Water stress decreases the quality of fruit by generating reactive oxygen species. Grafting is a technique that can improve the efficiency of crop water usage. This work was performed in order to assess the effect of different water stresses on the commercial and nutraceutical quality of a melon fruit. Cantaloupe melon plants, grown under shade houses were grafted onto a creole pumpkin rootstock and grown with different water stresses (20, 30, and 40 kPa). The grafted melon plants under 30-kPa water stress (G30) showed greater fruit firmness and increased catalase activity. The G30 fruits showed an increase in GPX activity of up to 80% over the non-grafted plants. The GSH was higher in fruits subjected to the 40-kPa water tension. The superoxide dismutase showed a 15% greater inhibition in the fruits from the non-grafted plants. At higher water tensions, the DPPH antioxidant activity decreased, while the vitamin C content increased.

For two years, the tomatoes (cv. ‘Belle’ and ‘Clarabella’), ungrafted, self-grafted and grafted onto the ‘He-man’ rootstock, were grown under two irrigation regimes, i.e., partial-root zone drying (PRD) and fully irrigated (FI), to investigate whether grafting can alleviate drought stress and promote water-use efficiency (WUE). The grafted plants under the FI regime had the highest vegetative growth, which was the result of more leaves and greater leaf area and were only significantly different from the PRD grown ungrafted plants. The grafted plants had the highest yield as a result of the greater number of larger fruits and the yield did not differ between the irrigation treatments. No differences were found in the leaf NPK concentrations, while the Ca and Mg were higher under the PRD regime. The ungrafted plants under the PRD regime had the highest total soluble solids and acidity in the fruit juice. The grafted plants had a significantly higher WUE, more pronounced in the PRD regime. The different types of irrigation did not influence the vegetative growth and the yield in the greenhouse grown grafted tomato. The PRD and rootstock effects should be additionally investigated with deficit irrigation.

The aim of this research was to determine the optimum planting density for the production of high-quality cut flowers with desirable characteristics. 25 single-stem ornamental sunflower genotypes were planted at different densities and evaluated for flowering time, flower diameter, and stem circumference and length over a two-year production cycle. Three spacing patterns were used: 25 × 25 cm, 30 × 30 cm, and 70 × 30 cm, which led to the planting densities of 160 000, 90 000, and 60 000 plants/ha, respectively. The plant density had the most important effect on the stem circumference, flower diameter, and stem length (total variation 52, 60, and 58%, AMMI analysis) and a small effect on the flowering time (total variation 1%, AMMI analysis). Based on environment-focused scaling, all high-density environments could be suitable for the production of single-stem sunflower genotypes. The results demonstrated the adaptation of several sunflower genotypes G9, G11, G12, G21, and G22 as the most suitable based on the optimum flower diameter, stem circumference, and stem length. These results may lead to progress in growing ornamental sunflowers as a cut flower.

European fruit lecanium, Parthenolecanium corni (Bouché, 1844) is among the leading worldwide pests of fruits such as plums, currants, jostaberry, grapevine and many others. This study is focused on testing the effectiveness of natural insecticide treatments compared with conventional insecticides on overwintering nymphs of the European fruit lecanium. In February of 2017, two experiments were conducted under laboratory conditions. The tested products were Boundary SW<sup>®</sup> (plant extract), Konflic<sup>®</sup> (plant extract), Ekol<sup>®</sup> (canola oil) and a tank-mix of Ekol<sup>®</sup> + Reldan 22<sup>®</sup> (canola oil and chlorpyrifos-methyl) as a chemical standard. The most effective product tested was the chemical standard tank-mix of Ekol<sup>®</sup> and Reldan 22<sup>®</sup>, which was 100% effective in all experiments. High efficiency was also achieved with Ekol<sup>®</sup> (canola oil) in high concentrations. We can summarize, that using canola oil in high concentration has almost the same effect as the chemical standard. Using canola oil against European fruit lecanium meets the principles of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and also the need to design cropping systems that are less dependent on synthetic pesticides.

Stability of Rosa agrestis, R. canina, R. dumalis and R. rubiginosa regenerants after shoot tip cryopreservation was monitored with the use of biochemical markers and pollen quality assessment in matured plants cultivated in the field. The results of rosa pollen and hip evaluation revealed no significant differences between post-cryopreserved regenerants and control plants; however, variations in the assessed markers were noted between Rosa species. Analyses of hips confirmed high levels of vitamin C in these plants; the highest was observed in R. dumalis (750–870 mg/100 g fresh weight). High total antioxidant activity (TAC) was as follows: DPPH – 50–250 mM TE/100 dry weight, FRAP – 80–180 mM TE/100 g dry weight. The present study showed a high content of flavonoids (TFC) and phenols (TPC). Post-cryopreserved plants retained pollen specific for Caninae: numerous anthers, abundant pollen, poor pollen germination and viability and typical pollen morphology. This study demonstrates new tools for evaluating the fidelity of post-cryopreserved regenerants.

