Arundo donax - Società Italiana di Agronomia

Transcript

Società Italiana di Agronomia
Atti del XLV Convegno della
La ricerca agronomica verso il 2030:
gli obiettivi globali di sviluppo sostenibile
Università degli Studi di Sassari
20-22 settembre 2016
Italian Society for Agronomy
Proceedings of
the XLV Conference of the
Italian Society for Agronomy
The agronomy research towards 2030:
the Sustainable Developement Goals
University of Sassari
20-22 September 2016
A cura di
Edit by
Giovanna Seddaiu
Pier Paolo Roggero
Antonio Pulina
Comitato Scientifico
Scientific Committee
Carlo Grignani (Presidente)
Michele Pisante
Giovanni Argenti
Paolo Benincasa
Raffaele Casa
Marcello Donatelli
Marcella Giuliani
Andrea Monti
Giovanna Seddaiu
www.siagr.it
ISBN 978-88-904387-3-8
Grafica di copertina a cura di
Cover graphics by
Alberto Pintus
Ufficio Eventi e Convegni
Università degli Studi di Sassari
I lavori in questi Atti devono essere citati come segue:
The correct citation of article in this book is:
Authors, 2016. Title. Proceedings of XLV Conference of Italian Society for Agronomy (Seddaiu G,
Roggero PP and Pulina A Eds.), Sassari (Italy), 20th-22nd September 2016, pag x-y
CONTENTS
Cropping Systems and Climate Change .......................................................................... 1
Poster.................................................................................................................................................. 2
Soil Respiration Dynamics in Conventional Cropping Systems Compared to Transhumant Grazing
Systems in Central Italy .......................................................................................................................... 3
MATTEO FRANCIONI, ROBERTO LAI, PARIDE D’OTTAVIO, LAURA TROZZO, KATARINA BUDIMIR, ELMIR SEDIĆ,
PIETRO AVANZOLINI, MARCO TODERI
Use of Crop Simulation Models to Study Durum Wheat Phenological and Productive Response at
Variation of Sowing Date ....................................................................................................................... 5
GLORIA PADOVAN, ROBERTO FERRISE, LAURA ERCOLI, IDUNA ARDUINI, MARCO BINDI
Evaluation of Crop Residue Management as a Strategy of Adaptation and Mitigation to Climate
Change .................................................................................................................................................... 7
DOMENICO VENTRELLA, LUISA GIGLIO, MARCO BINDI, BRUNO BASSO, UMBERTO BONCIARELLI, ANNA
DALLAMARTA, FRANCESCO DANUSO, LUCA DORO, ROBERTO FERRISE, FRANCESCO FORNARO, PASQUALE
GAROFALO, FABRIZIO GINALDI, ILEANA IOCOLA, PAOLO MERANTE, LAURA MULA, ANDREA ONOFRI, SIMONE
ORLANDINI, MASSIMILIANO PASQUI, RODICA TOMOZEIU, GIULIA VILLANI, ALESSANDRO VITTORIO VONELLA,
PIER PAOLO ROGGERO
Soil Nitrous Oxide Mitigation Potential of Agricultural Practices in Mediterranean Environment .......9
SIMONA BOSCO, IRIDE VOLPI, NICOLETTA NASSI O DI NASSO, PATRICIA LAVILLE, GIORGIO VIRGILI, ENRICO
BONARI
SOC Vertical Distribution in Conservation Agriculture Systems. Evidence of Poor Carbon
Sequestration in NE Italy ...................................................................................................................... 11
ILARIA PICCOLI, FRANCESCA CHIARINI, LORENZO FURLAN, BARBARA LAZZARO, ANTONIO BERTI, FRANCESCO
MORARI
Impacts of Climate Change on SOC Dynamic and Crop Yield of Italian Rainfed Wheat-Maize
Cropping Systems Managed with Conventional or Conservation Tillage Practices ............................. 13
ILEANA IOCOLA, DANIELE ANTICHI, BRUNO BASSO, ANNA DALLAMARTA, FRANCESCO DANUSO, LUCA DORO,
ROBERTA FARINA, ROBERTO FERRISE, FABRIZIO GINALDI, PAOLO MERANTE, MARCO MAZZONCINI, LAURA
MULA, ROBERTO ORSINI, MASSIMILIANO PASQUI, RODICA TOMOZEIU, DOMENICO VENTRELLA, GIULIA
VILLANI, LUIGI ZUCCARO, PIER PAOLO ROGGERO
Crop Rotations Improve Adaptation to Climate Change in a Mediterranean Area ............................... 15
ROBERTA FARINA, ROSA FRANCAVIGLIA, ANTONIO TROCCOLI
N2O Emissions in a Silage Maize Crop Under Mediterranean Conditions ........................................... 17
ANTONIO PULINA, MARGHERITA RIZZU, CHIARA BERTORA, AGOSTINO PIREDDA, GIOVANNA SEDDAIU,
ROBERTO LAI, CARLO GRIGNANI, PIER PAOLO ROGGERO
Energy and Greenhouse Gas Analysis in Faba Bean Production: Implications of Conservation
Technique ............................................................................................................................................. 19
SALEM ALHAJJ ALI, LUIGI TEDONE, LEONARDO VERDINI, GIUSEPPE DE MASTRO
Importance of Crop Model Parameterization for Climate Change Studies at National Scale ............... 21
DAVIDE CAMMARANO, MIKE RIVINGTON, KEITH MATTHWES, DOUGLAS WARDELL-JOHNSON
I
Effect of Saline Conditions on Germination of Herbicide-Resistant and Sensitive Echinochloa crusgalli Populations Collected in Italian Rice Fields ................................................................................. 23
FRANCESCO VIDOTTO, FRANCESCA SERRA, SILVIA FOGLIATTO, ALDO FERRERO
Cropping Systems and Land Degradation Neutrality ................................................. 25
Oral Communications..................................................................................................................... 26
The Sheep-Track Network and the High Nature Value Farmland in the Apulia region: a Strategy for
a Systemic Conservation ....................................................................................................................... 27
ANNA RITA BERNADETTE CAMMERINO, ROBERTA DE IULIO, STEFANO BISCOTTI, MASSIMO MONTELEONE
Strip Tillage and Sowing: is Precision Planting Indispensable in Silage Maize? ................................. 29
PAOLO BENINCASA, ANDREA ZORZI, FRANCESCO PANELLA, GIACOMO TOSTI, MATTIA TREVINI
Different Soil Tillage and Nitrogen Fertilization in Durum Wheat: Effect on Yield and Nitrogen
Utilization ............................................................................................................................................. 31
NICOLETTA NASSI O DI NASSO, IRIDE VOLPI, SIMONA BOSCO, JONATHAN TRABUCCO, CRISTIANO TOZZINI,
FABIO TACCINI, STEFANIA NUVOLI, LUIGI FABBRINI, ENRICO BONARI
Poster................................................................................................................................................ 33
The Potential of Native Plants to Accumulate Heavy Metals from an Industrial Polluted Soil:
Preliminary Results ............................................................................................................................... 34
DONATO VISCONTI, LAURA GIOIA, NUNZIO FIORENTINO, ADRIANO STINCA, ANTONIO G. CAPORALE,
RICCARDO MOTTI, PAOLA ADAMO, MASSIMO FAGNANO
Soil-Waste Management as a Chance to Boost Soil Recovery and Promote Land Restoration ........... 36
MASSIMO MONTELEONE, MARCELLA MICHELA GIULIANI, GIOVANNI DE CRISTOFARO, BRUNO GRANELLA
Effect of the Application of Mucilage from Seeds of Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) on the Physical
Characteristics of Agricultural Soils ..................................................................................................... 38
MARIANA AMATO, LAURA SCRANO, ANTONIO DI MARSICO, MICHELE PERNIOLA, VIRGINIA LANZOTTI,
ROBERTA ROSSI
Soil Organic Carbon and Soil Stability Status Under Legume-Wheat Rotation ................................... 40
LEONARDO VERDINI, LUIGI TEDONE, SALEM ALHAJJ ALI, GIUSEPPE DE MASTRO
Accumulation of Zn and Cr in Native Plants Growing on a Farmland Polluted by Illegal Tannery
Sludges Disposal: Preliminary Results ................................................................................................. 42
DONATO VISCONTI, LAURA GIOIA, NUNZIO FIORENTINO, ADRIANO STINCA, DIANA AGRELLI, RICCARDO
MOTTI, PAOLA ADAMO, MASSIMO FAGNANO
A Model Application for Agronomic and Soil Fertility Assessment in Wheat Soil Tillage and
Residues Management .......................................................................................................................... 44
MICHELE RINALDI, EMANUELE SCALCIONE, MICHELE PERNIOLA, CARMEN MADDALUNO, PASQUALE
GAROFALO
Erasmus +: Interuniversity Learning in Higher Education on Advanced Land Management Egypt
Country - ILHAM-EC........................................................................................................................... 46
LUCIANO GUTIERREZ, AHMED ABDEL-MAWGOOD, BASSEM ASHOUR, AHMED GAD, FAWZY KISHK,
KONSTADINOS MATTAS, LINDSAY STRINGER
Experiences of Sod Seeding and Minimum Tillage in Two Regional Agricultural Realities: Rice and
Forage ................................................................................................................................................... 48
II
MARCELLO ONORATO, FRANCESCA FANTOLA, ROBERTO PEDDIS, PAOLO SCHIRRU, MARIANO VACCA, MARCO
GERARDI, GUIDO DARDANI, SALVATORE FILIGHEDDU, PIERO LAI
Sustainable Management of Natural Resources ........................................................... 50
Oral Communications..................................................................................................................... 51
Assessment of Feeding Preferences of Wild Animals in Forage Resources ......................................... 52
GIOVANNI ARGENTI, VERONICA RACANELLI, SARA BARTOLOZZI, NICOLINA STAGLIANÒ, FRANCESCO
SORBETTI GUERRI
Environmental Implications of Different Production Systems in a Sardinian Dairy Sheep Farm ........ 54
ENRICO VAGNONI AND ANTONELLO FRANCA
The DIAnA Project: Integrating Soil and Crop Sensing Methods to Support Nitrogen Fertilization
on Wheat and Barley............................................................................................................................. 56
SIMONE BREGAGLIO, BIANCA ORTUANI, MARTINA CORTI, GIOVANNI CABASSI, DANIELE CAVALLI, ERMES
MOVEDI, CARLO GILARDELLI, LUIGI DEGANO, ROBERTO CONFALONIERI, ARIANNA FACCHI, GIANLUCA
GALASSI, LUCIO BOSCHI, LUCA CASARICO, EDOARDO MAGNANI, CELESTE RIGHI RICCO, DOMENICO DITTO,
PIETRO MARINO GALLINA
Poster................................................................................................................................................ 58
Sustainable Weed Management in Precision Agriculture: the Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
(UAV) ................................................................................................................................................... 59
FEDERICO PELOSI, FABIO CASTALDI, SIMONE PASCUCCI, RAFFAELE CASA
Effect of Soil Tillage System on Weed Emergence Patterns in Field ................................................... 61
ROBERTA MASIN, DONATO LODDO, GIUSEPPE ZANIN
Farmers’ Perception of Organic Fertilizers Use in Italy ....................................................................... 63
SEAN D.C. CASE, LAURA ZAVATTARO, FABRIZIO GIOELLI, CHIARA COSTAMAGNA, DAVIDE ASSANDRI, CARLO
GRIGNANI, PAOLO BALSARI, MYLES OELOFSE, YONG HOU, OENE OENEMA, LARS S. JENSEN
Optimizing Topdressing Fertilization Through Ground Sensing Measurements in Rice ..................... 65
ELEONORA CORDERO, BARBARA MORETTI, ELEONORA MINIOTTI, DANIELE TENNI, GIANLUCA BELTARRE,
MARCO ROMANI, DARIO SACCO
Evolution of Soil Organic Carbon Content in Lombardy Plain (Northern Italy) from Conventional
Tillage to Conservation Agriculture Practices ...................................................................................... 67
ALESSIA PEREGO, MATTEO SANTESSO, MARCELLO ERMIDO CHIODINI, ALBERTO ROCCA, CALOGERO
SCHILLACI, STEFANO BRENNA, MARCO ACUTIS
Characterization of Autochthonous Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria in Relation to Durum Wheat
Nitrogen Use Efficiency ....................................................................................................................... 69
NILDE A. DI BENEDETTO, DANIELA CAMPANIELLO, ANTONIO BEVILACQUA, MARIAGRAZIA P. CATALDI,
MARIA ROSARIA CORBO, MILENA SINIGAGLIA, ZINA FLAGELLA
Life Project REWAT: Sustainable Water Management in the Lower Cornia Valley ........................... 71
CHIARA MARCHINA, ALBERTO MANTINO, ENRICO BONARI, ALESSANDRO FABBRIZZI, RUDY ROSSETTO
Use of Solid Digestate as Growing Media for the Production of Horticultural Crops. ......................... 73
DOMENICO RONGA, NICOLA PECCHIONI, JUSTYNA MILC, STEFANO TAGLIAVINI, MASSIMO ZAGHI, ENRICO
FRANCIA
Effect of Different Mulching Films on Yield and Quality of Zucchini Grown in Greenhouse ............ 75
III
EUGENIO COZZOLINO, IDA DI MOLA, VINCENZO LEONE, LUIGI GIUSEPPE DURI, LAURA GIOIA, MASSIMO
FAGNANO, MAURO MORI
Effects of New Mulching Films in San Marzano Tomato .................................................................... 77
IDA DI MOLA, EUGENIO COZZOLINO, LUCIA OTTAIANO, VINCENZO LEONE, SABRINA NOCERINO, RICCARDO
RICCARDI, MAURO MORI, MASSIMO FAGNANO
Application of Photo-Selective Films to Manipulate Wavelength of Transmitted Radiation in Onion
.............................................................................................................................................................. 79
S. D’EGIDIO, G. PAGNANI, A. GALIENI, S. SPECA, F. STAGNARI, M. PISANTE
Testing the Potential Applications of the Uavs Imagery through a Long Term Experiment on Tillage
and Nitrogen Fertilization of Rainfed Durum Wheat Under Mediterranean Conditions: Description
of an Experimental Protocol ................................................................................................................. 81
ROBERTO ORSINI, CARLO ALBERTO BOZZI, ADRIANO MANCINI, SIMONE TIBERI, SOLOMON TADESSE
ENDESHAW, RODOLFO SANTILOCCHI, ANDREA GALLI, GIORGIO MURRI, GIOVANNA SEDDAIU, ILEANA
IOCOLA, PIER PAOLO ROGGERO
Water Footprint of Urban Agriculture: a First Assessment in Rome Urban Gardens ........................... 83
ANNA DALLA MARTA, FLAVIO LUPIA, FRANCESCA GIARÈ, ALESSANDRO MONTELEONE
Top-Soil Pore-Size Distribution and Wheat Root Mass Density after 13 Years of No-Till: First
Results................................................................................................................................................... 85
ROSSI R., CASTELLINI M., STELLACCI A.M., VONELLA A.V., GIGLIO. L., FORNARO F.
Comparison of Different Multivariate Methods to Select Key Soil Variables for Soil Quality Indices
Computation.......................................................................................................................................... 87
A.M. STELLACCI, E. ARMENISE, R. ROSSI, C. VITTI, M. CASTELLINI, R. LEOGRANDE, V. VONELLA, G.A.
VIVALDI, D. VENTRELLA, M. AMATO
Physiological Characteristics of Ancient Durum Wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum) Varieties
Inoculated with Endophytes .................................................................................................................. 89
GIANCARLO PAGNANI, SARA D’EGIDIO, ANGELICA GALIENI, FEDERICA MATTEUCCI, STEFANO SPECA,
MADDALENA DEL GALLO, FABIO STAGNARI, MICHELE PISANTE
Wild Plant Species in the City of Palermo (Italy): Identification and Valorization for Ornamental
Purposes ................................................................................................................................................ 91
TERESA TUTTOLOMONDO, CLAUDIO LETO, GIUSEPPE VIRGA, MARIA CRISTINA GENNARO, MARIO LICATA,
ALFONSO LA ROSA, MARIA LETIZIA GARGANO, GIUSEPPE VENTURELLA, SALVATORE LA BELLA
Long Term Effect of Conservation Agriculture on Soil in the Mediterranean Basin ........................... 93
GIANLUCA CARBONI AND PAOLO MULÈ
Ecological and Pastoral Value of Ex-Arable Lands: the Case Study of the Alta Murgia National Park
.............................................................................................................................................................. 95
MARIANO FRACCHIOLLA, MASSIMO TERZI, LUIGI TEDONE, EUGENIO CAZZATO
Nitrogen Use Efficiency in One Year Horticulture Succession Fertilized With Digestate Solid
Fraction ................................................................................................................................................. 97
CARMELO MAUCIERI, CARLO NICOLETTO, PAOLO SAMBO, MAURIZIO BORIN
Cropping Systems and Food Security ........................................................................... 99
Oral Communications................................................................................................................... 100
IV
The Impact of Environmental Conditions and Crop Practices on the Contamination of Emerging
Mycotoxins in Cereals ........................................................................................................................ 101
MASSIMO BLANDINO, VALENTINA SCARPINO, FRANCESCA VANARA, MICHAEL SULYOK, AMEDEO REYNERI
Effects of Seeding Season and Density on Yield, Proximate Composition and Total Tannins Content
of Two Kabuli Chickpea Cultivars ..................................................................................................... 103
ROBERTO RUGGERI, RICCARDO PRIMI, PIER PAOLO DANIELI, BRUNO RONCHI, FRANCESCO ROSSINI
Assessment of Storage Protein Composition in Old and Modern Durum Wheat Genotypes ............. 105
MICHELE ANDREA DE SANTIS, MARCELLA MICHELA GIULIANI, LUIGIA GIUZIO, PASQUALE DE VITA, ZINA
FLAGELLA
Molecules Which Improve Crop Response to Salinity and Drought Stress ........................................ 107
ALBINO MAGGIO, GIAMPAOLO RAIMONDI, MICHAEL VAN OOSTEN, GIANCARLO BARBIERI, STEFANIA DE
PASCALE, YOUSSEF ROUPHAEL, EMILIO DI STASIO, SILVIA SILLETTI, VALERIO CIRILLO
Agronomic Biofortification Affects Iron and Zinc Concentration and Nutraceuticals in Wheat Flour
and Bread ............................................................................................................................................ 109
VALENTINA CICCOLINI, ANTONIO COCCINA, ELISA PELLEGRINO, LAURA ERCOLI
Modelling the Genetic Variability and Genotype by Environment Interactions for Leaf Growth and
Senescence in Wheat........................................................................................................................... 111
PIERRE MARTRE, ANAËLLE DAMBREVILLE, ANDREA MAIORANO
Growing Lettuce Under Multispectral LED Lamps With Adjustable Light Intensity: Preliminary
Results................................................................................................................................................. 113
GIACOMO TOSTI, EURO PANNACCI, MARCELLO GUIDUCCI, PAOLO BENINCASA, MICHELA FARNESELLI,
ANDREA ONOFRI, FRANCESCO TEI
Mechanical Weed Control in Organic Winter Wheat ......................................................................... 115
EURO PANNACCI, FRANCESCO TEI, MARCELLO GUIDUCCI
Cereal-Legume Mixtures for Annual Forage Crop under Mediterranean Conditions ........................ 117
RITA A. M. MELIS, PAOLO ANNICCHIARICO AND CLAUDIO PORQUEDDU
Poster.............................................................................................................................................. 119
Agronomic Assessment of Soybean Cultivated in Southern Italy ...................................................... 120
EUGENIO NARDELLA, GIUSEPPE GATTA, FEDERICA CARUCCI, ROBERTO ANZIVINO, MICHELE CASCAVILLA,
DMITRY KUZNETSOV, MARCELLA MICHELA GIULIANI
Agronomic Methods to Control Parasitic Phelipanche ramosa (L.) Pomel in Processing Tomato
Crop .................................................................................................................................................... 122
GRAZIA DISCIGLIO, GIUSEPPE GATTA, LAURA FRABBONI, EMANUELE TARANTINO
TIP: a Flexible Tool for Integrated Agriculture .................................................................................. 124
FRANCESCO SAVIAN, PAOLO CECCON, FRANCESCO DANUSO
Development of a Smart App for Deriving 3D Distributions of the Angles of Photosynthetic Tissues
............................................................................................................................................................ 126
R. CONFALONIERI, C. ZOPPOLATO, E. GRASSI, M. DIFRANCESCO, R. DUÒ, L. SCOPELLITI, D. LOMBARDI, C.
AGAPE, L. BAIA, A. GHILARDI, A. MAGARINI, M. SALVAN, F. MASSARA, G. BARONCHELLI, P. PAPETTI, G.
TOMASONI, A. VAILATI, O. VITTORI, A. ZANI, C. MICHELINI, R. RAVASI, M. COLALUCE, L. ROSSI, M.
MARTINELLI, T. TADIELLO, D. PARATICO, K. VALLOGGIA, I. FERRI, D. LOCATI, A. GEROSA, E. COLOMBO, P.
PITERÀ, P. INCONDI, D. DI GAETANO, L. ANTONIETTI, F. MASSI, G. BORLINI, F. FANTI, I. MINUSSI, S. VIGANÒ,
D. BASSI, A. NEGRO, L. MONOPOLI, U. ROLLA, R. MOTTA,A. MARABOTTI, E. CARUGNO, M. BUGANA, P. DAL
V
CIN, S. URZÌ, D. BERTOCCHI, S. TARTARINI, W. THOELKE, A. CURATOLO, F. BELLOMI, D. COLOMBO, F.
NOVELLI, A. ROTA GRAZIOSI, D. GAIA, V. FAUDA, A. BRUMANA, M. CHIARAVALLI, F. FEDELI, D. NOÈ, F.
PEREZ, A. RODIGARI, S. CELOZZI, G. LONGARI, M. REBOLINI, G. ZAMBONI, E. MOVEDI, L. PALEARI, V.
PAGANI, T. GUARNERI, M. FOI
Increase of Iron and Zinc Concentration in Grain of Bread Wheat Field-Inoculated with Arbuscular
Mycorrhizal Fungi .............................................................................................................................. 128
LAURA ERCOLI, GAIA PIAZZA, VALENTINA CICCOLINI, ENRICO BONARI, ELISA PELLEGRINO
Evolution of Phenolic Acids and Antioxidant Activity During Kernel Development of Maize and
Correlation With Mycotoxin Contamination ...................................................................................... 130
DEBORA GIORDANO, TRUST BETA, AMEDEO REYNERI, MASSIMO BLANDINO
Farming Systems Dynamics at The Urban Region Level: The Case of The Area Pisana ................... 132
IRUNE RUIZ-MARTINEZ, SABINE GENNAI-SCHOTT, TIZIANA SABBATINI, ENRICO BONARI, ELISA MARRACCINI
Effects of Trichoderma on Growth and Nitrogen Uptake of Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) .................. 134
NUNZIO FIORENTINO, ARMANDO DE ROSA, LAURA GIOIA, MAURO SENATORE, DONATO VISCONTI, LUCIA
OTTAIANO, VINCENZO CENVINZO, EUGENIO COZZOLINO, YOUSSEF ROUPHAEL, SHERIDAN WOO, MAURO
MORI, MASSIMO FAGNANO
Effect of Hoagland Nutrient Solution on Mineral Content of Radish (Raphanus sativusL.)
Microgreens ........................................................................................................................................ 136
VANESSA DE SIMONE, MARCELLA MICHELA GIULIANI, GIANCARLO COLELLI, ZINA FLAGELLA
Salt-Stress Tolerance of Tomato Inoculated with Azotobacter chrococcum and Nitrogen
Assimilation ........................................................................................................................................ 138
MICHAEL JAMES VAN OOSTEN, EMLIO DI STASIO, SILVIA SILLETTI, GIAMPAOLO RAIMONDI, OLIMPIA PEPE
AND ALBINO MAGGIO
Algal Derivatives Effects on The Nutrient Use Efficiency and Plant Growth of Tomato Under Salt
Stress ................................................................................................................................................... 140
EMILIO DI STASIO, GIAMPAOLO RAIMONDI, MICHAEL VAN OOSTEN, SILVIA SILLETTI, VALERIO CIRILLO,
PETRONIA CARILLO, ALBINO MAGGIO
Comparison Between Municipal Solid Waste Compost and Mineral Fertilization in Forage and
Grain Barley Crop ............................................................................................................................... 142
LORENZO SALIS, MARIA SITZIA, GIANLUCA CARBONI, PAOLO MULÈ, ANDREA CABIDDU
Productivity of a New Cultivar of Early Potato in Acerra’s Plain ...................................................... 144
MAURO MORI, IDA DI MOLA, SABRINA NOCERINO, MAURO MAZZEI, RICCARDO RICCARDI, MASSIMO
FAGNANO, EUGENIO COZZOLINO
Effect of Different Nitrogen Doses on Yield and Quality of Zucchini Grown in Greenhouse ........... 146
IDA DI MOLA, EUGENIO COZZOLINO, LUCIA OTTAIANO, LUIGI GIUSEPPE DURI, VINCENZO CENVINZO,
MASSIMO FAGNANO, MAURO MORI
Potentially Toxic Elements in Vegetables for Biomonitoring Environmental Quality of Campania
Region ................................................................................................................................................. 148
LUCIA OTTAIANO, LUIGI GIUSEPPE DURI, NOCERINO SABRINA, MAURO MORI, VINCENZO LEONE, MARIELLA
PASSARI, MASSIMO FAGNANO
Agricultural Reuse of Industrial Process By-Product: The Effect of Lignocellulosic Biomasses
Processing Waste on Durum Wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) Seed Germination ................................ 150
MARIA GIORDANO, MARIA ISABELLA SIFOLA, MIRELLA SORRENTINO, ANTONIO PANNICO, STEFANIA DE
PASCALE
VI
Vegetation Indices to Estimate Phytochemical Content in Asparagus officinalis L. .......................... 152
ANGELICA GALIENI, FABIO STAGNARI, MICHELE PISANTE, SARA D’EGIDIO, GIANCARLO PAGNANI, STEFANO
SPECA, ALDO BERTONE, MARIA ASSUNTA DATTOLI, CRISTIANO PLATANI, MARIA SILVIA SEBASTIANI, NADIA
FICCADENTI
Field Co-Inoculation with Mycorrhizas and Rhizobia Greatly Increases Grain Quality of Soybean . 154
ELISA PELLEGRINO, ALBERTO MANTINO, ENRICO BONARI, LAURA ERCOLI
Growing Performance of Short- and Long-Day Genotypes of Salvia hispanica L. Under Different
Plant Density and Irrigation in a Mediterranean Environment ........................................................... 156
ROCCO BOCHICCHIO, ROSANNA LABELLA, GIANFRANCO BITELLA, TIM D. PHILLIPS, ROBERTA ROSSI,
MICHELE PERNIOLA, MARIANA AMATO
Tomato Growth and Nematicidal Response to Soil Treatments with Essential Oils .......................... 158
SEBASTIANO LAQUALE, MICHELE PERNIOLA, VINCENZO CANDIDO, TRIFONE D’ADDABBO
Detection of Micotoxins in Kernels of Durum Wheat in Sardinia, Italy: results of 6 Years of
Investigation........................................................................................................................................ 160
GIUSEPPA GODDI, BRUNO SATTA, TONINO SELIS, GIUSEPPINA EMONTI, FRANCO MASIA, UMBERTO PIRISI,
VIRGILIO BALMAS
DSS for IPM in Sardinian Precision Farming ..................................................................................... 162
MARCELLO ONORATO, GIANVITTORIO SALE, MARCO GERARDI, SALVATORE ARESU
Renewable Sources and No Food Cropping Systems ................................................. 164
Oral Communications................................................................................................................... 165
Impact of the Growing Conditions on the Oil Content and Fatty Acid Metabolism in Developing
Camelina Seeds ................................................................................................................................... 166
DARIA RIGHINI, FEDERICA ZANETTI, MARA MANDRIOLI, GIUSEPPE DI GIROLAMO, ANGELA VECCHI, TULLIA
GALLINA TOSCHI, ANDREA MONTI
Side-by-Side comparison of Mediterranean Perennial Grasses for Lignocellulosic Feedstock
Production ........................................................................................................................................... 168
DANILO SCORDIA, GIORGIO TESTA, SILVIO CALCAGNO, GIANCARLO PATANÈ, VENERA COPANI, CRISTINA
PATANÈ, SALVATORE L. COSENTINO
Soil Respiration as Affected by Conventional Tillage in a Maize-Wheat Rotation or by a Perennial
Energy Crop ........................................................................................................................................ 170
ANDREA NOCENTINI, ANDREA MONTI
Poster.............................................................................................................................................. 172
Performance of New Cultivars for Italian Burley Tobacco Areas ...................................................... 173
EUGENIO COZZOLINO, FRANCESCO RAIMO, MASSIMO ABET, MARIAROSARIA SICIGNANO, GIOVANNI
SCOGNAMIGLIO, ANTONIO MOSÈ, SALVATORE BAIANO, TOMMASO ENOTRIO, LUISA DEL PIANO
Seasonal Dynamics of Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) Aboveground Biomass and Nutrient
Uptakes under Mediterranean conditions ............................................................................................ 175
NICOLETTA NASSI O DI NASSO, MARIA VALENTINA LASORELLA, CRISTIANO TOZZINI, FABIO TACCINI, ENRICO
BONARI
Carthamus tinctorius L.: New Opportunity for Organic Cropping Systems of Hilly Lands of Central
Italy ..................................................................................................................................................... 177
VII
SILVIA TAVARINI, LARA FOSCHI, MARCO MAZZONCINI, DANIELE ANTICHI, LUCIANA G. ANGELINI
Physical-Chemical Characterization of Sambucus ebulus L. and Sambucus nigra L. for their Use in
The Anaerobic Digestion Process ....................................................................................................... 179
ANNA GAGLIARDI, MARIANGELA D'ANTUONO, MATTEO FRANCAVILLA, GIUSEPPE GATTA
Giant Reed Growth Analysis in Marginal Soils of Southern Italy. Second Year Results ................... 181
VINCENZO CENVINZO, ARMANDO DE ROSA, DONATO VISCONTI, VINCENZO LEONE, NUNZIO FIORENTINO,
MAURO MORI, MASSIMO FAGNANO
Effect of Cover Crops on Nitrogen Uptake, Soil Water Content and Biomass Production in a Short
Rotation Poplar Plantation .................................................................................................................. 183
NICOLA SILVESTRI, VITTORIA GIANNINI, DANIELE ANTICHI
Evaluating Wild Miscanthus Germplasm for Biomass Potential in a Mediterranean Environment ... 185
GIOVANNI SCALICI, GIORGIO TESTA, DANILO SCORDIA, MARIA SCIFO, SILVIO CALCAGNO, SALVATORE L.
COSENTINO
Influence of Planting Density and Pre-Flowering Topping on Tobacco Yield of Seed Oil ................ 187
EUGENIO COZZOLINO, FRANCESCO DE LUCIA, PATRIZIA SPIGNO, IDA DI MOLA, VISCONTI DONATO, LUIGI
GIUSEPPE DURI, MAURO MORI, MASSIMO FAGNANO
The Normalized Water Productivity (WP) of Giant Reed (Arundo donax L.): A Case Study of
Southern Italy ...................................................................................................................................... 189
ADRIANA IMPAGLIAZZO, MASSIMO FAGNANO, MAURO MORI, NUNZIO FIORENTINO, IDA DI MOLA, LUCIA
OTTAIANO, ANTONELLO BONFANTE
Productive Differences Between Two-Year and Four-Year Cutting Cycle of Short Rotation Forestry
............................................................................................................................................................ 191
MAURO MORI, IDA DI MOLA, EUGENIO COZZOLINO, ADRIANA IMPAGLIAZZO, VINCENZO CENVINZO,
ARMANDO DE ROSA, MASSIMO FAGNANO
First Yield Data on The Influence of Mycorrhizae Treatment on Cardoon Genotypes ...................... 193
LUCIA OTTAIANO, IDA DI MOLA, EUGENIO COZZOLINO, ADRIANA IMPAGLIAZZO, PATRIZIA SPIGNO, MAURO
MORI, MASSIMO FAGNANO
A Two-Year Effect of Irrigation on an Old Plantation (19 Years) of Giant Reed Clones .................. 195
GIORGIO TESTA, DANILO SCORDIA, VENERA COPANI, EZIO RIGGI, SARAH SIDELLA, MAURO CENTRITTO,
SALVATORE LUCIANO COSENTINO
Is Lignocellulosic Bioethanol Yield of Perennial Grasses Affected by Nitrogen Fertilization and
Harvest Time Effect? .......................................................................................................................... 197
DANILO SCORDIA, GIORGIO TESTA, SILVIO CALCAGNO, GIOVANNI SCALICI, SARAH SIDELLA, SANTO
VIRGILLITO, VENERA COPANI, CRISTINA PATANÈ, SALVATORE L. COSENTINO
A two-year trial of nitrogen and harvest time effect on biomass yield of Miscanthus and giant reed
in the South Mediterranean area ......................................................................................................... 199
DANILO SCORDIA, GIORGIO TESTA, GIOVANNI SCALICI, SARAH SIDELLA, MARIA SCIFO, GIANCARLO PATANÈ,
VENERA COPANI, CRISTINA PATANÈ, SALVATORE L. COSENTINO
Response Of Arundo donax L. Clones At Increasing Levels Of Salinity And At Different Soil Water
Content ................................................................................................................................................ 201
SARAH SIDELLA, GIORGIO TESTA, DANILO SCORDIA, VENERA COPANI, SEBASTIANO SCANDURRA, SALVATORE
LUCIANO COSENTINO
Digestate fertilization to giant reed (Arundo donax L.): preliminary results ...................................... 203
VIII
FEDERICO DRAGONI, FRANCESCO SAVASTA, NICOLETTA NASSI O DI NASSO, GIOVANNI PECCHIONI, CRISTIANO
TOZZINI, ENRICO BONARI, GIORGIO RAGAGLINI
New Cultivars for Italian Kentucky Tobacco Industry ....................................................................... 205
FRANCESCO RAIMO, EUGENIO COZZOLINO, ROCCO MESSERE, MASSIMO ABET, MARIAROSARIA SICIGNANO,
ANTONIO MOSÈ, GIOVANNI SCOGNAMIGLIO, SALVATORE BAIANO, FRANCESCO MODESTIA, ANTONIO
SALLUZZO, TOMMASO ENOTRIO, LUISA DEL PIANO
Effects of Implantation Techniques on Arundo donax L. Biomass Yield under Mediterranean
Conditions ........................................................................................................................................... 207
PASQUALE ARCA, GIACOMO PATTERI, MARIA GRISSANTA DIANA, MARCELLA CARTA, FEDERICO GRATI,
TOMMASO BARSALI, PIER PAOLO ROGGERO
Preliminary Study About the Adaptability of Tree and Herbaceous Biomass Crops in Environments
Degraded by Shallow Saline Groundwater ......................................................................................... 209
IDA DI MOLA, EUGENIO COZZOLINO, LUCIA OTTAIANO, NUNZIO FIORENTINO, VINCENZO CENVINZO, LUIGI
DURI, MAURO MORI, MASSIMO FAGNANO
Agronomic Evaluation of New Tobacco Lines for Seed Yield ........................................................... 211
LUISA DEL PIANO, EUGENIO COZZOLINO, FRANCESCO RAIMO, MASSIMO ABET, MARIAROSARIA SICIGNANO,
GIOVANNI SCOGNAMIGLIO, ANTONIO MOSÈ, SALVATORE BAIANO, FRANCESCO MODESTIA, ANTONIO
SALLUZZO, TOMMASO ENOTRIO
Energetic Exploitation of Crop Residues from Globe Artichoke ........................................................ 213
PAOLA A. DELIGIOS, GAVINO SANNA, MARIA T. TILOCA, MARTINA BUFFA, LEONARDO SULAS, LUIGI LEDDA
Case Study on a Pilot CHP Plant Operating on Pure Rapeseed Vegetable Oil ................................... 215
SALVATORE LA BELLA, FABIO MASSARO, IGNAZIO CAMMALLERI, MARIO LICATA, CLAUDIO LETO, GIUSEPPE
VIRGA, TERESA TUTTOLOMONDO
IX
Atti del XLV Convegno della Società Italiana di Agronomia
Sassari, 20-22 Settembre 2016
SESSION
Cropping Systems and Climate Change
1
POSTER
2
Soil Respiration Dynamics in Conventional Cropping
Systems Compared to Transhumant Grazing Systems in
Central Italy
Matteo Francioni1, Roberto Lai2, Paride D’Ottavio1, Laura Trozzo1, Katarina Budimir1, Elmir
Sedić1, Pietro Avanzolini1, Marco Toderi1
1
Dip. di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari ed Ambientali, Univ. Politecnica delle Marche, IT, [email protected]
2
Nucleo Ricerca Desertificazione, Univ. Sassari, IT, [email protected]
Introduction
Conversion of permanent vegetation in cropland can lead to a decrease in soil carbon (C) stock (Lal et
al., 2015). Within the hillside cropping systems of central Italy, the presence of transhumant sheep
farming system allowed the conversion of traditional crops to long lasting alfalfa fields. This work shows
the preliminary results of comparative analysis between transhumant and traditional cropping systems in
order to assess: i) the effects of management on soil physico-chemical properties; ii) the temporal
dynamics of heterotrophic soil respiration (HSR).
Methods
The study site is located in the coastal hills of Marche regions (N 43° 20'35.1" E 13° 36'18.2"). In
November 2014 we identified two adjoined fields, comparable for pedo-climatic characteristics and
different for management: i) one field cultivated with wheat in conventional rotation since 2002 (FD)
and ii) a field with alfalfa grazed by a transhumant sheep flock since 2003 (M6). For each plot we
installed 3 PVC cylinders (10 cm inner diameter and 10 cm length, with perforated walls in the first 5
cm).The soil inside the plots was isolated with a PVC cylinder (40 cm diameter, 40 cm high) opened at
both ends according to Alberti et al. (2010). HSR efflux was measured in situ using a portable, closed
chamber, soil respiration system (EGM-4 with SRC-1, PP-Systems, Hitchin, UK) equipped with a
thermometer probe. At each HSR measurement, soil temperature (T) and soil volumetric water content
(SWC) were measured, respectively at 10 cm and over 0-20 cm soil depth. SWC was measured using a
FieldScout TDR 100. Soil physico-chemical analysis were performed on 3 soil samples collected in the
0-30 cm layer for both field at the beginning of the study. We investigated the HSR dependence to soil
T and SWC by regression analyses. One-way ANOVA was performed for testing the management effect
on soil physico-chemical variables and, within date, on HSR, SWC and T.
Results
Significant and very significant differences were observed between managements in terms of Total
Organic Carbon (TOC), Extractable Organic Carbon (TEC) and Carbon to Nitrogen ratio (C/N) (Tab.1).
Tab. 1. Soil chemical-physical properties (mean ± standard error).Statistical differences assessed by T-test.
FD
TOC (%)* TEC (%)** NO3- (mg/Kg)
0.68±0.01 0.24±0.01
5.33±0.41
N tot (%)
0.08±0.00
C/N *
0,63±0.00
M6
0.81±0.04
0.09±0.00
0,79±0.03
0.38±0.01
8.20±1.66
TOC: Total Organic Carbon (Springer-Klee method); TEC: Extractable Organic Carbon (According to DM
13/09/1999); NO3- (According to DM 13/09/1999); Total N (Kjeldahl Method). *=P<0.05; **=0.01).
3
Temporal variation in HSR was observed and associated to the SWC and T effects in accordance to
what observed by Rey et al. (2002) under Mediterranean climate. The one-way ANOVA within date
showed significant differences (P<0.05) on March 18th and April 1st and very significant differences
(P<0.01) on May 14th and December 14th and 29th (Figure 1).
Fig.1. Soil temperature at 10 cm depth, Soil Water Content in the lay 0-20 cm and HSR dynamics observed in the study
area. The bars represent the standard error.
The regressions between i) T and HSR (HSR= a eb x) and ii) SWC and HSR (HSR = a + bx) were
significant at P<0.1 (Figure 2).
Fig.2. Relationship between Soil Volumetric Water Content and HSR and Soil T°Cand HSR.
Conclusions
The results showed that HSR annual dynamics is affected by SWC and T. The observed HSR rates and
the results of soil C content showed that the transhumant alfalfa acts as a better C sink if compared to
conventional cropping fields. Further studies are needed to understand more in depth soil chemical and
biological processes related to C cycle, in a context of maintenance of agronomic and economic
sustainability of transhumant systems.
References
Alberti G. et al. 2010. Changes in CO2 emissions after crop conversion from continuous maize to alfalfa.Agric.Ecosyst.
Environ. 136: 139–14.
Lal R. et al. 2015. Carbon sequestration in soil. Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustain. 15: 79–86.
Rey A. et al. 2002. Annual variation in soil respiration and its components in a coppice oak forest in Central Italy. Glob.
Change Biol. 8: 851–866.
4
Use of Crop Simulation Models to Study Durum Wheat
Phenological and Productive Response at Variation of
Sowing Date
Gloria Padovan1*, Roberto Ferrise1, Laura Ercoli2, Iduna Arduini3, Marco Bindi1,4
Dip. Scienze delle Produzioni Agroalimentari e dell’Ambiente, Univ. Firenze, IT
Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento, IT, [email protected]
3
Dip. Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Agro-ambientali, Univ. Pisa, IT, [email protected]
4
Unità di Ricerca ‘Climate chAnge System and Ecosystem’, Univ.Firenze, IT
*[email protected]
1
2
Introduction
Projected climate change in the Mediterranean area might threaten economically important crops, such
as durum wheat, since their yield is highly sensitive to variability of the weather pattern. Changing the
sowing date has been proposed as an effective adaptation strategy since it might have positive effects by
affecting the length of the crop cycle as well as allowing the crop to avoid final stressful environmental
conditions (Bassu et al., 2009). Crop simulation models are one of the most exploited tool for
investigating the response of crops under future climate and explore the effect of proposed adaptation
options. However, for their correct application, it is necessary to understand their limits, for instance if
they can be applied in conditions highly different from those in which they are developed or calibrated.
This research is focused on studying the capacity of two crop models to reproduce phenology and yield
of two Italian durum wheat varieties when sown in unusual sowing dates.
Materials and Methods
Observed data from an experimental research aiming to investigate the effect of sowing dates, distributed
over a whole year, on durum wheat are used. The research was carried out in the years 2001–2002 at the
University of Pisa (Italy, 43.7°N; 10.3°E). The soil is clay with 2.2% organic matter and 1.2 g kg-1 total
N. Field capacity and permanent wilting point are 34.1 and 21.2%. Two Italian durum wheat varieties,
Simeto and Svevo, were sown every month from November 2001 to October 2002. The experiment was
arranged in a split-plot design and seeding rate was 400 seeds m–2. Results on grain yield and yield
components, as well as crop phenology are reported in Arduini et al. (2009).
SiriusQuality2 (SQ2) and SSM-Wheat, two mechanistic models of different complexity and approaches
to reproduce crop processes, are adopted for the simulation of phenology and yield in response to weather
and crop management. Both models are calibrated using observed data from the sowing dates of
November and December (corresponding to the current sowing time in the area), while the validation is
made for the other sowing dates. The analysis is made comparing observed and simulated phenological
stages (emergence, anthesis and maturity) and grain yield at maturity.
Results
Model outputs in calibration and application phases were similar for both varieties, thus only results for
Simeto are presented. In calibration, both models were able to simulate the anthesis stage and to
reproduce maturity with few days of difference, compared to the observed data (Tab.1). The difference
between observed and simulated grain yield do not exceed 20%, which is below the observed data
variability (Tab.1). The two models demonstrated different performances during their application. The
observed data showed a delay of phenological stages by changing sowing date. This trend was simulated
by both models but with different accuracy. SQ2 tended to anticipate the occurrence of phenological
stages, in particular anthesis (Fig.1a). Instead, minimum differences were reproduced by SSM-Wheat,
except for October sowing date. The observed yield showed a clear reduction by delaying sowing date
5
(Fig.1b). The models simulated this yield trend but with different sensibility. SQ2 closely reproduced the
observed trend, although yields were highly overestimated in January and February. SSM-Wheat was
less sensitive than SQ2 to changes in sowing date with simulated yields remaining well above the
observed ones (Fig.1b).
Table 1: Phenology and yield calibration of Simeto for SQ2 and SSM-Wheat. Phenological stages are presented in Day
Of the Year (DOY).Observed yield is the mean ± standard deviation of three replicates.
November
December
Observed
SQ2
SSM
Observed
SQ2
SSM
Sowing (DOY)
322
322
322
346
346
346
Emergence (DOY)
337
343
337
24
18
24
Anthesis (DOY)
128
128
128
134
134
134
Maturity (DOY)
179
177
179
179
178
181
Yield (t/ha)
7.02 ±1.33
7.021
6.29
5.09±1.53
6.412
6.17
Observed
SQ2
SSM
a
Yield
8
7
Observed
SQ2
b
SSM
6
Yield (t/ha)
Anthesis
DOY
220
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
5
4
3
2
1
0
January February March
April
May
October
Figure 1: Dates of anthesis (a) and grain yield (b) of Simeto from observed data and from SQ2 and SSM-Wheat application.
Observed yield is the mean of three replicates. Error bars are the corresponding standard deviations.
Discussion and conclusions
Despite satisfactory results in the calibration process, model responses may deviate when they are applied
to conditions different from the ordinary environmental ones, such as those due to unusual sowing dates.
In such extreme conditions, the ability of a model in reproducing biological processes might fail. This
can lead to either unrealistic outputs or only apparently reliable values due to some compensation effects
between yield components that are not included in the models. In this study, the former is the case of
SSM-Wheat yields at late sowing dates; the latter could explain why SQ2 yields show a good
correspondence with observations, despite the great advancement of simulated anthesis date. This study
also highlights the importance of experimental studies specifically designed for understanding crop
responses in extreme conditions. This would allow improving model calibration as well as addressing
the gap of knowledge on plant processes to be implemented in models. Until then, output of models
applied in unusual conditions should be carefully interpreted, for instance by looking at the reliability
and coherence of different simulated processes.
References
Arduini I. et al. 2009. Sowing date affect spikelet number and grain yield of durum wheat. Cereal Research
Communications 37:469-478.
Bassu S. et al. 2009. Optimising sowing date of durum wheat in a variable Mediterranean environment. Field Crops
Research, 111:109-118.
6
Evaluation of Crop Residue Management as a Strategy of
Adaptation and Mitigation to Climate Change
Domenico Ventrella1, Luisa Giglio1, Marco Bindi2, Bruno Basso3, Umberto Bonciarelli4, Anna
Dallamarta2, Francesco Danuso5, Luca Doro6, Roberto Ferrise2, Francesco Fornaro1, Pasquale
Garofalo1, Fabrizio Ginaldi7, Ileana Iocola6, Paolo Merante2, Laura Mula6, Andrea Onofri4,
Simone Orlandini2, Massimiliano Pasqui8, Rodica Tomozeiu9, Giulia Villani9, Alessandro
Vittorio Vonella1, Pier Paolo Roggero6
1
CREA-SCA, Bari, IT, [email protected]; 2DISPAA, Univ. Firenze, IT, [email protected];
3
Dep. Geolog. Sc., Michigan State Univ., USA, [email protected]; 4Dsa3, Univ. Perugia, IT,
[email protected]; 5Di4a, Univ. Udine, IT, [email protected]; 6Dip. Di Agraria e NRD, Univ.
Sassari, IT, [email protected]; 7CREA-AA, Bologna, IT., [email protected]; 8CNR, Roma, IT,
[email protected]; 9Arpae-SIMC-Emilia-Romagna, IT, [email protected]
Introduction
This paper reports the first results of a research developed in the context of the three-years
(2013-16) research project “IC-FAR - Linking long
Table 1- Performance indicators of yield
term observatories with crop system modelling for
calibration. (*: number of years).
better understanding of climate change impact and
PD RMSE
Cultivar
Yn*
ME IA adaptation strategies for Italian cropping systems”
(%)
(%)
(www.icfar.it).The goals are :i) to parameterize
FG - Winter Durum Wheat - DSSAT
crop models considering two Long Term AgroValgerardo
3
-4.3
8.6
0.1 0.6 Ecosystem experiments (LTAE) located in
Appulo
4
9.6
15.3 -5.7 0.4 experimental farms of Foggia (FG) and Papiano,
Latino
5 -25.0
42.9
0.3 0.5 Perugia (PG), in Southern and Central Italy,
Appio
4
-7.9
43.9 -0.2 0.2 respectively and ii) to evaluate the crop residue
Simeto
11
0.1
39.7 -0.2 0.2 (CR) management as a strategy of adaptation
Ofanto
6
-2.4
21.9
0.6 0.8 and/or mitigation to climate change forecasted for
the reference areas of the LTEs in study.
PG - Winter Soft Wheat - DSSAT
Marzotto
5
1.2
19.1 -1.6 0.4
Aurelio
2
-5.8
6.3 -85.5 0.1 Methods
The LTAE of FG consists of a monosuccession of
Chiarano
2
-7.0
9.5 -0.6 0.8
winter durum wheat submitted, since 1977, to nine
Santerno
4
2.2
14.3 -0.3 0.4 treatments based on burning and soil incorporation
PG - Winter Soft Wheat - Salus
of CR with and without N fertilization or irrigation
Marzotto
-3.6
24.4 -1.3 0.3 applied on crop residues before ploughing. The
11
Aurelio
-5.0
25.5
0.1 0.8 experimental design was a randomized complete
7
Chiarano
16.8 -1.0 0.6 block design with five replications. The soil has a
4 -12.4
Santerno
-3.0
22.8 -0.3 0.7 clay-loam texture and the climate is classified as
8
Tibet
9.3
35.5 -0.3 0.2 “accentuated thermo mediterranean”, with rainfall
4
PR22R58
-0.9
14.8 -0.3 0.6 concentrated in the winter months and an annual
5
average of 550 mm (Ventrella et al. 2016).
PG - Winter Soft Wheat - CropSyst
Marzotto
11
-7.3
22.4 -0.9 0.5 The LTAE of PG started in 1971 on a loamy soil
and is designed as a factorial combination of two
PG - Maize - DSSAT
different types of CR management (removal at
Etruria
8
27.2
25.0 -0.4 0.6 harvest and incorporation at ploughing) and several
Dea
3
15.2
16.2
0.4 0.9 crop rotations. The climate is a warm-temperate
DK 440
6
6.9
22.9
0.7 0.9 with a mean annual rainfall of 831 mm (Bonciarelli
et al. 2016).
7
The modellers were provided with a common data-set including daily wheatear data, agronomical
information, initial conditions and productive and soil data to perform a calibration of local crop varieties
with the objective to capture the temporal dynamics of main response variables related to crop and soil.
This paper reports the results of the calibration
of CropSyst (v. 3.02), DSSAT (4.6) and SALUS.
Model performance was evaluated by
calculating the performance indicators for yield:
percentage difference between observed and
simulated values (PD), relative root mean square
error (RMSE) modelling efficiency (ME) and
index of agreement (IA).
The assessment of the impact of climate change
(CC) scenarios of seasonal temperature and
precipitation over the period 2021-2050 was
computed using a statistical downscaling
scheme based on Canonical Correlation
Analysis for important Italian rural areas. The
statistical approach had been previously
calibrated and validated for the period ranging
from 1959 to 2010, using ERA-40 and ERAinterim
reanalysis
(www.ecmwf.int/en/research/climatereanalysis/era-interim) large scale fields and
observed daily gridded temperatures (minimum
and maximum) and precipitation time series
acquired by the EOBS (http://eca.knmi.nl). In
Fig. 1- Anomalies of temperature and rainfall
order to build on the climate change projections,
forecasted at Foggia and Perugia under the
for each season and for all test areas, the most
RCP45 and RCP85 scenarios.
skilful statistical schemes were fed by largescale predictors of CMIP5 (RCP45 and RCP85) experiments.
Preliminary results and Conclusions
Table 1 shows the DSSAT calibration performance indexes for yield with the best results obtained for
Ofanto and Santerno cultivars for durum and soft wheat cultivated at FG and PG (confirmed also by
Salus), respectively. CropSyst calibration confirmed the good accuracy of yield prediction of DSSAT for
Marzotto cultivar.
For PG, the highest temperature increments of +3.0°C and +3.5°C are expected in summer under RCP45
and RCP85 scenarios, respectively. At FG, under RCP45, the temperature anomaly was forecasted to
linearly increase from February (+1.0°C) to August (+2.0°C), followed by a linear decrease to December
(+1.5°C). Instead, under RCP85, the expected warming is expected to continue to increase until
November (+3.0°C) with likely negative consequences for the first development of wheat after.
Compared to the baseline period, the expected rainfall reduction is -15% and -24% for PG and -30% and
37% for FG (RCPC45 and 85, respectively) with a correspondent reduction of water availability in
spring/summer at PG and in autumn/spring at FG.
References
Bonciarelli U. et al. 2016. Long-term evaluation of productivity, stability and sustainability for cropping systems in
Mediterranean rainfed conditions. Eur. J. Agron, 77:146-155.
Ventrella D. et al. 2016. Effects of crop residue management on winter durum wheat productivity in a long term experiment
in Southern Italy. Eur. J. Agron, 77:188-198.
8
Soil Nitrous Oxide Mitigation Potential of Agricultural
Practices in Mediterranean Environment
Simona Bosco1, Iride Volpi1, Nicoletta Nassi O Di Nasso1, Patricia Laville2, Giorgio Virgili3,
Enrico Bonari1
1
Istituto di Scienze della Vita, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, IT, [email protected]
2
Ecosys, INRA, FR, [email protected]
3
West Systems S.r.l., IT, [email protected]
Introduction
There is a high scientific interest in the monitoring of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from agricultural
soils. This is due to the fact that N2O is a potent greenhouse gas (~ 300 Global Warming Potential), ozone
depleting, and the production occurs mainly in soil due to the processes of nitrification and denitrification
(Butterbach-Bahl et al., 2013). In particular, agricultural soils accounted for ~ 70% of the total annual
N2O emissions at European scale (EEA, 2015).
The agricultural practices, such as tillage intensity, nitrogen (N) fertilization and residue management
affect the N2O soil emissions (Snyder et al., 2014). However, the mitigation potential of management
practices is difficult to assess due to a great background variability of the N2O flux in time and space and
this uncertainties is relevant in Mediterranean environment due to a lack of studies (Aguilera et al., 2013).
Within the LIFE+IPNOA a transportable high-sensitivity instrument was developed and validated to
measure N2O emissions in a short time frame, directly in the field. Field trials, in two sites, were designed
with the aim to identify the key drivers for N2O emissions, testing the effect of tillage intensity, nitrogen
rate and irrigation amount on the main crops in Tuscany region. The results of the project will be part of
the Best Management Practices (BMPs) for N2O emissions mitigation from agricultural soils. The aim
of this work is to introduce the main results of the projects that will help to identify the BMPs for N 2O
soil mitigation.
Methods
The field trials were located in two sites within Tuscany region: 1) the Centre for Agro-Environmental
Research ”E. Avanzi” (CIRAA), located in San Piero a Grado (Pisa) and 2) the Centre for Agricultural
Technologies and Extension Services (CATES), in Cesa (Arezzo). N2O monitoring was conducted for
two years on durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf., var. Tirex), maize (Zea mays L., var. DKC4316),
sunflower (Helianthus annuus L., var. Pacific), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L., var. perfectpeel) and
faba bean (Vicia faba minor L., var. vesuvio). Key factors for each crop were: tillage intensity (ploughing
vs minimum tillage) and nitrogen rate (three levels: N0, N1, N2) for durum wheat and sunflower;
irrigation (low and high irrigation level) and nitrogen rate for maize and tomato; tillage intensity for faba
bean. The monitoring was carried out bimonthly and every 4-5 days for 5 times after N fertilization events
and incorporation of residues with a mobile prototype, developed in the LIFE+IPNOA and equipped with
a LRG N2O/CO detector for N2O and with a LGR Ultraportable Greenhouse Gas Analyser (CH4, CO2,
H2O) (UGGA) (Los Gatos Research Inc.) (Bosco et al., 2015). The instrument was connected to a flowthrough non-steady state steel chamber. N2O flux was calculated from the concentration increase during
the chamber closure time, using a linear model. Cumulative N2O emissions over crop growing period
were calculated by linear interpolation of two close sampling dates and the integration of the function
over time.
Results
The results collected during the two monitoring years allowed to have a range of the cumulative N2O-N
emissions along the two years, the sites and the treatments over the studied crops (Figure 1). A great
9
variability of the N2O-N cumulative emissions magnitude is highlighted in each crop, due to the
variability of the pedoclimatic conditions.
Figure 1. Variation of the N2O cumulative emissions (g N2O-N ha-1) during the crop growing period for each
monitored crop.
The main drivers for N2O emissions in a Mediterranean environment were identified, analyzing the main
results obtained from the field trials. Moreover, is was possible to assess a mitigation potential related to
the adoption of the agricultural practices with a lower input level among those studied.
The mitigation potential for each crop of the lower input agricultural practice is reported in Table 1.
Table 1. Potential reduction (%) of the N2O emissions with the adoption of low input agricultural practices.
Crops
Tillage
(P→MT)
Maize
Faba bean
-60%
Durum wheat
Sunflower
--25%
Tomato
N rate
(N2→N1)
Irrigation
(Ir1→Ir0)
-30%
--
-30%
-30%
--
-28%
Conclusions
Our results confirmed that the nitrogen fertilization rate is the main driver for the N2O soil emissions. In
that context, improving the nitrogen fertilization management and the nitrogen use efficiency of the crops
can offer the chance to mitigate N2O emissions. The adoption of minimum tillage seems to mitigate
considerably the N2O emissions in leguminous crops.
References
Aguilera E. et al. 2013. Managing soil carbon for climate change mitigation and adaptation in Mediterranean cropping
systems: A meta-analysis. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 168:25–36.
Bosco S. et al. 2015. LIFE+IPNOA mobile prototype for the monitoring of soil N2O emissions from arable crops: firstyear results on durum wheat. Ital. J. Agron. 10:669.
Butterbach-Bahl K. et al. 2013. Nitrous oxide emissions from soils: how well do we understand the processes and their
controls? Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B. Biol. Sci., 368:20130122.
European Environment Agency. 2015. Annual European Union greenhouse gas inventory 1990–2013 and inventory
report.
Snyder CS. et al. 2014. Agriculture: Sustainable crop and animal production to help mitigate nitrous oxide emissions.
Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustain., 9–10: 46–54.
10
SOC Vertical Distribution in Conservation Agriculture
Systems. Evidence of Poor Carbon Sequestration in NE
Italy
Ilaria Piccoli1, Francesca Chiarini2, Lorenzo Furlan2, Barbara Lazzaro3, Antonio Berti1,
Francesco Morari1
1DAFNAE
Dept., University of Padova, Viale Dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy
Agricoltura, Settore Ricerca Agraria, Viale dell’Università 14, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy
3Regione del Veneto, Sezione Agroambiente, Settore Politiche Agroambientali, Via Torino 110, Mestre (VE), Italy
2Veneto
Introduction
Conservation agriculture (CA) is a system of agronomic practices that includes minimum mechanical
soil disturbance (e.g. no-tillage, NT), permanent soil cover and crop diversification. It has been
recommended as a sustainable system to regulate and support many ecosystem services, such as the
reduction of erosion, runoff, P particulate loss and CO2 emissions, and the increase of soil biodiversity
(Palm et al., 2014).
It has been evaluated that CA can enhance soil C stock by about 0.57 ± 0.14 t C ha-1 year-1 in the top 30
cm (West and Post, 2002). Freibauer et al. (2004) confirmed that by converting conventional tillage to
NT it is possible to store around 0.3 ± 0.1 t C ha-1 each year.
Despite the first estimates of Smith et al. (1998), suggesting that all fossil fuel C emissions from European
agriculture could be mitigated through the complete conversion to NT, CA is still not recognized as a
win-win option for soil C sequestration (Powlson et al., 2011; VandenBygaart, 2016).
Ogle at al. (2012) argued that NT could increase or decrease the SOC content depending on its effects
(positive or negative) on crop biomass and consequent C input. The not unique behaviour of NT on SOC
was viewed by the authors as strongly dependent on climatic conditions, which affect plant growth and
soil processes and in turn play a key role in organic matter dynamics. Angers and Erik-Hamel (2008)
suggested that crop residues left on soil surface are less persistent than those incorporated by ploughing.
Indeed, incorporation promotes the interaction between crop residues and soil particles and in turn
enhances the physical mechanisms of SOC protection (Balesdent et al., 2000). Moreover, SOC protection
would be stronger in deeper incorporation (e.g. 30 cm) than shallower (e.g. 15 cm) (Olchin et al., 2008)
since the soil particles are usually more C-saturated in the upper layers than in the deeper ones (Rasse et
al., 2006).
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of conservation agriculture practices on soil organic
carbon stock variation after a three-year transition period.
Methods
Experimental design was established in 2010 in three farms located in North-eastern Italy in order to
compare plough versus conservation tillage systems.
Plough tillage (PT) agronomic protocol included: 35 cm depth ploughing (crop residues incorporation),
seedbed preparation (disk arrow, 15 cm depth), seeding of main crop and harvesting. Soil surface
remained bare between the main crops.
Conservation management system was characterized by no-tillage (NT), permanent soil cover (cover
crops and crop residues retention on soil surface) and crop rotation. NT agronomic protocol included:
cover crops suppression, sod seeding, harvesting and cover crop seeding.
A four-year crop rotation was applied in both treatments: wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), rapeseed
(Brassica napus L.), maize (Zea mays L.) and soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.). In NT cover-crops were
11
also cultivated: sorghum (Sorghum vulgare Pers. Var. Sudanense) during spring-summer and a mixture
of vetch (Vicia sativa L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) in fall-winter.
288 soil cores were collected through a hydraulic sampler up to 50 cm depth in 2011 (T0) and 2014 (T1)
and were then divided in three layers: 0-5 cm, 5-30 cm and 30-50 cm.
Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) was determined on 864 samples with elemental analyser (CNS).
The equivalent soil mass (ESM) approach was used for SOC stock determination.
Data were analysed with a linear mixed-effect model based on Restricted Maximum Likelihood (REML)
estimation method, considering clay and sand contents and root and crop residues biomasses as
continuous factors and treatment, layer and farm (random factor) as categorical factors.
Results
In the top 5 cm, only tillage effect resulted as significant and yielded an increase of 0.89 t C ha-1 in CT
and a depletion of -0.16 t C ha-1 in PT, while both texture and C input were ineffective.
Tillage effect was not observed in 0-30 cm soil profile (0.38 t ha-1 in average) while a significant positive
and negative effect was detected respectively for root C and sand content. C residue was also significant,
but its quantitative influence was negligible.
Lastly, in the 0-50 cm profile no treatment effect was observed on the SOC stock, either in terms of
tillage type, C input or texture with an average SOC variation of +0.47 t ha-1.
Conclusions
During the 3-year study CA did not increase SOC stock with respect to PT but caused a different SOC
stratification.
SOC accumulation was observed in CA only when the balance was accounted in the 0-30 cm soil layer.
After only a 3-year transition period, the effect of conservation practices on soil organic carbon variation
demonstrated no potential benefit of the conservation system for C storage and the balance of the whole
0-50 cm soil profile showed wide variability.
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by “Monitamb 214i” project of Veneto Agricoltura and Veneto Region (measure
511, Rural Development Programme 2007/2013).
References
Angers, D.A. and Eriksen-Hamel, N.S. 2008. Full-inversion tillage and organic carbon distribution in soil profiles: a
meta-analysis. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 72:1370-1374.
Balesdent, J. et al. 2000. Relationship of soil organic matter dynamics to physical protection and tillage. Soil Tillage
Res. 53:215-230.
Freibauer, A. et al. 2004. Carbon sequestration in the agricultural soils of Europe. Geoderma 122:1-23.
Ogle, S.M. et al. 2012. No-till management impacts on crop productivity, carbon input and soil carbon sequestration.
Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 149:37-49.
Olchin, G.P. et al. 2008. Residue carbon stabilization in soil aggregates of no-till and tillage management of dryland
cropping systems. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 72:507-513.
Palm, C. et al. 2014. Conservation agriculture and ecosystem services: An overview. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 187:87105.
Powlson, D.S. et al. 2011. Soil carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change: a critical re‐examination to identify the
true and the false. Eur. J. Soil Sci. 62:42–55.
Rasse, et al. 2006. Carbon turnover kinetics with depth in a French loamy soil. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 70:2097-2105.
Smith, P. et al. 1998. Preliminary estimates of the potential for carbon mitigation in European soils through no‐till
farming. Glob. Chang. Biol. 4:679-685.
VandenBygaart, A.J. 2016. The myth that no-till can mitigate global climate change. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 216:9899.
West, T.O. and Post, W.M. 2002. Soil organic carbon sequestration rates by tillage and crop rotation. Soil Sci. Soc. Am.
J. 66:1930-1946.
12
Impacts of Climate Change on SOC Dynamic and Crop
Yield of Italian Rainfed Wheat-Maize Cropping Systems
Managed with Conventional or Conservation Tillage
Practices
Ileana Iocola1, Daniele Antichi2, Bruno Basso3, Anna Dallamarta4, Francesco Danuso5, Luca
Doro6, Roberta Farina7, Roberto Ferrise4, Fabrizio Ginaldi8, Paolo Merante4, Marco
Mazzoncini2, Laura Mula6, Roberto Orsini9, Massimiliano Pasqui10, Rodica Tomozeiu11,
Domenico Ventrella12, Giulia Villani11, Luigi Zuccaro13, Pier Paolo Roggero1,6
1
Nucleo Ricerca Desertificazione, NRD-UNISS, IT, [email protected]; 2Dip. di Agraria, Univ. Pisa, IT,
[email protected]; 3Dep.Geolog.Sc., MSU, USA, [email protected]; 4DISPAA, Univ. Firenze, IT,
[email protected]; 5Di4a, Univ. Udine, IT, [email protected]; 6Dip. di Agraria, Univ. Sassari, IT,
[email protected]; 7CREA, Roma, IT, [email protected];8CREA-AA, Bologna, IT,
[email protected]; 9Dip.3A, Univ. Pol. Marche, Ancona, IT, [email protected]; 10CNR-Ibimet, Roma, IT,
[email protected]; 11Arpae-SIMC, Emilia-Romagna, IT, [email protected]; 12CREA SCA, Bari, IT,
[email protected]; 13Univ. Basilicata, IT, [email protected]
Introduction
There is still uncertainty on the ability of conservation tillage (i.e., reduced- RT and no till - NT) in
contributing to the resilience of cropping systems to climate change pressures (Powlson et al 2016). RT
or NT can improve soil physical and biological proprieties thus increasing water holding capacity and
fertility, stabilizing soil structure and enhancing soil biodiversity and functions. They are also frequently
proposed as mitigation practices as they can contribute to increase soil organic carbon (SOC) compared
to conventional moldboard ploughing practices (Gonzalez-Sanchezet al., 2012). However, SOC increase
occurs mostly in the upper soil layer but not always in the deeper profile (Haddaway et al., 2016) where
SOC measurements are less frequently measured. In this study, we used data obtained from long term
field experiments(LTE) coupled with three crop simulation models in order to assess the long-term
effects of different tillage management practices on crop yield and on changes in SOC stocks in both
superficial (0-20cm) and deeper layers (20-50cm) in Mediterranean rainfed cereal cropping systems at
current and future climate scenarios.
Methods
Two long-term experiments under rainfed conditions were utilized for this study, located in Agugliano LTE AN (Ancona, Marche, IT; 43.32°N, 13°22°E) and San Piero a Grado - LTE PI2 (Pisa, Toscana,
43.41°N, 10.23°E) and belonging to the Italian LTE IC-FAR network (www.icfar.it).
The ANLTE (Seddaiu, 2016) is located in a hilly area with a silt-clay soil type and it is characterized by
a two-year durum wheat-maize rotation. In this paper we used for the model calibration a subset of
treatments of this LTE to analyze the long term effects of different soil tillage practices (NT: no till; CT:
40 cm deep ploughing, both fertilized with 90 kg ha-1 N) on SOC dynamics and yield.
The PI2 site (Mazzoncini et al., 2011) is located in a lowland coastal area with a poorly drained alluvial
loam soil with cracking-swelling properties. The site was based on a maize continuous crop from 1994
to 1998 followed by a two-year durum wheat-maize rotation until 2005. From 2005 onwards, the LTE
was changed in a four-year crop rotation of durum wheat-maize-durum wheat-sunflower. In this paper
we used a subset of treatments of the LTE with durum wheat and maize fertilized with 180 and 300 kg
ha-1 N respectively and no cover crop, to analyze the effects of tillage and N fertilization on SOC
dynamics and crop yield.
13
Experimental and weather data collected and harmonized in the common IC-FAR database (Ginaldi et
al., 2016) were used to calibrate CropSyst, DSSAT and EPIC. Climate scenarios were generated by
setting up a statistical model, based on Canonical Correlation Analysis, using predictors from ERA40
reanalysis and the seasonal indices of temperature and precipitation from E-OBS gridded data network
for the period 1958-2010. Then, the statistical downscaling model was applied to the predictors of
CMCC-CM global model to obtain climate scenarios of temperature and precipitation at local scale over
the period 1971-2000 (control run) and 2021-2050 (RCP45 and RCP85 emission scenarios). A CO2
concentration of 460 ppm and 490 ppm were considered for RCP45 and RCP85 scenarios, respectively.
Results and conclusions
The performance of the models in simulating crop yields (t ha-1) of the studied cropping systems was
evaluated by calculating the indicators reported in Table 1.
Model
DSSAT
DSSAT
DSSAT
DSSAT
EPIC
EPIC
EPIC
EPIC
CropSyst
CropSyst
Table 1- Performance indicators of crop yield calibration
LTE Crop
MAE* %RRMSE* EF* CRM*
Min
0.00
0.00
-inf.
-inf.
Max
+inf.
+inf.
1.00
+inf.
Best
0.00
0.00
1.00
0.00
AN
WHT
0.59
23.33
0.54
0.02
AN
MZE
0.86
32.29
0.66
-0.06
PI2
WHT
0.85
33.99
0.24
-0.27
PI2
MZE
0.90
23.82
0.64
-0.03
AN
WHT
0.36
17.84
0.73
0.04
AN
MZE
0.44
36.99
0.86
0.07
PI2
WHT
2.09
109.58
-6.86 -0.68
PI2
MZE
1.40
38.85
0.04
-0.13
AN
WHT
0.73
28.00
-0.01 -0.01
AN
MZE
1.02
50.98
0.07
0.07
CD*
0.00
+inf.
1.00
1.71
1.59
0.70
0.86
1.72
1.52
0.15
0.46
0.36
8.84
*MAE =Mean Absolute Error, *RRMSE%= Percentage Relative Root Mean Square Error, *EF=modeling efficiency,
*CRM=Coefficient of Residual Mass, *CD= Coefficient of Determination
Considering the climate scenarios, the most negative impacts for maize were observed in the AN site
with a potential yield reduction up to -41.6% assessed with DSSAT under CT in RCP45. On the contrary,
wheat yields were more affected by climate change in PI2 with all models with the most negative impact
-55.1% assessed by EPIC under the RCP45 scenario.
The simulation models satisfying reproduced the observed changes in SOC at different soil depths in the
two sites, despite the large range of measured data. Hence, the SOC models proved to be robust over a
long term period and can be effectively used to develop climate change adaptive options and assess the
mitigation potential of different tillage treatments.
References
Haddaway N.R. et al. 2016. How does tillage intensity affect soil organic carbon? A systematic review protocol.
Environmental Evidence, 5(1). DOI: 10.1186/s13750-016-0052-0
Ginaldi F. et al. 2016. Interoperability of agronomic long term experiment databases and crop model intercomparison: the
Italian experience. Eur. J. Agron. 76: 202-299
Gonzalez-Sanchez E.J. et al. 2012. Meta-analysis on atmospheric carbon capture in Spain through the use of conservation
agriculture. Soil Tillage Res., 122: 52–60
Mazzoncini M. et al., 2011. Long-term effect of tillage, nitrogen fertilization and cover crops on soil organic carbon and
total nitrogen content. Soil Tillage Res., 114: 165–174
Powlson, D. S., et al. 2016. Does conservation agriculture deliver climate change mitigation through soil carbon
sequestration in tropical agro-ecosystems? Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 220, 164-174.
Seddaiu G. et al, 2016. Long term effects of tillage practices and N fertilization in rainfed Mediterranean cropping systems:
durum wheat, sunflower and maize grain yield. Eur. J. Agron, 77:166-178
14
Crop Rotations Improve Adaptation to Climate Change in
a Mediterranean Area
Roberta Farina1, Rosa Francaviglia1, Antonio Troccoli2
Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria- Centro di ricerca per lo studio delle
relazioni tra pianta e suolo, Roma
[email protected], [email protected]
2
Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria, Centro di ricerca per la cerealicoltura,
Foggia
[email protected]
1
Introduction
Climate change is considered one of the major concerns for the possible deleterious long-term impacts
on food and water supply, human welfare, and regional political stability. The impacts of climate change
are highly dependent on regional conditions. In southern Europe, particularly in Mediterranean regions,
high temperatures and drought are projected to reduce water availability and crop productivity. The
abandonment of long rotations in favor of very simplified ones or monoculture could increase the
vulnerability of these areas to climate change. Additionally in Mediterranean areas one of the most
important issue generated by intensive and non-conservative farming practices is the severe reduction of
soil organic matter (SOM) (Jones et al, 2006), with major side effects on soil functioning. There is an
increasing attention on the introduction of leguminous in the rainfed rotations, either as cash or cover
crops. But are this rotations effective in enhancing or maintaining crops productivity and on soil organic
matter preservation? Results from the relevant papers, were not consistent on the extent of beneficial
effects of rotations on yield and SOC level. West and Post (2002) analyzing global data from 67
experiments found that enhancing rotation complexity (i.e. from monoculture to rotation, from cropfallow to continuous cropping or increasing the number of crops in the rotation system) sequestered in
average a very low amount of C (15±11 g C m-2 yr-1). Rotations including alfalfa (Medicago sativa),
vetch (Vicia faba) (Masri and Ryan, 2006), wheat-sunflower (Lopez-Bellido et al., 2010) significantly
increased soil organic matter in Mediterranean climate in comparison with continuous wheat and wheatfallow. In the Veneto Region (sub-humid climate) only grassland and complex rotations were able to
maintain the level of SOC respect to continuous monoculture (Morari et al., 2006). The purpose of our
research was to evaluate the effect of rotations commonly used in Southern Italy on the yields and soil C
stock under present and future climate (generated with LARSWG) using WinEPIC model (Williams,
1990, Gerik et al., 2006).
The data for model validation were obtained by a rotation experiment carried out since 1992 in Foggia
(Apulia, Italy) at the experimental farm of the Cereal Research Centre in a clayey vertisol.
Methods
Crop and soil data for the calibration of the model were obtained from a long term experiment located in
Apulia region in Italy. The experiment started in 1992, at the experimental farm of the CRA-Cereal
Research Centre, (41° 27’ N, 15° 30’ E, altitude 79 m above sea level). Mean annual temperature is
15.8°C, with monthly means ranging from 7.4°C in January to 25.3°C in August (Troccoli et al., 2009).
Mean annual rainfall is 526 mm. The soil is a clay-loam vertisol classified as Typic Calcixerept (Soil
Survey Staff, 1999), with 38% clay and 40% silt. Measured bulk density is 1.25 g cm-3. The initial OC
was 1.25%. Among others, only the following cropping systems were considered: 1) Continuous durum
wheat (CDW), 2) Wheat - Wheat - Chickpea (Cicer aretinum L.) (WWC).
EPIC (Williams, 1995) simulates soil and plant processes in response to climate. Simulated processes
include tillage effect on surface residue, soil bulk density, mixing of residues and nutrients by tillage,
soil C, P and N cycles, fertilizer and irrigation effects on crop yield.
15
For simulations we used the WinEPIC v. 0509.1 version, improved by a user-friendly Windows interface.
Historical climate data (rainfall, minimum and maximum air temperature) for the period of 1955–2010
were used by a stochastic weather generator (LARS-WG, Semenov and Barrow, 1997) to produce climate
changes scenarios that were used as input to WinEPIC model for the estimation of climate change
impacts.
Results
Predictions simulated accurately the measured yields, as indicated by the main model performance
indicators. Correlation coefficient, r, was 0.77 and 0.74 and RMSE 0.54 e 0.41 for CDW and WWC
respectively. The simulation of soil organic C was more accurate in CDW, while there was an
overestimation by about 2 Mg ha-1 of C degraded after 17 years.
Respect to the measured climate, the climate change scenario selected (Ensemble model C4IRCA3, A1B,
for the periods 2011-2030 and 2031-2050) showed an increase of both minimum and maximum
temperature (+1 and 2.4 °C and +1 and 1.2 °C respect to baseline for Tmax and Tmin and for the two
periods 2011-2030 and 2031-2050 respectively) while total annual rainfall remained almost stable.
The simulated DW yield under climate change increased respect to the baseline (i.e. 3.1 Mg ha-1 yr-1) in
both rotations and in both scenarios. In particular in the medium term scenario up to 2030, CDW yield
showed an increase of 6%, 9% and 38% with a CO2 level at 450, 550 and 750 ppm respectively, while
in the long term scenario, up to 2050, the yield increase was 19 and 38% in 550 and 750 ppm of CO2 in
the atmosphere.
The WWC rotation, that in baseline had an average yield of 3.21 Mg ha-1 yr-1, showed to have an increase
in DW yield much higher respect to CDW in both scenarios and periods (ranging from an increase of
0.17% in a concentration of 450 ppm of CO2 in the 2011-2030 period, to 55% in the long term period
under 750 ppm of CO2).
In all the simulations the model predicted a decrease of C in both rotations under all the scenarios, by
about 1 Mg ha-1(data not shown).
Conclusions
As a general consideration, in Foggia, according to simulated climate the increase in CO2 concentration
in atmosphere is able to offset the effects of increase in temperature. The predictions by WinEPIC in the
medium and long term, under different levels of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, showed that a
rotation that includes a Leguminous crop, is more advantageous in terms of yields and could represent a
good strategy of climate change adaptation. The model simulates high level of CO2 losses from soils,
which highlight the risk of a dangerous feedback of CO2 from soils.
References
Gerik et al, 2006. Researcher’s Guide for WinEPIC, Version 3.0. Blackland Research and Extension Center, Temple, TX
(2006) 113 pp
López-Bellido, R.J. et al., 2010. Carbon sequestration by tillage, rotation, and nitrogen fertilization in a Mediterranean
Vertisol." Agronomy Journal 102.1: 310-318.
Masri Z and Ryan J. 2006. Soil organic matter and related physical properties in a Mediterranean wheat-based rotation
trial. Soil Tillage Res., 87:146-154
Morari, F., et al., 2006. Long‐term effects of recommended management practices on soil carbon changes and sequestration
in north‐eastern Italy. Soil Use and Management 22.1, 71-81.
Jones, R.J.A, et al., 2006. Estimating organic carbon in the soils of Europe for policy support. Eur. J. Soil Sci. 56, 655671
West, T. O.and Post W.M., 2002. Soil organic carbon sequestration rates by tillage and crop rotation. Soil Science Society
of America Journal, 66(6), 1930-1946
Williams, J. R., 1990. The erosion-productivity impact calculator (EPIC) model: A case history. Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 329.1255, 421-428.
16
N2O Emissions in a Silage Maize Crop Under
Mediterranean Conditions
Antonio Pulina1,2, Margherita Rizzu2, Chiara Bertora3, Agostino Piredda1, Giovanna
Seddaiu1,2, Roberto Lai1,2, Carlo Grignani3, Pier Paolo Roggero1,2
1
Dip. di Agraria, Univ. Sassari, IT, [email protected]
3
Dip. di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali e Alimentari, Univ. Torino, IT, [email protected]
2
Introduction
Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from crop and livestock production grew in the last decade by about
15% (FAO 2014). Among GHG, N2O emissions increased their contribution to total agriculture-related
GHG loads in the last 20 years (15.8% in the 1990s; 22.9% in 2006), representing about 60% of the total
anthropogenic N2O production. The main drivers of the N2O emissions from agriculture are N
fertilization and land use changes from natural systems to croplands (Ciais et al. 2013). Intensive
livestock systems are a large source of soil N2O emissions, due to the high N inputs for sustaining the
highly productive forage crop systems. Most of N2O emissions are associated to the soil microbial
processes of nitrification and denitrification and depend on many factors, such as soil water content,
temperature, plant nutrient availability and microbial community composition (Butterbach-Bahl et al.
