of Agronomy","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47038556","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Grace Adusei, Moses Kwame Aidoo, A. Srivastava, J. Asibuo, T. Gaiser
{"title":"The impact of climate change on the productivity of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) under three different socio-economic pathways","authors":"Grace Adusei, Moses Kwame Aidoo, A. Srivastava, J. Asibuo, T. Gaiser","doi":"10.4081/ija.2022.2118","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2022.2118","url":null,"abstract":"Crop models are useful tools for simulating the impact of climate change on crop growth, development and yield. This study assesses the impact of climate change on cowpea yield in soils with low levels of phosphorous content mainly in the Sudan Savanna and Forest Transition Zone of West Africa. A crop model solution within the general modelling framework SIMPLACE in combination with the output of four climate models for 3 contrasting shared socio-economic scenarios (SSP126, SSP370, and SSP585) was used to simulate the impact of climatic change on phenology, above ground biomass and yield parameters of cowpea. The simulations were carried out for Ouagadougou and Kumasi, representing the two major savanna biomes in West Africa (Sudan Savanna and Guinea Savanna). Previous field experimental data on the wide-spread cowpea genotype Asontem from a P-deficient soil at Kumasi (Ghana) were used to validate the SIMPLACE crop model solution. The model was able to simulate the impact of irrigation and fertilizer management on cowpea growth and yield assessment with adequate accuracy. Compared to historic simulations of the biomass and yield of cowpea, the model solution projected higher above ground biomass, and yield under the pre-dominant low input cropping systems for all the three SSPs as a result of the rise in CO2 and in spite of slightly shorted growing cycle length in both locations.","PeriodicalId":14618,"journal":{"name":"Italian Journal of Agronomy","volume":" 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41253970","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mitigating the impact of soil salinity: recent developments and future strategies","authors":"A. Tedeschi, Martino Schillaci, R. Balestrini","doi":"10.4081/ija.2022.2173","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2022.2173","url":null,"abstract":"Soil salinity is among the major abiotic stresses that plants must face, mainly in arid and semiarid re-gions, and high salinity tolerance is an important agronomic trait to sustain food production. Agricul-tural soils are unstable and subject to changes in salinity level, and monitoring them at both the local and the regional scale is a relevant activity to adopt soil and water management strategies to decrease salt concentration in the root zone, thus minimizing impacts on plant growth and productivity. Addi-tionally, beneficial soil microorganisms such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and plant-growth promoting bacteria (PGPB), particularly when sourced in saline environments, can alleviate plant salinity stress by multiple mechanisms. In this review, some interventions aimed at reducing soil salinity will be discussed, as well as interventions aimed at reducing the vulnerability of crops to sa-line stress to obtain more tolerant plants.\u0000Highlights - Fast and reliable monitoring of soil status can help to promptly adopt strategies to decrease soil salin-ity and/or reduce crops vulnerability to salt. - Leaching, alternating fresh- and saline water for irrigation purpose and the use of efficient irrigation systems can be effective water management strategies against soil salinity. - Mulching and the use of amendments can improve soil status by decreasing its NaCl levels. - The rotation of halophyte and glycophyte plant species can allow NaCl sequestration while maintain-ing profitable yields. - Saline environments and plants adapted to such environments can be a valuable source of PGPB and AMF which can improve plant tolerance to salinity through multiple mechanisms.","PeriodicalId":14618,"journal":{"name":"Italian Journal of Agronomy","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41850190","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anna Tedeschi, Martino Schillaci, Raffaella Balestrini
{"title":"Mitigating the impact of soil salinity: recent developments and future strategies","authors":"Anna Tedeschi, Martino Schillaci, Raffaella Balestrini","doi":"10.4081/ija.2023.2173","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2023.2173","url":null,"abstract":"Soil salinity is among the major abiotic stresses that plants must face, mainly in arid and semiarid re-gions, and high salinity tolerance is an important agronomic trait to sustain food production. Agricul-tural soils are unstable and subject to changes in salinity level, and monitoring them at both the local and the regional scale is a relevant activity to adopt soil and water management strategies to decrease salt concentration in the root zone, thus minimizing impacts on plant growth and productivity. Addi-tionally, beneficial soil microorganisms such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and plant-growth promoting bacteria (PGPB), particularly when sourced in saline environments, can alleviate plant salinity stress by multiple mechanisms. In this review, some interventions aimed at reducing soil salinity will be discussed, as well as interventions aimed at reducing the vulnerability of crops to sa-line stress to obtain more tolerant plants. Highlights - Fast and reliable monitoring of soil status can help to promptly adopt strategies to decrease soil salin-ity and/or reduce crops vulnerability to salt. - Leaching, alternating fresh- and saline water for irrigation purpose and the use of efficient irrigation systems can be effective water management strategies against soil salinity. - Mulching and the use of amendments can improve soil status by decreasing its NaCl levels. - The rotation of halophyte and glycophyte plant species can allow NaCl sequestration while maintain-ing profitable yields. - Saline environments and plants adapted to such environments can be a valuable source of PGPB and AMF which can improve plant tolerance to salinity through multiple mechanisms.","PeriodicalId":14618,"journal":{"name":"Italian Journal of Agronomy","volume":"483 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136196877","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}