The most important issues that affect consumer fruit acceptance in the ‘Hass’ avocado international market are flesh disorders. These defects can be influenced by both pre- and postharvest factors. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of the harvest season, storage time, mineral content, and preharvest variables on internal fruit disorders. Here, fruit was sampled from four farms in Antioquia (Colombia) at 22%, 26%, and 30% dry matter (DM) content. Samples were stored and ripened under simulated export conditions. Then, flesh bruising, flesh discoloration, body rots, vascular browning, stem end rot, and mineral content were assessed. The results showed that flesh disorders differ among farms and by harvest index and storage time. The most frequent defects found were vascular browning and stem end rot. Boron, calcium, nitrogen, manganese, magnesium, and potassium have a strong relationship with flesh disorders. Therefore, high boron and calcium contents, as well as a harvest at 26% DM, can substantially reduce avocado flesh disorders and improve internal fruit quality. Farmers that had a high flesh and soil mineral content and low rainfall and temperature produced fruits with fewer internal disorders.

Evaluation of sowing density is an important factor for achieving maximum yields without affecting other agronomic traits. Field experiments were conducted during three consecutive years (2008, 2009 and 2010) to determinate the effect of four sowing density (62,500; 83,333; 100,000 and 142,857 pl ha−1) on yields and its components of two cotton varieties, ‘Delta Pine 16′ and ‘SN-290′ in Venezuela. The traits evaluated were lint yield, boll weight, number of seeds per boll, 100-seed weight, and fiber content. Highly significant differences (p ≤ 0.01) were observed among genotypes, sowing density and their interactions for all traits. Sowing density was not affected by year factor. High lint yield was found in ‘SN-290′ (4216.2 kg ha−1) at 100,000 pl ha−1; and in ‘Delta Pine 16′ (3917.3 kg ha−1) at 83,333 pl ha−1. The highest sowing density (142,857 pl ha−1), decrease lint yield and yield components in the genotypes. The highest boll weight was obtained by ‘SN-290′ with 6.4 g in average. All sowing densities evaluated resulted in lint percentages above 40%. Cotton lint yield was positively correlated with all yield components. Our results indicate that highest lint yields could be obtained with sowing densities between 83,333 and 100,000 pl ha−1 depending upon varieties used across savannahs of Venezuela.

Banana is a staple food and a major export commodity in the tropics. However, banana production systems are affected by the plant-soil relationships, where properties such as quality and quantity of soil organic matter play an important role in the dynamics of soil physical properties. In order to evaluate the effect of the soil organic carbon (SOC) content and its distribution in the water-stable of soil aggregates (WAS), and the physical fractions of the macro-organic matter, a study was conducted in lacustrine soils under Banana cv. ʻGrand Nainʼ in Venezuela. Soil sampling was carried out in two batches differentiated by their textural class and crop production. A completely randomized design under a directed random sampling technique was carried out. In each condition, 12 composite samples were taken at depths 0–5 and 5–10 cm, respectively. WAS were separated into micro (< 250 μm) and macroaggregates (> 250 μm). Also, physical fractionation by size-density of the macro-organic matter into light (LF), intermediate (IF), and heavy (HF) fraction using a silica gel solution, and SOC, were determined and correlated with banana yield and other agronomic traits. A major proportion of aggregates > 250 μm were found in both conditions and depths. Organic Carbon within soil aggregates ranged between 29.7 and 35.3 g kg-1. The HF was superior to IF and LF; however, its C content was higher in the LF. The results allow inferring that the stability conferred to these soils is primarily associated with the presence of the snail, which shares the same size as the aggregates studied. High yields are associated with high C content in stable aggregates, as well as in the most labile fractions of macro-organic matter. These results highlight the importance of the use of organic fertilizers less recalcitrant as a strategy for sustainable management of banana cultivation.