Search results for "crop yield"
showing 10 items of 81 documents
A study of thyme germplasm in Sicily
2009
hyme is characteristic of the Mediterranean and is of interest for its multifunctional nature. It is widely used in seasoning and flavouring, in herbal products and cosmetics. The versatility of this species means it is also useful in the protection of areas prone to erosion or an ornamental plant when designing low-maintenance gardens. Thyme germplasm constitutes a large part of the wild flora in Sicily and is a potentially useful source of genetic variability. On the basis of this, in the two-year period from 2004-2005, research was carried out on wild thyme accessions. These were used to evaluate both its productivity and individual biotypes with the functional characteristics most sough…
Early assessment of crop yield from remotely sensed water stress and solar radiation data
2018
Soil moisture (SM) available for evapotranspiration is crucial for food security, given the significant interannual yield variability of rainfed crops in large agricultural regions. Also, incoming solar radiation (Rs) influences the photosynthetic rate of vegetated surfaces and can affect productivity. The aim of this work is to evaluate the ability of crop water stress and Rs remotely sensed data to forecast yield at regional scale. Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index (TVDI) was computed as an indicator of crop water stress and soil moisture availability. TVDI during critical growth stage of crops was calculated from MODIS products: MODIS/AQUA 8-day composite LST at 1 km and 16-day compos…
Use of NOAA-AVHRR NDVI data for environmental monitoring and crop forecasting in the Sahel. Preliminary results
1992
Abstract Several studies have shown that the NDVI calculated from NOAA-AVHRR data is related to annual rainfall and primary productivity in Sahelian areas. Such correlations, however, are affected by several environmental factors and have been tested only with data accumulated during rainy seasons, which is not ideal for the prediction of crop yield. In the present study a methodology of NOAA AVHRR data processing is presented which utilizes NDVI computed only in the first part of some rainy seasons and statistically takes into account the geographical variability in land resources and atmospheric conditions. From the first results of the application of the methodology in Niger, its potenti…
Use of organic fertilizers for lettuce plug plant production
2009
Vegetable crop production in conventional intensive agricultural systems commonly implies high fertilization rates. Recent data show that the worldwide demand for organically grown products is expanding rapidly. Increasing interest in organic vegetable production has lead to a need to produce seedlings organically. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different levels of organic fertilizers applied to lettuce seedlings on plant growth and yield. Romaine lettuce seeds of cultivar Gretta R were sown on March 2007 in polystyrene plug trays in a unheated greenhouse in the Northern coast of Sicily. At the second leaf stage, seedlings were saturated with solutions containing vario…
Soil Solarization and Calcium Cyanamide Affect Plant Vigor, Yield, Nutritional Traits, and Nutraceutical Compounds of Strawberry Grown in a Protected…
2019
Soil solarization is a hydrothermal procedure of disinfesting soil of soilborne diseases and pests. Solarization can be combined with many other chemical or non-chemical alternatives to afford integrated pest and diseases management or improve plant yield. Calcium cyanamide (CaCN2) is a fertilizer used in agriculture sector and is also effective in suppressing soilborne pathogens. The present study assessed the influences of different pre-plant CaCN2 dosages on strawberry grown on solarized or non-solarized soil. Soil solarization and 500 kg ha&minus
Evaluation of the maximum evapotranspiration over the La Mancha region, Spain, using NO A A AVHRR data
1992
Abstract Actual evapotranspiration is an important parameter in crop yield models, soil moisture determination and crop stress detection. As actual evapotranspiration is not routinely available, maximum evapotranspiration (ETJ is normally used in agronomic models to calculate watering needs over irrigated areas. For this reason an empirical method has been developed to obtain ETra from albedo and temperature data suplied by the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) sensor on board NOAA satellites. This model has been applied to the La Mancha region, Spain, where barley, vine and maize are the main crops, and ETM was obtained with an acceptable error of ± 1-4 mm of water per day.
Plug plant fertilization and planting density affect onion productivity in sicily
2009
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different planting density and different levels of plug plant fertilization on onion production in Sicily. Onion landrace ‘Bisacquino’ was sown in the first week of January 2006 in a unheated greenhouse in polystyrene plug trays. Seedlings were fertigated with the following three different solutions containing (in mg l-1) 800 N - 400 P - 400 K, 1200 N - 600 P - 600 K or 1600 N- 800 P - 800 K. Trays were subirrigated with the nutrient solution both at one leaf stage and 10 days prior transplanting. Plug plants were field transplanted in the Sicilian hilly countryside. The plugs consisting of one, two, or three onion plants were set 20 cm a…
Nursery and field evaluation of eggplant grafted onto unrooted cuttings of Solanum torvum Sw.
2014
Abstract Solanum torvum is the eggplant ( Solanum melongena ) relative most commonly used for grafting even if the nursery production of eggplants grafted onto this rootstock has some issues related to its long, irregular and erratic germination and slow growth and development of seedlings. Unrooted cuttings harvested from stock plants could be an alternative propagation material to obtain S. torvum rootstocks and might allow to overcome nursery production issues for eggplant. The aim of this work was to evaluate eggplant suitability to be propagated by unrooted grafted cuttings using S. torvum as rootstock and the influence of this propagation technique on plant yield and fruit quality. A …
L-Band vegetation optical depth for crop phenology monitoring and crop yield assessment
2018
Vegetation Optical Depth (VOD) at L-band is highly sensitive to the water content and above-ground biomass of vegetation. Hence, it has great potential for monitoring crop phenology and for providing crop yield forecasts. Recently, the Multi-Temporal Dual Channel Algorithm (MT -DCA) has been proposed to retrieve L-band VOD from Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) measurements. In previous research, SMAP VOD has been compared to crop phenology and has been used to derive crop yield estimates. Here, we review and expand these initial research studies. In particular, we quantify the capability of VOD to detect different crop stages, and test different VOD metrics (i.e., maximum, range and inte…
Effects of Organic and Chemical N-fertilization on Yield and Morpho-biological Features in Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.).
2009
Although MAPs are subjected to a growing interest (from growers, transformation industries, public and private institutions), a full introduction of such species into the Mediterranean cropping systems still needs the pointing out of many aspects. An important task concerns some aspects of cropping technique, whose definition could allow these crops to optimize the yields (both from the qualitative and the quantitative point of view), also allowing the best exploitation of land resources. One of the most crucial aspects is linked to plant fertilization, above all with Nitrogen. The trial that we report the results of has been performed in 2003- 04 and 2004-05 with the aim to study the effec…