LED Lighting Strategies Affect Physiology and Resilience to Pathogens and Pests in Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.)

Development Status and Perspectives of Crop Protection Machinery and Techniques for Vegetables

Diseases and pests are important factors in vegetable cultivation; they not only affect the growth and appearance of vegetables but also affect the yield and quality. The disease and pest control of vegetables is dominated by chemical sprays, for now. As a result, the excessive use of pesticides has been a crucial factor of pesticides’ non-point source pollution, and it is also the main cause of excessive pesticide residues in vegetables. Therefore, the design of efficient plant protection machinery and technology has become an urgent demand in order to ensure the quality and safety of vegetables. In this review, the machinery and technologies for vegetable protection are introduced from the aspects of chemical control and physical control. In the aspect of chemical control, handheld sprayers, self-propelled or track sprayers, fixed-pipe spray systems, vertical and horizontal boom sprayers, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and vegetable seed treatment techniques are introduced. In the aspect of physical control, soil physical disinfection, pest trapping technologies and ozone sterilizers are introduced. Finally, the existing problems and perspectives of pesticide application sprayers and physical control equipment for vegetables are summarized. This paper can provide references for vegetable growers and researchers.

Supplementary Light Differently Influences Physico-Chemical Parameters and Antioxidant Compounds of Tomato Fruits Hybrids

One of the challenges for agriculture in the coming years will be producing more food avoiding reducing the nutritional values of fruits and vegetables, sources of nutraceutical compounds. It has been demonstrated that light-emitting diodes (LEDs) used as a supplementary light (SL) technology improve tomato yield in Mediterranean greenhouses, but few data have been reported about SL effects on fruit physio-chemical parameters. In this study, three tomato hybrid (F1) cultivars were grown for year-round production in a commercial semi-closed glasshouse in Southern Italy: red cherry type ("Sorentyno"), red plum type ("Solarino"), and yellow plum type ("Maggino"). From 120 to 243 days after transplant (DAT), Red/White/Blue LEDs were used as SL. The fruits harvested 180 DAT were analyzed and those obtained under LEDs had 3% more dry weight, 15% more total soluble solids, and 16% higher titratable acidity than fruits grown only under natural light. Generally, the antioxidant activity and the mineral profile of the fruits were not negatively influenced by SL. Lycopene content was unchanged and vitamin C content of "Sorentyno" even increased by 15% under LEDs. Overall, LEDs used as SL technology could be one of the tools used by agriculture in Mediterranean basin to produce more food maintaining high quality production.