Drosophila suzukii (spotted wing drosophila).

The fruit fly D. suzukii is a fruit crop pest and is a serious economic threat to soft summer fruit. A polyphagous pest, it infests a wide range of fruit crops, included grape, as well as an increasing number of wild fruits. D. suzukii is an economically damaging pest because the females are able to infest thin-skinned fruits before harvest and the larvae destroy the fruit pulp by feeding. The species is endemic in Asia. It was first recorded as invasive in Hawaii in 1980 and then simultaneously in California and in Europe in 2008. Since 2008 it has spread rapidly throughout the temperate regions of North America and Europe, due to global trade and the initial lack of regulation over the spread of any Drosophila. This species has a high reproductive rate and short generation time; D. suzukii can theoretically have up to 13 generations per year, which may contribute towards rapid spread, given available suitable hosts. D. suzukii is listed on the EPPO alert list.

Growth and yield of Bangi (Cucumis melo L.) in charland agriculture affected by micronutrients

Bangi (Cucumis melo L.) is an important short duration summer fruit crop, it is rich in vitamins and minerals, facilitated to protect from hidden hunger. To expedite the growth attributes and fruit yield of Bangi through micronutrient application for the Charland Agriculture, an experiment was conducted at the farmer’s (Charland) field in two locations viz., Sadar and Belkuchi upazilas of Sirajgong district, Bangladesh. The crop was cultivated following farmer’s management practices in mada(s)/pits (spacing 3.5 m × 3.5 m) in RCBD design with 3 replications. Two fertilizer doses as control (farmers practice; cow dung + NPK) and improved practice (farmers practice + micronutrients), were used as experimental treatments. The application of micronutrients enhanced plant length and other growth descriptors and fruit yield as well; however, locations did not affect the studied descriptors except the number of secondary branches plant–1 and leaf characters. The plant length varied from 148.6 cm to 321.7 cm, the fruit yield (number plant–1) almost quadrupled and size more than double due to improved practice (with micronutrients) resulting in 4–5 times increase the farmer's profit compared to conventional (farmers) practices. Further research on the effect of micronutrients on nutritional quality enhancement (Biofortification) and self-life is suggested for better understanding and nutritional quality improvement processes of Bangi through nutrient management.

Late summer organic tomato production with heat tolerant tomato cultivars

Field production of organic fresh-market tomatoes in the U.S. Desert Southwest is desired by local producers and consumers. Tomato yield and fruit quality can be seriously impacted by heat stress (HS) and beet curly top virus (BCTV) infection of the main-season crop. We examined delayed planting of HS tolerant cultivars as a strategy for avoiding and mitigating these abiotic and biotic stressors. In 2016, seven putative HS tolerant cultivars, and one considered to be heat susceptible, were transplanted to the field in mid-summer to avoid peak populations of beet leafhopper (Circulifer tenellus), the vector of BCTV. In 2017, seven HS tolerant cultivars, one heat-susceptible, and two hot-set hybrid cultivars were transplanted in mid-summer. Fruit set was above 75% for most entries, including the heat-susceptible checks. Open-pollinated (OP) and hybrid cultivars exhibited a range of yields from 21.3 to 148.6 Mg/ha and fruit quality ratings from poor to excellent. The OP check ‘Super Sioux’ displayed consistently good yield and quality across years. The correlation between fruit set and yield was low (R2 = 0.29) and significant only at the 0.10 level (P<0.09). The incidence of curly top (incited by BCTV infection) was less than 10% in both years, indicating mid-summer planting aided disease avoidance. ‘Flamenco’, the earliest variety, and two later maturing varieties ‘Florida 91’ and ‘Skyway 687’, are recommended for further evaluation. Mid-summer planting of small and medium-fruited tomato cultivars appears to be a viable option for organic fresh-market tomato production for the fall market in the Southwest USA

Antioxidants, polyphenols, and health benefits of cherry laurel: a review

Cherry laurel (dark purple or black when mature) is a popular summer fruit in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It has been gaining popularity as a valuable source of healthy fruit over the last two decades and is a good source of nutrients and polyphenols together with high antioxidant activity. This contribution discusses nutritional characteristics, antioxidants, polyphenols, and health benefits of cherry laurel. Where available, comparisons are made with other cherry fruits (Cornelian, sweat, and sour) and blueberry. Although several health benefits of this fruit and its seeds have been known as home-made and traditional medicine, in vivo and well-designed human clinical trials are scarce. Therefore, additional carefully-designed human clinical trials are needed to validate the health benefits of this fruit.

Pruning and dormancy breaking make two sustainable grape-cropping productions in a protected environment possible without overlap in a single year

In table grape production, protected cultivation in a vineyard in different regions and climates is currently a commonly used practice. The aims of this study were to provide key approaches to sustainably produce two crops of grape without overlap under protected environment in a single year. Spraying the degreening chemicals 400 mg/L ethephon +0.4% sulfur at 4 weeks of vine nutrient restoration after the harvest of the summer crop resulted in the highest percentage of sprouting inflorescence. The retention of 7–10 buds in the base shoot results in the high percentage of sprouting inflorescence. Bud breaking chemicals with 2.5% hydrogen cyanamide+2.0% Baoguoliang +0.02% Shenzhonggen significantly led to sprout inflorescence more efficiently. Cluster and fruit weights of the winter crop weighed significantly less than those of the summer crop. However, the contents of total soluble sugar and titratable acidity were higher than those of the summer crop. The anthocyanin content in the peel of the winter fruit was significantly higher than that in the summer fruit. The yield of the winter crop is controlled by the yield of the summer fruit. To maintain the stability of the two crops for one year, the ratio of yield in the winter to the summer should be controlled from 2:5 to 3:5 to ensure the sustainable production of two crops without overlap for ‘Summer Black’ grape. These results may help grape growers to overcome the impacts of rainy and hot climates with the help of protected facilities, and it could enable the use of solar radiation and heat resources in subtropical and tropical areas.

