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The success of olive (Olea europaea) orchards depends on the interaction between genotype, planting system and orchard management. Research efforts often collide with the lack of high-throughput monitoring technologies for effective and rapid evaluation of expressed phenotypes under field conditions. Rapid phenotyping technologies allow to acquire a large amount of information in a relatively short period, optimizing efforts and labor. In an experiment carried out in Sicily, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with VIS-NIR cameras was used to monitor canopy characteristics of three olive cultivars (‘Koroneiki’, ‘Biancolilla’ and ‘Calatina’), planted at three different planting distances (PD) (4×4, 4×3 and 4×2 m). Vegetative indices and canopy geometrical characteristics were calculated by means of the map algebra technique and structure from motion technique, respectively. Significant differences in the normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI) and green normalized differential vegetation index (GNDVI) values were measured for the different combinations of cultivars and PD. In particular, the highest and lowest values of NDVI and GNDVI indices were measured in Koroneiki (4×4 m) and ‘Calatina’ (4×3 m) plots, respectively. There was a linear relation between NDVI and pruning removed, expressed on both mass and volume per tree, for all cultivar × PD combinations. Tree canopy volume, estimated by the UAV-VIS camera technique, was higher in Koroneiki than in ‘Calatina’, with intermediate values measured in ‘Biancolilla’. The more spaced trees (4×4 m) had bigger canopies (6.4 m3) than those planted at 4×2 m (5.7 m3), but when the volume was expressed as m3 of canopy per m2 of soil the opposite trend was observed. The higher canopy volume per square meter was related to a higher fraction of intercepted PAR measured at noon. Our results indicate potential application of the UAV-VIS-NIR technique to determine canopy characteristics of different planting systems and cultivars of olive.

In order to evaluate the effects of beneficial microorganisms on greenhouse tomato “plum” grown under salinity conditions, research was carried out in Naples (southern Italy), by evaluating two arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) treatments (Micoseeds Plus by Msbiotech, Myco Apply DR by Sumitomo, and a non-inoculated control) in factorial combinations with four soil electrical conductivities (1, 2, 3 or 4 mS cm-1 EC), by using a split plot design with three replicates. The mycorrhizal index increased from 1 to 2 mS cm-1 in plant roots inoculated with AMF, whereas in the control it decreased when the soil EC increased from 1 to 3 mS cm-1; the control attained lower values of mycorrhizal index than AMF treatments at any soil EC. AMF inoculated plants matured two days later than the control plants, but showed higher yield at all soil ECs. The plants grown under the 4 mS cm-1 soil EC matured four days earlier compared to 1 mS cm-1; the inoculation with beneficial microorganisms resulted in the best production performance under the 3 mS cm-1 soil EC due to both higher fruit number and mean weight, whereas the control plants attained the highest yield under both 2 and 3 mS cm-1 soil EC. The highest values of fruit dry residue and soluble solids as well as polyphenols, ascorbic acid and lycopene content were recorded under both of the AMF inoculations, and 4 mS cm-1 soil EC. The application of beneficial microorganisms as an environmentally friendly tool resulted in the improvement of tomato yield and quality performances both in normal and in saline soils.

This research was carried out to assess the effects of biodegradable mulching films on fruit yield and quality performances of greenhouse grown tomato, in southern Italy. Four mulching treatments (two MaterBi biodegradable black films, MB N2/12 and MB N8, having 15 and 12 μm thickness respectively; black polyethylene film, LDPE, 50 μm thick; non-mulched control) were compared using a randomized complete block design with three replicates. LDPE resulted in higher harvest precocity than non-mulched control. The biodegradable MB N8 and the plastic LDPE films led to the highest fruit yield, total crop biomass and leaf area index, whereas the non-mulched control had the lowest values in terms of overall performances. Fruit dry matter and soluble solids were the highest under the biodegradable films MB N2/12 and MB N8, and the lowest in the control. Titratable acidity and color component “a” were the highest under MB N8 and the lowest in the control. Fruits of MB N8 and LDPE attained the highest levels of color components “L” and “b” respectively, the biodegradable mulch MB N8 also led to the highest fruit firmness. The highest antioxidant concentrations and activities were obtained from the biodegradable films. Biodegradable mulch films MB N2/12 and MB N8 proved to be as effective as the plastic film in terms of tomato yield, but the positive effect on fruit quality and antioxidant content as well as the environmentally friendly features of those films also increase their importance.