Introduction. Drought can affect the qualitative and nutritional attributes of plum (Prunus salicina L.). The aim of this work was to study the effect of regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) on the quality of plum fruits. Materials and methods. Experiments were conducted during two consecutive seasons (2011-2012) with three cultivars ('Black Diamond', 'Black Gold' and 'Black Star') recently introduced in the region of Regueb (center of Tunisia) characterized by a semi-arid climate. During the fruit growth period, treated trees (RDI 50) received 50% of the irrigation water provided to the control (CI) for three months. Results and discussion. Water restriction reduced the diameter and weight of the fruit though the extent depended on the cultivar. However, other measures of fruit quality were improved for all cultivars with an increase of fruit firmness, pH, soluble solids and sucrose content, and a decrease of total acidity. Additionally, 'Black Diamond' fruit from treated trees had high level of total phenolics and flavonoids. Conclusion. Regulated deficit irrigation may save water in semi-arid regions and improve fruit quality with only moderate impact on productivity.
Regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) strategies may greatly contribute to save irrigation water, especially in low water availability conditions. The effects of RDI on the growth process, photosynthesis, fruit yield, and some quality traits were assessed for two years on three plum (Prunus salicina Lindl.) cultivars (‘Black Diamond’, ‘Black Gold’ and ‘Black Star’) grown in Midwest Tunisia. The experiment was conducted during two successive seasons (2011–2012). Two water regimes were applied per cultivar during the phase of fruit growth until fruit ripening. Stressed trees receive 50% of the amount of irrigation compared to controls (CI). Several eco-physiological parameters and some pomological criteria were measured, based on the climatic condition (ETo, ETc, and VDP). Results showed that the three cultivars had an aptitude for tolerance for moderate stress with varying degrees of response time to drought stress. Globally, a slight decrease in the gas exchange rate (AN and gs) and the water status (RWC, Ψmin, and Ψos) was registered. Tree yields, size and weight show a slight decrease under water stress. Nevertheless, there was an improvement in the total soluble solid content (SSC) and firmness in same cultivars. Our results proved that the Black Star cultivar was the most tolerant to deficit irrigation, in reason that it maintains a good water status and a high photosynthetic activity.
The systematic use of plant protection products is now being called into question with the growing awareness of the risks they can represent for the environment and human health. The application of precision agriculture technologies helps to improve agricultural production but also to rationalize input costs and improve ecological footprints. Here we present a study on fungicide application efficiency and its impact on the grass quality of a golf course green using the free open-source image analysis software FIJI (Image J) to analyze ground RGB (high-resolution digital cameras) and multispectral aerial imagery in combination with experimental data of spray pressure and hydraulic slot nozzle size of a boom sprayer machine. The multivariate regression model best explained variance in the normalized green-red difference index (NGRDI) as a relevant indicator of healthy turfgrass fields from the aerial, ground, and machine data set.
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