Reuse of Pruning Waste from Subtropical Fruit Trees and Urban Gardens as a Source of Nutrients: Changes in the Physical, Chemical, and Biological Properties of the Soil

A field experiment was conducted on the Andalusian coast (Granada, Southern Spain) to study the time course of nutrient release into the soil after the addition of bagged pruning waste from subtropical orchard trees (avocado, cherimoya, and mango) and urban garden waste over three two-year periods. N, P, and K concentrations were greater in the garden waste, whilst avocado and cherimoya pruning waste registered the highest values for Mg. In general, micronutrient contents were low in all waste, especially Cu. Macronutrient release followed a three-phase dynamic: fast initial release, intermediate stabilization, and final increase. Garden waste showed a similar time course in all three trees and released greater concentrations of K and P. The annual decomposition rate factor k was negative for N and Ca in the avocado tree, indicating strong biological activity in this plot. Avocado, cherimoya, and garden waste showed a good microbial degradation, improving soil quality by increasing carbon and nitrogen contents as well as soil microbial activity. As for the mango tree, its special microclimatic conditions appeared to favor waste photodegradation, thus eliminating nutrients that were not incorporated into the soil. Soil enzymatic activities increased in the avocado and cherimoya trees with the addition of all waste. In the mango tree, only an increase in urease was detected after the addition of garden waste. Our results suggest that the time course of organic waste in different subtropical trees grown on similar soils is significantly conditioned by the microclimatic characteristics.

Towards virtual modeling environments for functional structural plant models based on Jupyter notebooks: Application to the modeling of mango tree growth and development

Functional-Structural Plant Models (FSPMs) are powerful tools to explore the complex interplays between plant growth, underlying physiological processes and the environment. Various modeling platforms dedicated to FSPMs have been developed with limited support for collaborative and distributed model design, reproducibility and dissemination. With the objective to alleviate these problems, we used the Jupyter project, an open-source computational notebook ecosystem, to create virtual modeling environments for plant models. These environments combined Python scientific modules, L-systems formalism, multidimensional arrays and 3D plant architecture visualization in Jupyter notebooks. As a case study, we present an application of such an environment by reimplementing V-Mango, a model of mango tree development and fruit production built on interrelated processes of architectural development and fruit growth that are affected by temporal, structural and environmental factors. This new implementation increased model modularity, with modules representing single processes and the workflows between them. The model modularity allowed us to run simulations for a subset of processes only, on simulated or empirical architectures. The exploration of carbohydrate source-sink relationships on a measured mango branch architecture illustrates this possibility. We also proposed solutions for visualization, distant distributed computation and parallel simulations of several independent mango trees during a growing season. The development of models on locations far from computational resources makes collaborative and distributed model design and implementation possible, and demonstrates the usefulness and efficiency of a customizable virtual modeling environment.

Mangifera indica as propolis source: what exactly do bees collect?

Objective The mango tree Mangifera indica is known as one of the botanical sources of propolis in Tropical regions. There are two different materials which bees can collect from a mango tree to produce propolis: the resin of the tree bark, and the latex found on the fruits. We performed the study of the chemical profile of mango resin in comparison with propolis in order to clarify its importance as propolis source. Results We compared the chemical profiles (by GC–MS analysis of ethanol extracts after silylation) of the resin and samples of propolis: of stingless bees (3 Vietnames, 2 Indonesian), and one of Apis mellifera from Thailand. In the resin and all propolis samples, 25 compounds were identified: fatty acids, cardanols (alk(en)yl phenols), cardols, anacardic acids, triterpene alcohols and ketones, cycloartane type triterpenic acids. All samples have the same qualitative composition but there are important quantitative differences. Considering literature data on mango latex, we conclude that bees of different species, make use of the two propolis sources offered by mango: bark resin and fruit latex, in different proportions. We also confirmed for the first time the presence of alk(en)yl phenols and anacardic acids in the tree bark resin of mango.

Harumanis Mango Leaves Image Segmentation based on Wavelet Transformation with Phansalkar and Sauvola Thresholding

Harumanis mango is one of the economic sources of the Perlis state. It has a sweeter taste compared to other mangoes. However, the Harumanis mango tree required specific weather, soil nutrient contents and pH level. This makes the farmer does not know the health condition of their Harumanis mango tree. Therefore, this project aims to provide the best method of leaves detection to the farmer. The leaves image samples are collecting from the orchard and undergo pre-processing. Then the input image was converted into grayscale with principal component analysis (PCA). Wavelet transformation was implemented to increase the discriminability of the segmentation technique for separating the leaf and background. The leaf segmentation is done by using Phansalkar and Sauvola thresholding techniques. After that, fill hole and area opening techniques are implementing to reduce noise in the image. These two thresholding techniques are comparing and discuss with their segmentation performance. Overall, Phansalkar thresholding has produced better performance in segmenting healthy and unhealthy Harumanis mango leaves with sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 92.05%, 81.37% and 83.51%, respectively.

Harumanis Mango Leaves Image Segmentation on RGB and HSV Colour Spaces using Fast k-Means Clustering

Harumanis mango is the signature fruit in Perlis due to its delicious taste and its sweet-smelling. A good quality Harumanis tree requires rich in nutrition (healthy), and the tree will grow lots of fruits compared to the trees which are poor in nutrition (unhealthy). The health condition of a tree can be observed through the leaves in term of shape of leaves. For a healthy Harumanis tree, the leaves grow in scattering shapes. Meanwhile, an unhealthy Harumanis tree grows in gathered shapes. Therefore, this research is focusing on Harumanis mango leaves image segmentation by comparing between RGB and HSV colour spaces in order to obtain the best segmentation performance. 100 of Harumanis mango tree leaves images are used in this research. These images have undergo through image pre-processing such as modified linear contrast stretching and colour components extraction based on RGB and HSV colour spaces. Then, the colour component images have been segmented by using fast k-means clustering in order to obtain the leaves segmented images. Finally, quantitative analyses have been performed to measure the segmentation performance based on sensitivity, specificity and accuracy. Overall, the results show that S component of HSV colour space archives the highest accuracy with 85.81%.