2013; Gregorich et al. 2015). Even though findings on the effects of using organic instead of mineral
fertilizers on N2O emissions were sometimes rather contradictory, Aguilera et al. (2013) suggested a
potential of organic fertilizers to mitigate N2O emissions under Mediterranean conditions. The objective
of this study was to assess the effects of different fertilization systems on N2O emissions from an irrigated
silage-maize cropping system, under Mediterranean climate.
Methods
The field experiment was conducted in Arborea (Italy) (39°47'45.42" N, 8°33'25.10"W) in summer 2015,
in a private farm, in the context of a Sardinian Regional Project (P.O.R.-F.S.E. 2007-2013) carried at the
Cooperativa Produttori Arborea. The mean annual temperature in this area is 16.6°C and the average
annual rainfall is 573 mm (1959-2010) of which 70% in the coldest months between October and March.
The soil is a Psammentic Palexeralfs with a sandy texture (96% sand), 1.4 Mg m-3 bulk density, pH 6.7,
1.7% organic C content, 0.2% total N and 93 mg kg-1 Olsen P. Three different fertilization systems were
compared using the same N target rate of 315 kg ha-1: cattle slurry (LQ), solid fraction of cattle slurry
(SL) and mineral fertilizer with 3,4 DMPP nitrification inhibitor (MN).
Soil temperature and soil moisture (expressed as Water Filled Pore Space, WFPS) were monitored in the
topsoil (0.1 m). Fluxes of N2O from the soil surface were measured over the maize growing season at
daily to bimonthly intervals for a total of 8 sampling dates, applying the closed automatic chambers
technique (Parkin and Venterea 2010). Measurements were always made between 11:00 and 15:00 h
CET+1 in order to minimize the error due to diurnal fluctuations. Air samples of 30 cm3 each were
extracted at each sampling date using a 50 cm3 polypropylene syringe, respectively 10 s, 600 s and1200
safter the closing of the chambers. The samples were injected to 12 cm3 evacuated vials. The N2O
concentration in the vials was quantified by gaschromatography (Agilent 7890A, equipped with µECD
detector). N2O fluxes were calculated from the rate of increase in N2O concentration in the chamber.
Cumulative emissions were calculated interpolating daily flows observed in the sampling dates. The
emission factor (EF) was obtained as the ratio between N2O emissions and total N input.
Results
Nitrous oxide emissions mainly occurred in the first thirty days following the distribution of fertilizers.
The maximum rates of N2O emissions were observed for LQ and SL treatments two days after the
17
distribution of fertilizers (0.35±0.15 -0.28±0.11 kg N-N2O ha-1 d-1), while for MN the maximum N2O
emission rate was observed a week later (0.14±0.03 kg N-N2O ha-1 d-1) (Figure 1). No significant
correlations were observed between N2O fluxes and both WFPS or soil temperature. Cumulative
emissions were higher for LQ (5.47±1.96 kg N-N2O ha-1) than SL (1.18±0.29 kg N-N2O ha-1), while MN
showed intermediate values (2.27±0.42 kg N-N2O ha-1). EFs were significantly higher for LQ (2.12%)
than for MN (0.64%) and SL (0.41%).
Figure1 - N2O fluxes from
soil during the maize
growing season for the
three fertilization
treatments.
Conclusions
The fertilization systems had a significant influence on N2O emissions during the silage maize growing
season, higher than that associated to environmental factors. In the specific experimental conditions,
characterized by sandy soils, not limiting temperatures for nitrification and denitrification and WFPS
indicating predominant oxidizing conditions, N2O emissions could be attributed mostly to nitrification.
The EFs calculated for monitored treatments were not in line with 1% default value used by the IPCC,
highlighting the need of turning to site- and fertilizer-specific values.
Although the solid fraction of slurry seemed to be a low-emission fertilizers, it should be considered that
separation, storage and distribution processes of the solid and liquid manure fractions may result in
additional GHG emissions.
The field data collected in this study can be useful for the national assessment of N2O emissions from
agricultural systems, also through the calibration of biogeochemical mathematical models that could
inform policies oriented to the mitigation of GHG emissions from agriculture.
Acknowledgments
This study was carried out in the context of the international knowledge hub MACSUR (www.macsur.eu)
and CN-MIP (www6.inra.fr/cnmip/Project).
References
Aguilera, E. et al. 2013. “The potential of organic fertilizers and water management to reduce N2O emissions in
Mediterranean climate cropping systems. A review.” Agric Ecosyst Environ 164:32-52.
Butterbach-Bahl, K. et al. 2013. “Nitrous oxide emissions from soils: how well do we understand the processes and their
controls?” Philos Trans R Soc1-7.
Ciais, P. et al. 2013. “Carbon and Other Biogeochemical Cycles. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis.
Contribution of WGI to the 5th Assessment Report of the IPCC. [Stocker, T.F. et al. (eds.)].” Cambridge Univ. Press, UK
FAO, 2014. Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use Emissions by Sources and Removals by Sinks: 1990-2011 Analysis.
FAO Statistics Division Working Paper Series, 14/01. UN FAO, Rome, Italy.
Gregorich, E. et al. 2015. “Nitrogenous Gas Emissions from Soils and Greenhouse Gas Effects.” AdvAgron132:41-47.
Parkin, T. B. and R. T. Venterea 2010. “Chamber-Based Trace Gas Flux Measurements. In: Sampling Protocols. (3),
Follet, R.F., ed., http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/GRACEnet, 3-1 to 3-39.
18
Energy and Greenhouse Gas Analysis in Faba Bean
Production: Implications of Conservation Technique
Salem Alhajj Ali, Luigi Tedone, Leonardo Verdini, Giuseppe De Mastro*
Dipartimento di Scienze Agro-Ambientali e Territoriali - Università degli Studi di Bari “A. Moro”
*Corresponding author ([email protected])
Introduction
Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is grown worldwide in cropping systems as a grain (pulse), animal feed and
green-manure legume. Its cultivation and related environmental consequences are not well documented
in Italy, especially southern Italy. Until recently, its cultivation was believed to be unsuitable for
Mediterranean-type environments, because of its susceptibility to soil moisture and high temperature
stresses (Loss and Siddique, 1997). However, alternation of management practices can represent a
sustainable solution to enhance its yield with minimum economic and environmental costs and renew
interest in this crop. De Giorgio and Fornaro (2004), for example, demonstrated that reduced tillage
intensity can be successful in broad bean crops cultivated in dry regions, reducing both production costs
and environmental impact. At present, productivity and profitability of agriculture depend on energy
consumption (Chamsing et al. 2006), whereas aspects related to the GHG emissions have to be
considered in the frame of sustainability criteria. In fact, energy efficiency represents one of the principal
requirements for sustainable agriculture (Pahlavan et al., 2012), while the estimation of greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions in crop production is becoming important because it represents a key variable in
predicting future global warming and its contribution to climate change (Alhajj Ali et al., 2016). Both
aspects can be used to examine and compare the efficiency of different production systems. The aim of
this study was to analyze the input and output data in order to determine the most efficient system in
terms of energy use and GHG emission in faba bean production.
Methods
Conventional (CT) and conservation, no-tillage (NT), systems were compared for rainfed faba bean
production and analyzed in terms of energy consumption and GHG emission over three growing seasons
(2012/13-2014/15), with regard to productivity. Primary-field data (Tab. 1) were collected from the study
site and used for the analysis. For energy analysis, energy equivalents (MJ/Unit) of different crop inputs
(Alhajj Ali et al., 2013), faba bean seeds and output grain (Awad Alla et al., 2014), were used to calculate
energy indices (i.e. energy efficiency and energy intensity). Productive data were taken from the same
plot, for the previous crop (durum wheat), in a legume-based rotation. Therefore results are reported
according to the nitrogen fertilizer applied to the previous crop (durum wheat) at rates of 0, 30, 60 and
90 kg ha-1 nitrogen to assess the residual nitrogen effect. For GHG emission, field data were used to
estimate the emissions per unit area from, both, the pre-farm and cultivation phase following IPCC Tier
1 methodology and default values (IPCC, 2006). Emissions are calculated from different sources
according to the methodology described by Alhajj Ali et al. (2016). System boundary was set to the farm
gate, however soil emissions were not included due to the lack of reliable information.
Table 1- Management practices and input quantities in CT and NT systems during the three year of the experiment.
Tillage
Fuel
Operation
description
NT
CT
liters
Subsoiler at 40 cm
Chisel plow at 15 cm
Sowing
Herbicide before sowing
Herbicide at tillering
Harvesting
na
na
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
na
√
√
60
40
20-10
7
7
20
Use
Machine
hour.min
1.30
0.30
0.40 – 0.30
0.20
0.20
0.45
Commodities
labor
hour.min
1.30
0.30
0.40 - 0.30
0.20
0.20
0.45
description
deep ripping for soil compaction
weed control and seedbed preparation
Faba bean seeds (Vicia faba L.)
Glyphosate
BASAGRAN - AGIL
Harvesting the crop for grain yield
quantity m.u.
180 Kg ha-1
1.5lha-1
0.9 kg ha-1 –1.0 l ha-1
19
Results
The analyses of data show that the NT system performed better in terms of productivity, energy saving
and reduction of GHG emissions. Across the three years, NT system enhanced grain yield compared to
CT. This was in line with the findings of De Giorgio and Fornaro (2004) in the same region. Concerning
energy consumption, our production system consumed 9.973 MJ ha-1 for faba bean, whereas AwadAlla
et al. (2014) reported a total energy input of 6.618 MJ ha-1. The analysis of energy data indicates that CT
system used higher energy (12.244 MJ ha-1) to produce grain yield compared to 7.702.6 MJ ha-1
consumed in NT system (-37%). Furthermore, energy analyses show that NT system had a higher energy
efficiency, i.e. energy ratio, compared to CT, respectively 8.7 vs 5.0. The value of this index indicates
that conservation practices in this region is efficient in the use of energy for faba bean production. The
average values for energy production, net energy and energy intensity were respectively 0.34 kg MJ-1,
54,329.3 MJ ha-1 and 3.14 MJ kg-1 of grain. These values were in agreement with a recent study by
Kazemi et al. (2015) for the same indices.
Table 2- Three-year means of investigated parameters under CT and NTsystem offaba bean cultivationin southern Italy
Investigated
parameters
Productivity
Energy indices
Anthropogenic
greenhouse gases
Specific
parameter
M. unit
Grain yield
Energy ratio
Energy production
Energy intensity
Net energy
GHG emissions
Emission intensity
kg ha-1
MJ ha-1
kg MJ-1
MJkg-1
MJ ha-1
kg CO2eq ha-1
kg CO2eq kg-1
Conventional tillage CT
0
30
60
3138.6
3037.6
3020.4
5.13
4.96
4.93
0.26
0.25
0.25
3.90
4.03
4.05
50528.3
48507.7
48165
541.2
541.2
541.2
0,172
0,178
0,179
90
3098.9
5.06
0.25
3.95
49733
541.2
0,175
0
3319.3
8.62
0.43
2.32
58683.7
242.3
0,073
No-tillage CT
30
60
3648.1
3279
9.47
8.51
0.47
0.43
2.11
2.35
65259.3
57878.3
242.3
242.3
0,066
0,074
90
3179.1
8.25
0.41
2.42
55879
242.3
0,076
Most of the emissions come from input production, in which diesel fuel production and consumption was
the highest contributor to the total emissions, especially in the CT system. Our production system emit
an average of 391.7 CO2 eq ha-1, comparable to the average emissions (287 kg CO2eq ha-1) reported by
Knudsen et al. (2014) for faba bean cultivated in Europe. These emissions were 55% lower in NT
compared to CT system (242.3 vs 541.2 kg CO2 eq ha-1). Emission intensity was directly linked to grain
yield and varied from 66 to 179 kg CO2eq t-1. A similar range of values 71 to 165 kg CO2eq t-1 was
reported by Knudsen et al. (2014) in different agro-climatic zones in Europe.
Conclusions
The results of this study indicate that conservation technique presented by no-tillage system appear to be
promising in terms of productivity, energy saving and greenhouse gas emission reduction. Therefore, this
system can be recommended in faba bean cultivation in the dry area of southern Italy.
References
Alhajj Ali et al. 2013. A comparison of the energy consumption of rainfed durum wheat under different management
scenarios in southern Italy.Energy, 61: 308-318.
Alhajj Ali et al. 2016. Effect of different crop management systems on rainfed durum wheat greenhouse gas emissions
and carbon footprint under Mediterranean conditions. Journal of Cleaner Production (in press).
AwadAllaet al. 2014. Energy consumption for production of some winter food crops in river Nile state, Sudan. J. Nat.
Resour. Environ. Stud. 2: 7–11.
Chamsing et al. 2006. Energy consumption analysis for selected crops in different regions of Thailand. Agricultural
Engineering International: CIGR. E. journal Vol.8. Nov.2006
De Giorgio, D., Fornaro, F. 2004. Tillage systems for a sustainable growth of broad bean (Vicia faba L., major) in a
semiarid region of Southern Italy. In: ISCO 2004—13th International Soil Conservation Organization Conference.
Conserving Soil and Water for Society: Sharing Solutions. Brisbane, July 2004, (paper no. 934), pp. 1–4
IPCC, 2006. Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. Agriculture, Forestry and other Land Use, vol. (4).
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Paris, France.
Kazemi et al. 2015. Energy analysis for faba bean production: A case study in Golestan province, Iran. Sustainable
Production and Consumption 3: 15-20.
Knudsen et al. 2014. Climate impact of producing more grain legumes in Europe. In: Proceedings of the 9th International
Conference on Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-Food Sector, 8-10 October, San Francisco, USA.
Loss S.P., Siddique K.H.M. 1997. Adaptation of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) to dryland Mediterranean-type environments I.
Seed yield and yield components. Field Crops Research 52: 17-28.
Pahlavan et al. 2012.Optimization of energy consumption for rose production in Iran. Energy Sus. Dev. 16(2): 236–241.
20
Importance of Crop Model Parameterization for Climate
Change Studies at National Scale
Davide Cammarano1, Mike Rivington1, Keith Matthwes1, Douglas Wardell-Johnson1
1
The James Hutton Institute, Dundee and Aberdeen, Scoltand, [email protected];
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Introduction
The importance of barley for human food is minor, except in some developing countries. It has
considerable economic importance for animal feed and other uses (like alchool production). For example,
in the United Kingdom (U.K.) the Scotch Whisky industry adds about 5 billion Pounds to the GDP (SWA,
2015). However, nowadays there are potential new uses exploiting the health benefits of whole grain and
beta-glucans in food products.
Climate change is likely to affect the stability of barley yield through increased agronomic problems with
waterlogging in winter and water stress in drier, warmer summers (Newton et al., 2011).
The impact of projected climate on crop production is quantified using crop simulation models (CSM).
CSM intergrate the effects of temporal and multiple stress interactions on crop growth under different
environmental and mangement conditions (Basso et al., 2001). They have been used at different spatial
scales, such as point-based, field level, and globally (Basso et al., 2013; Elliot et al., 2014).
However, soil parameterization when upscaling CSM at higher levels might cause bias in a models’
response, especially for parameters like stable organic carbon, hydraulic limits, initial conditions and
saturated conductivity.
The objectives of this study were to: i) quantify the impact of climate change on spring barley production;
ii) study the importance of soil properties and soil initial conditions on the models’ performance; and iii)
understand the importance of the sensitivity to CO2, rainfall, temperature an nitrogen changes prior their
application to climate change studies (CTWN).
Figure 1. Spatial variability of (a) clay
content (0-10 cm); (b) mean growing
season temperature (AVT); (c) soil
organic carbon (0-10 cm); and (d) details
of the gridded weather (black grids)
overlaid on the soil types. The white areas
mean that no barley grows in these zones.
Methods
Two crop simulation models were used, the DSSAT-CERES
v4.6 (Jones et al., 2003), and the APSIM v7.7 (Keating et al.,
2003). The models were calibrated using published data on
variety trials. The evaluation of the models was made using 4
years of the spring barley data collected at the Balruderry
Experimental Farm. Both models were evaluated for the
sensitivity to CTWN. Only DSSAT was used for all the other
analysis because of models’ running time contrains.
The gridded maximum and minimum temperature of the whole
Scotland were obtained from the U.K. Meteorological Office,
and the gridded solar radiation (4 km x 4 km) for the period 19942009 purchased from the SolarGIS.info.
The soil data used for this study were obtained from The James
Hutton Institute Soil database, with 40,000+ soil samples form
more than 13,000 locations across Scotland dating back from the
1930s. The areas where barley is grown was overlayed on the
soil types and from the 40,000 soils a subset of 400 soils was
selected. The soil data used (for the 0-120 cm) were: soil texture,
soil organic carbon, soil pH, soil N, and coarse fraction.
21
Results
The re-initialization showed that the models needed at least 3 months of spin-up time in order to
accurately simulate soil dynamics and grain yield. The CTWN showed a good agreement in terms of
water, CO2, and temperature sensitivity. The response to nitrogen (N) indicated that one soil parameter
needed to be adjusted in order to obtain a better agreement of crop response to N. The average national
spring barley yield was well predicted by the models, and part of the yearly variability was also predicted
well. From 20 Global Circulation Models (GCM) of the latest CMIP5, five of them (cooler drier, and
warmer and drier), were chosen to simulate the impact of projected climate on barley yield. Overall,
climate change will not have a significant impact on spring barley because the increase in temperature at
such a high latitude it is still within the optimal range for the cultivar. Future yield is forecasted to increase
between 5 to 9% under RCP45 and RCP85, respectively.
Figure 2. Sensitivity of
APSIM (blue line) and
DSSAT (red line) to
rainfall. Boxplots represent
the 16 years variability and
two different soil/weather
combinations.
Figure 3. Mean simulated yield
(DSSAT and APSIM) for spring
barley for the 1994-2009 period.
Figure 4. Relative yield change of
barley yield as simulated by the
DSSAT using 4 different Global
Climate Models (GCM),
G=CSIROmk360; K=HADGEM2-ES;
O=MIROC5; H=GDFL-EMS2. And
two Representative Concentrations
Pathways (4.5 and 8.5).
Conclusions
In conclusion, climate change will increase barley yield at such high latitude. The set up of the soil and
initial conditions are critical for obtaining proper responses to temperautre and rainfall changes. The
CTWN is a good tool to find models’ setup inconsistencies.
References
Basso, B., et al., 2001. Spatial validation of crop models for precision agriculture. Agric. Syst, 68: 97–112.
Bassso, B., et al., 2013. Wheat yield response to spatially variable nitrogen fertilizer in Mediterranean environment. Europ.
J. Agron., 51: 65-70.
Elliott, J., et al., 2014. Constraints and potentials of future irrigation water availability on agricultural production under
climate change. Proc. Natl. Acad.Sci. U.S.A., 111: 3239–3244.
Jones, J.W., et al., 2003. The DSSAT cropping system model. Eur. J. Agron., 18: 235-265.
Keating, B.A., 2003. An overview of APSIM, a model designed for farming systems simulation. Eur. J. Agorn. 18, 267288.
Newton, A.C, et al., 2011. Crops that feed the world 4. Barley: a resilient crop? Strength and weakness in the context of
food security. Food Sec., 3:141-171.
The Scotch Whisky Association, 2015. The Economic Impact of Scotch Whisky Production in the UK. www.scotchwhisky.org.uk
22
Effect of Saline Conditions on Germination of HerbicideResistant and Sensitive Echinochloa crus-galli
Populations Collected in Italian Rice Fields
Francesco Vidotto, Francesca Serra, Silvia Fogliatto, Aldo Ferrero
Introduction
Salinity represents one of the major limitations for yield and quality of crops (Maggio et al., 2011).
According to the estimates of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, about 20% of
irrigated land is affected by the increase of salinity levels (Rozema and Flowers, 2008). This phenomenon
is accentuated by the competition for fresh water for agricultural and civil uses, and it is reported to be
associated to climate change, population growth (Maggio et al., 2011), socio-economic development and
water contamination (Balia and Viezzoli, 2015). In Europe 26 countries, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece
(Ghiglieri et al., 2012) and France (Fabre et al., 2005) are interested by cases of salinization (Maggio et
al., 2011). In Italy, saltwater intrusion phenomena are found in some areas including the Po Plain and the
Oristano Province, both interested by rice cultivation.
The process of salinization in combination with the presence of highly problematic weeds can potentially
represent an additional threat to rice crop yield in the future. Among the main rice weed species, the
control of Echinochloa crus-galli, in particular, has become problematic as a consequence of the selection
of populations resistant to different herbicides (Panozzo et al., 2013).At present, the effects of salinity on
herbicide-resistant weed populations have not been investigated and the response to salinity increase in
terms of competition-related behavior is not known.
A study was carried out with the aim to evaluate the effect of salinity on germination behavior of E. crusgalli populations resistant and sensitive to ALS-inhibitor herbicides.
Methods
Plant material. Seeds of six E. crus-galli populations collected in Italian rice fields, three resistant and
three sensitive to ALS-inhibitor herbicides, were used during the trials.
Effect of water salinity on germination. In order to evaluate the effect of water salinity on the
germination, for each tested population, 20 seeds were placed in Petri dishes lined with one filter paper
imbibed with 5 ml of deionized water or saline solution. Nine different salt (as NaCl) concentrations,
ranging from 0 mM to 400 mM, were applied. These concentrations were chosen based on previous
studies and on water salinity levels found in some European rice cultivation areas.
Petri dishes were incubated in a growing chamber at the constant temperature of 25 °C. Seed germination
was recorded every day for 15 days. At the end of the incubation period, root and shoot length were
measured on a sample of 10 seedlings for each Petri dish.
Statistical analyses. Seed germination data were fitted to a binomial log-logistic regression model. Shoot
and root length data were fitted to a linear regression model. In both cases, salt concentration was set as
the independent variable. The effective concentration (EC50), which is the salt concentration required to
reduce by 50% seed germination and root and shoot length, was calculated starting from the regressions.
Results
The results showed that seed germination and early growth of seedling of the tested E. crus-galli
populations were, in general, affected by salinity. Variability between resistant and sensitive populations
was found in terms of germination capacity (GC), time required for the first germination and length of
roots and shoots under saline conditions. However, this variability must be attributed not only to salt
stress but also to the variability observable among the tested populations; this is evidenced by the
presence of significant differences also within the resistant and the sensitive populations.
23
In general, sensitive populations were characterized by a germination capacity higher than the resistant
ones. Averaging among sensitive populations, GC remained higher than 80% up to a salt concentration
of 250 mM; at 300 mM, 350 mM and 400 mM the recorded GC was 69%, 33% and 13%, respectively.
Averaging among resistant populations, GC was higher than 60% up to a salinity concentration of 250
mM, while at 300 mM, 350 mM and 400 mM GC dropped to 51%, 38% and 14%, respectively.
The NaCl concentration required to reduce by 50% the GC (EC50) averaged 336 mM in the case of
sensitive populations and 344 mM in the case of the resistant ones.
Increase of salinity resulted also in a delay of germination. In this case, at high salt concentrations the
resistant populations showed a more rapid germination than the sensitive, even though the difference was
not significant. On average, the time required for the first germination ranged from 2 days in the control
to 9.5 days at 400 mM and from 2.33 to 6.5 days in the case of sensitive and resistant populations,
respectively.
Root and shoot length decreased with the increase of salt concentration. Root length ranged from 10.30
cm in the control to 0.39 cm at 400 mM for the sensitive populations and from 9.47 cm to 0.22 cm for
the resistant ones. The salt concentration required to reduce by 50% root length was 159.76 mM and
162.60 mM for sensitive and resistant populations, respectively.
Shoot length ranged from 6.62 cm in the control to 0.32 cm at 400 mM in the sensitive populations and
from 5.59 to 0.33 cm in the resistant ones. The saline concentration required to reduce by 50% shoot
length averaged 216.10 mM and to 246.10 mM in susceptible and resistant populations, respectively.
Conclusions
Salinity affected germination and first seedling growth in several E. crus-galli populations. The results
showed that there is no clear evidence that populations resistant to ALS-inhibitor herbicides respond
differently to salinity compared to sensitive. In general, shoot growth was less affected by salinity than
the root growth. This may lead to changes in competition behavior exhibited by this species under saline
conditions. The results obtained represent useful information for future E. crus-galli management,
provided the potential increase of rice areas affected by water salinity in Europe.
References
Balia R. and Viezzoli A. 2015. Integrated interpretation of IP and TEM data for salinity monitoring of aquifers and soil in
the coastal area of Muravera (Sardinia, Italy). Bollettino di Geofisica Teorica ed Applicata, 56: 31- 42.
Fabre D. et al. 2005. Characterizing stress effects on rice grain development and filling using grain weight and size
distribution. Field Crop Res., 92:11-16.
Ghiglieri G. et al. 2012. Analysis of salinization processes in the coastal carbonate aquifer of Porto Torres (NW Sardinia,
Italy). J. Hydrol., 432–433: 43–51.
Maggio A. et al. 2011. Saline agriculture in Mediterranean environments. Italian J. Agron., 6:e7: 36-43.
Panozzo S. et al. 2013. Target-site resistance to ALS inhibitors in the polyploid species Echinochloa crus-galli. Pestic.
Biochem. Phys., 105: 93–101.
Rozema J. and Flowers T., 2008. Crops for a Salinized World. Science, 322: 1478-1480.
24
SESSION
Cropping Systems and Land Degradation Neutrality
25
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
26
The Sheep-Track Network and the High Nature Value
Farmland in the Apulia region: a Strategy for a Systemic
Conservation
Anna Rita Bernadette Cammerino1, Roberta de Iulio2, Stefano Biscotti3, Massimo
Monteleone1
1
Dep. of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Univ. Foggia, IT. [email protected]
2
Dip. of Humanities. Literature, Cultural Heritage, Education Sciences, Univ. Foggia, IT.
3
Land Planning Sector, Province of Foggia, IT, [email protected]
Introduction
In Italy, since the fifteenth century, long and grassy paths were connecting the Abruzzo and Molise to
the Apulia region. Transhumance, indeed, is a very old form of pastoralism practice where livestock is
moved seasonally between higher pastures, in summer time, and lower pastures, during the winter.
Flocks, but also herds, have followed a complex network of sheep-tracks, from the Central Apennines
down to the Tavoliere plain, and then in the reverse way (de Iulio and Biscotti, 2015).
Over time, these paths have been developed following the natural shape of the landscape and, at the same
time, providing the environmental “warp” to the “weft” made of relevant historical and cultural heritage.
Today transhumance is no longer carried out, but the legacy of such a peculiar “fabric” should be
considered a valuable regional asset that needs to be properly maintained in terms of promoting rural
development. The management of this asset is in charge of the Apulia Regional Property Department
that recently endorsed a planning framework (L.R. 4/2013) through which the sheep-tracks should be
characterized and classified with respect to their integrity. As part of this characterization, the agroenvironmental analysis of the landscape pertaining to the sheep-track network was assigned to the
University of Foggia in collaboration with the “Land Planning Sector” of the Foggia province. The study
consisted in the agro-ecological characterization of the sheep-tracks landscape and the subsequent
identification of areas with high conservative significance to be referred to as High Nature Value
Farmland (HNVF), according to Andersen et al. (2003).The applied methodology is a combined
approach of landscape ecology and agroecology, with the support of a Geographic Information System
(GIS) that allowed the processing of georeferred information and the obtainment of properly designed
thematic maps. One or more of the following properties characterize HNVF: low farming intensity; seminatural vegetation and species of conservation interest; heterogeneity and diversity of the land cover
types (Plieninger and Bieling, 2013). Accordingly, several kinds of ecosystem services could be delivered
in the frame of a conservation and valorisation strategy of the sheep-track system.
Methods
A Geographic Information System (ArcGis 10.1) was used to detect the different patches of the agroenvironmental mosaic considering a 1 km buffer zone crosswise the sheep-tracks. Starting from the
Apulian Habitat Map (ISPRA, 2009) a clustering of similar habitats was gained, thus obtaining the AgroBiotopes Map. An agro-ecological score, ranking from 0 to 1, was assigned to each type of agro-biotope
according to a cardinal ranking procedure. Then, a grid with a squared mesh of 1 km by side was
overlapped to the Agro-Biotopes Map. A weighted average agro-ecological score was assigned to each
mesh based on the proportional area of each occurring agro-biotope, thus producing an Agro-ecological
value Map. Using the georeferred database of the road network, it was observed that frequently the
original path of the sheep-track network was almost completely occupied by highways and national
roads. These sections of the network were not considered in the analysis and, therefore, removed. The
agro-ecological score was increased for those meshes belonging to protected natural areas (national and
regional parks, SCI and SPA of Natura 2000 network) or containing priority habitats according to the
Directive 92/43/CEE. The total score of each mesh was finally assigned into 5 classes according to its
27
corresponding quantile. Only the upper class (i.e. class 5 with the highest scores) was selected as
containing those relevant areas to be preserved and mapped. Considering class 5, the percentage of land
assigned to each biotope (PLAND) was also calculate.
Results
In the ranking process (Table I), the highest agro-ecological score was assigned to meadows and pasture
(H10) followed by bush and garrigue (H9), woods and forests (H8), complex cultivation patterns (H7),
tree crops (H6). The red patches on the map of Figure 1 correspond to the “class 5” areas. The most
represented biotope in those areas is H7, which accounts for almost 48% of the total surface considered.
The following are H6, with about 18%, H8 and H10, both with a PLAND around 15%. H7 is a traditional
form of agricultural land utilization related to a diversified management that preserves and attracts
biodiversity. This definition is similar to type 2 HNVF (sensu Andersen et al. 2003) and is represented
by a farming landscape with a proportion of semi-natural vegetation (wood, forests, meadows and
pastures) which insists in a rich mosaic of arable and/or tree crops.
Table I. Scores assigned to the agro-biotopes and percentage of land assigned to each biotope
Biotope Agro-biotopes
Score PLAND
code
%
H0
Artificial areas
0,00
H1
Artificial vegetated
0,07
areas
H2
Dunal vegetation
0,08
H3
Bare rock
0,08
H4
Riparian vegetation
0,10
areas
H5
Annual crops
0,12
2,76
H6
Fruit tree crops
0,16
17,83
H7
Complex cultivation
0,27
47,86
patterns
H8
Woods and Forests
0,46
14,84
Fig.1 –Representation of the areas with the
H9
Bush and garrigue
0,84
1,57
highest agro-ecological value
H10
Meadows and pasture
1,00
15,13
Conclusions
The identification of those sheep-track sections in which type 2 HNVF are present was performed. The
resulting landscape was developed from the historical stratification of different land utilization, firstly
dedicated to pastoralism and then to agriculture. The importance of low intensity farming in the
conservation of biodiversity was acknowledged early in the 1990s, when the concept of HNVF was firstly
proposed (Lomba et al., 2014). Sustainable agricultural systems are now increasingly important in terms
of both food production and ecosystem services, including regulatory, support, cultural and aesthetic
services (Lomba et al., 2014). At landscape scale, maintaining HNV areas and consequently their
ecosystem services is a way to preserve, at the same time and synergistically, the complex culture system
linked to the sheep-track network.
References
De Iulio R. and Biscotti S. In: Tratturi di Puglia, risorse per il futuro. 131-136. Claudio Grenzi Editore, 2015.
Andersen et al., 2003. Developing a High Nature Value Indicator. Report for the EEA, Copenhagen.
Plieninger, T., Bieling, C., 2013. Resilience-based perspectives to guiding high nature value Farmland through
socioeconomic change. Ecol. Soc. 18(4):20.
ISPRA, 2009. Il sistema Carta della Natura della regione Puglia (www.isprambiente.gov.it/)
Lomba A. et al., 2014. Mapping and monitoring High Nature Value farmlands: Challenges in European landscape. Journal
of Environmental Management 143:140-50.
28
Strip Tillage and Sowing: is Precision Planting
Indispensable in Silage Maize?
Paolo Benincasa1*, Andrea Zorzi2, Francesco Panella1, Giacomo Tosti1, Mattia Trevini3
1
Dip. di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari ed Ambientali, Univ. Perugia, IT, *[email protected]
2
Fattorie Novella Sentieri, 26020Cappella Cantone (BS), IT, [email protected]
3
Agronomo, 25015 Desenzano del Garda (BS), [email protected]
Introduction
Strip tillage is widespread overseas and has been recently introduced and tested in Europe, including
Italy (Trevini et al., 2013), where it has been proved to allow seedbed tilth and grain maize performance
similar to minimum tillage, but with lower soil disturbance and costs. In recent models, strip tillers and
seed drills are combined in hybrid machines in order to allow seedbed preparation and sowing, and also
fertilizer placement, in just one pass. These machines are costly and should be amortized over a large
acreage, for example by using them for all crops in a farm. However, wheat and other high density crops
are normally sown in narrow-spaced rows (e.g. 0.1-0.2 m) by volumetric seeders, so that tilling all the
strips (supposing to equip the strip-tiller with so many tines) would disturb the whole area as it is for the
broadcast minimum tillage. On the other hand, maize and other low density crops are sown in widespaced rows(e.g. 0.4-0.8 m) by precision drills (i.e. planters), which allow to place seeds at a fixed
distance along a line. This stands also for no till planters. A solution to develop a hybrid machine to striptill and sow all crops can be to adjust row spacing (i.e. increase row spacing for high density crops and
reduce it for low density ones) together with passing from line to banded seed placement (Trevini,
2014).This can be supposed not to affect crop performance for high density crops. As far as low-density
crops are concerned, in a few, precision planting seems not questionable, such as in sugarbeet to obtain
taproots with uniform size, whereas in many others, such as silage or grain crops, banded seed placement
should not give relevant drawbacks or could even benefit crop performance, because the random
placement of seeds within bands would help tend to plant equidistance, thus reducing intra-specific
competition (Robles et al., 2012).This work is aimed at evaluating the performance of silage maize
established by a hybrid strip tiller equipped with volumetric band seeder, as compared to the crop
established by either a no-till precision planter or a strip tiller plus a precision planter.
Methods
A two-year experiment was carried out in 2014 and 2015 in a plain field of the farm Fattorie Novella
Sentieri, located in Cappella Cantone, Northern Italy, middle Po valley (45°13’ N, 9°51' E, 55 m s.l.m.)
The soil was sandy-silty (58% sand, 29% silt, 13% clay), with1.7% organic matter and high contents of
extractable P (460 mg kg-1) and exchangeable K (313 m kg-1). Silage maize, hybrid DKC 4795 (FAO
400) was sown on 15 May 2014 and 22 April 2015. In 2014, two tillage-sowing treatments were
compared in a randomized block design with 5 replicates: 1) strip-tillage plus volumetric band (0.1 m
wide) seeding (ST-VBS)carried out by a Claydon Hybrid 6M (Trevini et al., 2014) at inter axle spacing
of 0.6 m and with 35 kg ha-1 of seeds. 2) no-tillage plus precision line planting (NT-PLP) carried out by
a Kinze 3100 (Trevini et al., 2013) at row distance of 0.71 m. In 2015, a third tillage-sowing treatment,
was included: strip tillage plus precision line planting (ST-PLP) carried out by the Claydon Hybrid 6M
and the Kinze 3100 in to passages. In 2015, a randomized block design with 3 replicates was adopted. In
all treatments, the planned seed density was around 11 seeds m-2. In both years each plot was 12 m wide
(i.e., 2 passages of 6 m each) and 100 m long. A total of 200 kg N ha-1 was applied, part as digestate (40
m3 ha-1) derived from a biogas system and part as mixed organic manure (300 kg ha-1 with 21% of N).
In both years, actual sowing density was measured in two rows at different positions per plot. Plant
height, stem diameter, total above-ground fresh and dry biomass yield were determined at harvest (27
August 2014, 13 August 2015) by destructive plant samplings, and quality parameters (i.e. starch,
29
proteins, ADF, NDF, ashes) of subsamples were measured at the Nutristar lab by a NIR system, after
calibration. In 2015, additional measurements to focus on plant growth evolution were carried out at early
stem elongation and flowering by destructive plant samplings, but these data will not be reported in this
abstract.
Results
Both in 2014 and 2015 most differences between treatments were not significant. The seed density
resulted slightly higher than planned in 2014, especially for NT-PLP, whereas it was slightly lower for
ST-VBS in 2015. However differences in seed density were always not significant, due to the variability
recorded between plots (from 8 to 16 seeds m-2 across treatments and years), especially in ST-VBS. This
suggests that the volumetric seeding in a low density crop like maize may not guarantee a regular seed
distribution. The individual plant fresh weight was significantly lower in NT-PLP than in ST-VBS in
2014, whereas it was not different among the three treatments in 2015. Measurements on individual plant
growth carried out in 2015 at early stem elongation and flowering, indicate that individual plant growth
was little affected by treatments, and the only noticeable evidence was a higher variability between plots
in ST-VBS (data not shown). The total biomass yield for silage was never statistically different, as well
as the total above-ground dry matter accumulation, as it can be calculated based on the dry matter %
concentration of biomass at harvest. The lack of difference between the tillage systems confirms findings
obtained either in the same (Trevini et al., 2013) or in other environment (Licht and Al-Kaisi, 2005).
However, the additional ST-PLP treatment in 2015 allowed to separate the effect of tillage from that of
sowing. Thus we can conclude that, in a seedbed prepared by strip tillage, the silage maize crop
performed substantially the same with either volumetric band seeding or precision line planting. Also
differences between treatments in biomass composition and quality for silage were not statistically
significant or not relevant anyway (data not shown).
Table 1. Seed density and individual plant and crop biomass yield at harvest in silage maize in 2014 and
2015 as affected by tillage and seeding technique (see text for experimental treatments and labels)
2014
Treatment
2015
Dry
Yield FW
matter
t ha-1
%
74.7
34.9
0.816
Yield
FW
t ha-1
72.7
Dry
matter
%
36.6
0.837
66.7
41.1
11.3
0.734
70.5
38.2
0.423
0.408
0.508
0.574
0.040
-
-
-
-
3.29
Seeds m-2
Plant FW
kg plant-1
Seeds m-2
Plant FW
kg plant-1
NT-PLP
13.4
0.574
ST-VBS
11.9
0.758
85.9
33.2
11.0
10.0
ST-PLP
-
-
-
-
Prob. F
0.297
0.011
0.402
LSD 0,05
-
0.1291
-
Conclusions
Results demonstrate that a silage maize crop can perform successfully when established by strip tillage
associated with volumetric band seeding. Thus, the same hybrid machine could be used to strip-till and
sow both silage maize and high density crops like winter cereals, with obvious economic benefits.
References
Robles M.et al. 2012. Responses of Maize Hybrids to Twin-Row Spatial Arrangement at Multiple Plant Densities. Agron.
J. 104:1747-1756.
Trevini M. 2014. Hybrid 6M, seminare a strisce. MAD - Macchine Agricole Domani, 1-2, 53.
Trevini M. et al. 2013. Strip tillage effect on seedbed tilt and maize production in Northern-Italy as case-study for the
Southern Europe environment. Europ. J. Agron., 48: 50-56.
Licht, M.A., Al-Kaisi, M., 2005. Corn response, nitrogen uptake, and water use in strip tillage compared with no tillage
and chisel plow. Agronomy Journal 97,705–710.
30
Different Soil Tillage and Nitrogen Fertilization in Durum
Wheat: Effect on Yield and Nitrogen Utilization
Nicoletta Nassi o Di Nasso1, Iride Volpi1, Simona Bosco1, Jonathan Trabucco1, Cristiano
Tozzini1, Fabio Taccini1, Stefania Nuvoli2, Luigi Fabbrini2, Enrico Bonari1
Institute of Life Sciences, Sant’Anna School of Pisa, IT, [email protected]
2
Tuscany Region, Florence, IT, [email protected]
1
Introduction
More than 50% of durum wheat in Europe is cultivated in the Mediterranean region where farmers
usually adopt conventional practises with high input levels. However, the environmental and economic
sustainability of this crop are strongly affected by agricultural practises such as soil tillage and nitrogen
fertilization, generating interest in low input cropping practices that can reduce the environmental impact
and the production cost and at the same time guarantee sustainable yield levels. For these reason, a twoyear study was carried out within LIFE+IPNOA Project, to study the effect of soil tillage and nitrogen
rate on durum wheat productivity and nitrogen use.
Methods
The IPNOA experimental field trials was located in two representative sites in Tuscany: i) the Centre for
Agro-Environmental Research E. Avanzi (CIRAA), located in San Piero a Grado (Pisa) and ii) the Centre
for Agricultural Technologies and Extension Services (CATES), located in Cesa (Arezzo). The
experiment was conducted during 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 growing seasons. In both sites, a split-plot
design with 4 replicates was used. The main plot was assigned to tillage, which consisted in conventional
tillage (P) (ploughing, 30 cm depth) and minimum tillage (MT) (10 cm depth). The sub-plot was assigned
to N fertilisation, which consisted in three N fertilisation rates: no fertilisation (N0), 110 kg N ha–1 (N1)
and 170 kg N ha–1 (N2). Following each growing season, crop yield (grain and straw) and yield
components (N° of spikes per m2, thousand-seed weight), were assessed on 4m2per plot, excluding border
plants and it was expressed on a dry matter content basis. One sub-sample for each plot was placed in a
forced-draft oven at 60 °C until constant weight to determine the nitrogen content using Kjeldahl’s
method. Grain and straw N uptakes were calculated by multiplying dry yield and N content and their sum
represented the above ground N uptake. The following parameters were also calculated: (i) Agronomic
Efficiency (AE) as ratio of (grain yield at Nx– grain yield at N0) to applied N at Nx; (ii) Nitrogen
Utilization Efficiency (NUtE) as ratio of grain yield to above ground N uptakes at harvest; (iii) Nitrogen
Harvest Index (NHI) as ratio of grain N uptake to total above ground N uptake at harvest; (iv) Physiologica
Efficiency (PE) as ratio of (grain yield at Nx – grain yield at N0) to (above ground N uptake at Nx – above
ground N uptake at N0); (v) Apparent Recovery Fraction (RF) as the ratio of (grain N uptake at Nx – N
uptake at N0) to applied N at Nx. The statistical analysis was performed with R software and the lme4
package. Data were analysed using a linear mixed model. Site, soil tillage and nitrogen rate were
considered fixed variables, while year was considered a random variable. Significance was determined
using the R LMER Convenience Functions package. Tukey's HSD post hoc test was used to reveal
significant differences among treatments.
Results
The influence of site, soil tillage and nitrogen rate was significant (Figure 1). The total aboveground
biomass was higher in CATES than in CIRAA (+30%) and the same gap was observed also for grain and
straw yields. Moreover, the influence of the tillage system was significant with slightly higher values in
P (+10%) for both straw and grain yield. Nitrogen fertilization rates had a significant effect on total above
ground dry yield: N1 and N2achieved no significantly different yield level, while a twofold increase was
observed respect to N0 (+50%). These results agree with those reported by Lòpez-Bellido & LòpezBellido (2001) and Ierna et al., (2016), observing no response to fertilization under Mediterranean
31
condition with N rate from 80 to 160 kg ha-1. In addition, reducing N rate at 110 kg ha-1 it seems possible
to guarantee the same grain yield level reported by national statistics on agriculture for the two study
sites. However, long-term study to monitor the effect of low N rate on soil fertility could be necessary.
Figure 1 – Total above ground yield of durum wheat as affected by site (CIRAA and CATES), soil tillage intensity (ploughing, 30
cm depth (P) vs minimum tillage at 10 cm depth (MT) and N fertilisation rates: no fertilisation (N0), 110 kg N ha–1 (N1) and 170 kg
N ha–1 (N2).
Concerning N uptakes, only N rate significantly affected this parameter. In fact, total uptakes were
proportional to yield values with significant differences also between N1 and N2 (70 vs 91 kg N ha-1). In
the N rates, grain and straw N uptakes represented the 85% and 15% of the total amount, respectively.
Among the analysed Nitrogen efficiency parameters only NUtE and RF were significantly affected by N
rates, while AE, NHI and PE showed stable values of about 12.6 kg kg-1, 84 and 47.3 kg kg-1respectively.
A negative effect of high nitrogen rate on NUtE was recorded. It significantly decreased passing from N0
to N2. In the absence of nitrogen fertilization (N0) NUtE was 53.7 kg kg-1 and it decreased to 48.6 and 43.5
kg kg-1in N1 and N2 respectively. The same trend was observed for RF with decreasing values (- 30%)
from N1 to N2.
Conclusions
Yields were affected by: (i) the pedo-climatic characteristics varying of about 30% between the sites, (ii)
soil tillage intensity (± 10%) and (iii) N rate. Specifically, under low-input condition (N1), durum wheat
achieved satisfactory yield level as in N2 (170 kg N ha-1) with higher nitrogen efficiency. Then, we can
suppose that the optimization of durum wheat cropping systems by reducing crop inputs can represent a
way to match the demand for a sustainable agriculture at low energy inputs. However, further
investigations should continue to analyse other aspects such as nitrate leaching, N2O emissions and
economic aspects.
References
Bosco et al., 2015.LIFE+IPNOA mobile prototype for the monitoring of soil N2O emissions from arable crops: first-year
results on durum wheat. Ital J Agr, 10(3): 124-131.
Brennan et al., 2014. The effect of tillage system on residue management on grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency in
winter wheat in a cool Atlantic climate. Eur. J. Agron, 54:61-69.
Lòpez-Bellido and Lòpez Bellido, 2001. Efficiency of nitrogen in wheat under Mediterranean conditions: effect of tillage,
crop rotation and N fertilization. Field Crop. Res. 71:31 -46.
Seddaiu et al., 2016. Long term effects of tillage practices and N fertilization in rainfed Mediterranean cropping systems:
durum wheat, sunflower and maize grain yield. Eur. J. Agron, available on line.
Tremblay A, Ransijn J. 2013. LMER Convenience Functions: a suite of functions to back-fit fixed effects and forward-fit
random effects, as well as other miscellaneous functions. R package version 2.0. Available from: http://CRAN.Rproject.org/package=LMER Convenience Functions.
32
POSTER
33
The Potential of Native Plants to Accumulate Heavy
Metals from an Industrial Polluted Soil: Preliminary
Results
Donato Visconti1, Laura Gioia, Nunzio Fiorentino1, Adriano Stinca1, Antonio G. Caporale1,
Riccardo Motti1, Paola Adamo1, Massimo Fagnano1
1Dip.
di Agraria, Univ. degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, IT, [email protected]
Introduction: With the development of urbanization and industrialization, soils were increasingly
polluted by heavy metals (HM) threatening ecosystems, surface and ground waters, food safety and
human health. Phytoremediation can be potentially used for the risk managements, phytostabilization
and remediation of HM-contaminated sites. A major step towards the development of phytoremediation
of HM-impacted soils is the identification of HM hyperaccumulating and high tolerant plants. This study
aimed at evaluating the potential of native plant species to extract and accumulate heavy metals from a
soil of a battery recycling site (Marcianise, Campania Region, Italy) polluted by Pb andCd.
Methods: 11 plots (3x3 m) representative of the vegetation type at the sampling time were set up in June
2015. Within each plot, tissues (shoots and roots) of spontaneous plants species with the higher soil
coverage were collected together with rhizo soil (from the 0-20 cm depth soil layer). Plant and soil
samples were analyzed (acid digestion followed by ICP-MS) for HM total content determination.
Recorded values were compared to legal HM thresholds in plants and soils (REG UE N. 1275/2013 and
D.Lgs 152/2006, respectively). For metals not included in the current legislation mean values found in
grasses grown on polluted sites were used (Kabata-Pendias, 2011) as reference. The following indices
were tested to assess the ability of the plants to tolerate and accumulate heavy metals for phytoextraction
and phytostabilization purpose (Yoon et al., 2006): Bioaccumulation factor of roots (BAFroots=
HMroots/HMsoil), translocation factor (TF= HMshoots/HMroots), Bioaccumulation factor of shoots
(BAFshoots= HMshoots/HMsoil). Plants with bothBAFroots>1 and TF>1 were considered having the potential
to be used both in phytoextraction and phytostabilization (Lorestani et al., 2011). Besides, plants with
BAFroots>1and TF<1were considered having the potential for phytostabilization (Yoon et al., 2006).Both
BAFshoots and TF were used for the individuation of hyperaccumulating species (BAFshoots> 1 andTF> 1).
In heavily contaminated plotswe comparedHM concentration values in shoots withreference values given
by Van der Ent et al. (2013) to identify hyperaccumulator plants.
Results: Thirteen species were found as representative of the investigated plots; they are listed in Table
1, together with the label code. Lead and Cd content in plant tissues and soil are also reported. Soil Pb
concentration ranged from 100 to over 100000 mg kg-1 and was above legal threshold for commercial
and industrial sites (1000 mg kg-1) in all cases except for Plot1, P2ET and Plot11. Lead content of shoots
was above legal threshold for all species with the exception of AV and ET.Highest values were found in
P7ER and P4DG showing a significant accumulation of Pb in shoots. Total Pb concentrations in the plant
roots ranged from 16 mg kg-1 to 3404 mg kg-1 in P7SL. BAFshoots and BAFroots were lower than 1 for all
plant species.TF was higher than 1 for P1AV (1.95), P1DV (2.84), P11SE (1.36), P4CA (1.08) and
P10RU (1.27) indicating for these species a good Pb tolerance. Soil Cd concentration ranged from 0.60
to 299 mg kg-1 and was above legal threshold (15 mg kg-1) except for Plot1, P2ET, Plot11, P4DG, Plot5
and P7ER. Cadmium concentration in shoots ranged from 0.17 to 9.51 mg kg-1with values above legal
threshold (1.06 mg kg-1) and above to concentration values recorded from Kabata-Pendias (2011) in
contaminated soils for P5AA (9.39) and P8ER (9.51). Cadmium concentration in roots ranged from 0.33
to 41.16 mg kg-1.Cadmium BAFshootswas lower than 1 for all species except P5AA (1.91) accumulating
the element (soil content of 4.9 mg kg-1), while Cd BAFroots was higher than 1 for P4DG (3.45) and P5AA
(1.74). P5AA along with P1DV and P10RU, showed an high Cd tolerance as proved by TF higher than
34
1.Among other elements, Tl concentration in shoots was lower than values found in species growing in
contaminated soils (2.22 mg kg-1, Kabata-Pendias, 2011) with the exception of P7SL (102.54 mg kg-1)
that accumulated Tl above 100 mg kg-1 in the shoots, the criteria for a hyperaccumulator (Van der Ent et
al., 2013). TF was lower than 1 for all species except for P7SL (2.33) showing a high phytoextraction
efficiency.
Plot/Plant species
Pb (mg kg
Label
S hoot
Root
-1
)
Cd (mg kg
S oil
S hoot
-1
Root
)
Tl (mg kg
S oil
S hoot
-1
Root
)
S oil
Plot 1 - Artemisia vulgaris
P1AV
33,50
17,16
208,70
0,40
0,45
0,70
0,04
0,33
n.a.
Plot 1 - Dittrichia viscosa
P1DV
47,05
16,55
609,30
0,83
0,33
2,50
0,06
0,41
n.a.
Plot 2 - Epilobium tetragonum
P2ET
31,63
100,92
561,10
0,17
1,76
2,10
0,03
0,21
n.a.
Plot 2 - S orghum halepense
P2S H
73,98
76,42
20448,80
1,03
2,20
81,70
0,22
0,34
n.a.
Plot 3 - S ambucus ebulus
P3S E
95,78
290,15
6231,00
0,20
7,01
19,30
0,13
1,13
n.a.
Plot 4 - Cirsium arvense
P4CA
213,07
197,18
4663,20
3,80
7,65
21,90
0,19
0,57
n.a.
Plot 4 - Dactylis Glomerata
P4DG
418,14
546,09
1332,70
3,44
20,36
5,90
0,51
1,38
n.a.
Plot 5 - Artemisia annua
P5AA
106,24
320,78
1427,60
9,39
8,51
4,90
0,14
0,60
n.a.
Plot 5 - Holcus lanatus
P5HL
70,41
358,62
1707,10
1,27
4,91
5,80
0,11
0,45
n.a.
Plot 6 - Rubus ulmifolius
P6RU
66,67
231,69
100000,00
0,17
4,21
298,60
0,02
0,34
n.a.
Plot 7 - Elymus repens
P7ER
433,05
n.a.
3428,60
5,29
n.a.
7,80
1,13
n.a
n.a.
Plot 7 - S ilene latifolia
P7S L
216,98
3403,94
49647,50
7,70
41,16
175,60
102,54
43,99
n.a.
Plot 8 - Ballota nigra
P8BN
175,57
671,09
21134,70
5,94
19,98
55,00
1,68
4,06
n.a.
P8ER
290,25
2492,38
32066,50
9,51
40,14
140,30
1,78
3,32
n.a.
Plot 9 - Dactylis Glomerata
P9DG
228,38
634,14
22257,80
4,08
15,40
95,60
0,05
0,53
n.a.
P9ER
124,77
322,54
12759,70
0,85
12,33
30,60
0,09
0,35
n.a.
Plot 10 - Rubus ulmifolius
P10RU
146,99
115,91
39263,00
3,85
3,03
153,20
0,44
0,82
n.a.
Plot 11 - S ambucus ebulus
P11S E
37,14
27,33
100,40
0,33
0,36
0,60
0,03
0,20
n.a.
Average
156,09
577,82
17658,21
3,24
11,16
61,23
6,07
3,47
n.a.
Maximum
433,05
3403,94
100000,00
9,51
41,16
298,60
102,54
43,99
n.a.
31,63
16,55
100,40
0,17
0,33
0,60
0,02
0,20
n.a.
Minimum
Plants concentration limits
(REG UE N. 1275/2013) - dry
matter
Industral soils concentration
limits (col. B D.Lgs. 152/06)
Plants mean values (KabataPendias et al., 2011) in
contaminated sites
Minimum plants concentration
values for hyperaccumulators
(Van der Ent et al. 2013)
34,09
1,06
1000,00
15,0
931
8,2
2,22
1000
100
100
Table 1. Concentrations of Pb and Cd of spontaneous plants and soils from a polluted battery recycling site.
Conclusions: All the screened plant species exhibiteda good adaptability to Pb and Cd contaminated
soil. In particular, D. glomerata with BAFroots>1 and TF<1was very suitable for phytostabilization of Cd
in contaminated soil(Yoon et al., 2006) and could be used to avoid contaminated dust production by
surface soil erosion. Two plant species were suspected as metal hyperaccumulators: Artemisia annua for
Cd and Silene latifolia for Tl. A. annua was most effective in taking up Cd (BAFshoots and TF >1) from a
soil with low Cd content (4.9 mg kg-1), that is a typical characteristic of hyperaccumulator plants (Reeves
et al. 2001). A. annua was also suitable for phytostabilizationof Cd (BAFroots=1.73), although Cd content
in shoots was lower than 1000 mg kg-1 (Van der Ent et al., 2013). TF higher than 1 was already reported
for the Artemisia genus by Baek et al. (2004). Further experiments in controlled environment with soil
highly polluted by Cd are needed to confirm this hypothesis. S. latifolia presented a Tl concentration in
shoots higher than 100 mg kg-1and TF higher than 1. So, according to Escarrè et al. (2011), S. latifolia
might be an hyperaccumulator of Tl; however also in this case further experiments are needed to confirm
the hyperaccumulator status of this plant species.
References:
Baek et al. 2004. Distribution of Heavy Metal Content in Plants and Soil from a Korean Shooting Site. Korean J. Ecol.
27(4): 231-237; Escarré J. et al., 2011.Heavy Metal Concentration Survey in Soils and Plants of the Les Malines Mining
District (Southern France): Implications for Soil Restoration. Water Air Soil Pollut 216:485–504; Kabata-Pendias A, 2011.
Trace elements in soils and plants. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press Inc.; Lorestani B. Et al., 2011. Phytoremediation Potential
of Native PlantsGrowing on a Heavy Metals Contaminated Soil ofCopper mine in Iran. Intern. Journal of Envir., Chem.,
Ecolo., Geolo.andGeophy.Engi. Vol:5, No:5.; Reeves RD et al, 2001. Distribution and metal-accumulating behaviour of
Thlaspicaerulescens and associated metallophytes in France. IntJPhytorem 3:145–172; Van der Ent et al., 2013.
Hyperaccumulators of metal and metalloid trace elements: Facts and fiction. Plant Soil 362: 319-334; Yoon J et al. 2006.
Accumulation of Pb, Cu, and Zn in native plants growing on a contaminated Florida site. Sci. Tot. Environ. J., vol. 368,
no. 2-3, pp, 456–464.
35
Soil-Waste Management as a Chance to Boost Soil
Recovery and Promote Land Restoration
Massimo Monteleone1, Marcella Michela Giuliani1, Giovanni De Cristofaro2, Bruno Granella2
1
Dep. Agriculture, Food and Environment, Univ. Foggia, IT. e-mail: [email protected]
2
DCF Group, Lucera, Foggia, IT. e-mail: [email protected]
Introduction
The way societies use natural resources affects both the economy and the environment. A wasteful use
of soil is challenging the earth’s capacity to sustain our life. At global scale, the growing demand for
food and non-food biomass is pressing towards a large cropland expansion, although the most fertile
areas are already under cultivation and the physical earth’s limits are approaching. On the other hand,
soil degradation processes (erosion, salinization, desertification, contamination, etc.) are progressively
reducing land use availability.
Only few years ago, urban residents have exceeded rural people and today 54% of the world’s population
is living in cities and megacities. This means that urbanization is still expanding and lowland areas close
to cities and with the most fertile soils are converted gradually to urban neighborhoods, shopping centers,
industrial areas, and infrastructures. Urban sprawling is causing “soil consumption” thus sacrificing large
amounts of land and further worsening the problem of soil scarcity.
The issue of land protection from degradation is getting increasing attention in the policy agenda, both
globally and at the European level. The need for urgent actions to reverse land losses and to achieve
degradation neutrality was stressed in the UN Rio+20 conference. As a follow-up, UN is now
recommending the adoption of a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Target 15.3 of the
SDGs agenda sets out to combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, and strive to achieve a
land degradation neutral world by the year 2030. At EU scale, the 2011 “Roadmap to a Resource Efficient
Europe” pushes the EU policies to consider impacts on land use, striving for the target of no net land take
by 2050. Despite debates and declarations, in 2015 the EU Commission was supposed to issue a
“Communication on Land as a Resource” which was expected to propose a vision on land and soil
management by 2020 and beyond. So far, this document is still missing.
In order to achieve the UN goal on land degradation neutrality, two relevant conditions should be met:
1) a better land use planning to avoid further construction activities on fertile land; 2) massive restoration
activities over large areas of degraded soils and soil recovery. This presentation is focused specifically
on the second option: soil restoration through soil-waste recovery and recycling.
Apart from EU soil policy, the EU regulation framework on waste is providing practical and proper
guidelines to recover earth materials in construction and remediation sites, highlighting the possibility to
target this recovered waste towards operations of soil and topsoil “reconstruction” or “manufacturing”
obtained through soil-waste treatments.
Objective
In many industrial activities, from house building to road construction, from mining to quarry
cultivations, etc. nutrient-rich topsoil is removed when a site is cleared, leaving behind the nutrient-lean
subsoil. When construction works are completed or the project is over, operating companies should
reclaim the disturbed land, returning it to conditions that enable its use for other purposes, such as
farmland or semi-natural habitat. It means that large amounts of “reconstructed” topsoil are requested for
landscape maintenance, revegetation plan, soil covering, regeneration projects, geosystems for slope
reinforcement and erosion control, brownfield and landfill restoration, green roofs, recreational and sport
turfs. Soil-forming materials from overburden, properly selected, cleaned and physically separated, could
be used also in the manufacturing of plant growing media to be used in nursery, gardening, and protected
horticulture and greenhouse cultivations.
36
Methods
The possibility to obtain and use “reconstructed” soils is affected largely by non-technical constraints
such as the EU legislation framework to be consequently transposed into the national regulation.
Promoting a transition towards a “circular economy” is considered one of the highest priorities. In this
respect, the “Waste Framework Directive” (WFD, 2008/98/EC) and the related concepts of waste
hierarchy, waste recycling and recovery, by-product definition, end-of-waste criteria are gradually
informing a comprehensive new approach to waste management that is spreading in the legislation of all
the EU Member States. In the following, the Italian legislation (Part IV of the D.Lgs 152/06) will be
presented (very schematically) in respect to the WFD. It must be emphasised, indeed, that without a
suitable, coherent and viable legal support (regulatory system and the consequent authorization
procedures), nothing of what is technically possible is actually feasible.
Results
WASTE
SOIL
The following management options
WASTE
DISPOSAL
REMEDIATION
(Fig. 1) can be identified:
A)
Earth
materials
are
WASTE
considered a “special waste”
RECOVERY
(EWC170504). Accordingly, such a
soil material should be disposed of in
EARTH
OTHER THAN
«IN SITU»
an authorized landfills. This is the
MATERIAL
WASTE
UTILIZATION
traditional option, still mostly
applied: recovery is prevented and
NO WASTE
BYPRODUCT
the soil is lost.
B)
The uncontaminated soil
(and
other
naturally occurring
CONSTRUCTION
END OF
SECONDARY
materials),
to
be
used on the same site
OPERATIONS
WASTE
FEEDSTOCK
from which it was excavated (“in
situ” material), is not considered a
Figure 1. Synoptic diagram of the different options in the
waste (art. 2, WFD; art. 185, comma
earth materials management.
1, D.Lgs 152/06).
C)
Under specific conditions
(art. 5, WFD), earth materials could be considered a “by-product” of the excavation activity and,
therefore, break free from its ordinarily waste status. This happen when a further use is certain, lawful,
healthy, environmentally sound, without extra processing other than normal industrial practices (art. 184bis D.Lgs 152/06). Reutilization site is to be known in advance.
D) WFD (art. 6) incorporates the concept of End-of-Waste. EoW criteria (art. 184-ter D.Lgs 152/06)
specify when certain waste ceases to be a waste and obtains a status of a product (or a secondary raw
material). The European Commission should set such criteria for each specific category of materials.
Soil-waste is not included so far.
E) Waste recovery (art. 2, WFD) is the operation that prepare waste supplying a useful service by
replacing other materials. Considering soil-waste, the recovery typology is R5: “recycling/reclamation
of other inorganic materials” (including soil cleaning) together with R13: “storage of waste pending other
recovery operations” (Annex C, Part IV D.Lgs 152/06).
Conclusions
Notwithstanding the significant improvements in the EU legislation framework, the national regulatory
system is still in progress and addressing its interpretation is difficult; therefore, fulfil the permitting
procedures is complex and several constraints should be loosened. At regulatory level, a proper trade-off
between a too broad and a too narrow definition of waste still needs to be found. Soil-waste represents a
typical example: a too broad waste interpretation imposes unnecessary costs on businesses, making less
attractive a material that would otherwise be returned into use thus avoiding disposal. By contrast, a too
narrow interpretation could lead to serious environmental damage. Be simple in rules but faultless in the
control (through serious traceability tools) should be the best way to follow.
37
Effect of the Application of Mucilage from Seeds of Chia
(Salvia hispanica L.) on the Physical Characteristics of
Agricultural Soils
Mariana Amato1, Laura Scrano2, Antonio Di Marsico1, Michele Perniola1, Virginia Lanzotti3
Roberta Rossi4
1SAFE,
University of Basilicata, Potenza, IT, [email protected]
University of Basilicata, Potenza, IT, [email protected]
3DI, University of Napoli Federico II
4CREA-ZOE, Muro Lucano (PZ), [email protected]
2DICEM,
Introduction
Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) is an emerging crop. Like other Lamiaceae, its seeds exhibit myxospermy:
they produce a mucilage when hydrated. The role of chia mucilage on the stability of soil was studied in
this research through the determination of aggregate stability in analogy with other plant hydrogels
(Morel et al., 1991) and the dynamics of soil respiration. The composition of mucilage was also
investigated in order to clarify the mechanisms of soil stabilization.
Methods
Mucilage was extracted from black chia seeds obtained from Eichenhain (www.eichenhain.com) through
hydration at 40°C for 4 hours and oven-drying at 50°C, and added to soil aggregates between 1 and 2
mm. A factorial design with three replications was tested:
A. Concentration of mucilage with three levels: 0 (control), 1% w/w, 2% w/w.
B. Soil texture with three levels:
Sandy-loam: sand (50-2000 mm) 76.5%, silt (2-50 mm) 16.8%, clay (<2 mm) 6.7% organic carbon 9.72
g kg-1.
Loam: sand (50-2000 mm) 43.6%, silt (2-50 mm) 34.2%, clay (<2 mm) 22.1% organic carbon 17.64 g
kg-1.
Clay loam: sand (50-2000 mm) 42.1%, silt (2-50 mm) 26.8%, clay (<2 mm) 31.1% organic carbon 9.41
g kg-1.
Samples were brought to 30% of field capacity and incubated. At 1, 7 and 30 days aggregates were
saturated under vacuum and stability was determined through wet sieving on a stack of sieves 0.1, 0.2,
0.5, 1 mm. The dimensional distribution and the stability of aggregates (percent in dry weight of
aggregates collected on the 1 mm sieve, Traoré et al., 2000) were determined. Soil respiration was
measured as CO2 emission after incubation with 0.1, 0.4, 1.6% w/w mucilage through the titrimetric
method (GU 13/03/2004 SG61). The composition of mucilage was studied through 13C-CPMAS.
Results
The incorporation of mucilage in all tested soils resulted in a rise in the soil stability index, significant
already at 1% concentration, but stronger in the 2% concentration treatments (p<0.01). Data for the
control and 2% treatment are shown in fig. 1. The effect was stronger in the sandy loam texture and less
pronounced in the clay loam soil. It persisted until the end of the incubation period. The percentage of
aggregates collected in sieves with opening smaller than 1 mm, conversely, were higher in control
treatments. The accumulated amount of CO2 (mg g-1 of dry soil) produced by the samples was modeled
with a two-steps dynamics with a higher emission rate in the 0-7 days incubation period and subsequently
a lower rate, and was more pronounced with higher percentage of mucilage (p<0.01). Nevertheless about
half of the organic carbon added with the mucilage was left in the soil at the end of the 30-day incubation
period. Polysaccharides and uronic groups were found in the mucilage.
38
Fig. 1. Percentage dry weight of soil aggregates retained on sieves after wet-sieving at different
times of incubation. Left: loam; mid: sandy-loam; right: clay-loam.
Conclusions
The mucilage extracted from chia seeds, exerts a significant increase of soil aggregate stability, which
persists in time in spite of increases in soil respiration. Mechanisms of soil bonding analogous to xanthan
and linked to the presence of charged groups can be inferred from 13C-CPMAS. Our results open new
perspectives to the interpretation of the ecological services of myxospermous crop seeds for surface soil
stability.
References
Morel, J.L., Habib, L., Plantureux, S. & Guckert, A. 1991. Influence of maize root mucilage on soil
aggregate stability. Plant and Soil, 136, 111-119.
Traorè O., et al. 2000. Effect of root mucilage and modelled root exudates on soil structure. European
Journal of Soil Science, 51, 575-581.
39
Soil Organic Carbon and Soil Stability Status Under
Legume-Wheat Rotation
Leonardo Verdini, Luigi Tedone*, Salem Alhajj Ali, Giuseppe De Mastro
Dipartimento di Scienze Agro-Ambientali e Territoriali - Università degli Studi di Bari “A. Moro”
*Corresponding author ([email protected])
Introduction
Concerns regarding the increase in CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere and consequent global warming
have increased the interest in using conservation agriculture management practices to enhance
environmental sustainability (Dikgwatlhe et al., 2014). New EU regulations promoting sustainable
agricultural inputs and the introduction of reduced tillage system, which could result in substantial energy
savings (Alhajj Ali et al., 2013), improve soil quality and reduce the risk of agricultural soil erosion.Soil
management practices play a very important impact on soil quality by changing the soil organic carbon
(SOC) concentration with a subsequent effect on the GHG emissions from the soil. The importance of
SOC and the ability of agricultural soil to sequester carbon, as a climate-change-mitigating strategy, has
received great attention worldwide in relation to soil management. In fact, agricultural soils can be
considered as a net sink or source for greenhouse gases (GHGs) depending on many factors including
soil management practices, cropping systems and weather conditions. If proper management is applied
(Alhajj Ali et al., 2016), agriculture soil can act as a carbon storage system, helping to limit the emissions
of greenhouse gases.
Conservative tillage systems studies reported to give benefit to both the soil structure and the organic
matter content especially in arid and semi-arid climates where the stability of aggregates and soil
structure improved under conservative soil management techniques.This study evaluates the effects of
different soil tillage techniques on the physical properties of soil in a typical Mediterranean area of
southern Italy.
The aim of presentstudy is to determine the effect of tillage system, crop rotation, on SOC content in the
0- to 90-cm profile of a 7 year experiment conducted under rainfed Mediterranean conditions in southern
Italy.
Methods
An “on-farm” research is carring out, from 2009, an open field scale at the experimental farm E.
Pantanelli of Bari’s University andlocated in Policoro (MT, southern Italy; 40°10’20’’ N, 16°39’04’’ E)
at 15 m above sea level characterized by a Mediterranean climate. The soil is loamy (Canadian texture),
containing 39,55% sand, 37,45% silt, 23,0% clay. On 9 ha surface are rotated durum wheat (Triticum
turgidum L. subsp. Durum) cv. Iride and faba bean (Viciafaba var. minor Persons.) cv. Prothabat. The
main treatments, according a strip plot design, consisted of three levels of soil disturbance, as follows:
- Conventional tillage (CT);
- Reduced tillage (RT);
- Conservation/No tillage (NT);
After harvesting, soil samples were collected at depth of 0-15, 15-30; 30-60; 60-90 cm each year. For
each sample the SOC content was determined using the dichromate oxidation method of Walkley &
Black (1934). In the last three years, the stability of soil aggregates to shaking in water was also measured,
on triplicate samples with the method of Tiulin–Meyer modified as in Cavazza and Linsalata (1969).
Data were submitted to statistical analysis according ANOVA test and means were separated with the
Duncan’s test.
Results
The results revealed that the organic carbon concentrations varied significantly as a function of year, soil
depth and the system of soil management (Fig 1). During the years, the SOC concentration increase from
40
an average of 11 g kg-1 of soil in the first years (2010) to
14,2 g kg-1 of soil in sixth year, 2015, and significative
difference between the years and data that progressively,
year by year, increased.
In 2010, as expected, the SOC difference between the tillage
system e values were not significative, considering the
tillage system, with values that ranging between 11,6 to 12,4
g kg-1. Considering the profile, the difference were
significative only between deeper profile (60-90 cm), 8,3 g
kg-1, respect to the other three deep (0-15, 15-30, 30-60, 6090 cm), that show a mean of 13,1 g kg-1 and no differences
between them.
In 2015 instead the values of SOC, in general, increased
respect to 2010. The difference between the tillage system
Figure 1 - Organic carbon concentration (g kg-1): 2010confirmed to be not significative, ranging between 14 and
2015 as function of year, depth and tillage system
14,4 g kg-1. Large differences instead were found between
the profiles: in the four profiles (0-15 cm, 15-30 cm, 30-60
cm, 60-90 cm) the differences were significant ad were, respectively, 17,4, 16,5, 14,12, 8,84 g kg-1.
The analysis of the structure stability under
different treatments confirmed the influence of the
soil management on the soil structure.
The higher value, in average, was found in CT
tillage 13.1%, while lower results were found in the
other two management systems with 9.1 and 9.0%
for CT and RT, respectively (Fig. 2).
Comparing the three depths separately we found,
in 0-15 cm profile, impressive difference in NT
system, were the value reached 19.2% in 2015,
respect to other two system, were the differences
Figure 2 - Soil structure stability index during the period 2013-15
were small.
Conclusion
The study clearly show the temporal effects of rotation and tillage on SOC content and distribution.
Compared with other treatments, in NT tillage SOC significantly increased in the upper profile, while on
the other tillage the values were uniform along the layers.
In total, we didn’t find differences in terms of SOC between the tillage system considered, as find in
other studies, at this aspect is effected by environmental effect on the residues decomposition, that in the
NT system is exposed to the climatic. Components.
However, benefits associated with CT system on the physical property of the soil is clear, as showed
from the soil structure stability and the productive response of cultivations during the years (data
unpublished).
References
Alhajj Ali et al. 2016. Effect of different crop management systems on rainfed durum wheat greenhouse gas emissions
and carbon footprint under Mediterranean conditions. Journal of Cleaner Production (in press).
Alhajj Ali et al. 2013. A comparison of the energy consumption of rainfed durum wheat under different management
scenarios in southern Italy. Energy, 61: 308-318.
Dikgwatlheet al. 2014. Changes in soil organic carbon and nitrogen as affected by tillage and residue management under
wheat–maize cropping system in the North China Plain. Soil & Tillage Research 144, 110-118
41
Accumulation of Zn and Cr in Native Plants Growing on a
Farmland Polluted by Illegal Tannery Sludges Disposal:
Preliminary Results
Donato Visconti, Laura Gioia, Nunzio Fiorentino, Adriano Stinca, Diana Agrelli, Riccardo
Motti, Paola Adamo, Massimo Fagnano
Dip. di Agraria, Univ. degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, IT, [email protected]
Introduction: Contamination of heavy metals deriving from illegal waste disposal and dumping
represents one of the most pressing threats to water and soil resources as well as human health.
Phytoremediation can be potentially used for risk managements and remediation of these metalcontaminated sites. This study aimed at evaluating the potential for phytoremediation of native plant
species growing on a farmland contaminated by past disposal and dumping of tannery sludges.
Methods: Plant and soil samples were collected from a farmland, heavy contaminated by Zn and Crby
tannery sludges dumping. The site was seized from the responsibles of pollution and used within LIFEECOREMED phytoremediation project. The agricultural site is located in south Italy (Giugliano –
Campania Region). 11 plots (3x3 m) with high soil contamination revealed from a previous
characterization were set upin July 2015. Within each plot, spontaneous plants species with the higher
soil coveragewere collected and rhizo soil (from the 0-20 cm depth soil layer) was sampled together with
vegetation. A composite sample representative of plants (shoots and roots) and soil of each plot was
analyzed for total HM content by acid digestion and ICP-MS. Recorded values were compared to legal
HM thresholds in plants and soils (REG UE N. 1275/2013 and D.Lgs 152/2006, respectively). For metals
not included in the current legislation mean values recorded for grasses grown on normal soils (KabataPendias, 2011) were used as reference. The following indices were tested to assess the ability of the
plants to tolerate and accumulate heavy metals for phytoextraction and phytostabilization purpose (Yoon
et al., 2006): Bioaccumulation factor of roots (BAFroots), calculated as the ratio of HM content of the
roots to that in soil; translocation factors (TF), which is defined as the ratio of metal concentration in the
shoots to the roots; Bioaccumulation factor of shoots (BAFshoots) calculated as the ratio plant shoot
concentration to soil concentration. Plants with both BAFroots>1 and TF>1were considered having the
potential to be used both in phytoextraction and phytostabilization (Lorestani et al., 2011). Besides, plants
with BAFroots>1 and TF<1 were considered having the potential for phytostabilization (Yoon et al.,
2006).Both BAFshoots and TF were used for the individuation of hyperaccumulating species (BAFshoots>
1 and TF> 1). In heavily contaminated plots (i.e. Zn content >1000 mg kg-1of soil) we comparedHM
concentration values in shoots withreference values given by Van der Ent et al. (2013) to identify
hyperaccumulator plants.
Results: Selected properties of the collected plant and soil samplesare given in Table1.
All plant species showed Zn shoot concentration above values given by Kabata-Pendias (2011) for
unpolluted soils with maximum value found in P11CR1. Zn concentration in soil ranged from 175 to 746
mg kg-1 beyond limits of Italian legislation (150 mg kg-1). In all plant species, Zn BAFshoots and BAFroots
were lower than 1. TF was higher than 1 for P6AR1 (1.50), P1CA2 (1.70), P1CD1 (1.20), P10EV1 (1.28),
P6ES1 (2.48), P3ES1 (2.43), P8ES1 (1.75) showing high translocation of Zn in shoots and high tolerance
to Zn polluted soils. Cr concentration in shoots ranged from 1.80 to 25.20 mg kg-1with the maximum
value found in P11CR1. All values were above those given by Kabata-Pendias (2011) in unpolluted soils.
Cr concentration in soil ranged from 137 to 1414 mg kg-1 beyond limits of Italian legislation (150 mg kg1) except for P9AT1 (137 mg kg-1), P10CD1 (138 mg kg-1), P3HL1 (142 mg kg-1) and P11LP1 (29 mg
42
kg-1). Chromium BAFshoots and BAFroots were lower than 1 for all species.TF was higher than 1 for
P11CR1 (3.65) showing a good adaptability and phytoextraction efficiency of this plant species.
-1
-1
Plot/Plant species
Cr (mg kg )
Zn (mg kg )
Label
S hoot
Root
S oil
P1CA1
28,60
34,30
221,00
S hoot
2,30
S oil
Root
9,00
266,00
P1CA2
41,70
24,50
314,00
2,60
8,70
448,00
Plot 1 - Cynodon dactylon
P1CD1
71,50
59,70
305,00
12,10
30,10
329,00
Plot 2 - Lolium perenne
P2LP1
47,80
57,20
230,00
2,90
48,40
284,00
Plot 2 - Rumex sp.
P2R1
19,80
54,30
217,00
2,50
11,40
158,00
Plot 3 - Erigeron sumatrensis
P3ES 1
52,30
21,50
329,00
1,80
3,90
508,00
Plot 3 - Hordeum leporinum
P3HL1
43,60
54,20
206,00
3,10
9,80
142,00
Plot 4- Cynodon dactylon
P4CD1
52,10
56,40
306,00
4,70
26,40
415,00
P5LP1
49,40
76,80
578,00
6,20
43,20 1104,00
Plot 5 - Piptatherum thomasii
P5PT1
22,20
145,20
351,00
2,60
Plot 6 - Amaranthus retroflexus
P6AR1
88,10
58,70
696,00
2,20
P6ES 1
56,00
22,60
252,00
2,90
P7CD1
55,40
68,60
746,00
8,80
173,20
415,00
6,50 1414,00
4,10
494,00
25,50 1215,00
4,20
488,00
Plot 7 - Echium vulgare
P7EV1
54,20
62,80
251,00
1,90
P8ES 1
55,40
31,60
624,00
2,00
Plot 8 - Mercurialis annua
P8MA1
69,70
34,50
404,00
3,80
9,60
509,00
Plot 9 - Aster tripolium
P9AT1
29,90
36,60
175,00
3,20
4,70
137,00
P9CD1
57,40
70,90
408,00
2,30
8,40
527,00
P10CD1
48,50
80,20
181,00
4,60
8,80
138,00
Plot 10 - Echium vulgare
P10EV1
32,50
25,40
359,00
1,80
2,60
496,00
Plot 11 - Cyperus rotundus
P11CR1
96,00
143,80
366,00
25,20
6,90
504,00
P11LP1
59,30
59,80
1171,00
4,90
44,70
29,00
Average
51,43
58,16
395,00
4,75
22,52
501,82
Maximum
96,00
145,20
1171,00
25,20
Minimum
Plants concentration limits
(REG UE N. 1275/2013)
19,80
21,50
175,00
1,80
Agricoltural soils concentration
limits (col. A D.Lgs. 152/06)
Plants mean values (KabataPendias et al., 2011)
Minimum plants concentration
values for iperaccumulators
(Van der Ent et al. 2013)
5,4 1020,00
173,20 1414,00
2,60
29,00
150
150,0
31,5
1,1
3000
300
Table 1. Total content of Zn and Cr innative plants and soils from a farmland polluted by tannery
sludges
Conclusions: None of the screened plant species had hyperaccumulator characteristics, while all
exhibited high adaptability to Zn and Cr contaminated soil. The highest accumulation of Zn and Cr was
observed in Cyperus rotundus showing Zn and Cr content in shoots 3 and 23 times higher than value
found in grasses from unpolluted soils. High Cr accumulation was also observed in C. dactylon with
shoot values11 times higher than those measured in grasses from unpolluted soils. The high accumulation
of Zn and Cr by C. rotundus and C. dactylonis in accordance with observations by Suchkova et al. (2014).
