AGRONOMIC EVALUATION OF TOMATO HYBRIDS FOR GLASS-HOUSE PRODUCTION

The tomato is the most widely cultivated vegetable crop, both in glasshouses and walk-in tunnels. The objective of the trial is to make a recommendation for tomato hybrids intended for protected crops production in the Republic of Macedonia. It was carried out in the region of Sv. Nikole (Central Macedonia) in glasshouses. The following newly introduced tomato hybrids, made by four different producers, have been examined: Fito - Meriva F1, Enza Zaden - Lezoforta F1 and Amaneta F1, Syngenta - Zouk F1, Clause - Loreli F1. The applied experimental design was a randomized block system in five replications. Aside from the dynamics of germination, flowering, and ripening and harvesting, the productive traits of each hybrid were analyzed using ANOVA. It was confirmed that the hybrids Zouk F1 and Loreli F1 had the earliest germination and the latest germination was exhibited by the Amaneta F1. The shortest period between germination and flowering was recorded in the hybrid Loreli F1, and the longest in Lezoforte F1. The period between flowering and fruit ripening was shortest in the hybrid Zouk F1, and the longest one in Amaneta F1. The shortest period starting from germination to the beginning of ripening was recorded in the hybrid Amaneta F1 and the longest in Zouk F1.&nbsp

CHALLENGES FOR THE VEGETABLE SUBSECTOR DEVELOPMENT IN THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

The Republic of Macedonia has approximately 260 ha of agricultural cultivable area under glasshouses, but the exploitation of the facilities ranges between 75-80%, of their total capacity, leaving around 20-25 % of the facilities not being used. The area cultivated under plastic tunnels is not precisely known, but it is estimated between 4000 and 6000 ha dedicated for cultivation of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and cabbage. The open field production is gradually decreasing especially for production of tomatoes, cucumber and peppers due to lower productivity and increased problems with diseases. For other vegetables (melons, potatoes and onions) open production and strong seasonal aspects are dominating. The ex-Yugoslavia, considered as one market, traditionally has been and is still the largest consumer of the Macedonian fresh product. The position of Macedonian vegetable exporters in these markets is under threat for several reasons: market requirements shifting towards EU standards, related to the arrival of modern retail operations. The large producers are using local or international help which is very costly. There are no available financial instruments that stimulate the farmers to invest in new technologies and production, and the limited profits, mainly that the primary producers are making. High cost of input (energy) for production (energy is app.70% of the cost of the product) and the weak organization and cooperation of the stakeholders (vertical cooperation, horizontal cooperation and small sized production) are also significant challenges that should be dealt with in future. However, the biggest problem that causes weakness in this subsector is the limited Governmental and local investment in research. Due to that, there are no local producers of quality seeding material that causes higher cost of inputs and uncertainness of the quality of materials

PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES ON ORNAMENTAL FEATURES AN THE USE OF BASIL AND PEPPERMINT

Ocimum basilicum L. (basil) is an herbaceous annual species. For sale, basil is grown as fresh, dried, frozen or in the form of essential oils. In addition to the above-mentioned, basil is also an ornamental species that is mostly used as a potted plant or aromatic species cultivated in private gardens. The stem is herbaceous, erect and 40-60 cm in height. Flowering begins in the middle of the sixth month and lasts about two months. Mentha x piperita L. (peppermint) is an ornamental, perennial, medicinal, aromatic and honey-bearing species with a branched stem of 40 to 100 cm in height. It is used fresh, dried, or in the form of essential oils. The peppermint leaves are of dark green in colour, serrated, pointed, opposite positioned and oval in shape. The plant blooms from June to October. The paper also contains results of a survey whose goal was to investigate the perception and attitudes of respondents about the ornamental characteristics, and also the applications of different cultivars and varieties of basil and peppermint. The survey was conducted during the first half of 2022. When it comes to ornamental characteristics, respondents do prefer cultivars with a "more special" appearance of leaves and flowers. The decorative characteristics and application of basil and peppermint plants were regarded with very good marks. Maintaining the species in private gardens is mostly perceived as easy

