Marcelino Dr. Asesor Cabrera De La Fuente

Cultivation of potato – use of plastic mulch and row covers on soil temperature, growth, nutrient status, and yield

Potato is one of the most important crops in the world because of its high nutritional value; however, traditional cultivation in bare soil may render low yields and poor quality. Crop production efficiency can be increased by using plastic mulching and row covers to modify root zone temperature and plant growth, in addition to reduction in pest damage and enhance production in cultivated plants. However, there is little information demonstrating the effect of row covers in combination with plastic mulch on potato. The aim of this study was to assess the change in root zone temperature and its effect on growth, leaf nutrient, and yield of potato using plastic mulch of different colors, in combination with row covers. Seed of cultivar Mondial was planted in May 2012. The study included four plastic films: black, white/black, silver/black, aluminum/black, and a control with bare soil, which were evaluated alone and in combination with row covers removed at 30 days after sowing in a split-plot design. Higher yields were obtained when no row cover (43.2 t ha−1) and the white/black film (42.2 t ha−1) were used. Leaf nitrogen, sulfur, and manganese concentration were higher in plants when row cover was used; in contrast, no–row cover plants were higher in Fe and Zn. Mulched plants were higher in Mn concentration than control plants. There was a quadratic relationship between mean soil temperature and total yield (R2 = 0.94), and between plant biomass and total yield (R2 = 0.98), between leaf area with total yield (R2 = 0.98).

Use of Chitosan-PVA Hydrogels with Copper Nanoparticles to Improve the Growth of Grafted Watermelon

Modern agriculture requires alternative practices that improve crop growth without negatively affecting the environment, as resources such as water and arable land grow scarcer while the human population continues to increase. Grafting is a cultivation technique that allows the plant to be more efficient in its utilization of water and nutrients, while nanoscale material engineering provides the opportunity to use much smaller quantities of consumables compared to conventional systems but with similar or superior effects. On those grounds, we evaluated the effects of chitosan-polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel with absorbed copper nanoparticles (Cs-PVA-nCu) on leaf morphology and plant growth when applied to grafted watermelon cultivar ‘Jubilee’ plants. Stomatal density (SD), stomatal index (SI), stoma length (SL), and width (SW) were evaluated. The primary stem and root length, the stem diameter, specific leaf area, and fresh and dry weights were also recorded. Our results demonstrate that grafting induces modifications to leaf micromorphology that favorably affect plant growth, with grafted plants showing better vegetative growth in spite of their lower SD and SI values. Application of Cs-PVA-nCu was found to increase stoma width, primary stem length, and root length by 7%, 8% and 14%, respectively. These techniques modestly improve plant development and growth.

Plant Nutrition and Agronomic Management to Obtain Crops With Better Nutritional and Nutraceutical Quality

Abstract The nutritional and nutraceutical quality of crops depends on different compounds, such as vitamins, trace elements, phenolic compounds, terpenoids, and pigments. The compounds in plant foods pass from crops to animal and human consumers, exerting beneficial effects in terms of less oxidative stress and lower rates of degenerative diseases. Similarly, the nutraceuticals that accumulate in plants before harvest contribute to the quality of processed products obtained from the crops. This biochemical set is synthesized and accumulated in the plant cells, and it is under genetic and environmental control. These nutraceutical components are important players that act as metabolites, cofactors, antioxidants, and stabilizers of membranes and macromolecules. The profiles and concentrations of nutraceuticals change in response to environmental stimuli, and their synthesis is dependent on the induction of gene expression in response to environmental elicitation. Agricultural practices, including mineral nutrition, biofortification, the manipulation of the environment, and the use of biochemical and microbial elicitors allow substantial improvements in their nutritional and nutraceutical quality. In this chapter, we specify the different growing systems, fertilizer management, the use of natural or synthetic elicitors and the soil and climate conditions that lead to the production of crops with better nutritional and nutraceutical qualities.

Nanometals as Promoters of Nutraceutical Quality in Crop Plants

Abstract In plants, animals, and humans, metals have various functions as enzyme cofactors and coadjuvants of the cellular redox balance and electron transfer. Metals in crops improve stress tolerance and increase nutritional and nutraceutical quality. Various studies have reported that the addition of metallic elements to plants is possible in nanometric or ionic form. In both forms, the built-in element metabolism covers the needs for plant growth. However, nanomaterials offer several advantages compared with the same elements in their ionic form: an increase in stress tolerance, additional antioxidant capacity, and a higher concentration of phytochemicals, which result in higher nutraceutical quality. Additionally, nanomaterials can be used in agriculture to increase plant tolerance to certain pathogens and abiotic stresses. Focusing on the environmental fate of nanomaterials and their transference into the ecological food web, most researches in the past addressed nanometals as industrial pollutants but investigated their agricultural application substantially less often. The challenge for agricultural research is not only to elucidate the effects of nanometals on crops but also to understand their impact on the soil, the environment, and animal and human health.