References:
Kabata-Pendias A, 2011. Trace elements in soils and plants. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press Inc..
Lorestani B. Et al., 2011. Phytoremediation Potential of Native PlantsGrowing on a Heavy Metals Contaminated Soil
ofCopper mine in Iran. Intern. Journal of Envir., Chem., Ecolo., Geolo.andGeophy.Engi. Vol:5, No:5.
Suchkova N. et al., 2014. Assessment of phytoremediation potential of native plants duringthe reclamation of an area
affected by sewage sludge. Ecological Engineering 69: 160–169
Van der Ent et al., 2013. Hyperaccumulators of metal and metalloid trace elements: Facts and fiction. Plant Soil 362: 319334.
Yoon J et al. 2006. Accumulation of Pb, Cu, and Zn in native plants growing on a contaminated Florida site. Sci. Tot.
Environ. . J., vol. 368, no. 2-3, pp, 456–464.
43
A Model Application for Agronomic and Soil Fertility
Assessment in Wheat Soil Tillage and Residues
Management
Michele Rinaldi1, Emanuele Scalcione2, Michele Perniola3, Carmen Maddaluno1, Pasquale
Garofalo4
Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria - CER, Foggia (Italy)
2
Agenzia Lucana di Sviluppo e di Innovazione in Agricoltura, Matera (Italy)
3
Università degli Studi della Basilicata – SAFE, Potenza (Italy)
4
Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria - SCA, Bari (Italy)
1
Introduction
The intensive agricultural practices are causes of soil organic matter decline that generates the
desertification process, mainly in Mediterranean areas. Italy is one of the leader producer in the world of
durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) with 1.2 million ha of cultivated surface and 4.2 million tons of
grain (ISTAT, 2013): Basilicata is the third region in Italy for durum wheat production.
In Basilicata, agricultural soils underwent continuous degradation during the last century due to the
highly erodible nature of outcropping terrains and to the anthropic pressure favored by the introduction
of CAP measures, which has led to the reclamation of scrub lands and badlands for durum wheat
cultivation (Capolongo et al., 2008). This practice increased soil erosion, implying an enlargement of the
surface area exposed to physical phenomena of erosion. An appropriate soil tillage and residues
management could help to significantly reduce soil erosion by means of organic matter increasing and
soil surface exposure reducing. To assess typical long-term effects of soil management on soil fertility,
the crop simulation models are tools that after the proper calibration and validation process (Garofalo et
al., 2009), can provide quick and reliable answers with low cost, even if with an approximation which
must be previously put into account.
In this research, CropSyst model (Stockle et al., 2003) was used with the aim of simulating durum wheat
response to different residues and soil management, under several pedo-climatic conditions of Basilicata,
in order to analyze the long-term effects on crop productivity and soil carbon stock dynamics.
Methods
CropSyst model was applied in the 6 main traditional production areas of Basilicata of durum wheat for
a total of 15 soil profiles (Lavello, Matera, Potenza, Val d'Agri, Vulture and medium basin of Agri-Sauro
rivers). In this model activity 13 years of continuous wheat in 6 different management scenarios were
simulated: Conventional, Conventional + residues, Minimum Tillage, No-Tillage, Conservative and
Conservative with rotation (Table 1).
The evaluated output variables were biomass and grain yield, water used and percolated, soil organic
carbon content (SOC). Simulations covered a period over 13 years (from 2001 to 2013) using daily
climatic data recorded by 6 weather stations located less than 30 km far from the soils used in the
simulation.
Results
Conventional management ensured the best crop performance (3531 kg ha-1), comparable to the other
treatments where the straw left on the soil was managed (MNT and NOT) and highest if compared to the
reduced input tillage and straw removal (Table 2).
Burning of straw (CV) caused a reduction of the soil organic carbon content (-137 kg ha-1 y-1), whereas
the other practices allowed an increase in the soil carbon stock, especially when straw was left on the soil
and ranging from 1756 kg ha-1 y-1 in conservative management to 86 kg ha-1 y-1 in minimum tillage.
44
Among the sites, the highest yield production resulted in Lavello site, the lowest in Potenza one, for the
better soil fertility and flat condition.
Table 1. Crop management scenarios simulated by CropSyst model.
Scenarios
Acronyms Residues
Conventional
Burned
CV
Conventional+residues
CVRS
Residues incorporated with
the following tillage
Minimum Tillage
MNT
Only straw was removed
No-Tillage
Conservative
NOT
CS
Conservative with
rotation
CSRT
Only straw was removed
All residues were chopped
and left on the soil as mulch
All residues were chopped
and left on the soil as mulch
Tillage
Plowing (35 cm)
Disking (15 cm)
Harrowing (5 cm)
Plowing (35 cm)
Disking (15 cm)
Harrowing (5 cm)
Disking (15 cm)
Kongskilde vibro cultivator (8
cm)
Direct seeding
Direct seeding
Direct seeding, but with a 3-year
rotation "wheat-wheat-faba bean"
Table 2. Average values of durum wheat grain and biomass yield, percolated and used water and crop nitrogen
uptaken (13 years) simulated by CropSyst model in the six management scenarios. Different letters indicate
significant differences (Wilkoxon test, P<0.05). In brackets, coefficient of variation (%).
Aboveground
Scenario Grain yield
Percolated water ET actual Nitrogen uptake ∆ SOC*
biomass
kg ha-1
kg ha-1
mm
mm
kg ha-1
t ha-1
3531 (18.3) A
9509 (17.0) A 127 (49.5) C
326 (11.8 ) A
124 (21.7) A
-1.8 E
CV
3312 (16.9) A
8931 (15.6) A 132 (47.7) C
322 (11.7) A
113 (19.9) AB 1.1 D
MNT
3254 (19.8) A
8773 (18.5) A 140 (48.2) BC 317 (11.7) A
110 (23.1) B
1.9 D
NOT
7893 (18.4) B
133 (45.9) C
322 (11.3) A
97 (23.1) C
20.6 B
CVRS 2913 (19.7) B
7807 (16.7) B
167 (35.6) AB 257 (7.7) B
92 (20) CD
17.2 C
CSRT 2891 (17.8) B
2730 (15.5) B
7371(14.7) C
188 (36.2) A
256 (7.7) B
86 (14.5) D
22.8 A
CS
*∆
SOC = Differences in soil organic carbon content in the 0-30 cm soil depth, from the start to end of simulation period
(2001-2013). For scenarios abbreviations, see Table 1.
Conclusions
CropSyst model indicated an improvement in SOC under reduced and no tillage treatments, but the
highest soil carbon stock enrichment was achieved when the straw was left on the soil. Immobilization
process, due to the high carbon/nitrogen ratio of straw determined reduced nitrogen uptake by plants,
which implied a yield reduction of 18%, when comparing straw left on the soil versus straw removal.
This would require a supplementary amount of mineral nitrogen fertilizer at least in the short-middle
term of transition (from conventional to conservative regime) to obtain comparable grain yield.
References
ISTAT, 2013. http://www.istat.it/en/. (last access, March 2016)
Capolongo, D. Pennetta, L. et al., 2008. Spatial and temporal variations in soil erosion and deposition due to land-levelling
in a semi-arid area of Basilicata (Southern Italy). Earth Surf. Process. Landforms 33:364 –379.
Garofalo, P., Di Paolo, E., Rinaldi, M., 2009. Durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) In rotation with the faba bean (Vicia
faba var minor L.). A long-term simulation case-study. Crop & Pasture Sci., 60, 240-250.
Stöckle, C., Donatelli, M., Nelson, R., 2003. CropSyst: a cropping system simulation model. Eur. J. Agron., 18:289-307.
45
Erasmus +: Interuniversity Learning in Higher Education
on Advanced Land Management Egypt Country ILHAM-EC
Luciano Gutierrez1,2, Ahmed Abdel-Mawgood3, Bassem Ashour4, Ahmed Gad5, Fawzy
Kishk6, Konstadinos Mattas7, Lindsay Stringer8
1
Nucleo Ricerca Desertificazione, Univ. Sassari, IT, [email protected],
3
Inst. of Graduate Studies and Environment Univ. Damanhour, ET, [email protected]
4
Dept. of Plant Protection, Univ. Zagazig, ET, [email protected]
2
5
Faculty of Agriculture, Univ. Cairo, ET, [email protected]
Dept. of Soil and Water Sciences Univ. Alexandria, ET, [email protected]
7
Dept. of Agricultural Economics, Univ. Thessaloniki, GR, [email protected]
8
School of Earth and Environment, Univ. Leeds, UK, [email protected]
6
Introduction
The current usage of the agricultural land in Egypt is among the most intensive systems in the world.
Productive lands are predominantly concentrated in the Nile valley which represents only 4 % of the total
area of Egypt, but where about 99 % of the population of Egypt lives. Currently 3% of Egyptian land is
cultivated but land desertification and urbanization are leading to losses of about 11.7 ha of agricultural
land every year. The Country imports more than 60% of its food. For this reason, agriculture land
conservation is a high priority for Egypt. Productive land resources in Egypt are under multiple natural
and human pressure and are leading to soil degradation and desertification. The prevailing surface
irrigation techniques, combined with the overuse of irrigation water, exerts pressure on the drainage
system. This problem, combined with the dominant heavy textured alluvial soils of the old Nile Valley,
lead to an increase of water logging and soil salinity. The situation of irrigated areas is getting worse
because the main source of irrigation comes from the River Nile that contains high concentrations of
pollutants (mostly residues of fertilizers and pesticides). Moreover the very rapid population growth is
causing an expansion of urban areas in particular over the fertile agricultural land. Urbanization is one
of the most serious land degradation processes in the country. A Master on SLM will concretely handle
the issues of agricultural land management, soil degradation and desertification, as well as population
growth and related urbanization, thus helping to build thorough knowledge on these problems. Egypt
signed the UN Convention to Combat Desertification in 1994 and took measures to restrict urban
development and regulate irrigation systems. However, despite these actions, the combination of
farmland degradation and the increase of population are posing a significant threat to the domestic food
production.
Methods
Aim of the project, founded by the European Commission under the program Erasmus+ Capacity
Building, is to introduce in the Egyptian Education system a new postgraduate Master on Sustainable
Land Management (SLM). Several efforts have been undertaken by the government authorities of Egypt
in order to reduce desertification processes and preserve land productivity. A Master on SLM could be
integrated in these policy efforts, since it will specifically address the issue of desertification. Though,
these efforts face a wide range of obstacles, mostly related to the following constraints: improper and
irrational land use policy and planning; lack of scientific knowledge and technical expertise able to cope
with complex problems; weak technical capabilities of institutions to carry out integrated and
multidisciplinary studies, follow-up of land degradation issues and evaluation of their impacts on
productivity and desertification; undeveloped educational and training programs on land management
46
and conservation; absence of national, regional and international networking; ineffective technology
transfer, exchange of experience and cooperation at different levels and lack of mechanisms for
enhancing community participation in decision making.
It is now evident that new approaches have to be taken into account to overcome all the mentioned issues
and achieve a more balanced approach on decision-making regarding sustainable land uses.
Multidisciplinary knowledge, integrated analysis and complex problem solving skills are at the centre of
all sustainable land management approaches, therefore multidisciplinarity has been defined as a priority
at the Partner Country level.
Bringing together all the expertise of the four Egyptian University partners, University of Alexandria,
University of Cairo, University of Zagazig and University of Damnhour, plus three European
Universities, University of Leeds, University of Thessaloniky and University of Sassari (project
coordinator) and finally a private enterprise ACS, the ILHAM-EC project intends to support the Egypt
to build its capacity to improve, modernise and internationalise the Egyptian higher educational system.
ILHAM-EC aims to introduce a new Master on SLM in the curricula of the involved Egyptian
universities and build a cooperative and international network in order to enhance technical,
methodological and analytic skills of both teachers and students to increase their professionalism and
allowing them to be able to face the complexity of land degradation and desertification processes.
Expected Results
What is innovative about ILHAM-EC is that it makes use of technologies to improve the availability of
digital resources to support teachers and students in the learning processes and in the development of
critical and analytical skills. In fact the educational modules implemented on the e-learning platform will
be available also after the end of the project, thus increasing the possibility to train a larger number of
people compared with a traditional classroom-based training. The didactic modules will be developed
using different multimedia systems. The major innovation is the realization of video-lessons based on
the “scribing” technique. Scribing converts concepts into a graphic format, translating the main ideas of
a speech into keywords and graphics. This technique can also help to capture concepts that are sometimes
lost and it can reinforce the memorisation of thoughts and ideas. The use of these ITC didactic tools and
the web 2.0 interactive forms that are embedded in the e-learning platform, can represent pedagogical
innovations able to improve the student–centred learning approach, the problem solving skills and the
student creativity.
Another pedagogical innovation proposed by ILHAM-EC is the educational game on sustainable land
management. The educational game will oblige players to take decisions to solve complex and interdisciplinarily questions by relying on previously acquired knowledge. Through selected actions, players
will progress in the game levels achieving the outcome of a sustainable land management and developing
different types of skills and cognitive capacities.
The tools of the e-learning platforms, such as blogs, will be used also by the local HEIs, the partners of
the consortium and other stakeholders to build an educational and cooperation network able to allow
exchange knowledge and intensify collaboration.
Conclusions
During the three project years, we expect ILHAM-EC will produce numerous outputs, products and
results such as: studies and reports, surveys, access to open digital contents, web learning tools, teacher
training materials, an educational web-based simulation game on SLM, innovative video-lessons, new
Master curricula, workshops and seminars. All the resources, available under the Creative Commons
license 4.0, will be accessed easily, reused and adapted by the project target groups (mainly teachers,
students and HEIs) at local, regional, national and European levels. We expect that at European level,
the ILHAM-EC will have a strong impact on the scientific community through the process of sharing
knowledge across borders and access to shared problems, challenges and solutions.
47
Experiences of Sod Seeding and Minimum Tillage in Two
Regional Agricultural Realities: Rice and Forage
Marcello Onorato1, Francesca Fantola1, Roberto Peddis1, Paolo Schirru1, Mariano Vacca1,
Marco Gerardi1, Guido Dardani1, Salvatore Filigheddu1, Piero Lai1
1
Servizio Sostenibilità delle Attività Agricole, Agenzia Laore Sardegna, IT, [email protected];
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]; [email protected]
Introduction
The Laore Agency, through the activities assigned to Service Sustainability of agricultural activities,
incentivates and supports sustainable agriculture practices into the regional agriculture.
The seeding (sod seeding) and minimum tillage are agricultural practices that involve minimal alteration
of the soil; therefore part of all the practices and agricultural systems called Conservative Agriculture.
The goal of Conservative Agriculture is to promote agricultural production by optimizing the use of
resources and help reduce land degradation through the integrated management of land, water and
biological resources, in association with the use of external inputs.
Agricultures classic plowing is replaced by surface plowing or not plowing (sod seeding), which favor
the natural mixing of the layers by the soil fauna (earthworms), roots and other soil organisms, which,
also contribute to the balance of nutrients in the soil.
Soil fertility (nutrients and water) is managed through soil covering, crop rotation, and the fight against
weeds (weeding).
We presently have some experience of minimum tillage and sod seeding on two different productive
situations in Sardinian agriculture, rice and thickening pastures with forage species; these crops are in
our region, and are not among those which the conservation practices are taking over (mainly cereal
crops).
The aim is to highlight the benefits of conservative agriculture also on rice and forage culture, both in
relation to soil conservation, for the productive and economic aspects of the farm.
Methods
The cultivation of rice finds in Sardinia the optimal production conditions in the coastal territory of the
province of Oristano, an area of about 3600 ha. The soils are mainly derived from recent alluvial deposits
of the river Tirso and rivers of its watershed.
To achieve the conservation tillage trial a rice field was chosen as representative for both the
environmental aspects and agricultural practices.
The minimum tillage was implemented to a depth not exceeding 0,10 m; where rice Long A – Carnaroli
was later sown using a Gaspardo (Model Diretta corsa) of 3 m wide. This machine model has allowed to
make a PK fertilization in the vicinity of the seed. Afterwards an operation of weeding was carried out
using a pre-emergency Pendimethalin based product. The sowing was done with 200 kg ha-1 with a
distance of 0,17 m apart.
The test with forage species was developed in Tamarispa, in the countryside of Budoni, on a granitic soil
with an average gradient of 26%; the surface was covered with Mediterranean vegetation with Cistus
monspeliensis, prevalently grown as a result of frequent fires.
The area of approximately 1 ha was first cleaned using a brushcutter chain that has shredded the topsoil
plants; then sowing with a Gaspardo (Model Direttissima) 2,50 m wide. They used Trifolium
subterraneum, Vicia sativa and Lolium italicum for a total of 40 kg ha-1.
48
Results
Rice cultivation is still ongoing, but it is already clear that the production cycle was similar to rice grown
using traditional techniques. It is observed that the plants sown with the sod seeding technique present
the first internodes shortened, making the plant more resistant to lodging. Moreover, thanks to the weed
control technique in pre-emergence, permitted by the sod seeding technique, there was a greater control
of Echinochloa crus-galli. The technique has allowed the farmer considerable savings of resources and
time, as the cultivation operations are carried out in one step, instead of three steps, as required by
traditional practices.
The placement of the phosphate fertilizer near the seedlings, which took place in May marked by
somewhat lower temperatures than the monthly average, favored a much faster growth than traditional
seeds. This allows greater rice growth compared to weed.
Evidence of thickening with forage species has had a good result; the soil especially presented very
limited erosion phenomena, unlike what takes place on slopes which are very susceptible to erosion,
when not suitable tools and techniques are used. The particular drill disc has the advantage of leaving the
stones on site that are on the surface and below the first centimeters of soil, rather than left on the ground,
helping to protect it from erosion, avoiding the formation of rills in the soil.
Conclusions
Farmers have found evidence of sod seeding on rice very suitable and feasible to local farms, also
regarding the use of his own agricultural machinery. In fact all the first cultivation operations can be
performed with simple rubber wheels, by resorting to the more expensive toothed wheels only when the
crop is at an advanced stage.
The techniques used for the thickening with forage species favor the preservation of organic matter
content in the soil and help to recover the land covered by Cistus monspeliensis, that are risk areas for
summer fires.
References
Paola Battilani et al. 2016. Difesa sostenibile delle colture. Principi, sistemi e tecnologie applicate alle produzioni agricole.
Ed. Edagricole.
Renovating Pastures by Sod Seeding, by Doug May and Gary Bergen of PAMI for the Manitoba Forage Council
Sod Seeding Research Project, by Carla Allen and Martin Entz of the University of Manitoba for the Manitoba Forage
Council
A Review of Sod Seeding and Related Techniques, by Harry A.G. Harris for Ducks Unlimited
A Guide for No-Till Forage Seedings, by John J. Rappa of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food
49
SESSION
Sustainable Management of Natural Resources
50
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
51
Assessment of Feeding Preferences of Wild Animals in
Forage Resources
Giovanni Argenti1, Veronica Racanelli2, Sara Bartolozzi2, Nicolina Staglianò1, Francesco
Sorbetti Guerri2
2GESAAF,
1DiSPAA, Univ. Firenze, IT, [email protected], [email protected]
Univ. Firenze, IT, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Introduction
In many areas excessive presence of wild ungulates can produce negative effects on herbaceous crops or
woody species (Kamler and Homolka, 2016). To face this problem, habitat improvements are often
required in order to recreate suitable environments to a particular species and to attract animals away
from cultivated crops in specific periods. A common example of these interventions is represented by
grassland restoration, often necessary for the reduction of open areas in many European territories due to
the reduction of grazing activity (Cervasio et al., 2016). To assess wild animals feeding preferences and
to monitor animal intake on different kind of forage crops, a specific research was carried out in 2015 in
an area of Central Italy.
Methods
The experimental area is located in “Parco Mediceo di Pratolino” near Florence, at 415 m asl mainly on
clay soils. The trial started on 16/4/2015 and comprised six different forage species or mixtures sown in
plots (5x3.5 m wide) arranged in a completely randomised block design with three replications. The two
pure stands were Onobrychis viciifolia and Medicago sativa; the four mixtures differed for number of
species and their percentage, and were represented by commercial forage mix or specific mixtures for
faunistic purposes. Data collection consisted on linear transects on plots in different periods to obtain
relative abundant presence of each species (SRA, Daget and Poissonet, 1971). Along a transect, a visual
estimation of animal utilization was performed on occurring species using the following scale:
0=no sign of browsing
1=reduced sign of browsing
2=moderate sign of browsing
3=high sign of browsing
in order to obtain also the defoliation rate (DR) of each species, as a percentage of observed browsing
for a given species on total potential browsing, and total defoliation rate for each species/mixture (Argenti
et al., 2012). Moreover, six camera traps (Sorbetti et al., 2011) were placed on the boundary of the
experimental site to record videos of wild animals browsing in the plots, mainly roe deer (Capreolus
capreolus), hare (Lepus europaeus) and wild boar (Sus scrofa). Analysis of the videos permitted to
recognize animal species and to identify plots utilised by the animals in each event of grazing. Data of
video-trapping were then compared to those observed by vegetation analysis.
Results
Average data of different periods for the two pure stands and for the four mixtures are reported in table
1. No significant differences were found for the contribution to the defoliation rate performed by sown
species, as in each treatment these species contributed in a high way (more than 80%) to animal
utilization, even if some spontaneous species occurring in the plots (such as Plantago lanceolata) were
highly preferred by animals. At the same time, average defoliation rate was not significantly different
among treatments, and it was quite low. On the other hand, significant differences were found among
treatments concerning total events of browsing coming from botanical analysis and from videos recorded
by camera traps: the mixture “Pollinator” demonstrated to be the most preferred by animals. Until midApril 2016, 311 videos were recorded of animal grazing in the plots and the highest percentage (more
52
than 95%) was represented by roe deer.
Table 1. Average data for species/mixtures
Species/mixtures
Contribution to DR
Total DR
Total browsing
of sown species (%)
(%)
events
87.1a
11.4 a
12.1 b
O. viciifolia
89.0a
15.4 a
13.7 b
M. sativa
91.5 a
11.8 a
13.2 b
Commercial mixture
91.8a
14.6 a
15.8 b
Mix “Fauna selvatica”
80.0a
10.8 a
12.2 b
Mix “Caprioli”
87.1a
15.9 a
22.8 a
Mix “Pollinator”
Averages with the same letter in a column are not significantly different (P<0.05).
Videos for each
treatment (%)
7.8 c
22.4 b
11.5 bc
5.3 c
13.3 bc
39.7 a
Figure 1. Relationship between percentage of DR and videos for each treatment
The two method used to estimate animal preference on each treatment (by means of botanical analysis
and by camera traps) produced similar results (figure 1), even if more analysis should be conducted in
different periods of the year as animal preferences can be affected by different environmental factors.
Conclusions
Even if these are only preliminary results, the methods tested in this experimentation seem able to assess
in a proper way feeding preferences of wild animals, confirming previous results conducted in other areas
(Argenti et al., 2012). Further investigations are necessary to discover real utilization on spontaneous
species in order to create peculiar mixtures especially devoted to wild animals for offering them
alternative feeding resources to agricultural crops.
References
Argenti G. et al. 2012. Control of bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) and feeding preferences in pastures grazed by wild
ungulates in an area of the Northern Apennines (Italy). Ital. J. Anim. Sci. 11:336-341.
Cervasio F. et al. 2016. Agronomic methods for mountain grassland habitat restoration for faunistic purposes in a protected
area of the northern Apennines (Italy). IForest, in press, doi: 10.3832/ifor1515-008.
Daget P.H., Poissonet J. 1971. Une méthode d’analyse phytologique des prairies. Critères d’application. Ann. Agron. 22:541.
Kamler J., Homolka M. 2016. Influence of agricultural crops adjacent to forest on woody species browsing: is it
advantageous to have a tasty neighbour? J. For. Sci. 62: 41-46.
Sorbetti Guerri F. et al. 2011. Sistemi automatici per il monitoraggio della fauna selvatica e la prevenzione dei danni alle
produzioni agricole e forestali. Atti del Convegno Associazione Italiana di Ingegneria Agraria “Gestione e controllo dei
sistemi agrari e forestali” Belgirate 22-24 settembre 2011.
53
Environmental Implications of Different Production
Systems in a Sardinian Dairy Sheep Farm
Enrico Vagnoni1 and Antonello Franca2
1
CNR - IBIMET, IT, [email protected]
2
CNR - ISPAAM, IT, [email protected]
Introduction
Sardinia (Italy) is the most important EU region for sheep milk production, with about 3 million ewes
and about 12% of total European sheep milk production. Despite a recent favourable conjuncture,
Sardinian dairy sheep farming systems suffered a deep structural crisis and an effective renovation
process is needed in order to contrast the high dependency on external markets, the limited generational
change of the sector and the on-going abandonment of rural areas. Eco-innovation of production system
is considered a key factor to improve the farms competitiveness and to valorise the typical Mediterranean
dairy sheep products. The environmental impacts of animal production systems can be evaluated by using
the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method. The main objective of this paper was to compare the
environmental impacts of two different sheep milk production processes carried out in the same farm,
taking into account the inventory data coming from year 2001, with a high-input production process, and
2011, with a low-input production process, by using a LCA approach.
Methods
Data were collected from a dairy sheep farm located in the Province of Sassari, North-western Sardinia.
The farm is representative in terms of dimension, productivity and capital good of sheep farms operating
in Sardinian hilly areas. Production system changed between 2001 and 2011, when the farm management
was oriented toward the transformation of the whole milk production to cheese, directly at the farm. The
two production systems differed mainly in terms of intensification of forage production (Table 1),
moving the company from a system based on cereal crops (wheat and barley grain), annual forage crops
(ryegrass and oats, mainly) and maize for silage, to a system characterized by an extensive use of natural
and artificial pastures, with the use of native legumes-grasses mixtures and low-input farming practices
(minimum tillage, reduced use of fertilizers, etc.).
Table 1. Main characteristics of the two compared production systems.
2001 2011
Heads (number)
340
320
Total utilized agricultural area (ha)
73
70
Arable land — cereals and annual forage crops (ha)
63
18
Irrigated maize (ha)
7
0
Pastures — grazing area (ha)
3
52
Mineral N-fertilizing (kg ha−1)
72
21
Mineral P2O5-fertilizing (kg ha−1)
110
72
The analysis was conducted using 1 kg of Fat and Protein Corrected Milk (FPCM) as functional unit.
The life cycle was assessed "from cradle to gate", including in the system boundaries all the input and
output related to sheep milk production. The analysis included the amount of fodder crops and pastures
consumed by flocks, after crosschecking forage production and nutritional needs based on gender, age,
54
weight, physiological stage and production level of animals. Enteric methane emissions were quantified
using a detailed approach (IPCC Tier II/III) based on Vermorel et al. (2008). The LCA was conducted
using two evaluation methods: IPCC (IPCC, 2013), for the estimates of emitted greenhouse gases,
expressed in kg of CO2-equivalents, and ReCiPe end-point, which consider 18 categories of
environmental impact (Goedkoop et al., 2009) in a single indicator (eco-point, Pt).
Results
The estimated life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of 1 kg of FPCM were higher for the most intensive
system (2001), ranging from 4.1 and 3.1 CO2-eq, respectively for 2001 and 2011. The results from the
ReCiPe end-point method assessment followed a trend similar to IPCC method, with environmental
impacts equal to 485.4 and 463.7 mPt kg-1 of FPCM, respectively for 2001 and 2011. Reduced carbon
footprint and lower environmental performance in the most extensive system can be explained by a lower
impact of enteric methane emissions, a lower use of pea-based protein feed, and a minor use of the
agricultural machineries (Table 2). By contrast, in 2011 both methods have highlighted a greater impact
related to the use of soybean meal and maize grain. In 2011, the ReCiPe revealed an impact of more than
24% of the total, to be referred to the agronomic management of annual forage crops and artificial
pastures.
Table 2. Percentage contribution of the most relevant processes to the total environmental impact of the
two production systems in comparison (2001 vs. 2011), using the evaluation methods IPCC and ReCiPe
and 1 kg of FPCM as functional unit.
Process
Enteric methane emissions
Protein pea
Soybean meal
Maize grain
Barley grain
Irrigated maize for silage
Straw
Natural pastures
Annual forage crops and artificial pastures
Machine operation, diesel
Transport, freight, lorry
Energy, from diesel burned in machinery
Electricity, medium voltage
Remaining processes
2001
IPCC
2011
IPCC
60.9
10.1
3.6
2.7
1.4
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
6.0
1.1
0.7
0.5
13.2
2001
ReCiPe
55.1
0.0
13.9
7.3
0.0
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
0.0
0.5
3.0
2.7
17.5
2011
ReCiPe
18.7
23.3
5.1
4.5
2.7
19.0
5.4
1.6
0.0
4.9
0.0
0.3
0.3
14.2
13.5
0.0
15.9
9.8
0.0
0.0
8.2
8.0
24.4
0.0
0.0
1.2
1.5
17.5
n.a. = not available
Conclusions
This study shows that the extensification of the production system had a relevant influence on overall
farm environmental performances estimated by both methods and namely on the following aspects:
enteric emissions, use of agricultural machineries and of soybean meal and maize grain concentrates.
References
Goedkoop M., et al., 2009. A life cycle impact assessment method which comprises harmonised category
indicators at the midpoint and the endpoint level, First ed.
IPCC, 2013. IPCC guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories: volume 4: agriculture, forestry
and other land use. Paris, France: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Vermorel M., et al., 2008. Evaluation quantitative des émissions de méthane entérique par les animaux
d'élevage en 2007 en France. INRA Prod. Anim., 2008, 21 (5), 403-418.
55
The DIAnA Project: Integrating Soil and Crop Sensing
Methods to Support Nitrogen Fertilization on Wheat and
Barley
Simone Bregaglio1, Bianca Ortuani1, Martina Corti1, Giovanni Cabassi2, Daniele Cavalli1,
Ermes Movedi1, Carlo Gilardelli1, Luigi Degano3, Roberto Confalonieri4, Arianna Facchi1,
Gianluca Galassi1, Lucio Boschi1, Luca Casarico1, Edoardo Magnani1, Celeste Righi Ricco1,
Domenico Ditto1, Pietro Marino Gallina1
1
Dip. di Scienze Agrarie e Ambientali, Univ. Milano, IT, [email protected]
2
Centro di Ricerca Produz. Foraggere e Lattiero-Casearie, CREA, Lodi, IT
3
Fondazione Morando Bolognini, CREA, S. Angelo Lodigiano, IT
4
Dip. di Economia, Management e Metodi Quantitativi, Univ. Milano, IT
Introduction
In current high-yielding cropping systems, the efficient application of nitrogen fertilizers (NF) is
essential, as it allows modern cultivars to express their yield potential (Sinclair and Rufty, 2012).
Optimizing the timing and dose of NF is a key challenge for global agriculture (Tilman, 2002), which is
in charge of increasing food production while minimizing environmental pollution due to nitrate
leaching, N denitrification and volatilization (Mueller et al., 2012). Available estimates of the cost of
excessive NF in Europe (EU) range from 70 to 320 million euro, representing more than double than the
benefit on farmers’ income (Sutton, 2011). Wheat and barley are the dominating cereal crops in EU,
covering nearly 40% of the cropped area, the former being first in total NF application. In northern Italy,
the two crops extend for more than 600,000 ha, and are mainly cultivated in vulnerable zones for nitrate
leaching (Acutis et al., 2014). Improving the management of NF is then crucial to determine win-win
scenarios between yield and sustainability of these cropping systems. Precision agriculture could support
this objective, leading to an effective management of the spatial and temporal components of soil and
crop variability. The DIAnA project proposes a framework to integrate the information collected by
proximal and remote sensing methods to assess soil variability and to diagnose crop growth, i.e.,
aboveground biomass (AGB), N content and leaf area index (LAI), during the crop cycle. The project
will assess the nonlinear response of wheat and barley crops to NF via experimental trials carried out in
a study area located in northern Italy during 2016 cropping season.
Methods
The project is organized in four work packages (WP), which are presented in Figure 1.
WP 1
WP 2
WP 3
WP 4
Soil sensing
Crop sensing
Reference data
Data analysis
1.1
2.1
3.1
4.1
Maps of electric
conductivity
Crop proximal
sensing
Biomass weight
and N content
Regression
analyses
2.2
3.2
1.2
Monitoring of soil
water content
Crop remote
Analysis of silage
sensing
quantity/quality
Figure 1. Project organization
4.2
Multicomparison
of sensors
WP1 measured the in-field variability of soil electric conductivity (EC) in a wheat and barley field (Task
1.1). Three homogeneous management zones were identified in each field, based on the EC monitoring,
and one experimental area was placed in each of them. The experiment was designed as latin square (plot
size 5m × 7m) with three replicates. The plots received the application of three N levels (N0 =
56
unfertilised, N1 and N2, representing 50% and 100% of the farmer NF application rate, respectively).
The soil water content was daily monitored with probes at different soil depths (task 1.2). WP2 performed
six samplings to characterize the dynamic pattern of LAI and N content via proximal (DUALEX, smartapp PocketN, task 2.1) and remote sensing (multispectral images, task 2.2). WP3 have been measuring
dry matter and N content in AGB and yield to produce the reference data to compare the performances
of the methods (task 3.1). Bromatological and fiber digestibility analyses on wheat harvested at milk
maturity stage will assess its qualitative value for feeding purposes (task 3.2). WP4 will analyse the
relationships between reference data and the quali-quantitative value of crop production (task 4.1) and it
will compare the performances of proximal and remote sensing in measuring N content (task 4.2).
Collected data will be available as Microsoft Access database.
N1
N level
N2
N1
N level
N2
DUALEX unit
DUALEX unit
N2
10 20 30 40
N0
DUALEX unit
N1
N level
DUALEX
N2
N level
smart app PocketN
N0
N0
N1
N2
N level
DUALEX
10 20 30 40
N1
10 20 30 40
0.8
0.6
0.8
N0
0.8
6
-2
4
2
2
m m
0
N0
0.6
N2
DUALEX
N2
0.6
N1
N level
Leaf area index
N1
N level
smart app PocketN
0.4
6
-2
4
2
2
m m
0
N0
N0
PocketN unit
N2
PocketN unit
N1
N level
Leaf area index
0.4
N0
smart app PocketN
0.4
4
0
2
2
m m
-2
6
Leaf area index
PocketN unit
Results
An overview of the wheat field and typology of data we are collecting is presented in Figure 2.
N0
N1
N2
N level
Figure 2. Map of soil electric conductivity of the wheat field (left) and data collected by proximal sensors in the
three experimental areas on April, 29th (right). Phenological stage BBCH code = 45
Based on the soil EC measurements three experimental areas were selected, respectively at high (A2,
5.14 mS m-1), medium (A1, 3.70 mS m-1) and low (A3, 0.36 mS m-1) EC. The application of different
NF rates led to marked differences in all areas according to both proximal sensing methods, as their
values follow the N gradient N0 < N1 < N2. These values, which will be regressed to reference N content
for sensors calibration, are lower in A3 than in A1 and A2. It is likely that a consistent fraction of applied
N was leached in A3 due to the very low soil clay content. LAI data confirmed the stunted wheat growth
in A3, as they are low and similar in all N treatments (mean = 1.99 m2 m-2, sd. = 0.56), compared to A1
(mean = 3.79 m2 m-2) and A2 (mean = 4.38 m2 m-2).
Conclusions
The effective detection of crop N status is one of the frontiers of modern agriculture, which is moving
towards the implementation of precision agriculture at larger scales. This project, still ongoing, lays the
basis for a fruitful integration of soil-crop sensing methods to identify the optimal dose of NF.
References
Acutis, M. et al., 2014. ValorE: An integrated and GIS-based decision support system for livestock manure management
in the Lombardy region (northern Italy). Land Use Policy 41:149-162.
Mueller N. et al., 2012. Closing yield gaps through nutrient and water management. Nature 490:254-7.
Sinclair, T.R., Rufty, T.W., 2012. Nitrogen and water resources commonly limit crop yield increases, not necessarily plant
genetics. Glob. Food Sec. 1:94-98.
Sutton, M.A. et al., 2011. Too much of a good thing. Nature 472:159-161
Tilman G. et al. 2002. Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices. Nature, 418:671-7.
57
POSTER
58
Sustainable Weed Management in Precision Agriculture:
the Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)
Federico Pelosi1, Fabio Castaldi1, Simone Pascucci2, Raffaele Casa1
1Department
2Consiglio
of Agricultural and Forestry scieNcEs (DAFNE), Univ. della Tuscia, IT, [email protected]
Nazionale delle Ricerche-Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis (C.N.R.-IMAA), Potenza,
IT.
Introduction
The competition between crops and weeds within a field is the major biotic factor determining yield
losses in arable crops. Non-chemical weed management is not always effective, therefore the application
of herbicides is the norm in conventional management of field crops. It is well known that the continued
use of herbicides entails consistent economic and environmental drawbacks (Zanin et al. 2011). In this
regard, the Directive 2009/128/EC of the European Union highlighted the importance to reduce the use
of herbicides to safeguard workers and consumers and, at the same time, to decrease production costs.
The knowledge of the spatial distribution of weeds across the fields could allows to apply precision
agriculture techniques of site-specific weed management, significantly reducing the economic and
environmental impact of herbicide spraying (Gerhards et al. 2006; Lopez-Granados 2010).
In this work the potential of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to support a sustainable weed management
was assessed. In particular UAVs data were used to assist patch-spraying herbicide treatments in winter
wheat and horse bean crops.
Methods
The experimentation was carried out in Vetralla (Viterbo, Central Italy) over two growing seasons (2015
and 2016). The tests concerned three fields: two winter wheat fields coded as C1 (3.46 ha) and C3 (3.46
ha), and one horse bean field coded as C2 (6.92 ha).
Three different herbicide strategies were tested in each field:
•
Untreated control (C)
•
Patch spraying of herbicides according to a prescription map obtained by UAV data (P)
•
Blanket uniform herbicide application (U)
The C1 and C3 fields were divided into 30 plots (48 x 24 m each) and each treatment was replicated 10
times. C2 was divided into 60 plots, in this case each treatment has twenty repetitions.
A prescription map obtained by UAV data was used to apply herbicide treatment. Two different UAVs
flew over the fields few days before the herbicide treatments: a Parrot SenseFly eBee drone equipped
with a Canon S110 camera (RGB + NIR) for C1 and a Skyrobotic SF6 drone equipped with Airinov
camera having 4 bands (green, red, red-edge, NIR) for C2 and C3. The maps of weed distribution across
the fields were obtained by the elaboration of the UAV images. A supervised classification, based on
support vector machine algorithm (SVM), was used to discriminate between soil and weeds. A regular
grid with cells of 2 x 2 m was superimposed on the weed maps. Only the cells having weed coverage
higher than 10% were selected for the herbicide treatment. Then, the prescription maps were uploaded
onto a GPS Control System mounted on the tractor, which regulated the opening and closing of the
independent sections of the boom sprayer. Each independent section of the boom sprayer is 2 m wide
and has 4 nozzles.
At UAV acquisition time, fifteen rectangles (1 x 0.90 m) were positioned on the ground in each field. A
photograph was taken from a height of 1.5 m in order to estimate the weed coverage within the rectangles
and compare it with that estimated by UAV data.
59
At the end of growing season, the above-ground biomass of crops and weeds was collected, within an
area of 0.25 m2, at six locations into each plot, so as to obtain the same number of sampling points for
each herbicide treatment. Each crop sample was then threshed using a laboratory thresher, and the grain
was put in an oven at 70°C for 48 hours, obtaining the dry grain yield.
The weed dry biomass was also measured with the same drying process used for grain.
The differences between herbicide treatments were evaluated in terms of dry grain yield values and they
were analysed spatially using a pseudo cross-variogram and a standardized ordinary cokriging (Bishop
and Lark 2006).
Results
The weed coverage, obtained by the classification of the UAV data, varied between 36 and 44% over the
whole field. The areas excluded from herbicide treatments in the patch sprayed blocks correspond to 42%
in C1, 51% in C2 and 37% in C3. A good relationship between weed coverage obtained from UAV data
and that measured on the ground was obtained: r2 was 0.83 in C1, 0.79 in C2 and 0.55 in C3.
The comparison between U and C treatment in the C1 field, in terms of grain yield, presented an extended
area showing a highly significant difference (p < 0.01; Figure 1a), while areas having non-significant
differences were quite extended between P and C (Figure 1b) and between PS and U.
Figure 1: Level of significance of the grain yield differences in C1 between (a) blanket application and
untreated control, (b) patch spraying and untreated control, (c) blanket application and patch spraying.
Conclusions
The accuracy of weed map obtained by UAV images was considered satisfactory as compared to ground
data. The results showed that the UAV data can be used to assist sustainable weed management, leading
to a decrease in the use of herbicide without significant difference in terms of crop yield. The saving of
herbicide amounted between 37 and 42% for patch spraying as compared to the blanket application.
References
Bishop T.F.A. and Lark R.M. 2006. The geostatistical analysis of experiments at the landscape-scale. Geoderma 133:87106.
Gerhards R. et al. 2006. Practical experiences with a system for site-specific weed control in arable crops using real-time
image analysis and GPS-controlled patch spraying. Weed Research, 46:185–193.
Lopez-Granados F. 2010. Weed detection for site-specific weed management: mapping and real-time approaches. Weed
Research 51:1–11
Zanin G. et al. 2011. La gestione integrata delle malerbe: Un approccio sostenibile per il contenimento delle perdite di
produzione e la salvaguardia dell'ambiente. Italian Journal of Agronomy 6, 31-38.
60
Effect of Soil Tillage System on Weed Emergence
Patterns in Field
Roberta Masin1, Donato Loddo2, Giuseppe Zanin1
1
Dip. DAFNAE, Univ.Padova, IT, [email protected], [email protected]
2
IBAF, CNR, IT, [email protected]
Introduction
A progressive diffusion of conservation agriculture (CA), based on minimization of soil disturbance,
permanent soil cover by crop residues and crop rotation, is occurring in Italy also thanks to regional
support programs. Reducing soil tillage is indeed considered to produce relevant economic and
environmental positive outcomes (Holland 2004, Hobbs et al. 2008). However, the adoption of CA
systems requires modifications in terms of crop management and one of the most problematic aspects is
weed control (Hobbs et al. 2008, Chauhan et al. 2012). As mechanical weed control is limited in CA
systems, dependence on herbicides increases especially in the first years of transition (Holland 2004,
Hobbs et al. 2008, Trichard et al. 2013). Moreover, the layers of crop residues on soil surface can decrease
the efficacy of pre-emergence herbicides by adsorbing the active ingredients and preventing them to
reach the germinating seeds in the soil (Chauhan et al. 2012). Consequently, weed control is usually
based on post-emergence herbicides whose efficacy is related to the application timing and weed size.
Weed emergence models can help to select the correct timing for herbicide application, however the
available models were developed for arable field conditions (Masin et al. 2012, Masin et al. 2014).
Specific calibrations can be necessary before adopting these models to predict weed emergence in CA
systems because the environmental conditions experienced by seeds are different (Chauhan et al. 2012).
Seeds in CA systems are located on soil surface (Swanton et al. 2000) and are therefore directly exposed
to rainfall, light stimulation and wide daily thermal fluctuation. Surface-located seeds experience greater
changes in relative dormancy and high annual germination even if the scarce seed-soil contact can limit
seed imbibition (Bullied et al. 2012). Thick layers of crop residues on soil surface can instead inhibit
germination and reduce weed emergence (Chauhan et al. 2012). Comparing weed emergence in fields
managed according to conventional and CA systems represents a crucial step to calibrate the existing
models for specific environmental conditions.
Methods
Field experiments were conducted in 2011 and 2012 at the Veneto Agricoltura experimental farm of
Sasse-Rami (Ceregnano, Rovigo) in the northeastern Po Valley. Weed emergence was monitored in two
maize fields managed under arable (conventional plot) and CA (no-till plot) farming practices: in the
conventional plot, seedbed preparation was done with autumn mouldboard ploughing and spring
harrowing; in the no-till plot (since 2010), maize was directly sown without any tillage. Maize was sown
on different dates from April to May in rows spaced 0.75 m apart. Weed seedlings were counted and
removed weekly from April to July in 33 fixed sampling areas (0.1 m2 each) placed in the inter-row in
each plot. No herbicide application or inter-row soil cultivation were performed on sampling areas. The
emergence data obtained from each of the 33 areas were summed for each sampling date and cumulated
to obtain the emergence patterns.
Results
The three main weed species observed in this study were Sonchus spp. and Chenopodium album in 2011
and Polygonum persicaria in 2012.The comparison between the emergence dynamics in conventional
and no-till plots (Figure 1) showed no difference in Sonchus spp. patterns expressed as percentage of
seedling emergence, even if plant density varied notably between the conventional and the no-tilled plots.
61
Cumulated emergence (%)
Cumulated emergence (plant/m2)
Seedling density of P. persicaria also resulted as higher in the no-till plot, however the emergence
dynamics expressed as percentage were very similar between the two plots, considering the very high
difference of plant density between plots. C. album was found with higher density in the conventional
plot. The emergence of this species was stimulated in the conventional plot by seedbed preparation that
determined an earlier emergence in the first phases, until reaching 50% of total emergence, when the
dynamics in the two plots became overlapped. Results about this species should be treated with caution
due to the low absolute densities in both plots.
20
CHEAL
18
2011
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
7-Apr 27-Apr 17-May 6-Jun
160
140
conventional
tillage
no-tillage
26-Jun 16-Jul
5-Aug
160
SONsp
2011
140
120
120
100
100
80
80
60
60
40
40
20
0
7-Apr
20
27-Apr 17-May 6-Jun
26-Jun
16-Jul
5-Aug
0
7-Apr
100
100
100
80
80
80
60
60
60
40
40
40
20
20
20
0
7-Apr
27-Apr 17-May 6-Jun
26-Jun 16-Jul
5-Aug
0
7-Apr
POLPE
2012
27-Apr 17-May 6-Jun
26-Jun 16-Jul
5-Aug
0
7-Apr
27-Apr 17-May 6-Jun
26-Jun 16-Jul
5-Aug
27-Apr 17-May 6-Jun
26-Jun 16-Jul
5-Aug
Figure 1: Cumulated emergence of C. album and Sonchus spp. in 2011 and P. persicaria in 2012 in conventional and
no-till plots at Sasse-Rami.
Conclusions
Emergence patterns differed in the first part of the emergence curve (till 50%) between conventional and
no-till plots for C. album, a typical arable species, and slightly for P. persicaria. While Sonchus spp.
showed a very similar emergence pattern in both plots. Sonchus spp. could be therefore considered as a
weed species adapted to environmental conditions of CA systems. Although these preliminary results do
not allow to draw conclusions, these findings are a very important step to evaluate the adaptability of
existing models for prediction of weed emergence in CA systems. Monitoring or modelling microclimate
of soil surface, where seeds are located in CA systems, to obtain the weather data required for modelling
weed emergence still remains a challenging task (Loddo et al. 2015). The study is still in progress.
References
Bullied W.J. et al. 2012. Review: Microsite characteristics influencing weed seedling recruitment and implications for
recruitment modeling. Can. J. Plant Sci. 92:627-650.
Chauhan B.S. et al. 2012. Ecology and management of weeds under conservation agriculture: A review. Crop Prot. 38:5765.
Hobbs P.R. et al. 2008.The role of conservation agriculture in sustainable agriculture.Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 363:543-555.
Holland J.M. 2004. The environmental consequences of adopting conservation tillage in Europe: reviewing the evidence.
Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 103:1-25.
Loddo D.et al. 2015. Assessing microclimate conditions of surface soil layers to improve weed emergence modelling.
Italian J.Agrometeor. 2:19-26.
Masin R.et al. 2012. Modeling weed emergence in Italian maize fields. Weed Sci 60:254-259.
Masin R. et al.2014.Evaluation of weed emergence model AlertInf for maize in soybean. Weed Sci 62:360-369.
Swanton C.J. et al. 2000. Influence of tillage type on vertical weed seedbank distribution in a sandy soil. Can. J. Plant Sci.
80:455-457.
Trichard A. et al. 2013. Identification of weed community traits response to conservation agriculture.Agric. Ecosyst.
Environ. 179:179-186.
62
Farmers’ Perception of Organic Fertilizers Use in Italy
Sean D.C. Case1, Laura Zavattaro2, Fabrizio Gioelli2, Chiara Costamagna2, Davide Assandri2,
Carlo Grignani2, Paolo Balsari2, Myles Oelofse1, Yong Hou3, Oene Oenema4, Lars S. Jensen1
1
Dept. of Plant and Environ. Sci., Univ. Copenhagen, DK; 2DISAFA, Univ. Torino, IT, [email protected];
3
Soil Quality Group, Wageningen Univ., NL; 4Alterra, Wageningen Univ. and Res. Centre, NL
Introduction
The livestock industry needs to develop and use improved management technologies to meet global
challenges related to the environmental impacts of manure. Treated or transformed manures, as well as
composted sewage sludge, green/park or urban solid wastes could serve as valuable organic fertilizers,
if they meet agronomic, environmental, economic, legislative and safety requirements. New management
techniques are required to produce commercial organic fertilizers that meet those requirements, and at
the same time results must be acceptable to the farmers implementing the technologies and utilizing the
product. Under the grant of the ReUseWaste project (Marie Curie training network (ITN) funded under
EU-FP7), 13 young scientists were trained in 7 EU countries to do applied research on new technologies
for treatment of manure and develop new manure management systems. As a collaborative activity of
this project, a farmer survey study was undertaken on these issues. The objective of this study was to
answer the question: What are the attitudes of farmers to organic fertilizer products?
Methods
A survey was conducted in Italy (and in parallel in Denmark and Spain) in 2014 through direct interviews
of farmers on i) types of organic fertilizer currently used by farmers, ii) types of organic fertilizer that
farmers are interested in for the near future, iii) barriers that discourage farmers from using organic
fertilizers, iv) properties of an ‘ideal’ organic fertilizer, and finally v) farm and farmer characteristics.
For iii) and iv), participants could choose to rank up to three options and scores were assigned based on
ranking: the top ranked option received 3 points, the second 2 points and the third 1 for each participant.
Scores were then added together to determine the overall highest-ranked options. Here we summarize
results of questions category iii) and iv) from the survey conducted in Italy.
There were 86 responses in total. Most of responses came from Piemonte (51%), Emilia Romagna (22%)
and Lombardia (9%) regions. Most (47%) were field crop farmers, 22% orchardor horticulture farmers,
and 20% livestock farmers. Further details in Case et al. (2015 a and b).
Results
The most important barriers to the use of organic fertilizers were related to cost and practical issues:
expensive machinery, difficulty in handling or spreading organic fertilizers, and difficulty in planning
their use (Tab. 1). However, farm activity influenced the results: while the cost of machinery remained
the most important barrier, crop farmers did not consider difficulty in handling organic fertilizers to be
an important barrier (rank 6 vs rank 2 for ALL), and livestock farmers considered that high
production/purchasing costs was a very important barrier (rank 2; probably because livestock farmers
typically carry the costs of the entire manure management chain themselves). Farmers with the smallest
farms also considered high cost to be an important barrier though (rank 2). Farmers with moderate or
large-sized farms (>30 ha) considered that restrictive application timing was an important barrier (rank
2-3), unlike those with smaller farms (rank 10 or 11).
The most important properties of an ideal organic fertilizer for all respondents were related to the effect
of organic fertilizer on soil condition and cost; the top three included the improvement of soil structure,
the low cost to buy and produce organic fertilizers, and low cost of machinery (Tab. 2). Ease of
availability was an important property for crop farmers (joint rank 2), but was not as important for
orchard+horticulture or livestock farmers (rank 6 and 8 respectively). Reliable nutrient content was also
important for crop farmers (joint rank 2), and those with the smallest farms < 10 Ha (rank 1).Interestingly,
63
livestock farmers ranked low cost as the most important property; again, this may be caused by their need
to minimize their overall operation costs. Options related to certifications, expert advice, pollution, or
subsidies were not highly ranked, neither as barriers nor ideal fertilizer properties.
Table 1.Ranked barriers to the use of organic fertilizers as perceived by respondents. Rank 1 = most important barrier.
Ranking is also indicated by the background color. Hort = orchard+horticulture, Livest = livestock farms.
Perceived Barrier
Number of respondents ->
Expensive machinery
Difficult to handle
Difficult to plan for their use
Restrictive application timing
Not easily available
Lack of expert advice
Uncertainty on NP contents
High costs
Odour nuisance
Lack of subsidies
No quality certification
Unsuitable nutrient content
Difficult to get permits to use
High pollution risk
Other
ALL
86
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
9
11
12
13
14
15
Farm activity
Crop
Hort
Livest
40
29
17
1
1
1
6
2
3
3
5
6
1
4
12
4
10
4
7
3
8
4
7
8
7
15
2
7
8
8
12
6
5
10
13
7
14
9
8
11
12
15
14
10
13
13
14
14
<10
8
1
8
9
11
4
3
4
2
11
4
7
9
11
11
11
Farm size (ha)
10-30
30-50 50-100
19
16
21
2
1
4
1
1
9
4
5
1
10
3
2
3
12
11
7
5
5
6
4
3
13
5
7
5
11
6
10
5
7
9
9
13
7
15
9
13
14
11
10
9
15
15
13
14
>100
22
1
5
6
2
4
3
8
6
8
11
12
14
8
14
12
Table 2. The most important ideal properties of an organic fertilizer as perceived by respondents. Rank 1 = most important
perceived advantage. Ranking is also indicated by the background color. Hort = orchard+horticulture, Livest = livestock
farms.
Ideal property
Number of respondents ->
Improves soil structure
Low cost
Machinery inexpensive
Reliable nutrient content
No application restrictions
Easily available
Easy to handle
Expert advice available
Government subsidy
available
Low pollution
Official quality certifications
Easy to get permits
Little odour
Other
ALL
86
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Farm activity
Lives
Crop
Hort
t
40
29
17
1
1
2
4
4
1
5
2
5
2
4
6
5
3
6
2
6
8
7
6
3
7
9
9
Farm size (ha)
<10
7
2
3
5
1
8
5
3
8
10-30
20
1
2
8
3
4
6
4
9
30-50
16
1
3
2
4
9
9
6
5
50-100
21
2
7
4
3
1
6
5
7
>100
22
1
2
4
5
5
3
5
8
9
10
10
4
7
7
9
9
10
10
11
13
14
14
12
9
13
11
14
8
12
10
12
12
11
13
11
9
13
10
10
10
10
10
9
9
13
14
14
6
8
9
14
14
11
9
11
14
14
9
10
13
13
13
Conclusions
Farmers from North Italy reported that practical and technical issues are more important to them when
considering organic fertilizer use than issues related to Government subsidies, regulations, certifications,
expert advice, or pollution. Farmers express a need for cheap, reliable, and easy-to-handle soil
amendments. Therefore, fertilizer industries can do more than the public sector in developing new biobased fertilizers for the agricultural sector, contributing to the implementation of the EU Circular
Economy Strategy principles (COM/2015/0614).
References
Case S, et al. 2015a. Stakeholder survey and market analysis. ReUseWaste Report 7.2.1. Univ. Copenhagen.
Case S, et al. 2015b. Market acceptability of manure biofertilizers. ReUseWaste Report 7.2.2. Univ. Copenhagen
COM/2015/0614. http://www.ipex.eu/IPEXL-WEB/dossier/document/COM20150614.do
64
Optimizing Topdressing Fertilization Through Ground
Sensing Measurements in Rice
Eleonora Cordero1, Barbara Moretti1, Eleonora Miniotti2, Daniele Tenni2, Gianluca Beltarre2,
Marco Romani2, Dario Sacco1
1
Dip. di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali ed Alimentari, Università di Torino, IT, [email protected]
2
Ente Nazionale Risi, Centro ricerche sul riso, Castello d’Agogna, IT, [email protected]
Introduction
In rice several methods have been developed to rule N fertilization at panicle initiation stage (PI). Optical
properties of leaf pigments, and particularly chlorophyll, are promising measure to be used as plant N
status indicators (Muñoz-Huerta et al., 2013). Therefore vegetation indices (VI) are calculated on the
basis of specific waveband combinations (Bajwa et al., 2010). The most used are SPAD, NDVI
(Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and NDRE (Normalized Difference Red Edge).
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the best indicator to provide practical information about the N
rate to be applied at PI to maximize crop production, and to build a statistical model to provide
PI N rate = f(VI).
Methods
The study was carried out during 2014-2015 cropping seasons in an experimental area of the Rice
Research Centre of Ente Nazionale Risi, located in Castello d’Agogna (PV), Italy.
The experiment compared four N rates (0-60-100-140-200 kg N ha-1) as sum of pre-sowing and tillering
stage application (PRE+TILL) combined with four N rates at PI stage (0-30-60-100 kg N ha-1).
The treatments were laid out in a split plot design, with PRE+TILL supply in the main plots and the
nitrogen rate at PI stage in the subplots. Cultivar Centauro, a round grain variety, was used.
Some vegetation indices (SPAD, NDVI and NDRE) were detected at PI stage. SPAD was determined
using SPAD -502-Soil Plant Analysis Development (Konica Minolta, Japan). GreenSeeker (Trimble ©,
Sunnyvale, California, USA) and Rapid Scan (Rapid Scan CS-45, Holland Scientific, USA) handheld
optical sensors were used to determine NDVI. As the second sensor incorporates three optical
measurement channels, it was used to determine NDRE as well. Biomass was also detected and N
concentration determined at PI. Grain yield (normalized to a moisture content of 14%) was determined
at harvest.
General Linear Model was used to build a model explaining yield as a function of N fertilization at presowing+tillering stage (PRE+TILL), fertilization at panicle initiation stage (PI) and their squares as
covariate, block and year as simple effects and PRE+TILL*PI, PRE+TILL*year and PI*year as
interactions.
Then, yield was predicted from VI values and nitrogen rates supplied at panicle initiation stage, using
General Linear Model again. This model included PI nitrogen supply, VI and their squares as covariate,
block and year as simple effects and PI*VI, year*VI and years*PI as interactions. Then, from this model,
a calibration curve for VRA fertilizer spreader was derived.
Results
Maximum grain yield (11.0 Mg ha-1) was achieved when 160 kg N ha-1 were applied (Figure 1). Further
increase in N level did not increase or reduced crop production. The higher grain yield values were
recorded with the higher nitrogen supply at PI stage. The application of the statistical model showed that
grain yield is influenced by basal N fertilization as well as PI N supply. Moreover, interaction between
pre-sowing and tillering stages fertilization and PI N supply was significant. So, deficient supplies
provided during initial stages can be compensated with N topdressing fertilization at PI. This study
confirmed previous results reported in Manzoor et al. (2006) and Lee et al. (2009).
65
Grain yield (Mg ha-1)
12.0
11.0
10.0
9.0
8.0
7.0
6.0
0
60
100
0
200
400
140
200
Total N supply (kg ha-1)
Figure 1: Grain yield response curve at increasing levels of N additions.
The capability of the VI to predict yield is reported in Table 2.
Table 2: Capability of VI of predicting yield
VI
SPAD
GS NDVI
RS NDVI
NDRE
PI
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
PI2
0.010
0.000
0.003
0.001
VI
0.002
0.000
0.044
0.000
VI2
0.021
0.009
n. s.
0.000
PI*VI
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
YEAR*VI
n. s.
0.000
n. s.
n. s.
YEAR*PI
n. s.
n. s.
n. s.
n. s.
BLOCK
0.039
n. s.
0.013
n. s.
YEAR
n. s.
0.000
n. s.
n. s.
R2
0.639
0.740
0.692
0.769
N supply at PI
stage (kg ha-1)
All VI and their interaction with N supply at PI stage were significant on predicting crop yield.
Topdressing N fertilization at PI stage can hence compensate low VI values. Maximum R2 value was
achieved by NDRE. An example of calibration curve for VRA fertilizer spreader was then derived from
the statistical model maximizing grain production at each NDRE value. Results are reported in Fig. 2.
y = -1341.2x + 574.6
R² = 0.9995
150
100
50
0
0.3
0.4
0.5
NDRE value
Figure 2: Calibration curve obtained for NDRE
Conclusions
Nitrogen supply at PI stage is effective on rice yield. Its calibration is important to avoid N imbalances.
This study demonstrates that NDRE is the best crop N status indicator. As NDRE is not influenced by
seasonal effect and soil variability, this VI can be used to determine Centauro variety calibration curve.
To made negligible the influence of soil variability and weather recorded for the others VI, Sufficiency
Indices (SI) could be calculated.
The determined calibration curve will allow a site specific rice N fertilization management accounting
for soil and spatial variability, avoiding consequent negative environmental impacts.
References
Bajwa, S. G. et al. 2010. Canopy reflectance response to plant nitrogen accumulation in rice. Precision Agric. 11: 488506.
Lee, J et al. 2009. Assessment of N topdressing rate at panicle initiation stage with chlorophyll meter-based diagnosis in
rice. J. Crop Sci. Biotech. 12(4): 195-200.
Manzoor, Z. et al. 2006. Appropriate time of nitrogen application to fine rice, Oryza sativa. J. Agric. Res. 44(4): 261-267
Muños-Huerta, R. F. et al. 2013. A review of methods for sensing nitrogen status in plants: advantages, disadvantages and
recent advances. Sensors 13: 10823-1084.
66
Evolution of Soil Organic Carbon Content in Lombardy
Plain (Northern Italy) from Conventional Tillage to
Conservation Agriculture Practices
Alessia Perego1, Matteo Santesso1, Marcello Ermido Chiodini1, Alberto Rocca2, Calogero
Schillaci1, Stefano Brenna2, Marco Acutis1
1
2
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Science - DiSAA, University of Milan, Italy
Regional Agency for Services to the Agriculture and Forests of the Lombardy Region - ERSAF, Milan, Italy
Introduction
Conservation agricultural practices, such as minimum (MT) and no tillage (NT) and permanent soil
cover, may maintain or increase crop productivity, while increasing the soil organic carbon (SOC) in
comparison with conventional tillage, CONV (Fuentes et al., 2012). It is expected that the adoption of
conservation agriculture practices will increase the SOC up to 0.2-0.7 t ha-1year-1, while reducing fossil
fuel consumption for soil works of about 60/70% and greenhouse gases emissions.
The HelpSoil project (funded by the European Union through the LIFE Programme) aims at defining
field management options to improve soils organic matter through sustainable techniques of conservation
agriculture on 20 demonstrative farms in the Po plain (Northern Italy, Figure 1).
The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of conservation agriculture practices on SOC in the 5
HelpSoil farms in Lombardy by comparing the SOC observed under contrasting techniques in 2014 to
the SOC measured 8 to 23 years before in the same monitoring area (Soil Map of Lombardy Region Scale 1:50000, DB).
Figure 1. Demonstrative
Demonstrative farms
Project area
farms in Lombardy plain
included in the HelpSoil
LIFE project (numbered
from 1 to 5).
Methods
In each of the demonstrative
5
1
farms in Lombardy (Figure
1), different techniques are
under
comparison:
in
Borgoratto Mormorolo NT
1 - Borgoratto Mormorolo (PV)
was adopted at the end of
2 - Barbianello (PV)
3 - Malagnino (CR)
2014 on cereals (in this
4 - Vescovato (CR)
study, soil was sampled
5 - Carpaneta (MN)
during 2014 when tillage
was still CONV); in Barbianello MT and NT implemented in 2003 on cereals; in Malagnino CONV
(ploughing at 30 cm) and NT (since 2012) on cereals; inVescovato CONV (ploughing at 30 cm), MT and
NT (since 2014) on maize, winter wheat and lucerne; in Carpaneta MT and NT (since 2012) on maize
and winter wheat. In these farms, soil samples were collected at 30 cm depth in 2014 under each of the
adopted management (3 to 6 replicates).
A Geographic Information Systems allowed to identify the closest site (up to 1 km of distance from the
demonstrative farms) within the same soil unit (DB), in which SOC in top soil (30 cm) had previously
4
2
3
67
measured. The sites characterized by a SOC below the 5th percentile and above the 95th percentile (3.3
and 66 g kg-1, respectively) were not included in the analysis. In the sites identified as suitable for the
analysis, soil characterization was carried out in different years (Figure 2). The evolution of SOC from
the previous soil characterization to 2014 was estimated assuming that the tillage was CONV at that time.
Results
Figure 2 displays the SOC (g kg-1) measured under the adopted techniques in the 5 demonstrative farms
in Lombardy. The NT technique resulted in gains of SOC in Barbianello (5.7g kg-1) and in Carpaneta
(7.8 g kg-1) with respect to the baseline data. In particular, NT determined a higher increase in SOC than
MT in Carpaneta. In Barbianello, SOC under MT was 14% lower than the SOC data measured in 1998.
NT resulted in lower SOC than CONV only in Malagnino where conservation agriculture practices were
implemented in a field where SOC were initially 27% lower than that in the field under CONV. SOC
measured in 2014 under CONV in Malagnino and Vescovato was 13% and 8% lower than the reference
value from the Regional DB, while in Borgoratto SOC gains in 2014 under CONV was 14g kg-1with
respect to DB data (2006). As such a high gain is unlikely, it is possible that the DB and HelpSoil farm
soils are dissimilar and in turn not comparable.
25
20
15
Soil Organic Carbon (g kg-1)
10
5
0
DB 2006
CONV
DB 1998
Borgoratto Mormorolo
MT
NT
DB 1991
Barbianello
CONV
NT
Malagnino
25
20
15
10
5
0
DB 1996
CONV
Vescovato
MT
NT
DB 2003
MT
NT
Carpaneta
Figure 2. Soil Organic Carbon data (g kg-1) in Soil Map of Lombardy Region (DB) and measured in 2014
under minimum (MT) and no tillage (NT), and conventional tillage (CONV).
Conclusions
Conservation agriculture practices appear to be effective in increasing the SOC content in the top layer,
but it is needed to keep on monitoring the evolution of the SOC content in the demonstrative farms as
the adoption of conservative practices is recent. SOC data in the Regional DB should be updated in the
case of the transition from conventional to conservation tillage.
References
Fuentes M. et al. 2012. Conservation agriculture, increased organic carbon in the top-soil macroaggregates and reduced soil CO2 emissions. Plant and Soil 355:183-197.
68
Characterization of Autochthonous Plant Growth
Promoting Bacteria in Relation to Durum Wheat Nitrogen
Use Efficiency
Nilde A. Di Benedetto, Daniela Campaniello, Antonio Bevilacqua, Mariagrazia P. Cataldi,
Maria Rosaria Corbo, Milena Sinigaglia, Zina Flagella
Dip. di Scienze Agrarie degli Alimenti e dell'Ambiente, Univ. Foggia, IT, [email protected]
Introduction
Soil inoculation with Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria (PGPB) is a promising tool of integrated
management systems. PGPB can improve nutrient availability through different mechanisms including
acidification, chelation, organic acid release, and belong to different genera like Pseudomonas, Bacillus,
Azospirillum, Azotobacter spp., and others (Glick, 2012).
In literature it is reported the use of PGPB as commercial biofertilizers (Saia et al. 2015); however, some
authors used allochthnous strains, which do not possess the ability to overcome stressful conditions
(adaptive capacity). On the other hand, wild and autochthonous strains possess it and are more “robust”.
Few data are available on the interaction plant-PGPB isolated from Italian soil, thus the aim of this study
was to carry out a preliminary characterization of PGPB isolated from a soil of South Italy (Capitanata)
in relation to the potential to enhance nitrogen use efficiency in plants. Therefore, the isolation of
microorganisms was carried out in the rhizosphere of durum wheat which is a crop well adapted to
Mediterranean basin and a staple food for a large part of world population.
Methods
For bacterial isolation two different soil samples were collected from 0 to 20 cm depth from two sites in
Capitanata (South Italy 41°19'17''N 15°42'10''E). Bacterial isolation was performed on: 1) a silty-clayloam soil (sample A) having 1.3‰ total nitrogen content (Kjeldhal method), 33,80 ppm assimilable
phosphorus (Olsen Method, P2O5), 41,42 mg/Kg organic matter (Walkley-Black method); 2) a medium
loam soil (sample B) having 1.2‰ total nitrogen content (Kjeldhal method), 28,60 ppm assimilable
phosphorus (Olsen Method, P2O5), 28,60 mg/Kg organic matter (Walkley-Black method). The
microbiological sampling was carried out in duplicate at two phenological stages (booting and milk stage)
of durum wheat (cv Saragolla) life cycle, at 3 distances from rhizosphere (0 R, 3-4 cm RS and 100 cm S)
during the 2015 crop season. Afterwards ten grams of soil were suspended in 100 ml of sterile distilled
H2O, then diluted up to 10-6 level and plated onto appropriate medium to select and count Mesophilic
bacteria, Pseudomonas spp., Bacillus spp., Actinobacteria, total and fecal Coliform. Colonies with
different morphology were randomly selected and isolated, and then purified and characterized in
relation to some preliminary phenotypic tests and some specific tests (ammonification, nitrification and
urease test) (Chatterjee et al. 2015). Data were analyzed using the ANOVA procedure and Principal
Component Analysis (PCA) through the software Statistica for Windows ver. 12.0.
Results
The two soil samples showed differences in both texture and organic carbon content which was higher
in sample A. In both soil sites (Fig 1 A and B) Mesophilic bacteria and Actinobacteria showed the highest
cell number. A significant lower value of bacterial load was observed in site B for Bacillus spp. The
highest concentration was always observed in the rhizosphere. Coliforms were never detected (data not
shown).
The highest number of colonies was observed in soil A (259 isolates) vs soil B (215 isolates) with the
prevalence of Actinobacteria (soil A: 105 isolates; soil B: 75 isolates) and mesophilic bacteria (soil A:
73 isolates; soil B: 60 isolates) in both soils.
69
In this study a preliminary characterization of Pseudomonas spp. able to produce ammonia from a
peptone source, was carried out in order to select the most promising strains. Thus, PCA was run (Fig 2
A and B); the analysis accounted the 64% of the total variance. The first factor was positively related to
nitrification and negatively to oxidase while the second factor was positively related to motility and
negatively to urease. The projection of the samples is shown in Fig 2 B where nitrifying bacteria (I and
IV quadrants) are indicated by blue circle. They were divided into three groups: the region below the xaxis (IV quadrant) grouped the non-motile strains, whereas in the region above motile bacteria (in red
circle) are grouped; in particular the motile bacteria positive to oxidase test were signed in green. Thus,
three strains (6P, 15P, 54P) combine the positive characteristics to produce NH4+, NO2-/NO3- and
motility.
A
8
B
D D
7
B
9
A
6
D
D
E D
C BC
F F
5
S
4
RS
3
R
2
1
CELL COUNT log CFU/g soil
CELL COUNT log CFU/g soil
9
A
B
8
7
6
D
D
E
5
E
C
E
F F
G G
4
S
RS
3
R
2
1
0
0
Mesophilic
bacteria
Bacillus spp. Pseudomonas Actinobacteria
spp.
Mesophilic
bacteria
Bacillus spp. Pseudomonas Actinobacteria
spp.
Fig 1: Bacterial cell load (log CFU/g) of the different microbial groups at different distances from rhizosphere and in the
two soils (A and B) during the booting phase of durum wheat growth. RS: 3-4 cm from the rhizosphera; S: soil without
roots; R: rhizosphera. Values with different letters are significantly different at P≤0.01
A
B
Fig 2: Principal Component Analysis (PCA) performed on Pseudomonas spp. in relation to oxidase, motility, urease and
nitrification tests. A) projection of factors; B) projection of samples.
Conclusions
Differences in microbial cell number were observed in relation to the soil site. Mesophilic bacteria and
Actinobacteria showed the highest concentration. For all the groups, a higher cell number was found in
the rhizosphere, thus suggesting an inverse correlation distance from the root vs cell load. Furthermore
Pseudomonas spp. were also evaluated in relation to the capacity to enhance nitrogen availability and
three strains (6P, 15P, 54P) of the nitrifying bacteria showed characteristics of great interest for the
improvement of durum wheat nitrogen use efficiency.
References
Chatterjee S. et al. 2015. Population Dynamics, Diversity and Characterization of Soil Bacteria in Some South-Eastern
Regions of the Sundarbans, West Bengal, India. Int J Pharm Bio Sci, 6(2): 353 - 361.
Glick B.R. 2012. Plant Growth-Promoting Bacteria: Mechanisms and Applications. Scientifica, 1-15.
Saia S. et al. 2015. Soil inoculation with symbiotic microorganisms promotes plant growth and nutrient transporter genes
expression in durum wheat. Frontiers in Plant Science, 6: 1-10.
70
Life Project REWAT: Sustainable Water Management in
the Lower Cornia Valley
Chiara Marchina1, Alberto Mantino1, Enrico Bonari1, Alessandro Fabbrizzi2, Rudy Rossetto1
Istituto di Scienze della Vita, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa, IT, [email protected]
2
Consorzio di Bonifica Toscana Costa, Campiglia Marittima, IT
1
Introduction
The availability of water sources for irrigation is diminishing in all parts of the world, and the conflicts
between urban and agricultural interests for this water are rising due to the increasing demand of food by
a growing population in the next few years. This situation is exacerbated in the Mediterranean basin,
where historically climate conditions were characterised by scarce annual rainfall and high summer
temperature. In the last years, climate changes rise these issues by worsening of precipitation distribution
(i.e. storms frequency and intensity) and increasing of heat wave phenomena (Iglesias and Garrote, 2015).
This leads to a decrease of aquifer recharge and increase in fluxes towards the atmosphere by higher
evapotranspiration.
The Cornia basin is 365 km2 large, and it runs through Livorno, Pisa and Grosseto provinces before
flowing into the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Cornia river flows from Metallifere hills at 875 m o.s.l. and it's 50
km long. The hydrologic balance of the basin has been characterized for years by heavy quantitative
imbalance, caused by an intensive use of water resource from the civil and agricultural sectors. Large
part of the water resource is conveyed to Elba Island using a submarine pipe to supply about 50% of the
Island water needs. Basin groundwater has been largely impacted, with head lowering of about 12 m the
inland of lower Cornia plain. A volumetric calculation from the 70’s to 2001 estimates about 8 Mm3 total
water deficit, with about the 50% built up in 90’s. This change had heavy effects on freshwater systems
causing saline intrusion in coastal water bodies, modifying connected ecosystems (particularly coastal
wetlands, like SIC/ZPS IT5160010 "Padule Orti Bottagone" and "Parco della Sterpaia") and complete
salinization of the hydrogeologic units. Now, a dangerous trend of middle lower salinity is moving
towards water potable fields (Bianchini et al., 2005; Pennisi et al., 2006).
Based on this, the aim of the REWAT project is to develop a participated strategy for an integrated water
resources management at sub-catchment level, as a model of governance for sustainable development of
the lower Cornia valley.
Project description
Life REWAT project (sustainable WATer management in the lower Cornia valley through demand
REduction, aquifer Recharge and river Restoration) aims to develop a participated strategy for integrated
water resource management at sub-catchment level, as a model of governance for sustainable
development of the lower Cornia valley.
Within the project, this strategy - adaptive towards Climate Change - is strictly linked to (re)balancing
water budget of the complex hydrological system of the lower river Cornia.
Means to reach this goal will range from optimization of water consumption (civil and agricultural) to
an increase of intentional groundwater recharge (through river morphological restoration and a Managed
Aquifer Recharge, MAR, scheme).
As far as the lower Cornia valley, the purpose of the project consists of four specific objectives:
(i) fostering an integrated knowledge on the hydrological system and related water uses;
(ii) raising awareness and proactive involvement of water users on the importance of water saving,
river restoration and groundwater banking. These actors are both public and private, individual or
organized, and they make up the community which directly or indirectly affects the water budget in
the lower Cornia valley;
71
(iii) demonstrating the technical feasibility, the economical advantages and the environmental
sustainability of several technical solutions able to increase natural infiltration rates and managed
recharge of aquifers, together with effective solutions for water saving;
(iv) developing an integrated and participated governance tool for surface and groundwater
management at a sub-catchment scale, that will lead to sign a "Water Contract", a pioneer innovative
experience in Italy of negotiated agreement involving all the waterbodies (fluvial, groundwater,
transitional and coastal) and the related stakeholders.
The REWAT project will implement a number of demonstration measures in the lower Cornia valley,
both structural (pilot) and non-structural (education and training), which will form the basis for a
governance processes. The so-called “Water Contract” will then aim at sharing a long-medium term
strategy for sustainable water management in the project area. The five demonstration actions are related
to: (1) set up of a Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) facility, (2) river restoration of a Cornia river reach,
(3) water saving in the civil water supply sector, (4) water saving in agriculture, (5) reduction and
sustainable management of storm-water in urban areas. The strategic decision making process aiming at
a long term negotiated agreement for water resources management in the lower Cornia basin will result
in a voluntary governance tool for the wide scale implementation, in the medium term (post-LIFE), of
the good practices developed in this project.
Water saving treatment in agriculture. Sub-surface drip-irrigation demonstration action
Globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus L. var. scolymus L. (Fiori)), a perennial horticulture species, covers
in Italy a surface of about 50,000 ha. In Tuscany, four varieties represent almost the total artichoke
cropping surface. Traditional varieties “Violetto di Toscana” and “Empolese” are still cultivated along
with recent varieties derived from breeding project, “Terom” and “Tema”. In the lower Cornia valley,
the artichoke cropping surface is about 600 ha and in order to increase stability and productivity of the
crop, about 2000 – 4000 m3 ha-1 yr-1 of irrigation water is required. Drip irrigation systems allow to
enhance water use efficiency in artichoke cultivation compared with other low efficiency systems (i.e.
furrow and sprinkler) (Leskovar and Xu, 2013). Several studies demonstrated that yield of different crops
increases using sub-surface drip-irrigation (SDI) system under high frequency irrigation management
(Ayras et al., 1999).
The aim of the action is to demonstrate the feasibility of SDI for artichoke cultivation in order to reduce
the water consumption for irrigation in lower Cornia valley. The action is located in Venturina
(43°01'59.0"N 10°35'12.0"E) and cover a 4 ha surface inside the Stefano Forconi’s farm. The soil is
characterized by sandy loam texture, 7.81 pH and 1.72 % of organic matter. Irrigation water is
characterized by neutral pH (7.2) and 1363 μS/cm of electrical conductivity. The field test provides the
comparison of SDI system respect to surface irrigation and surface drip irrigation. Moreover, deficit
irrigation strategy will be investigating, in order to test the possible increasing of water saving in
artichoke cultivation.
The LIFE REWAT Consortium is led by Consorzio di Bonifica Toscana Costa, a local institution devoted
to water management, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, a public research university, ASA spa, a water utility,
and the governing authority Regione Toscana.
References
Ayars J.E. Phene C.J. et al. 1999. Subsurface drip irrigation of row crops: A review of 15 years of research at the Water
Management Research Laboratory. Agric. Water Manag, 42:1-27.
Bianchini G. Pennisi M. et al. 2005. Hydrochemistry of the high-boron groundwaters of the Cornia aquifer (Tuscany, Italy)
Geothermics, 34:297-319.
Iglesias A. Garrote L. 2015. Adaptation strategies for agricultural water management under climate change in Europe.
Agric. Water Manag, 155:113–124.
Leskovar D.I. Xu C. 2013. Irrigation strategies and water use efficiency of globe artichoke. Acta Hortic, 983:261-268.
Pennisi M. Bianchini G. et al. 2006. Behaviour of boron and strontium isotopes in groundwater-aquifer interactions in the
Cornia Plain (Tuscany, Italy) Appl Geochem, 21:1169-1183.
72
Use of Solid Digestate as Growing Media for the
Production of Horticultural Crops.
