The need for efficient technologies to enhance productivity in agriculture strongly motivates research on plasma treatment of seeds and plants. In this study, the influence of plasma treatment on sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) seeds was evidenced throughout the entire life span of the plants. The seeds were packed in a DBD reactor operated in air and treated in plasma for 10 min, using a sinusoidal voltage of 16 kV amplitude at 50 Hz frequency. Early growth observation of plants under laboratory conditions showed that, after a slower start, the plasma-treated seeds developed faster and produced taller seedlings with greater total mass as compared to the control samples. Results obtained from mature plants cultivated in the field revealed a positive effect of plasma exposure with respect to capitulum size, number of seeds per capitulum and mass per thousand seeds, resulting in a remarkable increase in crop yield. The plasma effect lasted for at least two weeks of seed storage; however, it was considerably affected by the sowing period.

In the present study there are presented the results obtained in laboratory tests to evaluate the efficacy of the Romanian diatomaceous earth from Pătârlagele deposit in Buzău County (DE PatRom) against adults of three population of the bean weevil Acanthoscelides obtectus L. (one maintained in laboratory conditions at the Plant Protection Institute Bucharest and the others two came from fields bean from Buzău and Bacău) compared with two commercial formulations (SilicoSec® and PyriSec® ). The DE PatRom was applied at four doses 100, 300, 500 and 900 ppm while SilicoSec® and PyriSec® at the doses registered in common practice. Tests were carried out at 25±2°C and at 70± 5% relative humidity (RH). Adult mortality was assessed 3, 7 and 14 days after treatment. The PyriSec DE was the most effective reaching a total mortality of adults for all three insect populations tested even after 3 days, followed by SilicoSec DE which caused mortality between 74 and 99% after 3 days and 100% after 7 days. The mortality levels of A. obtectus adults reached by Romanian DE PatRom varied depending on dose, period after treatment and insect population. The mortality of bean weevil increased with increasing dose and period after treatment. The highest mortality (of 93, 96 and 98.5% to adults in Buzău, Bucharest and Bacău population, respectively) was recorded in bean treated with 900 ppm after 7 days. The results in experiments showed that the A. obtectus adults of Bacău population were more susceptible and those of Buzău population were more tolerant to all DEs tested.

The grapevine leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus Ball 1932 is an invasive species of North American origin reported in Europe in the 1950s in France where it was accidentally introduced. Shortly after, the species was identified as a natural vector of the phytoplasma associated with the Flavescence Dorée disease in French vineyards. The species quickly spread to other European countries, including Romania. This paper presents data regarding density and population dynamics of S. titanus recorded during two years of monitoring with yellow sticky traps on a pergola hybrid vine in a home garden in Northern Bucharest area. The nymphs were caught from the end of May (2021) until early August (2020) and mid-July (2021). The adults have appeared from the beginning of July until end of October in 2020 and until the middle of October in 2021, with a peak in September 2021 and August 2020.

" This paper presents the species composition and abundance of epigeal invertebrate fauna collected from experimental pepper crops at the Vegetable Research and Development Station Buzău, Romania during 219-2020. The open field bell pepper Buzau 10 (2019) and Cantemir (2020) varieties were used in the experiment in five variants with two factors, diatomite (three doses) and bioinoculant Trichoderma asperellum Td85 strain. Diatomite was local from the Pătârlagele deposit (Buzău County) and antagonistic fungus was from the collection of microorganisms of Research and Development Institute for Plant Protection Bucharest. The fauna on the soil surface was collected using Barber traps, replaced every two weeks from June to October. The ecological parameters of abundance, dominance, constancy and ecological significance have been calculated using specific formulas. Specific attributes of the two products, diatomite and bioinoculant Trichoderma, reflected on the ecological and structural characteristics of invertebrate communities."