Produzione, qualità e analisi della filiera produttiva del lino da fibra in Italia

Fibre flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is disappeared from the ltalian crop systems, while the textile industry has reached a leading position. The reintroduction of the crop is than potentially promising but the crop techniques and the production processes have to be set up. In 12 environments: crop development and growth, cultivar response, straw, fibre and seed yields, and fibre quality were analysed in the 1992-98 period. The data pointed out crop cycles of 176 and 110 d for the autumn and the spring sowing time respectively, corresponding to 1125 and 990°C d cumulated growing degree. Straw yield at pulling was on average of 6.3 t ha-1, with relevant differences among years and environrnents. Early maturity cultivar yielded more in the less favourable sites. N fertilization was occasionally relevant, and a generally distributions of 60 kg N ha-1 was the more effective. In the Mediterranean environments, with the autumn, sowing flax was more productive and the yield steady. The long fibre ratio was often low (10-13%) and the quality uneven because of the insufficient cleanliness due to retting difficulties. Occasionally, the value of the fibre was affected by the insufficient stem length. In the less dense crop, the seed yield was on average 0.9 t ha-1. Such productions were similar to those assessed for the more dense crop. In conclusion: because of the complexity of the interactions among the crop growth, the yield, the retting process and the fibre quality flax reintroduction is doubtful. In the production processes retting seems to be the crucial phase. Il lino da fibra (Linum usitatissimum L.) è da tempo assente negli ordinamenti colturali italiani, mentre è assai importante l'industria di filatura. La reintroduzione della coltura appare quindi potenzialmente promettente, ma richiede la messa a punto dell'agrotecnica e della filiera produttiva. Nel periodo 1992-1998 in 12 ambienti sono stati esaminati: lo sviluppo e la crescita della coltura, l'adattamento di cultivar, la produzione di paglia, fibra e seme, la resa alla stigliatura, la qualità della fibra. I dati raccolti evidenziano cicli colturali in media di 176 e 110 d rispettivamente per le semine autunnali (ambienti del centro-sud) e vemino-primaverili; corrispondenti a somme termiche di 1125 e 990°C d. La produzione di paglia alla estirpatura è stata in media di 6.3 t ha-1 con valori assai variabili tra annate e ambienti. Le varietà a ciclo corto sono apparse migliori nelle condizioni difficili. L'effetto della concimazione azotata è apparsa talvolta rilevante e comunque con dosi ottimali prossime a 60 kg ha-1 di N. Negli ambienti del centro-sud le semine autunnali si sono dimostrate spesso le più interessanti e sicure. La resa in fibra lunga è stata bassa (10-13%) e la qualità variabile per la scarsa pulizia dovuta alle difficoltà di macerazione. La modesta lunghezza tecnica dello stelo sovente riduce il valore del prodotto. In coltura rada, la produzione di seme è variata da 0.5 a 1.5 t ha-1; tali valori non si sono discostati in modo apprezzabile da quelli ottenuti in coltura fitta. In conclusione, la diffusione del lino appare problematica per le complesse interazioni tra la produzione, il processo di macerazione e la qualità della fibra. Soprattutto la macerazione appare il passaggio chiave

Fotosintesi e relazioni idriche in piante micropropagate di alcune specie arboree in rapporto all'acclimatizzazione

Dottorato di ricerca in produttivita' delle piante coltivate. 7. ciclo. A.a. 1992-95. Tutore G. Ponchia. Coordinatore P. ParriniConsiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Biblioteca Centrale - P.le Aldo Moro, 7, Rome; Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale - P.za Cavalleggeri, 1, Florence / CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle RichercheSIGLEITItal

State of the art and perspectives on application of mathematical models to greenhouse crops

An increasing trend was observed over the last years in the modelling of soil-plant-management interactions of protected crops, mainly as an adaptation of approaches originally developed for field crops. The variety of modelling approaches used world-wide reflects the difficulty of unifying physiological principles across various crops (plant types). The heterogeneity of software development techniques (typically based on procedural principles) has been another obstacle to the progress of research in this field, since it hampered model extension and re-usability. This paper describes and discusses the scientific basis, the design, implementation and perspectives in modelling greenhouse crops. Generic modular architectures developed according to up to date software technologies (.NET, Java) were identified and proposed as valuable for the design, implementation, verification and comparison of process-based modelling approaches. On this basis, the authors argue that the combination of good software engineering with sound crop science can enhance the rate of advance in crop modelling for protected crops

A comprehensive assessment of diversified cropping systems on agro-environmental sustainability in three Mediterranean long-term field experiments

The intensification of agricultural systems has caused a noticeable impact on agro-ecosystem services. Thus, the adoption of more sustainable agricultural practices such as crop diversification and reduction of external inputs represent an alternative strategy to minimize the impacts of intensive agricultural systems to the environment. This study aimed at evaluating the effects of crop rotation, conservation tillage, and low-input strategies on soil quality and farming performance using a set of 7 indicators based on a fuzzy logic approach. Data were collected from three Mediterranean long-term field experiments (LTEs) mostly oriented on cereal-based and vegetables cropping systems, located in Spain and Italy. The selected agro-environmental indicators clearly discriminated both from a geographical point of view and between monoculture and diversification, showing their suitability for the evaluation of diversified cropping systems. Such indicators highlighted that implementing crop diversification and reducing soil disturbance and chemical inputs enhanced soil quality. In this context, the most significant effects of diversified cropping strategies were the increase of crucial variables such as soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), available phosphorus (Pav), and bulk density (BD) maintaining a stability of yields in all the three LTEs. These results provide strong evidence for the benefits of crop diversification in Mediterranean areas, highlighting that diversification represents a very promising strategy for more sustainable land management. Simple and composite indicators calculated using fuzzy method can be proposed as tool to assess the effects of diversification strategies on cropping systems performance. This approach can be used to define local solutions to help the re-design of cropping system through crop diversification transition across Europe.ISSN:1161-0301ISSN:1873-733