Bee diversity in fragmented areas of Volcano Etna (Sicily, Italy) at different degrees of anthropic disturbance (Hymenoptera: Apoidea, Anthophila)

The present three-year study traces the diversity of four bee communities in fragmented pedemontane areas of Volcano Etna (Catania province, Sicily) near the Metropolitan City of Catania, under different land management regimes. The selected areas comprise two different urban parks within Catania (Parco Gioeni and Parco degli Ulivi), a Nature Reserve (Complesso Immacolatelle e Micio Conti, San Gregorio di Catania), and an agroecosystem (a citrus orchard, Aci Catena). Previous data obtained from a well-investigated area (Leucatia, north of Catania) have been used as a control for bee diversity for this study. The results include an outline of bee species richness, data on the composition of bee communities, and seasonal patterns, using several diversity indexes. The study of bee diversity shows a total of 163 species, arranged in five families. The four investigated locations include 104 species arranged in four families: Andrenidae (20 species), Halictidae (15 species), Megachilidae (31 species), and Apidae (38 species); with a similar number of species (102) recorded in the control site (Leucatia). The study highlights strong seasonal variations of bee communities in all investigated sites, with differentiated seasonal patterns, whose compositions are affected mainly by forage sources, suitable nesting sites, as well as human activities. The data obtained provide a rough but basilar framework to assess management strategies to maintain adequate levels of bee diversity, especially for those areas with moderate to high environmental fragmentation. Our findings highlight the importance of season-long sampling of bee population factors if used as indicators in ecological studies.

Effects of Chemical Fertilizer Combined with Organic Fertilizer Application on Soil Properties, Citrus Growth Physiology, and Yield

Chemical fertilizer has been excessively used for high yield of citrus around the world, especially in China; meanwhile, it deteriorates the citrus orchard soil environment. To resolve the conflict, the use of organic fertilizer provides a promising solution. However, the data about organic fertilizer used in citrus orchard is rarely available. Here, four treatments including CK (no fertilizer), CF (chemical fertilizer), OF + CF (chemical fertilizer reduction combined with organic fertilizer; application of N, P2O5, K2O fertilizer and organic fertilizer is 0.564, 0.236, 0.336 and 10 kg/plant), and BF + CF (chemical fertilizer reduction combined with bioorganic fertilizer; application of N, P2O5, K2O fertilizer and bioorganic fertilizer is 0.508, 0.320, 0.310 and 10 kg/plant) were performed in a ‘Ponkan’ (Citrus reticulata Blanco) orchard to evaluate the effect of organic fertilizer on citrus yield, growth, soil properties etc. when nutrients of fertilizer of each treatment were equal except CK. The data obtained in 2019 and 2020 showed that both OF + CF and BF + CF were beneficial to improve soil fertility (soil physicochemical and microbe properties) and citrus growth physiology (growth, nutrient and photosynthesis), alleviate NO3−-N leaching, and promote yields. Comprehensive evaluation indicated that BF + CF was more effective than OF + CF. Together, organic fertilizer has the potential to substitute partial chemical fertilizer with improvement in soil properties, growth physiology, and yield of citrus.

FIRST RECORD OF THE GENUS SERANGIUM BLACKBURN, 1889 (COLEOPTERA COCCINELLIDAE) IN ITALY

During a recent survey of ladybirds in a citrus orchard in Sicily, a specimen of the genus Serangium (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) was found. This genus is recorded here for the first time from Italy. Species of this genus was used as an agent of biological control against aleyrodids, and stable populations were previously reported from Europe (France and Corsica) and in the Caucasian area. Literature of this genus recorded for Europe two species: Serangium montazerii Fürsch, 1995 and S. parcesetosum Sicard, 1929. The single specimen collected un- able us to a specific attribution.

Tree Crowns Segmentation and Classification in Overlapping Orchards Based on Satellite Images and Unsupervised Learning Algorithms

Smart agriculture is a new concept that combines agriculture and new technologies to improve the yield’s quality and quantity as well as facilitate many tasks for farmers in managing orchards. An essential factor in smart agriculture is tree crown segmentation, which helps farmers automatically monitor their orchards and get information about each tree. However, one of the main problems, in this case, is when the trees are close to each other, which means that it would be difficult for the algorithm to delineate the crowns correctly. This paper used satellite images and machine learning algorithms to segment and classify trees in overlapping orchards. The data used are images from the Moroccan Mohammed VI satellite, and the study region is the OUARGHA citrus orchard located in Morocco. Our approach starts by segmenting the rows inside the parcel and finding all the trees there, getting their canopies, and classifying them by size. In general, the model inputs the parcel’s image and other field measurements to classify the trees into three classes: missing/weak, normal, or big. Finally, the results are visualized in a map containing all the trees with their classes. For the results, we obtained a score of 0.93 F-measure in rows segmentation. Additionally, several field comparisons were performed to validate the classification, dozens of trees were compared and the results were very good. This paper aims to help farmers to quickly and automatically classify trees by crown size, even if there are overlapping orchards, in order to easily monitor each tree’s health and understand the tree’s distribution in the field.

Area-based citrus commodity development to grow the regional economy of Nunukan District, North Kalimantan Province

The Development of Horticultural Agribusiness Areas (PKAH) is one of the implementations of the Ministry of Agriculture’s policy, where the development of superior commodities is directed at developing areas which are integrated vertically and/or horizontally with the consolidation of productive businesses based on community economic institutions that are highly competitive in local and international markets. This development study was carried out in one major citrus agribusiness area in Indonesia, namely Nunukan District, North Kalimantan Province since January 2017 to December 2018. The aim of the study was to develop citrus agribusiness in Nunukan, North Kalimantan. The method used participatory development conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, local government and farmer groups to formulate policy recommendations based on the results of applied research on farmers’ land in the border areas of Indonesia and Malaysia. The approach included the establishment of demonstration plots for technology implementation of Integrated Management of Healthy Citrus Orchard (IMHCO), field assistance, and program evaluation. This involved four farmer groups and 17 farmers. Primary data were collected by survey and analyzed descriptively. The results showed that (1) the establishment and maintenance of the demonstration plots which were managed properly and consistently had been carried out on new crops and productive crops of 10 hectares each; (2) farmers assisted intensively had applied 95% of the IMHCO technology, while farmer groups nearby the location of IMHCO treatment had applied 80-90% of the IMHCO technology, and less active farmers only applied 55% of the IMHCO technology; (3) farmers had comprehended all the technology components in IMHCO, indicated by the understanding and application scores ranged from 2.38‒3.00.