Monitoring of Moth Pests in Apple Tree Orchard

The work suggests importance of monitoring apple tree pests from moth group in growing conditions of Nitra, Slovakia. In 2014 there was observed occurrence of moths e.g. Codling moth (Cydia pomonella L.), Appleseed moth (Grapholita lobarzewskii Now.), Hawthorn berry moth (G. janthinana Dup.), and Summer fruit tortrix moth (Adoxophyes orana Fish. v. Roesl.) in the apple tree orchard located in the Botanical Garden of SUA in Nitra with help of pheromone traps. The date of first generation occurrence of Codling moth, Appleseed moth and Summer fruit tortrix moth was recorded on April 23. All the pests showed two peaks of flight activity, but with Hawthorn berry moth three periods of higher occurrence were recorded. The course of temperatures influenced number of pests trapped in traps remarkably. The number of pest individuals was highly influenced by rainy weather and lower temperatures in months when there was expected their highest harmfulness. The recorded values might be influenced by plant species diversity of the experimental orchard as well as that of the surrounding area.

New Zealand Plant Protection Medal 2016

This medal is awarded by the New Zealand Plant Protection Society to honour those who have made exceptional contributions to plantprotection in New Zealand in the widest sense. The medal is awarded for outstanding services to plant protection, whether through research,education, implementation or leadership. In 2016, the New Zealand Plant Protection Medal was awarded to Dr Rob Beresford who is one of New Zealand’s most experienced and versatile plant pathologists. Rob started his career in science with an MSc Hons, 1st class, in Auckland in 1978 and was appointed to DSIR Plant Diseases Division at Lincoln in 1979. He was awarded a National Research Advisory Council Postgraduate Research Fellowship to undertake PhD studies at Long Ashton Research Station in the UK from1982 to 1985, returning to Lincoln in 1986. Those studies kicked off a long career in epidemiology and today Rob is New Zealand’s pre-eminent plant disease epidemiologist. For 30 years, Rob has been New Zealand’s strongest advocate for the use of weather-based disease prediction for developing practicaldisease control strategies, particularly to reduce the economic, environmental and market residue impacts of fungicide use. By understanding and modelling relationships between pathogen biology and ecology and weather, Rob has translated complex correlations between biological and physical factorsinto simple practical tools for growers to use for disease control. To date, these have included decision support tools for apple scab, downy mildew in onions, botrytis in grapes and more recently Psa in kiwifruit. He has also developed prediction models for climatic risk of invasive pathogens (potato wart disease and myrtle rust) and for the impacts of climate change on crop diseases. Recognising the importance of climate and weather in affecting plant diseases, Rob has, for many years, championed a network of weather stations in the key horticultural districts throughout New Zealand to generate data for the decision-support tools. It has been a struggle to keep the network running against shortages of funding and the frequent need to re-assert the value of the network to New Zealand horticulture. Rob has built a team of equally committed colleagues who share this understanding and, through tenacity and persistence, have recently achieved an upgrade of the entire network to internet-based communication systems. It is through his close collaborations over many years with the software company HortPlus that his decision support tools have been delivered to the commercial arena. Rob was a member of the New Zealand team that argued the case at the World Trade Organisation for the easing of restrictions on New Zealand apples entering Australia. Rob’s superior skills in interpreting climate data, in this case Australian data, in terms of pathogen survival, establishment and spread, and his clarity in presenting the results were instrumental in the success of that case in 2010. In parallel with Rob’s epidemiological strategy to reduce fungicide use is his interest in the threat of pathogens developing resistance to fungicides. Rob leads research to identify resistance threats to fungicides and also provides liaison between grower associations and agrochemical companies to design and implement robust resistance-management strategies. His focus on resistance started in 2005 when he published updated management strategies for all nine of the then available fungicide groups for the New Zealand Plant Protection Society (NZPPS). In 2007, he re-established the New Zealand Committee on Pesticide Resistance (NZCPR) (which had been in abeyance for 10 years) and chaired the committee’s work on fungicides, insecticides and herbicides from 2007 to 2012. He stepped aside to become NZCPR Science Advisor in 2012 so he could focus on resistance research. Following devastating disease outbreaks of apple scab (Venturia ineaqualis) in the pipfruit industry in 2009, Rob initiated a research programme with Pipfruit New Zealand that showed the cause of the outbreaks to be resistance to two groups of fungicides in use at the time. He has recently coordinated resistance strategy updates for botrytis affecting the wine industry, for summer fruit diseases and is currently leading a programme to monitor resistance of grape powdery mildew to key groups of fungicides. Rob was awarded the 2014 Plant & Food Research Chairman’s Award for his work on fungicide resistance. Rob is an effective communicator at all levels from heavy science to grower forums and is always willing to share his time, skills and knowledge. He has been involved with undergraduate lecturing for many years and has successfully supervised several PhDs. NZPP Medal recipients for the previous five years:2015: Gary Barker2014: -2013: Andrew Hodson2012: Margaret Dick2011: Jim Walker