LETTUCE (LACTUCA SATIVA L.) - THE NEGLECTED VEGETABLE IN THE MACE DONIAN PRODUCTION AND TRADE

Although vegetable production plays a significant role with over 30% of the total crop production output in the Republic of North Macedonia, only a couple of vegetables are treated with due diligence: tomato, pepper (most of it intended for processing), cucumber, and cabbage. Fifteen other vegetables can be found in different data sources, but lettuce is not among them. The only source about the cultivation area and quantity of production is the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Water Economy, but this information defers largely from the one that can be obtained from FAOstat. In both cases, the values are negligible low, i.e., below 20 ha in total. In this paper, we have tried to present the realistic status and trends of lettuce import, export, and consumption over ten years and deduct from there the volume and the origin of lettuce production.  The results indicate that over 80% percent of the lettuce that is sold on the markets comes from uncertain cultivation practices, especially concerning food safety standards. Considering that lettuce has a tendency to accumulate nitrates, along with microbiological threats, it makes the whole picture even more complex. We propose some soil-less cultivation methods that can be easily adopted by the growers and result in more efficient and safe production

COMPARATIVE TRIALS ON KAPIJA TYPE PEPPER CULTIVARS

The experiment was carried out on two locations in the region of Strumica – Boriovo village and Dobrejci village. Four pepper cultivars of the kapija type have been examined: kaloca, KP2, KP3 and KP4. All four were compared to the referent variety, well known on the market as slonovo uvo. The following traits and characteristics were recorded: duration of different phases of vegetation [days], plant height [cm], number of fruits per plant (percentage of pollination) [%], fruit weight [g], pericarp thickness [mm], consumable fruit portion [%], total yield [t/ha] and chemical composition of the fruit. In general, among the examined cultivars grown in the region of Strumica in comparison to the reference cultivar slonovo uvo, the best results were registered in the cultivars kaloca and KP2. As a result of the excellent plant structure, good uniformity, the shape and the color of the fruit, these two cultivars can be well established on the markets in the Republic of Macedonia.&nbsp

EFFECT OF WATER EXTRACT OF ALOE VERA ON GERMINATION AND EARLY GROWTH OF DIANTHUS BARBATUS

The Sweet William - Dianthus barbatus (L.) is a plant from Caryophyllaceae family. The germination and growth of the plant are important phenological stages, and plant survival depends on them. The seed that has better germination energy also has better vigor, so it is more resistant to stressful conditions during germination. The aim of this study was to examine the possibilities and effectiveness of water extracts of plant species Aloe vera on the seed germination and early growth of Sweet William seedlings - Dianthus barbatus (L.). The experiment was conducted in laboratory conditions at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Banja Luka and consisted of control (distilled water) and treatment with water extract of Aloe vera. Water extracts were prepared from fresh leaves and experiments were conducted in Petri dishes at 5, 10, and 15%. The temperature in the laboratory was constant at 20°C and the light regime was set to 16h day/8h night. Water extracts of Aloe vera at a concentration of 5% had a positive effect on the seed germination and germination energy, while a concentration of 15% had a positive effect on shoot and root length, and fresh mass of Dianthus barbatus seedlings

IMPACT OF THE DIFFERENT VEGETATION SPACES ON THE YIELD COMPONENTS OF SEEDLESS WATERMELON

Recently seedless watermelon production is becoming popular, especially for export, and has significant potential for larger area production. Although the production practices for growing seedless watermelons are similar to those for the production of seeded watermelons, they still differ in certain views, which should be put into focus. The aim of this research is to determine the best vegetation space for the plants (the use of different row and inter-row distances) on ​​the components of yield. For this purpose, an experiment was set up using seedlings from the seedless hybrid Sinrubita F1. The experiment was set up in the Skopje region with a randomized block design, with three variants in four replications. The treatments were as follows: Treatment 1 (control) (3x1.65 m, 2000 plants ha-1); Treatment 2 (3x1.30 m, 2500 plants ha-1) and Treatment 3 (3x0.96 m, 3500 plants ha-1). Several parameters were analyzed: the average number of fruits per plant, the weight of fruit (kg), the diameter of the fruit (cm), the fruit length (cm), the fruit index, and the total yield (t/ha).  The biggest fruit (6.97 kg), fruit diameter (21.77 cm), and fruit length (24.29 cm) were determined in the control treatment while the highest fruit number (4.38) and yield (65.05 t ha-1) were obtained in the treatment 2. The fruits of the three treatments had a slightly elliptical shape