Domenico Ronga1, Nicola Pecchioni2, Justyna Milc1, Stefano Tagliavini3, Massimo Zaghi4,
Enrico Francia1
1
Dip. di Scienze della Vita, Univ. Modena e Reggio Emilia, IT, [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected]
2
CRA-CER Cereal Research Centre, CRA - Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Foggia, IT,
[email protected]
3
SCAM Spa, Modena, IT, [email protected]
4
CAT Cooperativa Agroeneregetica Territoriale, Correggio (RE), IT, [email protected]
Introduction
Peat is the principal component used for growing media of horticultural crops due to its agronomic
characteristics. On the other hand, is a nonrenewable material (Herrera et al., 2008). Previous researches
indicated the compatibility of some renewable composted organic wastes in mixture with peat-based
media (Herrera et al., 2008; Ronga et al., 2016). However, the composting process might increase the
GHGs emissions (Lim et al., 2016). Thus, the aim of this work was to evaluate the use of anuntreated
solid digestate as a component in the formulation of growing media for the seedling production of two
crop reference species: tomato and basil.
Methods
Solid digestate was analyzed for total N (UNI EN 13654–1:2001 and ISO 11261:1995) and toxic
elements content: chrome (EPA 1790), lead, zinc, copper, mercury (ISO 16772:2004), cadmium, nickel
(UNI EN 13650:2002 and UNI EN ISO 11885:2009). Afterwards four different growing media (GM)
were composed as follows (% vol.): commercial peat (CP) 100% (GM1); solid digestate (SD) 100%
(GM2); CP 50% + SD 50% (GM3); and CP 25% + SD 75% (GM4). GM pH and EC were determined
(1:5 ratio) using a CRISON pH meter basic 20 and CRISONGLP 31 EC meter, respectively. In this study,
two species were evaluated: tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. cv Roma V.F.) and basil (Ocimum
basilicum L. cv. Italiano Classico). GM were assessed for phytotoxicity for both tested reference species,
as described by (Ronga et al., 2016). Subsequently, seeds were sown and grown in polystyrene with 228
cells. The seedlings were cultivated for 5 weeks in a growth chamber with a daily regime of 16-h of light
and 8-h of dark, day/night temperature of 25/19 °C (60% RH). Each treatment was arranged in a complete
randomized block design with five replicates. During the cultivation, emergence was recorded at three
timings 5, 7 and 9 days after sowing (DAS), while at 35 DAS the following parameters were measured:
consistency of root ball (val. 0-5), stem height (H), number of leaves (no.), chlorophyll estimation using
SPAD and total dry weight (stem and leaf). Experimental data were analyzed using GenStat 17th for
ANOVA and significant means were separated by Duncan’s test (p<0.05).
Results
SD showed levels of heavy-metal below the limit established by regulations: Ni 1.73 ppm, Pb 4.10 ppm,
Zn 24.30 ppm, Cd 0.05 ppm, Cr 0.49 ppm, Cu 10.80 ppm. In addition, according to chemical
characteristics (total N 0.87% and EC 0.29 dS m−1) SD appeared to be suitable for GM preparation. On
the other hand, the high pH of SD (8.0) suggested dilution as reported by Bugbee (1996). CP exhibited
0.6% N, pH 6.3 and EC 0.28 dS m−1. For GM mixtures pH values ranged between 6.9 and 7.1, while EC
values ranged between 0.28 and 0.29 dS m−1, which are suitable for tomato and basil cultivation (Bugbee
1996). The germination assays showed values greater than 50% (Tab. 1), which may be considered as a
threshold value for phytotoxicity (Zucconi et al., 1981). In this study, the basil and tomato seedling
emergence were not affected by GM composition (Tab. 1). As regards, the consistency of root ball, lower
value was recorded using GM2. Finally, apart for SPAD on basil, in GM3 and GM4 mixtures either
similar or greater values of height, SPAD, number of leaves and dry weight were recorded respect to
GM1(Tab. 2).
73
Conclusions
The results obtained highlighted that replacing CP aliquots with untreated SD might be an excellent
sustainable practice to reduce the consumption of CP and contribute to the valorization of SD.
References
Bugbee, G. J. 1996. Growth of Rhododendron, Rudbeckia, and Thujia and the leaching of nitrates as affected by the pH
of potting media amended with biosolids compost. Compost Sci. Util, 4:53–59.
Herrera, F. et al. 2008. Use of municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) as a growing medium in the nursery production of
tomato plants. BioresourceTechnol, 99:287–96.
Lim, S. et al. 2016. Sustainability of using composting and vermicomposting technologies for organic solid waste
biotransformation: recent overview, greenhouse gases emissions and economic analysis. J. Clean. Prod, 111:262-278.
Ronga D. et al. 2016. Use of Spent Coffee Ground Compost in Peat-Based Growing Media for the Production of Basil and
Tomato Potting Plants. Commun. Soil Sci. Plan, 47:356-368.
Zucconi, F. et al.1981. Evaluating toxicity of immature compost. BioCycle 22:54–57.
Table 1. Germination index and emergence measured on tomato and basil seedlings.
A.
Thesis
GM1
GM2
GM3
GM4
Thesis
GM1
GM2
GM3
GM4
B.
Thesis
Species
Thesis*Species
Tomato
Emergence
TIMING
TIMING
TIMING
GI%
I
II
III
63.91 b
0.67
b
3.00
ns
3.67
ns
96.50 ab
2.67
ab
4.33
ns
4.67
ns
115.67 a
2.67
ab
3.33
ns
3.67
ns
82.38 ab
3.33
a
3.33
ns
4.33
ns
Basil
Emergence
TIMING
TIMING
TIMING
GI%
I
II
III
126.22 a
1.33
ab
2.00
ns
3.33
a
85.34 b
0.33
b
1.33
ns
2.00
b
74.00 b
0.67
ab
1.33
ns
2.33
ab
84.93 b
1.67
a
2.00
ns
2.67
ab
ns
ns
<.01
ns
<.01
<.05
ns
<.01
ns
ns
<.01
ns
Averages with different letter are significantly different (P<0.05); ns=not significant
Table 2. Main biometrical parameters measured on tomato and basil seedlings.
A.
Tomato
Thesis
Root ball
(val. 0-5)
GM1
GM2
GM3
GM4
4.83
3.30
4.83
5.00
Thesis
Root ball
(val. 0-5)
GM1
GM2
GM3
GM4
4.83
1.70
2.83
3.67
B.
Thesis
Species
Thesis*Species
<.01
<.01
ns
Height
(cm)
a
b
a
a
10.03
10.67
9.33
10.90
ns
ns
ns
ns
Basil
Height
(cm)
a
c
bc
b
2.63
1.93
2.93
2.73
ns
<.01
ns
ab
ab
b
a
Leaves
number
(no.)
3.00
2.50
3.00
3.00
a
c
ab
b
Leaves
number
(no.)
4.00
3.97
4.17
5.00
SPAD
33.27
32.63
30.50
38.10
SPAD
ns
ns
ns
ns
25.23
15.63
22.17
20.40
<.01
<.01
<.01
<.01
<.01
<.01
ns
ns
ns
ns
Dry
weight
(g)
0.39
0.26
0.38
0.40
ns
ns
ns
ns
b
b
b
a
Dry
weight
(g)
0.06
0.09
0.08
0.07
ns
ns
ns
ns
ns
<.01
ns
Averages with different letter are significantly different (P<0.05); ns=not significant
74
Effect of Different Mulching Films on Yield and Quality
of Zucchini Grown in Greenhouse
Eugenio Cozzolino1, Ida Di Mola2, Vincenzo Leone1, Luigi Giuseppe Duri2, Laura Gioia2,
Massimo Fagnano2, Mauro Mori2
1CREA-Consiglio
per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria Laboratorio di Caserta
[email protected]
2Dip. di Agraria, Univ. Napoli, IT, [email protected]
Introduction
The use of plastic films for soil mulching is an already consolidated practice; it allows 1) to reduce water
and pesticide consumption, 2) to contain soil-borne pathogens and weeds, 3) to protect the cultivation
area against erosion. But the principal effect of plastic films is to increase the yield and quality of
horticultural crops, but also to lengthen the market availability of the products (early or delayed
production). In this regard, in the last years, the use of plastic colored photo-selective film is increasing.
Still, after the use, the plastic films become “waste” and so they must be disposed in many ways. The
plastic waste can be transported to landfills, collected and recycled, or burned in incineration plants to
produce energy (Kapanen et al., 2008). The recovered plastics are contaminated by pesticides, soil and
biological waste, making the recycling process expensive and time-consuming (Scott, 1999). In order to
increase the sustainability of this agricultural practices and to overcome the disposal problems of
conventional plastics, films based on biodegradable and renewable agricultural raw materials can
nowadays be used to an ever-increasing extent (Malinconico et al., 2002).
Methods
The research aimed to verify the effect of different mulching films on productive behaviour (quantity
and quality) of zucchini grown in greenhouse. The soil of trial was sandy-loam with 1.7% of organic
matter, 0.11% of nitrogen and high content in potassium.
The trial was carried out at the experimental field Gussone Park of Department of Agriculture (N 40°
48.870’; E 14° 20.821’; 70m asl) in Portici (Naples):
The experimental treatments were:
- not covered soil: control
- biodegradable film with 15 microns thickness (MB15)
- low density polyethylene with 15 microns thickness (LDPE)
- red polyethylene photo-selective films with 25 microns thickness (RED)
The treatments were replicated three times and distributed at randomized blocks.
The films were placed manually in the last decade of March 2015 and the transplanting was made on 27
March. The plant density was 1.2 plant per square meter; the harvests were made on alternate days, from
27 April to 19 June 2015 for a total of 23 days. The crop practices were ordinary.
The cultivar tested was “Altea”, a Syngenta hybrid; its fruit is light green and mottled, it is harvested
with flower at a length of 20-22 cm.
At each harvest the number of marketable fruit and their fresh weight were measured; besides, we
considered the sums of early eight harvests as “early yield”.
In three harvests (early, intermediate, final) the following measurements were also made: dry matter
(after oven drying at 50°C until constant weight); Brix degree (Refractometer Atago); texture
(Penetrometer BCE with 8 mm probe); color (Colorimeter at reflectance Minolta Chromameter CR200).
The data were analyzed with MSTAT software (Crop and Soil Science Department, Michigan State
University, Version 2.0).
75
Results
The early production (fig. 1a) confirms the capacity of red film to anticipate the productive phase, with
a value significantly higher than the other treatments, according with Cozzolino et al. (2014). However,
the LDPE and MB15 recuperated during the successive harvests; in fact for the total yield (sum of all
harvests) there were not statistical differences among the covered treatments (fig. 1b). For both
parameters the control was always statistically different from all other treatments, also because it showed
the lowest value of number and average weight of fruits (tab.1).
60
b
a
50
t ha -1
40
30
20
10
0
Control
MB15
Red
Control
LDPE
MB15
Red
LDPE
Figure 1. Effect of different mulching films on early (a) and total yield (b). The vertical bars indicate the standard error.
The zucchini grown on biodegradable film had a higher value of consistence and it was not different
from control, while the LDPE showed the lowest value. Probably the MB15 avoided an excessive water
soil surplus that had a negative effect on texture. Also regarding the Brix degree, the MB15 reached the
highest value and it was different from the control and the LDPE. Finally, in terms of color, the treatment
with biodegradable films had a similar behaviour: higher values of brightness and chroma, without
statistical differences from Red film.
Table 2. Effect of different mulching films on quanti-qualitative parameters of yield.
Treatments
Control
Red
LDPE
MB15
DMS
Number of
Fruits
n
152 b
199 a
208 a
196 a
14
Fruits
average
weight
g
114.4 b
127.0 a
129.4 a
127.0 a
3.1
Brightness
Chroma
Texture
Brix
%
40.05 b
43.81 a
40.20 b
45.28 a
2.18
27.40 a
27.43 a
23.05 b
29.44 a
2.22
kg cm-2
1.69 ab
1.59 bc
1.54 c
1.72 a
0.11
°
4.42 c
4.77 ab
4.64 b
4.80 a
0.12
Conclusions
The effect of mulching on yield, with respect to the soil not covered, was very evident: the total yield of
control was about 30% of the average total weight of the covered treatments. Particularly, the red film
has confirmed its capacity to anticipate production, while the biodegradable film allows to improve
qualitative proprieties of fruits (texture, color and Brix degree). So, the use of the biodegradable film
seems to have the best performance and, moreover, it has the advantage to degrade completely in few
months, with a notable reduction of economic and environmental costs.
References
Cozzolino E. et al. 2014. Più qualità e resa nello zucchino con i teli fotoselettivi colorati. Inform. Agr. 8: 49-53.
Malinconico M. et al. 2002. Blends of polyvinylalcohol and functionalized polycaprolactone. A study of the melt
extrusion and post‐cure of films suitable for protected cultivation J Mater Sci. 37:4973–4978.
Scott G. 1999. Polymers and the environment. RSC paperbacks. The Royal Society of Chemistry.
76
Effects of New Mulching Films in San Marzano Tomato
Ida Di Mola1, Eugenio Cozzolino2, Lucia Ottaiano1, Vincenzo Leone2, Sabrina Nocerino1,
Riccardo Riccardi3, Mauro Mori1, Massimo Fagnano1
1
Dip. di Agraria, Univ. Napoli, IT, [email protected]
CREA-Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria, Laboratorio di Caserta
3
ARCA 2010 s.r.l.
2
Introduction
Since its introduction to agriculture in the 1950s, polyethylene plastic has become the standard mulch
used by specialty crop growers to control weeds, conserve soil moisture, increase crop yield, modify soil
temperature, and shorten the time to harvest (Schonbeck and Evanylo, 1998; Shogren, 2000). In addition
to traditional black film, since some years, there are photoselective films capable of reflecting
photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) to above-film leaves and transmitting IR light, representing a
compromise between transparent and black mulches (Paul et al., 2005). However, plastic mulches have
disadvantages: their long-term persistence in the environment as well as the costs of yearly removal and
disposal; so the use of degradable or biodegradable mulches could reduce or eliminate costs associated
with plastic mulch removal and disposal as well as decrease the total amount of disposed plastic waste
(Miles et al., 2012).
Methods
The research aimed to verify the effect of different mulching films on productive behaviour (quantity
and quality) of tomato.
The test was carried out at the private farm “ARCA 2010 s.r.l.”, in Acerra (NA); the soil was sandy-loam
with a good fertility (high content of organic matter and nitrogen).
The experimental treatments were:
- not covered soil: control
- black low density polyethylene with 15 microns thickness (Black PE)
- smoked polyethylene photo-selective films with 45 microns thickness (Smoked PE)
- silver polyethylene photo-selective films with 25 microns thickness (Silver PE)
- yellow polyethylene photo-selective films with 30 microns thickness (Yellow PE)
The films were placed manually in the first decade of April 2014 and the transplanting was made on 18
April with a density of about 15400 plant per hectare (1,3 m x 0,5 m). The crop practices were ordinary.
The harvest was made in four dates: 11 August, 3 and 24 September and 13 October; the first harvest
was considered as early production. At each harvest, on thirty plants, marketable yield, number and
average weight of fruits and Brix degree (Refractometer Atago) were measured.
All data were analyzed with MSTAT software (Crop and Soil Science Department, Michigan State
Results
The marketable yield ranged by 41.6 of the control to 53.7 of the MB12, that was significantly different
from all the other treatments (tab. 1). This value of yield was due to the highest number of berries per
square meter and to their average weight, though the MB12 was not different from black films for the
first parameter and from MB15 for the second one. In fact, also these two treatments were statistically
different from control like the MB12.
About the quality of yield (Brix degree), the Black PE, Silver PE and Smoked PE showed the best
performance; all other films were not different from the control. The figure 1 showed the modest effect
77
of mulching on early production; in fact the control reached yield values similar to those of the other
treatments, only the early yield of Smoked PE was statistically higher.
Treatments
Control
Black PE
MB12
MB15
Silver PE
Yellow PE
Smoked PE
DMS
Marketable Yield
n° berries m-2 gr berry-1
63,1 d
65,8 bc
74,9 ab
63,7 c
78,5 a
68,6 a
70,4 bc
68,2 ab
65,1 cd
65,0 c
68,4 cd
66,1 ab
67,9 cd
66,0 bc
5,8
2,5
°Brix
-1
t ha
41,6 c
47,8 b
53,7 a
48,0 b
42,3 c
45,2 bc
44,8 bc
3,6
5,18 b
5,75 a
5,33 b
5,12 b
5,72 a
5,30 b
5,68 a
0,23
Table 1. Effect of mulching films on quanti-qualitative characteristics of tomato products.
14
t ha-1
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Control
MB 12
MB 15
Black PE Smoked PE Silver PE Yellow PE
Figure 1. Effect of mulching films on early production. The vertical bars indicate standard error.
Conclusions
The use of mulching films confirms its utility on tomato. In particular, considering the results of this trial,
it seems that the biodegradable films are a good compromises between an early and high production and
the protection of environment.
References
Schonbeck M.W. and G.K. Evanylo. 1998. Effects of mulches on soil properties and tomato production: I. Soil
temperature, soil moisture and marketable yield. J. Sustain. Agr. 13:55–81.
Shogren, R.L., 2000. Biodegradable mulches from renewable resources. J. Sustain. Agr. 16:33–47.
Paul N.D. et al., 2005. The use of wavelength-selective plastic cladding materials in horticulture: understanding of crop
and fungal responses through the assessment of biological spectral weighting functions. Photochem. Photobiol. 81,
1052–1060. http://dx.doi.org/10.1562/2004-12-06-RA-392.
Miles C. et al., 2012. Deterioration of potentially biodegradable alternatives to black plastic mulch in three tomato
production regions. HORTSCIENCE 47(9):1270–1277.
Attività svolta nell’ambito del progetto PON EnerBiochem
78
Application of Photo-Selective Films to Manipulate
Wavelength of Transmitted Radiation in Onion
S. D’Egidio, G. Pagnani, A. Galieni, S. Speca, F. Stagnari, M. Pisante
Faculty of Bioscience and Technologies for Food, Agriculture and Environment, Univ. Teramo, IT,
[email protected]
Introduction
Onion (Allium cepa L.) is one of the most consumed vegetables across the world, and it is known to have
important health benefits, including antioxidant and antibiotic effects (Nile and Park, 2013).
Light is the main factor controlling plant growth and development, and crops are influenced by both
quantity and quality of transmitted radiation at canopy level. Changes in light amount mainly affect
biomass production and growth of photosynthetic organs (i.e. leaf area), while changes in light quality
are known to inﬂuence plant morphogenesis (i.e. stem elongation). Moreover, light alteration can
promote the accumulation of some functional phytochemicals, such as polyphenols in storage organs
(Stagnari et al., 2014). We have explored the adaptive changes, in terms of functional molecules and
biomass accumulation, in onion as response to the changes in spectral distribution of solar radiation.
Methods
The experiment was carried out at the greenhouse of the Agronomy and Crop Sciences Research and
Education Center, University of Teramo (altitude 15m a.s.l.; 42° 53 N, 13° 55 E) from 10 December to
mid May 2015. The environmental conditions were constantly monitored with temperature and humidity
sensors connected to a data logger (EM50 Data Collection System, Decagon Devices, Pullman, WA,
USA). Fourteen days after sowing plants were transplanted into 20 cm diameter plastic pots (5 L), at a
density of one plant per pot and arranged in a randomized block design with three treatments consisted
in modifications of the transmitted solar radiation, plus one untreated control (Control). Each thesis was
replicated twice; one replication consisted of 80 pots. The transmitted solar radiation was modified with
photo selective films: blue film (Blue), green film (Green) and yellow film (Yellow). The light spectrum
under the films was measured with a HandHeld 2 Pro Portable Spectroradiometer (FieldSpec, ADS Inc.,
Boulder, CO, USA). Photosynthetic active radiation (PAR; range 400–700 nm) was measured with a
PAR photon flux sensor (Decagon Devices, USA). The measurements were taken every 5 minutes, from
10:00 to 18:00 h, at the top of the canopy. At 7 or 15 days intervals from 93 DAT three plants per plot
were sampled and subjected to morphological (bulb dry weight (DW) and diameter Ø) and qualitative
(total phenolic content (TPC) and antiradical activity of methanolic extract with ABTS assay).
Results
Spectral photon irradiance, PAR red/far red (R/FR) and blue/far red (B/FR) ratios, are shown in Fig. 1.
PAR
R/FR
B/FR
(%)
Control
1.19
0.77
Yellow
39.03
1.07
0.22
Green
49.94
0.94
0.89
Blue
54.30
0.71
1.22
Fig. 1: Relative transmission of light trough
photoselective films with respect to control. In table:
Red (R: 600–700 nm) / Far Red (FR: 700–800 nm)
ratio (R/FR), Blue (B:400–500 nm) / FR ratio (B/FR),
and relative transmission of Photosynthetic Active
Radiation (PAR)
Treatments
Green exhibited the largest differences compared to Control; Yellow showed the highest capacity to
79
transmit solar radiation in the PAR range, while Blue was high shading (54.3%). Green and Blue films
significantly decreased R/FR (0.94 and 0.71, respectively). Significantly higher bulb diameter as well as
bulb dry weight were recorded in Control and Yellow treatment (Fig. 2). Conversely, plants grown under
Green and Blue films were characterized by higher aerial biomass (data not shown).
In all thesis, a general decreasing trend in TPC over time was observed (Fig 3a). A positive linear
correlation (R2 =0.96) between TPC and antioxidant activity was also found. Blue treatment had lower
phenolics content and antiradical activity (Fig. 3).
6.00
Ø Bulb (cm)
Bulb DW (g)
8.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
80
100 DAT 120
140
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
0.00
80
160
100
120
140
160
DAT
Fig 2: Bulb dry weight and diameter, as observed through the red onion cycle under different modification of the transmitted
solar radiation. Average values ± standard errors are depicted.
0.140
-1 FW)
100
50
0
110
130 DAT 150
170
ABTS (μmol TE L
TPC (mg GAE/100g
FW)
150
0.130
0.120
0.110
0.100
110
130
DAT
150
Figure 3. Total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity of red onion as influenced by different modification of the
transmitted solar radiation expressed as gallic acid equivalents (GAE) in mg 100-1g FW and as Trolox in μmol L−1 FW,
respectively. Average values ± standard errors are depicted.
Conclusions
Red onion plants subjected to a reduction of PAR availability and R/FR ratios altered growth rate and
plant architecture as well as the amount of total polyphenols, confirming that the biosynthesis of these
substances in storage organs is a complex phenomenon which involves also the photosynthetic system.
References
Nile S.H., Park S.W., 2013. Total phenolics, antioxidant and xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity of three colored onions
(Allium cepa L.). Front. Life Sci. 7, 224–228.
Stagnari F., et al. 2014. Application of photo‐selective films to manipulate wavelength of transmitted radiation and
photosynthate composition in red beet (Beta vulgaris var. conditiva Alef.)."Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
94.4: 713-720.
80
Testing the Potential Applications of the Uavs Imagery
through a Long Term Experiment on Tillage and Nitrogen
Fertilization of Rainfed Durum Wheat Under
Mediterranean Conditions: Description of an Experimental
Protocol
Roberto Orsini1, Carlo Alberto Bozzi2, Adriano Mancini3, Simone Tiberi1, Solomon Tadesse
Endeshaw1, Rodolfo Santilocchi1, Andrea Galli1, Giorgio Murri1, Giovanna Seddaiu4, Ileana
Iocola4, Pier Paolo Roggero4,5
1
Dip. di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari ed Ambientali, Univ. Politecnica delle Marche, IT, [email protected]
2
Geomatic Consulting Italys. [email protected]
3
Dip. di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Univ. Politecnica delle Marche, IT,[email protected]
4
5
Introduction
Precision agriculture (PA) is the application of geospatial techniques and sensors (e.g., geographic
information systems, remote sensing, GPS) to identify variations in the field and to deal with them using
alternative strategies (Pierce and Nowak, 1999). In particular, high-resolution satellite imagery is now
more commonly used to study these variations for crop and soil conditions. However, the availability of
such imagery would suggest an alternative product for this particular application in PA (Zhang and
Kovacs, 2012). Specifically, images taken by low altitude remote sensing platforms, or small unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs), are shown to be a potential alternative given their low cost of operation in
environmental monitoring, high spatial and temporal resolution, and their high flexibility in image
acquisition programming (Jannoura et al., 2015). Recent studies on this key issue indicate that, to provide
a reliable end product to farmers, advances in platform design, production, standardization of image
georeferencing and mosaicing, and information extraction workflow are required. The aim of this work,
still in progress and for which experimental results are not yet available, is to assess, through field surveys
of biometric variables, the possibility of using UAVs for cropping systems productivity management in
a Mediterranean environment.
In this study, we report the results based on information already available and collected ex-novo on a
long term experiment (Seddaiu et al., 2016) to assess the potential applications of UAVs for the
management of nitrogen fertilization in a durum wheat –maize rainfed2-years rotation in hilly
environment, for which no information have yet been gathered.
Methods
The long term experiment (LTE) is located at the “Pasquale Rosati” experimental farm ofthe Polytechnic
University of Marche in Agugliano, Italy (43◦32_N, 13◦22_E, 100 m a.s.l.) (Seddaiu et al. 2016).The
LTE was established in 1994 and from 2001 on is designed as a rainfed 2-years rotation with durum
wheat (Triticum durum L.cv. Grazia, ISEA) in rotation with maize (Zea mays L., DK440 hybrid, Dekalb
Monsanto, FAO class 300). Within each field, three tillage treatments. i.e. Full inversion tillage, noninversion tillage and No tillage), are imposed in the main plots (1500 m2) and three nitrogen fertilization
rates, i.e. 0,90 and 180 kg N ha-1,in the sub-plots (500 m2). The treatments were repeated in the same
plots every year and arranged according to a split plot experimental design with two replications in a
randomized complete block including both crops every year.
81
The UAV used is a fixed wing ebee Ag (SenseFly Ltd., 1033 Cheseaux-Lausanne, Switzerland) equipped
with multispectral cameras. In a single flight it can acquire data on an area of 1 km2 with a flight altitude
of about 110 m, obtaining a ground sample distance of 4 cm/pixels. The multi spectral cameras used were
three modified Canon S110 cameras: RGB Red (660 nm) Green (520 nm) Blue (450 nm), Near-Infrared
(NIR) (850 nm) and Red-Edge (RE) (715 nm).
In this work only information related to durum wheat will be considered. The aboveground biomass was
sampled for each treatment at the subplot level, to measure the total nitrogen content (N), specific leaf
area (SLA), canopy chlorophyll concentration and total biomass produced during the main phenological
stages: tillering, stem elongation, heading and ripening stages (work in progress). Furthermore the
number of ears m−2 will be determined by counting the number of spikes along two adjacent 1-m long
rows (data available in August 2016). The grain weight per ear and the weight of 100 grains will be
estimated on 30 spikes randomly collected per subplot (data available in August 2016).
According with Swain et al. (2010) the data obtained from the crop together with soil analysis will be
correlated with the spectral response obtained from various remote sensing techniques used in the
experiment (Figure 1).
a
b
)
Photo 1: Examples of processed aerial images at 110 m of durum wheat experimental plots that will be
used to determine abiotic stress: a) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI); b) False-color
near infrared
Future perspectives and preliminary conclusions
There are still many significant shortcomings related to UAVs remote sensing including high initial costs,
platform reliability, sensor capability, and lack of standardized procedure to process large volumes of
data.
The extraction of various biological variables (e.g., LAI, canopy chlorophyll concentration, and yield)
from UAVs imagery will be tested. The ability to accurately estimate the biometric variables measured
can provide growers with valuable information to estimate crop yield potential and to make decisions
regarding N management. Capturing UAVs images throughout the growing season for one particular
crop could also help to decide the critical date of image acquisition for many biological variables.
References
FAO, 2006. World Reference Base for Soil Resources. World Soil Resources Report103. IUSS, ISRIC, FAO, Rome, 145
pp
Jannoura R.. et al., 2015. Monitoring of crop biomass using true color aerial photographs taken from a remote controlled
hexacopter. Biosystems engineering, 129:341-351
Pierce F.J. and Nowak P., 1999. Aspects of Precision Agriculture. Adv Agron. 67:1–86
Seddaiu G. et al., 2016. Long term effects of tillage practices and N fertilization in rainfed Mediterranean cropping
systems: durum wheat, sunflower and maizegrain yield. Eur. J. Agr., 77:166-178
Swain et al. 2010. Adoption of an unmanned helicopter for low altitude remote sensing to estimate yield and total biomass
of a rice crop. Transactions of the ASABE.53:21–27
Zhang Z. and Kovacs, J.M., 2012. The application of small unmanned aerial systems for precision agriculture: a review.
Precis. Agric. 13:693–712
82
Water Footprint of Urban Agriculture: a First Assessment
in Rome Urban Gardens
Anna Dalla Marta1, Flavio Lupia2, Francesca Giarè2, Alessandro Monteleone2,
Emanuele Santini3, Michela Marinelli4, Simone Orlandini1,5, Filiberto Altobelli2
1
DISPAA, Univ. Firenze, IT, [email protected], [email protected]
CREA, IT, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected]
3
Dep. of Political Studies, Univ. Roma Tre, IT, [email protected]
4
Statistics Division, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), [email protected]
5
Climate and Sustainability Foundation (FCS), IT, [email protected]
2
Introduction
The practice of urban agriculture is an answer to periods of economic and social crisis and it aims at
producing food, especially vegetables, thus contributing to livelihood (even social) of people living in
urban areas, where the access to natural resources is more limited. In this sense, urban agriculture is
emerging as a new competitor for natural resources, including land and water. Rome is the largest
European agricultural municipality in which, in recent years, the phenomenon of urban agriculture has
experienced a so strong expansion that the acquisition of information is becoming a key point to assess
the sustainability of its practices, especially as it regards the use of water.
The aim of this work is to propose a methodological approach for the estimation of the water footprint
(WF) of the most common crops cultivated in the community gardens located in the city of Rome.
Methods
Based on specific criteria, such as the garden extent and location, and its main purpose, five urban gardens
were identified in the central area of Rome, three located inside the GRA ring, and two outside. In order
to obtain relevant data, a questionnaire was formulated and submitted to the responsible of the garden
associations, focusing on agronomic and social aspects. In particular, following data were collected for
year 2014: plot number and dimensions, soil type, irrigation practices, cultivated crops and periods,
yields. At the same time, meteorological data were obtained from the SIARL (Integrated
Agrometeorological Service of the Lazio Region). In particular, maximum and minimum temperature,
relative humidity, potential evapotranspiration, rainfall were collected and processed.
For computing crop green and blue WF (WFg, WFb), we used the crop water requirement method based
on crop ET and effective rainfall. For winter crops, no irrigation was considered while for spring-summer
crops we considered a standard irrigation season from April to September.
Results
Based on questionnaire, three out of five gardens have no idea about soil type, no one has a system for
accounting the water used for irrigation and no specific rules are imposed for water management. Three
out of five gardens use water from wells and quality is not controlled on a regular basis. Sprinkling and
flooding are the most common forms of irrigation. We selected 10 crops, as they were the most cultivated;
yields variability among gardens was very high due partly to different ability of the managers to make
yield estimations, partly to the garden management. As a consequence, WF variability between gardens
was very high (Figs 1-3). Concerning the differences among crops pepper, potato, and cucumber are the
most water intensive, while cabbages and broccoli were the less water intensive (Fig. 1).Looking at the
water use estimated, we can say that on average each urban garden uses about 70 m3 of green water and
40 of blue water, for a total of about 350 and 200 m3 (tab. 1).
83
Figure 1–Crop water footprint for each crop and urban garden
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Orto
Capovolto
Figure 2 - Average crop water footprint
Parco
cellulosa
Zolle
Urbane
Garbatella
Figure 3 – Share of green and blue water footprint
Table 1 –Averagegreen and blueconsumptivewater in each garden
Urban Garden
Orto capovolto
Parco Cellulosa
Zolle Urbane
Garbatella
Orti di Guerra
Average
Total
Water Use (m3)
Green
Blue
23
12
11
7
111
72
189
112
10
6
69
42
344
209
Water Use (m3/ha)
Green
Blue
2535
1380
2469
1480
2535
1454
2207
1261
3363
2076
2622
1530
Conclusions
Community gardens observe, in general, a sustainable approach in respect of natural resources, adopting
green practices such as rainwater harvesting systems, organic agriculture practices, production of
compost and adoption and, when possible, of drip irrigation method, demonstrating a growing attention
on water resources. Nevertheless, this work showed that urban agriculture is a new strong competitor for
water use in metropolitan areas and there is an emerging need to monitor and assess the management of
water in such systems. To do that, some basic problems must be first solved: the lack of measured data
on yields and irrigation, absence of regulation and low resource (and technological) efficiency. And this
is becoming an urgent issue, as urban agriculture is gaining more and more importance in our
metropolitan systems.
84
Orti di
Guerra
Top-Soil Pore-Size Distribution and Wheat Root Mass
Density after 13 Years of No-Till: First Results
Rossi R.1, Castellini M.2, Stellacci A.M.2, Vonella A.V.2, Giglio. L.2, Fornaro F.2,
Modugno F.2, Ventrella D.2, Bitella G.3 and Amato M.3*
1Council
for Agricultural Research and Agricultural Economics Analysis.CREA-ZOE, Bella (PZ), IT
for Agricultural Research and Agricultural Economics Analysis.CREA-SCA, Bari, IT
3*SAFE, University of Basilicata, Potenza, IT, [email protected]
2Council
Introduction
No-tillage is being increasingly adopted worldwide. Advantages include reduced fuel/labor and
beneficial effects on soil bio-physical properties. In some soils, however, topsoil compaction with
consequences on roots spatial arrangement is frequently reported (Martinez et al., 2008). A study was
conducted in a long–term continuous wheat tillage trial to determine the effect of no-tillage on soil
physical properties and soil-root relationships. Preliminary results are reported.
Methods
The tillage trial was established in 2002 in Foggia at the experimental farm of CREA-SCA “Podere 124”.
Tillage (Rip 0.35 m + Rotary tiller in combination) and sod-seeding were compared in a randomized
complete block design with three replications. The soil is a clay-loam, classified as fine, mesic, Typic
Chromoxerert (Soil Survey Staff, 1992). At heading undisturbed soil cores (4 replicates per plot) were
collected near the planted row at the 0-0.1 m depth. Pore size distribution was estimated from water
retention curve, and a set of soil physical quality indicator were computed: Macroporosity (PMAC),
Relative Field Capacity (RFC), Median diameter of pore volume distribution function and bulk density
(Bd) (see Castellini et al., 2014). At the beginning of grain filling at two soil-sampling locations per plots
roots were sampled at 0-0.2 m using an hydraulic corer. Roots were washed through a 0.2 mm mesh
screen and oven-dried to determine root mass density (RMD = mg roots/g soil). Yield was measured at
each soil location within a subplot of 1x1 m. Data were analyzed through a mixed effects model with
tillage as a fixed effect and nested (Block x Tillage) random effects.
Results
Differences in RFC were significant (p-value < 0,05) (Fig.1 b), there is a trend of higher soil compaction
in untilled soil (Fig.1). Bulk density increased at the expenses of macroporosity (Fig. 1.f). RMD is
significantly higher in untilled plots (Fig. 1. c) consistent with literature (Martinez et al., 2008; Nunes et
al., 2015), since roots growing in impeded soils typically show thickening and compensatory growth
(Bengough et al., 2006). Yield did not differ between treatments (5.26 Mg/ha average across treatments
with a tendency for higher yield under NT), a relatively high rainwater availability during grain filling
(about 8% more cumulative rain from February to the end of May compared to long term average) could
have contributed to flatten differences between treatments.
85
Figure 1.Bar plots showing the effect of tillage (TI vs NT) on: a. Macroporosity (PMAC) ), b. Relative FieldCapacity
(RFC), c. Root Mass Density (RMD), d. Pore size median values, e. Bulk Density (Bd). ; f. Scatterplot of PMAC
versus Bd (g cm-3), light grey filled quadrats indicate tillage and dark grey triangles indicate No-tillage, overlaid by
an exponential decay curve y = 106121e-17.32x.
Conclusion
Soil water retention characteristics differ between tillage systems with a tendency to soil compaction
under no-till. In this year with a relatively wet spring yield did not differ. Compaction in untilled soil
corresponds to higher RMD within the first 0.20 m.
References
Bengough, A. G. et al., (2006). Root responses to soil physical conditions; growth dynamics from field to cell. Journal of
Experimental Botany, 57(2): 437-447.
Castellini M. et. al., (2014), Temporal changes of soil physical quality under two residue management systems. Soil Use
and Management, 30: 423–434.
Iuss working Group, 2006. World reference base for soil resources 2006. World Soil Resources Report No. 103. Food and
Agriculture Organisation, Rome, Italy.
Martínez E. et al., (2008). Soil physical properties and wheat root growth as affected by no-tillage and conventional tillage
systems in a Mediterranean environment of Chile. Soil and Tillage Research, 99(2): 232-244.
Nunes M. R. et al., (2015). Mitigation of clayey soil compaction managed under no-tillage. Soil and Tillage Research,
148: 119-126.
Acknowledgments
This work was partially financed by the project “BIO-TILLAGE: approcci innovativi per il miglioramento delle
performance ambientali e produttive dei sistemi cerealicoli no-tillage - programma di sviluppo rurale della regione
Basilicata 2007 – 2013 misura 124 CUPC32I14000080006
86
Comparison of Different Multivariate Methods to Select
Key Soil Variables for Soil Quality Indices Computation
A.M. Stellacci1*, E. Armenise1,2, R. Rossi3, C. Vitti1, M. Castellini1, R. Leogrande1, V.
Vonella1, G.A. Vivaldi4, D. Ventrella1, M. Amato5
1Research
unit for cropping systems in dry environments (CREA-SCA), IT, [email protected]
2School of Energy, Environment and Agrifood, Cranfield University, UK
3Research unit for the extensive animal husbandry (CREA-ZOE), IT
4DISAAT, University of Bari, IT
5SAFE, University of Basilicata, Potenza, IT
Introduction
Soil quality indices can greatly help in monitoring the evolution of soil status and evaluating the effects
of different management practices over time (Armenise et al., 2013). Soil quality, which describes the
capacity of a soil to function and sustain biological productivity and plant and animal health, within
natural or managed boundaries (Andrews et al., 2004), can be inferred by measuring some physical,
chemical and biological variables. Soil quality indices synthesise soil characteristics, combining a variety
of information into a tool that enhances the understanding of soil processes.
A critical step during the calculation of a soil quality index consists in selecting key soil variables which
then comprise the minimum dataset (MDS). Commonly used approaches rely on expert opinion and
literature review results (Yemefack et al., 2006); among multivariate methods, principal component
analysis has been mainly used. Supervised multivariate methods and regressive techniques are however
progressively being evaluated for their effectiveness in several research studies (de Paul Obade et al.,
2016; Pulido Moncada et al., 2014). We report the results of an exploratory study aimed at investigating
differences in soil variables selection with the use of two multivariate approaches: principal component
analysis (PCA) and stepwise discriminant analysis (SDA).
Methods
The soil data that was used in the comparison of the methodological approaches derived from a field
experiment set up in Southern Italy. The experiment compares tillage (Rip 0.35 m + Rotary tiller in
combination) and sod-seeding on durum wheat. The trial, established in 2002 and still ongoing, is located
in Foggia at the experimental farm of CREA-SCA (41°27’ N, 15°03’ E). Treatments are arranged in a
randomized complete block design with three replicates.
At heading (April 2015), soil samples were collected within each experimental unit in 4 sub-replicate
locations. The following variables were quantified: (i) chemical: total organic carbon and nitrogen (TOC
and TN), alkali-extractable carbon (TEC and humic substances – HA-FA), water extractable nitrogen
and organic carbon (WEN and WEOC; Armenise et al., 2013), Olsen extractable P, exchangeable cations,
pH and EC; (ii) physical: texture, dry bulk density (BD), macroporosity (PMAC), air capacity (AC), and
relative field capacity (RFC); (iii) biological: carbon of the microbial biomass quantified with the
fumigation-extraction method (Vance et al., 1987).
The set of 20 soil variables was first analyzed with a nested ANOVA considering replicates within plots
as pseudo-replicates. Then, PCA and SDA were used to select the sub-set of variables that can best
represent soil status.
PCA was carried out on the correlation matrix to obtain few new components explaining most of the
variation of the data. PCs explaining cumulatively a significant proportion of total variance were
considered and component loadings were examined to evaluate the contribution of the single variables
within each component and select those highly weighted (Andrews et al., 2002). SDA was carried out
using the STEPWISE algorithm; significance level to entry and to stay was set at 0.05. Wilks’ lambda
statistics was used as multivariate measure of separability.
87
PCA and SDA were first performed separately on the set of chemical (i) and physical (ii) variables and
then on the whole dataset (iii). Data were analysed using GLM, FACTOR and STEPDISC procedures of
SAS/STAT (SAS Institute Inc., 2012).
Results
TOC, TEC and WEN concentrations were significantly affected by different soil managements, with
greater total organic and extractable C content in the upper layer of the untilled soil. Soil management
also affected hydrological properties with higher BD and RFC while lower AC in untilled soils, indicating
a tendency to soil compaction.
PCA and SDA returned TOC and RFC as influential variables both on the set of chemical and physical
data analyzed separately as well as on the whole dataset. Highly weighted variables in PCA were also
TEC, followed by K, and AC, followed by PMAC and BD, in the first PC (41.2% of total variance); Olsen
P and HA-FA in the second PC (12.6%) and Ca in the third (10.6%) component. Conversely, variables
enabling maximum discrimination among treatments for SDA were WEOC, on the whole dataset, humic
substances, followed by Olsen P, EC and clay, in the separate data analyses.
The discriminating capability on the studied treatments of the soil variables selected from the whole
dataset using the two approaches was finally evaluated through PCA. In Fig. 1, as an example, the biplot
of PCA performed on the set of variables selected through SDA is reported. The analysis showed an
improvement in the percentage of variance explained by the first two components (93%) and a clear
discrimination between the studied treatments.
Conclusions
This study shows the effectiveness of
methods for variable selection to synthesise
the information deriving from multivariate
datasets. Different methods may provide
different and complementary information
which should be taken into account to
improve data analysis and results
interpretation. Further investigation will
involve the use of regressive multivariate
methods such as those based on partial least
square and principal component regression
(PLSR, PCR), as well as the definition of
combined approaches.
Fig. 1. Biplot of the first two PCs extracted applying PCA to the set of
SDA selected soil variables (TOC, RFC, WEOC). Variance explained:
PC1= 73.01%; PC2= 20.33%.
Acknowledgment
The work was supported by the projects “BIOTILLAGE, approcci innovative per il miglioramento delle performances
ambientali e produttive dei sistemi cerealicoli no-tillage”, financed by PSR-Basilicata 2007–2013, and “DESERT, Lowcost water desalination and sensor technology compact module” financed by ERANET-WATERWORKS 2014. The
authors want also to acknowledge dott. Sabrina Moscelli, dott. Francesca Modugno, dott. Luisa Giglio, Marcello
Mastrangelo and Franco Fornaro for their helpful and skillful work in data collection and analysis.
References
Andrews et al., 2004. The Soil Management Assessment Framework: A Quantitative Soil Quality Evaluation Method. Soil
Sci. Soc. Am. J., 68: 1945-1962.
Armenise et al., 2013. Developing a soil quality index to compare soil fitness for agricultural use under different
managements in the Mediterranean environment. Soil and Tillage Research, 130:91-98.
de Paul Obade et al., 2016. A standardized soil quality index for diverse field conditions. Sci. Total Env. 541:424-434.
Pulido Moncada et al., 2014. Data-driven analysis of soil quality indicators using limited data. Geoderma, 235:271-278.
Vance et al., 1987. An extraction method for measuring soil microbial biomass C. Soil Biol Biochem, 19:703–707.
Yemefack et al., 2006. Developing a minimum data set for characterizing soil dynamics in shifting cultivation systems.
Soil and Tillage Research, 86:84–98.
88
Physiological Characteristics of Ancient Durum Wheat
(Triticum turgidum L. var. durum) Varieties Inoculated
with Endophytes
Giancarlo Pagnani1, Sara D’Egidio1, Angelica Galieni1, Federica Matteucci2, Stefano Speca1,
Maddalena Del Gallo2, Fabio Stagnari1, Michele Pisante1
1Faculty
of Bioscience and Technologies for Food, Agriculture and Environment, Univ. Teramo, IT, [email protected]
of Medicine, Health and Environmental Sciences, Univ. L’Aquila, IT, [email protected]
2Department
Introduction
The application of sustainable agricultural practices is essential for keeping efficiency and productivity
of the agro-ecosystems. Improper application of fertilizers and pesticides, as well as excessive
cultivation, lead to soil degradation, a real risk for the environment "resource". The use of associated
endophytic bacteria to promote plant nutrition and growth, and the prevention of pathogens could
represent possible innovative methods in term of agricultural sustainability. An extensive scientific
literature recognizes the role of these bacteria and their benefits. In particular, they help fixing nitrogen,
improving the nutrient cycle by producing bioactive compounds such as vitamins, hormones and
enzymes that stimulate plant growth, detoxify pesticides, suppress plant diseases and can improve the
decomposition of organic substance and its residues.
Aim of this work was to evaluate the possible role of the inoculants in products quality, to study the
interaction between PGPR inoculants and indigenous bacteria, as well as monitoring the physiological
responses of the crop.
SPAD
Methods
One experimental field trial has been carried out from November 2015 up to now, at the University of
Teramo (Mosciano Sant’Angelo, Italy, 42◦42'N, 13◦52'E, 101 m a.s.l.). The soil is loamy clay and the
climate is typically Mediterranean. On a split-plot design arranged as randomized block, genotypes of
durum wheat as main plots, and inoculation with bacteria as subplots, have been compared. Durum wheat
genotypes were three old varieties, Saragolla, Cappelli, Molisano. The endophytic bacteria were a mix
of Azospirillum brasilense, Herbaspirillum seropedicae, Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus and
Burkholderia ambifaria (1x106 liquid culture per seed, diluted in water) applied at different condition: at
sowing time (IN.S), at sowing time and in March (double inoculation (REI)), plus an untreated control
(0, not inoculated). Some physiological traits were estimated with SPAD (502 plus portable chlorophyll
metre; Konica Minolta, Inc., Tokyo, Japan) and Field Spec (Hand Held 2 Pro Portable Field Spec
Spectroradiometer; ADS Inc., Boulder, CO, USA). Several measurements of SPAD, to estimate
chlorophyll concentration, were taken on 7 sampling dates, from (DC24) to (DC75) stages. Leafreflectance was measured at the same sampling
Spad
dates. The normalized difference vegetation
48.000
index (NDVI) and the green normalized
difference vegetation index (GNDVI), were
calculated as follows: NDVI = ρNIR−
ρred/ρNIR+ ρred; GNDVI = ρNIR−
ρgreen/ρNIR+ ρgreen.
38.000
Results
The inoculum does not seem to affect
significantly
chlorophyll
concentration
(SPAD) in all three varieties.
Molisano
0
Saragolla
IN.S REI
Cappelli
Fig. 1: SPAD values recorded in durum wheat. Data are
means ± standard errors (n=3).
89
Besides, significant difference between the varieties Cappelli (higher SPAD) and Molisano, Saragolla
(Fig. 1) emerges. Leaf-reflactance mesurements are shown in Fig. 2; both the effects of genotypes and
inoculum are not statistically significant.
Molisano
Molisano
0.850
GNDVI
NDVI
1.000
0.900
0.800
0.700
0.750
0.650
0.550
398
950 1121 1224 1314 1437 1643
398
950 1121 1224 1314 1437 1643
GDD
GDD
Saragolla
Saragolla
0.850
GNDVI
NDVI
1.000
0.900
0.800
0.750
0.650
0.700
0.550
398
950 1121 1224 1314 1437 1643
GDD
398
950 1121 1224 1314 1437 1643
GDD
Cappelli
Cappelli
0.850
GNDVI
NDVI
1.000
0.900
0.800
0.700
0.750
0.650
0.550
398
950 1121 1224 1314 1437 1643
0
GDD
IN.S
REI
398
950 1121 1224 1314 1437 1643
0
GDD
IN.S
REI
Fig. 2: Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), green normalized difference vegetation index (GNDVI) recorded
in durum wheat. GDD: Growth Day Degree. Data are means ± standard errors (n=3).
Conclusions
During the monitoring of the phenological stages of durum wheat, microbial inoculation seems not to
have induced any significant differences in terms of reflectance measurements. Further data on yield and
yield components, technological traits and chemical composition of the grain, and observation on
microbial communities in the soil, will be acquired to evaluate the effect of inoculation and its interaction
with durum wheat genotypes. Moreover, inoculation techniques (perlite, clay pellets, vermiculite
compost etc.) will be performed in the future to improve the efficiency of this bio-fertilization.
References
Botta AL. et al. 2013. In vitro and in vivo inoculation of four endophytic bacteria on Lycopersicon esculentum. New
Biotechnol, 18:829-839.
Bashan Y. et al. 2014. Advances in plant growth-promoting bacterial inoculant technology: formulations and
practical perspectives. Plant Soil, 378:1-33.
Pérez-Montano F. 2014. Plant growth promotion in cereal and leguminous agricultural important plants: From
microorganism capacities to crop production. Microbiological Research, 169:325–336.
90
Wild Plant Species in the City of Palermo (Italy):
Identification and Valorization for Ornamental Purposes
Teresa Tuttolomondo1, Claudio Leto, Giuseppe Virga, Maria Cristina Gennaro, Mario Licata,
Alfonso La Rosa, Maria Letizia Gargano, Giuseppe Venturella, Salvatore La Bella
1
Dip. di Scienze Agrarie e Forestali, Univ. Palermo, IT, [email protected]
Introduction
The concept of "sustainability" is becoming of great interest also in the management of ornamental and
landscape green areas. Innovative studies and researches, concerning the design of green spaces, are
currently carried out with the aims to enhance the "natural" aspects of them and to manage the green
spaces reducing the costs (Hitchmough, 2004). In the past, the regularity of shapes and the rigidity of
symmetries of green spaces had a great ornamental interest. Currently the concepts of “natural” and
“sustainable environment” are instead of high consideration in the design of green spaces, as stated by
Grimal (2000). In this context, all the stages of the process have to be carefully considered from the
choice of plant species to planting and maintenance. Moreover any solution that permits to make the
green spaces compatibles with the environmental conditions has to be encouraged (Phillips, 2002; Franco
et al., 2006). Nowadays the beauty and usefulness of many wild species, recently considered weed,
harmful for humans and uninteresting, have been enhancing. In several European countries, like
Germany, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries, the wild herbaceous
plant species have been studied and investigated in botanical, ecological and agronomical terms. In this
scenario, various specialized seed companies were established (Bretzel, 1999; Wilson, 1999;
Hitchmough, 2000). In Italy, the interest of herbaceous wild flora is increasing (Romano, 2000; Serra,
2000; Tesi et al., 2002; Cervelli and De Lucia, 2004; Kugler and Tomei, 2004; Lenzi et al., 2004; Bent,
2009) but the use of wild plants is limited. In urban environment, wild plant species with appreciated
characteristics for ornamental purposes could be used for the design of green spaces. In this way, the
sustainable use of plant genetic resources, the respect of floristic and faunistic biodiversity, the respect
of the continuity scenic countryside-city and generally the conservation of natural resources could be
simultaneously satisfied. However the use of wild plant species is linked to the analysis of the potential
of the wild flora too. The aim of this study was to evaluate firstly several herbaceous wild plant species,
collected in the urban area of Palermo city (Italy), for ornamental purposes.
Methods
The identification and selection of herbaceous plant species were carried out in the urban area of the
historic centre of Palermo city, only. The historic centre of Palermo was ideally subdivided into four
areas which represented the four historic neighborhoods of the city. The identification and collection of
wild plant species were made walking randomly the streets inside the perimeter of each area. The
collection of the plants and seeds was carried out from May to September 2014 every fifteen days. Within
each area, different biotopes were considered such as roadsides, gardens and parks, flower beds, water
drainage systems, sidewalks, walls and buildings. Wild plant species were taxonomically identified with
the use of “Flora d'Italia” (Pignatti, 1982). A list of wild plants was drawn up containing the following
information: binomial and trinomial nomenclature of the plant species with relative botanical families,
common name, biological form, chorological type, vegetative cycle, biotope of the identified species,
flowering stage.
Results
Within the four areas of the historic centre of Palermo city, 89 wild plant species belonging to 35
botanical families were identified. The most represented families were Graminae (14 species) and
Asteraceae (11 species). The main differentiation between the two families is related to floral biology
91
and particularly to pollination mechanisms. Pollination is mainly anemophilous in Graminae and this
determines inconspicuous inflorescences, whilst an entomophilous pollination is typical of Asteraceae
which are characterized by large floral structures and a long period of flowering stage. Most of these
species show “daisy” flowers (Glebionis coronaria L.) and are characterized by white and yellow colour
of ligulate flowers, like Andryala integrifolia L., Centaurea sicula L. and Crepis bursifolia L. Fabaceae
represents a great botanical family and includes various plant species which are characterized by large
floral structures, such as Lotus ornithopodioides L. and Bituminaria bituminosa L. Of great interest for
the high ornamental values of their flowers, were also Lavatera creatica L., Malva sylvestris L., subsp.
sylvestris, Daucus carota subsp. carota, Verbascum sinuatum, Echium plantagineum L., Mirabilis jalapa
L., Campanula erinus L., Micromeria graeca subsp. graeca, Oxalis corniculata L. and Anagallis
arvensis L. subsp. Arvensis which belong to other families.
Conclusions
The ornamental value of some wild plant species which were collected in the study area is very interesting
both for the form of the flowers and the size and colours of them. These species can replace part of the
species commonly used nowadays and that require more intensive practices. The functional,
morphological and ecological diversity of the wild plant species investigated in this study are
fundamental for their adaptation to different environments and it is possible to sustain that these
characteristics can make the species of good versatility in the use.
References
Bent E., 2009. Wild Flowers. La cultura della biodiversità. Sestante Edizioni, Bergamo
Bretzel F., 1999. Dall’Inghilterra una proposta alternativa per il verde pubblico. Il Giardino Fiorito, novembre:6-8.
Cervelli C., et al., 2004. Le piante aromatiche mediterranee: aspetti ornamentali e paesaggistici. Atti 2° Convegno
Nazionale Piante Mediterranee.
Franco J.A., et al., 2006. Selection and nursery production of ornamental plants for landscaping and xerogardening in
semi-arid environment. Journal of Horticultural Science & Biotechnology, 81(1): 3-17.
Grimal P., 2000. L’arte dei giardini. Una breve storia. Donzelli Editore, Roma.
Hitchmough J.D., 2000. Establishment of cultivated herbaceous perennials in purpose-sown native wildflower meadows
in south-west Scotland. Landscape and Urban Planning, 51: 37-51.
Hitchmough J.D., 2004. Philosophical and practical challenges to the design and management of planting in urban
greenspace in the 21st century. Acta Horticulturae, 643: 97-103.
Kugler P.C et al., 2004. Wildflowers. Specie vegetali autoctone di interesse ornamentale. Felici Editore, Pisa.
Lenzi A., et al., 2004. Possibile impiego in floricoltura di alcuni wildflowers della Toscana. Atti 2° Convegno Nazionale
Piante Mediterranee.
Phillips A., 2002. Sustainability, nature and the city: urban landscape policy. Institute of Public Administration Australia,
Victoria, 1-17.
Pignatti S., 1982. Flora d’Italia. Edagricole Bologna.
Romano D., 2000. Specie spontanee della flora siciliana di interesse ornamentale. Flortecnica, 3: 89-94.
Serra G., 2000. Wildflowers e continuità paesaggistica. Flortecnica, XXIII(233): 7-13.
Tesi R., et al., 2002. Fiori e piante spontanee della flora toscana. Flortecnica, (parte I): 66-72. Flortecnica 4, (parte II), 6673.
Wilson D., 1999. Sow easy. American Nurseryman, 5: 24-29.
92
Long Term Effect of Conservation Agriculture on Soil in
the Mediterranean Basin
Gianluca Carboni and Paolo Mulè
1
Servizio Ricerca sui sistemi colturali erbacei Agris, IT, [email protected]
Introduction
The environmental sustainability of the productive sectors related to the food production is increasingly
requested by European consumers. Efficient cropping systems and sustainable practices as conservation
agriculture (CA) can improve the efficiency in crop production, reduces damages with respect to
conventional tillage, which promotes erosion in the long term. The increasing consciousness of the
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in considering the environmental sustainability of agricultural
activities has led to a promotion of the conservation agriculture. Although it is generally accepted that
CA protects soils from degradation processes and increases soil organic matter (SOM) and fertility in the
long term, studies on this issue in the Mediterranean area are quite limited and the observed effects on
crops are often contradictory. Moreover CA is one of the most effective agronomic practice to cope with
climate change as a smart strategy of adaptation and mitigation.
The aims of this research were to evaluate the effects of conservation tillage and rotation with legumes
on durum wheat and legumes in two field trials located in southern Sardinia (Italy), and describes the
evolution of the soil quality in the long term after continuous application of these techniques.
Methods
Durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) and faba bean (Vicia faba L. var. minor) were involved in this
experiment started in 2003 in two areas (Ussana and Benatzu, South Sardinia, Italy) with different soil
characteristics. On a split–plot design with three blocks, three types of tillage systems were applied in
the main plots (2400 m2 each):
 Conventional Tillage (CT): moldboard plowing (25-30 cm depth), disk harrowing (15 cm depth)
and tine harrow (5-7 cm depth);
 Reduced Tillage (RT): disk harrowing (15 cm depth) after a treatment with glyphosate (3.5-5 l
ha-1 of commercial product) to eliminate weeds;
 No Tillage or sod seeding (NT): weeding in pre-sowing as above and direct drilling with a notill drill.
In the sub-plots (1200 m2 each) two different crop successions were applied: continuous wheat (CW) and
legumes (faba bean)–wheat rotation (LW) (Carboni, 2011).
In November 2013, ten years after the trial start, soil samples were collected before sowing in each subplot at two different depth (0-5 cm and 5-20 cm) in order to study the principal variations of soil chemical
composition. Moreover soil compaction measurements, when the whole profile was at field capacity,
were conducted using an electronic penetrometer (Penetrologger - Eijkelkamp) which allowed to measure
soil resistance to the penetration every centimeter up to 80 cm depth soil.
Results
The results obtained in the field trials showed that there is not a substantial difference between tillage
practices on crop productivity on durum wheat whereas the crop rotation with legumes favoured grain
yields (Carboni, 2011). After a decade since the continuous application of treatment, CA promoted
substantial SOM accumulation in the soil with respect to the conventional tillage. Higher levels of SOM
(about 1% higher than CT) were obtained especially with NT in the first 5 cm of soil depth (tab. 1).
Increased levels of SOM compared to CT were also measured with RT. No differences in SOM content
between rotations were observed. Higher level of compaction was associated to NT up to 15 cm depth,
where pressure levels became comparable to RT. In the underlying layers compaction levels tended to
93
decrease in both NT and RT depth (Fig. 1). The differences among penetration curves diminished in the
deeper layers. Higher compaction, which causes a reduction in porosity (especially macro-porosity),
promotes a lower level of oxygenation. Different levels of SOM observed can be explained by the
characteristic penetration curves measured: a lower oxygenation and hence lower mineralization with
subsequent SOM accumulation in conservation tillage with respect to the conventional tillage.
Tab. 1 – Percent soil organic matter (SOM) content
Agronomic
management
Ussana
0-5 cm
(%)
Benatzu
5-20 cm
(%)
0-5 cm
(%)
5-20 cm
(%)
CW
1.15
c
1.11
bc
1.87
c
1.76
b
LW
1.18
bc
1.08
c
1.96
bc
1.83
b
CW
1.39
b
1.30
a
2.36
b
2.22
a
LW
1.35
bc
1.29
a
2.36
b
2.23
a
CW
2.09
a
1.30
a
3.01
a
2.03
ab
LW
2.06
a
1.26
ab
3.10
a
1.91
ab
mean
1.54
CT
RT
RT
1.22
2.44
2.00
Means in columns followed by different letters are significantly different
at p≤ 0.05 according to Fisher’s LSD
Fig. 1 – Compaction curves
Conclusions
Conservation agriculture could be an efficient and smart agronomic practice for Mediterranean
environments allowing to obtain adequate yields applying a better sustainable management in both
environmental and economic terms.
References
Carboni G., 2011. Evaluation of conservation tillage and rotation with legumes as adaptation and mitigation strategies of
climate change on durum wheat in Sardinia. PhD Thesis.
94
Ecological and Pastoral Value of Ex-Arable Lands: the
Case Study of the Alta Murgia National Park
Mariano Fracchiolla1, Massimo Terzi2, Luigi Tedone1, Eugenio Cazzato1
1
Dip. di Scienze Agro Ambientali e Territoriali, Univ. Bari, IT, [email protected]
2
Istituto di Bioscienze e Biorisorse (IBBR-CNR) – Bari
Introduction
Sub-Mediterranean rocky grasslands are characterized by a high biodiversity with many endemic and
rare species. During the eighties and nineties, the Common Agricultural Policy incentivized cultivation
of cereals and in many European marginal areas, where the traditional livestock breeding was
experiencing a contraction, the semi-natural lands, considered unproductive, were converted into arable
lands. Subsequently, the increasing concerning about the lack of biodiversity inspired the establishment
of a European system of protected areas. This paper considers the case study of the National Park of Alta
Murgia (Apulia Region, S-Italy), which includes large extension of arable lands that increased between
the eighties and nineties, because of the conversion of rocky calcareous pastures by crushing of the karst
surface.
In the last years, this massive change of land use has created a lot of concern about the lack of biodiversity
and soil degradation. Thus, the recently approved Park Plan promotes reconversion of arable lands into
pastures. In fact, the traditional sheep farming of the Park area can promote multifunctional activities
through land use diversification and biodiversity conservation.
This research aims at assessing the ecological and pastoral value of some ex-arable lands excluded from
cropping for different years. The results can be useful for sustainable management of European agropastoral protected areas.
Methods
Along the Adriatic side of the Alta Murgia National Park, we selected seven sites of semi-natural pastures
converted into arable lands, by crushing the karst surface, and no longer ploughed or sown for three-five
or twelve-fifteen years. In order to have a comparison with situations of low anthropic pressures, other
two sites were selected in two ancient ex-arable lands - extensively and traditionally managed -that were
taken out of cropping for more than fifty years.
For each site, a vegetation survey according to the traditional phytosociological method was carried out
on a plot surface of 100 m2. Other five surveys were done on nearby natural rocky pastures without any
evidence of recent or ancient soil disturbance. The surveys carried out in ex-arable lands were indicated
by the tag “S” followed by the number of years from the stopping of cultivation. The two surveys related
to the ancient ex-arable lands were marked with the tag “Q1/2” and those of rocky pastures with the tag
“T1-5”.The taxon cover-abundance values recorded according to the Braun-Blanquet scale were
converted into the ordinal scale proposed by Maarel (1979) before the statistical analyses.
The surveys were classified by UPGMA method (average linkage clustering) on the base of a Chord
distance matrix. The floristic relationships among the main clusters of surveys were visualized by the
non metric multidimensional scaling ordination (NMDS) with the Chord distance.
The ordination scores were correlated with life-forms, number of taxa (Richness), diversity (Shannon
and Evenness indexes), number of taxa belonging to the six Specific Index values (SI, see below) and
Pastoral value (VP). The Specific Index (SI), ranging between 0 and 5, was assigned to each taxon
according to its fodder value on the basis of data given in Roggero et al. (2002) for Italy and Apennine
(Tab. 1, col. 7, 12-15) and subordinately by Forte and Vita (1999) or for other localities (cf. Roggero et
al.,2002: Tab. 1). The Pastoral Value of each relevé was calculated as follow (Dagetand Poissonet, 1969):
PV = 0.2 x ∑ SCi x SIi where SCi = Percent Cover values of the i-species/Sum of Percent cover values of
all the species in the relevé. The Percent Cover Values were approximated with the mean percent covers
95
of the cover ranges corresponding to the original Braun-Blanquet scale (cf. Mueller-Dombois and
Ellenberg 1974). In order to assess the ecological value of surveys, two indexes were considered: (i) the
sum of the SC of the endemic and rare taxa and (ii) sum of the SC of the diagnostic species of the high
syntaxonomic units (Hippocrepido-Stipion, Euphorbietaliamyrsinitae and Festuco-Brometea)
characterizing the “undisturbed” rocky pastures. For the diagnostic species we referred to taxa indicated
by Terzi et al. (2010) and Terzi and D’Amico (2016). All the statistical analysis were carried out by using
the Pc-Ord 6.19 software (McCune and Mefford 2011; the slow and thorough autopilot mode was
selected for the NMDS ordination).
Results
The dendrogram showed three main clusters of surveys. The first one included the surveys on lands taken
out of cropping from 3-5 years (S3-5). The second
one grouped the surveys done on lands where the
cultivation had been stopped from 12-15 years (S1215). The remaining surveys, related to semi-natural
rocky pastures and ancient traditional cultivations,
were clustered in the third group (T-Q). The 2-axis
solution of the NMDS ordination confirmed the
floristic differences among the three clusters. The
proportion of variance represented by the two axes
were 68.5% and 4.8% respectively. The Pastoral Value was positively correlated with the first axis of the
ordination diagram while the percentages of chamaephytes and geophytes were negatively correlated
with the same axis. Slight differences about diversity (Richness and Shannon Indexes) were detected
among the surveys. The summarized percentage cover of rare and endemic taxa was higher in the T-Q
cluster and the same trend was observed for the diagnostic species of high syntaxonomic units.
Conclusions
Sites originated from the conversion of rocky pastures by stone crushing showed still marked differences
even after 15 years. Lands not ploughed for more than 50 years and previously extensively cultivated
appears ecologically close to semi-natural pastures. Floristic richness, diversity, and evenness of all the
ex-arable lands originated from the conversion of grasslands were comparable to those calculated for the
natural pastures or for ancient ex-arable lands. Nevertheless, a more accurate analysis of taxa reveals that
in the converted grasslands, there is a lower contribute of species with high conservation and
phytogeographical values. From an agronomic point of view, sites converted in arable lands show a
higher contribute of good forage species and they have higher pastoral value.
References
Daget P., Poissonet T. 1969. Analysephytologique despraisies. INRA, Montpellier Document, 48, 66 p.
Forte L., Vita F. 1999. Variazione del valore agronomico di un pascolo dell’Alta Murgia (Puglia) in funzione dei principali
fattori ambientali. Atti e relazioni dell’Accademia Pugliese delle Scienze, 50: 131-149.
Maarel (Van der) E. 1979. Transformation of cover-abundance values in phytosociology and its effects on community
similarity. Vegetatio, 39: 97–114.
McCune B., Mefford M. J. 2011. PC-ORD. Multivariate analysis of ecological data. Version 6.0 MjM Software,
Gleneden Beach, Oregon, USA.
Mueller-Dombois D., Ellenberg H. 1974. Aims and Methods of Vegetation Ecology. John Wiley&Sons, New York. 547.
Roggero et al. 2002. Un Archiviodati di Indici specifici per la valutazione integrata del valore pastorale.Rivista di
Agronomia, 36: 149-156.
Terzi M., D’AmicoF.S. 2016. Dry grasslands of the Hippocrepidoglaucae-Stipionaustroitalicae in the Pollino Massif
(Calabria, Italy). Acta Bot Croat, 75: 89-98.
Terzi M., Di Pietro R., D’amico F. S. 2010: Analisi delle specieindicatrici applicata alle comunità a Stipa
austroitalicaMartinovsky e relative problematiche sintaxonomiche. Fitosociologia, 47: 3–28.
96
Nitrogen Use Efficiency in One Year Horticulture
Succession Fertilized With Digestate Solid Fraction
Carmelo Maucieri*, Carlo Nicoletto, Paolo Sambo, Maurizio Borin
Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (DAFNAE) University of Padua,
Agripolis Campus, Viale dell’Università, 16 - 35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy.
*Corresponding authors: [email protected]
Introduction
The biomass anaerobic digestion for biogas production is one of the most widespread renewable energy
form. The outputs of the system are represented by biogas (product) and digestate (residual material); the
latter need an adequate management to change its role from waste to by-product and improve the
sustainability of this renewable energy form. Considering the composition of the digestate solid fraction
(DSF), it could be used in agriculture as organic fertilizer (Nicoletto et al., 2014). The recycling of organic
waste materials can help to maintain soil nutrient levels, and exert positive effects on various aspects of
soil fertility although nutrients efficiency can be lesser than mineral fertilization with a possible negative
effect on yield. The aim of this study was to evaluate the nitrogen (N) use efficiency in one year
horticulture succession fertilized with DSF.
Methods
The trial was carried out at the Experimental Farm of Padua University at Legnaro, North-East Italy
(45°20’ N; 11°57’ E) comparing the effect of DSF on green bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.,), savoy cabbage
(Brassica oleracea var. sabauda L.), cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) and cauliflower (Brassica
oleracea var. botrytis). The soil was a fulvi-calcaric Cambisol with a loamy texture.
Three fertilization treatments were tested: 1) 50% N through DSF and 50% N through mineral fertilizer
(T50); 2) 100% N through DSF (T100); 3) 100% mineral fertilization (Tmin). The phosphorus (P) and
potassium (K) content in the DSF were taken into consideration to calculate the amount of these elements
in the different treatments. N, P and K rates from mineral fertilizers were supplied according to standard
recommendations in the area: 40, 50, 100 kg ha−1 for green bean and 110, 70, 160 kg ha−1 for the other
species respectively for N, P2O5 and K2O. Both mineral and DSF were supplied from 1 to 4 days before
sowing or transplanting and immediately incorporated by a rotavator.
A randomized block experimental design with three replications (each of 40 m2) was used. The green
bean was sowed on 22 May 2014 and harvested on 14 July 2014, savoy cabbage was transplanted on 12
August 2014 and harvested on 15 January 2014. After, each plot was split into two subplots of 20 m2 (10
m × 2 m) and both cabbage and cauliflower were transplanted on 3 April 2015. Cauliflower was harvested
on 27 May 2015 and the cabbage on 3 June 2015.
Marketable harvest index and N harvest index were calculated by using the following equations:
- Marketable harvest index (MHI) = Marketable fresh biomass/Total fresh biomass
- N harvest index (NHI) = N uptake in marketable dry biomass/N uptake in total dry biomass
For each plot, the marketable and no-marketable biomasses were dried in a ventilated oven at 65°C to
calculate the dry matter content. The total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) content was then determined.
N use efficiency (NUE) was evaluated using the approach suggested by Fageria et al. (2010) calculating
the N indexes with the following equations:
1. Agronomic efficiency (AE) (mg mg-1) = Gf–Gu/Na
2. Physiological efficiency (PE) (mg mg-1) = BYf–BYu/Nf–Nu
3. Agrophysiological efficiency (APE) (mg mg-1) = Gf–Gu/Nf–Nu
4. Apparent recovery efficiency (ARE) (%) = (Nf–Nu/Na) × 100
5. Utilization efficiency (UE) (mg mg-1) = PE × ARE
97
where Gf is the marketable yield of the DSF fertilized plots (mg), Gu is the marketable yield of the
mineral fertilized plots (mg), and Na is the quantity of nitrogen applied (mg), BYf is the biological yield
(total biomass) of the DSF fertilized plots (mg), BYu is the biological yield of the mineral fertilized plots
(mg), Nf is the nitrogen uptake (total biomass) of the DSF fertilized plots, and Nu is the nitrogen uptake
(total biomass) of the mineral fertilized plots (mg). All data were statistically processed and significant
differences were detected at p<0.05.
Results
The green bean, cauliflower and cabbage marketable yield was not significantly influenced by
fertilization with an average (±SE) of 9.0±0.5, 9.9±1.2 and 51.3±6.4 Mg ha-1, respectively. Mineral
fertilization significantly increased the savoy cabbage marketable yield (25.9±1.0 Mg ha-1) than T100
treatment (16.8±2.7 Mg ha-1); T50 was not significantly different between the previous two treatments
(20.8±2.3 Mg ha-1). The significantly higher MHI (0.64) and NHI (0.52) were calculated for cabbage
whereas the significantly lower MHI (0.31) and NHI (0.24) were calculated for cauliflower. No
significant differences were found between green bean and savoy cabbage with an average MHI and NHI
of 0.46 and 0.39.
Plant species significantly influenced the AE, ARE and UE indexes (Tab.1), with all positive indexes for
green bean that could be due to the higher symbiotic N2 fixation activity in the DSF treatments than
100% mineral one. Fertilization treatments exerted a significant effect only on ARE with negative values
in both treatment with DSF and lower N recovery efficiency in the T100 than T50 (Tab.2).
Table 1. Nitrogen use efficiency of four studied species
AE
PE
APE
ARE
UE
Species
(mg mg-1)
(mg mg-1)
(mg mg-1)
(%)
(mg mg-1)
Green bean
2.71
a
27.46
a
0.44
a 18.16 a
6.46
Savoy cabbage
-4.75
ab
24.85
a
1.33
a -19.39 b
-5.51
Cabbage
-11.21
b
18.12
a
14.39
a -52.66 b
-14.68
Cauliflower
-0.93
a
19.94
a
-9.11
a -17.27 ab
-1.95
Different letters indicate significant differences for Fisher LSD test at p<0.05
Table 2. Nitrogen use efficiency of two digestate treatments
AE
PE
APE
ARE
UE
Treatment
(mg mg-1)
(mg mg-1)
(mg mg-1)
(%)
(mg mg-1)
T50
-3,79 a
29,74 a
3,72 a
-5,15 a
-2,06
T100
a
a
a
b
-3,16
14,59
-0,33
-31,43
-5,80
Different letters indicate significant differences for t-student test at p<0.05
a
ab
b
ab
a
a
Conclusions
Fertilization treatments only influenced the savoy cabbage marketable yield. Cabbage was the crop with
the highest MHI and NHI. The N ARE and UE indexes was positive only in the leguminous species
suggesting a positive effect of DSF fertilization on symbiotic N2 fixation activity. The fertilization
treatment only influenced the N ARE index with less efficiency for crops managed with N supplied only
as DSF.
References
Fageria N.K. et al. 2010. Nitrogen use efficiency in upland rice genotypes. J. Plant Nutr. 33:1696-1711.
Nicoletto C. et al. 2014. Effect of the anaerobic digestion residues use on lettuce yield and quality. Sci. Hort. 180:207213.
Acknowledgment
Research was supported by ValDige project “Valorizzazione del digestato per la riduzione delle perdite di CO 2” DGR
n°1604 del 31/07/2012 financed by PSR Regione Veneto (2007-2014) misura 124, Domanda n. 2307827.
98
SESSION
Cropping Systems and Food Security
99
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
100
The Impact of Environmental Conditions and Crop
Practices on the Contamination of Emerging Mycotoxins
in Cereals
Massimo Blandino1, Valentina Scarpino1, Francesca Vanara1, Michael Sulyok2, Amedeo
Reyneri1
1
Dep. di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali e Alimentari, Univ. Torino, IT, [email protected]
Dep. for Agrobiotechnology (IFA-Tulln), Univ. Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), AT
2
Introduction
Mycotoxins are natural contaminants, toxic to humans and animals, that frequently occurred in cereal
chains in temperate areas. Five mycotoxin classes are considered to be largely economically and
toxicologically important in grain in several areas throughout the world: aflatoxins and ochratoxins,
deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEA) and fumonisins (FBs) (Atkins and Norman 1998).
Although the previously reported are the most common mycotoxins found in cereal grain in temperate
areas, they are only one group of the approximately 400 mycotoxins known to date (Berthiller et al.,
2013). These other mycotoxins, which have not yet received a detailed scientific attention, are commonly
indicated as “novel” or “emerging” (Streit et al., 2013). The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is
currently working on establishing a scientific opinion on the risks to public health related to the presence
of emerging mycotoxins in feeds and food. Moreover, there is also a greater interest in individuating the
field conditions that could lead to a higher contamination of these emerging mycotoxins. Better
knowledge of the conditions that promote their occurrence is essential in order to set up a more inclusive
Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) to minimize also their occurrence. The aim of this study was to
investigate the role of different agricultural practices on the contamination of novel or emerging
mycotoxins in common and durum wheat and maize.
Methods
A monitoring was carried out on maize from 4 Regions (Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and
Veneto) during the period 2012-2013 and on wheat in Piedmont in the 2011-2015 period. In addition, a
series of field experiments have been conducted in North West Italy, over a period of 8 growing seasons
(2008-2015), in order to evaluate the effect of different crop practices on the contamination of emerging
mycotoxins in common and durum wheat and in maize grains. All the experiment have been carried out
under naturally-infected conditions and the following agricultural practices have been considered:
varietiy susceptibility, tillage, fungicide application for wheat; tillage, planting time and density, N
fertilization, insect control for maize. Detection and quantification of mycotoxins was performed through
a multi-mycotoxin method able to detected more than 300 different molecules (Malachova et al., 2014).
Results
Applying the multi-toxin method 25 of the most abundant mycotoxins were detected in maize samples:
fumonisin B1, B2, B3, B4 (FBs), moniliformin (MON), fusaproliferin (FUS), fusaric acid (FA), bikaverin
(BIK), beauvericin (BEA), equisetin (EQU), aurofusarin (AUR), deoxynivalenol (DON),
deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside (DON-3-G), 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol (3-ADON), 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol
(15-ADON), zearalenone (ZEA), zearalenone-4-Sulfate (ZEA-4S), culmorin (CULM), butenolide
(BUT) and aflatoxin B1, B2, G1, G2 (AFs), ochratoxin A (OTA) and B. Moreover, a larger number of
different mycotoxins were detected in wheat samples: DON, DON-3-G, 3-ADON, 15-ADON, CULM,
ZEA, ZEA-4S, nivalenol, enniatin A, A1, B, B1, B2 (ENNs), EQU, AUR, MON, BIK, BEA, FBs, FA,
BUT, toxin T2 and HT2, tentoxin (TENT), decalonectrin, alternariol (AOH), alternariol methyl ether
(AME), infectopyrone, secalonic acid and ergot alkaloids (mainly ergocristine, and ergometrine).
101
The relative percentage of presence of mycotoxins produced by Fusarium section Liseola (FBs, FA, BIK,
BEA, MON, FUS) in maize commercial lot samples was 100% (Tab. 1). The occurrence of other
mycotoxins was clearly influenced by growing season, with remarkable and hazardous AFs
contamination values in 2012. The content of mycotoxins produced by Fusarium spp. of Liseola section,
such as FBs, MON, FUS, FA, BIK and BEA was significantly reduced by insecticide application to
reduced insect ear injuries, while it was increased by N stress and late planting times. Conversely, DON,
DON-3-G, ZEA, CULM, AUR and BUT contents, produced by Fusarium spp. of Discolor and Roseum
sections, were not affected significantly by the presence of insect injuries, while were clearly related to
excess of N fertilization, high plant density and no tillage conditions.
The most abundant mycotoxins in wheat samples were DON and CULM, while Alternaria and Claviceps
toxins are less frequent and clearly related to certain environmental and agronomical conditions. By
comparing different environmental and agronomic conditions, the use of tolerant cultivars and the
fungicide usually applied to control the FHB and DON content, also consistently reduces the main
emerging mycotoxins of winter wheat in temperate areas. Minimum or no-tillage results always in a
higher contamination of DON, CULM, MON, ENNs, BUT, TENT, AOH and ergot alkaloids, compared
to ploughing.
Table 1. Mean mycotoxin contamination in maize commercial samples collected in the 4 Regions of
North Italy monitored during the period 2012-2013.
Main fungi producers
Fusarium section Liseola
Fusarium section Gibbosum
Fusarium section Discolor and Roseum
Aspergillus
Aspergillus, Penicillium
1
Mycotoxin
FBs
FA
BIK
BEA
MON
FUS
EQU
DON
DON-3-G
CULM
ZEA
BUT
AUR
AFs
OTA
2012
µg kg-1
8997
959
356
852
294
187
40
223
132
109
16
41
161
31
2
2013
µg kg-1
6151
1551
1236
344
853
195
55
2923
595
2621
367
383
3929
8
nd
Positive samples1
%
100
100
100
100
100
100
90
77
95
78
80
81
91
55
2
Percentage of sample above the limit of quantification considering 94 maize samples collected in 2 growing seasons. nd. not detected.
