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Horticulture, Climate Change and Sustainability in Semi-Arid Environments

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A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Biotic and Abiotic Stress".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2019) | Viewed by 12020

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ivan Francisco Garcia Tejero

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Guest Editor

Andalusian Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research and Training (IFAPA), Granada, Spain
Interests: water stress; crop physiology; deficit-irrigation strategies; crop-water monitoring; soil conservation; conservation agriculture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Victor Hugo Durán-Zuazo

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Guest Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, entitled “Horticulture, Climate Change and Sustainability in Semi-Arid Environments” comprises several novel studies related to the sustainable use of water and soil with woody and annual crops. The significance of soil and water conservation to limit their degradation has been advocated for many decades. The current situation of global climate change has necessitated such natural resource conservation. Therefore, diversification of existing farming systems by developing suitable agro-friendly measures could satisfy the needs of modern agriculture while responding to the growing demand for maintaining or renewing the environment. Reviews related to the most advisable strategies to reach an optimum equilibrium between agro-ecosystems, the environment, and agriculture profitability are covered in this Special Issue.

Each of the papers presented in this Special Issue embodies, in one way or another, the most significant advances that have been made in natural resource management for sustainability in agriculture.

Dr. Ivan Francisco Garcia Tejero
Dr. Victor Hugo Durán-Zuazo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Horticulturae is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

deficit-irrigation
water stress
crop water monitoring
direct drill
conservation agriculture
soil erosion
climate change
water-use efficiency
landscape design
soil management
organic farming
sustainable agriculture

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 1004 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Approach to Yield Response of Young Almond Trees to Deficit Irrigation and Biostimulant Applications

by Saray Gutiérrez-Gordillo, Iván Francisco García-Tejero, Amelia García-Escalera, Pedro Galindo, María del Carmen Arco and Víctor Hugo Durán Zuazo

Horticulturae 2019, 5(2), 38; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae5020038 - 15 May 2019

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3567

Abstract

Water is the most limiting resource in many semi-arid areas of Mediterranean countries. Among the strategies to improve water productivity, the implementation of deficit irrigation (DI) strategies and the introduction of drought-tolerant crops in irrigated areas (such as almond) are being widely studied. Recently, the use of biostimulants to enhance crop tolerance to drought under water-scarcity scenarios is increasing. This work examines the response of three almond cultivars (‘Guara’, ‘Marta’, and ‘Lauranne’) in terms of yield and associated physiological responses in the main phenological stages to biostimulants (HYT^® A and HYT^® B plus) applied to young trees subjected to different irrigation levels: (i) a full irrigation treatment (FI), irrigated at 100% of crop evapotranspiration (ET_C); and (ii) sustained-deficit irrigation (SDI₇₅), irrigated at 75% of ET_C. Significantly higher yields were obtained with HYT applications in 2 of 3 cultivars; these differences were most evident in the SDI₇₅ treatment. In particular, ‘Guara’ registered the most significant improvements in nut yield when the HYT product was applied (15–20% higher). With regard to crop physiological responses, higher values of leaf water potential and stomatal conductance were noted with the HYT application in some cultivars and phenological stages. These results indicated that the use of biostimulants can be a feasible strategy for almond cultivation, especially when SDI is used. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Horticulture, Climate Change and Sustainability in Semi-Arid Environments)

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10 pages, 357 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Rootstock/Scion Combination and Two Irrigation Water Qualities on Cherry Tomato Yield and Postharvest Fruit Quality

by Hiam Abu Glion, Sharon Alkalai-Tuvia, Merav Zaaroor-Presman, Daniel Chalupowicz, Mili Zanbar, Michal Amichai, Shabtai Cohen, Tsion Shemer, Shlomo Sarig and Elazar Fallik

Horticulturae 2019, 5(2), 35; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae5020035 - 10 May 2019

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3557

Abstract

The aim of this research was to evaluate postharvest cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum (L.) Mill.) yield and fruit quality as affected by grafting and irrigation water quality in the desert region of Israel. Tomato plants (scion cv. Lorka) were grafted onto 3 commercial tomato rootstocks (Resistar, Beaufort and TRS2) and were irrigated with 2 water qualities: fresh water (electrical conductivity (EC)-1.6 dS m⁻¹) and salty water (EC-4.0 dS m⁻¹). Fresh water significantly increased fruit yield by an average of 17% and fruit size, regardless of plant grafting and rootstock, but there were no significant differences in fruit size between the water treatments. However, salty water, but not grafting, significantly improved several quality parameters of fruit stored for 12 d at 12 °C followed by 2 d at 20 °C in simulated sea transport of produce from Israel to Europe and marketing. Fruit harvested from plants irrigated with salty water showed higher sweetness, sourness and, especially, better general taste, and significantly reduced off-flavor, compared with those irrigated with fresh water. The combination of ‘Lorka’ on ‘Resistar’ rootstock and resulted in the best external, internal, and sensory quality parameters at the end of storability and marketing simulation, while the lowest-quality parameters were in fruit harvested from ‘Lorka’ on ‘Beaufort’ rootstock. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Horticulture, Climate Change and Sustainability in Semi-Arid Environments)

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Other

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11 pages, 1901 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperTechnical Note

Water Use and Leaf Nutrient Status for Terraced Cherimoya Trees in a Subtropical Mediterranean Environment

by Victor Hugo Durán-Zuazo, Dionisio Franco Tarifa, Iván Francisco García-Tejero, Saray Gutiérrez Gordillo, Pedro Cermeño Sacristan and Juan José Pertiñez Roldan

Horticulturae 2019, 5(2), 46; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae5020046 - 23 Jun 2019

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4254

Abstract

Water scarcity in many semi-arid agricultural areas, in particular for the Mediterranean basin, is promoting changes in irrigated agriculture, with alternative strategies being introduced for water-use optimization. The coast of Granada and Malaga (Southeast Spain) is an economically important area for subtropical fruit cultivation. This intensively irrigated agriculture is characterized by requiring extra amounts of water and the adoption of sustainable practices to improve agricultural water management. A two-season experiment was conducted to assess (1) the water use in terraced cherimoya (Annona cherimola Mill. cv. Fino de Jete) orchards under conventional and organic production systems with drainage lysimeters, and (2) the impact on fruit yield and nutritional effects between the two considered production systems. Crop coefficient (Kc) values for cherimoya were 0.60–0.66, 0.64–0.71, and 0.48–0.62 at flowering, fruit set, and fruit growth, respectively. Fruit yield was similar in both systems, ranging from 47.1 for conventional to 44.1 kg tree⁻¹ for organic farming, averaging 13.2 and 12.3 t·ha⁻¹, respectively. No differences between these systems were observed in terms of leaf nutrient status, with variations in the N, P, and K contents during the different phenological stages. The N, P, and K lessen during flowering and fruit growth; the highest levels of these nutrients were fixed at harvest. These patterns were the opposite in Ca and Mg, ascribable to the antagonism between K and both Ca and Mg. Thus, these findings highlight the need to establish the optimal use of irrigation water with respect to crop requirements, thereby encouraging sustainable subtropical farming in terraces. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Horticulture, Climate Change and Sustainability in Semi-Arid Environments)

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