Red anthocyanins from Carmine radish is rich both in root flesh and peel and it is relatively simple and efficient to extract these compounds. The accumulation, distribution and content of anthocyanins in root are related to phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) activity, soluble sugar and chlorophyll contents. The results showed that anthocyanins were synthesized at the first day of seed germination and were most abundant in the top of hypocotyls. The content of anthocyanins was higher in the root peel than in flesh and root apex, and in aboveground parts compared with underground sections. The anthocyanins contents in cotyledon grown under light and dark and hypocotyls grown in the dark increased initially and then reduced, and in roots grown under light was higher than in those grown in the dark. Chlorophyll content in leaves fluctuated but increased overall, whereas it was almost unchanged in the petioles. The correlations between anthocyanins content and PAL activity, soluble sugar and chlorophyll contents in different treatments showed positive by Day 4 then negative. These results are helpful to understand the mechanism of anthocyanins biosynthesis in carmine radish.

Precision agriculture is increasingly used where in-field spatial variability exists; however, the benefits of its use in humid climates are less apparent. This paper reports on a cost-benefit assessment of precision irrigation with variable rate technique (VRI) versus conventional irrigation, both compared to rainfed production, using a travelling hose-reel irrigator fitted with a boom on onions in eastern England. Selected environmental outcomes including water savings and CO<sub>2</sub>e emissions are evaluated. The modelled precision irrigation system, which responds to soil variability, generates better environmental outcomes than the conventional system in terms of water savings and reduced CO<sub>2</sub>e emissions (22.6% and 23.0% lower, respectively). There is also an increase in the ‘added value’ of the irrigation water used (£3.02/m<sup>3</sup> versus £2.36/m<sup>3</sup>). Although precision irrigation leads to significant financial benefits from water and energy savings, these alone do not justify the additional equipment investment costs. However, any changes in yield or quality benefits, equipment costs or greater soil variability than on this site would make investment in precision irrigation more viable.

The promotion, at local level, of resource recycling chains, with low environmental impact and costs, appears of great interest for the production of green composts to replace peat in ornamental crops. In this work, two green composts, differing for the criterion of raw material selection for composting, were tested for the cultivation of two bedding plants in comparison with 100% peat based substrate. Leaf chlorophyll (SPAD index), biometric and growth parameters, and tissue mineral composition were measured to assess growing media-plant system performances. Both growing media and plants gave heterogeneous responses depending on substrate characteristics and plant requirements and/or tolerance to abiotic stress. Plant biomass was reduced by 63% (on average) in the most sensitive species due to the high Cl concentration detected in one of the two green composts; a similar trend was observed for SPAD index. The results support the shared idea that the selection of raw material is a strategy of primary importance in the composting process to obtain high quality green compost.

In vitro propagation of Rosa hybrida, L. cv. ‘Eiffel Tower’ was improved by the addition of thidiazuron (TDZ) and silver nitrate (AgNo<sub>3</sub>) to the culture medium. The combination of auxin and cytokinins was indispensable for inducing response from leaf discs. Maintaining cultures under dark was better than light for callus formation and quality. The source of explants was vital in the regeneration process wherein situ explants produced callus while, in vitro explants regenerated somatic embryos and shoots. Gibberellic acid (GA<sub>3</sub>) had a favorable effect where in vitro explants showed somatic embryogenesis with no shoots on media containing TDZ however, 37% of explants regenerated shoots directly on medium containing GA<sub>3</sub>. The presence of benzyl adenine (BA) was essential for shoot elongation, and indole butyric acid (IBA) was better than indole acetic acid (IAA) for rooting. The optimum conditions produced rooted plants from leaf discs within ten weeks. The reported results clarify factors controlling in vitro regeneration of R. hybrida, and provide a rapid protocol allowing further improvements of rose.

Eight minor and neglected cultivars of Vitis vinifera L. were characterised according to their ampelographic and agronomic traits and discriminated by molecular analysis with SSR markers. These results are the first complete ampelographic description of these minor and neglected cultivars from the Mount Etna region. The results of this study reveal high morphological diversity of ancient grapevines growing in this region. SSR markers enabled us to discriminate the cultivars and revealed the genetic divergence between them and several autochthonous cultivars. Our efforts could contribute to a better knowledge of grape biodiversity based on morphological and molecular data and could be useful for the development of a reliable germplasm conservation strategy.