Conclusions
The results obtained in the current study remark the crucial role of the environmental, but also of the
agronomical conditions on the occurrence of novel or emerging mycotoxins. This work contribute to
individuate integrated managements strategies for the overall control of mycotoxins in cereals.
References
Atkins D., Norman J., 1998. Mycotoxins and food safety. Nutr Food Sci., 98:260–266.
Berthiller F. et al., 2013. Masked mycotoxins: a review. Mol. Nutr. Food Res. 57(1):165-186.
Streit E. et al. 2013. Multi-mycotoxin screening reveals the occurrence of 139 different secondary metabolites in feed and
feed ingredients. Toxin, 5:504–23.
Malachova A. et al. 2014. Optimization and validation of a quantitative liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric
method covering 295 bacterial and fungal metabolites including all relevant mycotoxins in four model food matrices. J.
Chromatogr. A., 1362:145-156.
102
Effects of Seeding Season and Density on Yield,
Proximate Composition and Total Tannins Content of
Two Kabuli Chickpea Cultivars
Roberto Ruggeri, Riccardo Primi, Pier Paolo Danieli, Bruno Ronchi, Francesco Rossini
Dip. di Scienze Agrarie e Forestali, Univ. degli Studi della Tuscia, IT, [email protected]
Introduction
Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an annual grain legume traditionally cultivated in semi-arid tropics
(Asia and India), Australia and Mediterranean regions but recently its acreage and cultivation area are
being extended to higher latitudes (Knights et al., 2007).
The proximate composition and total tannins content of chickpeas under different experimental settings
have been previously investigated (El-Adawy, 2002; Singh et al., 1991; Attia et al., 1994; Rincón et al.,
1998).There have also been different studies on the effect of genotype, growing season and agronomic
technique on chickpea growth and grain yield under rainfed conditions (Brown et al., 1989; Horn et al.,
1996; Koutroubaset al., 2009). However, a very little knowledge exists on the combined influence of
environmental and agronomic factors on the proximate composition and total tannins content of
chickpeas.
When planting for quality traits, the composition of the product (i.e. seeds, roots, leaves etc) may be more
important than maximizing yield, so studying the effects of sowing date and density on the composition
of food grade chickpea cultivars is necessary for producing seeds with specific characteristics.
Hence, the aim of this study was to verify the hypothesis that different seeding practices (time and
densities) can affect not only grain yield, but also nutritional composition and total tannins content of
two chickpea cultivars (‘Sultano’ and ‘Pascià’) currently cultivated in the Mediterranean basin.
Methods
The study was carried out in Central Italy under typical Mediterranean climatic conditions (Tarquinia,
42°11’N, 11°45’E, 22 m a.s.l.) in two growing seasons (2006-2007 and 2007-2008).
Two chickpea cultivars were used during the experiments: ‘Sultano’ and ‘Pascià’. They were chosen to
verify their adaptability to winter sowing, and to represent a range of genetic variation in morphological
traits (Table 1).
A factorial experiment with three replicates was adopted to test the effect of seeding time (winter vs
spring) and density (70 vs 110 seeds m-2) on grain yield and chemical composition of the two cultivars.
The chemical and physical characteristics of soil were: 33% clay, 19% silt and 48% sand, pH 6.8, 0.96%
organic matter and 0.054% total N. Preceding crop was durum wheat.
Individual plots (8 x 1.5 m each) consisted of six rows with a row spacing of 0.3 m and a seeding depth
of approximately 30 mm.
Tested cultivars were evaluated for grain yield and their resistance to Ascochyta rabiei infection using a
1-9 rating scale (Kimurto et al. 2013). Moreover, proximate composition (crude protein, crude fiber, total
starch, ether extract, ash) and total tannins content were determined according to standard procedures.
Table 1. Details of the two chickpea varieties tested.
Variety
Sultano
Pascià
Seed weight (mg)
340
501
Seed type
Smooth
Rough
Plant habit
Erect
Semi-erect
Resistance to Ascochytarabiei
Yes
Yes
Source: Paolini et al., 2006
103
Results
Time of sowing strongly affected both yield and chemical composition of seeds. Late sowing improved
crude protein content (+9%), but total tannins were not significantly affected by sowing date.
On the contrary, the results suggested that winter sowing appeared to be the best choice in the
Mediterranean environment when cultivating to maximize the grain yield. In this case, a more marked
resistance to Ascochyta blight (AB) of ‘Sultano’ allowed for better agronomic performances than
‘Pascià’. Moreover, ‘Sultano’ contained a higher level of total tannins (+18%; P<0.01) than ‘Pascià’.
This latter finding, confirms the higher total tannins content in smaller seeds (Nikolopoulou et al., 2006)
and the relationship between the accumulation of phenolic compounds in chickpea seeds and AB
resistance (Kumar et al., 2013). Considering that plant density had no significant effect on the parameters
studied, the most appropriate seeding rate has been assessed to be 70 seeds m-2.
Conclusions
In summary, this study has shown that both environmental conditions and genetic factors affect not only
the grain yield but also the nutrient compositions and total tannins content of chickpea seeds, giving the
food grade material a considerable range in its qualitative characteristics.
Finally, the selection of Ascochyta blight resistant genotypes of chickpea has to be regarded as a relevant
option to improve the agronomic performance of this grain legume especially when sown in late autumnearly winter.
References
Attia R.S. et al. 1994. Effect of cooking and decortication on the physical properties, the chemical composition and the
nutritive value of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Food Chemistry, 50: 125-131.
Brown S.C. et al. 1989. Root and shoot growth and water use of chickpea (Cicer arietinum) grown in dryland conditions:
effects of sowing date and genotype. The Journal of Agricultural Science, 113: 41-49.
El-Adawy T.A. 2002. Nutritional composition and antinutritional factors of chickpeas (Cicer arietinum L.) undergoing
different cooking methods and germination. Plant Foods for Human Nutrition, 57: 83-97.
Horn C.P. et al. 1996. Sowing time and tillage practice affect chickpea yield and nitrogen fixation. 1. Dry matter
accumulation and grain yield. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 36: 695-700.
Kimurto, P.K. et al. 2013. Evaluation of chickpea genotypes for resistance to Ascochyta blight (Ascochyta rabiei) disease
in the dry highlands of Kenya. PhytopathologiaMediterranea, 52: 212-22.
Knights E.I. et al. 2007. Area, production distribution. In Chickpea Breeding and Management (Eds S.S. Yadav, R.J.
Redden, W. Chen & B. Sharma), pp. 167-179. Trowbridge: Cromwell Press.
Koutroubas S.D. et al. 2009. Growth and nitrogen dynamics of spring chickpea genotypes in a Mediterranean-type
climate.The Journal of Agricultural Science, 147: 445-458.
Kumar R. et al. 2013. Impact of Ascochyta blight disease on the expression of biochemical compounds in chickpea.
Legume Research, 36: 268-270.
Nikolopoulou D. 2006. Effects of cultivation area and year on proximate composition and antinutrients in three different
kabuli-type chickpea (Cicer arietinum) varieties. European Food Research and Technology, 223: 737-741.
Paolini R. et al. 2006. Competitive interactions between chick-pea genotypes and weeds. Weed Research,46: 335-344.
Rincón F. et al. 1998.Proximate composition and antinutritive substances in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) as affected by
the biotype factor. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 78: 382-388.
SinghU. et al. 1991. Cooking quality and nutritional attributes of some newly developed cultivars of chickpea (Cicer
arietinum). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 55:37-46.
104
Assessment of Storage Protein Composition in Old and
Modern Durum Wheat Genotypes
Michele Andrea De Santis1, Marcella Michela Giuliani1, Luigia Giuzio1, Pasquale De Vita2,
Zina Flagella1
Dip. di Scienze Agrarie, degli Alimenti e dell’Ambiente, Univ. Foggia, IT, [email protected]
2
CREA-CER, Foggia, IT
1
Introduction
Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. spp. durum) is a cereal largely cultivated in temperate environments,
such as Mediterranean basin, north America and Australia. Semolina flour obtained by kernels harvested
at maturity is mainly adopted for the production of pasta, and also for semolina bread, cous cous and
secondary products. Technological properties of pasta depend on storage protein content and
composition. During 20th century the breeding activity was focused to obtain genotypes with higher yield,
associated to lower plant size to reduce spring lodging and higher earliness to avoid critical
environmental stresses, common in Mediterranean area. A secondary aim of the selection was focused to
obtain genotypes with high pasta making quality. Storage proteins are classified in monomeric gliadins
and polymeric glutenins which constitute gluten in dough formation. Polymorphism in high and low
molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS and LMW-GS respectively) is known, as well as
association with pasta making and bread making attitude (De Vita et al., 2007). The selection of durum
wheat genotypes was associated to higher gluten strength, evaluated by different methods (Zeleny SDS
sedimentation test, alveographic test, gluten index as reported by Sissons et al., 2008). Many studies were
conducted on allelic variability, less on protein subunit expression. In addition, an increasing interest on
gluten related disorders occurred in the latest decades. Several gluten proteins, in particular gliadin
fractions are involved in wheat allergy (WA) and celiac disease (CD). In this study differences in storage
protein composition, in terms of subunit expression, were investigated between an old and a modern
group of durum wheat genotypes, grown in two field crop trials under Mediterranean conditions.
Fifteen Italian durum wheat genotypes were selected on the basis of the year of release: four old landraces
from South Italy (Dauno III, old Saragolla, Russello, Timilia RB “Reste Bianche”), three old cultivars
pre- Rht (reduced height) gene introgression (Cappelli, Garigliano, Grifoni 235) and eight modern
genotypes after Rht gene introgression. Field trials were performed at Centro di Ricerca per la
Cerealicoltura (Crea-Cer). In both years, 80 kg ha-1 of nitrogen and 70 kg ha-1 of phosphorous were
applied. A reduced N input was adopted according to the ordinary agronomic practices adopted in
Mediterranean areas, in particular to reduce lodging in high-size old genotypes. Yield and protein content
were determined. Grain protein content (GPC) was calculated on a dry weight basis and expressed as
percentage by NIR System Infratec 1241 Analyzer (Foss, Hillerod, Denmark). Gluten index was
performed on semolina according to ICC standard 155 (ICC, 1986). Storage proteins were extracted
according to Giuliani et al. (2015), with modifications to better separate gliadins and glutenins. Proteins
were separated by SDS-PAGE. Gels were digitally acquired and analysed by ImageQuant TL (GE
Healthcare, Uppsala Sweden). On the basis of the molecular weight, gliadins were subdivided into two
classes: ω-type and α, γ-type, and glutenins into HMW-GS and LMW-GS (B- and C-). Two biological
and three technical replicates were performed. Analysis of the variance was performed by JMP software
(SAS).
Results
The two crop seasons, 2013 and 2014, were characterised by similar temperature pattern, but slightly
different rainfall, with a higher rainfall in 2014 during grain development. The group of modern
105
genotypes showed a significant higher yield and gluten index with respect to the old one in both crop
seasons, as reported in Table 1. Grain protein content (GPC) was significantly higher in the old group,
in particular in 2013 crop season. Interesting results in storage protein composition were observed
(Fig.1). Gliadin: glutenin ratio resulted significantly lower in the modern group of genotypes. In addition,
a significant lower expression of ω- gliadin, and higher expression of B type LMW-GS was observed in
the modern group of genotype, as shown in Table 1. The most interesting samples were further
characterised by western blot by using monoclonal antibody specific to ω-5 gliadin, also known as Tri a
19, the major allergen to WDEIA, confirming the over-expression in the group of old genotypes.
Figure 2 SDS-PAGE of glutenin (a) and gliadin (b) fractions of old and modern genotypes
Table 3 Effect of the year of release (old vs modern) and crop season on yield, quality parameters and gluten protein
composition
old 2013
old 2014
modern 2013
modern 2014
Yield (t ha-1)
3.3 c
3.0 c
4.3 b
5.2 a
GPC (%)
16.0% a
14.1% b
13.7% b
13.6% b
Gluten index
9.6 b
7.5 b
55.3 a
46.0 a
Gliadin : glutenin ratio
2.62 a
2.94 a
1.59 b
1.79 b
ω-type gliadin
11.7% a
10.2% b
4.3% c
3.4% c
α, γ- type gliadin
58.1% ab
61.4% a
55.4% b
58.7% b
HMW-GS
8.9% b
7.2% c
10.1% a
9.8% a
B- LMW-GS
12.6% b
13.6% b
21.5% a
19.3% a
C- LMW-GS
7.2% a
6.3% a
7.1% a
7.2% a
Conclusions
In conclusion, differences in gluten protein composition were found between old and modern Italian
durum wheat genotypes. The improvement in technological quality due to breeding activity resulted in
changes in storage protein composition. In particular, these differences seem to be associated to
differences in B- type LMW-GS expression. On the other hand, the reduction of ω-type gliadin, and in
particular ω- 5 gliadin might imply reduction in the potential allergenicity of semolina. Further
experiments by using immunoblotting and mass spectrometry and under contrasting environmental and
agronomic conditions could provide useful perspectives.
References
De Vita P. et al., 2007. Breeding progress in morpho-physiological, agronomical and qualitative traits of durum wheat
cultivars released in Italy during the 20th century. Europ. J. Agron. 26 39–53
Giuliani M.M. et al., 2015. Differential Expression of Durum Wheat Gluten Proteome under Water Stress during Grain
Filling. J. Agric. Food Chem. 63, 6501−6512
Sissons, M. 2008. Role of durum wheat on quality of pasta and bread. Food 2 (2), 75-90 in Global Sciences Books.
106
Molecules Which Improve Crop Response to Salinity and
Drought Stress
Albino Maggio, Giampaolo Raimondi, Michael Van Oosten, Giancarlo Barbieri, Stefania De
Pascale, Youssef Rouphael, Emilio Di Stasio, Silvia Silletti, Valerio Cirillo
Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80055 Portici, Italy,
[email protected]
Introduction
Abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity and sub-optimal growth temperature can reduce up to 50% of
potential crop yield (Hasegawa et al., 2013; Roy et al., 2014). This effect is exacerbated by climate
change. We are currently working on the isolation and characterization of functional molecules of diverse
origins that, via exogenous application, can help plants to cope with abiotic stresses. One of these
molecules, OP, has beneficial effects in terms of growth promotion and stress protection on both model
and crop species.
Methods
Greenhouse experiments were performed on the model species Arabidopsis, on horticultural crops
(spinach and radish) and field crops (corn) to assess the protective effect of OP under stress conditions.
Plants roots were pre-treated via irrigation with µM concentrations of OP and subsequently exposed to
drought or salinity stress. Growth parameters, stomatal conductance and IR thermal imaging were used
for a first level characterization of plant responses.
Results
In Arabidopsis OP treatment enhanced plant fresh biomass by approx. 40% under drought and by 30%
upon saline stress (100 mM) compared to untreated plants (Figure 1). In spinach and radish, the beneficial
effects of OP were observed in terms of stem dry weight (+ 30% in spinach at 8,5 dS m-1 NaCl) and root
dry weight in radish (+30% at 8,5 dS m-1 and 15 dS m-1 NaCl) (Figure 2A and 2B). OP acts as a
remarkable growth enhancer in absence of stress in corn (Fig. 3A). A first analysis suggests OP functions
also through more efficient stomatal regulation and water conservation as indicated by a reduced stomatal
conductance measured in corn (Fig 3B). Similar results were obtained on beans (Fig 4) via IR thermal
imaging which revealed an average higher temperature on OP treated plants, which is consistent with
reduced stomatal conductance. Currently we are further investigating the mode of action of OP and
searching for analogs in nature with similar function.
Conclusions
OP is a promising molecule as tool to investigate how plants can best cope with environmental constraints
and has the potential to lead to natural analogs that may have practical application in agriculture but also.
References
Hasegawa, P.M. 2013. Sodium (Na+) homeostasis and salt tolerance of plants. Environ. Exp. Bot. 594 92, 19-31.
Roy, S.J., Negrão, S., Tester, M. 2014. Salt resistant crop plants. Curr. Opin. Biotech. 26, 115-124.
107
Fig. 1. Drought stress in Arabidopsis.
Fig. 2. NaCl stress in spinach. S0=2 dS m-1; S1= 8.5 dS m-1; S2=15 dS m-1 (blue, control; red OPtreated plants)
Fig. 3. Saline stress in radish (as in spinach), also shown as trend-line.
Fig. 4. Thermal imaging on bean plants; control shows higher % of green light blue color (24-26 °C)
OP plants show higher % of pink-orange-yellow color (29-31°C)
Fig 5. OP treated corn plants showing enhanced growth
Fig 6. Stomatal conductance of OP treated corn plants.
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
108
Agronomic Biofortification Affects Iron and Zinc
Concentration and Nutraceuticals in Wheat Flour and
Bread
Valentina Ciccolini1, Antonio Coccina1, Elisa Pellegrino1, Laura Ercoli1
1Institute
of Life Sciences, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33, 56127 Pisa, Italy
Introduction
Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important staple cereal over the world as it plays
a key role in human nutrition. Given the huge genetic variability existing among bread wheat varieties,
there is an increasing interest in the quantification of health-promoting compounds. In addition, grain
can be enriched by means of agronomic biofortification with Fe and Zn (Aciksoz et al., 2011). Aims of
this work were to determine whether: (i) agronomic biofortification improves Fe and Zn concentration
and nutraceuticals in whole-wheat flour and bread; (ii) the response to biofortification varies between
wheat variety.
Methods
A full factorial experiment with two bread wheat varieties and Fe and Zn biofortification as treatments
was arranged in a completely randomized design (replicate plot: n=3, 15 m2). Wheat varieties were Gentil
Rosso (Old) and Blasco (Modern).Soil was classified as silty-clay. Agronomic Fe and Zn biofortification
was performed by foliar application of a 0.19% (w/v) FeSO4 and ZnSO4 solution, at the rate of 100 mL
m-2. Foliar application was at booting and early milk stages.Grains were ground using a laboratory mill
and standard baking procedures were applied. Whole flour and bread were analysed for total polyphenol
and flavonoid concentration, following a colorimetric procedure (Adom et al., 2005). Total antioxidant
activity was assessed by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) assay (Yu et al., 2002). Iron and
Zn were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry (Isaac et al., 1998). Phytate was determined by
a colorimetric procedure (Hussain et al., 2011). Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) was determined by HPLC
(Sgherri et al., 2002). A commercial white wheat flour and corresponding bread were used as controls.
Data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA, using variety (Var) and biofortification (Biofort) as fixed
factors. All the analyses were performed using SPSS v.21.0 software.
Results
In whole-wheat flour, the old variety had higher antioxidant activity, Fe content and phytates: iron ratio,
compared to the modern one (P<0.05; Fig.1). Biofortification strongly increased the content of Zn and
ALA in the old variety, whereas the increase observed in the modern one was lower (Fig. 1a,b).
According to the ratio phytates: zinc and phytates:iron, the old variety showed a greater bioavailability
of Fe and Zn compared to the modern one. Finally, the content of total polyphenols and flavonoids was
not affected by variety and biofortification (P>0.05; Fig.1). The content of all nutraceutical components
in the four types of whole flour showed an increase up to 1200% compared to the commercial white flour
(Fig.1). Bread making process did not alter the content in polyphenols, flavonoids and antioxidant
activity, while induced a significant reduction in phytates, Fe, Zn and ALA (P<0.05). It is noteworthy a
considerable reduction of phytates, indicating a great increase of bioavailability of Fe and Zn (the lower
the ratio, the higher the bioavailability). The content of nutraceuticals in the four types of bread was
higher than that of white commercial bread (Fig.2).
Conclusions
Overall the old wheat variety (Gentil Rosso) biofortified with Fe and Zn had higher values of Fe, Zn,
ALA and antioxidant activity if compared to the modern variety (Blasco). The bread making process
increased the bioavailability of Fe and Zn.
109
References
Aciksoz S.B. et al. 2011. Biofortification of wheat with iron through soil and foliar application of nitrogen and iron
fertilizers. Plant Soil 349: 215-225; Adom K.K. et al. 2005. Phytochemicals and antioxidant activity of milled fractions of
different wheat varieties. J. Agric. Food Chem. 53: 2297-2306; Hussain S. et al. 2011.Bioavailable zinc in grains of bread
wheat varieties of Pakistan. Cereal Res. Comm. 40: 62-73; Isaac N. et al. 1998. Elemental determination by inductively
553 coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. In: Handbook and reference methods for plant analysis. CRC Press,
New York, pp 165-170; Sgherri C. et al. 2002.Relation between lipoic acid and cell redox status in wheat grown in excess
copper. Plant Physiol.Biochem.40: 591–597; Yu L. et al. 2002. Free radical scavenging properties of wheat extracts. J
Agric. Food Chem. 50: 1619–1624.
Fig. 1. Polyphenols, flavonoids, antioxidant activity, alpha-lipoic acid, phytates, iron, zinc in the flour of an old (Gentil
Rosso) and a modern (Blasco) variety biofortified with Fe and Zn and not biofortified compared to a commercial white
flour (CF), calculated as [(treatment - CF) / CF x 100]. Different letters indicate differences at P < 0.05 among treatments.
The asterisks indicate differences from CF at P < 0.05 (*), P < 0.01 (**), P < 0.001 (***), according to t-test.
Fig. 2. Polyphenols, flavonoids, antioxidant activity, alpha-lipoic acid, phytates, Fe, Zn in the bread obtained from an old
(Gentil Rosso) and a modern (Blasco) variety biofortified with Fe and Zn and not biofortified compared to a commercial
white bread (WB), calculated as [(treatment - WB) / WB x 100]. Different letters indicate differences at P < 0.05 among
treatments. The asterisks indicate differences from WB at P < 0.05 (*), P < 0.01 (**), P < 0.001 (***), according to t-test.
110
Modelling the Genetic Variability and Genotype by
Environment Interactions for Leaf Growth and Senescence
in Wheat
Pierre Martre, Anaëlle Dambreville, Andrea Maiorano
UMR LEPSE, INRA, Montpellier SupAgro, 2 place Viala, 34 060, Montpellier, France
Introduction
The ability to predict leaf area index dynamics is crucial to predict crop growth and yield, particularly
under conditions of limited resource supply (Ewert, 2004). Leaf area dynamic depends on several factors
such as meteorological conditions, crop management or genetics. Most wheat crop models simulate leaf
area index using a “big-leaf” approach where the whole canopy is treated as one big-leaf and several
models simulate leaf area index indirectly from biomass production (Parent and Tardieu, 2014).
However, because the response of leaf expansion and senescence to environmental factors strongly
depends on leaf age and position (plastochron index), modelling the expansion and senescence of
individual leaf is critical to predict the effect of combined stresses. Modelling the ontogeny and expansion
of individual leaves also allows modelling the dynamic of tillers. Functional–structural models describe
leaf area and tiller dynamics (e.g. Evers et al., 2005) but they are mainly descriptive and are difficult to
parametrize for new genotypes. Here, we describe a new model of leaf area dynamics implemented in
SiriusQuality2 wheat model. This model links phenological development with leaf expansion and
simulates the coordination between leaf sheath and lamina expansion and between phytomers and tillers.
The model was evaluated using detailed field experiments with contrasted water and N supply. Finally,
we demonstrated that the model is able to simulate the genetic variability and genotype by environment
(GxE) interactions for leaf growth and senescence, and we discussed the use of phenotyping platforms
to measure the genotypic parameters of the model on large genetic panels for genetic analysis.
SiriusQuality2 is a process-based wheat model composed of seven components modelling the
development of the plant and the fluxes of water, N and carbon in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum
(http://www1.clermont.inra.fr/siriusquality/). Leaf expansion is modeled using 14 parameters related to
internode, sheath and lamina growth. Daily leaf expansion and senescence is simulated in response to
water and N deficit using a supply-demand approach. The most influential parameters were identified
thanks to a global sensitivity analysis of the model (Martre et al., 2015) and the genetic variability of
three influential parameters of the leaf area dynamics model was determined for a panel of 16 winter
wheat modern cultivars grown in the field in France and UK with a range of water and N supply. Three
additional parameters related to the response of leaf expansion and senescence to water and N deficit
were calibrated numerically for the same genetic panel.
Results and Discussion
The number (NLL) and potential size (AreaPL) of the leaves produced after floral initiation, and the
potential ratio of the flag leaf to penultimate leaf size (RatioFLPL) strongly influenced leaf area
dynamics. These three parameters were measured for 16 modern cultivars in field experiments with
unlimited water and N supply. The range for these parameters were 3.9-5.6 leaves, 20.1-36.7 cm² and
0.67-1.27, respectively. Across the cultivars, the RatioFLPL was negatively correlated to the AreaPL
meaning that a larger potential leaf size was related to a smaller flag leaf compared to the penultimate
leaf. Variance analyses showed that the variability of these parameters were mainly due to genotypic
effects. Three parameters related to the critical N mass per unit of leaf surface area of growing leaves
and to the response of leaf expansion and senescence to water deficit were calibrated for the same genetic
111
panel under conditions of limited resource supply. Across all environments and genotypes, the root mean
squared relative error for LAI averaged 25%. The model was able to capture around 60% and 98% of the
genotypic (ranging from 2.5 to 3.6 m2 m-2) and environmental (1.3 to 4.9 m2 m-2) variability of LAI at
anthesis.
Conclusions
We conclude that the leaf area model presented here is able to explain a large part of the genotypic and
environmental effects on wheat leaf area dynamics using a minimum set of genotype-specific parameters.
The three parameters related to the developmental pattern of potential laminae surface area are mainly
under genetic control and can be easily determined in the field or in control conditions on large genetic
panels. The three parameters related to the response of leaf expansion and senescence to N and water
supply were calibrated numerically. This calibration requires large datasets with a range of water and N
supply. However, these parameters could also be determined under control conditions in plant
phenotyping platforms.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013;
grant no. FP7-613556). AM has received the support of the EU in the framework of the Marie-Curie FP7
COFUND People Programme, through the award of an AgreenSkills fellowship under grant agreement
n° PCOFUND-GA-2010-267196.
References
Evers, J.B., J. Vos, C. Fournier et al. (2005). New Phytologist, 166: 801–812.
Ewert, F. (2004). Annals of Botany, 93: 619–627.
Martre, P., J. He, J. Le Gouis, M.A. Semenov (2015). Journal of Experimental Botany, 66: 3581–3598.
Parent, B., and F. Tardieu (2014). Journal of Experimental Botany, 65: 6179–6189.
112
Growing Lettuce Under Multispectral LED Lamps With
Adjustable Light Intensity: Preliminary Results
Giacomo Tosti, Euro Pannacci, Marcello Guiducci, Paolo Benincasa, Michela Farneselli,
Andrea Onofri, Francesco Tei
Dip. di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari ed Ambientali (DSA3) Università degli Studi diPerugia, IT,
[email protected]
Introduction
Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) have been known in plant cultivation for about 15 years. LEDs technology
offers vast possibilities in horticultural lighting due to its ability to separate and mix different light
spectra, its high energy use efficiency and low heat production combined to a long lifespan of the device.
Recently, several studies have been focused on the effect of blue: red (B:R) ratio on growth and
organoleptic characteristic of different species (Piovene et al., 2015); even though only a small number
of these studies was aimed at investigating the combined effect of B:R ratio and other frequencies of the
central part of the PAR spectrum (CGA), i.e. cyan (C), green (G) and amber (A). An experiment in
controlled environment was conducted at the research facility of the Department of Agricultural, Food
and Environmental Sciences (University of Perugia, Italy). The effects of six light spectra were tested
on: biomass and N accumulation, leaf coverage evolution and light and energy use efficiency in a smooth
leaved lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.).
Tab. 1 – Description of light treatments.
Methods
The experiment was carried out in a walk-in
T5
LED (,nm)
climatic chamber where temperature and
Royal Blue (448)
140
Blue (470)
40
relative humidity were controlled (201 °C and
Cyan (505)
25
705%, respectively) and an incident PAR
Green (530)
25
photon flux density (PFD) of 300 µmol m-2 sAmber (590)
25
1(14/10 light/dark photoperiod) was supplied
Red (627)
10
with multispectral LED lamps with adjustable
Deep Red (655)
35
light intensity. These lamps were designed and
total PFD
300
B:R ratio
4,00 built in collaboration with the cutting edge
company GNC s.r.l.. Six light treatments (Tab.
1) were compared in a randomised block design with three replications, i.e. (i and ii) two controls with
B:R = 0.82 (same as in sunlight) with (T0) and without (T1) CGA frequencies, (iii) red prevalence (B:R
= 0.25) without CGA (T2), (iv) blue prevalence (B:R = 4) without CGA (T3), (v) red prevalence with
CGA (T4) and (vi) blue prevalence with CGA (T5). Soil coverage proportion (SC%) was recorded from
1 to 15 Days After Emergence (DAE) via image analysis; at 29 DAE biomass was sampled from the core
portion of each plot and dry weight accumulation and LAI were determined. Absorbed radiation (Qa,
mol m-2) was determined by a simplified model: Qa=Qi (SC%) (1-); where Qi represents the incident
radiation, and  the albedo. Radiation Use Efficiency (RUE, g mol-1 photons) was calculated as the ratio
between accumulated biomass (DW, g m-2) and cumulated Qa at the end of growing cycle.
Incident PFD µmol m-2 s-1
T0
T1
T2
T3
T4
37
125
50
140
35
39
10
10
100
10
42
0
0
0
25
44
0
0
0
25
46
0
0
0
25
46
10
40
10
40
46
155 200
50
140
300 300 300 300 300
0,82 0,82 0,25 4,00 0,25
Results
Treatments with red predominance (T2 and T4) showed the highest SC% rates, while those with blue
predominance (T3 and T5) were the lowest (Fig. 1). As the consequence canopy closure in T2 and T4
was achieved four days before T3 and T5.
Beside SC%, light spectrum also affected leaf morphology, as mean leaf surface area was reduced by
blue light (data not shown).
113
The highest biomass accumulation was observed in T2 and T4 (Tab. 2), followed by T0, while biomass
in T3 and T5 was significantly lower (similar to T1). LAI values were generally high, but treatments with
blue predominance showed the lowest values (both
with or without CGA); while CGA frequencies
increased LAI values in the treatment with red
predominance (Tab. 2). As confirmed by other
researches (Olle and Virsile, 2013), long
wavelength radiation (i.e. red and far red) exerted a
positive effect on cellular distension and mesophyll
thickness (resulting in increased biomass
accumulation and LAI). Cumulated Qa was the
highest in T2 and T4 (similar to T0), while T3 and
T5 reached lower values (not different from T1).
RUE was the highest in T2 and T4, intermediate in
T0 and low in T1, T3 and T5; so red light
predominance enhanced both cumulated Qa and
RUE. As the PFD was maintained constant during
Fig. 1 – Soil cover (%) throughout the lettuce growing
the
whole experiment, Qa was influenced by SC%
cycle.
and, secondarily, by albedo (although significant differences among treatments were recorded, albedo
accounted for less than 2% of incident PFD, data not shown).
Tab. 2 – Parameters at the end of lettuce growing cycle, included radiation use efficiency (RUE)
Biomass
LAI
Qa
RUE
(g m-2)
(m2 m-2)
(mol m-2)
(g mol-1)
207 b
9,58 a-b
287 a-b
0,72 b
T0
183 c
8,06 c
279 b-c
0,66 c
T1
231 a
8,71 b-c
296 a
0,78 a
T2
168 c
7,64 c
265 d
0,64 c
T3
217 a-b
10,26 a
286 a-b
0,76 a-b
T4
180 c
7,89 c
272 c-d
0,66 c
T5
5,3
0,430
3,6
0,016
SEM
Means with the same letter are not statistically different for P<0.05, LSD test. Standard Error of the Mean (SEM) is
reported
Conclusions
Under a constant incident photon flux density, lettuce reacted differently under different light spectra.
High proportion of red light (627-655 nm) increased crop growth, leaf expansion and RUE while an
increase of the blue light proportion reduced biomass accumulation via both low leaf expansion rate and
reduced RUE. The introduction of intermediate wavelengths (green, cyan and amber) did not bring
significant improvement in biomass accumulation or RUE. However, the use of intermediate
wavelengths should be better investigated, because they play a very important role in the quality of
organoleptic features as they are involved in the production of secondary metabolites.
References
Olle, M., and A. Virsile. 2013. The effects of light-emitting diode lighting on greenhouse plant growth and quality. Agric.
Food Sci. 22(2):223-234.
Piovene, C. et al. 2015. Optimal red: blue ratio in led lighting for nutraceutical indoor horticulture. Sci. Hortic. 193:202208.
114
Mechanical Weed Control in Organic Winter Wheat
Euro Pannacci, Francesco Tei, Marcello Guiducci
Dip. di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Ambientali (DSA3),Università degli Studi di Perugia, IT,
[email protected]
Introduction
In organic winter wheat the most frequently used direct weed control method is mechanical weed control
by spring tine harrowing, that is normally carried out at the early growth stages of the crop, until early
tillering. Using a spring tine harrow, all the field surface is treated, and the crop plants are exposed to the
same treatment as the weed plants, with the risk of crop damage. Among mechanical weed control
methods, inter-row hoeing is a highly selective method and its weed efficacy is not greatly affected by
soil moisture, soil type or timing (Rasmussen, 2004). Inter-row hoeing can be more effective that
harrowing, but in winter wheat it requires a wider than normal row spacing. An increase in row width
has been found to reduce the yield crop and to increase weed biomass (Verschwele, 2007).
The aim of this paper was to evaluate the efficacy against weeds and the effects on winter wheat of two
main mechanical weed control strategies: 1) spring tine harrowing used at different application times in
the crop sowed at narrow (traditional) row spacing (0.15 m) and 2) split-hoeing and finger-weeder, alone
and combined, in the crop sowed at wider row spacing (0.30 m).
Methods
Three field experiments were carried out in organic winter wheat in three consecutive years (exp. 1,
2005-06; exp. 2, 2006-07; exp. 3, 2007-08) in central Italy (42°57' N - 12°22' E, 165 m a.s.l.) on a clayloam soil (24.8% sand, 30.4% clay) with 0.9% organic C content. Different mechanical weed control
methods were compared (Tab.1) in a split-plot experimental design with four replicates. All mechanical
treatments were performed with the winter wheat at tillering and weeds at the cotyledons-2 true leaves
growth stage; N3 treatment was
Tab.1 - Mechanical weed control strategies in the field experiments
performed for the second time after two
Sowing Mechanical weed control methods
weeks. Harrowing was carried out with a
3 m-wide spring-tine harrow (Type SFN1. Spring-tine harrowing (single treatment)
30, Faza, Italy, equipped with 7 mmNarrow
N2. Spring-tine harrowing (double treatment at one time) diameter flexible tines) at a cultivation
row
depth of 10-20 mm and a driving speed of
spacing
N3. Spring-tine harrowing (double treatment at two time) 6 km h-1. Split-hoeing, an inter-row
(0.15 m)
mechanical control, was performed with
N4. Untreated control
an AspergGartnereibedarf split-hoe
(Asperg, Germany) at a cultivation depth
W1. Split-hoeing
Wider
of 30-40 mm and a driving speed of 3 km
W2. Finger-weeding
row
h-1. Finger-weeding, an intra-row
spacing
mechanical control, was carried out with
W3. Split-hoeing + Finger-weeding
a
Kress
finger-weeder
(Kress
(0.30 m)
W4. Untreated control
Umweltschonende
Landtechnik,
Germany) at a cultivation depth of 20-30
mm and a driving speed of 3 km h-1. Six
weeks after mechanical treatments, weed ground cover (%) was rated visually using the Braun–Blanquet
cover-abundance scale. Furthermore, weeds on three squares (0.6 x 0.5 m each one) per plot were
collected, counted, weighed, dried in oven at 105 °C to determine weed density and weed above-ground
dry biomass. At harvest, wheat ears density, grain yield (adjusted to 13% of moisture content), weight of
1000 seeds and hectolitre weight were recorded. Data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA)
115
and means were separated using Fisher's protected LSD at P = 0.05 level. ANOVA was performed with
the EXCEL® Add-in macro DSAASTAT (Onofri and Pannacci, 2014).
wider row
narrow row
Sowing
Results
Total weed flora was quite different in the three experiments with a density on the untreated controls (i.e.
N4 and W4) ranging from
Tab. 2 – Weed density and grain yield recorded in the field experiment
15 plants m-2 in the exp. 2 to
62 plants m-2 in the exp. 3
Weed density (n. m-2)
Grain yield (t ha-1)
Mechanical
(Tab. 2). In particular, the
treatments
Exp. 1 Exp. 2 Exp. 3
Exp. 1 Exp. 2 Exp. 3
main weed species were:
Polygonum aviculare L.
N1
19.3
17.1
29.7
5.27
6.60
6.89
(exp. 1 and 2), Fallopia
N2
6.3
5.8
18.2
4.93
6.32
6.88
convolvulus (L.) Á. Löve
N3
5.3
7.1
20.7
4.92
6.56
6.67
(exp. 1 and 3), Stachys
N4
22.7
15.0
46.0
5.39
6.79
6.81
annua (L.) L. (exp. 1),
LSD (P=0.05)
9.7
n.s.
19.8
n.s.
n.s.
n.s.
Anagallis arvensis L. (exp.
W1
10.7
8.8
10.7
4.81
6.25
6.25
2), Papaver rhoeas L.
W2
8.7
19.2
21.0
4.67
6.30
6.56
(exp.3),
Veronica
W3
6.3
19.6
6.0
4.44
6.21
6.32
hederifolia L. (exp. 3). In
W4
39.3
17.5
61.9
4.74
6.31
6.27
exp. 1 and 3 weed density
LSD (P=0.05)
10.9
n.s.
7.5
n.s.
n.s.
n.s.
showed
significant
average narrow row
13.4
11.3
28.6
5.13
6.57
6.81
differences
among
average wider row
16.3
16.3
24.9
4.67
6.27
6.35
mechanical treatments (Tab.
2). In particular, in the
narrow row vs. wider row
n.s.
*
n.s.
**
n.s.
*
winter wheat sowed at
narrow row spacing, a double treatment with spring-tine harrowing (N2 and N3) seems to be more
effective (lower weed density) than a single treatment (N1), although without significant differences
between "double treatment at one time" and "double treatment at two time" (Tab. 2). In wider row
spacing, an effective weed control was obtained by split-hoeing alone (W1) or combined with fingerweeder (W3), as already observed in other crops by Pannacci and Tei (2014). Weed density showed
significant differences between row spacing only in the exp. 2, probably due to low infestation that could
be more influenced by row spacing than high infestation levels (Rasmussen, 2004). Data on weed ground
cover and weed dry biomass (data not shown) confirmed the above mentioned results on weed density.
Concerning grain yield, no significant differences were observed among mechanical treatments (Tab. 2).
In the exp. 1 and 3, the grain yield was lower in wider rows compared to narrow rows. Similar results
were observed for the wheat ears density, weight of 1000 seeds and hectolitre weight (data not shown).
Conclusions
In organic winter wheat the mechanical weed control seems to be effective either in narrow row spacing
and wider row spacing. The results of grain yield seem to suggest the adoption of narrow rows. However,
in the cases of high infestation of grass weeds or difficult-to-uproot weeds, the wider rows could offer
the opportunity to use split-hoeing more effective than spring-tine harrow.
References
Onofri A., Pannacci E. 2014. Spreadsheet tools for biometry classes in crop science programmes. Commun.Biom. Crop
Sci. 9:3-13.
Pannacci, E., Tei F. 2014. Effects of mechanical and chemical methods on weed control, weed seed rain and crop yield in
maize, sunflower and soyabean. Crop Prot. 64:51-59.
Rasmussen, I.A. 2004. The effect of sowing date, stale seedbed, row width and mechanical weed control on weeds and
yields of organic winter wheat. Weed Res. 44:12-20.
Verschwele, A. 2007. Reducing weed infestation in winter wheat by sowing technique. In: Proceedings of 7 thEWRS
Workshop on Physical and Cultural Weed Control, Salem, Germany, 11-14 March 2007, 91-96.
116
Cereal-Legume Mixtures for Annual Forage Crop under
Mediterranean Conditions
Rita A. M. Melis1, Paolo Annicchiarico2 and Claudio Porqueddu1
1
Istituto per il Sistema Produzione Animale in Ambiente Mediterraneo(CNR-ISPAAM), Sassari, Italy,
2
Centro di Ricerca per le Produzioni Foraggere e Lattiero-Casearie (CREA-FLC), Lodi, Italy
[email protected]
Introduction
The resilience towards climate change and the economic and environmental sustainability of
Mediterranean farming systems might be enhanced by the introduction of multispecies mixtures (Finn et
al., 2013). The use of cereal-legume mixtures is traditionally considered a good agronomical practice if
compared to monocultures. Nonetheless, it requires some innovation to increase yield efficiency. The
present study aimed at assessing new elite lines and varieties of legumes in monoculture and in mixture
with winter cereals for hay production. Moreover, a participatory approach involving farmers was chosen
to better evaluate crops and meet farmers’ requirements.
Methods
The experiment was carried out on a deep alluvial soil (pH 7.8, water) in the experimental field of CNRISPAAM (40° 45’ N, 8° 25’ E, 24 m a.s.l.). The site has a typical central Mediterranean climate (550
mm of average annual rainfall). Monocultures of semileafless Pisum sativum L. ‘Kaspa’ (P1) and ‘line
2/37b’ (P2), forage pea; Vicia narbonensis L. ‘Bozdag’(N), Narbon vetch; Vicia sativa L. ‘Barril’ (V),
common vetch; Avena sativa L. ‘Genziana’ (O), oat and x Triticosecale ‘Amarillo’ (T), triticale, were
evaluated and compared to eight binary and two four-components mixtures based on the same species
(Table 1). Before sowing, nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers were distributed (15 kg nitrogen and 45 kg
P2O5 ha-1). The same amount of nitrogen was distributed in each plot at the end of the winter. Sowing
was done in the first and second decade of November 2013 and 2014, respectively. Sowing rates were
153, 178 and 154 kg ha-1 for P1, P2 and N, 101 kg ha-1 for V and 122 kg ha-1 for O and T. Seed rates
were halved for each component in binary mixtures and reduced to a quarter in four-components
mixtures. Monocultures and mixtures were in rotation with durum wheat (1:1). Crops were grown in
plots (4x3 m) following a CRBD with 4 replications. Farmers’ assessment in the field was carried out
fifteen days before harvesting using a visual score (from 1 to 5, where 5 was the highest positive value).
Harvesting was done in half-May in both years, when legumes were at the early pod-filling stage and
cereals at the heading stage or early-flowering stage. Herbage samples were taken from a quadrat (1 m2)
in the centre of each plot. A subsample was dried in ventilated oven at 60 °C up to constant weight. Dry
matter yield (DMY) was then determined and calculated on an hectare basis. One way ANOVA was
performed with Statgraphics Centurion XV (Statpoint Technologies, Inc. Warrenton, Virginia). When
means were statistically different, LSD values (P<0.05) were calculated.
Results
In the first year, forage pea monocultures showed the highest DMY among legumes (7.7 P1 and 9.6 t ha1 P ), followed by P -and V-based binary mixtures (Table 1). O and T monocultures and N-mixtures were
2
2
low-yielding. Nonetheless, the lowest DMY was shown by N in monoculture (1.5 t ha-1). In the second
year, the best sDMY were assessed in O monocultures and P1 monoculture (8 t ha-1), followed by V
monoculture, VO and T. Narbon vetch monoculture showed the lowest productive performances (2.5 t
ha-1) followed by its binary mixtures confirming what assessed in the previous year. On average, DMY
was higher in binary mixtures than in four-components and in pea-based than in vetch-based mixtures.
Moreover, both cereals in binary mixes promoted a good performance in DM production and a
comparable weed control. Legume rate in mixtures exceeded 50% in the first year, with the exception of
N-based mixtures (20%). A decrease in legume contribution was observed in the second year due to the
117
unfavorable meteorological trend characterized by a dry winter and late frosts. Legume rate ranged from
16 (NO) to 68% (VT). Monocultures and mixtures showed a different ability in weed control. In 2014,
V was the species that best controlled weeds, both in monocultures and in mixtures. Narbon vetch, having
an erect habitus and a smaller soil covering ability than V, showed a limited weed control, being weeds
53% on total DMY basis in monocultures. In the subsequent year, the trend showed by mixtures in weed
control was similar to what occurred in 2014. The farmers’ judgment awarded V and its mixtures with
cereals, together with P1 monocultures. In farmers’ opinion, N was a species better adapted to grain
production than forage production and this explained the intermediate score registered for this species.
Table 1. DMY of sown species (sDMY), rate of legume species (sDMY basis), rate of weeds on total
DMY in monocultures and mixtures of legume and cereal species, and their visual score.
year
2014
2015
2014
Crop
sDMY
Weeds
sDMY
Legumes
Legumes
Weeds
Visual score
(%)
(tha-1)
(tha-1)
(%)
(%)
%
(1-5)
P1
P2
V
N
O
T
P 1O
P1T
P 2O
P2T
NO
NT
VO
VT
P1P2OT
NVOT
LSD
7.7
9.6
5.6
1.5
4.7
3.0
5.7
4.8
6.3
6.7
4.1
3.1
6.2
5.7
6.4
5.2
2.2
100
100
100
100
58
69
62
84
17
23
58
81
69
56
13
10
8
1
53
8
18
6
21
9
7
17
22
3
5
5
15
13
8.0
5.5
7.4
2.5
8.2
6.9
6.4
6.4
6.0
5.7
4.8
4.2
7.0
5.8
5.6
5.6
2.7
100
100
100
100
41
49
35
60
16
23
38
68
42
53
15
16
23
3
38
7
12
9
20
18
17
14
25
8
10
14
13
12
4.2
3.6
4.2
3.1
3.8
3.2
3.6
3.8
3.7
3.2
3.4
2.9
4.2
4.1
3.7
4.0
0.6
Conclusions
The outcomes of the trial showed that new options of legume-cereal associations are possible for
Mediterranean environments, offering similar or better performances than the traditional V-based
mixtures. Moreover, the involvement of farmers in the crop evaluation is a good tool to support plant
breeders and agronomists’ decisional pathways, orienting the successful introduction of new legume
varieties in current farming systems.
Acknowledgements
The activity was funded by the European Commission in the framework of the ERA-NET ARIMNET
programme within the Project REFORMA. We thank Mr. Daniele Nieddu and Mr. Daniele Dettori for
the technical help.
References
Finn et al., 2013. Ecosystem function enhanced by combining four functional types of plant species in intensively managed
grassland mixtures: a 3-year continental-scale field experiment. Journal of Applied Ecology 2013, 50: 365–375.
118
POSTER
119
Agronomic Assessment of Soybean Cultivated in
Southern Italy
Eugenio Nardella1, Giuseppe Gatta1, Federica Carucci1, Roberto Anzivino1, Michele
Cascavilla2, Dmitry Kuznetsov3, Marcella Michela Giuliani1
2
Centro per la Sperimentazione e Valorizzazione delle Colture Mediterranee, Syngenta, IT,
[email protected]
3
Syngenta, CH, [email protected]
1
Introduction
Soybean (Glycine max, L.) is among the top 10 most widely cultivated crops (Ku et al., 2013). In Italy,
soybean is mainly cultivated in the northern areas but the increasing global demand of protein and oil
may promote the cultivation in the southern areas too. Crop water requirements for maximum production
vary between 450 and 700 mm/season depending on climate (www.fao.org). Greenhouse and field
studies showed that drought stress led to significant reduction in seed yield (24~50%) depending on the
environment and the stress timing (Frederick et al., 2001; Sadeghipour and Abbasi, 2012). The aim of
this study is to evaluate the quantitative and qualitative response of soybean cultivated in semi-arid
conditions.
Methods
The trial was conducted in 2015 in Foggia (Apulia region, Southern Italy, 41°54’N, 15°50’E, 23 m above
sea level). The cultivar Demetra (Syngenta Seeds, Switzerland), was sown on May 18th in single rows
with final plant density of 27 plants m-2, on a
Table 1. Description of water regimes.
clay-loam soil (USDA). Two different water
Moderate
Well watered
Growth stage
water stressed
regimes, well watered (WW) and moderate water
(WW)
(MWS)
stressed (MWS), were applied (Table 1). A drip
1: from sowing full
full
irrigation system was used and the amounts and
to late
compensation of compensation
dates of irrigation were determined using an
flowering
water
of water
electronic tensiometers system (Irrometer
requirement
requirement
Company, USA). Irrigations were performed
2: from late
full
only
flowering to
compensation of supplemental
every time the available water of WW depleted
10% of fully
water
irrigations
to the threshold value of 40%. In Table 2
developed
requirement
irrigation amount applied under each water
pods
regime and total rainfall during the soybean crop
3: from 10%
full
full
of fully
developed
pods to harvest
compensation of
water
requirement
compensation
of water
requirement
season were reported. The experiment was arranged
in a randomized complete block design with six
replicates; each plot covered a 18 m2 surface. At
harvest (September 23th), seed yield, 1000 seeds
weight, humidity and protein and fat content were
evaluated. All data were analyzed using analysis of
variance (ANOVA) and the significant differences
among the mean values were calculated following
Tukey’s test. In Figure 1 the temperature and rainfall
Table 2. Irrigation amount applied and total rainfall.
Water regime (mm)
Growth stage
WW
MWS
1
360.8
360.8
2
160.4
91.3
3
81.2
81.2
Irrigation water (mm)
602.4
533.3
Rainfall (mm)
78.7
78.7
Total water (mm)
681.1
612.0
120
Table 3. Effect of water regime on quali-quantitative
parameters.
Water regime (mm)
Parameters
WW
MWS
Yield (q ha-1)
49.4 a
42.7 b
1000 seeds weight (g)
168.7 a
161.5 a
Humidity (% d.w.)
11.5 a
11.3 a
Protein (% d.w.)
38.3 a
36.5 a
Fat (% d.w.)
24.7 a
25.3 a
a-b In each column, means followed by equal letters are
not significantly different for P≤0.05 (Tukey’s test).
21-23 Sep
11-20 Sep
1-10 Sep
21-31 Aug
11-20 Aug
1-10 Aug
21-31 Jul
11-20 Jul
1-10 Jul
21-30 Jun
11-20 Jun
1-10 Jun
21-31 May
18-20 May
Rainfall (mm)
Temperature ( C)
data were reported. Tmax was higher than or equal to 35 °C in July; total rainfall during the crop cycle
was very low (78.7 mm).
Results
In Table 3 the effect of
Rainfall
Tmax
Tmin
water regime on yield and
80
40
quality
parameters
70
35
60
30
evaluated at harvest was
50
25
reported. The yield obtained
40
20
in
our
experimental
30
15
20
10
condition was in mean 46 q
10
5
ha-1, higher than the Italian
0
0
average yield for the same
year reported by ISTAT (37
q ha-1). This is an interesting
Growing cycle
result for our semi-arid
environment utilizing an
Figure 1. Temperature and rainfall data.
irrigation volume equal to
602.4 mm in agreement
with those recommended by FAO (www.fao.org). With respect to WW regime, MWS regime showed
significant lower yield value (-13.7%) with a water saving only of 11.5%. In our experimental condition
the water shortage was carried out in stage 2 (from late flowering to 10% of fully developed pods), one
of the most sensible periods to water stress in soybean; although that a good yield performance has been
achieved. 1000 seeds weight did not show significant difference between the two water regimes, being
the MWS regime value only 4.3% lower than WW regime. Also qualitative parameters protein and fat
content did not show significant differences between the two water regimes, but the mean values obtained
in our experimental condition were in agreement with those reported in the literature (Kirnak et al., 2010).
Conclusions
In our experimental condition, the soybean cultivar
Demetra showed a good quanti-qualitative
performance that let us suppose a good adaptability
in Capitanata area. In particular, it is interesting to
note that also under the MWS regime soybean
showed a good quantitative and qualitative
response with values in line with those obtained at
the national level. Further researches are in progress
to confirm these preliminary results.
References
Frederick et al. 2001. Drought-stress effects on branch and mainstem seed yield and yield components of determinate
soybean. Crop Sci., 41:759-763.
ISTAT 2015. agri.istat.it
Kirnak et al. 2010. Effect of drip irrigation intensity on soybean seed yield and quality in the semi-arid Harran plain,
Turkey. Span. J. Agric. Res., 8:1208-1217.
Ku et al. 2013. Drought stress and tolerance in soybean. In: J.E. Board (ed.), A comprehensive survey of International
soybean research – genetics, physiology, agronomy and nitrose relationships, pp. 209-237.
Sadeghipour and Abbasi 2012. Soybean response to drought and seed inoculation. World Appl. Sci. J., 17:55-60.
www.fao.org/nr/water/cropinfo_soybean.html
VV.AA. 2009. Azioni di innovazione e ricerca a supporto del piano proteine vegetali – soia. Centro Ricerche Produzioni
Animali, 162 pp.
121
Agronomic Methods to Control Parasitic Phelipanche
ramosa (L.) Pomel in Processing Tomato Crop
Grazia Disciglio, Giuseppe Gatta, Laura Frabboni, Emanuele Tarantino
Dip. di Scienze Agrarie, degli Alimenti e dell’Ambiente Univ. Foggia, IT, [email protected]
Introduction
This research is a part of ongoing project on the control of Phelipanche ramosa (L.) to processing tomato
crop, started in the 2014 at the University of Foggia. The P. ramosa is an obligate root parasite that causes
severe damage in many important crops throughout the world, including to tomato crop. This parasite
attaches to plant root early the growing season at 14 to 28 days after transplanting (DAT), depending on
temperature conditions (Eizemberg et al., 1998). Most of the damage to the host plant occurs before
parasite shoot emerge, this restricting effective control to its underground. Several methods for its control
have been tried, including the hazardous and toxic use of chemical ones, that can be damaging to both
humans and animals and can lead to environmental pollution. In the sustainable agriculture, there is the
need to develop alternative non chemical methods such as agronomic soil managements, organic and
inorganic fertilization compounds, crop rotations etc. (Habimana et al., 2013). In recent years, the use of
organic fertilizers or biostimulant compounds has encountered increasing interest in agriculture because
some of them improve crop resistance to stresses, control nutrient availability in the soil, and inhibit P.
ramosa (Disciglio, et al. 2016). Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the effects to
control the root-parasitic P. ramosa in field as soil plowing depth, organic fertilizer, biostimulants and
olive-miller wastewater applications.
Methods
The experiment was carried out in open field heavily infested by P. ramosa, during the spring-summer
season of 2014, at Foggia (Apulia Region, southern Italy). Six thesis of parasitic weed control methods
were compared as followed: 1) Radicon biostimulant, a suspension–solution containing humic and fulvic
acids, applied at transplanting time by root soaked in 1.5% solution and during the first three irrigations;
2) Viormon plus biostimulant, a solution of nicotinic acid (0.1%), vitamin B1 (0.1%) and boron (2%),
applied by foliar treatment at dose of 50 ml L-1, at 30 and 52 days after transplanting; 3) Siapton 10 L
biostimulant, a formulation based on amino acids and peptides, applied by foliar treatment at the dose of
300 mL 100-1 L of water, at 30 and 52 days after transplanting; 4) Sumus, organic fertiliser of a manure
mixture of cattle, poultry and domestic stallatic (3.3 t ha-1), applied 7 days before seedling transplantation;
5) Olive-mill wastewater, incorporated into the soil at dose of 60 m3ha-1 (amount permitted by Italian law
No 574, 1996), 60 days prior seedling transplantion; 6) Control untreated. Moreover, each of above
mentioned thesis was tested on two plowing soil depth (30 and 50 cm). Therefore, the experimental trial
was arranged in the field according to a split-plot design, with three replicated, using the plowing depth
as main plots of 60 m2 and the 6 compared treatments as subplots of 16 m2. The crop was transplanted
into the experimental field on May 5, 2014, in double rows that were 200 cm apart, with 40 cm spacing
between the paired rows and 30 cm spacing in each row, resulting in a theoretical plant density of 3.3
plants m-2. The agricultural management practices applied to the tomato crop during the experimental trial
were those commonly adopted by local farmers. At harvesting, on August 18, P. ramosa emerged shoots
from soil were counted on the sampling area of 1 m2 and the major quantity-quality yield parameters
(marketable yield, mean weight, dry matter, pH, soluble solids and color of fruits) were determined. All
data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the means were compared by Tukey's test.
Results
In table 1 the number of P. ramosa emerged shoots from 1 m-2 of soil surface, at harvest time of tomato are
reported. They varied between 2.0 and 60.6, whose values were in general lower in the plowing deeper (50
122
cm) than the shallow one (30 cm), corresponding, on average, respectively to 19.2 and 28.3. As regard the
different methods, significantly lower values were determined in both plowing depth for Radicon biostimulant
and in plowing deeper for the Olive-mill wastewater and Viormon plus treatments. In the other treatments
the values of emerged shoots were similar to that of the control. As regard the productive traits of the tomato
crop the 50 cm plowing depth provided higher marketable yield (on average 62.6 t ha -1) than that at 30 cm
depth (on average 50.1 t ha-1). Among treatments, generally, the data did not show any significant effect.
Anyway, the marketable yield tends to by higher in Radicon and Olive-mill wastewater treatments
corresponding to those where a smaller number of emerged shoots than the others compared thesis were noted.
The higher marketable yield appears to be mainly due to the high mean weight of fruits. Regarding the other
fruit characteristics no significative differences were observed.
Tab. 1 The number of Phelipanche emerged shoots and quanti-qualitative traits of the tomato fruit
under the different treatments
Treatment
Depth of
plowing
Marketable
yield
Mean
weight
Soluble
solids
(cm)
Number
emerged
shoot
(n.m-2)
(t ha-1)
(g)
(°Brix)
Radicon
30
50
2.0±1.2c
7.2±5.4c
58.3±7.9
78.5±1.5
65.0±2.9
60.0±2.9
6.53±0.20
5.93±0.12
Viormon plus
30
50
25.2±2.4a
8.0±2.0c
43.5±4.7
53.0±6.0
51.7±4.4
58.3±4.4
Siapton 10 L
30
50
27.8±1.2a
22.6±9.2a
32.3±3.0
50.5±3.2
Sumus
30
50
60.6±5.0a
49,2±15.6a
Olive-mill
wastewater
30
50
Control
Mean
pH
Acidity
Color
(g ac.cit./100 ml
of juice)
(a/b)
4,11±0.03
4.22±0.01
0.40±0.00
0.34±0.02
1.08±0.02
1.06±0.02
6,60±0,15
6.13±0.30
4.10±0,02
4.06±0.01
0.38±0.02
0.41±0.00
1,08±0.05
1.10±0.01
51.7±1.7
50.0±0.1
4,93±0.15
4.70±0.20
4.12±0.04
4.07±0.04
0.36±0.01
0.38±0.01
1.19±0.01
1.04±0.02
43.6±4.2
61.6±2.6
46.7±3.3
60.0±2.9
5.20±0.10
5.40±0.06
4.21±0.05
4.10±0.04
0.34±0.02
0.39±0.01
1.18±0.03
1.17±0.04
20.6±8.6b
10.6±1.8c
67.7±0.6
64.9±6.6
48.3±3.3
55.0±2.9
5.00±0.10
5.17±0.12
4.13±0.07
4.23±0.01
0.35±0.02
0.31±0.01
1.13±0.03
1.16±0.02
30
50
33.6±11.0c
17.6±7.6b
55.5±10.9
66.9±9.0
58.3±3.3
56.7±1.7
5.63±0.20
5.47±0.17
4.10±0.02
4.18±0.03
0.38±0.38
0.33±0.01
1.10±0.02
1.18±0.01
30
50
28.3±4.9a
19.2±6.93b
50.1±5.2
62,6±3.8
53.6±3.1
56.7±2.5
5.65±0.15
5.47±0.16
4.13±0.08
4.14±0.02
0.37±0.08
0.36±0.01
1.13±0.03
1.12±0.02
Conclusions
The principal conclusion to be drawn from this study is to confirm that no single technique provides
complete control of Phelipanche and resorting to some of them is unavoidable. As control methods,
lower values of emerged shots were observed in the plowing depth (50 cm) than the shallow plowing one
(30 cm). In addition, Radicon biostimulant approache appear to be the most effective control means in
reducing the infestation of Phelipanche tomato crop. It is assumed that these effects can be improved by
combining some of these treatments each other, especially for a gradual and continuing reduction of the
“seed bank” of the parasite in the soil.
References
Eizemberg H. et al. 1998. Effect of seasonal conditions on host-parasite relationship in Orobanche crenata and O.
aegyptiacal. In: K. Wegmann, L.J. Muselman, D.M. Joel (eds.) Current problems in Orobanche research. Proc. 4th Int.
Workshop Orobanche, Bulgaria. pp. 187-92.
Disciglio G. et al. 2016. Effects of different methods to control the parasitic weed Phelipanche ramosa (L.) Pomel in
processing tomato crops. Italian Journal of Agronomy, vol. 11:681, 39-46.
Habimana S. et al. 2013. Management of Orobanche in field crops. A review. Scientific Journal of Crop Science, no 2
(11): 144-158.
123
TIP: a Flexible Tool for Integrated Agriculture
Francesco Savian, Paolo Ceccon, Francesco Danuso
Department of Agricultural, Food, Environmental and Animal Sciences (DI4A)
Introduction
Over the last decades, integrated agriculture has become a main issue in the EU. In particular, crop
protection strategies deeply changed thanks to both knowledge and technology improvements.
Challenges regard the preservation of food safety, quality and production, minimizing the negative
impacts resulting by the management of agroecosystems, such as environmental pollution and
development of resistance to pathogens. Ultimately, almost every agroecosystem still rely on pesticide
use; therefore, these challenges can only be met through the optimization of plant protection strategies.
Phytopathological modelling was initially developed for the very reason of supplying an informative tool
to support decision makers in crop protection choices and empower knowledge on pathogenetic systems
(Cossu et al., 1996). Therefore, models can be used to forecast disease outbreaks and summarizing the
complex interactions of four systems (pathogen, crop, environment and agricultural practices) in few,
clear and easy to understand indexes.
Despite of this, an extensive use of models is limited by several difficulties related to input data
management, models implementation and calibration, and reliability of results for decision purposes.
On a regional basis, several Italian phytosanitary services already use models to forecast disease
outbreaks; however, most of these models are black box that cannot be modified nor parameterized by
users and require developer assistance for both calibration and validation. For these reasons, a software
platform to run models for integrated agriculture at the regional level has been developed.
Methods
TIP (Tool for Integrated Plant protection) is a software platform aimed at managing pest and disease
models developed at DI4A-University of Udine in collaboration with the Regional Agency for Rural
Development of Friuli Venezia Giulia (ERSA-FVG). TIP is a flexible, freeware, user-friendly tool
working under Windows OS, which allows several levels of model management (model use, model
calibration and model development), according to user’s role and knowledge (Table 1 and Figure 1.A).
Table 1. Different users and user’s objective considered by the TIP platform.
Role
End-Users
Testers
Modelers
People involved
Farmers and
technical advisors
Territorial agency
experts and
technicians
Researchers or others
professionals with
basic knowledge of
principles of system
dynamics
Objective
Run models to obtain information on disease progress and
infection risk and to set up the protection strategy
Test the model local reliability through calibration of
parameters and validation of simulation result using field
data. They can perform handy calibration from the TIP shell
or use the more sophisticated automatic calibration procedure
of SemRun* (Danuso et al., 2014)
Develop and modify the models written in the SEMoLa
language. They can also perform simulation, calibration and
validation, but they are mainly focused on the design of
model’s releases and on the upgrade of TIP set of models
distributing executable setup for other type of users
* SemRun is an independent application of the SEMoLa package, included even in the TIP installation software.
TIP gives the users an almost complete access to models management, leaving them the right to:
1. choose their own set of models, because model installation is independent on TIP platform;
2. perform procedures of calibration and validation by themselves;
124
3. modify model equations directly working on source code. This last option requires basic knowledge
of System Dynamics principles and SEMoLa language, the installation of the software used for
models development (SEMoLa; Danuso et al., 2014) and the PBCC PowerBasic commercial compiler
for building executables.
Results and Discussion
TIP has a dialogue window (Figure 1.B) to assist users in both preparation of input files and simulation
runs. Simulation results are displayed on a graphical window, reporting the most significant weather
variable (upper part) and models outputs (lower part). Results are also stored in “csv” format, if needed.
Simulation procedure is simple and straightforward, and require to:
1. select crop and pest or disease from a drop down menu in the upper part of the window;
2. select the name of the pest/disease and then select the model to be used;
3. select weather data. TIP platform is already linked to the FVG regional weather service from which
it can automatically download weather data, just selecting location and year of simulation. However,
data from other weather stations can also be imported and procedure to download data from other
weather regional agencies can be easily implemented as a text file;
4. set the user’s measurable parameter, if required by the models;
5. click on “Simulation” button to generate the simulation results. TIP procedure and commands are
reported in the dialogue box under the graphical window.
Simulation can be run for a single site or for all the regional weather stations at once. In the latter case,
TIP can spatialize simulation results and draw the risk map. Currently, models for Diabrotica virgifera,
Ostrinia nubilalis, Lobesia botrana, and Plasmopara viticola are available in the TIP platform.
A
B
Figure 1. Interaction between TIP users (A), TIP dialogue windows running Davis models (Davis et al,
1996) for Diabrotica virgifera (B).
Acknowledgements
TIP has been developed jointly with ERSA-FVG. We are grateful to all technical advisors for their suggestions and, in
particular, to Gianluca Governatori, Markus Castelluccio and Davide Bianco for their collaboration.
References
Cossu, A., 1996 Modelli matematici a supporto della protezione delle colture in Sardegna. Atti Convegno:
Agrometeorologia e Ambiente. Orosei, December 11th 1996.
Davis, P.M., et al., 1996. Environmental Entomology, 25(4), 767–775.
Danuso F., et al. 2014. SEMoLa: a simple and easy modelling language. Ecological Modelling, 285, 54-77.
125
Development of a Smart App for Deriving 3D
Distributions of the Angles of Photosynthetic Tissues
R. Confalonieri1, C. Zoppolato2, E. Grassi2, M. Difrancesco2, R. Duò2, L. Scopelliti2, D.
Lombardi2, C. Agape2, L. Baia2, A. Ghilardi2, A. Magarini2, M. Salvan2, F. Massara2, G.
Baronchelli2, P. Papetti2, G. Tomasoni2, A. Vailati2, O. Vittori2, A. Zani2, C. Michelini2, R.
Ravasi2, M. Colaluce2, L. Rossi2, M. Martinelli2, T. Tadiello2, D. Paratico2, K. Valloggia2, I.
Ferri2, D. Locati2, A. Gerosa2, E. Colombo2, P. Piterà2, P. Incondi2, D. Di Gaetano2, L.
Antonietti2, F. Massi2, G. Borlini2, F. Fanti2, I. Minussi2, S. Viganò2, D. Bassi2, A. Negro2, L.
Monopoli2, U. Rolla2, R. Motta2,A. Marabotti2, E. Carugno2, M. Bugana2, P. Dal Cin2, S.
Urzì2, D. Bertocchi2, S. Tartarini2, W. Thoelke2, A. Curatolo2, F. Bellomi2, D. Colombo2, F.
Novelli2, A. Rota Graziosi2, D. Gaia2, V. Fauda2, A. Brumana2, M. Chiaravalli2, F. Fedeli2, D.
Noè2, F. Perez2, A. Rodigari2, S. Celozzi2, G. Longari2, M. Rebolini2, G. Zamboni2, E.
Movedi1, L. Paleari1, V. Pagani1, T. Guarneri1, M. Foi1
1Cassandra
lab, Università degli Studi di Milano, IT, [email protected]
del corso di Sistemi Colturali, Università degli Studi di Milano, IT
2Studenti
Introduction
Leaf angles (LAs) are crucial to describe canopy structure and dynamics since strictly involved with
radiation interception and water requirements. LAs can be measured or estimated using indirect methods
(Campbell, 1990) for analysing growth dynamics or comparing different genotypes for breeding purposes
(Truong et al., 2015).In this context, given the large number of genotypes evaluated, automation, rapidity
and low cost (allowing many operators in parallel) are critical requirements, being phenotypingoften
considered a bottleneck inbreeding programs (Miflin, 2000).Despite the importance of LA, no
standardized methods are available for its estimate. Moreover, it is often considered as the leaf insertion
angle, whereas – according to its functional meaning – it would be better to relate it to the distribution of
the angles of photosynthetic tissues (genotypes have different tendency to bend leaf blades).The methods
used to estimate LA differ in complexity, cost, labour required, need for post-processing, etc. In many
cases, this trait is estimated using inexpensive analogic or digital goniometers (Wu et al., 2015).
However, they do not store measurements and they are time consuming. The same considerations are
valid for azimuthal plastic-board circles (Maddonni et al., 2001) and for analogic or digital inclinometers.
Other techniques are based on the semi-automatic processing of images and stereo images (Müller-Linow
et al., 2015). Even in this case, the methods are time consuming, require calibration and – for stereo
images – they need auto-levelling facilities to acquire pictures from above the canopy.
The objective of this study (carried out with students of a Cropping Systems class of the University of
Milan) was the development and evaluation of a smart app to estimate leaf insertion angles and the 3D
distribution of the angles of photosynthetic tissues.
Methods
The application uses the device accelerometer and magnetometer.
Figure 1. Collecting data using PocketPlant3D to derive the 3D distribution of plant photosynthetic tissues.
The accelerometer is used to detect the orientation of the device in the Earth’s gravitational field. The
orientation is related to the information provided by the device magnetometer, to allow the collection of
126
angles also in relation to their orientation with respect to the North. Data are acquired (Fig. 1) by (i)
specifying a name for the acquisition; (ii) placing the back of the smartphone at the leaf insertion of one
of the leaves, with the main axis of the device perpendicular to the main axis of the leaf; (iii) clicking on
the Start icon and start moving the device along the leaf; (iv) clicking again on the icon (re-named Stop
during acquisition) once at the end of the leaf. Steps ii to iv can be repeated for the other leaves. During
step iii, the angle and orientation of photosynthetic tissues are acquired and recorded each 200
milliseconds, thus allowing the 3D reconstruction of the distribution of tissues. At the beginning of the
step iii, the insertion angle is recorded too. The application was tested in a comparative study with other
methods on different maize hybrids in different phenological stages, and its repeatability and
reproducibility were determined according to an adaptation of the ISO 5725 protocol to field methods.
Results
Fig. 2 shows the main screen of the smart app graphical user interface (GUI) and how outputs are
displayed.
Compared to the other methods, the app demonstrated its suitability in terms of both usability and time
needed to perform the measurements, being fast in acquiring data that are automatically stored in an
internal database. The collection of information related with both the angles of photosynthetic tissues
and their orientation allowed 3D reconstructions of crop canopies. Both differences between genotypes
and temporal dynamics were easily detected.
Moreover, the app demonstrated satisfying
values of repeatability (dispersion of
measurement replicates) and reproducibility
(dispersion of measurements performed by
different operators, in different moments, with
different devices, etc.).
Figure 2. PocketPlant3D: GUI main screen
(left) and graphical display of outputs (angles
and orientation) (right).
Conclusions
The PocketPlant3D smart app represents the first solution to collect – in real time and without the need
of post-processing data – information on the angle and orientation of photosynthetic tissues, allowing 3D
representation of canopy structures. The evaluation activity is ongoing. However, the preliminary results
collected until now fully demonstrate the good potential of the solution proposed.
References
Campbell, G.S., 1990. Derivation of an angle density function for canopies with ellipsoidal leaf angle distributions. Agr.
Forest Meteorol. 49, 173-176.
Maddonni, G.A. et al., 2001. Plant population density, row spacing and hybrid effects on maize canopy architecture and
light attenuation. Field Crop. Res. 71, 183-193.
Miflin, B., 2000. Crop improvement in the 21th century. J. Exp. Bot. 51, 1-8.
Müller-Linow, M. et al., 2015. The leaf angle distribution of natural plant populations: assessing the canopy with a novel
software tool. Plant Methods 11, 11.
Truong, S.K. et al., 2015. Harnessing genetic variation in leaf angle to increase productivity of Sorghum bicolor. Genetics
201, 1229-1238.
Wu, Q. et al., 2016.QTL mapping of flag leaf traits in common wheat using an integrated high-density SSR and SNP
genetic linkage map. Euphytica 208, 337-351.
127
Increase of Iron and Zinc Concentration in Grain of Bread
Wheat Field-Inoculated with Arbuscular Mycorrhizal
Fungi
Laura Ercoli1, Gaia Piazza1, Valentina Ciccolini1, Enrico Bonari1, Elisa Pellegrino1
1Institute
of Life Sciences, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pizza Martiri della Libertà 33, 56127 Pisa, Italy
Introduction
For most major field crops, such as wheat, actual yield is estimated at 50-80% of yield potential, due to
growth-limiting factors. In addition, over 60% and 30% of world population suffer from mineral Fe and
Zn deficiencies, respectively (White and Broadley, 2009). In sustainable agricultural systems, yield and
macro- and micro-nutrient uptake can be strongly improved by inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal
fungi (AMF) (Gianinazzi et al., 2010). AMF establish a mutual symbiosis with the majority of land plant
species, supplying mineral nutrients to the plants and improving yield and resistance to biotic and abiotic
stresses (Smith and Read, 2008). A recent meta-analysis on wheat (Triticum spp.) responses to AMF
field inoculation highlighted increases in grain (>20%) and Zn (> 10%) content (Pellegrino et al.
2015).However, these results were obtained on a small number of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)
varieties and from trials located in India, North America, China and Australia, and not in the
Mediterranean basin. The aim of this research was to evaluate the success of AMF field inoculation on
11 bread wheat varieties grown in a Mediterranean climate. The success of the inoculation was verified
by grain yield and Fe and Zn concentration in grain, and by morphological and molecular genetic tracing
of fungal establishment within the roots.
Material and methods
Experimental field site. A field experiment was conducted in 2013-2014 at the Enrico Avanzi Centre of
Agro-Environmental Research of the University of Pisa. Soil physical and chemical properties were:
39.4% sand; 40.5% silt; 20.1% clay; 8.4 pH; 10.4 g kg-1 organic carbon; 1.5 g kg-1 total N; 24.7 mg kg-1
available P; 19.3 and 0.64 mg kg-1available Fe and Zn, respectively. Climate of the site is cold, humid
Mediterranean. Experimental set-up and crop management. Eleven bread wheat genotypes and two AMF
inoculation treatments were arranged in a completely randomized design with three replicates. Wheat
genotypes included nine old, not dwarf and unregistered Italian genotypes (Avanzi 3, Autonomia A,
Autonomia B, Frassineto, GentilRosso, Mentana, Noè, Risciola, Torrenova) and two dwarf and semidwarf registered varieties (Blasco, Verna) of bread wheat. AMF inoculation treatment (M) was compared
to a mock inoculum (NM). AMF inoculation was performed using Rhizophagus irregularis C. Walker
and Schüßler (Schüßler and Walker, 2010) spore-based inoculum. Bread wheat was cultivated following
the management techniques normally applied in the area. Sampling and analyses. At physiological
maturity, roots were collected and oven dried for measurements. AMF root colonization was assessed by
the grid-line intersect method (McGonigle et al., 1990). Grain Fe and Zn concentrations were assessed
by atomic absorption spectrometry (Isaac et al., 1998).Benefits in term of grain yield, Fe and Zn uptake
in grain were calculated by the formula [(M-NM/NM)*100]. Molecular characterization of AMF
communities within roots was determined by cloning and sequencing PCR fragments amplified using the
primers of Krüger et al. (2009).Statistics and data analyses. Pairwise comparison between M and NM
plots were performed by t-test using the SPSS software version 21.0.
Results
Yield benefits varied from -10% to 89% in Risciola and Torrenova, respectively (Fig. 1). Torrenova was
the unique variety that showed statistically significant difference in yield due to AMF field inoculation(P
= 0.017). Benefit in Fe concentration in grain varied from 12% and 120% in Torrenova and Blasco,
respectively, while benefit in Zn concentration in grain varied from -28% to 123% in Risciola and
128
Mentana, respectively. It is noteworthy that the majority of the studied bread wheat varieties showed
statistically significant increases in Fe and Zn concentration in grain respect to mock inoculated controls.
Root colonization in inoculated bread wheat ranged from 45% to 76% in Torrenova and Frassineto,
respectively (data not shown). The inoculant was successfully traced at physiological maturity in the
roots of bread wheat inoculated with R. irregularis by using the SSU-ITS-LSU long-fragment.
Fig. 1. Yield benefit of bread wheat calculated as [(M-NM)/NM] x 100, where M is grain yield ofbread wheat
inoculated by AMF and NM is grain yield of the mock inoculated controls.
Fig. 2. Benefitof bread wheat calculated as [(M-NM)/NM] x 100, where M is Fe and Zn concentration in grain of
bread wheat inoculated by AMF, and NM is Fe and Zn concentration in grain of the mock inoculated controls.
Conclusions
The strong increase in Fe and Zn benefits in grain of bread wheat following AMF field inoculation,
although varying among varieties, supports the application of AMF for crop biofortification.
References
Gianinazzi S. et al., 2010. Agroecology: the key role of arbuscular mycorrhizas in ecosystem services. Mycorrhiza 20:
519-530; Krüger M. et al., 2009.DNAbased species level detection of Glomeromycota: one PCR primer set for all
arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. New Phytol. 183: 212-223; Isaac N. et al., 1998. Elemental determination by inductively
553 coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. In: Handbook and reference methods for plant analysis. CRC Press,
New York, pp 165-170; McGonigle T.P. et al., 1990. A new method which gives an objective measure of colonization of
rootsby vesicular‐arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. New Phytol. 115: 495–501; Pellegrino E.et al., 2015. Responses of wheat
to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: A meta-analysis of field studies from 1975 to 2013. Soil Biol. Biochem. 84: 210-217;
Schüßler, A., Walker, C., 2010. The Glomeromycota. A Species List with New Families and New Genera. The Royal
Botanic Garden Edinburgh, The Royal Botanic Garden Kew Botanische Staatssammlung Munich. Oregon State
University; Smith S.E., Read D.J., 2008. Mycorrhizal symbiosis. Academic Press, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; White
P.J., Broadley M.R., 2009.Biofortification of crops with seven mineral elements often lacking in human diets - iron, zinc,
copper, calcium, magnesium, selenium and iodine. New Phytol. 182: 49-84.
129
Evolution of Phenolic Acids and Antioxidant Activity
During Kernel Development of Maize and Correlation
With Mycotoxin Contamination
Debora Giordano1, Trust Beta2, Amedeo Reyneri1, Massimo Blandino1
1
2
Dep. of Food Science, Univ. Manitoba, CA
Introduction
Under temperate climatic condition maize (Zea mays L.) is the cereal most frequently contaminated by
mycotoxins. Maize red and pink ear rots are two of the major fungal diseases affecting maize production
worldwide. The predominant species responsible for maize red ear rot in Europe are Fusarium
graminearum and Fusarium culmorum, whereas pink ear rot is caused by Fusarium verticillioides and
Fusarium proliferatum. These pathogens could be responsible for the production of mycotoxins such as
deoxynivalenol (DON) and fumonisins (FBs). The identification of naturally occurring mechanism in
plants that lead to reduced mycotoxin accumulation has gained a lot of interest. Several constitutive or
pathogen-induced plant endogenous compounds, such as phenylpropanoids, reduce in vitro fungal
growth and mycotoxin accumulation (Boutigny et al., 2008). To date no report has analyzed the evolution
of phenolic acids at different stages of kernel development and their role in the resistance to mycotoxin
contamination at harvest maturity in maize genotypes characterized by a wide array of kernel traits.
Therefore, the aims of this study were i) to determine phenolic acids and total antioxidant activity
evolution during kernel development of four open-pollinated varieties of maize and two representative
hybrids characterized by a wide array of kernel traits including kernel color, size and hardness; and ii) to
evaluate the potential protective effects of phenolic acids towards Fusarium ear rot and consequently to
DON and FB contamination.
