Two greenhouse experiments were conducted to quantify growth responses of Jatropha curcas to a range of salt and drought stresses. Typical symptoms of salinity stress such as leaf edge yellowing were observed in all elevated salinity treatments and the degree of the foliar salt damage increased with the salinity of irrigation water. Total dry weight (DW) of Jatropha plants was reduced by 30%, 30%, and 50%, respectively, when irrigated with saline solutions at electrical conductivity of 3.0, 6.0, and 9.0 dS m −1 compared to that in the control. Leaf Na + concentration was much higher than that observed in most glycophytes. Leaf Cl − concentrations were also high. In the drought stress experiment, plants were irrigated daily with nutrient solution at 100%, 70%, 50%, or 30% daily water use (DWU). Deficit irrigation reduced plant growth and leaf development. The DW of leaves, roots, and total were reduced in the 70%, 50%, and 30% DWU compared to the 100% DWU control treatment. In summary, salinity stress and deficit irrigation significantly reduced the growth and leaf development of greenhouse-grown Jatropha plants.

Government support uncertainty, scarce yield information, and the inherent risk in bioeconomic phenomena are some of the deterrents faced by investors in the nascent cellulosic biofuel industry. A financial probabilistic model was developed to contrast the economic feasibility of producing cellulosic biofuels from energy cane and sweet sorghum using three technologies: hydrolysis, pyrolysis, and gasification. Hydrolysis and pyrolysis proved feasible (showed possibilities of a positive net present value) without government support and conditioned to stochastic feedstock yields and biofuel prices. Gasification was feasible with government support. Improved feedstock and biofuel productivity would considerably raise the feasibility probabilities for hydrolysis and pyrolysis without government support.

Grafting in tomatoes is widely used to increase tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses and productivity. Divergent information is available on the impact of somatogenetic interactions between rootstock and scion on the nutritional status and fruit quality attributes of tomato. The productivity of tomato grafting and produce quality are also influenced by agronomic practices such as production systems and growing environments. This study evaluated the effects of grafting on metabolic traits contributing to the quality of fruits grown in protected (high tunnel, HT) and unprotected (open field, OF) production systems across three Texas environments (Overton, Uvalde, and Weslaco) during two spring seasons. Grafted combinations included two rootstocks ("Estamino" and "Multifort") and two scions ("TAM. Hot Ty", "Tycoon" in 2017; and "TAM Hot Ty", "HM1823" in 2018). Over the two seasons, fruits of grafted tomato plants exhibited a 10−18% reduction in ascorbic acid (vitamin C) content, but total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), and most metabolites such as sucrose, glucose, fructose, polyphenol, and carotenoids (lycopene, β-carotene, lutein) were unaffected by grafting. Conversely, the production system (HT vs OF) significantly influenced fruit quality traits with HT increasing lycopene (36%), β-carotene (20%), fructose (16.7%), glucose (14.3%), and TSS/TA (B/A ratio) (22%) as compared to OF in the 2017 season but not 2018. Tomato fruit quality was also impacted by the environment and its interactions with production systems. In the 2017 growing season, Uvalde grown fruits possessed significantly higher carotenoids and lower vitamin C, whereas in 2018 lycopene, β-carotene, and vitamin C content were lowest in Uvalde fruits compared to other environments. A significant environmental variation in the accumulation of carotenoids (lycopene, β-carotene, and lutein) and ascorbic acid was observed among growing environments. The study suggests that metabolic traits related to fruit quality in tomato are mostly affected by the production system and growing environments.

No abstract

The genus Cucumis (family Cucurbitaceae) includes a large number of economically important crops, such as melon (Cucumis melo) and cucumber (Cucumis sativus), that are widely cultivated. Muskmelons, called cantaloupes in Texas, are popular among consumers for their taste, flavor, and health benefits. These nutritious fruits are a rich source of provitamin A, vitamin C, folate, minerals, fiber, and polyphenols with antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties. Once considered 'seasonal delights' because of their relatively short domestic production season, intense breeding efforts, horticultural advances, and imports have enabled year-round availability. Major domestic commercial production regions are in the southern parts of the United States, including California, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, and Florida, with ideal growing conditions (long, warm, frost-free growing seasons) and harvest windows ranging from April through December depending on location. According to US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) 2021 Vegetable Summary, the value of US cantaloupe production was $277.5 million in 2021,