Mangifera indica as propolis source: what exactly do bees collect?

Objective The mango tree Mangifera indica is known as one of the botanical sources of propolis in Tropical regions. There are two different materials which bees can collect from a mango tree to produce propolis: the resin of the tree bark, and the latex found on the fruits. We performed the study of the chemical profile of mango resin in comparison with propolis in order to clarify its importance as propolis source. Results We compared the chemical profiles (by GC-MS analysis of ethanol extracts after silylation) of the resin and samples of propolis: of stingless bees (3 Vietnames, 2 Indonesian), and one of Apis mellifera from Thailand. In the resin and all propolis samples, 25 compounds were identified: fatty acids, cardanols (alk(en)yl phenols), cardols, anacardic acids, triterpene alcohols and ketones, cycloartane type triterpenic acids. All samples have the same qualitative composition but there are important quantitative differences. Considering literature data on mango latex, we conclude that bees of different species, make use of the two propolis sources offered by mango: bark resin and fruit latex, in different proportions. We also confirmed for the first time the presence of alk(en)yl phenols and anacardic acids in the tree bark resin of mango.

Valorisation des ressources naturelles dans les zones agroforestières : cas d’Irvingia gabonensis (Aubrey-Lecomte ex O’Rorke) Baill. (Irvingiaceae) dans la région de l’Agnéby-Tiassa au sud de la Côte d’Ivoire

Ce travail évalue l’importance socio-économique d’Irvingia gabonensis (Irvingiaceae) ou le manguier sauvage dans la région de l’Agnéby-Tiassa dans le sud de la Côte d’Ivoire. À cet effet, un inventaire de la population a été réalisé dans les zones agroforestières en particulier dans les cacaoyères afin de déterminer la perception de cette espèce par cinq groupes socio-culturels. Les différents usages et la rentabilité économique issue de la vente des amandes ont été également recherchés. Pour atteindre ces objectifs, la valeur d’usage ethnobotanique des différents organes, le taux de réponse des individus enquêtés et de la marge brute de commercialisation a été recherché. L’inventaire a permis de recenser seulement 26 pieds de I. gabonensis chez 35 paysans. Les travaux ont révélé deux usages principaux chez les Agnis, les Baoulés, les Groussis, les Malinkés et les Morés. Il s’agit de la consommation des amandes connue par 100% des enquêtés et de l’usage thérapeutique de l’écorce connue par seulement 10% de l’échantillon. Les investigations ont montré une marge brute de commercialisation moyenne de 27%. Des travaux complémentaires devront être réalisés pour valoriser d’avantage l’écorce et les feuilles. Aussi, nous préconisons le semis de graines ou le maintien de sauvageons dans les zones dégradées des cacaoyères en vue d’une gestion durable de cette ressource. SUMMARY This work assesses the socio-economic importance of Irvingia gabonensis (Irvingiaceae) or the wild mango tree in the Agnéby-Tiassa region in the south of the Ivory Coast. To this end, a population inventory was carried out in agroforestry areas, in particular in cocoa trees in order to determine the perception of this species by five socio-cultural groups. The different uses and the economic profitability resulting from the sale of almonds were also investigated. To achieve these objectives, the ethnobotanical use value of the different organs, the response rate of the individuals surveyed and the gross marketing margin were researched. The inventory identified only 26 stems of I. gabonensis among 35 farmers. The work revealed two main uses among the Agnis, the Baoulés, the Groussis, the Malinkés and the Morés. This is the consumption of almonds known by 100% of the respondents and the therapeutic use of the bark known by only 10% of the sample. Investigations showed an average gross marketing margin of 27%. Additional work will have to be made out to further enhance the bark and leaves. Also, we recommend the sowing of seeds or the maintenance of wildlings in degraded areas of cocoa trees with a view to sustainable management of this resource.

CHARACTERIZATION OF FUSARIUM SPECIES ASSOCIATED WITH MANGO MALFORMATION DISEASE IN SOUTHERN SENEGAL

In Senegal mango production has long existed in traditional forms, especially in the south and center of the country. It accounts for 60% of the countrys fruit production, with an estimated annual output of 150,000 tons. Despite a positive balance sheet in recent years, mango orchardsareaffected by numerous phytosanitary constraints like diseases and insect pests. Among the diseases, mango malformation is considered one of the most deadly for the mango tree. Since its discovery in 2009 in the south of Senegal, the disease has continued to spread in this area with incursions towards the northern part of the country. Few studies were dedicated to that pathogen in the Senegalese context. This study was carried out to help bring more light in the identity of the pathogen(s) causing this disease. Therefore 13 isolates of Fusarium isolates obtainedfrom mango malformation tissueswere characterized using morphological criteria and the molecular analysis. The 5.8S rDNA region of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) was amplifiedusing ITS1 and ITS4 primer pairs. Sequence analysis and other analytical studiesshowed that the malformation of mango tree in southern Senegal is relatedto a diversity of Fusarium species. The morphological and molecular analysisallowed to identify several Fusarium strains with a very high degree of similarity (99.08 to 99.82%) with the species in the NCBI database ranged.