No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Abstract.To determine the key variables of the vineyard efficiency is imperative to account the combined effects of the inputs interactions since they have implications on the overall final production. This paper estimates the productive efficiency of a wine-farm sample from the Douro Demarcated Region (DDR) while identifies economic, social and environmental indicators that characterizes the DDR grape production system. The data was collected by face-to-face surveys performed at farm level to build a pilot study. The majority of the sampled twenty farms are dedicated to mountain viticulture and mainly feature the cordon (simple and double) training system. Through the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method, the productive efficiency of the sampled was performed and the results clinched different efficiency scores. The main explanation is related to the heterogeneity of the adopted production system. In addition, they revealed how grape producers could improve their productive efficiency by adopting particular practices and identifying the key factors of their system.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Composts are widely used in horticulture as organic amendments to improve the properties of soils. Composts have also been reported to enhance the disease suppressive potential of soils and, therefore, could be used as a strategy for managing plant diseases. The aim of this study was to test the ability of soils amended with four different agro-industrial waste-based composts (chestnut peels and shells, spent coffee grounds, grape marc, and olive leaves) to inhibit the growth and activity of Botrytis cinerea and several soilborne pathogens. First, the capacity of aqueous compost extracts to inhibit the growth of Botrytis cinerea and five soilborne fungi was evaluated in vitro using a broth macrodilution method. Second, lettuce plants were grown on soils amended with composts and inoculated either with B. cinerea or the soilborne fungus Fusarium oxysporum Schlechtendahl isolated from lamb’s lettuce. The determination of minimal inhibitory concentrations indicated that none of the composts inhibited the mycelium growth of the selected fungal pathogens. However, the pathogens did not cause any damage on plants grown on the chestnut- and olive-based composts. Lettuce yields were also highest for plants grown with composts made from chestnut and olive, irrespective of the amount of compost incorporated into soils (5% or 10%, weight basis). The grape-based compost also exhibited a fertilization effect, although the effect was associated with increased Fusarium wilt severity. Both N immobilization and symbiosis with the compost’s microflora were used to explain the pathogenicity of F. oxysporum Schlechtendahl in response to amendment with composts made from grape and coffee wastes. The beneficial effects of the chestnut- and olive-based composts reported in this study could be exploited in strategies aimed at reducing reliance on synthetic pesticides for the control of fungi in lettuce cultivation.