The effect of two different fertilisers on the quality of Viola x wittrockiana Gams. seedlings

This research was carried out to analyse the effect of diverse types of fertilisers on the morphological features of pansy seedlings (Viola x wittrockiana Gams.), as well as to decide on the most appropriate concentration of fertiliser in order to obtain the highest seedlings quality. Two different types of liquid fertilisers were used in this experiment - Magnicvet and Magnihortal with six treatments. Each treatment comprised 30 plants or a total of 180 plants in the experiment were used. 30 plants per treatment were measured, 50 days after planting into plastic containers. The following biometric parameters were analysed: plant height (mm), stem thickness (mm), number of branches and number of flower buds. Measurements of biometric parameters showed that the liquid mineral fertiliser Magnihortal with NPK 10-5-5 + micro elements is more appropriate as compared with the liquid mineral fertiliser Magnicvet with NPK 7-1-5 + micro elements concerning the reinforced nutrition and eventually the enhanced quality of Viola x wittrockiana Gams. seedlings. Treatment V (Magnihortal 0.3 %) showed the highest average height of seedlings, average stem thickness and average number of branches, while the treatment VI (Magnihortal 0.4 %) showed the highest average number of flower buds

THE EFFECT OF SUBSTRATE TYPE ON THE QUALITY OF WATERMELON SEEDLINGS

Watermelon is one of the leading vegetable crops grown in R. Macedonia. It is regularly produced by seedlings and very seldom by seed. The objective of the research was to determine the influence of growing substrate type on the quality of watermelon seedlings, variety Fantasy F1. Three different substrates were tested as follows: homemade substrate mixture of organic cattle manure and soil in ratio 1:1 (Reference treatment), commercial Brill substrate with Trichoderma (Treatment 1) and mixture of homemade substrate and Brill substrate with Trichoderma in ratio 1:1 (Treatment 2). According to research methodology several biometrical parameters were measured in order to determine quality of the watermelon seedlings as follows: seedling length (cm), mass of the aerial seedling part (g), stem thickness (mm), leaves number, leaves mass (g), root length (cm) and root mass (g). The seedlings were measured 18 days after sprouting. The results showed that seedlings grown in Brill substrate with Trichoderma had the best parameters for mass of the aerial seedling part (5.10cm), stem thickness (3.30mm), leaves number (6.27), leaves mass (9.04g), root length (17.17cm) and root length (13.95g). Only seedlings from treatment 2 were longer (16.23cm) in comparison to the Reference treatment (14.6cm) and Treatment 1 (14.73cm)

LENGTH OF VEGETATION PERIOD AND FRUIT SET IN PEPPER GROWN ON DIFFERENT TYPES OF MULCH

Mulching is a common practice of covering the soil to make favorable conditions for plant growth, development, and efficient crop production. The study aimed to determine the influence of different mulching materials on some parameters of pepper Kapija type grown in an open field. The experiment was set in the village of Kutretino near Demir Hisar, during the season of 2018. The treatments were as follows: no mulch (bare soil) - as a control treatment, straw mulch, black film mulch, white on black (double face) film mulch, and red film mulch. A single experimental plot was 15 m2 with a density of 100 plants per plot organized in a complete randomized block design in four replications. During the vegetation, there was monitoring of some phenological stages. In addition, on ten plants per replication, the number of flowers and the number of fertilized flowers were recorded. The earlier botanical maturity was in straw mulch and black foil mulch or 153 days after germination. The latest was in red foil mulch or 161 days after germination. The largest number of flowers had the plants from the black foil mulch an average of 11.83 flowers, out of which 10.95 were fertilized, which means that 92.56% of the flowers set fruit. Plants on red mulch had the least number of flowers, 7.33 on average, of which 5.73 were fertilized, leading to 78.17% of fruit set. White on black mulch had the highest percentage of fruit set (93.7%) because of favoring condition