Methods
Four open-pollinated varieties of maize and two representative hybrids, characterized by a wide array of
kernel traits, were sown in 2014 in northwestern Italy. For each maize genotype, 10 ears were randomly
handpicked at 4 developmental stages (Figure 1): end of the silking stage [about 5 Days After Silking
(DAS)], blister stage (about 7 DAS), dough stage (about 32 DAS) and harvest maturity (about 75 DAS).
Total free and cell wall-bound phenolic acids (TFPAs and TCWBPAs) were quantified by a
spectrophotometric method, while phenolic acid profile was analyzed by LC-MS/MS analyses; Total
antioxidant activity (TAA) was measured by the QUENCHER method (Gökmen et al., 2009), while
DON and FBs were analyzed only in samples collected at harvest maturity by LC-MS/MS analyses. The
relationship of the protective effects of phenolic acids towards mycotoxin contamination was employed
by correlation analyses.
Figure 1. Summary of the samplings employed in the study. DAS: days after silking.
130
Results
TCWBPAs and TFPAs ranged from 3.83 to 12.42 mg g-1, and from 0.25 to 6.50 mg g-1 of dry weight,
respectively, depending on the genotype and kernel stage. On average, the dark red variety showed the
highest total cell wall-bound and free phenolic acid content at all stages of kernel development. The
highest phenolic acid concentrations were observed at the end of the silking stage and at the blister stage,
followed by a significant decrease at the dough stage and at harvest maturity. Ferulic, p-coumaric and
caffeic acid were the main cell wall-bound phenolic acids during kernel development, but their relative
proportions changed depending on the stage of development. Chlorogenic acid was the main free
phenolic acid detected during kernel development followed by ferulic and vanillic acid.
TAA showed significant differences among maize genotypes at different stages of development. As the
phenolic acids, the highest TAA was observed at the beginning of kernel development. At the dough
stage, TAA was from 2 to 5 times lower than values detected at the blister stage, and the lowest TAA
was observed for all maize genotypes at harvest maturity.
Significant negative correlation was observed between free phenolic acids and TAA at the beginning of
kernel development and DON contamination at harvest maturity, while no significant correlation was
observed with FB contamination (Table 1).
Table 1. Spearman’s correlations (Rho) between DON and FB contamination at harvest maturity and
phenolic acids during kernel development. TFPAs: total free phenolic acids, FCA: free chlorogenic acid,
FFA: free ferulic acid, TAA: total antioxidant activity. *Significant at p<0.05, **Significant at p<0.01.
DON
FBs
Days after silking
5
7
32
75
5
7
32
75
TFPAs
-0.853**
-0.706*
-0.860**
-0.126
0.140
0.469
0.112
0.140
FCA
-0.895**
-0.818**
-0.758*
-0.434
0.028
0.455
-0.588
0.322
FFA
-0.855**
-0.800**
0.329
-0.636*
-0.042
0.091
0.553
-0.318
TAA
-0.797**
-0.874**
-0.762**
-0.580*
-0.231
-0.140
0.224
0.476
Conclusions
The results suggest that significant changes in phenolic acid composition and TAA occur during kernel
development. Comparing varieties and hybrids characterized by a wide array of kernel traits, the greatest
difference in free and cell wall-bound phenolic acid and in TAA occurred at the early stages of kernel
development.
Correlation analyses showed that free phenolic acids could have a role in fungal red ear rot resistance
and DON contamination, while no relationship was observed with pink ear rot resistance and FB
contamination. Even if in vitro experiments demonstrated that phenolic acids could inhibit FB
biosynthesis, their role in the resistance to FB contamination in field conditions is probably mainly related
to the European corn borer feeding activity (Sobek and Munkvold, 1999), implying that components
other than phenolic acids may play a major role in pink ear rot resistance mechanism.
References
Boutigny A.L. et al. 2008. Natural mechanisms for cereal resistance to the accumulation of Fusarium trichothecenes. Eur.
J. Plant Path., 121:411-423.
Gökmen V. et al. 2009. Direct measurement of the total antioxidant capacity of foods: the “QUENCHER” approach.
Trends Food Sci. Technol. 20:278-288.
Sobek E.A. and Munkvold G.P. 1999. European corn borer (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) larvae as vectors of Fusarium
moniliforme, causing kernel rot and symptomless infection of maize kernels. J. Econ. Entomol. 92:503-509.
131
Farming Systems Dynamics at The Urban Region Level:
The Case of The Area Pisana
Irune Ruiz-Martinez1, Sabine Gennai-Schott1, Tiziana Sabbatini1, Enrico Bonari1, Elisa
Marraccini2
Istituto di Scienze della Vita, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa [email protected]
UP 2012-10-103 PICAR-T, Institut Polytechnique LaSalle Beauvais-Esitpa [email protected]
1
2
Introduction
Mediterranean peri-urban agro-ecosystems are particularly interesting due to their sensitivity to the land
use changes which affect their provision of ecosystem services (Zasada, 2011; Soulard et al.,
forthcoming). However, little literature has investigated the intensification dynamics of farming systems
(FS) in periurban areas (Ruiz-Martinez et al., 2015) both because of the lack of a shared definition of
periurban agriculture, of data availability needing expensive on-farm surveys (e.g. Silvestri et al., 2012),
and because in these areas there is often a mix of different and small-scale FS (Soulard et al.,
forthcoming). However, knowledge is needed to support urban planners in a complete understanding of
FS dynamics in order to assess the areas more suitable to an active agriculture and the services these
areas provide. Our aim is to develop a method to asses FS dynamics in periurban areas using LPIS
databases. We applied our method in the Area Pisana, which is composed by six joint municipalities
around the medium-sized city of Pisa having a common urban planning procedure. These municipalities
are located in Tuscany, in a reclaimed Thyrrenian coastal plain. The last agricultural census in 2010
revealed a decrease in the number of farms (-36% since 1982) in the area particularly important for
vegetable and livestock farms. In 2015, the utilized agricultural area (UAA) was 23,854 ha, which
represents 49% of the total area and the main crops are arable crops, mainly durum wheat and corn.
Methods
We assessed the on-farm land use of 554 farms between 2007 and 2015 according to ARTEA (Italian
LPIS database). The main changes analysed were changes in farmland surface, land uses and farm
managers. In order to take into account only the FS dynamics deriving from a management decision, we
sampled and analysed exclusively the farms conserving the same managers across the considered
timespan. Available data at farm level for the 9 analysed years were UAA, TAA and surface per crop
production. The 2015 data provided also localization of the single crops per farm. All farm parcels were
localized combining the parcel LPIS reference with the local cadastre using the ArcGIS software. Then,
they were attributed to distinct farm categories based on the on-farm land use (e.g. Cereals and forage
farm type if UAA of these crops was higher than 70%; Olive or Horticultural farm if the UAA of these
crops was higher than 30%). The farm typologies and their dynamics have been interpreted either within
the farm typology or between them through an analysis of UAA and on-farm land use change (Fig. 1).
LPIS data
2007
LPIS data
2015
Selection of
the targeted
554 farms
Farm
typologybuilding
Analysis of intertypology-dynamics
(farming systems)
Analysis of infratypology-dynamics
(UAA, land use)
Figure 1. Overview of the applied methodology. LPIS stands for the Land Parcel Identification System.
132
Results
We obtained 10 FS describing the diversity of farming systems in the area in 2015: Olive (44% of the
farms, 5% of the UAA), Cereal-industrial crops (26% of farms, 56% of UAA), Cereal-Legume crops
(15% of farms, 25% of UAA), based on Set-aside (5% of farms, 3% of UAA), Mixed (3% of farms, 4%
of UAA), Legume-Industrial crops (2% of farms, 4% of UAA), Horticulture (2% of the farms, 1% UAA),
Nursery crops (1% of farms, 1% of UAA), Vineyards (0,4%, 0,02%), Fruit (0,2%, 0,04%). Farm
dynamics within the arable crops types (e.g. Cereal-Industrial and Cereal-Legumes) are most frequent.
The Legume-Industrial farm type is the less stable and seems to represent a transition stage between other
arable crop types. From 2007 the total UAA of Cereal-Industrial farms has been increasing, while all the
other farm types have decreased. Fig. 2 illustrates the average land use dynamics within each farming
system. The main land use changes were found in the Mixed type, which have changed from an
association of vegetable and cereals to legumes, industrial crops or even set-aside. Both Cereal-Legume
and Legume-Industrial systems increased the part of legumes in the UAA and Legume-Industrial and
Cereal-Industrial types tended to increase the industrial crop part. However, farmers engaged in
horticulture increased their vegetable production but they also grow winter cereal.
Figure 2. Main crops dynamics retrieved in the farming system types of the Pisa periurban region (2007,
black; 2015, red). W-Cereals means Winter Cereals, S-Cereals refers to Summer Cereals.
Conclusions
In this research we highlighted the short-term dynamics of FS in periurban areas using LPIS data. We
showed that conventional arable FS are more frequent than those normally associated to these areas.
Further research will concern an analysis of the changes in FS intensity and of the risk of abandonment
of agricultural areas according to agronomical, geographical and bio-physical criteria.
References
Silvestri N. et al., 2012. Diachronic analysis of farmers’ strategies within a protected area of Central Italy. Italian Journal
of Agronomy 7(2): 139-145.
Ruiz-Martinez, I., Marraccini, E., Debolini, M., Bonari, E., 2015. Indicators of agricultural intensity and intensification: a
review of the literature. Italian Journal of Agronomy 10, 74. doi:10.4081/ija.2015.656
Soulard C.-T., et al., 2016. Periurban agroecosystems in the Mediterranean: diversity, dynamics and drivers. Regional
Environmental Change, forthcoming.Zasada I. Multifunctional peri-urban agriculture—A review of societal demands and
the provision of goods and services by farming. Land Use Policy. 2011 Oct; 28(4):639–48.
133
Effects of Trichoderma on Growth and Nitrogen Uptake
of Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.)
Nunzio Fiorentino1, Armando De Rosa1, Laura Gioia1, Mauro Senatore1, Donato Visconti1,
Lucia Ottaiano1, Vincenzo Cenvinzo1, Eugenio Cozzolino2, Youssef Rouphael1, Sheridan
Woo1, Mauro Mori1, Massimo Fagnano1
1
2
Dip. di Agraria, Univ. di Napoli Federico II , IT, [email protected]
Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e analisi dell’ economia agraria, Laboratorio di Caserta, IT.
Introduction
N fertilizer excess can cause the accumulation of high levels of nitrate in leafy vegetables, mainly when
grown under reduced light levels, exposing consumers to important health risks (EFSA, 2008).
Appropriate agronomic practices can limit nitrate accumulation in vegetables, while producing optimal
yields with low N inputs. Plant-microbial interactions play an important role in nutrient cycling, allowing
plants to grow in nutrients depleted zones (Marschener, 1994) and reducing its accumulation under high
nutrients conditions (Azcòn, 2003). In this study Trichoderma spp. were tested as bio-stimulators of plant
(Lactuca sativa L.) growth in different N availability conditions. The effect of inoculation on total-N and
nitrate accumulation in the vegetable was also investigated.
Methods
The experiment was carried out from February 2nd to March 31st 2016 in a 240 m2 polyethylene
greenhouse in Portici (Campania region, Southern-Italy). Lactuca sativa var. iceberg cv. Silvinas was
transplanted in double rows with a density of 11 pt m2. An optimal fertilization of 90 kg N ha-1 (100N)
was compared to a non-fertilized control (0N) and an excess N-dose of 180 kg N ha-1 (200N). Two
Trichoderma strains (T. harzianum T22 and T. virens GV41, labelled as T1 and T2 respectively) were
compared to a non-inoculated control (T0). A split-plot design with three replicates (randomized blocks)
was adopted with fertilization (3 levels) as main factor and Trichoderma inoculation (3 levels) as subfactor. A spore suspension (concentration 1 x 107spml-1) of Trichoderma was used for lettuce inoculation
at transplant (root dip) and during the crop cycle (24 days after transplant, by watering 50 ml plant-1).
Total yield, number of leaves, SPAD index (SPAD-502; Minolta Corp. Ltd, Osaka, Japan), leaf area (LI3100 C Area Meter; LI-COR Lincoln, NE, USA), nitrate and total N in leaves were measured at the end
of the cropping cycle. The leaf thickness index was calculated as the ratio between leaf dry weight and
leaf area. All data were subjected to ANOVA and means separated according to LSD test (p<0.05).
Results
The optimal N dose (100N) increased the yield by 71% compared to non-fertilized control (0N), while
the excess-dose (200N) did not increase yield compared to 100N (Fig.1a). Trichoderma significantly
enhanced plant growth both with 0 N and 100 N fertilization, regardless of the strains. The corresponding
effect of Trichoderma on fresh weight, decreased with increased doses of N (Fig.1a) coherently with
findings from Bal et al. (2008) and Harman (2000), indicating a higher effect of Trichoderma under
suboptimal N conditions. Moreover, Trichoderma spp. augmented the yield by 25% in 0N and 14% in
100N, regardless of strain type, whereas in 200 N no increase was recorded. Furthermore, the quality of
lettuce was positively affected by Trichoderma, whereby both in 0N and 100N fertilization, strain T2
enhanced the leaf thickness, one of the most important quality standards evaluated for lettuce iceberg
(Fig.1b).As expected, SPAD index values (Fig.1c) were found higher for high N input with no difference
between 100N and 200N. Nitrate content in leaves ranged between 185 - 422 mg NO3- kg-1 (fresh weight
basis), significantly lower than the maximum threshold of nitrates (2500 mg NO3- kg-1) recommended
by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 for food contaminants. As shown in Fig.1c, at 200N
fertilization, the T1 inoculation reduced NO3-content in leaves. We can exclude a dilution effect due to
134
an increase of plant biomass, since yield of inoculated plants was not different from control. Probably,
higher mineral N surplus of 200N fertilization increased bioassimilation/biodegradation of soil N by
Trichoderma and soil microbes reducing N availability to lettuce (Azcòn et al, 2003).
a
b
c
d
Figure 3 a) Effect of Trichoderma x fertilization on lettuce fresh weight (g pt-1; b) Effect of Trichoderma x fertilization on
leaves thickness; c) Effect of fertilization on SPAD Index; d) Effect of Trichoderma on nitrate content (mg kg-1) of leaves in
200N Columns with different letters are significantly different (p<0.05). 0N: not fertilized; 100N: 90 kg N ha-1; 200N: 180 kg
N ha-1; T1: T22 strain; T2: GV41 strain
Conclusion
An excessive N fertilization does not provide any yield benefit, but it could increase the risk of N
accumulation in leaves, N volatilization and contamination of groundwater.
Trichoderma could be a useful tool to increase crop performance of lettuce in soils with a low N fertility
or under low and conventional N input management. In addition, plants treated with T. virens strain
GV41 developed a greater leaf thickness that corresponds to increased crispness, and improved quality
of lettuce cv. Iceberg for salads.
The T. harzianum strain T22 was effective in reducing NO3-content in lettuce under excess-N
fertilization, suggesting that this strain could be useful for preserving lettuce quality in cropping systems
with high N fertile soils. On the other hand, Trichoderma could allow the use of reduced fertilizer
applications and optimize N use efficiency, minimizing at the same time the risk of dietary nitrate
exposure and their potential negative effects in the environment (Lopez et al., 2015).
References
Azcón R. et al. 2003. Nutrient acquisition in mycorrhizal lettuce plants under different phosphorus and nitrogen
concentration. Plant Science, 165.5: 1137-1145.
Bal U. and Altintas S. 2008. Effects of Trichoderma harzianum on lettuce in protected cultivation. Journal Central
European Agriculture Vol.9 1: 63-70
EFSA, European Food Safety Authority. 2008. Nitrate in vegetables. Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Contaminants in
the Food chain. The EFSA Journal 689: 1-79.
Lopez-Bucio J. et al. 2015. Trichoderma as biostimulant: exploiting the multilevel properties of a plant beneficial
fungus. Scientia Horticulturae 196: 109-123.
Marschner H. and Dell B. 1994. Nutrient uptake in mycorrhizal symbiosis. Plant Soil, 159: 89-102.
135
Effect of Hoagland Nutrient Solution on Mineral Content
of Radish (Raphanus sativusL.) Microgreens
Vanessa De Simone, Marcella Michela Giuliani, Giancarlo Colelli, Zina Flagella
Introduction
Microgreens are seedlings of vegetables and herbs harvested within 7–14 days after the seed germination.
They are considered as a new “functional foods” due to their high levels of bioactive compounds
compared to mature plants or seeds, especially for vitamins, minerals, and total antioxidants (Chandra et
al., 2012; Xiao et al., 2012; Kou et al., 2013). Microgreens can be used in salads, soups and sandwiches
(Xiao et al., 2012) and are generally grown hydroponically or organically by commercial farms that often
use secret protocols. Despite of being an important source of minerals and other nutrients with
demonstrated benefits for human health, high levels of nitrate are reported in literature by some authors
depending on genotype, species, growing and postharvest conditions (Di Gioia et al. 2015, Pinto et al.
2015).
In this study, the effect of the Hoagland nutrient solution (HNS) on the radish microgreens mineral
content has been investigated.
Methods
Growing condition
The experiment was performed at the University of Foggia, Italy. Before sowing, radish (Raphanus
sativus L.) seeds (cultivar Saxa) were soaked in distilled water for 6 h to promote germination and then
dried overnight. Sowing was done on a substrate (pH 5-6) consisting of 55% peat moss, 30% vermiculite
and 15% perlite. The plants were grown in six 0.42m x 0.42m x0.06 m trays. The peat moss used was
characterized by the following amounts of nutrients (in mg l-1):140 for N; 100 for P2O5; 180 for K2O. In
three trays half strength Hoagland nutrient solution (HNS) was applied for 5 d after germination, while
in the other three trays (controls) only distilled water was supplied. In both sets of trays, microgreens
were harvested five days after germination. The experiment was performed in a growth chamber under
the following conditions: 20°C in the dark for 2 days (germination) and then 25°C/14h light – 20°C/10h
dark at 60%/day and 70%/night relative humidity.
Mineral content analysis
Anions and cations extraction was performed as reported in Di Caterina et al. (2007). Minerals content
was determined by ion chromatography (DionexDX600; Dionex Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA, USA),
using an IonPac AS14 analytical column for the anion analysis and an IonPac CS12 analytical column
for cations. Results were expressed as mg kg−1fresh weight (f.w.).
Results
Radish seedlings grown using HNS showed a fast and vigorous growth with more large cotyledons and
a fresh weight at harvest which was twice compared to control (80.7 g vs32.8 g, respectively)(Fig.1).
Differences between the two treatments in relation to mineral content were found (Table 1). As for cations
content, ammonium and magnesium contents were higher in the control (121and 30%, respectively),
while potassium and calcium contents were higher in the HNS treatment (34 and 6%, respectively). The
cation content values obtained are in agreement with Di Gioia et al. (2015). As for anions, fluoride,
chloride and phosphate contents were higher in the control (368, 88 and 142%, respectively), while no
appreciable difference was observed for sulfate content in both growth conditions. Finally, radish
microgreens grown using HNS showed a nitrate content much higher than the control. This result
highlights that the use of half strength HNS may determine a nitrate content near to the maximum
tolerable level according to the EU Regulation (Commission Regulation-EC No 1881/2006 of 19
136
December 2006) with consequent problems for the human health (EFSA, 2008; Pinto et al. 2015). In fact
nitrate itself is relatively non-toxic but its metabolites such as NO2–, nitric oxide (NO) and N-nitrose
compounds are considered very toxic and responsible for human disorders, in particular in infants and
children (Santamaria, 2006; EFSA, 2008).
Figure 1. Cotyledons (A) and whole plants (B) of radish microgreens grown with (up in A and right in B) and
without Hoagland nutrient solution.
Table 1. Mineral content in radish microgreens grown with and without Hoagland nutrient solution.
Sample
Fluoride Chloride Nitrate Phosphate Sulphate Ammonium Potassium Magnesium Calcium
mg kg-1
mg kg-1 mg kg-1 mg kg-1
mg kg-1
mg kg-1
mg kg-1
mg kg-1
mg kg-1
fw
fw
fw
fw
fw
fw
fw
fw
fw
Control
89A
340A
51B
2676A
1303a
407A
2074B
310A
648a
Hoagland
19B
181B
4136A
1105B
1292a
184B
2771A
239B
685a
Values in a row followed by different letters are significantly different at P ≤ 0.01, according to student’s T- test
Conclusions
Radish seedlings grown using Hoagland nutrient solution showed a faster and more vigorous growth
compared to the control. The mineral content was generally higher in control plants. The largest
difference was found for nitrate content which was low in the control but near to the maximum tolerable
level by using Hoagland solution. These preliminary results confirm that growth conditions and
fertilization level may strongly affect mineral content and, in particular, nitrate level. Further experiments
are in progress to deep insight into the influence of growing conditions on microgreens nutritional and
health quality.
References
Chandra, D., et al. 2012. Changes in microbial population and quality of microgreens treated with different sanitizers and
packaging films. Hortic.Environ. Biotechnol. 53:32-40.
Di Caterina R. et al. 2007. Influence of salt stress on seed yield and oil quality of two sunflower hybrids. Annals of Applied
Biology Ann ApplBiol 151:145-154.
Di Gioia F. and Santamaria P. 2015. Book: Microgreens.
EFSA, 2008. Opinion of the Scientific Panel on Contaminants in the Food chain on a request from the European
Commission to perform a scientific risk assessment on nitrate in vegetables. EFSA J. 689:1-79.
Kou L., et al. 2013. Postharvest biology, quality and shelf life of buckwheat microgreens. Food Science and Technology,
51:73-78.
Regulation, 2006. Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 of 19 December 2006 setting maximum levels for certain
contaminants in foodstuffs, 26.
Santamaria, P., 2006. Nitrate in vegetables: toxicity, content, intake and EC regulation. J. Sci. Food Agric. 86(1):10-17.
Pinto E., et al. 2015. Comparison between the mineral profile and nitrate content of microgreens and mature lettuces.
Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, 37:38-43.
137
Salt-Stress Tolerance of Tomato Inoculated with
Azotobacter chrococcum and Nitrogen Assimilation
Michael James Van Oosten, Emlio Di Stasio, Silvia Silletti, Giampaolo Raimondi, Olimpia
Pepe and Albino Maggio
Department of Agriculture, University of Naples “Federico II”, Portici (NA), Italy
Introduction
The emerging role of rhizobacteria in plant nutrition and stress protection has great potential for
sustainable use in saline soils. A number of studies have shown preliminary indications of stress
protrection by plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) (Chaudhary et al., 2013; Mayak et al., 2004,
Rojas-Tapias et al., 2012). In order to better characterize these effects, we selected a salt-tolerant strain,
76A, of Azotobacter chrococcum to study the role of stress protection in an important horticultural crop,
tomato. In order to clarify the potential role for stress protection by the soil rhizobacteria Azotobacter
chrococcum we performed a series of experiments with salinity stress and nutrient regimens. Inoculation
of plants with strain 76A facilitated growth under low fertilization regimens and also conferred protective
effects under both mild (50 mM NaCl) and moderate (100 mM NaCl) salt stress. Interestingly, we found
that growth promotion effects were less pronounced when exogenous nitrogen was applied as a fertilizer.
Gene expression of key nitrogen assimilation genes indicated excess nitrogen likely saturated the plant’s
ability to assimilate nitrogen.
Methods
Both inoculated and uninoculated Microtom tomato plants were irrigated with 50 and 100 mM NaCl
under various fertilization regimens. Plants were fertilized with a full-strength basic nutrient solution
(BNS), half strength BNS and additional supplementation with ammonium nitrate (27 % N) to the full
strength BNS. The BNS composition was: (mM) N03- = 1,93; P2O5=2,53; K2O = 7,64; MgO = 1,48 and
(µM) B = 37; Cu EDTA = 0,84; Fe DTPA = 10; Mn EDTA = 3,45; Mo = 2,08; Zn EDTA = 0,83.We
analyzed numerous growth and physiological parameters, ion content and gene expression of nitrogen
assimilation and stress-related genes.
Results
Inoculated Microtom plants consistently performed better than uninoculated plants under both mild and
moderate salt stress. Overall fresh weight, dry weight, and yield in terms of fruit number and weight were
significantly higher in inoculated plants (Figure 1). These differences were more pronounced under
moderate salt stress. Our results indicate that inoculation with this particular Azotobacter chrococcum
strain provides a protective effect under both mild and moderate salt stress. Under nutrient enrichment
(High Nutrients) and additional nitrogen (High Nutrients and NH4NO3) the growth promoting effects
were diminished or inhibitory. Inoculated plants showed increased salinity sensitivity under high
nutrients and upon additional nitrogen. Gene expression of a LEA (late embryogenesis associated
proteins) known to be highly expressed under drougth and salt conditions (Ioveno et al., 2016) was highly
upregulated under stress conditions and additional nitrogen supplmentation exacerbated expression of
this stress marker (Figure 2). Expression of other genes essential for nitrogen assimilation were generally
down-regulated under stress conditions and higher nutrient regimens (Figure 2).
138
Conclusions
In
conclusion,
Azotobacter
chrococcum 76A inoculation
shows both growth promoting and
stress protective effects under
mild and moderate salinity.
Additional ammonium nitrate
exacerbated salinity stress and
proved detrimental to growth in
inoculated samples. Inoculation
may be an ideal solution for lowinput systems were addition of
exogenous nitrogen is not
available.
References
Chaudhary D, Narula N, Sindhu
SS, Behl RK (2013) Plant growth
stimulation of wheat (Triticum
aestivum L.) by inoculation of
salinity tolerant Azotobacter
strains. Physiol Mol Biol Plants
19:515–519.
Iovieno P, Punzo P, Guida G, et al.
(2016) Transcriptomic Changes
Drive Physiological Responses to
Progressive Drought Stress and
Rehydration in Tomato. Front
Plant Sci 371.
Figure 1: Microtom Tomato physiological measurements.
Mayak S, Tirosh T, Glick BR
(2004) Plant growth-promoting
bacteria confer resistance in
tomato plants to salt stress. Plant
Physiol Biochem 42:565–572.
Rojas-Tapias D, Moreno-Galván
A, Pardo-Díaz S, et al. (2012)
Effect of inoculation with plant
growth-promoting
bacteria
(PGPB) on amelioration of saline
stress in maize (Zea mays).
Applied Soil Ecology 61:264–
272.
Figure 2: Microtom Tomato Gene Expression. Ammonium
Transporter (AMT2), Nitrate Reductase (NR), Nitrate
Transporter, LEA stress marker, and Nitrite Reductase (Nii)
expression levels using qRT-PCR.
139
Algal Derivatives Effects on The Nutrient Use Efficiency
and Plant Growth of Tomato Under Salt Stress
Emilio Di Stasio, Giampaolo Raimondi, Michael Van Oosten, Silvia Silletti, Valerio Cirillo,
Petronia Carillo, Albino Maggio
Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80055 Portici, Italy, [email protected]
Introduction
The need to reduce the application of chemical fertilizers is increasing with the objectives of containing
production costs and reducing environmental impact (Vance, 2001). A promising tool to achieve these
goals is to optimize crop nutrient uptake using plant biostimulants (du Jardin, 2015), i.e. natural products
derived from a wide range of sources (Calvo et al., 2014). Among biostimulants, seaweed extracts (SWE)
have been used to improve plant growth and stress tolerance (Khan et al., 2009). However, while the
effect of biostimulants has been largely tested with respect to crop yield and quality aspects, their value
as protectants for biotic and abiotic stresses has been only marginally addressed. In this context, we
started to profile the function of two algal derivatives (from Ascophyllum nodosum) on a tomato crop
exposed to increasing salinity. In addition, to assess the protective effects of these commercial products
on yield and main physiological parameters, we attempted to establish a functional link between main
constituents of these algal derivatives and plant response to salinity.
Methods
A greenhouse experiment was performed on Microtom tomato plants. Pots were drip irrigated with a
basic nutrient solution at two different concentrations (100% and 70% of the tomato nutritional
requirements; N1 and N2 respectively) and combined with three NaCl levels (0; 42.5 and 85 mM NaCl;
S0, S1 and S2 respectively). At transplanting, a root treatment was performed with two A. nodosum
extracts: Agriges (A) and Bioatlantis (B) at the dose of 60 g l-1 and 1 g l-1 respectively dissolved in 200
ml of tap water per plant. Control plants (C) were treated only with water. The seaweed extract (SWE)
application was repeated every 2 weeks. During the cultivation cycle, Water Potential measurements
were performed. At 90 days after sowing, plants were separated in leaves, stems, roots and fruits for the
fresh biomass determination and their tissues were dried for the dry biomass determination. The number
of fruits and the total leaf area were also recorded. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS)
analysis was performed on the two algal extracts and on plants samples for the characterization of main
bio-active compounds.
Results
Increased above ground biomass and plant height were obtained only with the Super Fifty application at
full strength nutrient solution (fig. 1). The GC-MS analysis revealed the presence, in the two algal
extracts, of beneficial compounds for plant growth and stress tolerance (e.g. aminoacids, sugars, betaines)
and high concentration of molecules that act as compatible solutes (proline and GABA) in the plants (fig.
3). SWE application increased the total leaf water potential (fig. 2). The accumulation of compatible
solutes induced a decrease of the cell osmotic potential. This may have improved water uptake and
cellular turgor pressure, which may have contributed to maintain the efficiency of many physiological
mechanisms and plant growth (Serraj and Sinclair, 2002).
Conclusions
The exogenous application of seaweed extracts improved the plant growth of salt stressed plants, with
positive effects on the water status. Results could be supported by the composition of the two SWE, with
the presence of compounds beneficial for plant growth in stress conditions (saline and nutritional).
140
90
20
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
C
R
S
C
100% of nutrients
R
S
70% of nutrients
15
10
5
0
C
R
S
C
100% of nutrients
R
S
70 % of nutrients
Figure 1. Effects of Rygex (R) and Super Fifty (S) on the above ground total biomass
and plants height at different nutrients concentrations (100 % and 70 % of the tomato
nutritional requirements). Control plants (C) were treated only with water. The bar
indicates the least significant difference at P < 0.05.
Salinity
S0
S1
SWE
S2
C
R
S
0
-0,2
-0,4
-0,6
-0,8
-1
-1,2
-1,4
-1,6
-1,8
Figure 2. Effects of Rygex (R) and Super
Fifty (S) and increasing salinity (S0, S1,
S2) on the total leaf water potential.
Control plants (C) were treated only with
water. The bar indicates the least
significant difference at P < 0.05.
R
S
Leaves
Fruits
Leaves
Fruits
Leaves
N2S0
N2S1
N2S2
N1S0
N1S1
N1S2
N2S0
N2S1
N2S2
N1S0
N1S1
N1S2
N2S0
N2S1
N2S2
N1S0
N1S1
N1S2
N2S0
N2S1
N2S2
N1S0
N1S1
N1S2
N2S0
N2S1
N2S2
N1S0
N1S1
N1S2
N2S0
N2S1
N2S2
N1S0
N1S1
N1S2
GABA (mMol g PF -1)
Proline (mMol g PF -1 )
C
Total water potential (MPa)
25
80
Plant height (cm)
Above ground fresh biomass (g)
However additional investigations are required to determine the optimal dose and mode of application
(foliar or foliar/root) mainly in relation to the nutritional regime applied.
Fruits
Figure 3. Effects of two seaweeds extracts, Rygex (R) and Super Fifty (S) on the Proline and γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) leaves and
fruits content, at different nutrients concentrations (N1 and N2) and increasing salinity (S0, S1, S2).
References
Battacharyya D. et al. 2015.Seaweedextracts as biostimulants in horticulture.Sci.Hortic.,196:39–48.
Calvo P. et al. 2014.Agriculturalusesof plant biostimulants. PlantSoil, 383:3–41.
du Jardin P. 2015.Plantbiostimulants:definition,concept,maincategoriesandregulation. Sci.Hortic., 196: 3–14.
Khan W.et al. 2009. Seaweed extracts as biostimulants of plant growth and development. Plant Gr. Regul., 28: 386–399.
Maggio A. et al. 2005. Physiological response of field-grown cabbage to salinity and drought stress. Eur. J. Agron., 23:
57–67.
Mostafa G.G. 2015. improving the growth of fennel plant grown under salinity stress using some biostimulants. Amer. J.
of Plant Physiol.,10 (2): 77-83.
Serraj R. and Sinclair T.R. 2002. Osmolyte accumulation: can it really help increase crop yield under drought conditions?
Plant, Cell and Environ., 25: 333-341.
Vance C.P. 2001. Symbiotic nitrogen fixation and phosphorus acquisition. Plant nutrition in a world of declining renewable
resources. Plant Physiol., 127: 390–397.
141
Comparison Between Municipal Solid Waste Compost
and Mineral Fertilization in Forage and Grain Barley Crop
Lorenzo Salis1, Maria Sitzia1, Gianluca Carboni2, Paolo Mulè2, Andrea Cabiddu 1
1Servizio
2Servizio
Ricerca per la zootecnia, Agris, IT, [email protected]
Ricerca sui sistemi colturali erbacei Agris IT, [email protected]
Introduction
Municipal solid waste (MSW) compost is an organic fertilizer mainly deriving from organic fraction of
urban and agro-industry waste. MSW source segregation followed by recycling compost gives the lowest
net flux of greenhouse gases compared with other different options for the MSW treatment (European
Communities, 2001). The agronomic use of MSW compost is considered an important recycling tool and
a possible solution to the increasing waste production in European countries. (Hargreaves et al., 2007;
Abarca Guerrero et al., 2012). MSW compost is used mainly in agriculture farm systems to improve the
chemical, physical and biological properties of soil making gradually available plant nutrients from
organic matter mineralization. The aim of the study is to compare, in a barley crop, MSW compost and
conventional mineral fertilization effects on forage and grain yield, and on main plant nutritive
characteristics.
Methods
The trials were carried out in Olmedo (40°N, 8° E; 33 m a.s.l.) in 2014-2015 on a flat clay-loam
calcareous soil (pH 8.3) with medium content of total nitrogen and assimilable phosphorus, and high
level of exchangeable potassium. The average annual rainfall is 538 mm, Tmax and Tmin are 20.4°C
and 11.5°C, respectively. Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), cv Explora, was sown in October 2014 with
reduced tillage technique. In a randomised split plot experimental design with three replications MSW
compost treatment (24 t ha-1, COM) was compared with two level of mineral fertilization: i)50 kg ha-1 of
N+ 46 kg ha-1 of P2O5, (MIN50), ii) 100 kg ha-1 of N + 92 kg ha-1 of P2O5 (MIN100) and with not fertilized
treatments (COM0 and MIN0). The utilized compost (originated from Verde Vita srl Company) is
composed of plant pruning residues and organic fraction of MSW and has 2.5% and 4.4% DM of organic
nitrogen and phosphorus, respectively, and a low level of mineral nitrogen (around 3% of total
nitrogen). Barley crop was managed for forage and grain yield. For each plot (50 m2) two herbage
samples of 0.5 m2 each were collected in early and late tillering plant phase (45, autumn and 85, winter,
days from sowing, respectively) to evaluate herbage mass (HM, t ha-1 dry matter, DM), chemical
components content: crude protein (CP), NDF and ADF. In June a sample (7 m2) per plot was harvested
and threshed to determinate grain yield and its content of CP and starch. All data were analysed by GLM
with compost and mineral treatments as fixed effects.
Results
Annual rainfall and Tmin were lower than climatic mean whereas Tmax was lightly above. MSW
compost increased total barley herbage mass and grain yield (tab.1). In particular in early tillering COM
HM resulted significantly higher than COM0 HM (0.47 vs 0.23 t ha-1 DM, respectively, P<0.01).
Moreover, compost significantly increased the CP content in forage in early tillering, such as in grain at
harvest. The latter showed a lower starch content too. Forage fiber fractions decreased from early to late
tillering. In the first period, plants showed higher content of NDF and ADF in COM than in COM0
treatment (Fig.1). Overall, mineral fertilization increased herbage mass and grain production, the latter
roughly in proportion to fertilizer amount used (tab 1). MIN 100 had the highest forage CP content in
late tillering whereas only grain CP showed significantly interaction between mineral and organic
fertilization.
142
Conclusions
In this first observation MSW compost affected forage and grain barley production. The highest herbage
mass production and CP content in early tillering with organic fertilized treatment, may be due to the
utilization by plants of the mineral nitrogen and phosphorus content of compost. Mineral fertilization,
mainly nitrogen supplied at 60% after autumn cut, had a higher result in late tillering CP forage content.
MSW compost used in the trial showed an appreciable effect on plant growth and chemical composition.
This preliminary study suggest a potential complementary use of MSW compost with traditional mineral
fertilizers. However plant and soil changes in med and long term have to be considered to assess the
agronomic effectiveness and environmental impact of MSW compost.
Table 1. Barley herbage mass and crude protein (CP) content in early and late tillering; grain yield (13% humidity), CP
and starch content. COM0, MIN0 are not fertilized. COM, MIN50, MIN100 are organic and mineral fertilized, respectively
GRAIN
HERBAGE MASS
DM
Early tillering
Late tillering
Yield
CP
Starch
Fertilization
t ha-1
CP %DM
CP %DM
t ha-1
%DM
%DM
COM 0
1,2
28,3
26,0
2,4
9,1
55,6
COM
1,9
31,5
25,9
2,9
9,6
53,5
P
*
*
ns
*
*
*
MIN 0
1,0b
29,5a
21,5c
2,3c
9,4ab
54,4a
MIN 50
1,7a
30,5a
26,6b
2,6b
9,2b
54,8a
MIN 100
1,9a
29,7a
29,7a
3,1a
9,6a
54,4a
MIN X COM
ns
ns
ns
ns
*
ns
* = values differ significantly at P < 0.05. ns = not significant. Within column, means with the same letters are not different
at P≤ 0.05 (Tukey’s test).
50
30
*
NDF
45
40
% ADF
% NDF
25
*
ADF
20
35
30
15
early tillering
late tillering
COM
COM 0
Figure1. Barley herbage mass NDF and ADF content (% on dry matter) in early (autumn) and late (winter) tillering.
COM0=not organic fertilized; COM=organic fertilized * = values differ significantly at P < 0.05.
References
Abarca Guerriero L. et al. 2012. Solid waste management challenges for cities in developing countries. Waste
Management 33. 220–23
European Communities. 2001. Waste Management Options and Climate Change
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/studies/pdf/climate_change.pdf
Hargreaves J.C. et al. 2008. A review of the use of composted municipal solid waste in agriculture. Agric.Ecosyst. Environ.
123. 1–14.
143
Productivity of a New Cultivar of Early Potato in Acerra’s
Plain
Mauro Mori1, Ida Di Mola1, Sabrina Nocerino1, Mauro Mazzei3, Riccardo Riccardi4, Massimo
Fagnano1, Eugenio Cozzolino2
1Dipartimento
di Agraria-UNINA [email protected]; 2CREA-Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi
dell'economia agraria Laboratorio di Caserta; 3HZPC Italia Via Petrarca 93, Napoli; 4ARCA 2010 s.r.l.
Introduction
Potato is, after maize, rice and wheat, the most important food crop in the world; it produces considerably
more nutrients per unit water than many other food crops; besides, the production of potatoes needs less
water than other basic food products (average water need per kg of product is 200 litres vs. 870 of maize
and 1100 of rice) (www.hzpc.com).
In Campania the early potato has a very important economic role; this justifies the continuous search of
varieties that combine good organoleptic and commercial characteristics to satisfying yield levels.
The purpose of this research was to compare the productivity of a new early cultivar of potato with two
"old" cultivars commonly cultivated in Campania.
Methods
The trial was carried out in a private farm (ARCA 2010 s.r.l.) of Acerra’s plain; the soil is sandy-loam,
with a good availability of organic matter, nitrogen and potassium.
The experimental plan has provided a comparison, at randomized blocks, of 3 varieties: 1) Agata, typical
variety of area; 2) Colomba, HZPC variety with early maturity; 3) Primabelle, a new HZPC variety with
very early maturity. The treatments were replicated three times.
The “sowing” was made on 12 March 2015, with a plant density of 60.600 tubers per hectare (0.75 m x
0.22 m). The agricultural practices were ordinary.
The harvest was made on 29 June and the marketable and not-marketable tubers were collected; besides
marketable tubers were divided into three diameter classes: 40-70 mm (standard size); less than 40 mm
(undersize); more than 70 mm (oversize). On a sampling of marketable tubers dry matter was determined
after oven drying at 50°C until constant weight.
Samples of predictive distributions of responses and relative differences between cultivars were obtained
by applying a normal distribution model for yield and dry matter and a binomial distribution model for
unmarketable tubers percentage and dimeter classes of marketable tubers; the program Stan (Stan
Development team, 2015) in R (R Core team, 2016) was used. The differences between cultivars was
evaluated following a procedure indicated by Kruschke (2013), with reference to a field of practical
equivalence equal to ± 5% of the value of compared cultivars.
Results
The cultivar Primabelle showed the higher values of yield: 38.9 t ha-1 vs. 35.8 of Agata and 35.1 of
Colomba (fig. 1). The three cultivar produced about 78% of standard size marketable tubers, ranged by
74% of Primabelle to 80% of Agata; the undersize tubers were 25%, 19% and 19% and oversize tubers
were 1%, 1% and 2% for Primabelle, Agata and Colomba respectively (fig. 2). In particular, about
standard size tubers, Primabelle shows the 61% of predictive distribution under the field of practical
equivalence respect to Colomba and the 81% respect to Agata; besides, about the undersize tubers,
Primabelle shows the 97% of predictive distribution over the field of practical equivalence respect to the
other two cultivars (fig.2). In terms of quality (percentage of dry matter), there were not differences
among the cultivar (fig.1). The percentage of unmarketable tubers was similar for Primabelle and Agata
(about 3%), while Colomba showed lower value (about 2%) (fig. 1).
144
Figure 1. Samples of predictive distribution of marketable yield, % dry matter and % unmarketable tubers
of the three tested cultivar and differences between them, represented by density strips (Jackson, 2008):
cuts indicate the median and at 80% and 95% intervals. ROPE: field of practical equivalence (±5% than
value of compared cultivar).
Figure 2. Samples of predictive distribution of percentages of three diameter classes of the three tested
cultivar and differences between them, represented by density strips (Jackson, 2008).
Conclusions
The Primabelle variety seems to well adapt to the pedo-climatic conditions of test: it reached the highest
value of marketable yield. However, respect the other two “old” cultivars, Primabelle produced a lower
quantity of standard size tubers and a higher quantity of undersize tubers. Therefore, Primabelle seems
suitable to markets which also require undersize tubers, sell as “novella potato”.
References
Jackson C. H. 2008. Displaying uncertainty with shading. The American Statistician 62(4):340-347.
Kruschke J. K. 2013. Bayesian estimation supersedes the t test. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 142(2):
573-603.
R Core Team 2016. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing,
Vienna, Austria. ISBN 3-900051-07-0.
Stan Development Team 2015. Stan: A C++ Library for Probability and Sampling, Version 2.8.0. URL http://mc-stan.org/.
www.hzpc.com/potatoes/sustainability. Potatoes & sustainability.
145
Effect of Different Nitrogen Doses on Yield and Quality
of Zucchini Grown in Greenhouse
Ida Di Mola1, Eugenio Cozzolino2, Lucia Ottaiano1, Luigi GiuseppeDuri1, Vincenzo
Cenvinzo1, Massimo Fagnano1, Mauro Mori1
2CREA-Consiglio
1Dip. di Agraria, Univ. Napoli, IT, [email protected]
per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria Laboratorio di Caserta
Introduction
The world population reached 7.3 billion in mid-2015and the prevision is more than 11.0 billion in the
2100 (DESA, 2015). The word population increase determines a higher demand of food; so it is necessary
to increase the inputs of cultivations. The main factor influencing the yield is the nitrogen, but this is true
only within certain limits; in fact an excess of nitrogen can determine: lengthening of pheno-phase (later
flowering and production); lower resistance to climatic and pathogen adversity; increase of water demand
(because leaf area increase); accumulation of nitrate in the plant tissues. On the other hand, a higher
nitrogen fertilization can also cause environmental damages; the nitrogen, as nitrate, is very soluble in
water and it easily moves in the soil both horizontally and vertically, with a risk to contaminate the
groundwater.
So, it is indispensable to identify the correct dose of nitrogen but also the right time of distribution, with
the aim to satisfy the demand of plants in the various growth phases.
Methods
The research aimedto verify the effect of different nitrogen doses on productive behaviour (quantity and
quality) and growth of zucchini grown in greenhouse. The soil of the trial was sandy-loam with 1.7% of
organic matter, 0.11% of nitrogen and high K content.
The trial was carried out at the experimental field Gussone Park of Department of Agriculture (N 40°
48.870’; E 14° 20.821’; 70m a.s.l.) in Portici (Naples):
The experimental treatmentswere:
- no nitrogen – control: N0%
- 50% of optimal nitrogen doses: 45 kg ha-1 (N50%)
- optimal nitrogen dose: 90 kg ha-1 (N100%)
- 150% of optimal nitrogen doses: 135 kg ha-1(N150%)
The nitrogen doses were split in 10 fertirrigation interventions with ammonium nitrate (26%) and soluble
complex (18-18-18 and micro-elements), starting from 4 April. The other crop practices were ordinary.
The zucchini were grown on a low density polyethylene film with 15 microns thickness (LDPE); the
transplanting was made on 27 March. The plant density was 1.2 plant m-2; the harvests were made on
alternate days, from 27 April to 19 June 2015 for a total of 23 days.The cultivar tested was “Altea”; its
fruit is light green and mottled, it is harvested with flower at a length of 20-22 cm. At each harvest the
following parameters were collected: number of marketable fruit and their fresh weight; besides, we
considered the sums of the first eight harvests as the “early yield”. In three harvests (early, intermediate,
final) the following measurements were also made: Brix degree (Refractometer Atago); texture
(Penetrometer BCE with 8 mm probe); color (Colorimeter at reflectance Minolta Chromameter CR200).
The data were analyzed with MSTAT software (Crop and Soil Science Department, Michigan State
Results
The treatment N100%and N150% showed the best performance in terms of early yield (about 17.5 t ha1) (fig. 1a). The lower yield of control is confirmed also for the total yield (sums of the all harvests) and
146
it was significantly different from N50% also (fig.1b). There were no differences between N100% and
N150%, but the N150% harvest index was statistically lower, due to the higher expansion of vegetative
part (stem and leaves), almost double than the 100% biomass (tab.1). The higher yield of N100% and
N150% was due to higher number of marketable fruits and to their higher average weight (tab. 1).
70
b
a
60
t ha -1
50
40
30
20
10
0
N0%
N50%
N100%
N150%
N0%
N50%
N100%
N150%
Figure 2. Effect of different nitrogen doses on early (a) and total yield (b). The vertical bars indicate
the standard error.
About the texture (tab.1), there were no statistically significant differences between all the fertilized
treatments but only with the control, that had a lower value.T he two treatments with the maximum supply
of nitrogen (N100% and N150%) had the higher value of Brix degree and they were statistically different
from the other two treatments (tab.1). Finally, about the parameters of color (brightness and chroma) the
two treatments N100% and N150% showed the best performance (high values of chroma and brightness),
while N50% had a good tonality of color but a low brightness and the control (N0) had an opposite
behaviour.
Table 4. Effect of different nitrogen doses on quanti-qualitative parameters of yield
Treatments
N0%
N50%
N100%
N150%
DMS
Number
of Fruits
n°
140 c
172 b
204 a
215 a
19.0
Fruits
average
weight
g
121.1 b
122.8 b
131.7 a
131.0 a
4.1
Harvest
Index
Brightness
%
66.3 a
57.1 b
63.3 a
48.7 c
5.2
%
44.91 a
41.34 b
43.39 a
43.20 a
1.75
Chroma
Texture
Brix
20.64 b
25.04 a
23.39 a
25.97 a
2.60
kg cm-2
1.30 b
1.63 a
1.59 a
1.58 a
0.12
°
4.13 c
4.47 b
5.02 a
4.80 a
0.25
Conclusions
The increment of nitrogen doses over the optimal quantity (90 kg ha-1) did not improve the yieldof
zucchini grown in greenhouse, as quantity and quality, indeed the lowest harvest index of most fertilized
treatment showed that a nitrogen surplus determined an increase of vegetative vigor, that can cause a
higher susceptibility to drought stress. Besides, a surplus of nitrogen can have high environmental risks,
because it can be lost and it can move towards the groundwater.
References
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2015. World Population Prospects:
The 2015 Revision, Key Findings and AdvanceTables. Working Paper No. ESA/P/WP.241.
147
Potentially Toxic Elements in Vegetables for
Biomonitoring Environmental Quality of Campania
Region
Lucia Ottaiano1, Luigi Giuseppe Duri1, Nocerino Sabrina1 Mauro Mori1, Vincenzo Leone2
Mariella Passari3 Massimo Fagnano1
1
CREA-Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria. Caserta (CE)
3
Regione Campania
2
Introduction
The territory of Campania Region has recently been under the attention of media because of the illegal
use of soils to dump potentially toxic wastes and for the numerous illegal waste disposals and burnings
that increased health risks due to air pollution. Nevertheless, the media campaign focused only on local
food production (vegetable, forage and cheeses) safety. Excluding the organic pollutants that are not
uptaken by crop roots, the higher risks derive from Potential toxic elements (PTEs), such as Pb and Cd.
A number of factors influence the concentration of PTEs on and within plants. These factors include
climate, atmospheric deposition, the nature of the soil on which the plant is grown and the degree of
maturity of the plant at the time of harvesting. (Scott et al., 1996).
However, PTEs content in plants can also be affected by other factors such as the application of fertilisers
and irrigation with wastewater (Devkota and Schmidt, 2000).
With the aim to investigate the more vulnerable crops to pollution, in this study the concentrations of
PTEs in vegetables grown in the provinces of Naples and Caserta are presented and discussed.
Methods
A total of 167 plant samples belonging to 11 different species of vegetables and fruits, were collected in
50 sites of the region Campania.
About 500 g of each species were taken, kept in paper bags, labeled and transported to the laboratory.
Determination of PTEs was carried out in accordance with EPA 6010 C 2007 method. 0.5 g of sample
was subjected to acid digestion with 6 ml of HNO3 at 65%, 2 ml of H2O2 at 30% in a microwave oven,
with temperature and pressure control. They were then picked up 200 µL of our mineral solution, to
which were added 4.800 µL of H2O, the solution was analyzed at the ICP/MS Agilent 7700 series
(Agilent Technologies, USA). The recovery rate of heavy metal content varied between 71 and 92 %.
For determination of Quantification Limits (LOQs), 20 blanks were used. These blanks were obtained
submitting to the analytical procedure only the reagents and they were analyzed in triplicate. LOQs were
set (0.001 mg/Kg) as three times of limit of detection (LODs). For statistical elaboration, the mediumbound method (LOQ/2) was used (ISS, 2004) for values under the LOQ.
Results
In Tables 1 and 2 the results of all the 167 samples of vegetables have been summarized.
3% of samples exceeded the limits Cd and Pb respectively. A similar percentage was also found by other
survey campaigns (Esposito et al 2015).
As regards cadmium (tab. 1), samples that exceeded the legal limit were 5: 2 Tomato samples (0.18
mg/kg FW) and 3 Eggplant samples (0.09 mg/kg FW). Instead samples that exceeded the legal limit of
Pb were 5: 3 Strawberry samples (0.28 mg/kg FW), 1 Apricot (0.28 mg/kg FW) and 1 Tomato sample
(0.21 mg/kg FW).
Levels of Cu (tab. 2) in vegetables ranged from 0.74 (lettuce) to 16.54 (fennel) mg/kg FW. The Zn levels
ranged from 1.69 (grapefruit) to 52.47 (lettuce) mg/kg FW (tab. 2).
148
Table 1 Plant uptake Cd and Pb
Cd b
mg/kg
N° LOQa - (%) MED
Fruits
Straweberry
Grapefruit
Apricot
Vegetebles
Lettuce
Chicory
Broccoli
Cabbage
Courgette
Tomato
Eggplant
Fennel
a
12
7
7
7 - (58%)
0 - (0%)
1 - (14%)
12
6
45
8
6
47
8
9
10 - (83%)
3 - (50%)
25 - (56%)
3 - (38%)
1 - (17%)
28 - (60%)
6 - (75%)
2 - (22%)
Pb c
mg/kg
MIN
MAX
0.007 0.001
0.028
0.001
0.001
0.004 0.001
0.020
0.042
0.010
0.011
0.031
0.001
0.020
0.033
0.017
0.020
0.001
0.004
0.002
0.001
0.002
0.013
0.032
0.091
0.050
0.069
0.199
0.001
0.183
0.090
0.110
LOQa - (%)
MED
MIN
MAX
5 - (41%)
3 - (43%)
2 - (22%)
0.063
0.007
0.041
0.001
0.010
0.001
0.286
0.026
0.286
6 - (50%)
5 - (83%)
20 - (44%)
2 - (25%)
1 - (17%)
11 - (23%)
2 - (25%)
5 - (56%)
0.060
0.040
0.070
0.032
0.001
0.006
0.013
0.019
0.039
0.002
0.005
0.007
0.001
0.003
0.050
0.005
0.214
0.094
0.289
0.246
0.001
0.211
0.051
0.077
LOQ= 0.0005 mg/kg
b
regulated by European normative No 1881/2006of 19 December 2006 (Fruits and vegetables 0.05 mg/kg, leef vegetables and
brassica 0.2 mg/kg)
c
regulated by European normative No 1881/2006of 19 December 2006 (Fruits and vegetables 0.1 mg/kg, leef vegetables and
brassica 0.3mg/kg)
Table 2 Plant uptake Cu and Zn.
Cu
mg/kg
a
N° LOQ - (%) MED
Fruits
Straweberry
Grapefruit
Apricot
Vegetebles
Lettuce
Chicory
Broccoli
Cabbage
Courgette
Tomato
Eggplant
Fennel
a
Zn
mg/kg
MIN
MAX
a
LOQ - (%)
MED
12 11 - (91%)
7 5 - (71%)
7 6 - (86%)
0.357 0.018
1.905 0.224
0.816 0.408
0.740
11.430
2.166
0 - (0%)
5 - (71%)
1 (14%)
0.001
0.635
0.049
12 11 - (92%)
6 5 - (83%)
45 32 - (71%)
8 6 - (75%)
6 4 - (67%)
47 30 - (64%)
8 6 - (75%)
9 8 - (89%)
2.184
0.376
1.796
0.619
2.248
0.352
2.115
2.169
9.474
0.870
12.064
1.634
13.114
6.175
12.345
16.542
11 - (92%)
6 - (100%)
25 - (56%)
6 - (75%)
3 - (50%)
26 - (55%)
5 - (63%)
7 - (78%)
13.544
3.681
4.370
4.618
1.348
1.148
3.493
2.752
0.145
0.024
0.006
0.054
0.001
0.014
0.124
0.035
MIN
MAX
0.001
0.024
1.694
0.001
0.346
1.026
0.142
0.143
0.117
0.015
0.123
0.012
0.364
52.470
13.228
19.374
15.644
5.462
45.919
17.888
10.226
LOQ= 0.0005 mg/kg
Conclusions
The results this study showed that fruits and vegetables grown in Campania have low levels of
contamination of Pb and Cd, with an incidence comparable with the levels found also in surveys made
in other areas.
We believe that such data, together with the results collected by other authorities, can exclude a specific
risk for human health due to fruits and vegetables cultivated in this area.
References
Devkota B. et al., 2000. Accumulation of heavy metals in food plants and grasshoppers from the Taigetos Mountains,
Greece. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 78, 85–91.
Esposito M. et al., 2015. Content of Cadmium and lead in vegetables and fruit grown in the Campania region of Italy.
Journal of food protection, 78, 1760-1765.
Scott D. et al., 1996. Native and low-input grasses—a New Zealand high country perspective. N. Z. J. Agric. Res. 39,
499–512.
149
Agricultural Reuse of Industrial Process By-Product: The
Effect of Lignocellulosic Biomasses Processing Waste on
Durum Wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) Seed Germination
Maria Giordano, Maria Isabella Sifola, Mirella Sorrentino, Antonio Pannico, Stefania De
Pascale
Introduction
Several industrial processes can produce by-products rich in organic matter which, when properly
analyzed and approved, can be recycled by using in improving fertility of agricultural soils. A sustainable
use in agriculture of these by-products can reduce the environmental impacts of their disposal
(Cooperband, 2000). BioPolis project proposed to produce biochemicals from renewable sources such as
lignocellulosic biomasses (Liguori et al., 2016). The main aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of
a by-product obtained by processing (enzymatic hydrolysis) of different lignocellulosic biomasses on
seed germination and seedlings growth of durum wheat on matrices different from soil. This kind of
bioassays should be generally recommended for the assessment of ecological risks before using byproducts in soils as organic amendments.
Methods
The by-product was dried in a oven at 65 °C for 5 days and then finely ground with a mill (IKA MF10.1,
Staufen, Germany) with 0.5 mm sieve. Ten, 20 and 40 g of dry by-product was added to 1 liter of distilled
water to obtain the D1, D2 and D3 solutions, respectively. Distilled water was used as control (C). The
chemical composition of D1 solution, determined by ion chromatography with conductivity detection
(ICP 3000 Dionex, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., MA USA), was:12.8 mg/l N, 0.96 mg/l NH4+, 35.36
mg/l Na, 38.89 mg/l K, 4.18 mg/l Mg, 16.62 mg/l Ca, 6.80 mg/l Cl, 0,34 mg/l NO 2-, 0,80 mg/l NO3-,
40.49 mg/l (PO4)3-, 10.87 mg/l (SO4)2-, 14.05 mg/l ossalate, 9.12 mg/l galatturonate. Other organic acids
were also present in negligible amounts (2,19 mg/l malate, 0,82 mg/l citrate, 1,38 mg/l isocitrate, 2,83
mg/l pyruvate). EC and pH of D1 was 0,16 mS/cm and 3,92 respectively. Concentration factors of 2 and
4 were used to obtained the chemical compositions of D2 and D3, respectively. EC/pH of D2 and D3
were 0,3 (mS/cm)/4,35 and 0,54 (mS/cm)/4,53, respectively. Durum wheat seeds (Triticum durum Desf.
cv. Svevo) were placed in Petri dishes (ten seeds per each dish) on filter paper disks and wetted at about
two-days interval with the 4 solutions at the following three applications rate: i) 2 days after the
beginning of the experiment, then only with distilled water (application rate 1); ii) 2, 4, 6 days after the
beginning of the experiment, then only with distilled water (application rate 3), iii) 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 days
after the beginning of the experiment, then only with distilled water (application rate 5). The experiment
of seed germination and seedlings growth started on April 4, 2016 and was conducted over two weeks in
a growth chamber which was set to maintain a 12 h photoperiod with 20 °C light/18 °C night and 65%
relative humidity. The seed germination percentage was determined at about 2-days interval by counting
the number of germinated seeds per Petri dish. Roots and shoots length was also measured at the same
interval up to the end of the experiment and the mean value per seed of both parameters was calculated.
Three Petri dishes (replications) for each treatments combination (type of solution x application rate)
were arranged. Results were subjected to ANOVA and means separated with Duncan test at P<0.05 and
0.01.
Results
The percentage of seed germination did not vary significantly with the application of the by-product at
all dates of measurement reaching the maximum value of 88% (D1 treatment) on April 13 (data not
150
shown). Root length was significantly affected by by-product application (Tab. 1). In particular, it
decreased with increasing concentrations and the effect was already evident on April 11 (Tab. 1).
However, there was no significant effect of application rate on the same parameter (Tab. 1). As for shoots,
they appeared on April 11 and, although not significantly, their growth was reduced by increasing solution
concentrations and application rates up to the end of experiment (data not shown).
Table 1. Effect of by-product concentration and application rate on roots length of durum wheat seedlings. C, control; D1,
10 g/L; D2, 20 g/L; D3, 40 g/L; 1, by-product application at 2 days after the beginning of the experiment; 2, by-product
application at 2, 4, 6 days after the beginning of the experiment; 3, by-product application at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 days after the
beginning of the experiment.
Root
(mm seed-1)
6/04
8/04
11/04
13/04
15/04
18/04
Solution (S)
C
D1
D2
D3
-
0.9
2.6
2.2
2.2
22.3 a
20.2 a
15.8 ab
6.1 b
22.1 A
14.7 AB
11.0 B
7.1 B
22.3 A
14.2 AB
10.1 B
6.8 B
23.0 A
14.2 B
10.5 B
6.5 B
Application rate (AR)
1
3
5
-
1.6
2.2
2.1
18.1
15.8
14.5
15.9
13.3
12.2
15.7
12.9
11.4
16.0
13.3
11.4
ANOVA
S
NS
*
**
AR
NS
NS
NS
S x AR
NS
NS
NS
Means with different letters within columns are significantly different according
significant or significant at p≤0.05 and 0.01, respectively.
**
**
NS
NS
NS
NS
to Duncan’s test. NS, *, ** are non-
Conclusions
The effect of by-product concentrations was negative for roots and shoots growth but not for seed
germination. Particularly low pH of the solutions and phenolic components of lignin, potentially present
in appreciable amounts in the by-product, could be responsible of the inhibitory effect on seedlings
growth. We propose to test the possible effect of the by-product on soil and wheat plants in the field as
organic amendment/fertilizer.
References
Cooperband L.R., 2000.Sustainable use of by-products in land management. SSSA Book Series 6, Land Application of
agricultural, industrial and municipal by products: 215-235.
Liguori et al. 2016. Bioreactors for lignocellulose conversion into fermentable sugars for production of high added value
products. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 100:597–611.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by grant from the Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca Scientifica—Industrial research
project “Development of green technologies for production of BIOchemicals and their use in preparation and industrial
application of POLImeric materials from agricultural biomasses cultivated in a sustainable way in Campania region
(BioPoliS)” PON03PE_00107_1, funded in the frame of Operative National Programme Research and Competitiveness
2007– 2013 D. D. Prot. N. 713/Ric. 29/10/2010.
151
Vegetation Indices to Estimate Phytochemical Content in
Asparagus officinalis L.
Angelica Galieni1, Fabio Stagnari1, Michele Pisante1, Sara D’Egidio1, Giancarlo Pagnani1,
Stefano Speca1, Aldo Bertone2, Maria Assunta Dattoli2, Cristiano Platani2,Maria Silvia
Sebastiani2, Nadia Ficcadenti2
1Facoltà
2CREA-ORA,
di Bioscienze e Tecnologie Agroalimentari ed Ambientali, UNITE, IT, [email protected]
Unità di Ricerca per l'Orticoltura, Monsampolo del Tronto (AP), IT, [email protected]
Introduction
Asparagus officinalis L. is one of the most important perennial vegetables in the world. It is a good source
of antioxidants and the main components responsible of asparagus bioactivity are phenols (flavonoids),
carotenoids, oligosaccharides and rutin. Spear nutritional quality is highly affected by both agronomical
and environmental factors i.e. temperature, light and fern growth. New vegetation indices (VIs) have
been proposed to relate crop physiological status with hyperspectral data through their relationship with
biochemical constituent concentrations (Haboudane et al., 2004). The objective of this work was to
establish relationships between some VIs and shoot chemical composition at different growth stages.
Methods
Samples of fourteen years old crop of asparagus - cv «C52» - were harvested at different stages of shoot
growth, named: little (from 50 to 80 mm length, LS), medium (from 90 to 120 mm length, MS) and
commercial (from 220 to 270 mm length, CS); starting from 24th April 2015,7 sampling were performed.
At harvest, shoots fresh weight and diameter were recorded. The antioxidant activity (TAA) and the total
phenolic content (TPC) were evaluated with ABTS (2,2-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic
acid) and Folin-Ciocalteu methods, respectively. The flavonoid content (TFC) was assessed using an
adapted procedure, as described by Akkol et al., 2008. Reflectance data were collected from LS, MS and
CS with a Field Spec Hand Held 2 Pro Portable Spectroradiometer (ADS Inc., Boulder, CO, USA) and
the follows VIs were calculated: the optimized soil-adjusted vegetation index (OSAVI), normalized
difference vegetation index (NDVI), green normalized difference vegetation index (GNDVI), structure
insensitive pigment index (SIPI) and modified chlorophyll absorption ratio index (MCARI). One-way
analysis of variance (R Development Core Team 2013 - R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Austria)
was performed to biometric and quality data, according to a complete randomized design with three
replications, where thesis were three asparagus shoot growths. Means separation was performed through
Fisher’s Least Significant Difference (LSD) test. Correlations between variables (VIs, TAA, TPC and
TFC) were tested by Pearson’s correlation.
Results
Biometric characteristics significantly differed between thesis (Figure 1). The quantitative analyses of
«C52» TAA, TPC and TFC are reported in Figure 2. The analyses showed that total polyphenols in
commercial asparagus were higher than in medium and little shoots. No significant differences were
recorded between treatments in terms of TAA. Quality traits of shoots were correlated with the calculated
VIs, with the exception of GNDVI, which did not show significant coefficients values (Table 1). In
particular, SIPI seemed to better estimate the antioxidant activity, total polyphenols and flavonoid
contents in asparagus shoots (TAA: -0.925; TPC: -0.994; TFC: -0.864).
152
Figure1: Shoots fresh weight (FW, g) and diameter (cm) as recorded for asparagus collected at different stages of shoot
growth: little (from 50 to 80 mm length, LS), medium (from 90 to 120 mm length, MS) and commercial (from 220 to
270mm length, CS). Data are means over sampling dates for n=3 independent replicates. Different letters stand for
significantly differences at p<0.05 (Fisher’s LSD test).
Figure2: Antioxidant activity (TAA, mmol Trolox eq 100g DW-1), total phenolic content (TPC, mg GAE100g DW-1) and
flavonoid content (TFC, mg Rutin eq 100g DW-1) as recorded for asparagus collected at different stages of shoot growth:
little (from 50 to 80 mm length, LS), medium (from 90 to 120 mm length, MS) and commercial (from 220 to 270mm
length, CS). Data are means over sampling dates for n=3 independent replicates. Different letters stand for significantly
differences at p<0.05 (Fisher’s LSD test).
Table 1: Pearson’s correlation coefficients among VIs (OSAVI, NDVI, GNDVI, SIPI and MCARI) and shoots quality
traits (TAA, TPC and TFC).
TAA
TPC
TFC
0.825
0.894
-0.557
-0.925
0.709
0.949
0.983
-0.765
-0.994
0.877
0.739
0.825
-0.438
-0.864
0.606
VIs
OSAVI
NDVI
GNDVI
SIPI
MCARI
Conclusions
Vegetation indices could be usefully employed to estimate the content of some biochemical constituents
in edible fruits as well as vegetables, such as asparagus. Consequently, the identification and selection of
newly vegetation indices for monitoring the crop phytochemicals content, as well as the validation of
specific indices already used for other purposes, should be encouraged.
References
Akkol E.K. et al. 2008. Phenolic composition and biological activities of Salvia halophile and Salvia virgate from Turkey.
Food Chem, 108:942-949.
Haboudane D. et al. 2004. Hyperspectral vegetation indices and novel algorithms for predicting green LAI of crop
canopies: Modeling and validation in the context of precision agriculture. Remote Sens Environ, 90:337-352.
153
Field Co-Inoculation with Mycorrhizas and Rhizobia
Greatly Increases Grain Quality of Soybean
Elisa Pellegrino1, Alberto Mantino1, Enrico Bonari1, Laura Ercoli1
1Institute
of Life Sciences, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33, 56127 Pisa, Italy
Introduction
Agricultural practices exploiting the positive impact of many soil micro-organisms are often proposed as
a solution for sustainable food production without negative impacts on natural resources (van der Heijden
et al., 2008). Most relevant groups of soil microbes are arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), obligate
symbionts of the majority of land plants (Smith and Read 2008). AMF transport inorganic nutrients and
water from the soil to the plants and can strongly increase the utilization efficiency of fertilizers,
especially the non-renewable phosphorus (P). Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.), an important highquality protein and oil source for human and animal nutrition, is one of the most widespread legume
crops in the world, representing 50% of the global crop legume area and 68% of global legume production
(Herridge et al., 2008). Since the tripartite symbiosis, among soybean, rhizobia and arbuscular
mycorrhizal fungi, was firstly described by Pacovsky (1986), several studies were performed in pot
conditions highlighting the great effect of co-inoculation by AMF and rhizobium on yield and N uptake
(Kaschuk et al., 2010). However, so far, just one study was performed on soybean co-inoculation by
Bradirhizobium japonicum and AMF in field conditions (Wang et al., 2011). Taking into account the
hypothesis that co-inoculation could improve plant growth, yield and micronutrient uptake, this research
was undertaken to investigate the role of co-inoculation of rhizobium and AMF inoculants on AMF
colonization, plant growth and nutrient uptake of soybean.
Methods
Field site. The trial was conducted in 2013 at Braccagni, Grosseto. According to climatic conditions, the
crop was grown under irrigated conditions. Soil texture was clay-loam. Soil physical and chemical
characteristics were: pH 7.7; organic carbon 14.4 g kg-1; total N 1.6 g kg-1; available P 14.3 mg kg-1.
Before the set-up of the experiment, the field site was conventionally cultivated with sunflower - bread
wheat rotation. The crop preceding soybean was bread wheat. Experimental set-up and crop
management. Three inoculation treatments were arranged in a randomized block design (plot dimension
6 x 5 m) with four replicates. Treatments were: soil bacteria Bradyrhizobium japonicum (R); AMF
inoculation with Rhizophagus irregularis (8000 spores m-2) (AMF) and the co-inoculation of AMF with
R (AMF+R). Soybean was cultivated following the management techniques normally applied in the area.
Sampling and analyses. Plant samples were taken at crop stages V3 (third node) and R8 (full maturity).
At stage V3, three plants, randomly selected in each replicate plot, were excavated with their whole root
system, while at R8 three random turfs were extracted from each replicate plot and then combined. AMF
root colonization rate was assessed by the grid-line intersect method (McGonigle et al., 1990). At V3
shoot and root dry weight were determined, while at R8, in addition to grain yield and protein
concentration, Fe, Mg, Mn and Zn concentration in grain were determined by atomic absorption
spectrometry. Differences from R (%) were calculated for both AMF and AMF+R. Statistics and data
analyses. Pairwise comparisons between AMF and R plots and between AMF+R and R plots were
performed by t-test using the SPSS software version 21.0.
Results
At V3, co-inoculation by AMF and R determined statistically significant increases in shoot (+48%) and
root dry weight (g m-2) (+60%) respect to R (Fig. 1). By contrast, AMF inoculation of soybean reduced
shoot (-42%) and root (-38%) dry weight respect to R. At physiological maturity (R8), grain yield was
not affected by single inoculation by AMF or by AMF and R co-inoculation, while grain protein
concentration was significantly increased by co-inoculation (+10%) respect to R (Fig. 2). As regard
154
micronutrients, grain Fe (+16%), Mg (+37%), Mn (96%) and Zn (53%) concentration were strongly
improved by the co-inoculation by AMF and R respect to R (Fig. 3).
Fig. 1. Difference in shoot and root dry weight of
soybean inoculated AMF and by AMF plus R, respect to
R (%). The asterisk indicate significant differences at P
< 0.05, according to t-test.
Fig. 2. Difference in yield and root dry weight of
soybean inoculated by AMF and by AMF plus R, respect
to R (%). The asterisk indicate significant differences at
P < 0.05, according to t-test.
The absence of the specific Rhizobium for
soybean in the test soil support our assumption
that soybean inoculated only with AMF could not
fix atmospheric N2. This assumption is further
corroborated by the evidence of the lack of
nodules in roots. The increased grain protein
content in co-inoculated crop may be due to
increased N2 fixation (as expected because of the
phosphate or other elements supply by AMF) and
to increased N uptake from soil by the AMF
hyphal network.
References
Fig. 3. Difference in grain Fe, Mg, Mn and Zn grain
concentration of soybean inoculated by AMF and by
AMF plus R, respect to R (%). The asterisk indicate
significant differences at P < 0.05, according to t-test.
Conclusions
The results obtained in this experiment show that
co-inoculation by rhizobium and AMF could be
an effective tool to improve the grain nutritional
quality of soybean, owing to the increase of Fe,
Mg, Mn and Zn concentration in grain.
Herridge, D.F. et al. 2008. Global inputs of biological
nitrogen fixation in agricultural systems. Plant Soil,
311:1-18; Kaschuk, G. et al. 2010. Responses of legumes
to rhizobia and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: a metaanalysis of potential photosynthate limitation of
symbioses. Soil Biol. Biochem. 42:125-127; Mcgonigle,
T.P. et al. 1996. Development of fungi below ground in
association with plants growing in disturbed and
undisturbed soils. Soil Biol. Biochem., 28:263-269;
Pacovsky, R.S. et al. 1986. Nutrient and growth
interactions in soybeans colonized with Glomus
fasciculatum andRhizobium japonicum. Plant Soil, 92:
37-45; Smith S.E., Read D.J. 2008. Mycorrhizal
symbiosis, 3rd edn. Academic, London; Van Der Heijden
M.G. et al. 2008. The unseen majority: soil microbes as
drivers of plant diversity and productivity in terrestrial
ecosystems. Ecol. Lett. 11:296-310; Wang, X. et al. 2011.
Effects of co-inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal
fungi and rhizobia on soybean growth as related to root
architecture and availability of N and P. Mycorrhiza,
21:173-181.
155
Growing Performance of Short- and Long-Day Genotypes
of Salvia hispanica L. Under Different Plant Density and
Irrigation in a Mediterranean Environment
Rocco Bochicchio1, Rosanna Labella1, Gianfranco Bitella1, Tim D. Phillips2, Roberta Rossi3,
Michele Perniola1, Mariana Amato1
1
2
SAFE, University of Basilicata, Potenza, IT, [email protected]
Plant and Soil Sciences. University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546-0312 USA
3 CREA-ZOE, Muro Lucano (PZ), [email protected]
Introduction
The diffusion of chia (Salvia hispanica L.), a nutraceutical crop grown for the high content of unsaturated
fatty acids in seed oil, encounters problems linked to the photoperiod sensitivity of this species: shortday flowering accessions from the areas of origin flower in autumn at high latitudes and seed maturation
is hampered by cold temperatures. This work reports results from a trial conducted in Basilicata within
the framework of an agreement with the University of Kentucky where a short-day genotype from
Mexico was compared with a longer day mutant.
Methods
The experiment was conducted in 2014 at Masseria Saraceno, Atella (Pz) Southern Italy, Lat. N
40°51’37.59”, Long. E 15°38’49.43” on a Luvi-vertic Phaeozeum loam soil (IUSS Working group,
2006), with 43.6% of sand, 34.2% silt and 22.1 % of clay; a long term average of rainfall 678 mm mainly
concentrated between October and May. The following experimental factors were compared in a factorial
randomized block design with three replications: A. Genotypes of Salvia hispanica L.with two levels: B:
a black commercial seed available at Eichenhein (www.eichenhein.com) and G8: a long-day mutant
obtained at the university of Kentucky (Jamboonsri et al. 2012); B. sowing density with four levels: D1,
D2, D3 and D4 respectively 200, 40, 20 and 13 plants m-2, with a fixed interrow of 0,5 m.; C irrigation
with two levels: I (irrigation at 100% of ET0) and NI (no irrigation). The crop was sown on June 26,
2014 and irrigation treatments were differentiated at 51 DAS. Precipitation was 197 mm during the plant
cycle, and a total of 224 mm of irrigation was applied to the I treatment. Biometrical and yield data were
analyzed through anova and means compared by post-hoc Tukey HSD (Honestly Significant Difference).
Results
At 47 days after sowing (DAS) total plant dry biomass (TDW) was significantly different p<0.05 for the
density factor, were D1 (10.32 q ha-1) was higher than D4 (3.49 q ha-1) and D3 (2.59 q ha-1). At 63 and
106 DAS all main factors were significant, and B produced more biomass than G8 (p<0.05), I was > than
NI (p<0.05) and D1 > D4 (p<0.05). TDW values reached 117.93 t ha-1 in B and 98.92 t ha-1 in G8 at 106
DAS.
G8 seeds were mature at 132 DAS, with very high yield (fig. 1 left), equal of higher than S. hispanica
yields in the areas of origin, with higher yields at 20 and 40 plants m-2 (p<0.05) and in the irrigated
treatment (p<0.05) in spite of high precipitation between September and October (99 mm) which reduced
the effect of irrigation treatment. Seeds of B were harvested at 173 DAS when temperatures became too
low for further ripening, and yield was low (fig. 1 right) and made of mostly unripe seeds.
156
Fig. 1 Yield of Salvia hispanica L. G8 (left) and commercial black chia (right). Bars labeled with
different letters are different at p<0.05.
Conclusion
Preliminary results show that a long-day flowering mutant (G8) has a strong potential for the production
of seeds at 40° latitude, whereas a long-day commercial black chia was unable to reach proper seed
maturation. Irrigation increased biomass and yield in spite of the high precipitation during the growth
season.
References
Iuss working Group, 2006. World reference base for soil resources 2006. World Soil Resources Report No. 103. Food and
Agriculture Organisation, Rome, Italy.
Jamboonsri, W., Phillips, T.D., Geneve, R.L., Cahill, J.P., Hildebrand, D.F., 2012. Extending the range of an ancient crop,
Salvia hispanica L. – a new ω3 source. Gen. Res. Crop Evol. 59,171–178.
157
Tomato Growth and Nematicidal Response to Soil
Treatments with Essential Oils
Sebastiano Laquale1,2, Michele Perniola1, Vincenzo Candido1,2, Trifone D’Addabbo2
1Scuola
Sci. Agr., For., Alim. Ed Amb., Univ. Basilicata, Potenza, IT, [email protected]
Sci. Agr., For., Alim. Ed Amb., Univ. Basilicata, Potenza, IT, [email protected]
1Scuola Sci. Agr., For., Alim. Ed Amb., Univ. Basilicata, IT, [email protected]
2Ist. Prot. Sost. Piante, CNR, IT, [email protected]
1Scuola
Introduction
Effects of nematicidal treatments with EOs on plant growth have been poorly investigated, as limited to
the potential phytotoxicity of their application in the presence of crop plants. Tomato growth response
and nematicidal effects of ten different EOs applied by drench or fumigation to soil infested by the root
nematode Meloidogyne incognita was investigated in two different experiments in potting mixes.
Methods
In a first experiment, nematode infested soil in 1.2 L clay pots was treated with the EOs of Cinnamomum
camphora, C. zeylanicum, Citrus aurantium, Eugenia caryophillata and Schinus molle applied in water
solution at the rates of 50, 100 and 200 l kg-1, whereas in a second experiment the EOs from Eucalyptus
citriodora, E. globulus, Mentha piperita, Pelargonium asperum and Ruta graveolens were applied by
fumigation at the same rates. In both experiments, a one-month tomato seedling cv. Roma was
transplanted in each pot three weeks after EOs treatments.
Results
All treatments with water solutions of the five EOs did not significantly affect the growth of tomato top
and root biomass (Table 1). Soil fumigation with all rates of EOs of E. globulus and P. asperum resulted
in a significant increase of plant top biomass compared with the infested control, whereas the other three
oils caused a significant growth effect at the highest rate (Table 2). Almost all soil drench treatments with
the tested EOs and fumigation with EOs of E. globulus and P. asperum significantly reduced nematode
multiplication and gall formation on tomato roots, whereas soil fumigation with EOs of E. citriodora, M.
piperita and R. graveolens were not suppressive at the lowest dosage.
Discussion
The consistent reduction of gall formation and number of nematode eggs and J2 g−1 on tomato roots
caused by soil treatments with the five EOs tested supports their high nematicidal activity against rootknot nematodes showed also in previous in vitro studies (Oka et al., 2000; Pandey et al., 2000). An
involvement of EOs components in interrupting the nematode nervous system or a disruption and change
of permeability of nematode cell membranes have been hypothesised by Oka et al. (2000), as well as Lee
et al. (2001) suggested an inhibition of AChE activity.
Effects of EO are generally due to their major terpene components, such as carvacrol, thymol, citronellol,
linalool and geraniol, as already demonstrated in previous studies (Echeverrigaray et al., 2010).
