Pest Control in Organic Systems

Conventional agriculture techniques applied in the latest decades have had undesired consequences on the environmental sustainability, carried out to the soil erosion, the degradation of the ecological system, changing the balance between beneficial and harmful pests, and contamination of soil, water, and agricultural products by heavy metals and pesticides. Thus, in organic agriculture, using synthetic chemicals for pest control is prohibited, assigning to the diversity a major role. The study provides to the reader many important practical data, judiciously documented, which are useful for the researchers and farmers from the world. Pest control in organic agriculture can be obtained through prevention and curative measure, but modern agriculture must be focused on the prevention

Tomato responses to salinity stress: From morphological traits to genetic changes

Tomato is an essential annual crop providing human food worldwide. It is estimated that by the year 2050 more than 50% of the arable land will become saline and, in this respect, in recent years, researchers have focused their attention on studying how tomato plants behave under various saline conditions. Plenty of research papers are available regarding the effects of salinity on tomato plant growth and development, that provide information on the behavior of different cultivars under various salt concentrations, or experimental protocols analyzing various parameters. This review gives a synthetic insight of the recent scientific advances relevant into the effects of salinity on the morphological, physiological, biochemical, yield, fruit quality parameters, and on gene expression of tomato plants. Notably, the works that assessed the salinity effects on tomatoes were firstly identified in Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science databases, followed by their sifter according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline and with an emphasis on their results. The assessment of the selected studies pointed out that salinity is one of the factors significantly affecting tomato growth in all stages of plant development. Therefore, more research to find solutions to increase the tolerance of tomato plants to salinity stress is needed. Furthermore, the findings reported in this review are helpful to select, and apply appropriate cropping practices to sustain tomato market demand in a scenario of increasing salinity in arable lands due to soil water deficit, use of low-quality water in farming and intensive agronomic practices

Influenţa cultivarului, a epocii de înfiinţare şi a densităţii la cultura de quinoa pentru frunze asupra unor indicatori de producţie

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is known in the world for its grain and almost not for leaf consumption. In Romania there are no technological elements of cultivation to ensure the sustainability of the leaves crops. Quinoa is not a cosmopolitan species, rarely cultivated, without knowing the nutritional qualities of the leaves.The aim of the experiment was to study some technological measures regarding the cultivation of quinoa species for leaves under the conditions in eastern Romania.The best yield results were obtained by Titicaca cultivar (34.12 t/ha),the density of 7.7 million plants/ha (34.37 t/ha) and the crop established were on 3.04 of each year (47.46 t/ha).Except for Puno cultivar, there is no direct correlation between the foliar surface and the production achieved

Consumer behavior from Moldova area towards organic food

This study tried to get knowledge of consumer behavior from Moldova area, towards organic food products. It was performed on sample of 225 respondents and the data obtained from the survey were analyzed by SPSS version 20 program by chi-square test and correlation analysis. As a research method to quantitatively study used a questionnaire applied to their face to face by interviewers. The instrument used was a questionnaire consisting of 14 questions, including four sections: filter questions, consumer behavior, perception differences between organic and conventional foods (common) and demographic characteristics. The main points of purchase organic products are: domestic market, supermarket and health food stores. Of the following points of sale where the respondents consider that they can buy ECO food is 29.70% of domestic market responses, 24.90% of responses supermarket and health food store 21.40%. Based on the statistical analysis performed shows that 45.13% of respondents consume organic products several times a week. Regarding the recognition criteria of food ECO, 42.21% of the responses indicate label 33.17% believe organic products appearance and smell of 23.62% using the element of differentiation between organic and conventional products

Biometric Indicators and Yield of Tomato under Conventional and Unconventional Biostimulators

The research consisted of an experiment applying unconventional stimulators to tomato crop, as a measure against chemical stimulators, known as having negative effects on human health. In our research there have been used four unconventional stimulators (Ecostim, AuCl4-50μg, AuCl4-30μg and Chitosan) and a conventional stimulator BNOA, all compared with the untreated control.Application of stimulators in unconventional farming determined lower productions compared to conventional farming, but is an alternative because determined healthy products. In three of the four unconventional variants, the content of macro- and microelements in plants was higher

Preliminary Studies Regarding the Selection of Species and Types of Pot and Container for Vegetable Growing

The purpose of the research reported in this paper was to evaluate the possibility of growing vegetable plants in pots and containers by optimizing the choice of species and cultivars and the type of pot or container based on the information available in the literature and on the basis of our own experience. Taking into account the purpose and objectives of this paper, the study is structured to respond to each  bjective considered. Information on crops in pot and containers shows that if the climatic conditions necessary for growth and development areoptimal, basically any vegetable species can be grown in this system (Purnell, 2007). Concerning the pots in which vegetable plants can be grown, they are diverse and may be chosen specifically for this type of culture or can be assigned to provide the space necessary for plant growth for different species

Organic fertilizing effect on the sweet pepper crop in poly-tunnels, in NE area of Romania, during the conversion period

In the last years, the ecological agriculture has seen worldwide exquisite advancement. Ecological sweet pepper crop, produced in poly-tunnels will be successful only if there is an adequate fertilization programme and biological crop protection management. Therefore, the ecological vegetables crops will have the guaranteed success as long as they will be efficient. To obtain a certified biological production, it was necessary to pass through a conversion period, of two years in the pepper crop. For farmers, the conversion period represented the most difficult step, because this stage was the moment when the farmer could estimate if the farm is or not economically profitable. It is the time when most of the farmers give up this system and choose again the conventional one

Tomato Production Influenced by Variety, Irrigation and Organic Fertilization

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most cultivated crops in the world, offering many opportunities for research and marketing also. High productions, in conditions of economic sustainability and assured food safety, can only be achieved through the rational use of cultivation technologies, irrigation, fertilization and use of some cultivars with potential genetically performances. To achieve this goal, the present experiment focused on studying the influence of four tomato cultivars (Siriana F1, Minaret F1, HTP F1 and Inima de bou), in two irrigation regimes (5200 respectively 7800 m3) under chicken drops fertilizer compared with a non-fertilized control. The treatments used induced the increase of the fruit number per plant, ranging from 18 to 65%, statistically significant results (p<0.05) being obtained with the organic fertilizer on Minaret cultivar and the higher water quantity, compared to the control version. The highest production was obtained in the HTP F1 cultivars under organic fertilization and 7800 m3/ha irrigation

Comparative behaviour for a new assortment of dwarf French beans in Iaşi area

In the present paper are presents eight new bean garden varieties, under production conditions from Moldova Agricultural Society from Tiganasi, Iasi, from official catalog of seed varieties of the EU, in order to promote their crops. In 2012, have been made observations and biometric measurements agro-productively main features: early and total production of pods, production dinamic and seed production per hectare etc. The best results for early production (due on 11/06/2012) have been obtained by cultivars: Maxidor (5958.38 kg/ha), Saxa (5910.45 kg/ha), Scylla (5811.02 kg/ha) and Cassandra (5766.33 kg/ha). Total production distinguished themselves cultivars: Scylla (13136.94 kg/ha), Minidor (12977.64 kg/ha) and Slenderette (11920.95 kg/ha)