The status of chestnut cultivation and utilization in the Canary Islands

Chestnut was introduced to the Canary Islands at the beginning of the 16th century during the time of the Spanish Conquest. It was utilised by the conquerors as a means of claiming property for communal lands. From that time until today, chestnut has been an important crop in the Canary Islands. It is important both as a source of food and timber and has contributed to the subsistence of the population, particularly at times when both resources were scarce. Nowadays it is mainly cultivated on the Islands of Tenerife (around 1300 ha) and La Palma. On other islands, such as Gran Canaria, La Gomera and El Hierro, semi-wild chestnut forests and small plots where farmers collect fruit still exist. Morphological and molecular marker (SSRs) studies have shown a great variability within the local population of chestnut trees in the Canaries. The main use for chestnut is fruit consumption, but it was also utilised in the past as an exchange commodity to obtain fish and other food. The fruit is consumed in many different ways, mainly toasted or roasted, but also cooked in soups, fish or meat dishes and even as an ingredient for the typical Canary Islands’ sweet ‘morcillas’ (a type of sausage). The wood of the tree has been used for furniture, with some shoots being utilised for basket making, and also as cattle food. The trunk of the chestnut has also been used to obtain cork or as a bee hive. Recent efforts to add value to chestnut cultivation in the Canary Islands have included the creation of a Chestnut Farmers Association in Tenerife that commercializes their products under a brand name

Propagação de Lichia (Litchi chinensis Sonn) : novas tecnologias e inovações

Foram estudados os diferentes tipos de propagação da lichieira. Depois de examinar as principais características morfológicas e de desenvolvimento da planta e de uma descrição das estruturas de propagação, materiais e tipos de substrato necessários para esta espécie, descrevem-se os diferentes métodos de propagação desta frutifera. A propagação por semente usa-se apenas para melhoramento, pesquisa ou obtenção de porta-enxertos. Embora a propagação por estaquia seja usada em vários países e que a propagação seja por mergulhia é praticada na Índia com grande sucesso, a alporquia é o sistema de propagação comercial mais usado no mundo para esta espécie. Ainda que a atividade do meristema varie em torno do caule, e apenas 30% do mesmo esteja ativo, a enxertia é prática comum na China.The different propagation systems for litchis are reviewed. After examining the main morphological and developmental characteristics of the plant and the description of the structures and materials, including types of substrate required for the propagation of this species, the different methods for its propagation are discussed. Propagation by seeds is only used for breeding or research purposes or for raising rootstock for grafting. Although propagation by cuttings is done in many countries and stooling has been reported as highly successful in India, air layering is the most common commercial way of propagation for this species. Despite that the cambium activity varies from place to place around the stem with only 30% of the cambium being active at any one time grafting is of current use in China

Characterization of Southeast Asia mangoes (Mangifera indica L) according to their physicochemical attributes

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is an economically important fruit crop grown in the tropics. One of the important traits of mango for successful commercial production is the storage quality of the fruit. This study was conducted to evaluate the postharvest qualities of three mango (Mangifera indica) varieties namely ‘Chokanan’, ‘Golden phoenix’ and ‘Water lily’ grown in Southeast Asia regions. The study found that variety and ripening stage had an impact on the postharvest qualities. In general, an increase in weight loss, L* value and soluble solids concentration (SSC) along with a reduction in titratable acidity (TA), firmness and hue value as ripening progressed were observed irrespective of the variety. Analysis of variance and multivariate analysis were used to characterize the ripening process. This study provides useful information for devising strategies in postharvest handling and implementation of breeding programs for mango crop improvement

Pollen germination as affected by pollen age in cherimoya

The definitive version is available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03044238Cherimoya (Annona cherimola (Mill.)) is a subtropical fruit tree, which is cultivated in a good range of subtropical regions. In most of these areas the crop relies on hand pollination. However, following this practice, erratic fruit set is often produced, which could be related to problems in pollen handling. Indeed, very little is known of the time that the pollen remains viable and on which is the best stage to collect the anthers or pollen from the flower. The aim of this work is to evaluate pollen germinability prior and after anther dehiscence and also how the age of pollen affects pollen vigor, understood as speed of germination. Pollen samples at different times following anther dehiscence were germinated in vitro and in vivo. Pollen up to 90 min following dehiscence performed as well as freshly dehisced pollen. However, the pollen taken 120 min following dehiscence, showed a clear reduction in vigor and germinated much slower in vivo. To overcome this short pollen germinability, pollen was taken from anthers 30 and 5 h prior to natural anther dehiscence and compared with pollen taken at anther dehiscence and 20 h later. However, a reduction in germination rate was obtained in pollen taken prior to anther dehiscence. The narrow stage at which pollen can be collected together to its ephemeral germinability explains erratic results obtained following hand pollination in this crop and these results provide the clues for an adequate pollen handling.Financial support for this work came from project grants CICYT AGL2003-05318-C02-01, and INIA RTA02-97.Peer reviewe

Field establishment of

Introduction. This protocol describes a method for obtaining well-established banana plants in the field, both for open-air and greenhouse cultivation, from hardened tissue culture nursery plants. The principle, starting material and time required are presented. Materials and methods. This part describes the process of land preparation, both in the case of planting and replanting, including preplant fertilizer requirements and irrigation recommendations, and the main horticultural practices appropriate both for planting out in the field and for the first months after planting. Special attention is given to correct irrigation, a key issue in the establishment process. Possible problem areas for troubleshooting are listed. Results. At the end of the process, vigorous plants with uniform growth and high yield potential are planted out and become optimally established in the commercial field