Conclusions
Experiments indicated a high potential of tested EOs for the development of new nematicidal fumigant
formulations sustainable to environment and human health.
References
Lee S.E. et al. 2001. Fumigant toxicity of volatile natural products from Korean spices and medicinal plants towards the
riceweevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L). Pest Manag. Sci., 57: 548-553.
158
Pandey R. et al. 2000. Essential oils as potent sources of nematicidal compounds. J. Phytopathol., 148:501–502.
Isman M.B. 2000. Plant essential oils for pest and disease management. Crop Prot., 19:603-608.
Oka Y. et al. 2000. Nematicidal activity of essential oils and their components against the root-knot nematode.
Phytopathology, 90:710-715.
Table 1. Effects of soil treatments with water solutions of five essential oils on growth
of tomato cv. Roma and infestation of the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita.
Dose
Plant fresh weight (g)
Eggs and J2
EO
g-1 roots (x
-1
Top
Root
g kg soil)
1,000)
50
38
9.6
8.7
S. molle
100
45.6
13.6
8.3
200
35.8
7.8
7.2
50
46.2
12
14.7
C. camphora
100
43.8
10.6
9.5
200
42
10
8.0
50
47
14.8
8.7
E. caryophillata
100
47.8
12.6
6.7
200
49.4
11.4
13.5
50
35.6
8.8
2.2
C. zeylanicum
100
40.6
12.2
22.9
200
36.4
9.8
7.2
50
38.4
9.8
19.0
C. aurantium
100
51.4
14.6
12.8
200
43.2
9.0
11.9
Fenamiphos
49.8
10.8
3.2
Non treated
46
11.4
27.5
Non infested
43.6
7.8
LSD 0.05
11.9
4.4
5.5
Root gall index
(0-5)
2.2
2
3
3
3
3.8
2.4
2.8
3.2
3.4
4.6
4.2
5.4
5
5.6
1.6
4
1.0
Table 2 Effect of soil fumigation treatments with three different rates of five essential oils on the growth of tomato cv.
Roma and the infestation of the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita.
Dose
Plant fresh weight (g)
Eggs and J2 g-1 Root gall index
EO
roots (x 1000)
(0-10)
Top
Root
g kg-1 soil)
50
17.8
10.1
47.3
5.0
E. citriodora
100
21.9
11.6
40.5
4.2
200
24.8
10.6
32.9
4.0
50
25.8
12.6
45.4
3.7
E. globulus
100
26.6
13.0
33.4
3.2
200
29.5
14.6
32.4
2.7
50
18.0
10.2
50.6
5.0
M. piperita
100
17.3
9.4
44.7
4.0
200
21.9
10.8
32.4
3.0
50
23.3
12.6
38.8
4.7
P. asperum
100
24.9
13.3
36.4
3.7
200
30.1
14.1
25.7
3.0
50
16.1
8.5
50.8
5.0
R. graveolens
100
25.4
13.6
39.0
4.0
200
23.8
12.2
34.0
3.2
Fenamiphos
30
31.8
10.6
18.9
2.2
Non treated
16.9
10.4
53.5
6.2
Non infested
32.3
11.9
LSD 0.05
5.9
2.9
7.7
1.3
159
Detection of Micotoxins in Kernels of Durum Wheat in
Sardinia, Italy: results of 6 Years of Investigation
Giuseppa Goddi1, Bruno Satta1, Tonino Selis1, Giuseppina Emonti2, Franco Masia2, Umberto
Pirisi2, Virgilio Balmas2,3
1
2
Agenzia LAORE Sardegna, IT, [email protected]
Centro per la Conservazione e Valorizzazione della Biodiversità Vegetale, Univ. Sassari, IT
3
Introduction
Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by several species of fungi, many of them belongs to
Fusarium Genera and some of them are pathogens of wheat to whom they cause a serious disease:
Fusarium Head – Blight (FHB). Fusarium culmorum and F. graminearum are the most common causal
agents of FHB in Sardinia and they both can produce deoxinivalenol (DON). Others species of Fusarium,
associated to FHB, as F. acuminatum; F. avenaceum, F. langsethiae, F. sporotrichioides; F. tricinctum,
are able to produce different mycotoxins, such as T2-HT2. However, others mycotoxigenic fungal
species can be found as contaminants on the kernels of cereals, most of them belonging to Aspegillus and
Penicillium Genera, and they can produce aflatoxins and ochratoxins.
Methods
Analyses on the most important mycotoxins deoxynivalenol (DON) and T2-HT2 has been detected on
durum wheat kernels in 6 continuous years, from 2010 to 2015.
With regard to DON analyses, 416 samples were collected from different growing area of Sardinia, while
for T2-HT2 were taken 286 samples. In 2015 aflatoxins and ochratoxins were detected, too, respectively
for 41 and 44 samples.
Quantitative analyses were carried out with a Lateral Flow Immunoassay (Rapid One Step Assay, Charm
Sciences Inc. – Foss ).
Results
The mycotoxin DON was detected in 30.3% of the samples analysed. All tested samples were below the
compulsory limit established by the European Union (EU) for the presence of DON (1,750 ppb) and only
2,4% reach the value bigger than 1/10 of the limit.
The T2-HT2 was detected in 68.9% of the samples analysed but only 2 samples on 286 were over the
limit proposed by the European Union (100 ppb), both them collected in 2012.
For the aflatoxins and the ochratoxins, detected only in 2015, a higher number of positive samples were
found (respectively 82,9% and 97,7%) with 9,7% over the limits established by EU for aflatoxins and
15,9% for ochratoxins.
Results of analyses for each mycotoxin detected and for single year are reported in Table 1.
Looking at the incidence of DON positive samples and the rainfall level during the anthesis (april) in
each year (detected by ARPAS Sardinia) is remarkable that in years with greater presence of positive
samples are those characterized by higher rainfall (data not shown). While no influence from rainfall
seems to be shown on the positive samples of T2 –HT2.
Conclusions
The contamination with aflatoxins and ochratoxins seems to be frequent and often their presence is more
related to inappropriate management of the kernels rather than from field infection.
The results of these analyses demonstrate the low level of the mycotoxins contamination caused by
Fusarium spp. in durum wheat kernels harvested in Sardinia.
160
Table 1. Micotoxins detected from 2010 to 2015 and percentage of samples resulted positive
for contamination
YEAR
N° of
samples
DON
detection
47
54
74
64
69
108
416
%
positive
samples
YEAR
N° of
samples
aflatoxins
detection
%
positive
samples
%
samples
over the
limit
YEAR
N° of
samples
ochratoxins
detection
%
positive
samples
%
samples
over the
limit
2015
41
82.9
9.7
2015
44
97.7
15.9
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
all year
59.6
27.8
28.4
90.6
0
3.7
30.3
%
samples
over the
limit
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
YEAR
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
all year
N° of
samples
T2-HT2
detection
14
20
41
38
65
108
286
%
positive
samples
14.3
75
90.2
100
81.5
48.1
68.9
%
samples
over the
limit
0
0
4.9
0
0
0
0.7
161
DSS for IPM in Sardinian Precision Farming
Marcello Onorato1, Gianvittorio Sale1, Marco Gerardi1, Salvatore Aresu1
1
Servizio Sostenibilità delle Attività Agricole, Agenzia Laore Sardegna, IT, [email protected];
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Introduction
The National Action Plan for the sustainable use of plant protection products (P.A.N.), established by
Legislative Decree 150/2012, implementing the national transposition of the EU Directive 2009/128/EC,
aims to drive, ensuring and monitoring a process of change in operating practices of plant protection
products to forms characterized by greater compatibility and environmental and health sustainability,
with particular reference to the agronomic practices for the prevention and / or suppression of harmful
organisms. The most significant measures, to which the agency LAORE Sardinia has primarily focused
its business activities, are:
- Action A.1 - Training and requirements for users, distributors and advisers
- Action A.3 - Control of equipment for the application of phytosanitary products
- Action A.7 - Phytosanitary defense with low intake of plant protection products
Material and Methods
Action A.1 - The legislation provides that all retailers, users of phytosanitary products, as well as their
advisors, must have a specific qualification. Preparatory training meetings have been organized in the
entire territory on the content or application formalities required by D.L. vo 150/2012 and subsequent
implementation documents (PAN National Action Plan), in collaboration with other relevant institutions.
Educational materials have been made to be used and distributed to participants in the preparatory courses
enabling the purchase, sale and use of phytosanitary products and related training courses.
Action A.3 - Laore Sardinia, in line with European policy, develops processes for the preservation of
agricultural production through low-impact techniques. The success of phytosanitary measures is the
combination of several interdependent factors. Among them, the mechanical innovations are a key factor
in the precision of operations, without excluding the periodic functional control of sprayers and their
adjustment according to the specific business realities.
Action A.7 – A WEB platform has been activated for the registration, integration, processing and analysis
of data collected from the agro-meteorological monitoring networks (ARPAS stations) and agrophenologic (LAORE of monitoring points), which provides specialized support in integrated pest
management strategy.
Results
Action A.1 - Thanks to the daily commitment in the organization, management and teaching of the
courses by the LAORE staff, assisted by the local health authorities and specialists of the former
Provinces, it was possible to carry out, from November 2015 to August 2016, more than 110 training
courses scattered across Sardinia. Through these courses we have guaranteed the training of over 15,000
people. All this has increased, not only professional farmers, but also in ordinary people, the development
of a consciousness and an unprecedented awareness in the impact on the environment of phytosanitary
products.
Action A.3 - The work conducted by Laore Sardinia has allowed many companies to perform the required
functional control and their adjustment of equipment used for phytosanitary treatments, with a number
of advantages for operators, including: optimization of phytosanitary treatments efficiency, cost
reduction for the reduced use of pesticides and the savings of working time, the reduction of the
dispersion into the environment of phytosanitary products, improve commercial and qualitative
characteristics and greater operator protection.
162
Action A.7 - Due to the processing and data analysis tools, consisting essentially of agro-meteorological
models for simulation and forecasting, LAORE technicians were able to display specific and precise
information that has been applied when delivering decision support messages to agricultural operators of
pest controls through the bulletins, published weekly for each specific area of Sardinia.
Conclusions
The farm operator has a wide range of useful services to direct their activities towards the agricultural
production to low intake of phytosanitary products, to achieve a sustainable use of pesticides by reducing
the risks and impacts on human health and the environment and to reduce its production costs by
promoting the use of integrated pest management and of alternative approaches or techniques such as
organic farming and non-chemical alternatives to plant protection products.
163
SESSION
Renewable Sources and No Food Cropping Systems
164
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
165
Impact of the Growing Conditions on the Oil Content and
Fatty Acid Metabolism in Developing Camelina Seeds
Daria Righini1, Federica Zanetti1, Mara Mandrioli2, Giuseppe Di Girolamo1, Angela Vecchi1,
Tullia Gallina Toschi2, Andrea Monti1
1
Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy. [email protected]
2
Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy
Introduction
In Europe, the interest in camelina (Camelina sativa), as anew oilseed crop, has rapidly grown in the last
years, due to its peculiar fatty acid (FA) profile, good agronomic performances and wide environmental
adaptability. The main characteristic of camelina oil is the very high content of polyunsaturated FAs
(PUFAs, C18:2 and C18:3, >50%) and C20:1 (> 15%), that can be valuablefor several oleochemical
applications: e.g. production of surfactants, paints, aviation fuel. In particular, C20:1 could be used as
source of medium chain FAs, that nowadays are totally derived from imported coconut and palm kernel
oils. The recently started European Project COSMOS (Camelina and crambe Oil crops as Sources of
Medium-chain Oils for Specialty) aims at limiting the European dependence from imported oils (i.e.,
palm and coconut), by promoting camelina and crambe (Crambe abyssinica) domestic cultivation.
Similarly to other oilseeds, the main factors influencing camelina oil quality are environmental conditions
and genotypes (Vollmann et al., 2007). In particular, high temperatures during seed filling interfere with
the activity of the enzymes responsible of PUFA metabolism (Cheesbrough, 1989).Within the general
aim of investigating the influence of temperature on FA metabolism in camelina oil, the objective of this
preliminary study is to compare the seed oil content and the FA profile of camelina grown in open field
and in controlled environment, under comparable growing conditions.
Methods
A camelina open field (OF) trial was set in spring 2015 at the experimental farm of the University of
Bologna (Cadriano, BO). The variety Midas (Linnaeus Plant Science, Canada) was sown on the 1st of
April 2015 in plots and harvested 85 days later (25/06/2015). During the flowering period, seed
samplings (n=8) were made every 4 days since the beginning of flowering (13/05/2015) until seed colour
changed (16/06/2015), with the aim to investigate on fat and fatty acid accumulation in developing seeds.
On the main stem of 20 different plants, the first 6 basal pods were sampled during each survey. All the
collected immature seeds were stored at -80 °C until further analyses. Following this preliminary study,
Midas plants were grown also in pots and placed in a green house until the start of flowering. Thereafter
the pots were moved into a growth chamber (GC) set with a temperature of 24-14 °C (day-night) and 14
h of light. The temperature range was chosen to mimic the mean temperatures occurred during the
flowering period in the open field trial. All seeds, contained in the first 8 basal pods of the main stem of
10 plants, were sampled at 6 different development stages and stored at -80°C.Total lipids were extracted
using the method described by Hara and Radin (1978), particularly indicated to work with very limited
quantities of immature seeds (~1 g). Residual moisture content was determined as the weight difference
of about 30 seeds before and after desiccation at 80 °C for 48 h (Rodríguez-Rodríguez et al., 2013).
Triacylglycerols were transesterified into the corresponding FA methyl esters and characterized by
capillary column gas-chromatography (HRGC-FID, ThermoQuest, Italy).
166
Results
The oil content in the camelina seeds grown in OF was significantly higher (+300%, P≤0.01) than that
of the plants grown in the GC (Fig. 1). This great difference is probably due to some limiting conditions
occurring inside the GC (e.g., high humidity, artificial illumination, absence of pollinators). The effect
of controlled environment appeared much less evident on the FA profile of developing camelina seeds
(Tab. 1). In particular, the plants grown in OF showed always significantly higher contents (P≤0.01) in
C18:1 and C18:2, while those grown in the GC accumulated higher amounts of C18:3 only in the final
25
20
Oil (%)
OF
GC
Fig.1. Oil accumulation in camelina seeds grown under
different growing conditions (open field OF in green vs.
growth chamber GC in red) surveyed at different growing
degree day (GDDs) after flowering. GDDs were calculated as
15
10
5
the difference between mean day temperature and a base
temperature of 5°C (Gesch, 2014).
0
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
GDD
sampling. The natural increase of temperatures during seed filling stage in OF has probably negatively
affected the activity of desaturase enzyme, thus resulting in final lower amount of C18:3. Otherwise, the
metabolism of C20:1 did not significantly change between OF and GC growing conditions.
Table 1. Accumulation dynamic of the principal FAs in camelina oil, surveyed at different GDD after flowering.
P
r
GDD C
1
O
i
n
8
:
F
G
c
i
1
p
a
C
1
C O
l
f
8
:
F
G
a
2
t
t
C
C O
y
1
a
8
:
F G
c
i
3
d
C
C
O
s
2
0
(
%
:
1
F G
)
C
1 5 4
26.0 ± 0.9
18.3 ± 7.1
39.6 ± 0.9
32.8± 8.3 12.6 ± 0 .3 9 . 5 ± 2 . 4
1.2 ± 0.2
0.8 ± 0.3
2 1 0
25.4 ± 1.9
21.2 ± 4.8
33.9 ± 1.2
32.9 ± 6 . 9 1 6 . 4 ± 1 . 6 1 6 . 0 ± 6 . 0
5.2 ± 1.6
6.2 ± 5.0
2 9 4
18.74 ± 1.7
17.5 ± 1.5
27.0 ± 0.7
26.8 ± 3 . 4 2 2 . 9 ± 1 . 7 2 2 . 2 ± 4 . 4
11.5 ± 0 .8 10.4 ± 0.9
3 5 0
16.5 ± 0.6
15.9 ± 2.6
25.0 ± 0.4
25.9 ± 2 . 2 2 6 . 9 ± 0 . 6 2 3 . 6 ± 3 . 9
13.9 ± 0 .4 11.2 ± 0.6
4 4 8
17.0 ± 1.3
13.2 ± 0.8
24.1 ± 0.8
19.6 ± 0 . 9 2 8 . 7 ± 1 . 3 2 7 . 9 ± 2 . 3
12.8 ± 0 .2 12.3 ± 0.2
5 4 6
17.70 ± 0. 3
12.3 ± 0.3
23.9 ± 0.2
20.3 ± 0 . 1 2 8 . 2 ± 0 . 5
12.7 ± 0 .3 12.4 ± 0.2
33.5 ± 0.1
Conclusions
Camelina oil content emerged much more influenced by controlled environmental growth conditions
than its FA composition, possibly being regulated mostly by temperature. The results of this preliminary
study will help to set further trials, aiming at deeply understanding the effects of temperature on camelina
FA metabolism and thus enabling the development of models to predict oil composition as a function of
the temperatures occurring during filling stage.
Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the COSMOS project that has received funding from the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and
innovation program under grant agreement No 635405.
References
Cheesbrough TM. 1989. Changes in the enzymes for fatty acid synthesis and desaturation during acclimation of developing
soybean seeds to altered growth temperature. Plant Physiol. 90: 760-764.
Gesch. 2014. Influence of genotype and sowing date on camelina growth and yield in the north central U.S. Ind. Crop.
Prod. 54: 209-215.
Hara A. and Radin NS. 1978. Lipid Extraction of Tissues with a Low-Toxicity Solvent. Anal. Biochem. 90: 420-426.
Rodríguez-Rodríguez MF. et al. 2013. Characterization of the morphological changes and fatty acids profile of developing
Camelina sativa seeds. Ind. Crop. Prod. 50: 673-679.
Vollmann J. et al. 2007. Agronomic evaluation of camelina genotypes selected for seed quality characteristics. Ind. Crop.
Prod. 26: 270-277.
167
Side-by-Side comparison of Mediterranean Perennial
Grasses for Lignocellulosic Feedstock Production
Danilo Scordia1, Giorgio Testa1, Silvio Calcagno1, Giancarlo Patanè1, Venera Copani1,
Cristina Patanè2, Salvatore L. Cosentino1,2
1
Dip. di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente (Di3A), Univ. Catania, IT, [email protected]
2
CNR - IVALSA, Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Sede di Catania, IT
Introduction
The present work investigated the potentiality of four widespread perennial grasses, two hemicryptofite
(Oryzopsis miliacea (L.) Asch. & Schweinf and Hyparrhenia hirta (L.) Stapf (sin. Cymbopogon hirtus)
and two cryptophyte (Geophyte rhizomatous) Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers and Saccharum spontaneum
L. ssp. aegyptiacum (Willd.) Hackel), as lignocellulosic energy crops in the semi-arid Mediterranean
area. A five-year field trial was carried out with the aim to evaluate biomass yield and water use
efficiency. This work is part of OPTIMA project.
The side-by-side comparison of Mediterranean perennial grasses [Oryzopsis miliacea (L.) Asch. &
Schweinf, Hyparrhenia hirta (L.) Stapf (sin. Cymbopogon hirtus), Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers and
Saccharum spontaneum L. ssp. aegyptiacum (Willd.) Hackel)] was carried out at the Experimental Farm
of the University of Catania (10 m a.s.l., 37°27' N, 15° 03' E). Propagation material was collected in wild
environments. Establishment was executed in spring 2010 in a randomized block experimental design
with three replications and single plot measuring 100 m2 (10 x 10 m). Plant density was 1 plant m-2.
Irrigation was supplied only from planting to complete establishment and fertilization with N (50 kg ha1) and P (50 kg ha-1) at establishment only; weeding was chemical before establishment and manual
thereafter. No inputs were applied after establishment. Harvest was carried out in winter (February) after
removing edge plants in all plot sides.
Throughout the growing seasons, main meteorological parameters, as maximum, mean, minimum
temperatures and rainfall were measured by using a weather station connected to a datalogger (CR10,
Campbell Scientific, USA). Crop WUE (g L-1) was calculated as the ratio between dry biomass
production at final harvest and crop evapotranspiration “ETm”.
Biomass yield, and crop WUE were subjected to the General Linear Model ANOVA, considering the
“species” as “fixed factor” and the “year” as “random factor” (Minitab 16). When statistical significance
was observed, Tukey’s test was carried out at 95% confidence level.
Results
The growing seasons (February to February) were characterized by unusually high rainfall in 2011/12
(935.7 mm) and unusually low in 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15 (467.9, 390.2 and 448.3 mm,
respectively) as compared with historical amount of the area (~550-600 mm), as shown in Fig. 1.
Temperature trends were typical of the area, with minimum on winter and maximum temperatures on
summer-times. Yearly mean temperatures were around 20°C throughout the growing seasons.
Biomass yield was the lowest at the first harvest in all species. Saccharum was clearly the significantly
highest yielding species in every growing season; its aboveground biomass yield peaked 30.9±3.9 t dry
matter (DM) ha-1 at the third growing season and averaged, across five year harvests, 18.8 t DM ha-1.
Although Sorghum produced 6.3 t DM ha-1 (as average yield across five year harvests), did not differ
from Oryzopsis and Cymbopogon (4.1 and 3.7 t DM ha-1, respectively), across five year harvests (Figure
2). Crop WUE (g L-1) slightly increased following the establishment year in all perennial grasses.
Saccharum reached the highest level thanks to the greater biomass yield achieved at every year and
harvesting date. Its WUE was 1.76±0.21 g L-1 at the first year harvest to peak at the fourth growing
168
season, 5.21 ± 0.50 g L-1 (February 2014). Across the five-year harvests, Saccharum reached 3.4 g L-1,
Sorghum 1.1 g L-1, Oryzopsis and Cymbopogon 0.7 g L-1, these three latter did not show statistical
difference.
Figure 1. Meteorological trend from establishment up to last harvest of Mediterranean perennial grasses
at the Experimental farm of the University of Catania (10 m a.s.l., 37°27' N, 15° 03' E).
Figure 2. Aboveground dry biomass yield (sx) and crop WUE (dx) of wild grasses (O. miliacea, C.
hirtus, S. halepense and S. spontaneum L. ssp. aegyptiacum) in different years and harvest dates.
Horizontal lines represent the mean within the species. Different letters indicate significant mean
according to the Tukey’s test at p≤0.05.
Conclusions
Present findings summarized the five-year side-by-side field-experiment comparison amongst four
Mediterranean perennial grasses grown in rainfed condition in semi-arid Mediterranean area. Saccharum
spontaneum spp. aegyptiacum appeared the most promising bioenergy crop for southern environments
of Europe thanks to its highest biomass yield and water use efficiency.
References
FP7 OPTIMA project “Optimization of perennial grasses for biomass production (GA 289642)”.
169
Soil Respiration as Affected by Conventional Tillage in a
Maize-Wheat Rotation or by a Perennial Energy Crop
Andrea Nocentini1, Andrea Monti1
1
Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie (DipSA), Università di Bologna; [email protected]; [email protected]
Introduction
Management of soil carbon has been pointed as a key factor to achieve a decline in global warming (Lal,
2004). Therefore, also measuring CO2 fluxes from soils has gained importance as it can give indications
on the dynamics of C losses (or accumulation) from the soil storage pools. Soil respiration has been
assessed in different ecosystems (Raich and Schlesinger, 1992), while Schlesinger and Andrews (2000)
have recognized the significant impact of cultivation and land management on soil CO2 fluxes
worldwide. In the present context of scarcity of lands, food versus fuel debates (Searchinger et al., 2008)
and land preservation claims to avoid C debts (Fargione et al., 2008), becomes fundamental to monitor
all components of the C cycle for different land uses and management practices, including soil
respiration, which represents the passage of soil C to atmospheric CO2. Moreover, as in the present work,
is even more essential to monitor energy crop systems and tillage versus no-tillage practices, as they are
increasingly widespread as land management practices.
Methods
Two fields at the experimental farm of the University of Bologna located in Cadriano (44° 33’ N, 11°
24’ E; 33 m a.s.l.) were used for this experiment: a 1.5 ha field where maize (Zea mays L.) and wheat
(Triticum aestivum) were cultivated, and a 4.8 ha field where switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) was
cultivated. Maize was sown on 1st April 2015 and wheat on 16th October 2015. Before sowing both maize
and wheat, the soil was tilled by a moldboard plow then harrowed. Maize was fertilized with 280 kg ha1 of N and 70 kg ha-1 of P, while wheat received 210 kg ha-1 of N, but no phosphorus, as Cadriano soil
contains enough P to satisfy the lower demand of wheat compared to maize. Potassium fertilization was
not necessary given the inherent high soil content. Switchgrass was established in May 2012. Switchgrass
was fertilized with 90 kg ha-1 y-1 of N. In both fields, sampling areas of 6 m2 were settled in April 2015:
within each area two plastic rings (10 cm diameter) were hammered into the soil, one in the row and one
in the inter-row. Soil respiration measurements were performed in each ring (28 in total), weekly during
the growing season (April-October) and twice a month in the dormant period, between 7 and 10 am,
starting from May 2015. Soil respiration was measured using an EGM-4 instrument (PPSystems) coupled
with a soil respiration chamber. The measurements were always in parallel in switchgrass and maize.
Above- and belowground biomass were estimated in all sampling areas on switchgrass (October 2015)
and maize (August 2015). The aboveground biomass was manually harvested and its moisture content
was determined on oven dried sub-samples after 24h. Soil cores containing root biomass were collected
down to 0.45 m soil depth by a mechanical auger coupled with a tractor. Samples were air-dried and root
biomass manually separated from the soil, washed in sieves and then oven dried. All data were subjected
to repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA); Fisher’s LSD (P≤0.05) test was used to separate
means if ANOVA revealed significant differences (P≤0.05).
Results
Four periods were identified with different phenological, climatic or management characteristics: 1) stem
elongation; 2) maturation; 3) harvest; 4) dormancy. During stem elongation, soil respiration was +63%
under switchgrass (0,75 g CO2 m-2 h-1) than under maize. During switchgrass flowering the difference
was much higher (+178%), with maize being already senescent. But, after maize harvest (20th of August)
170
and before wheat emergence (10th of November), soil fluxes reversed: maize-wheat soil respiration (0,45
g CO2 m-2 h-1) was 178% higher than in switchgrass. Between November and March soil respiration was
very low under both crops; it was however significantly higher (+114%) in wheat (0,15 g CO2 m-2 h-1)
than in switchgrass.
Noteworthy, soil respiration was double in switchgrass during growth, but, at the same time, the respired
CO2 per ton of root biomass equaled 0,1 and 0,5 g CO2 m-2 h-1, respectively for switchgrass and maize.
Although in this experiment we did not distinguish between autotrophic and heterotrophic soil
respiration, we may hypothesize that there was a major contribution from roots to soil respiration during
plant growth (Subke et al., 2006) and that this contribution must have been also proportional to the
amount of roots. We also argue that this component is less important when accounting greenhouse gases
emissions, since it represents CO2 which is rapidly recycled from the atmosphere. On the opposite, the
sudden increase in soil respiration measured after maize harvest and after tillage points to increased
heterotrophic respiration, thus to losses from the soil C stock, although most of the losses were likely
deriving from the recent maize residues. A significant influence of root biomass on soil fluxes was also
underlined by the comparison between row and inter-row respiration: during growth, respiration in the
rows was 11% and 100% higher than in the inter-rows, respectively in switchgrass and maize. The
evident difference between the two crops can be explained by the wider inter-row in the maize field (20
cm wider) and by the fact that the switchgrass root system was much bigger and more extended after four
growing seasons. The efflux was low in winter, nonetheless is important to notice how the thick soil
cover performed by switchgrass residues on the field halved soil respiration compared to wheat during
winter dormancy.
Focusing on the periods during which root respiration was absent and measured soil respiration totally
reflected C losses from the soil pools, we estimated that in autumn (after maize harvest and tillage) the
maize-wheat field emitted 2,3 Mg ha-1 of C, while switchgrass (still standing for half of the period)
emitted only a third part of that amount. In winter, 1,2 and 0,6 Mg ha-1 of C were lost respectively by the
maize-wheat rotation and switchgrass. In this study we have not accounted for C emissions due to
machinery use, fertilizers application, pests control and weeding: however, given switchgrass low
management compared to conventional annual crops, that would represent a further advantage for
switchgrass towards greenhouse gases savings.
Conclusions
Although soil respiration is only a component of the overall ecosystems C balance, in this study we
observed how it can give strong indications on the drivers of soil C pools variations. In general, soil
respiration was higher in switchgrass during spring and summer and higher in the annual rotation after
maize harvest, particularly after soil tillage practices, and during winter dormancy. The more intensive
management and tillage operations greatly increased CO2 emissions from the decomposition of soil
organic matter in the cereal rotation, with C losses that were almost three times higher than in the
switchgrass field between harvest and spring growth.
References
Fargione et al., 2008. Land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt. Science, 319:1235-1238.
Lal, 2004. Soil carbon sequestration impacts on global climate change and food security. Science, 304:1623-1627.
Raich and Schlesinger, 1992. The global carbon dioxide flux in soil respiration and its relationship to vegetation and
climate. Tellus Series B, 44:81-99.
Schlesinger and Andrews, 2000. Soil respiration and the global carbon cycle. Biogeochemistry, 48:7-20.
Searchinger et al., 2008. Use of US croplands for biofuels increases greenhouse gases through emissions from land-use
change. Science, 319:1238-1240.
Subke et al., 2006. Trends and methodological impacts in soil CO2 efflux partitioning: a meta-analytical review. GCB,
12:921-943.
171
POSTER
172
Performance of New Cultivars for Italian Burley Tobacco
Areas
Eugenio Cozzolino1, Francesco Raimo2, Massimo Abet1, Mariarosaria Sicignano1, Giovanni
Scognamiglio1, Antonio Mosè1, Salvatore Baiano1, Tommaso Enotrio1, Luisa del Piano1
1
CREA - Unità di ricerca per la frutticoltura, Caserta, IT [email protected]
CREA - Centro di ricerca per l'orticoltura, Pontecagnano (SA), IT [email protected]
2
Introduction
Tobacco production is characterised by a number of different varieties which attract different prices and
are destined to different uses. Light Air Cured Burley tobacco varieties are mainly used for "American
blend" cigarettes, which are currently the most popular type of cigarette on the market. (Pantini et al.
2012). In 2012, about 191,000 tons of raw tobacco were harvested in the EU. Italy was the major producer
with 51,538 tons, of which 17.241 tons were light air cured tobacco. In Campania there is more than 90%
of the national production of Burley tobacco (Nomisma, 2014).
The objective of this research was to evaluate a large number of burley tobacco varieties for yield and
leaf quality, at two locations under different pedoclimatic conditions in Campania region.
Methods
A variety trial was conducted with fifteen lines in three replicates on two farms, one in the province of
Benevento (BN) and the other in province of Caserta (CE).
The tested lines included commercial varieties (FB4, FB8, FB9, FB10, FB13, FB70, PM34, PM35,
START AR, F40R), local ecotypes (EcoDL and EcoSP) and advanced breeding lines from CREA
(BMS101) and private (PM44 and PMSPI) tobacco Burley breeding programs.
Business as usual agricultural practices were utilized. Plant density was 19.150 plants ha-1 at BN and
44.440 plants ha-1 at CE. Four leaf primings were collected and housed in barn for air curing process.
Biometric and yield data of examined tobacco lines were registered. Cured tobacco leaves, obtained from
each plot, were visually graded, on a decimal scale, on the bases of size, colour and texture, by experts
in tobacco quality evaluation. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed using the software
“STATISTICA” (StatSoft, Inc., 2005).
Results
Cured tobacco yield at BN farm ranged from 3.9 to 5.6 t ha-1. Significant differences among the lines
were observed for cured leaf yield. PM35 had maximum yield (5.6 tha-1) followed by START AR (5.3
tha-1), while EcoDL, FB8 and BMS101 had the lowest ones (Fig.1A).
Cured tobacco yield at CE farm ranged from 2.7 to 5,4 t ha-1. Statistical analysis showed significant
differences among the lines for cured leaf yield. PM35 and START AR were topping the list of tobacco
lines used in this research with the yields of 5.4 and 5.2 respectively. EcoDL, FB8 and BMS101 showed
the lowest yields (Fig.1B).
Tobacco leaf is marketed by its physical characteristics, represented by grade index. Mean values of
grade index of the 2nd and 3rd primings are reported in figure 2. At BN farm index ranged from 5.7 to 7.7.
Significant differences among the lines were observed for grade index. Most of the lines had quality
grade values higher than 6.5. FB4 had the highest index (7.5) and PM44 the lowest (fig. 2A).
At CE farm index ranged from 4.8 to 6.5. Statistical analysis showed significant differences among the
lines for grade index. Most of lines had quality grade values about 6.0. FB10, FB70, PM35 and BMS101
obtained the highest value (6.5), while FB8, FB9, FB4 e START AR the lowest.
173
A)
B)
BN
CE
7
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
YIELD (t/ha)
YIELD (t/ha)
7
2
2
1
1
PMSPI
BMS101
F40R
START AR
EcoDL
EcoSP
PM34
PM35
PM44
FB70
FB13
FB10
FB9
FB8
FB4
BMS101
PMSPI
START AR
F40R
EcoDL
EcoSP
PM34
PM35
PM44
FB70
FB13
FB10
FB9
FB8
FB4
Fig.1. Production of cured tobacco for burley lines examined. A) Yields obtained on farm at San Nicola Manfredi (BN).
B) Yields obtained on farm at San Felice a Cancello (CE). Vertical bars denote 0,95 confidence intervals
A)
B)
BN
CE
10
9
9
8
8
7
7
6
6
QUALITY INDEX
4
4
BMS101
PMSPI
START AR
F40R
EcoSP
EcoDL
PM34
PM35
PM44
FB70
FB13
FB10
FB9
FB8
FB4
BMS101
PMSPI
START AR
F40R
EcoSP
EcoDL
PM34
PM35
PM44
FB70
FB13
FB10
FB9
FB8
FB4
QUALITY INDEX
5
5
Fig.2. Quality grade values, on decimal scale, for tobacco leaf quality of burley lines tested. Values are the means ofthe
grade index of the 2nd and 3rd primings. A) Grade indices obtained on farm at San Nicola Manfredi (BN). B) Grade indices
on farm at San Felice a Cancello (CE). Vertical bars denote 0,95 confidence intervals.
Conclusion
Contrary to what is expected at San Felice a Cancello (CE) the yields were lower than at San Nicola
Manfredi (BN) due to the adverse weather condition. However the lines PM35, START AR, e PM34
were the most productive at both localities. Lowest yield were observed for the lines FB8 e BMS101.
The ecotypes tested (EcoSP and EcoDL) gave different results depending on environment, EcoDL had
higher yield at CE while EcoSP, although coming from Caserta growing area, showed higher yield when
grown at BN. Grade quality values were higher at BN than CE. Line PM35, among the most productive
one, showed at both locations high level of grade index.
References
Pantini et al. 2012. THE EUROPEAN TOBACCO SECTOR.: An analysis of the socio-economic footprint. Nomisma.
NOMISMA. 2014 Il valore socio-economico del tabacco nell’Unione Europea. ISBN978 - 88 - 6843 -114 -3.
StatSoft, Inc. (2005). STATISTICA (data analysis software system), version 7.1. www.statsoft.com.
174
Seasonal Dynamics of Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.)
Aboveground Biomass and Nutrient Uptakes under
Mediterranean conditions
Nicoletta Nassi o Di Nasso1, Maria Valentina Lasorella2, Cristiano Tozzini1, Fabio Taccini1,
Enrico Bonari1
Institute of Life Sciences, Sant’Anna School of Pisa, IT, [email protected]
Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l'Analisi dell'Economia Agraria (CREA) of Bologna, IT,
[email protected]
1
2
Introduction
Switchgrass is a promising perennial energy crop with a good potential under environmental limiting
conditions. Some studies have highlighted the different aboveground dry yields of lowland and upland
cultivars and how their productivity could be optimized through crop management.
However, little attention have been paid on switchgrass seasonal dynamics of biomass accumulation and
nutrient uptakes. For this reason, a three-year study was performed to investigate these aspects on two
switchgrass cultivars cultivated in a Mediterranean environment.
Methods
A field trial was carried out from 2010 to 2013 at the Interdepartmental Centre of Agro environmental
Research (CIRAA), Pisa, Italy, comparing Alamo and Blackwell cultivars. Primary tillage by chisel
plough was conducted in the autumn of 2009, followed by rotary harrowing immediately before planting.
Crop establishment was carried out in spring 2010, using a seed drill, at a density of 300 seeds per m-2
(0.12 m spacing). Pre-plant fertilizer was distributed at a rate of 40 kg ha-1 of N, 120 kg ha-1 of P2O5 and
120 kg ha-1 of K2O. In subsequent years, 50 kg ha-1 of N fertilizers was applied in the spring, at the
beginning of the growing season (around March). Chemical weed control was necessary only in the first
year of growth, while irrigation and pest control were not provided at any point during the trial.
The experimental design was a randomised block with three replications (plots 10 m x 50 m each). A
sampling area of 1 m2 was selected randomly every two weeks from each plot, and all plants were clipped
at 5 cm above ground level. Border plants in the outer rows were not included in the harvested area.
Primary data comprise above-ground (leaves stems and panicle) dry biomass, plant height, basal stem
diameter and shoot number. Dry weight of all plant material was measured after drying in a forced-air
dryer at 60°C until constant weight. At each sampling date, nitrogen concentration was determined by
the Kjeldahl method, while P and K concentrations were determined by spectrophotometric analysis and
flame photometry, respectively. Nutrient uptakes were calculated as the product of nutrient concentration
and dry yields.
Concerning statistical analysis, equation curves were fitted with the R software (DRC package). Data of
the leaf, stem, panicle, total aboveground yield and nutrient (N, P and K) uptakes were fitted. The most
suitable models were chosen on the basis of the coefficient of determination (r2). The functions were
interpolated using three-parameter non-linear equations. The following three-parameter logarithmic
equation was found to give a good description of the total aboveground dry biomass accumulation, of its
components and of nutrient uptakes:
𝑦 = 𝑎𝑒
−0.5(
𝑡 2
ln(𝑐)
𝑏
)
Where a is the upper asymptote; b is the direction coefficient; c is the date of maximum growth rate (x
value at the inflection point). t is time reported as Julian days. A test of lack-of-fit at the 95% level was
performed for each growth curve, indicating the suitability of the applied models to our primary data.
Statistical differences between Alamo and Blackwell growth and uptake curves were analysed using the
F-test ANOVA.
175
Results
Overall, comparing the growth dynamics of the two switchgrass cultivars during the three growing season
is possible to detect significant different patterns in the biomass accumulation of the leaf, stem, and
panicle and subsequently of the total aboveground dry yield (Figure 1). In the first year of growth (2010),
total aboveground accumulations in Alamo and Blackwell were modest, reaching a maximum of 8.6 and
7.8 Mg ha-1 for Alamo and Blackwell respectively in September. In the following years (2011 and 2012),
maximum aboveground dry yield values were achieved around 265 and 240 Julian day (mid of September
-end of August) with higher values recorded in Alamo compare to Blackwell (22.3 vs 19.3 Mg ha-1and
27.9 vs 19.0 Mg ha-1in 2011 and 2012 respectively). Following, a sharp decrease of the total aboveground
dry yield was observed in both cultivars until late winter (-40% and -50% for Alamo and Blackwell,
respectively)
Figure 1 – Alamo and Blackwell seasonal accumulation of aboveground dry biomass yield from the first (2010) to the third
(2012) year of growth. ● and indicate observed values (± standard error) for Alamo and Blackwell, respectively.
In the first year of growth, data on nutrient uptakes was not determined due to the negligible biomass
production. In the 2011 and 2012 growing seasons, nutrient dynamics differed significantly between
Alamo and Blackwell. During both years of observation, nutrient uptakes increased continuously until
the end of summer and then decreased until January. As mean of the two year of observation, in Alamo
maximum values of N uptakes was around 110 kg N ha-1 and they were achieved at the end of July.
Following, N uptakes of Alamo decreased substantially until late winter (-55%). On the contrary, the
maximum N uptake of Blackwell was higher and occurred early than Alamo with a mean value, between
the two growing seasons, of about 135 kg N ha-1. After, N uptakes of Blackwell strongly decreased (90%) achieving very low values at the end of winter around 25 kg ha-1. On the contrary, slightly higher
N uptakes were recorded in Alamo at the end of the growing season (54 kg N ha-1). Although, P uptakes
were negligible, higher values were observed in Blackwell (16 vs 14 kg ha-1 in Blackwell and Alamo
respectively), and they decreased to less than 5 kg ha-1 at the end of the growing season in both cultivars.
High K uptakes were recorded for both cultivars, with maximum K uptakes recorded at the beginning of
August for Alamo 270 kg K ha-1 and beginning of July for Blackwell with 285 kg K ha-1 as mean values
between the two growing seasons.
Conclusions
Between the cultivars significant different patterns were recorded in their aboveground biomass
accumulation. In the study site, Alamo can reach a total aboveground dry yield of 25 Mg ha-1, against the
19 Mg ha-1 of Blackwell, with a growing cycle of 220 and 180 days, respectively. At the same way the
nutrient requirements of the two cultivars differed significantly during the growing season with higher
nutrients uptakes in Blackwell than Alamo. However, although both cultivars showed evident nutrient
recycle, Alamo appears to be more efficient in the use of nutrients. Additionally, new studies are needed
to evaluate the dynamics between the above- and belowground nutrient components that may play an
important role in the adaptability and robustness of switchgrass in marginal land, where water and
nutrient availability can represent a limiting factor.
References
Knezevicet al., (2007). Utilizing R software package for dose–response studies: the concept and data analysis. Weed
Technol. 21:840-848.
Monti A. (2012). The Evolution of Switchgrass as energy crops. In Monti A. (Ed) Switchgrass: A valuable biomass crop
for energy (Green Energy and Technology). Springer, London, pp 113-127.
176
Carthamus tinctorius L.: New Opportunity for Organic
Cropping Systems of Hilly Lands of Central Italy
Silvia Tavarini1, Lara Foschi1, Marco Mazzoncini1, Daniele Antichi1, Luciana G. Angelini1
1
Dip. di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Agro-ambientali, Univ. Pisa, IT, [email protected]
Introduction
In the arable hilly lands of Central Italy, cropping systems are dominated by cereals, with a series of
problems due to the high use of chemical inputs, the strong reduction of biodiversity, soil fertility and
quality. In addition, the recent trends of the market of grain cereals, characterized by low price levels,
caused many farmers to give up, for economic reasons, crop production in these areas. Furthermore, crop
diversification measures included in the greening payments of the new EU CAP (2014-2020), require
farmers to find new crops to include in crop rotations. The introduction of alternative (rare, underutilized,
disregarded, neglected) crops into these cropping systems can increase plant biodiversity, farming
income and the system sustainability. These underutilized crops can encompass cereals and pseudo
cereals including millets, pulse crops, root and tuber crops, oil seed crops and dyes, some of which can
be employed for creating new market niches based on small scale production and processing. Among
these, safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.), a versatile oilseed crop, may offers a number of benefits to
cereal-based cropping systems, due to its noticeable agronomic characteristics in terms of weed
competition, resistance to cold, drought, salinity and bird predation, with a reduced use of chemicals and
water (Koutroubas and Papakosta, 2010). Safflower oil presents interesting properties, that make it
suitable for several industrial and pharmaceutical applications, as well as for health-food products, as
source of essential fatty acids (Fernández‐Cuesta et al., 2014). In addition, large amounts of co-products
can be obtained by this crop, such as meal, florets, and residual lignocellulosic biomass as raw material
for biorefinery and/or energy production. Consequently, the aim of this study was to evaluate the
adaptability of safflower in the hilly lands of central Italy, traditionally devoted to cereal cultivation,
testing this species both in conventional and organic farming systems.
Methods
For two years (2012-2013), experimental open fields (5 ha each) were established and monitored in two
commercial farms (far away 40 km), one certified organic and the other adopting a conventional
management system, located in the hilly areas of Pisa Province (Santa Luce - 43°28′0″N, 10°34′0″Eand
Ghizzano- 43°32′24″N 10°47′33″E; 200 m a.s.l.), both traditionally devoted to winter cereals production.
Both farmshad clay-loam soils, with low levels of both total N (1.09 mg N g-1 soil) and available P (4.85
mg P2O5 g-1 soil). Soil organic matter content was higher in the organic farming system (2.42%) than in
the conventional one (1.11%). In both systems, the preceding crop was durum wheat (Triticum turgidum
L. subsp. durum (Desf.) Husn.). Crop techniques were differently implemented according to standard
practices applied by farmers. Safflower (cv. Pieve) was sown in spring at a constant seeding rate of 20
kg ha-1. Mineral P(60 kg P2O5 ha-1 as superphosphate, before sowing) and N(40 kg N ha-1 as ammonium
nitrate,after seeding) fertilization as well as weed chemical control (both in pre-emergence and postemergence conditions) were performed in the conventional system, while only organic fertilization was
realised in the organic one (20 t ha-1 of farmyard manure). Crop cycle length was calculated as the number
of days from sowing to final harvest. At physiological maturity, which occurred in early August in both
years, plant density, total above-ground biomass, seed and straw dry yield and harvest index were
assessed by collecting plants on 4 sampling areas of 1.0 m2 each. Seed oil content and fatty acid
composition were also evaluated. All the variables were subjected to the one-way ANOVA, comparing
conventional and organic management system (CO-STAT Cohort V6.201).
177
Results
The crop cycle length was 141 and 110 days in the 1st and 2nd growing season andaveraged over farming
system. Interestingly, in the organic system, thanks to an increased ability of the soil to retain nutrients
and water, safflower crop showed biomass and seed production, oil content and yield, higher than
conventional one, in both years of cultivation (Table 1). In fact, thanks to its deep rooting system and
high rusticity, safflower crop grown organically, was able to use more efficiently the soil natural
resources, showing, at the same time, a great competitiveness against weeds. The lower yields registered
in the 2nd year, in both systems, can be due to the heavy rainfall, particularly in March 2013 (198.8 vs
17.0 mm in March of 2nd and 1st year, respectively). As a consequence sowing was delayed to April, with
a consequent reduction of crop cycle length and yield. This reduction was more severe in the conventional
system where the sowing date shifted to the end of April. On the contrary, in the 1st year, the earlier
sowing time allowed the crop to accumulate higher biomass, with consequent higher yield performances,
than those recorded in the following year. The farming system did not affect fatty acid composition of
safflower oil, suggesting that the qualitative traits are under genetic control, rather than influenced by
agronomic management.For this reason, the acidic profile has been averaged over thefarming systems
and the years (Table 2). Safflower oil showed 72.1% of polyunsaturated fatty acids, 16.7% of
monounsaturated fatty acids and 9.0% of saturated acids.
Table 1. Sowing date, plant number, total aboveground dry yield (stems+leaves+heads), straw and seed yields, harvest
index, oil content and yield of safflower in the two farming systems and the two years of cultivation (means ± standard
deviation).
1st year of cultivation
2nd year of cultivation
Organic
Conventional
Organic
Conventional
Sowing date†
10 March 2012 19 March 2012
10 April 2013
30 April 2013
Plant density (plants m-2)
26.67 ± 3.33 b 41.60 ± 2.14 a
24.67 ± 3.16 a
29.00 ± 2.14 a
Total above-ground dry yield (Mg ha-1)
16.62 ± 1.69 a 12.43 ± 2.51 b
5.86 ± 1.15 a
2.92 ± 0.86 b
Straw dry yield (Mg ha-1)
12.88 ± 3.62 a
9.25 ± 1.15 a
3.58 ± 0.67 a
2.06 ± 0.24 b
Seed dry yield (Mg ha-1)
3.74 ± 0.17 a
3.18 ± 0.27 b
2.28 ± 0.49 a
0.86 ± 0.09 b
Harvest Index
0.23 ± 0.02 b
0.26 ± 0.01 a
0.39 ± 0.04 a
0.29 ± 0.02 b
Oil content (g 100g-1)
21.27 ± 0.48 a 19.06 ± 0.63 b
21.95 ± 0.34 a
20.31 ± 0.54 b
Oil yield (Mg ha-1)
0.80 ± 0.04 a
0.61 ± 0.07 b
0.50 ± 0.05 a
0.17 ± 0.03 b
† Inter-row distance: 30 cm, in the organic farming system in both years; 13and 26 cm in the conventional one, in the 1 stand
2nd year, respectively.
Table 2. Fatty acid composition of safflower oil (%).
Myristic Palmitic Palmitoleic Stearic
(C14:0)
(C16:0)
(C16:1 n-7)
(C18:0)
Fatty acids (%)
0.11
6.06
0.12
2.83
Oleic (C18:1
n-9)
Linoleic
(C18:2 n-6)
Linolenic
(C18:3 n-3)
Others
16.55
71.95
0.13
2.32
Conclusions
This preliminary study highlighted that safflower could represent a good opportunity for organic farming
systems of hilly areas of central Italy, thanks to its characteristic of rusticity. Considering a food use of
safflower oil, organic food products can frequently bring higher prices in the market, with a net economic
return per hectare for farmers equal to, or higher than that of conventionally produced crops. However,
further investigations across location and time, are necessary in order to ascertain how the organic
management system can be effectively (and economically) employed in safflower cultivation.
References
Fernández‐Cuesta Á. et al. 2014. Novel safflower oil with high γ‐tocopherol content has a high oxidative stability. Eur. J.
Lipid Sci. Technol., 116:832-836.
Koutroubas S.D., Papakosta, D.K., 2010. Seed filling patterns of safflower: Genotypic and seasonal variations and
association with other agronomic traits. Ind. Crops Prod., 31:71-76.
178
Physical-Chemical Characterization of Sambucus ebulus
L. and Sambucus nigra L. for their Use in The Anaerobic
Digestion Process
Anna Gagliardi, Mariangela d'Antuono, Matteo Francavilla, Giuseppe Gatta
Introduction
The world is facing problems due to growing energy consumption and diminishing supplies of fossil
fuels, which has led to researches of the use of renewable energy sources. Methane production from
energy crops and crop residues could be an interesting option for the sustainable use of agricultural
biomass as renewable energy source. However, it is necessary to evaluate the use of crops which require
low energy inputs and are, at the same time, able to ensure appropriate biogas or methane yields. The
availability of substances, which are able to produce methane, are influenced mainly by variety and stage
of maturity at harvesting time (Amon et al., 2007). Sambucus ebulus L. and Sambucus nigra L., shows a
high biological value due to a high content of sugars, for the most part reducing sugars, in particular in
the berries and to a high content of fats, found mainly in seeds (Dulf et al., 2013). These chemical features
create the basis for a possible use of the Sambucus in the anaerobic digestion. The research aimed at
assessing physical-chemical composition of two species of elderberry (Sambucus nigra L. and Sambucus
ebulus L.) collected in three different phenological stages for their possible use in the anaerobic digestion
process. In addition the Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) were also verified by batch fermentation
test.
Methods
Sambucus nigra and Sambucus ebulus were collected in an area located in the northern of Basilicata
region (40° 51' N, 15° 44' E, 766 m asl). Elderberry harvesting, for both species, was carried out in three
different growth periods: flowering (HD1), growth and full ripeness of the berries (HD2 and HD3,
respectively). The samples were brought into the laboratory and separated in fractions (leaves, stems,
inflorescences/berries), dried and crushed for the physical-chemical characterization. The parameters
analyzed were the following: cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, fat, sugars, protein, carbon/nitrogen ratio,
dry matter, volatile solids and ash, expressed on dry matter basis. Subsequently, on the whole plant, batch
fermentation were performed in order to determine the Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) (CH4 NL
kg-1 Volatile Solids). BMP was determinated according to the Moller's method (Moller at al., 2004). The
composition of gas produced during the anaerobic digestion process, has been evaluated by a micro-gas
chromatograph. The measured data were statistically processed through analysis of variance (ANOVA)
and when significant effects were detected (P≤0.05), means comparison was performed according to the
Tukey’s test (or Student's test).
Results
The chemical and physical characterization of these two species of elderberry was performed considering
three different harvest data (HD1, HD2 and HD3) and evaluating, for each of them, the quality parameters
on three different fractions (leaves, stems, inflorescence/berries) and on whole plant. In this paper only
the data related the whole plant are reported. The qualitative evaluation of the different biomasses has
shown that, especially in the phase of full ripeness of the berries (HD3), the content of some compounds
such as fat and sugar were particularly high compared to HD2 and HD1; while the protein content was
higher in HD1 compared to HD2 and HD3. The content of these compounds is resulted on average, for
the two species of elderberry, higher in the Sambucus nigra than Sambucus ebulus (6.9 vs 3.8%, 9.4 vs
6.3% and 15,9 vs 7.7%, for fat, sugar and crude protein, respectively. Overall, the chemical and physical
179
characterization of the elderberry's matrices pointed out that the average levels of main quality parameters
are higher than those reported in literature for "traditional" biomasses (e.g. maize, sorghum and triticale).
Subsequently, laboratory testing on the Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP), obtained using whole
plant of two species of Sambucus to support qualitative characterization, has been performed. The results
showed higher methane yields for Sambucus nigra compared to Sambucus ebulus (~ 306 vs 212 NL kg1
VS).
Conclusions
The analysis of the experimental data, obtained in this research, prompts the following considerations
about the possible use of the elderberry in the chain of anaerobic digestion: i) the chemical and physical
characterization of Sambucus nigra and Sambucus ebulus allows us to consider these two matrices
"adequate" for a possible use in the food anaerobic digestion to produce biogas; ii) the potential
production of methane, measured in the laboratory by batch tests, were found to be discrete especially
for Sambucus nigra and very much in line with what reported in literature for the commonly used
vegetable matrices in the chain of anaerobic digestion for biogas production.
Table 1 - Effects of harvest data and specie factors on the chemical composition of biomass and biogas/methane production.
Harvest data
Qualitative parameter
Cellulose (%DM)
Hemicellulose (%DM)
Species
HD1
HD2
HD3
Sig†
Ebulus
Nigra
31.0±0.6b
34.9±1.5a
30.2±0.7b
***
31.1±0.4b
33.0±1.2a
a
5.4±0.6
Sig†
b
**
8.0±1.2
7.1±0.6
7.5±1.7
ns
9.6±0.7
Lignin (%DM)
1.5±0.02b
1.7±0.1a
1.9±0.1a
*
1.7±0.1
1.8±0.1
ns
Fat (%DM)
2.8±0.1c
5.5±0.8b
7.9a±1.4a
***
3.8±0.3b
6.9±1.2a
***
Sugars (%DM)
6.3±0.2b
5.9±0.3b
11.3±1.7a
***
6.3±0.3b
9.4±1.4a
***
b
a
b
a
Crude protein (%DM)
15.9±3.2
10.5±1.0
***
7.7±0.4
15.9±1.8
***
C/N ratio (-)
26.3±3.1c
28.1±3.1b
34.4±5.0a
***
37.9±2.0a
21.2±0.6b
***
Dry matter (%FM)
22.0±1.2b
27.8±0.9a
29.0±1.3a
***
27.5±1.2a
18.3±1.1b
*
Volatile solids (%DM)
14.3±1.4c
21.1±0.9a
23.1±1.1a
***
20.7±1.0a
18.3±1.1b
*
Ash (%DM)
7.7±0.2a
6.7±0.1b
6.0±0.2c
**
6.7±0.1
6.8±0.4
ns
Biogas and methane production
Biogas (NL kg-1 VS)
706.7±56.9ab
630.0±20.9b
728.9±30.1a
*
624.0±21.7b
753.1±28.8a
**
254.9±27.7ab
233.3±16.1b
290.3±25.7a
*
212.4±8.9b
306.0±14.2a
**
Methane (NL kg-1 VS)
9.0±1.3
c
***
†
Sig, Significance. HD1, flowering; HD2, swollen of the berries; HD3, full ripeness of the berries. FM, Fresh matter; DM, dry matter.
For harvest data factor, means followed by the different letters, in each row, are significantly different (P ≤0.05, Tukey's test). For species
factor, means followed by the different letters, in each row, are significantly different (P ≤0.05, Student's test). nd, not detected value; ns,
F test not significant; *, F test significant at P≤0.05; **, F test significant at P≤0.01; ***, F test significant at P≤0.001.
References
Amon T. et al. 2007. Methane production through anaerobic digestion of various energy crops grown in sustainable crop
rotations. Bioresource Technology, 98: 3204-3212.
Dulf F.V. et al. 2013. Molecules, 18: 11768-11782.
Møller, H. B. et al. 2004. Methane productivity of manure, straw and solid fractions of manure. Biomass Bioenergy, 26:
485-495.
180
Giant Reed Growth Analysis in Marginal Soils of
Southern Italy. Second Year Results
Vincenzo Cenvinzo1, Armando De Rosa1, Donato Visconti1, Vincenzo Leone2, Nunzio
Fiorentino1, Mauro Mori1, Massimo Fagnano1
2Unità
1 Dip. di Agraria, Univ. Napoli, IT, [email protected]
di Ricerca per la Frutticoltura di Caserta (CRA-FRC),[email protected]
Introduction
European Commission promotes the use of biomass crops as an alternative to fossil fuels, with the
limitation of not interfering with ordinary food production. For this reason marginal soils not suitable for
agricultural purposes, must be considered to grow no food energy crops. Giant reed (Arundo donax L.)
can grow in marginal soils such as contaminated soils (Fiorentino et al., 2010), risk erosion soils (Diodato
et al., 2009), physically degraded soils and salinized soils. There is a lack of information concerning
aboveground and belowground growth of Giant reed (GR) in limiting environments. Therefore, the aim
of this study was to monitor for three years aboveground and belowground growth of A. donax L. in two
marginal areas of southern Italy. Results of the first two cropping cycles of GR are reported.
Methods
The experiment was carried out in two sites: Teverola and Sant’Angelo dei Lombardi (Campania region
- Southern Italy). Teverola site, located in flat area, was an ex-landfill characterized by compacted soil
with low physical fertility. S. Angelo site, located in a hilly area (10% slope), with a clay soil is subjected
to water erosion. GR rhizomes (local ecotype) were transplanted on spring 2014 at 10-15 cm of soil depth
and a density of 2 pt m2 (0.6 m x 0.8 m). Soil was not fertilized and GP was grown under rain-fed input.
Belowground and aboveground GR biomass was monthly collected together with bulk-soil (0-20 cm) at
both sites (4 plants per sampling). The growth parameters evaluated were culms, leaves and rhizomes
weight (fresh and dry biomass), Leaf area (LI-3100C Area Meter), number of leaves, plant height and
number of culms. A sub-sample of each plant tissues vegetable was washed and oven-dried at 60 °C until
constant weight for dry matter determination. Then it was grinded (SM 300 Retsch Italia s.r.l) for total
N determination (Kjeldahl). Soil samples were oven-dried at 70 ° C for total N (Kjeldahl) and organic C
(Walkley – Black) determination. Rhizome-to-shoot ratio (R:S ratio) was calculated to assess GR
response to pedoclimatic conditions.
Results
In the 1st cropping cycle (2014), the aboveground production was lower in Teverola than in Sant’Angelo
(180 vs 280 g pt-1, respectively) (Fig. 1a). In 2015, the aboveground biomass at Teverola site increased
by 10 times (1863 g pt-1) compared to the first year, while S. Angelo the yield almost was 3 times higher
(800 g pt-1) (Fig. 1b). In the 1st cropping cycle belowground biomass at harvest was 283 g pt-1 at Teverola
(Fig. 1a) and 410 g pt-1 at S. Angelo site (Fig. 1b), and in the 2nd cycle a 7-fold increase in the first site
while no increase was recorded in the second site. During first growth year, R/S values of S. Angelo and
Teverola were 2.5 and 4 respectively. Probably this difference was due to the emergency storage of
assimilated in rhizomes in Teverola site (Mann et al., 2013), due to soil limiting growth conditions. In
the second year, R/S values decreased to 1.15 at both sites, meaning that higher values recorded in the
first year were due to a preferential allocation of biomass in rhizomes during the establishment phase.
Mean total N content of leaves, culms and rhizomes is reported in table 1. Values recorded at Sant’Angelo
were found double than Teverola in leaves and culms suggesting a higher N availability in the hilly site.
In the 2nd cropping cycle values were found not different from the first year at Teverola, while halved at
Sant’Angelo.In the first year, soil NH4:NO3 ratio was 1.5 in Teverola and 0.5 in Sant’Angelo while in
the second year, it was the same for both sites (0.7 vs 0.7). Soil mineral N at Teverola was found higher
181
than Sant’Angelo (16.9 mg kg-1 vs 11.9 mg kg-1 respectively), as well as Nitric-N and Ammonia-N. This
means that in the 2nd year nitrification was well balanced in Teverola site and a higher N availability to
plants occurred with respect to Sant’Angelo site. In the first crop cycle, N Total content was the same for
both sites (15 mg kg-1), while it was higher at Teverola (15 mg kg-1 vs 12 mg kg-1 in Sant’Angelo and
Teverola respectively) with a high NO3 content.
a
b
Fig. 4a – 1b Aboveground and belowground biomass (first and second year) of two marginal areas
Table 5 Total N content of leaves, culms and rhizomes of two marginal areas
Teverola
S.Angelo
Leaves Culms Rhizomes
Leaves
Culms
g N 100 g-1
1st cycle
1,35
0,33
0,59
2,38
0,97
S.E.
Rhizomes
0,79
0,04
0,02
0,02
0,16
0,16
0,02
2 cycle
1,55
0,43
0,81
1,55
0,45
0,69
S.E.
0,06
0,03
0,07
0,06
0,03
0,06
nd
Conclusions
Results confirmed high productive performance of A. donax L. in marginal soils, but with different
growth strategies due to pedoclimatic conditions. In strongly degraded soils, plant preferentially promote
rhizome growth during the first year. This establishment phase allows Giant reed to store energy for the
consecutive cropping cycle and to improve soil porosity as proved by NO3. In hilly agricultural areas of
Southern Italy, the main constraint to plant growth is represented by climatic conditions with a biomass
production in the 2nd cropping cycle 50% lower than in plain areas. Nevertheless the positive effect in
reducing soil erosion must be taken in account to evaluate Giant reed cropping systems in these areas
(Fagnano et al., 2015). However, further experimentations are necessary to evaluate also biomass quality
and use it into energetic industry and green chemistry.
References
Fagnano M, Impagliazzo A, Mori M, Fiorentino N (2015) Agronomic and Environmental Impacts of Giant Reed (Arundo
donax L.): Results from a Long-Term Field Experiment in Hilly Areas Subject to Soil Erosion. Bioenerg. Res. 8: 415-422.
Fiorentino N, Impagliazzo A, Ventorino V, Pepe O, Piccolo A, Fagnano M (2010) Biomass accumulation and heavy metal
uptake of giant reed on polluted soil in southern Italy. J Biotechnol 150:261.
Diodato N, Fagnano M, Alberico I (2009) CliFEM–climate forcing and erosion response modelling at long-term Sele
River research basin (Southern Italy). Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 9:1693–1702.
Kaur A, Singh J, Kamboj SS, Sexena AK, Pandita RM, Shamnugavel M (2005). Isolation of an N-acetyl-D-glucosamine
specific lectin from the rhizomes of Arundo donax with antiproliferative activity. Phytochemistry 66(16):19331940.Mann, J.J.; Barney, J.N.; Kyser, G.B.; Ditomaso, J.M. (2013). Miscanthus x giganteus and Arundo donax shoot and
rhizome tolerance of extreme moisture stress. GCB Bioenergy, 5,693-700.
182
Effect of Cover Crops on Nitrogen Uptake, Soil Water
Content and Biomass Production in a Short Rotation
Poplar Plantation
Nicola Silvestri1, Vittoria Giannini2, Daniele Antichi1
1
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Pisa, IT, [email protected]
Institute of Life Sciences, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento, Pisa, IT
2
Introduction
The agricultural production of biomass for energy-giving uses is attracting increasing interest particularly
in relation to the possibility of reducing the use of fossil fuels and thereby limiting the emission of
greenhouse gases. However one of the barriers to wider development of biomass energy sources is the
lack of information about the environmental impacts on the landscape of increasing production of
biomass crops. In the first growth phases as in the subsequent harvesting stages, the risks of erosion can
become considerable due to the absence of any sort of protective canopy. In this case resorting to the use
of cover crops can represent a useful agronomic measure since it provides and maintains a suitable ground
covering, above all in the winter months when leaf fall exposes the soil to rain action.
The aim of the present work was to evaluate some of the agronomic effects of the planting of two different
species of cover crops, the legume Trifolium subterraneum L. and the grass Lolium perenne L. in a
closely spaced forestry plantation.
Methods
Field experiment set-up. The poplar grove (Populus deltoides cultivar LUX) was planted in March 2012
with a density of 8000 plants/ha (2.5 x 0.5 m). In the first year the natural flora was controlled
mechanically by 2 cutting operations carried out in May and September. On the first of October of the
same year the experimental plots (25 x 30 m) were laid out and sown with two different cover crops:
Trifolium subterraneum L. (TS) cultivar Clare (35 kg/ha) and Lolium perenne L. (LP) cultivar Argo (30
kg/ha). Some of the plots were used as controls (without cover crop) and left to normal colonization of
the natural flora (CO).
Study site. The plantation was located at the “Centro di Ricerche Agro-ambientali” of Pisa University
situated in the lower part of the Arno valley in Tuscany, Central Italy (43° 40’ lat N, 10° 19’ long E, 2 m
a.s.l. The soils were classified as xerofluvent according to USDA classification and presenting the
following physical-chemical characteristics: clay 19%, silt 52%, sand 29%; pH 7.9, organic matter 1.5%
(Walkley-Black method), total nitrogen 0.14% (Kjeldhal methods) and available P2O5 20.5% (Olsen
method).
Data collection and processing. Samples of poplar branches and leaves from each of the experimental
plots were taken every month, dried in stove and sent to the laboratory for chemical analysis. On the
same dates soil samples were taken at two different depths (0-30 cm and 30-60 cm) and used to determine
the soil water content gravimetrically and nitrates content. In approximate correspondence with the
maximum vegetative growth of the cover crops (end of May), destructive samples were taken from each
of the experimental plots and analysed for N content. The experimental design consisted of randomized
blocks and means were compared using Fisher’s least significant difference (LSD) test.
183
Results
Weed biomass in the control plots was about 0.75 t ha-1 dry matter, while cover crop growth was much
greater: 1.79 t ha-1 for LP and reaching 3.46 t ha-1 for TS.As regards nitrogen content in the plants, it can
be seen that TS gave the highest values (over 2%) compared to LP and the control, whose concentration
in both cases was about 1.3%. At the end of the cultivation cycle, the legume returned more than 70 kg/ha
of nitrogen to the soil (mainly biologically fixed), an amount that is decidedly greater than that returned
either by LP (23 kg ha-1) or by the natural flora (10 kg ha-1) (Tab.1).
The return of a large amount of organic residuals rich in nitrogen to the soil led, in the plots with TS, to
a significant increase in nitrates present in the shallower horizons. The concentrations measured in the
three treatments were in fact significantly different on almost all the sampling dates, showing the highest
values for the first (3rd June) and the fourth (27th August) sampling when values of about 6 ppm were
obtained. On the contrary, LP displayed evident signs of decrease, showing significant reductions in
nitrogen content with values often less than 2 ppm. These differences tended however to disappear in the
underlying soil layer.
The soil water content was also strongly influenced by the type of plant cover present over the ground.
In the 0-30 cm soil layer the control plot always gave the lowest values, often less than 15%, whereas the
presence of the two different cover crops resulted in an increase in the soil water content which was
however independent of the cover crop species. The situation is inverted however in the underlying soil
horizon (30-60 cm).
The different nitrate concentration and water content of the soil gave rise to significant differences in
nitrogen uptake and content in the Poplar plants. In particular the nitrogen content in both the branches
and the leaves was always greater in the poplars grown on the plots with TS (with the exception of the
content in the leaves on the 3rd June); whereas the treatment with LP produced lower values compared to
the control even at, and subsequent to, the third sampling on the 18th July.
From the yield point of view, the two different cover crops were able to influence the production of the
Poplar plantation. The conditions induced by the presence of TS in the uppermost 30 cm of soil enabled
a dry matter yield of 14.65 t ha-1 to be achieved which was greater, but statistically equivalent, to that
obtained without the help of any cover crop at all (13.38 t ha-1). On the other hand the presence of Lolium
perenne caused a significant reduction in biomass yield compared to the other two treatments, being only
a little more than 10 t ha-1.
TS
LP
CO
cover dry weight (t ha-1)
cover N content (% N)
N uptake by cover (kg ha-1)
Populus yield (t ha-1)
3.46 a
2.14 a
74.04 a
14.65 a
1.79 b
1.28 b
22.91 b
10.12 b
0.75 c
1.39 b
10.43 c
13.38 a
Tab.1 - Dry weight, nitrogen content and corresponding accumulated nitrogen by the biomass of cover crops. A control
(weeds only) case, with no cover crops, is also reported. Poplar yields in the different cover conditions are reported. Means
followed by the same letter do not differ at P<0.05 according to Fisher’s test. TS: Trifolium subterraneum, LP: Lolium
perenne, CO: control.
Conclusions
The use of cover crops, apart from constituting a useful device for reducing environmental impact in the
first period of SRF, may also represent a helpful strategy for driving nitrogen content in the soil and
absorption of the element in plant tissues and can influence also the poplar yield.
184
Evaluating Wild Miscanthus Germplasm for Biomass
Potential in a Mediterranean Environment
Giovanni Scalici1, Giorgio Testa1, Danilo Scordia1, Maria Scifo1, Silvio Calcagno1, Salvatore
L. Cosentino1
1
Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente (Di3A), Università degli Studi di Catania,
[email protected]
Introduction
Recently there has been increasing interest in the use of perennial grasses as energy crops in the world.
Energy crops are crops which are produced with the express purpose of using their biomass energetically.
The main positive characteristics of the perennial grasses for biomass production are their high yield
potential, the high contents of lignin and cellulose of their biomass and their generally positive
environmental impact. Miscanthus is one of the most investigated perennial rhizomatous grass for
bioenergy. Miscanthus is a perennial C4 plant native to Eastern Asia, which can produce substantial
annual yields of dry biomass with limited nutrient input. The aim of this research was to evaluate
adaptation and biomass production potential of 25 Miscanthus accessions, representing 4 Miscanthus
species, collected from a wide geographical range for suitability to semi-arid Mediterranean climates.
Species and associated accession numbers are: i) M. floridulus (M1,M2, M3, M7, M16, M20, M24; ii)
M. sinensis (M4, M5, M6, M9, M11, M12, M13, M14, M17, M18, M19, M21, M23, M25; iii) M.
sacchariflorus (M8, M15, M22); iv) M. x giganteus (M10).
Methods
The field experiment was carried out in Catania, Sicily (10 m a.s.l., 37° 24' N, 15° 03' E) on a loam soil
developed from alluvial deposits, in order to compare 25 Miscanthus accessions in well-watered (I100)
and water stress conditions (I0). A randomized complete block design was applied and 25 Miscanthus
accessions were planted at 1 plant m-2 in 10 x 10 m plot with 4 replicates per accession. After planting
the soil water content was kept at a good level in order to allow a good plant establishment. Weeds were
controlled mechanically. The water was distributed by means of a drip irrigation system. Air temperature
and rainfall were recorded using a WS-GP1 weather station (Delta-T Devices Ltd). Yields were estimated
from each accession and harvestable biomass was calculated from fresh weight and sub-sample moisture
content.
Results
Meteo data, recorded during January 2015 –April 2016, were typical of southern Mediterranean
environment. The average minimum air temperature for the period was 11.9 °C and the maximum was
22.4 °C. Max temperature was 40.1 °C at the end of summer, min temperature was 0.6 °C in the middle
of February. The total precipitation was 832 mm (from January to December 2015) and 116 mm (from
January to April 2016). The above-ground dry biomass in the well-watered condition (I100) ranged from
0.20 kg/plant (M11) to 17.29 kg/plant (M1). Miscanthus x giganteus (M10) and Goliath (M18) dry
biomass was 0.85 and 0.52 kg/plant, respectively (Tab. 1). In the water stress condition (I0), aboveground dry biomass ranged from 0.14 kg/plant (M25) to 8.35 kg/plant (M1). Miscanthus x giganteus
(M10) and Goliath (M18) dry biomass was 0.35 and 0.57 kg/plant, respectively (Tab. 1). In well-watered
condition the highest accession was M1 (191 cm) while the lowest one was M16 (81 cm); in water stress
condition the highest accession was M1 (218 cm) while the lowest one was M21 (53 cm) (Tab. 1). M1
showed the highest number of stem per plant, equal to 353.5 stem/plant in I100 and 225.8 stem/plant in
I0 (Tab. 1).
185
Table 1 – Above-ground dry matter (kg plant-1), stem number per plant (n°) and plant height (cm) of the studied Miscanthus
accessions.
Accession
dry biomass (kg plant-1)
stem numbers per plant
plant height (cm)
numbers
I100
I0
I100
I0
I100
I0
M1
17.3±1.13
8.35±1.57
353.5±51.3
225.8±35.0
191.4±24.6
217.5±14.3
M3
8.37±1.25
7.18±0.82
163.0±47.7
181.5±42.2
144.9±14.6
168.8±20.8
M2
6.76±3.42
5.34±1.3
102.7±50.7
119.3±25.0
121.0±24.2
199.2±9.5
M4
5.53±1.6
0.93±0.21
112.0±26.8
26.0±7.5
146.4±10.4
141.7±10.8
M6
4.76±2.38
1.77±1.58
207.7±94.2
64.5±49.5
113.0±17.1
116.7±19.1
M7
2.79±0.84
2.52±0.17
71.5±13.0
60.7±4.7
189.1±16.4
183.7±10.2
M5
2.47±0.55
1.91±0.42
73.0±1.2
78.3±19.2
173.8±21.5
163.9±11.4
M8
1.19±0.13
0.26±0.05
117.7±45.2
24.5±5.4
145.2±17.7
93.9±11.1
M17
1.17±1.04
0.34
51.5±36.5
14.0
163.2±23.9
160.0±5.8
M22
1.13±0.94
0.29±0.06
37.5±22.5
22.7±9.0
178.3±21.0
94.0±21.8
M10
0.85±0.33
0.35±0.08
41.0±5.8
15.0±2.5
127.8±22.3
130.3±25.3
M12
0.79±0.71
1.47
70.5±60.5
80.0
111.3±35.4
143.3±8.8
M9
0.61±0.40
0.55±0.19
29.5±19.9
28.7±8.8
139.0±15.4
134.8±14.0
M18
0.52±0.43
0.57±0.16
51.0±43.0
38.0±16.3
146.3±20.1
79.1±7.6
M14
0.47±0.25
1.35±0.44
44.3±26.2
55.3±26.0
128.3±16.1
167.8±10.1
M24
0.36±0.03
0.27±0.05
59.0±5.0
19.3±5.5
111.7±12.4
110.0±11.5
M15
0.32±0.19
0.25
38.3±30.9
25.0
163.3±14.7
88.3±9.3
M21
0.31±0.11
0.31
39.7±26.8
27.0
108.6±16.0
53.3±6.7
M13
0.30±0.06
0.39±0.29
25.0±5.1
16.0±4.0
105.8±17.2
92.5±22.9
M23
0.26±0.09
==
20.5±9.5
==
137.2±24.3
==
M16
0.25±0.12
==
25.7±8.8
==
81.0±15.2
==
M20
0.22±0.06
0.19±0.05
50.3±22.6
22.5±1.5
88.8±9.4
86.7±31.8
M11
0.20±0.13
0.28
25.0±15.0
12.0
177.2±22.8
75.0±12.6
M19
==
==
==
==
==
==
M25
==
0.14±0.01
==
6.0±0.6
==
143.3±9.9
(Values are means, +/- standard error of the mean).
Conclusions
We showed that some Miscanthus accessions are suitably adapted to maintain high biomass in a semiarid Mediterranean environment. The wide variability within the genotypic response is largely linked to
the species classification. We can deduce from this research that accessions from M. sacchariflorus and
M. sinensis are generally drought sensitive, as the yield is reduced in the water limited condition, whereas
those M. floridulus accession maintained high biomass production in water stress condition. This research
confirmed that the most commonly available commercial Miscanthus genotypes (Miscanthus x giganteus
and Goliath) are not well adapted to the Mediterranean climate or environments where water is a limiting
factor.
References
Scalici G. et al. 2015. Valutazione di accessioni diverse di Miscanthus spp. in ambiente semi-arido mediterraneo. XLIV
SIA, 14-16 settembre, Bologna.
Scalici G. et al. 2012. Potenzialità Produttive di Accessioni di Miscanthus spp. in Europa Meridionale. XLI SIA, 19-21
settembre, Bari.
186
Influence of Planting Density and Pre-Flowering Topping
on Tobacco Yield of Seed Oil
Eugenio Cozzolino1, Francesco De Lucia2, Patrizia Spigno3, Ida Di Mola4, Visconti Donato4,
Luigi Giuseppe Duri4, Mauro Mori4, Massimo Fagnano4
1
CREA-Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria [email protected]
2
Dipartimento di Agraria, Ambiente ed Alimenti-UNIMOL; 3ARCA 2010 Società Cooperativa Arl
4
Dipartimento di Agraria-UNINA
Introduction
Tobacco seed oil has a fatty acid composition similar to sunflower seed oil with high content of linoleic
acid, which makes it valuable for several uses (del Piano et al., 2014). The tobacco plant can grow in
environments with limited water resources (Impagliazzo et al., 2012) and the possibility of its use on
marginal agricultural soils for oil production has been recently considered in the pursuit for renewable
energy sources, also on account of the demonstrated oil mixability with diesel fuel up to one fourth of
the mixture without loss of performance (Srinivas et al., 2013). The aim of our work was to evaluate the
oil producing potential of tobacco in a field trial in Campania region.
Methods
The trial was conducted in the year 2015 in the municipality of Calvi, province of Benevento, a traditional
tobacco area, on a neutral silt-clay loam of good fertility. Treatments were combinations of two factors
at two levels: planting density (3.6 vs 4.8 plants/m2) and pre-flowering topping (topped vs untopped) and
field layout was a complete randomized block design with tree replicates and plots of about 40 m2. After
a first harvest, all plants, both topped before flowering and untopped, were topped at 70 cm height to
stimulate a regrowth for a second harvest. Plants of the cultivar Solaris (Sunchem Holding) were planted
on May 21ston soil previously fertilized with 36 kg/ha NP and 51 kg/ha K and were topdressed with a
total 80 kg/ha N in three applications, 18 kg/ha P and 15 kg/ha Ca in one application. The field was
irrigated five times with a total water volume of about 1000 m3 per ha. To protect fruit pods against moths
four insecticide applications were made. Pre-flowering topping was done on July 3rd at about 60 cm
height to allow the formation of 2-3 flowering shoots per plant. The first harvest was carried out on
August 6th, cutting the panicles and stratifying them on nonwoven fabric under a plastic covered tunnel
to dry. The second harvest, favored by good weather in September, was done on October 10th. Seed and
oil yields were determined random sampling 20 plants per plot. Seeds were extracted from the dried pods
with the aid of a rubber pestle and separated from pod debris with a steel sieve. On seed samples
composite over replicates oil was extracted with a mechanical pressed seed oil concentration was
determined. For inferential purposes seed and oil yields were modeled as normally distributed given
treatments with means as linear functions of treatments using the R environment (R Core Team, 2016)
with the rstan package (Stan Development Team, 2015).
Results
Plant growth was rather good, despite some adversity, as protracted dry-hot weather and a short hailstorm
occurring soon after the first harvest. Percentiles of draws from predictive distribution for treatments and
some contrasts are represented in figure 1. Pre-flowering topping had a positive effect on the first harvest
yield of seeds, with average increases of 20% and 13% at the lower and higher planting density
respectively, but the effect on the second harvest, though still positive at the lower density (+11%) was
noticeably negative at the higher density (-20%). Topping effects on oil yield showed a similar pattern,
with comparable average increases in the first harvest (+20% and +10% at lower and higher density
respectively), but about no increase at the lower density (+3%) and a more marked decrease at the higher
187
density (-25%). The effect of pre-flowering topping on total yield was positive at the lower density
(+12%) and somewhat negative at the higher density (-8%).
