Assessment of susceptibility to European stone fruit yellows phytoplasma of new plum variety and five rootstock/plum variety combinations

Two separate experiments were carried out to assess the plum susceptibility to infection by European stone fruit yellows phytoplasmas during a five years period. Commercial varieties/cultivars and new selections grafted on Myrabolan 29C were evaluated in at least two plots of four plants each. Visual inspection and PCR/RFLP identification of phytoplasmas detected an increasing phytoplasma presence in both symptomatic and asymptomatic plants. Eight Japanese plum selections showed ESFY symptoms or pathogen presence in the 50% of the plants and nine selections showed ESFY infection in 20% of the plants. Only nine selections showed absence of both symptoms and pathogen. Although the European selections/cultivars were not symptomatic, plants belonging to six of these cultivars were positive for phytoplasma infection. The evaluation of cultivar/rootstock combinations indicate phytoplasma presence from the first year after plantation on. Two of the rootstocks seem to induce a delay in symptoms appearance and cultivar T.C. Sun resulted to be the most susceptible to the disease independently from the rootstock employed. Keywords: Japanese plum, European plum, European stone fruit yellows phytoplasmas, resistance, disease

Kumulativni traumatski poremećaji gornjih udova u radnika na poljoprivrednom dobru

The work associated with repetitive efforts and inadequate resting periods, strong physical exertion, awkward postures or static positioning exposes workers to the risk of cumulative trauma disorders of the upper limbs. These risk factors are present in many agricultural activities. A study was carried out among workers on an agricultural farm. The workers\u27 histories were taken and they were given periodical medical check-ups. The presence of upper limb disorders was shown in a group of workers. A sample of 42 people was selected for the study by means of specific tests: electromyography, ultrasonography and laser-doppler ftowmetry. The tests showed a high incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome and microcirculation disorders. The study confirmed that electromyography, ultrasonography and/or laser-doppler flowmetry are highly useful tools for identifying cumulative trauma disorders.Pokreti koji se ponavljaju, neprimjereni odmori, teška fizička opterećenja te nefiziološki položaji tijela dovode do povećanog rizika razvoja bolesti kumulativne traume gornjih udova. Ovi čimbenici rizika prisutni su u mnogim poljoprivrednim djelatnostima. Od 74 radnika na poljoprivrednom dobru podvrgnuta periodskim pregledima, u 42 je primijenjena elektromiografija, ultrasonografija i mjerenje krvnog protoka laser-doppler metodom. Testovima je utvrđena visoka učestalost sindroma karpalnog tunela i poremećaja mikrocirkulacije. Ispitivanje je potvrdilo da su eiektromiografija, ultrasonografija i/ili laser-doppler mjerenje krvnog protoka veoma korisne metode u dijagnostici bolesti kumulativne traume

The importance of incorporating soil in the life cycle assessment procedure to improve the sustainability of agricultural management

The formidable ability of soil to store carbon has attracted an increasing number of studies, but few of them included soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration as part of a carbon balance assessment in the agroecosystem. This raises some interesting questions: 1) how orchards conversion increase soil capacity to mitigate the green–house gases (GHG) emissions by storing C? 2) can it be considered in life cycle assessment (LCA)? 3) can SOC pools and soil biochemical properties determination improve LCA interpretation? To answer these questions, this study selected a ten– and fifteen–years–old peach orchards, a twenty–years–old pear orchard, a thirty–years–old kiwi orchard in south-east part of Emilia–Romagna Region (Italy), and a cereals’ field as reference. Soil samples were collected from 0 to 15 and 15–30 cm depths, and the SOC pool amounts (i.e., labile and recalcitrant) determined. LCA was used to estimate the GHG emissions (CO2eq) from the orchards. Results showed that the conversion from cereals to orchard production increased OC stock (+82 % on average) suggesting that orchards cultivation systems have the capacity to enrich soil organic matter. Fertilization had the greatest impact on CO2eq emission accounting for at least 40 % of total CO2eq emissions. Kiwi cultivation had the highest impact on GHG emissions mainly due to the high water and nutrient demand (0.045 and 0.149 kg CO2eq kg−1 fruit yr−1, respectively). When taking into account the C–CO2eq loss by fruit cultivation and C storage in soils, results would indicate that peach and pear orchard agroecosystems promote C sequestration. Conversely, kiwi cultivation showed large CO2eq emissions only partly counterbalanced by SOC sequestration. This study highlights the importance of including soils in LCA: if made mandatory this would allow a wider, yet more detailed, picture of the impact of agricultural practices on C budget. This simple step could help optimise resource management and at the same time improve agroecosystem sustainability

Assessment of susceptibility to European stone fruit yellows phytoplasma of new plum variety and of five rootstock/plum variety combinations.

During five years two trials were carried out to assess the plum susceptibility to infection by European stone fruit yellows phytoplasmas. One trial was carried out on commercial varieties /cultivars and new selections grafted on Myrabolan 29C. Plants were evaluated in more than one plot of four plants. Yearly monitoring by visual inspection and PCR/RFLP identification of phytoplasmas allowed verifying an increasing phytoplasma presence in both symptomatic and asymptomatic plants. Eight selections from Japanese plums showed ESFY symptoms or pathogen presence in the 50% of plants and nine selections showed 20% of infection. Only nine selections showed absence of both symptoms and pathogen. Although the European selections/cultivars were not symptomatic, plants belonging to six cultivars were positive to phytoplasma presence. The scond trial was carried out to evaluate cultivar/rootstock combinations; phytoplasma symptoms and presence were observed from the first year after plantation. Two of the rootstocks appeared to induce a delay in symptoms appearance and cultivar T.C. Sun was the most susceptible to the disease