Managing the Product Quality of Vegetable Crops under Abiotic Stress

Vegetables are an important part of the human diet due to their nutrient density and, at the same time, low calorie content. Producers of vegetable crops mainly aim at achieving high yields with good external quality. However, there is an increasing demand of consumers for vegetables that provide good sensory properties and are rich in secondary compounds that can be valuable for human health. Sub- or supra-optimal abiotic conditions, like high temperatures, drought, excess light, salinity or nutrient deficiency, may alter the composition of vegetable crops and at the same time, result in yield loss. Thus, producers need to adapt their horticultural practices such as through the choice of variety, irrigation regime, light management, fruit thinning, or fertilizer application to improve the yield and quality of the vegetable product. In the future, altered climate conditions such as elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations, rising temperatures, or altered precipitation patterns may become additional challenges for producers of vegetable crops, especially those that cultivate in the open field. This raises the need for optimized horticultural practices in order to minimize abiotic stresses. As well, specific storage conditions can have large impacts on the quality of vegetables. This Special Issue compiles research that deals with the optimization of vegetable product quality (e.g. sensory aspects, composition) under sub- or supra-optimal abiotic conditions

The Potato Crop

Life sciences; Agriculture; Nutrition   ; Plant breeding; Food—Biotechnology; Agricultural economic

Eco-Efficiency: from vision to reality

The notion of eco-efficiency – first put forward by the private-sector at the time of the 1992 Earth Summit – has since been taken up by experts in agriculture as a guiding principle for research. Eco-efficient agriculture, according to a CIAT report, is competitive and profitable as well as sustainable and resilient, thus generating multiple benefits for the poor, especially when it offers new options for women. The concept seems especially relevant today, as leaders and organizations around the world – on the 20th anniversary of the Earth Summit – seek to renew global commitment to sustainable development against a troubling background of fragile food security and growing pressure on the environment. To foster debate and action, CIAT has prepared a major scientific publication titled Eco-Efficiency: From Vision to Reality, which is the inaugural volume in a new series called Issues in Tropical Agriculture. The publication documents recent advances in research on key production systems and crops, and it explores new avenues by which agricultural research can help achieve further gains in eco-efficiency