Medicinal and aromatic plants hold a high share of interest in Romania. To offset the harvesting of spontaneous flora and ensure the sustainable conservation of natural resources, the cropping of highly valuable plants of interest represents a priority for the current agricultural system. This study was conducted due to the need for more balance in species exploitation. Therefore, it assessed the emergence dynamics, leaf appearance, growth and development of the plants depending on row spacing and plant distance. The research was conducted at the INCDCSZ Brașov, within the Technology Department, Laboratory of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. The density of planting is the most important factor. Plants sown in continuous rows showed the highest yields of fresh and dry herbs, especially when the distance between the rows was set to 25 cm. Row-by-row distances of 50 cm ensure average values for all growth and development parameters. An increase in the row-by-row distance up to 70 cm drastically reduced the dry biomass up to 7.89 t ha−1 in continuous rows, followed by a 2 and 2.5 t ha−1 decrease for 15 cm and 25 cm plant-by-plant distances, respectively. Continuous row planting and a 25 cm row-by-row distance negligibly reduce the climate impact on growth and development. Greater spaces between plants leads to an average increase in individual development, but with a decrease in the total potential yield.
Potato is the most important tuber crop worldwide occupying the fourth place after wheat, maize and rice. Many techniques have been developed to facilitate the monitoring of canopy growth. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and chlorophyll content (SPAD 502) were found to be good indicators for predicting nitrogen deficits and detecting early stress by drought. The experiences were carried in the Laboratory of crop technology and good agricultural practice greenhouse from National Institute of Research and Development for Potato and Sugar Beet Brasov, Romania, during the years 2019-2020. The aim of this study was to observe the behavior of a potato variety using different soil substrates in the greenhouse and identifying the effectiveness of non-invasive measures to determine plant stress. SPAD device detect the distribution of chlorophyll in different growth stages, registering average values on variants between 37.0 and 45.5 units in 2019 and between 34.0 and 39.2 units in 2020. Vegetation indices registered higher values in 2019 compared to 2020, when the values ranged between 73.0 and 78.2.
These researches were carried out in order to introduce the species Primula officinalis into the culture and to establish an ecological cultivation technology.
The species Primula officinalis Hill., synonymous with Primula veris L., popularly known as cowslip, common cowslip or cowslip primrose, is a perennial, herbaceous species, being one of the 400 species of the Primula genus. In some countries from Europe, this species is on the verge of extinction, due to intensive harvesting from the spontaneous flora, grazing, deforestation and alpine herbicides. In Romania, Primula grows spontaneously, starting from the lowlands, on hills, pastures, alpine meadows, up to approximately 2300 - 2400 m altitude. It is known in folk medicine as having multiple phytotherapeutic uses. Primula has been used since the Middle Ages for the treatment of gout, headaches, migraines. The saponins found in the rhizomes and flowers are used in the phytotherapeutic treatment of bronchitis and colds due to their expectorant effects. The paper presents results regarding the influence of the nutrition space on some elements of growth and development in the species Primula officinalis, with a determining role in the amount of vegetable mass obtained.
Phytophthora infestans, the causal agent of late blight, is a major threat to potato crop all over the world. Fungicides play a crucial role in the integrated control of late blight. Variety choice is dictated by end users who demand cultivars with specific agronomic characters and these are difficult to combine with late blight resistance. The main aim of this research was to test the influence of two different densities (53300 plants/ha and 44400 plants/ha) and two different late blight control technologies (using only contact fungicides - TECH1 and alternative systemic and contact fungicides - TECH2) on the biomass of three highly cultivated varieties (Riviera, Christian and Roclas). The potato canopy of different varieties present large difference regarding stem length and leaf number, shoot and tubers weight in response to the applied technologies. In 2014 conditions, the total biomass of the varieties and combinations of treatments studied did not differ significantly. In 2015 and 2016 conditions, the varieties were differentiated both by the amount of biomass accumulate on July 1-4 and by the statistical differentiation of the variants within the varieties. The studied densities had significant effects on plant biomass accumulations at the beginning of July. In all years, at the beginning of July, due to the earliness and sensitivity to late blight, the green mass in Riviera variety was significantly lower, compared to the green mass in the middle early varieties Roclas and Christian.
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