The pecan nut is produced in 57 countries in the world. Alternate bearing is one of the main biological problems that affect pecan cultivation. Mineral and organic fertilization is a good strategy to maintain and increase pecan nut production. In this study, several mineral and organic doses of fertilization were tested using a factorial arrangement 56 bounded to 25 treatments was used in structure Taguchi L25: nitrogen (N) 0 - 240 kg ha-1, phosphate (P2O5) 0 - 120 kg ha-1, potassium (K2O) 0 - 100 kg ha-1, calcium (CaO) 0 - 400 kg ha-1, liquid humus 0 - 3600 L ha-1 and solid humus 0 - 8000 kg ha-1. The study was carried out in Aldama city, Chihuahua (Mexico). An average yield of 2.4 t ha-1 was obtained, 157 nuts per kilogram and 58.9% of edible nut. The average alternate bearing intensity was 31.58%, and the long-term yield index (IRLP) was 9.59%. It is concluded that the factors whit the greatest impact on the analyzed variables were N and P2O5. In addition, it was found these mineral and organic fertilization systems help to reduce alternate bearing in pecan and simultaneously improve production and long-term productivity index. Optimal fertilization doses were defined: 181.4 kg ha-1 of N, 93.5 kg ha-1 of P2O5 and 3287.2 L ha-1 of liquid humus. Finally, the mineral fertilization complemented with organic fertilization is considered a good fertilization strategy for pecan trees, to increase production and with lower environmental impact.

With the purpose of finding plant compounds with the potential use as herbicides and insecticides, a research was realized with the objective of evaluate the phytotoxic and dissuasive activity of four Chihuahua desert plants. The phytotoxic activity evaluation was tested on Lactuca sativa and Lolium perenne, while the dissuasive activity was realized on three species of phytophagous insects: Myzus persicae, Rhopalosiphum padi and Spodoptera littoralis. Raw extracts were used, the solvents hexane, methanol and ethanol of different plants’ organs (root, steam, leaf and flower) of four species: Fouquieria splendens (ocotillo), Larrea tridentate (governor), Astragalus mollissimus (wild grass) and Pachycereus pecten-aboriginum (echo), by the establishment of in vitro bioassays at a concentration of 10 mg/ml extract/solvent. In the toxicity bioassay, the percentage of germination, root and leaf length were measured. The results showed that the leaf extract of L. tridentata had phytotoxic activity for L. sativa, while for L. perenne the phytotoxicity was observed within the ocotillo, governor and echo extracts. In the dissuasive bioassay, each treatment had 20 repetitions with 10 adult insects per repetition. The methanolic extracts of F. splendens leaf and root, ethanolic extract of A. mollisimus sheet and the ethanolic extract of P. pecten-aboriginum stems showed moderate dissuasive response of feeding against M. persicae, presenting a settlement inhibition index of 53.53, 54.35, 60.00 and 48.84% respectively. Nevertheless, the results indicated that none of the 10 extracts tested on S. littoralis showed significant dissuasive properties for this Lepidoptera, while for R. padi all the tested extracts presented dissuasive properties. The treatments of the four vegetable species evaluated showed defensive or dissuasive properties of moderate to strong feeding against the insects M. persicae and R. padi, presenting interesting potential for being used as insecticides, while the tested extracts that presented phytotoxicity for both lettuce and ryegrass present possibilities for the realization of herbicides.

El cultivo de nogal pecanero en el estado de Chihuahua es una actividad en crecimiento. Las zonas donde se cultiva el nogal presentan una serie de problemas, como son falta de agua, alta salinidad y alto contenido de sodio, baja nutrición en los suelos, bajo contenido de materia orgánica, entre otras, lo que provoca una disminución de la producción de nuez pecanera. El objetivo del presente estudio fue evaluar las aplicaciones al suelo de enmiendas cálcicas, orgánicas y microorganismos para los componentes del rendimiento y contenido de macronutrientes en el nogal pecanero. Los factores que se aplicaron y que influyeron en todas las variables de respuesta de los componentes de rendimiento y contenido de macronutrientes son: Ca/CaCO3 75.0 y 147.4 kg ha-1, Hongos Micorrízicos 20.7 y 17.2 kg ha-1, Humus Liquida (Hu_Liq) 750 y 1083.1 L ha-1, Humus Solida (Hu_sol) 1671.2 y 1632.6 kg ha-1. Las variables de respuesta que se evaluaron y fueron las más importantes para los componentes del rendimiento son: porcentaje de nuez comestible, nueces por kilogramo y peso promedio de nuez. Mientras que para el contenido de macronutrientes del suelo en nogal fueron: calcio/porcentaje de saturación de bases, calcio/(potasio+magnesio) y sodio.

The world production of apples in the 2019 cycle reached 7´620,288 tonnes. For marketing purposes and to supply the demand, apple fruits need to be stored for different periods under refrigerated conditions. However, in the market, the shelf life of the fruit is short, the quality decreases in postharvest due to the dynamic changes of its physicochemical properties, which cannot be stopped, but can be slowed down to improve its shelf life. Postharvest treatments by immersing apple fruit in salicylic acid (SA) and nutrients are an innovative technological alternative to maintain their quality. In this study, 5 concentrations were tested for the immersion of apple fruits cv ‘Golden Delicious’, using a 56 factorial arrangement delimited to 25 treatments, using the Taguchi L25 structure: SA 0 - 1.440 mM, potassium (K) 0 - 2.250, calcium (Ca) 0 - 31.500 mM, cobalt (Co) 0 - 0.180 mM, molybdenum (Mo) 0 - 0.0900 mM and magnesium (Mg) 0 - 0.0900 mM. The study was conducted in the municipality of Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, Mexico. After 7 months of storage and 13 days of shelf life, the combination of K, Ca, SA and Co with the appropriate concentration values can maintain the quality variables and bioactive compounds at the desired optimum. It is concluded that the quality variables; firmness, juice percentage, juice density, titratable acidity and total soluble solids and the bioactive compounds; total phenols and antioxidant capacity can be maintained at the desired optimum.

The consumption of fruits rich in antioxidants has increased in recent years, a clear example of this is the pomegranate (Punica granatum L.). The cultivation of the pomegranate shows great expectations due to its profitability and its adaptability to development in arid zones. In this research, ‘Wonderful’ pomegranate fruits from Coyame Chihuahua, México were used. Quality parameters and bioactive compounds were evaluated to characterize the pomegranate produced in the state of Chihuahua, six different lots from local producers were used. The results showed significance between the different treatments, lot 5 (L5) presented the best quality characteristics such as: weight, diameter, lower percentage of shell and cartilage, as well as one of the highest percentages of arils, in addition, it had a high Total Soluble Solids (TSS) content, a high Titratable Acidity (TA) and a low sugar-acidity ratio, however, lot 3 (L3) showed the highest antioxidant capacity. In general, the qualities and attributes of the Chihuahua pomegranates, obtained higher values ​​in most of the evaluated variables in comparison with other reported results. On the other hand, as a result of this research, the implementation of the color index in the peel is proposed as a tool for the prediction of the maturity index of the pomegranate. This study contributes to the producers of this fruit tree because there is little information on the production and characterization of the pomegranate.