Tomato (Solanum lycopersicon L.) is a highly valued crop in the world, particularly in Nigeria with high nutritional and economic benefits. However, its production in Iwollo, Southeast Nigeria, is constrained by unfavorable weather conditions. To address this, a study was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm, Department of Horticultural Technology, Enugu State Polytechnic, Iwollo, Southeast Nigeria to evaluate and select the best cultivar for high tunnel production using the Rank Summation Index. Completely Randomized Design with three replications was used, and six high-yielding cultivars, namely Roma VF, BHN-1021, Supremo, Pomodro, Money maker, and Iwollo local, were evaluated. Data were collected on key agronomic characters and analyzed with Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at a 0.05 level of probability. There were significant differences in the number of leaves per plant, plant height, number of branches per plant, days to fruit maturity, fresh fruit weight, number of harvested fresh fruits per plant, and fresh fruit yield per plant among the cultivars. These characters that showed significant differences were ranked and summed up to obtain the Rank Summation Index (RSI) score. The results revealed that the Supremo cultivar had the lowest and best score (18). This suggests Supremo as the best cultivar for high tunnel tomato production in the study area, based on its superior performance across key agronomic traits.

Soil salinity is a major abiotic stress that drastically hinders plant growth and development, resulting in lower crop yields and productivity. As one of the most consumed vegetables worldwide, tomato (Solanum lycropersicum L.) plays a key role in the human diet. The current study aimed to explore the differential tolerance level of two tomato varieties (Rio Grande and Agata) to salt stress. To this end, various growth, physiological and biochemical attributes were assessed after two weeks of 100 mM NaCl treatment. Obtained findings indicated that, although the effects of salt stress included noticeable reductions in shoots’ and roots’ dry weights and relative growth rate as well as total leaf area, for the both cultivars, Rio Grande performed better compared to Agata variety. Furthermore, despite the exposure to salt stress, Rio Grande was able to maintain an adequate tissue hydration and a high leaf mass per area (LMA) through the accumulation of proline. However, relative water content, LMA and proline content were noticeably decreased for Agata cultivar. Likewise, total leaf chlorophyll, soluble proteins and total carbohydrates were significantly decreased; whereas, malondialdehyde was significantly accumulated in response to salt stress for the both cultivars. Moreover, such negative effects were remarkably more pronounced for Agata relative to Rio Grande cultivar. Overall, the current study provided evidence that, at the early growth stage, Rio Grande is more tolerant to salt stress than Agata variety. Therefore, Rio Grande variety may constitute a good candidate for inclusion in tomato breeding programs for salt-tolerance and is highly recommended for tomato growers, particularly in salt-affected fields.

The performance of five cauliflower cultivars in conventional and alternative phytosanitary management—without the use of synthetic pesticides—was evaluated. Two experiments were conducted at Epagri, Ituporanga Experimental Station in February 2018 and 2019. A randomized block design with four repetitions was adopted, with twenty plants of each cultivar as plots. The seedlings were transplanted on millet and mucuna straw at a spacing of 0.5 m × 0.8 m. We evaluated agronomic yield, inflorescence quality, pest damage and plant diseases, especially bacterial and fungal rots. The cauliflower hybrids Vera, Verona and Serena stood out in productivity and quality, being the most indicated for sowing in off-season crops, in the Alto Vale do Itajaí region. The most productive cultivars were less damaged by bacterial diseases and defoliating caterpillars and without interference of whitefly infestation on yield. The results also reveal that it is possible to control pests and diseases with phytosanitary products of lower toxicity, i.e., with lower residues of synthetic pesticides.

A problem in post-harvest of avocado (Persea americana Mill.) is the heterogeneity in fruit ripening, due to differences in the time of fruit set and the inability to ripen on the tree, a situation that causes inconsistencies in quality and differences in the response to preservation and processing technologies. In postharvest, the application of ethylene gas in hermetic chambers has been used to advance ripening; however, the use of ethylene releasers in liquid form (ethephon) has been proposed as an alternative, mainly for the treatment of low volumes of fruit. The present work was carried out in the production zone of Salvador Escalante (Michoacán, Mexico) with the objective of evaluating the effect of the application of two concentrations of ethephon on the time and homogenization of fruit ripening of avocado cultivars (cv.) Hass and Méndez. Fruits with 23.4% (cv. Hass) and 24% (cv. Méndez) of dry matter were harvested; one group was immersed in a solution of ethephon 500 mg/L and the other in 1,000 mg/L, both for 5 minutes; the treated fruits plus a control were stored at 20 °C for 11 days. Changes in respiration, ethylene production, weight loss, firmness, epicarp and pulp color, total phenol, chlorophyll and total carotenoid concentrations were evaluated. The results showed that ethephon doses of 1,000 mg/L in cv. Hass and 500 mg/L in cv. Méndez presented a ripening process 2 days earlier than the control.

This study investigates the performance assessment of methanol and water as working fluid in a solar-powered vapour absorption refrigeration system. This research clarifies the system’s performance across a spectrum of operating conditions. Furthermore, the HAP software was utilized to determine and scrutinize the cooling load, facilitating a comparative analysis between software-based results and theoretical calculations. To empirically substantiate the findings, this research investigates methanol-water as a superior refrigerant compared to traditional ammonia- water and LiBr-water systems. Through experimental analysis and its comparison with previous research, the methanol-water refrigeration system demonstrated higher cooling efficiency and better environmental compatibility. The system’s performance was evaluated under varying conditions, showing that methanol-water has a 1% higher coefficient of performance (COP) compared to ammonia-water systems, proving its superior effectiveness in solar-powered applications. This empirical model acts as a pivotal tool for understanding the dynamic relationship between methanol concentration (40%, 50%, 60%) and system performance. The results show that temperature of the evaporator (5–15 ℃), condenser (30 ℃–50 ℃), and absorber (25 ℃–50 ℃) are constant, the coefficient of performance (COP) increases with increase in generator temperature. Furthermore, increasing the evaporator temperature while keeping constant temperatures for the generator (70 ℃–100 ℃), condenser, and absorber improves the COP. The resulting data provides profound insights into optimizing refrigerant concentrations for improved efficiency.

The xanthorrhiza species of the genus Arracacia belongs to the Apiaceae family and is known for its ability to generate tuberous reservoir roots that are harvested annually and marketed fresh in South American countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. In Colombia, arracacha is planted mainly in 15 departments and the regional cultivars are differentiated by the color of the leaves, petiole and tuberous root, the best known being amarilla común or paliverde, yema de huevo, and cartagenera. There are studies that have characterized regional materials by applying a limited number of descriptors, but they do not allow knowing the morphology and phenotypic differentiation of each one; therefore, their definition and characterization constitute a support in breeding programs that allow the efficient use of the genetic potential and increase the knowledge about the diversity of cultivars. Phenotypic characterization and description of three cultivars was performed during two production cycles (2016 and 2018) in two phases (vegetative and productive) applying 74 morphological variables (42 qualitative and 32 quantitative) organized in seven groups of variables: plant, leaf, leaflet, petiole, propagule, stock and tuberous root. A factorial analysis for mixed data (FAMD) was performed, which incorporated a multivariate analysis with all variables and identified 11 discriminant variables, 8 qualitative and 3 quantitative, which can be used in processes of characterization of arracacha materials. A morphological description of each cultivar was made, which means that this is the first complete characterization study of regional arracacha materials in Colombia.