Figure 1. Medians and percentiles (1, 2.5, 10, 25, 75, 90, 95, 99) of (1000) draws from predictive distributions for treatment
yields of seeds and oil and conditioned first differences between factor levels (topping: topped vs untopped; density:
4.8e+4 vs 3.6e+4 plants/ha).
Increasing planting density increased first harvest yield more for untopped plants (+20% seeds, +22%
oil) than for topped ones (+12% seeds, +11% oil), but second harvest yield only for the untopped (+28%
seeds, +25% oil), decreasing it for the topped (-7% seeds, -10% oil). Pre-flowering topping conditioned
density effects on total yields: with no topping yields increased with density by 23% for seeds and by
22% for oil; with topping yields did not vary much with density. The highest overall yield was obtained
with the higher density and no pre-flowering topping, the second highest with the lower density and
topping.
Conclusions
Average seed yields per treatment varied between 2.68 and 3.28 t/ha and oil yields between 0.94 and
1.15 t/ha. Planting density effects on tobacco seed and oil yield were conditioned by pre-flowering
topping and vice versa: increasing density from 3.6e+4 to 4.8e+4 plants/ha total yields of two harvests
changed little for topped plants, but increased noticeably for untopped plants.
References
del Piano L. et al. (2014) Valutazione della produzione in seme e del contenuto in olio di nuove costituzioni di Nicotianatabacum
L. Atti XLIII Convegno SIA 2014.
Impagliazzo et al. (2012) Risposta produttiva del tabacco da olio (N.tabacum L. cv Solaris) a differenti input energetici. Atti XLI
Convegno SIA 2012.
R Core Team (2016) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna,
Austria. URL https://www.R-project.org/.
Srinivas I.K.et al. (2013)Experimental Analysis of tobacco oil blends with diesel in single cuilinder Ci-Engine. International
Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (UETT) 4 (10): 4535-4539
Stan Development Team (2015). Stan: A C++ Library for Probability and Sampling, Version 2.8.0. URL http://mc-stan.org/.
Attività svolta nell’ambito del progetto PON BioPoliS
188
The Normalized Water Productivity (WP) of Giant Reed
(Arundo donax L.): A Case Study of Southern Italy
Adriana Impagliazzo1, Massimo Fagnano1, Mauro Mori1, Nunzio Fiorentino1, Ida Di Mola1,
Lucia Ottaiano1, AntonelloBonfante2
1
Dep. Of Agriculture, Univ. of Naples Federico II, Portici (NA) IT, [email protected]
National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Institute for Mediterranean Agricultural and Forestry Systems
(ISAFOM), Ercolano (NA), Italy
2
Introduction
In recent years the concerns about the depletion of energy resources derived from fossil fuels has led to
a greater attention on renewable energy sources obtainable from agro-energy sector. With the aim to
reduce competition for land with food crop, renewable energy must be obtained from crop residuals or
from energy crops cultivated in marginal soils not suitable for food crops (Fagnano et al., 2015). Among
the different biomass crops, one of the most interesting is giant reed (Arundo donax L.), because of its
tolerance to different environmental stresses and its capacity to produce interesting amount of lignocellulosic biomass also in marginal areas.
The cultivation of giant reed in marginal areas can help the farmers to maintain or improve their incomes
under climate change. In particular, the incomes derived from their cultivation could offset expected
losses from the reduction of traditional crop production (less water available = decrease of crop
production). In this way, information useful to apply simulation models able to estimate the giant reed
responses to climate change are needed. The aim of this research work is to estimate the normalized
biomass water productivity (WP) for giant reed, through the use of calibrated agro-hydrological model
SWAP (Kroes et al., 2008) and the collected crop responses (in terms of above ground biomass, AGB)
in two years of field experiment (2012 and 2013) in a case study of southern Italy.
Methods
The experimental site was located in the farm "Torre Lama" of the University of Naples Federico II,
placed in Bellizzi (SA) (40 ° 37'N, 14 ° 58'E, 30 m a. s. l.), in the Sele alluvial plain. The experimental
plot was located in an area characterized by the presence of a deep Vertic Luvisols (Soil Taxonomy
1999), with texture ranging from silt-loam (in the upper part of the soil profile) to loam (in the bottom
part of soil profile) without stones and limestone and with poor drainage. The field experiment started in
the 2008, and only the last two years of crop information were used to estimate the WP. During the six
years of crop monitoring, the weather information collected describe the study area as an environment
characterized by a severe water deficit with an annual average deficit of 485 mm (rainfall-ET0). Giant
reed rhizomes were collected from wild stands of this area and planted on February 2008 at 10-20 cm of
soil depth, at the density of 1×1 m and transplanted in 528 m2 (16×333 m) plots. Moreover, two lowinput cropping techniques were adopted under rainfed condition: NL100 and NL50 with 100 or 50 kg
ha−1 of N from urea respectively, arranged on a randomized complete block design with three replicates.
The Soil-Water-Atmosphere-Plant (SWAP) model (Kroeset al., 2008) was applied to solve the soil water
balance. SWAP is an integrated physically based simulation model of water, solute and heat transport in
the saturated-unsaturated zone in relation to crop growth. In this study only the water flow module was
used; it assumes 1-D vertical flow processes and calculates the soil water flow through the Richards’
equation. The SWAP performances were evaluated by means of the agreement between observed and
predicted values of soil water content (SWC), expressed by using the indexes: the root mean squared
error (RMSE), the coefficient of residual mass (CRM) and the parameters of the linear regression
equation between observed and predicted values. The is central to the operation of crop growth model
based on a water-driven growth-engine (e.g. AQUACROP).The calibration of biomass water
189
productivity (WP) and normalization for evaporative demands has been based on the equation (FAO,
2012). Background information and more details on normalization, including that for CO2 concentration,
are given in Steduto et al. (2007).
Results
In this context the preliminary results obtained from the elaboration of NL100 treatment are shown and
discussed. The following table shows the evaluation of SWAP model performance in terms of RMSE,
CRM and r values for both years of calibration and validation.
Statistical
indexes
RMSE (cm3/cm3)
CRM
r
0-20 cm
0,04
-0,11
0,92
Calibration (2012)
20-40 cm
40-60 cm
0,02
0,02
-0,11
0,01
0,96
0,92
0-20 cm
0,03
-0,10
0,61
Validation (2013)
20-40 cm
40-60 cm
0,03
0,03
-0,24
-0,02
0,96
0,79
AGB (gm-2)
The good performances obtained have allowed to calculate the WP normalized in both years (2012 and
2013) from the simulation model output as shown in the figure 1. The value of normalized WP index
obtained was 28,3 g m-2.
3000
y = 29.97x + 281.9
Considering that the giant reed is a
R² = 0.671
2012
2013
C3 crop, the obtained value was
y = 28.26x + 194.7
2500
R² = 0.678
over the WP range reported in
y = 28.11x + 24.73
literature for C3 crops (from 15 to
R² = 0.854
2000
-2
20 gm ) and at the limit of that
reported for the C4 crops (from 30
1500
to 35 gm-2) (AQUACROP model,
Steduto et al. 2009). But this is not
1000
a surprise, because in literature the
giant reed is well known as a C3
500
crop but with high rates of
photosynthesis and productivity
similar to those of C4 species, with
0
0
20
40
60
80
100
a maximum photosynthetic rate (37
Ʃ(Tr act/Et 0)
μmoli m-2 s-1) higher than other C4
plants.
Fig. 1. Relationship between cumulated dry matter and cumulated
actual crop transpiration (normalized for climatic evaporative
demand) for giant reed in the years 2012 and 2013.
Conclusions
The normalized WP index identified for the giant reed seems to be in according with the expected crop
performances in terms of photosynthetic cycle. The knowledge of this index allows to make predictions
of crop responses and evaluate the adaptation to climate change.
References
Fagnano M. et al. 2015. Agronomic and environmental impacts of giant reed (Arundo donax L.): results from a long-term
field experiment in hilly areas subject to soil erosion. Bioenerg. Res. 8:415-422.
Kroes J.G. et al. 2008. SWAP version 3.2. Theory description and user manual. Wageningen, Alterra, Alterra Report 1649,
262 pp.
Steduto P. et al. 2007. On the conservative behavior of biomass water productivity. Irrig. Sci. 25: 189-207.
Steduto P. et al. 2009. Aqua Crop -The FAO crop model to simulate yield response to water: I. Concepts and underlying
principles. Agronomy Journal, 101(3): 426-437.
190
Productive Differences Between Two-Year and Four-Year
Cutting Cycle of Short Rotation Forestry
Mauro Mori1, Ida Di Mola1, Eugenio Cozzolino2, Adriana Impagliazzo1, Vincenzo Cenvinzo1,
Armando De Rosa1, Massimo Fagnano1
1
2
CREA-Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria Laboratorio di Caserta
Introduction
In the recent years, the diffusion of energy crops is mainly due to the need to search alternative energy
source to fossil energy ones. Besides, the biomass crops also have other environmental vantages: 1) these
crops allow to reduce CO2 emissions; 2) they are necessary, as source of structuring material for
composting the Organic Fraction of Solid Urban Waste; 3) they can grow on degraded soils (polluted,
salinized and subject to erosion soils) contributing to their restoration.
The cultivation of tree species with short rotations of coppicing, for producing lingo-cellulosic biomass,
had spread especially after the first oil crisis (Mori et al., 2011); however for reducing the environmental
and economic costs, it is possible to reduce the passage of agricultural machinery.
So, the aim of this research was to optimize the cultural practices for Short Rotation Forestry, with a
greater attention to the length of cutting cycle.
Methods
The trial was carried out in Bellizzi (SA), at “Torre Lama” experimental farm of University of NaplesDepartment of Agriculture. The soil was clay-loam, with a moderate content of organic matter (1.4%).
The crop tested were Eucaliptus camaldulensis (eucalytptus) and Populus nigra (black poplar).
The trees were implanted on spring 2009, with a plant density of 6666 plant per hectare.
The experimental plan provided the comparison between two intervals of cutting (2 and 4 years).
For the first treatment the cuts were made on winter 2010, 2012 and 2014; for the second treatment they
were mad only on winter 2010 and 2014.
At each harvest/cut, total biomass, height and diameter of stems were collected.
The all data were analyzed with MSTAT software (Crop and Soil Science Department, Michigan State
Results
In both species, for the two-year cut, the fresh biomass had an increasing trend: for the poplar the 2012
and 2014 average fresh biomass was about double than the first harvest, while for the eucalyptus it was
about 75% more than the 2010 harvest (tab.1). For the four-year cut, the 2014 fresh biomass of poplar
was 8 times more than 2010 harvest and the 2014 fresh biomass of eucalyptus even was 9 times more
than the first harvest (tab.2). In both cut (two and four-year), this trend was especially due to higher
number of stems (at the first harvest the plants had obviously one stem) and in part to higher height (tab.1
and tab.2).
For both species, the total biomass yield was very higher with the four year cut than the two-year cut:
for poplar, 200 tons vs. about 100 tons per hectare; for the eucalyptus, 730 tons per hectare vs. 280 tons
per hectare. Therefore, the four year cutting cycle determines a total yield of fresh biomass double for
the poplar and triple for the eucalyptus, due, partly, to the increase of height (about 20% for poplar and
50% for eucalyptus), but especially to the notable increase (100%) of diameter (average and maximum)
for both species (tab.1 and tab.2).
The dry matter percentage of four year cut was higher than that two year cut for both species (Tab. 1 and
tab. 2).
191
Table 1. Effect of two-year cut on biomass production and its characteristics
Crop
Poplar
Year cut
Fresh
Biomass
t ha-1
DM
Height
Stems
n° per plant
Average basal
diameter
cm
Maximum basal
diameter
cm
%
cm
2010
26,3 c
47,9
415,6 b
1,0 c
6,1 a
6,1 b
2012
48,3 b
44,1
566,0 a
6,7 b
2,3 b
5,5 b
2014
56,7 a
48.1
570,0 a
9,7 a
2,9 b
7,2 a
6,5
ns
41,3
0.8
0,7
0,6
2010
80,7 b
42,6
471,7 b
1,0 c
7,9 a
7,9
2012
141,5 a
40,0
655,0 a
6,2 b
2,9 b
7,6
2014
140,0 a
45.8
630,0 a
9,3 a
3,2 b
8,1
11.3
ns
48.4
0,9
0,6
ns
ASD
Eucalyptu
s
ASD
Table 2. Effect of four-year cut on biomass production and its characteristics
Crop
Poplar
Year cut
Fresh
Biomass
t ha-1
DM
Height
Stems
%
cm
n° per plant
2010
26,3 b
47,9 b
415,6 b
1,0 b
6,1
6,1
2014
200,1 a
54.0 a
700,0 a
6,8 a
6,0
12,6
31,7
3.3
54,3
0,6
ns
1,1
2010
80,7
42,6
471,7 b
1,0 b
7,9 a
7,9 b
2014
733,9
46.0
970,0 a
7,7 a
6,0 b
14,5 a
48,2
ns
61,3
0,7
0,5
1,3
ASD
Eucalyptus
ASD
Average basal
Maximum
diameter
basal diameter
cm
cm
Conclusions
The four year cutting cycle assures an higher yield, and the reduction of the number of harvests could
determine an higher energy efficiency, as already noticed by Nassi o di Nasso (2010), by improving the
agronomic and environmental sustainability.
References
Mori M. et al., 2011. Coltivazione di Pioppo, Robinia ed Eucalipto con e senza irrigazione. In: Atti XL Convegno SIA
Teramo (Italia), 7-9 settembre 2011, 302-303.
Nassi o Di Nasso et al., 2010. Biomass production and energy balance of a 12-year-old short-rotation coppice poplar stand
under different cutting cycles. GCB Bioenergy 2, 89–97
192
First Yield Data on The Influence of Mycorrhizae
Treatment on Cardoon Genotypes
Lucia Ottaiano1, Ida Di Mola 1, Eugenio Cozzolino2, Adriana Impagliazzo1, Patrizia Spigno3,
Mauro Mori1, Massimo Fagnano1
1
Dip. di Agraria, Univ. Napoli Federico II, IT, [email protected]
CREA-Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria. Caserta (CE)
3
Arca 2010, Acerra (NA)
2
Introduction
Micosat F, a mycorrhiza granulate for different kinds of crops, has already been tested on some common
crops like strawberries and seems to have interesting positive effects on crop growth. Among these
effects, one of the most important is the well-known beneficial nutrition effect on the symbiosis which
makes the plant roots able to better absorb nutrients (Smith & Gianinazzi-Pearson, 1988). In fact,
mycorrhiza has also a positive influence on water absorption and growth of the roots (Davies, Potter, &
Linderman, 1992; Nelsen & Safir, 1982).
Recently the company Micosat added a new product to the Dutch market named Micosat F which is
developed by CCS Aosta in Italy (Micosat, 2014). Micosat F is granulate which contains the mycorrhizal
fungi Gloumus intraradices (GB-67), Gloumus mosseae (GP-11) and Gloumus viscosum (GC-41).
Micosat F also contains other beneficial micro-organisms; Agrobacterium radiobacter (AR-39), Bacillus
subtilis (BA-41), Streptomyces spp. (SB-14) (Micosat, 2014).
The purpose of our study was to test the effect of Micosat F granulate on Cynara cardunculus L. growth
in open field.
Methods
Field experiment was carried out in Campania Region on the Acerra plain. The experiment consisted in
a randomized split-plit-plot design with three replications, involving two genotypes of C. cardunculus L
(Novamont and Gigante) as main factors and two treatments (with and without Micosat F granulates
mixed in the substrates) as sub-factors.
Sowing was made on 25/09/2014 with a plant density of about 4 plant m-2 (0.75 x 0.33 m).
Physical and chemical soil properties were as follows: 61.5 % sand, 23.0 % silt, 15.5% clay, 7.4 pH, 2.2
% organic matter, 0.15 % total nitrogen.
At the end of the first crop cycle (23/09/2014), at complete maturation of achenes, the biomass was cut.
The plants were cut at ground level and weighed in open field in order to determine fresh weight.
Harvested heads were counted and weighed. Afterward, heads were threshed with a specific mini thresher
to separate grains (achenes), which were then weighed. At the same time, soil samples were taken at two
depths (0-20; 20-40 cm) for chemical analyses.
In the laboratory, biomass components (stalks, leaves and heads), were put in a thermo ventilated oven a
60 °C until constant weight to calculate the moisture content.
Results
Only the biomass yield was statistically significant higher for Gigante as compared to Novamont (6.6 vs.
4.0 t ha-1 respectively). Also for heads and seeds, the yield was higher in Gigante, but differences were
not significant (fig. 1). On average, the grain yield was satisfactory (0.7 t ha-1). Regarding the treatments
(with and without Micosat F) differences were not significant (fig. 2).
Figure 1
Figure 2 Total biomass, heads and seeds (t ha-1)
7.0
a
6.0
6.0
5.0
5.0
b
-1
4.0
t ha
t ha
-1
7.0
Total biomass, heads and seeds (t ha-1)
ns
3.0
ns
2.0
ns
4.0
3.0
ns
ns
2.0
ns
1.0
ns
ns
0.0
ns
1.0
ns
193
0.0
Total biomss
Heads
Gigante Novamont
Seeds
Total biomss
Heads
With Micosat F Without Micosat F
Seeds
The height of the crop in Gigante was of 116 cm, Novamont was of 97 cm (tab. 1). The treatments (with
and without Micosat F) were not significantly different (110 vs. 103 cm) (tab. 2)
Genotypes
Novamont
Gigante
Table 1 Plant height (cm)
Treatments a
Height
cm
97
+
117
-
ns
Height
cm
110
104
ns
a
+ with Micosat F
- without Micosat F
The soil at harvest did not show differences as compared with values measured at sowing (tab.2).
Table 2 Soil chemical analysis
Genotypes
Novamont
Gigante
N-NO3ppm
25.5
27.3
N-NH3
ppm
2.3
1.7
O.M.
%
Treatments a
T. N.
‰
2.3
2.0
0.2
0.2
+
a
N-NO3ppm
25.6
27.3
N-NH3
ppm
2.0
2.0
O.M.
%
T. N.
‰
2.1
2.1
0.2
0.2
+ with Micosat F
- without Micosat F
Conclusion
In the first year of growth, the average values both of ligno-cellulosic biomass and oleaginous seeds
were interesting. Biomass yield of Gigante genotype was significantly higher than Novamont.
As regards the mycorrhiza treatment, the differences were not significant.
To see differences between treatments, it could be necessary to analyze the results in the following years.
References
Davies, F. T., et al 1992. Mycorrhiza and Repeated Drought Exposure Affect Drought Resistance and Extraradical
Hyphae Development of Pepper Plants Independent of Plant Size and Nutrient Content. Journal of Plant Physiology,
139(3), 289–294.
Micosat. (2014). Personal communication.
Nelsen, C. E., & Safir, G. R. (1982). Increased drought tolerance of mycorrhizal onion plants caused by improved
phosphorus nutrition. Planta, 154(5), 407–13.
Smith, S. E., & Gianinazzi-Pearson, V. (1988). Physiological Interactions Between Symbionts in Vesicular-Arbuscular
Mycorrhizal Plants. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology, 39 (1), 221–244.
194
A Two-Year Effect of Irrigation on an Old Plantation (19
Years) of Giant Reed Clones
Giorgio Testa1, Danilo Scordia1, Venera Copani1, Ezio Riggi2, Sarah Sidella1, Mauro
Centritto2, Salvatore Luciano Cosentino1,2
1
Dip. di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente, Univ. Catania, IT, [email protected]
2
Trees and Timber Institute, CNR - IVALSA, Sesto Fiorentino (FI) IT
Introduction
Most of the energy crops have been selected and are cultivated in temperate climates (eg. Miscanthus
and switchgrass). Consequently their introduction in the Mediterranean environment, in sub-optimal
conditions of water availability, has shown several limitations to the full exploitation of their productive
potential (Cosentino et al., 2014). A solution could be represented by the use of species with a high water
use efficiency, and well adapted to this environment. Giant reed (Arundo donax L.) has shown to be a
high-yielding lignocellulosic, perennial species suitable to semi-arid environments (Cosentino et al.,
2006; Cosentino et al., 2008; Cosentino et al., 2014).
This research ascertained the effect of irrigation on a 19-year old plantation of 40 clones of giant reed
(Arundo donaxL.) collected in Southern Italy.
Methods
In spring 1997, in Southern Italy (Sicilia
and Calabria) rhizomes of 40 clones of
giant reed were collected. These
rhizomes were planted in a common
garden experiment at the experimental
farm of the University of Catania
(37°25’N 15° 03’E). The rhizomes were
planted directly into the soil at a depth
of 30 cm in 2.5 x 3.0 m plots at a density
of 2.67 plants m-2 with plants placed at a
distance of 0.75 m between rows and 0.5
m in each row. In the first year, the plots
were fertilized with 100 kg ha-1 of
Fig.1 - Meteorological trend during the two growing season.
phosphate, and 80 of kg ha-1 nitrogen
were supplied during the first and second year. Supplementary irrigation was also provided during the
first two years to enable the rhizomes to fully establish. No agronomical input were applied from 1999
to 2013. During the summer 2014 and 2015, between June and September (about every 20 days) two
irrigated treatments (I100=100% maximum evapotranspiration restitution and I0=rainfed condition) were
compared. In March 2014 and 2015 fresh biomass was measured in the center of each plot after removing
edge plants. Sub-samples were oven dried at 105°C for dry matter determination.
Results
During the two-year trial, meteorological trend was typical of southern Mediterranean environment.
Minimum temperature was recorded in winter time, falling below 0°C only in a few days. Rainfalls as
usual in Mediterranean environments were concentrated in autumn-winter, when several events were
recorded. However, rainfalls were scarce during summer time in every year of trial (Fig. 1). Overall,
during the vegetative growth of giant reed, 308 and 590 mm were recorded in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
195
In the first year of irrigation (harvest 2015) the rainfed condition (I0) showed a similar dry matter yield
as the years before (7.15 Mg ha-1 in the average of the 40 clones). Irrigation (I100), in the average of the
40 clones, allowed to increase the DM yield from 7.15±2.14 Mg ha-1 to 11.25±4.11 Mg ha-1 (Fig.2).
The highest yielding clone was No. 2, both in I0 and I100 (15.3 and 21.2 Mg ha-1, respectively), while the
lowest were No. 35 and 40 in I0 (4.1 Mg ha-1) and No. 11 in I100 conditions (4.9 Mg ha-1).
In the second year (harvest 2016), in the average of the clones, an increase in the biomass yield was
observed both in rainfed and irrigated treatments (Fig.3) (7.55±2.04 and 13.54±2.75Mg ha-1,
respectively). In rainfed conditions, the most productive clone was No. 25 followed by No. 33 and No.3
(12.1, 11.9 and 10.9Mg ha-1, respectively) while the
lowest were No. 40, 10 and 28 (3.5, 4.4 and 4.4Mg
ha-1, respectively). In irrigated conditions, the
highest yielding clone was No. 27 (18.9Mg ha-1)
while the lowest No. 40 (8.5Mg ha-1) (Fig.3).
Conclusions
Although giant reed requires abundant water
amount to sustain high yield levels, some clones
were able to produce high biomass yield even in
rainfed conditions, leading to the conclusion that
differences amongst clones exist and need to be
further studied at physiological and molecular
levels for a successful introduction in marginal
lands.
Fig.2 - Aboveground biomass yield (Mg DM ha-1) of giant
reed clones in rainfed and irrigated conditions in the 2015
harvest. Different letters indicate significant differences
according to the SNK test at p≤0.05
References
Fig.3 - Aboveground biomass yield (Mg DM ha-1) of giant
reed clones in rainfed and irrigated conditions in the 2016
harvest. Different letters indicate significant differences
according to the SNK test at p≤0.05
Cosentino S.L. et al. 2006. First results on evaluation of
Arundo donax L. clones collected in Southern Italy. Ind.
Crop. Prod. 23, 212–222.
Cosentino S.L. et al. 2008. Agronomic, energetic and
environmental aspects of biomass energy crops suitable
for Italian environments. Ital. J. Agron., 2:81-95.
Cosentino S.L. et al. 2014. Response of giant reed
(Arundo donax L.) to nitrogen fertilization and soil water
availability in semi-arid Mediterranean environment. Eur.
J. Agron. 60:22-32.
FP7 OPTIMA project “Optimization of perennial grasses
for biomass production (GA 289642)”.
196
Is Lignocellulosic Bioethanol Yield of Perennial Grasses
Affected by Nitrogen Fertilization and Harvest Time
Effect?
Danilo Scordia1, Giorgio Testa1, Silvio Calcagno1, Giovanni Scalici1, Sarah Sidella1, Santo
Virgillito1, Venera Copani1, Cristina Patanè2, Salvatore L. Cosentino1,2
1
2
Introduction
Second generation bioethanol production is mainly affected by lignocellulosic biomass composition,
namely cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin content. Cellulose and hemicellulose are the primary carbon
sources underpinning fermentation to ethanol, while lignin confers natural resistance to microbial attack
of plant cell wall. It would be of paramount importance to understand variation in biomass quality under
different management and agricultural practices, in order to increase cellulose and hemicellulose, while
decreasing lignin content. In this work different nitrogen fertiliser application and harvesting time on
long-term Miscanthus x giganteus and Arundo donax was investigated, with the aim to understand the
effect of these agricultural practices on biomass quality and bioethanol yield.
A 21-years old miscanthus (Miscanthus x giganteus Greef et Deuter) and a 18-year old giant reed (Arundo
donax L.) plantations, grown at the Experimental Farm of the University of Catania (10 m a.s.l., 37°27'
N, 15° 03' E) were used. Two treatments were studied: (i) harvesting time, namely winter (February, F)
and autumn (September, A), and (ii) nitrogen fertilization: 0 kg ha-1 (N0) and 80 kg ha-1 (N80). Granular
nitrogen fertilizer was buried after harvesting, as ammonium sulphate in the autumn harvest treatment,
and as ammonium nitrate in the winter harvest treatment.
Biomass quality, namely NDF, ADF and ADL and by differences the hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin
content were determined by the Near-infrared spectroscopy (SpectraStar™, 2500XL-R, Unity
Scientific). The calibration was performed through the UCal™ Chemometric Software 3.11.0.
Structural carbohydrate compositions were used to calculate the theoretical ethanol yield from a dry ton
feedstock, according to:
TEY=
[(C6 x 1.111)+(C5 x 1.136)] x 0.511
0.789
where TEY is the theoretical ethanol yield (% of dry weight), C6 are hexosans (i.e. cellulose) and C5 are
pentosans (i.e. hemicellulose). The stoichiometric ethanol yield for fermenting microorganisms is 0.511
g ethanol per g of hexose or pentose. The specific volume of ethanol is 0.789 (kg L-1), as reported by
Scordia et al. (2014). Conversion efficiencies of both C6 and C5 sugars to ethanol were assumed as
100%. TEY was subjected to the three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) using CoHort Software
(CoStat 6.003). When statistical significance was observed, LSD test was carried out for each year
considering the “species, harvest time and nitrogen fertilization” as “fixed factor” at 95% confidence
level.
Results
In terms of hemicellulose composition there was a significant effect of species and harvest time
(p≤0.001), while nitrogen fertilization did not. The interaction were not significant. Miscanthus showed
higher hemicellulose than Arundo, averaged across treatments (32.6 and 30.2 % DW) and autumn harvest
led to higher hemicellulose than winter averaged across treatments (33.0 and 29.8% DW). Cellulose
differed only for species main effect (p≤0.001), with Miscanthus higher than Arundo averaged across
197
treatments (42.9 and 37.2 % DW). Lignin differed only for species main effect (p≤0.01), with Arundo
higher than Miscanthus, averaged across treatments (10.3 and 9.4 % DW), as shown in Figure 1. As
theoretical ethanol yield is concerned, significant effect were found for species and harvest time
(p≤0.001) main effect, while nitrogen fertilization did not. Across the average of treatments, Miscanthus
TEY overyielded Arundo (54.8 and 48.9 % DW), and autumn TEY overyielded winter harvest time (53.3
and 50.4 % DW).
Figure 1. Hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin composition of M. x giganteus and A. donax grown under
different nitrogen fertilization (0 and 80 kg N ha-1, N0 and N80) and harvest time (Autumn and Winter).
Figure 2. Theoretical ethanol yield (TEY, % DW) of M. x giganteus and A. donax grown under
different nitrogen fertilization (0 and 80 kg N ha-1, N0 and N80) and harvest time (Autumn and Winter).
Conclusions
Miscanthus managed under nitrogen fertilization (N80) and autumn harvest time showed the highest TEY
(56.4 % DW), while Arundo under winter harvest time and in N0 or N80 the lowest (47.1 and 46.9% DW,
respectively). However, besides biomass quality, biomass yield should be taken into account to draw a
final conclusion on the optimal management for ethanol production.
References
FP7 OPTIMA project “Optimization of perennial grasses for biomass production (GA 289642)”.
Scordia et al., 2014. Perennial grasses as lignocellulosic feedstock for second-generation bioethanol production in
Mediterranean environment. Italian Journal of Agronomy, 9:581, 84-92.
198
A two-year trial of nitrogen and harvest time effect on
biomass yield of Miscanthus and giant reed in the South
Mediterranean area
Danilo Scordia1, Giorgio Testa1, Giovanni Scalici1, Sarah Sidella1, Maria Scifo1, Giancarlo
Patanè1, Venera Copani1, Cristina Patanè2, Salvatore L. Cosentino1,2
1
2
Introduction
Nitrogen fertilisation is a significant environmental issue in intensive agriculture and greatly affects the
net energy yield and energy balance of crops. Reducing nitrogen fertilizer by adopting low input cropping
systems could also mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. However, little is known about the effect of
nitrogen fertiliser in sustaining yield of perennial grasses in the long-term. In this work we ascertained
the effect of nitrogen fertiliser application and variation in harvesting time over two-years on long term
of Miscanthus x giganteus and Arundo donax in a semi-arid Mediterranean under rainfed conditions.
A 21-years old Miscanthus (Miscanthus x giganteus Greef et Deuter) and a 18-year old giant reed
(Arundo donax L.) plantations, grown at the Experimental Farm of the University of Catania (10 m a.s.l.,
37°27' N, 15° 03' E) were studied. Two treatments were adopted in a randomized block design: (i)
harvesting time, namely winter (February, F) and autumn (September, A), and (ii) nitrogen fertilization:
0 kg N ha-1 (N0) and 80 kg N ha-1 (N80). Granular nitrogen fertilizer was incorporated into the soil after
harvesting, as ammonium sulphate in the autumn harvest treatment, and as ammonium nitrate in the
winter harvest treatment. Throughout the growing seasons, main meteorological parameters, such as
maximum, mean, minimum temperatures and rainfall were measured by using a weather station
connected to a datalogger (CR10, Campbell Scientific, USA), while reference ET by a class-A pan. At
each harvest, biomass yield was determined after removing edge plants in all plot sides (harvest plot of
4 m2).Moisture content was measured after oven drying subsamples at 105°C up to constant weight. In
this work, data from a two-years are reported, namely from the 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 growing
seasons (hereinafter referred to as 2014 and 2015, respectively). Biomass yield was subjected to a threeway analysis of variance (ANOVA) using CoHort Software (CoStat 6.003), according to the randomized
block design. When statistical significance was observed, LSD test was carried out for each year
considering the “species, harvest time and nitrogen fertilization” as “fixed factor” at 95% confidence
level.
Results
Temperature trends were typical of the area, with minimum on winter and maximum temperatures on
summer-times. Mean temperatures were about 20°C either in autumn and winter growing seasons.
Precipitations greatly changed in the years and growing seasons: precipitations were 333.3 and 681.2
mm in 2014 autumn and winter growing season, respectively. In 2015, cumulated precipitations were
871.8 mm in autumn and 647.0 in winter growing season (Figure 1). The precipitation to reference
evapotranspiration ratio (P/ET) was 0.25 and 0.89 in 2014 and 2015 autumn growing season. In winter
growing seasons P/ET was 0.59 and 0.60, in 2014 and 2015, respectively. Thus, according to the dryness
thresholds (P/ET 0.5-0.6) set in the Regulation EU(1305)2013, autumn growing season in 2014 was
particularly dry. Winter growing seasons were just at the upper range of the threshold. Aboveground
biomass yield was affected by species – S (p≤0.001), harvest time – H (p≤0.001) and nitrogen fertilization
- N (p≤0.001) in 2014. Significant interactions were also found, namely S x H (p≤0.01), H x N (p≤0.01)
199
and S x H x N (p≤0.05). In 2015, aboveground biomass yield was affected by S (p≤0.001) and N (p≤0.01)
only, while H did not. Only S x H (p≤0.001) interaction was significant Figure 2).
Figure 1. Meteorological trend from establishment up to last harvest of Mediterranean perennial grasses
at the Experimental farm of the University of Catania (10 m a.s.l., 37°27' N, 15° 03' E).
Figure 2. Aboveground dry biomass yield of Arundo donax and Miscanthus x giganteus in two growing
seasons (Autumn and Winter) under no nitrogen (N0) and 80 kg N ha-1 (N80) for two consecutive years
(2014 and 2015). Different letters indicate significant mean according to the LSD test at p≤0.05.
Conclusions
Arundo was the significantly highest yielding species in both years, N80 led to higher yields than N0 in
both years, while winter harvest time was significantly higher only in 2014, probably for the abundant
precipitations recorded in 2015 autumn growing season.
References
FP7 OPTIMA project “Optimization of perennial grasses for biomass production (GA 289642)”. European Commission.
EUR 26940 EN – Joint Research Centre – Institute for Environment and Sustainability. Scientific contribution on
combining biophysical criteria underpinning the delineation of agricultural areas affected by specific constraints.
Contributors: Confalonieri R. et al. Editors: Terres JM. et al. ISBN 978-92-79-44340-4.
200
Response Of Arundo donax L. Clones At Increasing
Levels Of Salinity And At Different Soil Water Content
Sarah Sidella1, Giorgio Testa1, Danilo Scordia1, Venera Copani1, Sebastiano Scandurra1,
Salvatore Luciano Cosentino1,2
1Dip.
di Agricoltura Alimentazione e Ambiente (Di3A), Università degli Studi di Catania, IT, [email protected]
2Trees and Timber Institute, CNR - IVALSA, Sesto Fiorentino (FI) IT
Introduction
The improvement of drought and salinity tolerance are among main objectives for crop management in
the Mediterranean areas, in particular in perennial crops. Among them, giant reed (Arundo donax L.), a
herbaceous rhizomatous grass characterized by high biomass production and used for energy purpose,
has shown great adaptability and tolerance towards different ecological conditions, even extreme like
salt affected soils. Therefore Arundo donax L. could be a suitable species for marginal lands including
dry areas and salt affected soils, very common in Mediterranean areas where water shortage and soil
salinity limit soil fertility.
Methods
A field trial was carried out at the Department of Agricultural Food and Environment (Di3A) of Catania
University (Italy) from June to November 2013 in the framework of the OPTIMA project (Optimization
of Perennial Grasses for Biomass Production) funded by European Union, with the aim of assessing the
possibility of cultivating Arundo donax L. on dry and salt affected marginal lands. On the basis of the
results of a previous salinity screening carried out, 12 ecotypes of giant reed collected in the South of
Italy (Table 1) (Cosentino et al., 2006), have been compared in order to deliver information on contrasting
clones of giant reed tolerant and their sensitivity to increasing salinity levels at different soil water
contents. The rhizomes were transplanted in 25 L pots (diameter 40 cm and height 30cm). The pots were
arranged in a factorial experimental design with
two replications.
Table 1.List of collected clones, geographic coordinates and
To reach the required salinity level at each altitude, according to Cosentino et al., 2006.
Geographic Altitud
irrigation, different amounts of sodium chloride Clones Name
(n°)
Coordinates
e
(NaCl) were added to the irrigation water. In
Lat
N
Long
E
a.s.l.
particular, the tested salinity levels were: i)
S.S. 417 Caltagirone
37°14’ 14°31’ 608
2
natural salinity of tap water, without addition of
Piedimonte Etneo
37°48’ 15°10’ 348
6
-1
salt (S0- control), ii) 6 dS m (S1) and iii) 12 dS
Passopisciaro
37°50’ 15°08’ 550
7
m-1 (S2). The amount of water was determined by
37°45’ 15°11’
1
10 Fondachello
filling two pots of I100 treatment for each salinity
37°17’ 15°00’ 53
13 Lentini
36°57’ 14°32’ 168
14 Vittoria
levels until the pot field capacity was reached.
Biancavilla
37°38’ 14°52’ 515
18
The water amount of the I25 treatments was
Capo D'Orlando
38°08’ 14°43’
8
20
quantified as 25% of the corresponding I100
38°14’ 15°26’ 22
24 Villafranca
treatments. The two water content tested were: i)
38°01’ 12°32’
3
34 Birgi
25% of Maximum Evapotranspiration (Etm) (I25)
36°47’ 15°03’ 40
40 Tellaro
and ii) 100% of Etm (I100). The whole biomass
was harvested 150 days after transplant and for each genotype the DM yield was calculated. For the DM
determination, samples of stems and leaves were oven dried at 70°C until constant weight. At the end of
the trial, a screening among genotypes was performed taking into account the aboveground dry biomass
of the compared genotypes and the coefficient of variability (CV%) (by averaging a single clone in the
six treatments). The data collected were subjected to a three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) using
the software CoStat 6.003. The means were separated by the Student-Newman-Keuls test (SNK ) when
p ≤ 0.05.
201
Results
In the average of the studied genotypes S0 treatment
yielded significantly more in both levels of water
restoration adopted (I100, I25), than treatments S1 and
S2. In particular, the non-saline treatment provided, as
an average across genotypes, dry biomass production
equal to 200 g in the I100 treatment, and 115.2 g in the
treatment with a lowest water restoration (I25).The
saline treatments (S1 and S2) yielded, as average
across genotypes, 139.7 and 96.3 g in the I100 Figure 1. Dry biomass (g) in the average of the irrigation
treatment and 99.0 g and 90.8 g in the I25, treatment, levels (I25 and I100), of the saline treatments (S0, S1 and S2)
respectively. The restoration of 100% of the water and of the genotypes. Different letters indicate significant
supplied in the average of the saline treatments and in differences for P ≤ 0.05 (SNK test).
the average of the genotypes, provided dry biomass production
higher than that provided by the treatment with the lowest water
restoration (I25) (Figure 1). As an average of the treatments
compared, the genotype that provided the highest production of
dry biomass was genotype 18 with 148.9 g, while the least
productive was the genotype 20 with a dry biomass production
equal to 85.9 g (Figure 2). According to the screening carried
out genotypes 18, 2, 6 and 16 can be considered the best ones,
since
they
responded
positively
to
both salinity and
water types of
stress,
while
genotypes 14, 7,
13 and 20 on the
contrary,
showed
the
worst
ones
Figure 3.Screening of Giant reed.The quadrant (A)
performance
Figure 2.Dry biomass (g) of the different
represents the highest tolerant to salinity and water
(Figure
3).
genotypes in relation to irrigation and saline
treatments.
Different
letters
indicate
significant differences for P ≤ 0.05 (SNK test)
stress, (C) the lowest tolerant with (B) and (D)
showing high biomass yield but low tolerance and
high tolerance but low biomass yield, respectively.
Conclusions
The results obtained in this work showed that under conditions of salt and water stress the aboveground
dry biomass yield of the studied clones was reduced. Giant reed was able to grow with irrigation water
up to 12 dS m-1. However, if this parameter would be considered to classify a soil as marginal, it is clear
that in marginal land marginal yields would be obtained. In any case, the choice of the optimal genotype
to be used on marginal or agricultural land, respectively, will depend on the characteristics of the
cultivation environment.
References
Cosentino S.L. et al. 2006. First results on evaluation of Arundo donax L. clones collected in Southern Italy. Ind. Crop.
Prod., 23, 212-222.
FP7 OPTIMA project “Optimization of perennial grasses for biomass production” (GA 289642).
Sidella S. 2014. Adaptability, Biomass yield and Phytoremediation of Arundo donax L. on marginal lands: salt, dry and
lead contaminated soils. PhD Thesis, 2014.
202
Digestate fertilization to giant reed (Arundo donax L.):
preliminary results
Federico Dragoni1, Francesco Savasta1, Nicoletta Nassi o Di Nasso1, Giovanni Pecchioni1,
Cristiano Tozzini1, Enrico Bonari1,2, Giorgio Ragaglini1,2
1Istituto
2Centro
di Scienze della Vita, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Piazza Martiri Della Liberta’ 33, 56127 Pisa
di Ricerca Interuniv. per le Biomasse da Energia, Via Vecchia Livornese 784, 56122 San Piero a Grado, Pisa
Introduction
In recent years, giant reed (Arundo donax L.) has been attracting attention as a promising crop for biogas
plants, due to its high yield potential, to low input requirements and, in general, to its favorable
environmental profile. In particular, a reduction in land demand can be expected when conventional
arable crops are replaced by perennial species (and particularly by giant reed) for biogas production. For
this purpose, a sustainable intensification can be regarded as a highly desirable target: on one hand, N
fertilizers can be considered as means to “grow more with less”, using less land to obtain the same energy
yield, and the ideal crop to receive nitrogen should be highly efficient in its use. On the other hand, the
efficiency of giant reed in using N fertilizers remains largely uninvestigated. Therefore, this study is
aimed to preliminarily assess giant reed response to nitrogen, considering different fertilization levels
and types (mineral vs organic), in the view of closing nutrient cycles by digestate use as a fertilizer, in
relation to different harvest frequencies, and thus to different expected uptake levels.
Methods
A giant reed field trial was established in spring 2010 on a loam soil, with a planting density of 20.000
rhizomes ha-1. From 2010 to 2014, the crop was harvested in January and received each year 100 kg N
ha-1, 100 kg P2O5 ha-1, 100 kg K2O ha-1. In winter 2015, before sprouting, the open field was divided
(plot size = 5 x 6 m) according to a split-plot design with three replicates, in order to assess the effects of
two different harvest systems in the main plots, i.e. Single Harvest (SH) and Double Harvest (DH) and
five fertilization levels in the sub-plots, including both mineral and digestate treatments. In the SH
system, the crop was cut once a year in early October, while in DH system the crop was first cut in July
and then again at the same time of the SH system. The fertilization treatments were defined according
to the total N provided: M100 = mineral fertilizer (urea), 100 kg N ha-1; M200 = urea, 200 kg N ha-1;
D100 = digestate, 100 kg N ha-1; D200 = digestate, 200 kg N ha-1; U = unfertilized, 0 kgN ha-1. The liquid
digestate (with a N concentration of 0.03%) was originated from an agricultural biogas plant, where the
liquid effluent was separated from the whole digested stream. SH plots were fertilized at sprouting, while
in DH the fertilization was split in two equal doses at sprouting and after the first cut (i.e. early April and
July). At each harvest, fresh weight, dry mass and crop partitioning into leaves and stems, were assessed.
First, biomass yields, leaf mass ratios and dry matter concentrations were analyzed for each harvest
system separately, using a one-way ANOVA for SH and repeated-measures two-way ANOVA for
DH.Then, biomass yields at the 1st and 2nd cut were combined to calculate overall yields of DH systems
and a two-way ANOVA was carried out to determine the effect of harvest systems and fertilization on
overall yields.
Results
In SH, biomass yields ranged from 20.8 (U) to 28.8 Mg ha-1(D100), however, the differences among
fertilization treatments were found to be not significant (p=0.12) (Figure 1, left). Similarly, no significant
differences were found in dry matter concentrations, that averaged 42%. The leaf mass ratio varied
slightly but significantly (p<0.05) from 26% (D200) to 21% (M100, D100). However, the leafiness of
the unfertilized crop (23%) was not clearly different from that of the other treatments. In DH, no
203
significant differences in biomass yield were found between the two harvest times, while the fertilization
showed a significant effect (p<0.05) and an interaction between the two factors was evidenced (p<0.001).
In fact, the response to the fertilization was clearly different in 1st and 2nd cuts (Figure 1, C). Similar
effects were observed on leaf mass ratio, that averaged 34% and varied significantly (p<0.05) according
to fertilization (from 36% in D200 to 32% in M100), but not according to harvest date. Once again, no
significant differences were observed in dry matter concentrations.
Figure 1: Dry biomass yields of giant reed according to fertilization treatments: on the left, under Single Harvest system; on the
right, yields at first and second cut of Double Harvest system.
DH and SH did not differ in
terms of overall dry
biomass, while significant
differences were found
among
fertilizations
(p<0.001, +30% comparing
N200 levels with U).
However, it must be noted
that D200 and M200 did not
differ significantly from the
N100 treatmentsand the
increase obtained passing
from 100 to 200 kgN ha-1
was modest (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Mean overall dry biomass yields of giant reed under different
harvest systems (on the left) and fertilization treatments (on the right)
Conclusions
The preliminary observations of this study led to confirm some findings of previous studies: (i) giant
reed is weakly responsive to high inputs, while it can take relevant advantage from low input levels; (ii)
single harvest and double harvest systems can lead to similar yields. The effects of fertilization were
pronounced after the first cut, especially when mineral fertilizer was provided, while they were unclear
after sprouting. The productivity of mature giant reed stands may rely greatly on belowground reserves,
so that the effects in the first year can be indistinct. Further observations after consecutive years of study
might help to understand how different fertilization types and levels interact with the harvest management
of giant reed.
References
Ceotto E. et al. 2015. BioEnergy Research, 8(3), 1252-1262.
Ragaglini G. et al. 2014. Bioresource technology, 152, 107-115.
Sgroi F. et al. 2015. Ecological Engineering, 81, 481-487.
204
New Cultivars for Italian Kentucky Tobacco Industry
Francesco Raimo2, Eugenio Cozzolino1, Rocco Messere4, Massimo Abet1, Mariarosaria
Sicignano1, Antonio Mosè1, Giovanni Scognamiglio1, Salvatore Baiano1, Francesco
Modestia3, Antonio Salluzzo3, Tommaso Enotrio1, Luisa del Piano1
1
3
ENEA - Centro di ricerca Portici (NA), IT [email protected]
4
Servizio Territoriale Provinciale Regione Campania (BN)
2
Introduction
In 2012, about 191,000 tons of raw tobacco were harvested in the EU. Italy was the major producer with
51,538 tons of which 2,747 are fire cured tobacco (Pantini et al. 2012). In Italy tobacco production still
plays an important economic and social role in some areas, such as the province of Benevento in
Campania region, where Kentucky tobacco, belonging to fire cured variety group, is traditionally grown
(Nomisma, 2014).The Kentucky tobacco is used mainly for the production of cigars, like Toscano cigars
a well known and appreciated “made in Italy” product. They are made with 100% Kentucky tobacco that,
depending on the specific products, may be from Italy (in the Tuscany and Campania regions), from
USA, or from Peru, each having its unique taste and aroma.
The objective of this research was to evaluate a group of Kentucky varieties for yield and leaf quality, in
Calvi (BN) in the Campania region.
Methods
A field trial was conducted with thirteen lines utilizing a randomized block experimental design with two
replicates and a plant density of 10,000 plants ha-1 on farm (FARM1), located in Calvi, in the province
of Benevento. In this trial, commercial variety Kentucky 104, four Kentucky ancient lines(belonging to
Nicotianae germplasm collection CREA), Meticcio di Cava (MECA), Moro di Pontecorvo (MOPO),
Stortigliona (KSTO), Wild Fire resistant (KWF),four “Riccio beneventano” local ecotypes, RiDG,
RiMA, RiRML, RiRMRand four new lines from CREA tobacco Kentucky breeding programs (DH1A04,
DH5A8, DH5L10 and KF1-9) were tested. Out four of the thirteen lines were also tested on
FARM2located in Calvi. During the growing period, cultural practices, disease and pest control,
customary for the type, were utilized. Biometric and yield data of the examined lines were registered.
Two leaf primings were collected and after harvesting the leaves were arranged in strings and fire cured
in typical barns. Cured tobacco leaves, obtained from each plot, were visually graded, on a decimal scale,
on the bases of size, color and texture, by tobacco grader for quality evaluation.
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed using the software “STATISTICA” (StatSoft, Inc.,
2005).
Results
Cured leaf yield at FARM1 ranged from1.0to3.1 t ha-1. Significant differences among the lines were
observed for cured leaf yield. RiMA had maximum yield (3.1 tha-1) followed by the other “Riccio
beneventano” ecotypes and the new KF1-9 line, while DH5L10, KSTO and KWR had the lowest ones
(Fig.1A).Cured leaf yield at (FARM 2) ranged from 1.9 to 3.5 t ha-1. Statistical analysis showed
significant differences among the lines. The “Riccio beneventano” ecotype RiMA had the highest and
MOPO the lowest average values of cured leaf yield in the FARM2 (Fig.1B).
Statistical analysis was also performed on the two farms and four lines. Significant effects of farm and
line were revealed. Average value yield was higher at FARM2 (2.7 tha-1) than at FARM1 (2.3 tha-1).
RiMA ecotype showed the highest average yield value (3.3 tha-1) and MOPO (1.8 tha-1) the lowest.
As tobacco leaf is marketed by its physical characteristics, represented by grade index, average values of
grade index of the two primings are reported in figure 2, for each farm and for each priming.
205
At FARM1 significant effects of line and priming were observed on the grade index. It ranged from 4.5
(MOPO) to 6.25 (RiMA) for upper leaves, and from 3.75 (KSTO) to 5.25 (RiMA) for middle leaves
(Fig.2A). At FARM2 also significant effects of line and priming were observed on the grade index. It
ranged from 3,5 (MOPO) to 6.0 (RiMA) for upper leaves, and from 3.0 (MOPO) to 4.7 (RiMA) for
middle leaves (Fig.2B).
A)
B)
FARM 1
FARM2
3,5
4,0
3,5
2,5
3,0
) -1
) -1
3,0
2,5
1,5
2,0
YIELD (tha
YIELD (t ha
2,0
1,0
1,5
1,0
0,5
RiMA
MOPO
MECA
DH1A04
RiRMR
RiRML
RiMA
MOPO
RiDG
MECA
KSTO
KWR
KF1-9
K104
DH5A08
DH5L10
DH1A04
Fig.1.Yield of cured tobacco for Kentucky lines examined, grown at Calvi (BN). A) Yield of the 13 lines grown at FARM
1. B) Yield of the 4 lines grown atFARM2. Vertical bars denote 0,95 confidence intervals.
A)
B)
Fig.2. Quality grade index values, on decimal scale, of tobacco cured leaf of the Kentucky lines tested. A) Grade indices
of each priming (upper leaves and middle leaves), obtained on FARM1. B) Grade indices of each priming (upper leaves
and middle leaves) obtained at FARM2.Vertical bars denote 0,95 confidence intervals.
Conclusion
All the ecotypes tested as well as the new breeding lines DH1A04 and KF1-9 showed tobacco yields
higher than the commercial variety K104 at FARM1. The ecotype “Riccio beneventano RiMA showed
the best performance for production and quality at both farms.
References
Pantini et al. 2012. THE EUROPEAN TOBACCO SECTOR: An analysis of the socio-economic footprint. Nomisma.
NOMISMA. 2014 Il valore socio-economico del tabacco nell’Unione Europea. ISBN978 - 88 - 6843 -114 -3.
StatSoft, Inc. (2005). STATISTICA (data analysis software system), version 7.1. www.statsoft.com.
206
Effects of Implantation Techniques on Arundo donax L.
Biomass Yield under Mediterranean Conditions
Pasquale Arca1, Giacomo Patteri2, Maria Grissanta Diana3, Marcella Carta1, Federico Grati3,
Tommaso Barsali3, Pier Paolo Roggero1,2
1
Dipartimento di Agraria, Università di Sassari, IT, [email protected]
Nucleo Ricerca Desertificazione, Università di Sassari, IT, [email protected]
3
Biochemtex agro Gruppo Mossi & Ghisolfi, Tortona, IT, [email protected]
2
Introduction
The perennial energy crops need lower input than annual crops (Chandel & Singh, 2011) and in
Mediterranean environment giant reed (Arundo donax L.) appears particularly promising for secondgeneration biofuels production because it is characterized by high yield potential, good attitude to energy
conversion and positive environmental impact (Nassi o Di Nasso et al., 2013). The implantation of giant
reed is a critical phase of the agronomic technique because it affects crop establishment, biomass yield
and production costs especially in the first years of cultivation (Di Candilo & Ceotto, 2012).
The objectives of this study were: i) to evaluate the interaction between propagation methods and
transplanting season on giant reed aboveground biomass yield under Mediterranean conditions; ii) to
evaluate three different propagation methods under spring implantation time on giant reed yield in the
first two years from implantation.
Two experimental fields were established in 2013 in the South-west Sardinia, one in Masainas and one
in Serramanna. Two different experiments were conducted in each site: in the experiment (A) two
propagation methods (rhizomes and stem cuttings) and two implantation times (spring and autumn) were
tested in terms of aboveground biomass yield; in the experiment (B), three propagation methods
(rhizomes, stem cuttings and micropropagated plants) were tested for biomass yield under spring
implantation time. In the establishment year, mineral fertilization was applied using 100 kg N ha-1 and
175 kg P2O5 ha-1 in each site. In the second year from implantation, 100 kg N ha-1 were distributed
only in Masainas and no N fertilization in Serramanna. Drip irrigation was supplied to avoid crop water
stress. Crops were harvested in February in both years. Two biomass samples were collected from 12 m2
plots to measure dry matter.
Results
In the experiment (A), we observed significant year x planting time interaction at both sites (Fig. 1a-1b).
In Masainas we observed no significant effect of propagation method and implantation time, while in
Serramanna giant reed planted with rhizomes performed significantly higher yield than that planted with
stem cuttings (10.81 and 7.83 Mg ha-1 DM, respectively) and spring plantation showed significantly
higher yield than autumn plantation (11.41 and 6.54 Mg ha-1 DM, respectively). In Serramanna we also
observed a significant year x propagation method interaction (Fig. 1c). In the experiment (B) we observed
significant year x propagation method interaction only in Serramanna, where giant reed planted with
rhizomes showed higher yields than stem cuttings and micropropagated plants in the second year (Fig.
2). In Masainas, aboveground biomass yield varied only between first and second year, independently of
propagation method (30.02 and 5.46 Mg ha-1 DM, respectively).
207
a
a
a
b
b
b
c
Years
Fig. 1. Years x transplanting time interaction in Masainas (a) and Serramanna (b) and years x propagation method
interaction on mean aboveground biomass yield (Mg ha-1 DM) in Serramanna (c) in the first two year
Yield (Mg ha-1DM)
Discussion
35
The yield increment from the first to second year in both
Micropropagated
30
experimental sites and experiments was similar to that
25
20
observed by other authors under Mediterranean
Rhizome
15
conditions (Copani et al., 2013). In the experiment (A),
10
the lower aboveground biomass obtained with spring
Stem cutting
5
implantation in the establishment year in Masainas was
0
Years
I
II
related to a shorter growing season than that obtained
Fig. 2. Years x propagation method interaction in
with the autumn implantation and recognized to cause
spring plantation on mean aboveground biomass
the year x transplanting time interaction. The lower
yield in Serramanna (Mg ha-1DM).
biomass yield observed in Serramanna with autumn
implantation was related to a problematic crop
establishment caused by the poor soil conditions. In fact in the more fertile site of Masainas, no significant
effects of implantation time were observed on aboveground biomass yield. Different studies carried out
under Mediterranean conditions show that spring is the best implantation time for giant reed, even if
successful autumn establishment is possible (Copani et al., 2013). The implantation with rhizomes
showed the best results in both experiments in Serramanna, confirming the productive potential of this
propagation method (Ceotto & Di Candilo, 2010) also under critical soil conditions. In the second year,
rhizomes produced more than the other propagation methods under no fertilization conditions in the
marginal land of Serramanna.
Conclusions
The results indicate that under Mediterranean climate and good agricultural management, giant reed can
be implanted using the cheapest propagation method in spring or autumn. However, in the autumn
adverse weather and soil conditions can prevent from successful establishment. Without fertilization,
rhizomes proved to be the best propagation method, independently of transplanting time.
References
Ceotto E. & Di Candilo M. 2010. Shoot cuttings propagation of giant reed (Arundo donax L.) in water and moist soil: The
path forward? Biomass Bioenergy 34, 1614-1623.
Chandel A.K. & Singh O.V. 2011. Weedy lignocellulosic feedstock and microbial metabolic engineering: advancing the
generation of ‘Biofuel’. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 89:1289-303.
Copani V. et al. 2013. Agamic propagation of giant reed (Arundo donax L.) in semi-arid Mediterranean environment. Ital.
J. Agron. 8 (s1) (e4): 18-24.
Di Candilo M. & Ceotto E. 2012. La coltivazione della canna comune (Arundo donax L.) ad uso Energetico nel Nord
Italia. In Colture erbacee poliennali, 631-648.
Nassi o Di Nasso N. et al. 2013. Giant reed (Arundo donax L.) as energy crop in Central Italy: a review. Ital. J. Agron.
8(s1) e3: 10-17.
208
Preliminary Study About the Adaptability of Tree and
Herbaceous Biomass Crops in Environments Degraded by
Shallow Saline Groundwater
Ida Di Mola1, Eugenio Cozzolino2, Lucia Ottaiano1, Nunzio Fiorentino1, Vincenzo Cenvinzo1,
Luigi Duri1, Mauro Mori1, Massimo Fagnano1
1
2
CREA-Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria, Laboratorio di Caserta
Introduction
The use of biomass for energy is expected to increase strongly in the coming years thanks to the spread
of dedicated crops that should rise from 3% to 50% of total biomass by 2030 (UE, 2005). The increase
of demand of energy crops determines a greater demand of lands for their cultivation, that have not to be
in competition for land with food crops, such as: 1) hilly internal areas subjected to erosion; 2) polluted
soils, in which these crops can reduce the environmental risks (for example: phytoremediation; buffer
areas around the dumps); 3) soils with low physical-chemical fertility (for example: low content of
organic matter); 4) salinized soils due to presence of low-deep saline groundwater.
The project PON –BioPolis, funded by Ministry of Instruction, University and Research (MIUR), started
in April 2014 with the agronomic objective to individuate the lands suitable for growing biomass crops
as a source of building blocks for green chemistry, without interfering with food production. The project
LIFE11/ENV/IT/275 Ecoremed started in June 2012, with the aim of evaluating the possibility to obtain
ligno-cellulosic biomass as a by-product of phytoremediation activity. A salinized area was individuated
in the Volturno Plain, in Villa Literno (CE), where there was the intrusion of sea water that has been
mixed with ground water, increasing salinity. This soil resulted also contaminated by dispersion of lead
dust due to hunting activity.
Because saline and polluted soils are not suitable for food crops, the aim of this research was to
individuate some biomass crops resistant to soil salinity.
Methods
The site consisted in three plots; each plot was about 3300 m2. On the average, the soil has a clay-loam
texture, with pH 7.2 and an high content of organic matter (3.5%), P2O5 (208 ppm) and K2O (1500 ppm).
Both tree and herbaceous biomass crops were tested: Populus nigra L. (black poplar); Eucaliptus
camaldulensis Dehnh. (eucalyptus), Salix spp. L. (willow) and Tamarix gallica L. (tamarisk) as tree
species; Arundo donax L. (giant reed), Phragmites australis Cav. (common reed) and Cynara
cardunculus L. (thistle) as herbaceous species.
The tree crops were planted at two different times: spring (March/April 2015) and autumn (November
2015), for evaluating the behavior respect to planting conditions. For eucalyptus, tamarisk and willow,
one year plants were transplanted. For poplar, unrooted cuttings were used. For all species, the spacing
of trees was 2 x 1 m. For giant reed and common reed, rhizomes of ecotype “Acerra” and local ecotype
respectively, were planted with spacing of 0.6 x 0.6 m.
Starting fromMay2015 until April 2016, eight samples of soil at two depths (0-20 and 20-40 cm) were
collected to monitoring the trend of soil electrical conductivity (EC). Additionally, on June 2015, on one
of the three plots, two areas with different EC value (average of 0-20 deep) were individuated: 1)
minimum EC, corresponding to 1.5 dS m-1- S1; 2) maximum EC, corresponding to 5.5 dS m-1 – S2.
On these soil areas, on November 2015, four varieties of thistle (Novamont, Sardo, Siciliano and
Spagnolo) and rooted cuttings by stems of an Arundo ecotype, selected by CNR-IBBR for resistance to
salinity, were planted with same spacing (0.6 x 0.6 m).
209
Results
During the first year of trial, the trend of soil EC was monitored for each crop, but we only report here
the data for eucalyptus (Fig. 1a), common reed (Fig. 1b) and the average EC of S1 and S2 across all
crops(Fig. 1c). The EC trend (layers 0-20 and 20-40 cm) shows typical fluctuations, as a function of
rainfall and temperature dynamics, but without an apparent long term trend. For both transplant times,
all plants of poplar and willow died after 1-2 months
from transplant. The eucalyptus showed a greater
resistance with about 20% of mortality in the first
months after transplant and another 15% in spring
2016. Instead only the 5% of tamarisk plants died.
For herbaceous species, the rhizomes of Arundo
didn’t sprout, but because in bibliography the giant
reed is reported to be a salt resistant specie (Sanchez
et al., 2015; Di Mola et al., 2015), the autumn
transplant of rooted stems cuttings was tested. In
effect, the resistance was greater. In April 2016,
60% of plants were still alive and without
differences between S1 and S2 conditions. Finally,
for thistle, there was a different response to salinity
of the 4 cultivars. The cv. Spagnolo had the best
performance with only 10% and 48% of mortality
for S1 and S2 respectively. The varieties Sardo and
Siciliano didn’t show differences between S1 and
S2 conditions, with respectively 57% and 39% of
survived plants. Finally the 78% and 90% of
Novamont plants died for S1 and S2 respectively.
Figure 1. Trend of electrical conductivity at two
depths (0-20 and 20-40 cm) during the first year
of trial for eucalyptus (a), common reed (b) and
S1 and S2 conditions (average of all soil samples
for each crop) (1c).
Conclusions
This preliminary study shows, for the tree species, a
good adaptability to trial conditions (low deep
saline groundwater) of tamarisk and a moderate
adaptability of eucalyptus. Among the herbaceous
crops, common reed showed a good adaptability.
Not all cultivars of thistle seemed adapted to grow
in saline condition. In fact only the cv. Spagnolo
showed a moderate adaptability; while, giant reed in
these conditions did not confirm its resistance to soil
salinity.
References
Di Mola I. et al. 2015. Possibile impiego di colture da biomassa da energia (canna comune e cardo) in terreni salinizzati
per risalita di acqua di falda. Atti XLIV Convegno SIA; Bologna 14-16 Settembre 2015.
Sanchez E. et al., 2015. Salinity and water stress effects on biomass production in different Arundo donax L. clones.
Bioenerg. Res. 8:1461-1479.
UE, 2005. Biomass action plan. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:52005DC0628
Attività svolta nell’ambito dei progetti PON BioPoliS e Life Ecoremed
210
Agronomic Evaluation of New Tobacco Lines for Seed
Yield
Luisa del Piano1, Eugenio Cozzolino1, Francesco Raimo2, Massimo Abet1, Mariarosaria
Sicignano1, Giovanni Scognamiglio1, Antonio Mosè1, Salvatore Baiano1, Francesco
Modestia3, Antonio Salluzzo3, Tommaso Enotrio1
1
3
ENEA - Centro di ricerca Portici (NA), IT [email protected]
2
Introduction
In the first half of the last century, Italy and some Eastern European countries used the tobacco (Nicotiana
tabacum L.) seeds, a by-product of tobacco leaf production, for the extraction of oil as raw material in
the manufacturing of soaps, paints, lubricants, fuel, or after refining, even as edible oil (Balbi, 1959).
Tobacco seeds are rich in oil and free of nicotine. Tobacco seed oil (TSO) content varies from 30-43%,
it is comparable to mustard, sunflower and safflower oil and is classified as semi-drying oil (Paris, 1920;
del Piano et al., 2014a). In the last years, due to the need to find renewable energy sources and reduce
the environmental impact, the feasibility of using tobacco, a no-food crop, as a source of vegetable oil in
different industrial sectors is being explored. (Giannelos et al., 2002, Bucciarelli et al., 2012, del Piano
et al, 2014b, 2016, Raimo et al. 2016).
This research aims at evaluating two tobacco lines selected for seed yield, in order to obtain new
knowledge useful to value the feasibility of diversifying the use pattern of tobacco crop.
Methods
The trial was conducted utilizing a randomized block experimental design with three replicates and a
plant density of 60,000 plants ha-1 on a farm, located in Calvi, in the province of Benevento (Italy). In
this trial, W70 and W72 lines, selected by CREA from indigenous tobacco “Brasile beneventano”, were
tested. Cultural practices, customary for the crop, were utilized. Two harvests were performed, the first
on September 1st and the second after 30 days. Yield data of the examined lines were registered. Seed oil
content was determined by solvent extraction. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed using the
software “STATISTICA” (StatSoft, Inc., 2005).
Results
In table 1 average values of seed yield are reported. No difference for total seed yield among the lines
tested was observed. Significant differences of seed yield for each harvest and for the two lines were
revealed. No difference in seed yields among the two harvests was observed for W70. Seed yield of first
harvest was significantly higher than the second one for W72 (Fig.1). At first harvest, oil content of
seeds, from capsules at differences stage of ripeness, was determined (Fig.2). No difference of seed oil
content (about 42%), among partially mature spotted brown capsules (PBC) and brown mature capsules
(BC), was revealed for both lines (Fig. 2B). Seed oil content of immature green capsule was significantly
higher for W72 than W70.
SEED YIELD (t ha-1)
LINEA
W70
W72
HARVEST 1
HARVEST 2
TOTAL
1.04 + 0.18
1.42 + 0.10
1.22 + 0.15
0.81 + 0.03
2.26 + 0.12
2.23 + 0.11
Table 1. Seed yield of the examined lines. Values represent the mean of three replicates + SD.
211
B)
B)
1.7
W70
1.6
W72
1.5
1.4
) -1
1.3
1.2
1.1
1.0
0.9
SEED YIELD (t ha
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
1
2
RACCOLTA
Figure 1. A) Tobacco line W72 . B) Seed yield of the examined lines for the first and the second harvest.
Vertical bars denote 0.95 confidence intervals.
A)
B)
48
46
44
42
40
38
36
34
32
30
28
PBC
BC
SEED OIL CONTENT (% D.W.)
GC
26
W70
W72
24
22
GC
PBC
BC
Figure 2. A) Tobacco capsules at different stage of ripeness: green immature capsules (GC), spotted brown
partially mature capsules (PBC), brown mature capsules (BC). B) Seed oil content of capsules of
the examined lines. Vertical bars denote 0.95 confidence intervals.
Conclusion
Both the lines tested revealed seed yields of about 2.3 t ha-1. W72 showed seed yield (about 1.42 tha-1)
higher than W70 when only one harvest is considered. For both lines high values of seed oil content was
observed (about 42%).
References
Balbi G. 1959. L’olio di tabacco nella fabbricazione di prodotti vernicianti. Olearia, anno XIII, n 5-6, 118-127.
Paris G. 1920. Il seme di tabacco. Bollettino tecnico del R. Istituto Scientifico Sperimentale del Tabacco, 17, 101-115.
Giannelos P. N. et al. 2002. Tobacco seed oil as an alternative diesel fuel: physical and chemical properties. Industrial
Crops and Products, 16, 1-9.
Bucciarelli S. et al. 2012 Tabacco, olio da semi per energia in alternative all’uso della foglia Terra e Vita, n. 43, 42-44.
del Piano L. et al. 2014. Valutazione della produzione in seme e del contenuto in olio di nuove costituzioni di Nicotiana
tabacum L. Proceedings of XLIII Convegno Nazionale della Società Italiana di Agronomia, Pisa 17-19 settembre.
del Piano L. et al. 2016. Caratterizzazione morfobiometrica e qualitativa di linee di tabacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) per la
produzione di olio da seme. Proceedings of XI Convegno Biodiversità.
Raimo F. et al. 2016. Valutazione agronomica di linee di tabacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) selezionate per elevata resa in
seme allevate in ambiente caldo arido. Proceedings of XI Convegno Biodiversità.
StatSoft, Inc. 2005. STATISTICA (data analysis software system), version 7.1. www.statsoft.com.
212
Energetic Exploitation of Crop Residues from Globe
Artichoke
Paola A. Deligios1, Gavino Sanna1, Maria T. Tiloca1, Martina Buffa1, Leonardo Sulas2, Luigi
Ledda1
1Dip.
di Agraria, Univ. Sassari, IT, [email protected]
2CNR-ISPAAM, Sassari, IT
Introduction
Globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus L. var. scolymus) is a perennial rosette plant grown as annual crop
in some Italian regions, for its large fleshy heads (Pisanu et al., 2009). It is an important vegetable crop
in Mediterranean countries occupying 93,000 ha, about 70% of the total world area. Italy represents the
main producer, covering almost one third of the global market with ca. 540,000 t produced (FAOSTAT,
2013), and Sardinia is one of the leading regions, with ca. 11,000 ha. Globe artichoke is the most
widespread crop in the horticultural Sardinian systems being able to ensure high economic gains, most
of all thanks to its marked earliness and long productive cycle, from October to April (Ledda et al., 2013).
At the end of the crop cycle (second half of April), aboveground biomass residues (leaves, stalks and
heads) of this plant are generally burned or buried because considered useless. However, these crop
residues may represent a potential added value as used for bioenergy, within the same traditional cropping
system and without competition with food crops. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the biomass
production for energetic purposes of 4 globe artichoke genotypes widely grown in the most representative
globe artichoke Sardinian areas.
Methods
A field trial was carried out at the experimental farm of the University of Sassari to evaluate the residual
biomass potential of four varieties of globe artichoke (Madrigal, Spinoso sardo, Tema, and Violetto).
The experiment was located in Ottava (Sassari, Italy) (40°43′ N, 80 m a.s.l.), during the 2013/2014
growing seasons. The climate is Mediterranean with mild winters, yearly average precipitation is around
554 mm, and annual average temperature is 17 °C. The soil is sandy-clay-loam overlaid on limestone
(Xerochrepts), with an average N content of 0.76‰, and a C/N ratio of 12. The soil organic carbon
content was 1.97 and 1.69 for the 0–30 and the 30–60 cm soil layers, respectively. Soil pH was 8.3. The
soil water contents at field capacity and wilting point were 22.4% and 11.9% (on a dry weight basis),
respectively. Planting date was anticipated at the end of July, to reflect the usual practice in Sardinia,
where globe artichokes are planted earlier so to compete in the early winter fresh market. Each plot
consisted of four 28 m long rows, and was initially set out as randomized complete block design with
four replications. The globe artichoke plants were grown at a distance of 1.4 m between and along the
rows.
The fertilization program commonly used in the area for globe artichoke was adopted: 92 kg N ha-1, 138
kg P2O5 ha-1, and 150 kg K2O ha-1 were supplied at planting; and 100 kg ha-1 di N, 90 kg ha-1 di P2O5 e
150 kg ha-1 di K2O were applied from October to March as top-dressing. Weeds, pests, and diseases were
chemically controlled according to the conventional practice (LAORE, 2016). By splitting the plots, two
crop management strategies were set up at the end of the commercial crop cycle: no evapotranspired
water return (NO-IRR) and 100% of evapotranspired water return and 50 kg ha-1 of additional nitrogen
supply (IRR). At 20 days after application of the water and additional nitrogen input, twenty plants per
sub-plot were randomly selected and their aboveground biomass was partitioned into leaves, stalks, and
heads. The samples were dried at 70°C in a ventilated oven and weighted when a stable weigh was
reached.
213
Results
The harvested plant biomass and its repartition in leaves, stems and flower heads for each variety under
the two irrigation treatments and supplementary nitrogen fertilization is reported in figure 1.
Aboveground biomass (g plant-1)
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
Madrigal
Spinoso
Tema
Violetto
Madrigal
IRR
Spinoso
Tema
Violetto
NO-IRR
Leaves
Stalks
Heads
Figure 1 - Harvested dry matter and its partitioning (DM g plant-1) 20 days after treatments
application.
At 20 days after application of additional water and nutritional inputs, all the compared varieties, except
Spinoso sardo (Sardinian thorny variety), showed a significant increase of the total harvested biomass (+
6.5% approximately). This increase in biomass could be explained by the fact that irrigation and nitrogen
fertilization have effectively promoted a partial resumption of vegetative activity in the form of sprouts
issue. It was, in fact, observed the production of new leaves and stems with a consequent increase in the
total harvested residual biomass. Under IRR, the residual biomass of Madrigal exceeded 14 t ha-1(IRR).
Conclusions
Residual plant organs from Globe artichoke would allow to dispose of remarkable amount of biomass
avoiding dedicated energy crops and turning waste material in biomass with potential high energy value.
References
Pisanu B. et al 2009. Carciofo in Sardegna. In: Angelini et al (Eds.) Carciofo e cardo. Art, Milano pp. 124–136.
Ledda L. et al. 2013 Biomass supply for energetic purposes from some Cardueae species grown in Mediterranean farming
systems. Ind. Crops Prod. 7: 218–226.
De Menna F. et al. 2016. Potential biogas production from artichoke byproducts in Sardinia, Italy. Energies 9, 92.
FAOSTAT Artichoke, production of commodity in selected country, Italy, 2013.
LAORE, 2016. Disciplinare di Produzione della Denominazione di Origine Protetta “Carciofo Spinoso di Sardegna”.
214
Case Study on a Pilot CHP Plant Operating on Pure
Rapeseed Vegetable Oil
Salvatore La Bella1,2, Fabio Massaro3, Ignazio Cammalleri1, Mario Licata2, Claudio Leto1,2,
Giuseppe Virga2, Teresa Tuttolomondo1
1Dip.
di Scienze Agrarie e Forestali, Università degli Studi di Palermo, IT, [email protected]
di Ricerca per lo Sviluppo di Sistemi Innovativi Agroambientali, Palermo, IT, [email protected]
3Dipartimento di Energia, Ingegneria dell'Informazione e Modelli Matematici, Università degli Studi di Palermo, IT,
[email protected]
2Consorzio
Introduction
This case study aims to trial and raise awareness of short supply chain biofuel production for the
generation of heat and electricity. The activities were part of the ANDROMEDA project funded by the
Regione Siciliana Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 (PSR Sicilia measure 124). Annual cycle
oil-producing plants Brassica napus and Brassica carinata were introduced in an endeavor to offer a
technical-production and economic viability model for the Sicilian hinterland – traditionally used for the
cultivation of cereal crops. The final aim was to create a ‘short’ agro-energy supply chain in which the
farmer, as well as being the producer of the raw material (the biofuel), is also the producer of a
good/service through the use of a CHP plant. The energy produced can be used on the farm itself or sold
to the grid. Based on consumption levels and average hourly energy production rates of the CHP system
and relative use throughout the year, an estimate was given of the cultivation area required (full
production levels) in order to keep the system operating, and an economic viability analysis of the whole
chain.
Methods
Project activities were carried out during the agricultural year 2012/2013 and were divided into 3 stages.
The first stage dealt with the production of the raw material – pure vegetable oil (PVO) – through the
cultivation of the two species indicated above, and the subsequent extraction of the oil. Cultivation was
carried out in the Province of Palermo in the farming lands of Castronovo di Sicilia on land previously
used for the growth of durum wheat and on medium textured to clayey soils. Seed sowing was carried
out in autumn; variety ISCI-7 was used for Brassica carinata A. Braun and the hybrid PR46W14 for
Brassica napus L. Crop management for both species comprised a fertilizer application of 2.2 q ha-1 of
mineral perphosphate at sowing stage, 2.2 q ha-1 of ammonium sulphate at rosette stage and 1.1 q ha-1 of
ammonium nitrate at stem elongation stage. Weed control was carried out at pre-emergence with colzanet
(pa metazachlor) and at post-emergence with Fusilade. At flowering stage, a foliar systemic insecticide
application was also deemed necessary, with an imidacloprid-based product to guard against Meligethes
aeneus F. Harvesting was carried out in the first ten days of July by a combine harvester, commonly used
in the harvesting of the main cereal crops in the area (wheat and barley). The principal production
parameters were determined following harvesting. The seeds were stored and then used for extraction
using a cold presser (Bracco model with a Elle.Gi type 090 engine), with a hourly capacity of approx. 30
kg h-1 of seeds and an electrical capacity of 2.2 Kw/three-phase voltage of 380V. The entire extraction
process produced PVO and a post-extraction cake. The PVO was filtered and decanted and was then
stored until the second phase of the project: the renewable energy (heat and electricity) production stage.
The cogeneration process was carried out using a CHP system produced by Iveco motors and powered
by FPT with a nominal power of 75 kVA. The CHP system had an average consumption of 14.4 kg h-1
of PVO and was fitted with a cooling system connected to a heat exchange, providing hot water at a
temperature of 80°C. The third and final stage focused on the economic viability analysis of the CHP
system based on an average yearly operating time of 7400 hours. The economic model used for
cost/benefit analysis was based on discounted cash flow analysis.The method considered the following
215
economic parameters: annual net present value, internal rate of return and payback period, which allow
for assessment of the investment based on a range of criteria. The cash flow analysis was based on the
following data: the cost of the system, an estimate of foreseen total management costs, an estimate of the
volume of energy production, its value in monetary terms and the expected lifespan of the system.
Results
In Table 1 the main results relating to the production of the two oil-producing species are reported.
Table2. Production aspects of the two species during the tests.
Species/Variety
Seed yield
Oil yield
Post-ext. cake
(q ha-1)
(q ha-1)
yield (q ha-1)
Brassica napus
PR46W14
Brassica carinata
ISCI-7
Straw yield
(q ha-1)
Surface area used for
the system (ha)
20.1
7.6
12.5
18.3
142.0
12.5
4.1
8.4
22.9
259.0
Brassica napus yields were found to be nearly double that of the Brassica carinata yields and this
influenced the total surface area required to operate the system over the course of a year. If we consider
the best performing species and a crop rotation system which involves the cultivation of an oleaginous
crop every other year, an overall surface area of 284 ha would be needed at full production levels. Figure
1 shows the cash-flow trends throughout the lifespan of the system (20 years) from which clear economic
benefits are apparent. In Table 2 the results of the main economic indicators used for the evaluation are
shown.
Figure3. Cash flow trend
Table3.Economic indicators
Economic indicators:
Payback period (years)
5.5
Net present value (€)
87297.8
Return on investment
0.8
Internal rate of return (%)
16.6
Conclusions
The analyses carried out showed clear economic benefits from the system; however, these are strictly
linked to economic incentives provided for renewable energy systems.
References
Diepenbrock W. 2000. Yield analysis of winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.): a review. Field Crop. Res, 67:35-49.
Cardone M. et al. 2003. Brassica carinata as an alternative oil crop for the production of biodiesel in Italy: agronomic
evaluation, fuel production by transesterification and characterization. Biomass Bioenerg, 25:623-636.
Russo D. et al. 2012. State of the art of biofuels from pure plant oil. Renew. Sust. Energ. Rev, 16: 4056-4070.
Zanetti F. et al. 2009. Yield and oil variability in modern varieties of high-erucic winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.
var. oleifera) and Ethiopian mustard (Brassica carinata A. Braun.) under reduced agricultural inputs. Ind. Crop. Prod,
30:265-270.
216

Arundo donax - Società Italiana di Agronomia

Transcript

Documenti analoghi

ACRONYM: IUCLAND FROM - Università degli Studi del Molise

Simultaneous selection of soil electroactive bacterial communities

2 Chronic barium intoxication disrupts 3 sulphated proteoglycan

FOR AUTHORS Submission and evaluation The Rivista Italiana di

to the document

Bologna, Italy, june 12th – 15th 2012 - Ambiente

modello per invio relazione di metà e fine periodo

Expediting coordinator

Rome, 8 July 2014 NYSE Euronext Paris 39, rue