-Soil-bound intensive greenhouse production has been scrutinized for its sustainability due to contamination of ground water by over-fertilization resulting in leaching of nutrients. As environmental guidelines are becoming more restrictive worldwide, and especially in Europe, many greenhouse growers have converted to more sustainable production systems including rockwool culture with recycled water and organic cropping systems in soil. The increase in popularity of organic production systems has amplified the debate whether organically grown produce is healthier than conventional produce. So far, little is known about the variations in fruit quality associated with production systems for greenhouse grown tomatoes. Thus, two organic (organic fertilization with and without straw amendment) and three conventional tomato cropping systems (regular and increased nutrient solution in rockwool and regular fertilization in soil) were compared in order to evaluate differences in nutrient availability and effects on fruit quality over a three-year period. Three modern medium-sized round tomato cultivars and one old cultivar were compared. There were no significant interactions between cropping systems and cultivars, so that main effects of systems and cultivars could be evaluated. Fruit yields in the organic systems were similar to those obtained in the conventional soil-bound system, but 15% lower than in the regular rockwool system, even though nitrogen concentrations in soil were not limiting in any of the production systems. Frequent organic amendments resulted in higher soil NO 2− 3 contents in the organic system without straw than in the other soil-bound systems, indicating that the organic systems were not yet stable in terms of nutrient availability after three years. A fruit quality index, based on the contents of compounds such as lycopene, β-carotene and vitamin C, was similar in all cropping systems. The old cultivar had a significantly higher quality index, but a lower yield than the other cultivars. According to this study, high quality tomatoes can be obtained through proper adjustment of the quantity and the source of nitrogen fertilizers in organic and conventional cropping systems and the use of selected cultivars with a high nutrient use efficiency for organic systems.greenhouse tomato / organic / conventional / nitrogen uptake / xylem sap / fruit quality

Effect of neem (Azadirachta indicaEffect

The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the nematicidal effect of different glucosinolates and other secondary metabolites extracted from several plant species on the plant-parasitic nematodes Pratylenchus penetrans and Meloidogyne chitwoodi. Glucosinolate extracts from 16 species of genera Brassica, seven Lolium species and one species of Lupinus were used to investigate their nematicidal effect in vitro. From the tested extracts, the one obtained from Brassica juncea (oriental) showed the most promising results, controlling both nematode species. Lupinus sp. also showed positive results when tested against P. penetrans.

Resumen con el objetivo de describir la fenología, floración y desarrollo de frutos del granado (Punica granatum L.) de la variedad wonderful, se realizó el presente estudio en dos zonas del departamento de Ica, Perú. La evaluación fue cuantitativa y cualitativa, se evaluó los estados fenológicos y floral del granado. Predominó el estado 1 (yema en reposo invernal), estado 6 (crecimiento de hojas) y estado 7 (hojas totalmente desarrolladas). Existió más de un estado, donde se combinan el estado 8 (elongación de entrenudos) con los estados 9-16 (florales y frutales). El crecimiento de brotes, fue mayor a inicios del mes de noviembre. Por cada inflorescencia, quedaron de uno a tres flores que llegaron al estado de fruto. El tipo de inflorescencia más común fue el mixto (presencia de flor y hojas). Hubo gran caída de flores sobre todo las estaminadas y en la zona de Salas se duplicó el conteo de frutos respecto a la de Santiago. El promedio del diámetro vertical de frutos fue de 1 cm y el horizontal de 0.5 cm.

This literature review is based on the biological control of slugs using the nematode Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita. It describe the effectiveness and mode of action according to its environment. Also the method of application and doses, compared to chemical molluscicides and the  study of the bacteria associated to the nematode. P. hermaphrodita seems to prefer soil moisture and infect young slugs of the Deroceras species. Partial nematode applications are less expensive and should be done in slug resting áreas.There are other nematodes species for slug control but with no effectiveness. More research is still needed to prove when nematode P. hermaphrodita's action stage is, because it has not been so effective for the control of many other slug species.