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To address sustainability challenges, agricultural advances in Mediterranean horticultural systems will necessitate a paradigmatic shift toward smart technologies, the impacts of which from a life cycle perspective have to be explored. Using life cycle thinking approaches, this study evaluated the synergistic environmental and economic performance of precise irrigation in greenhouse Zucchini production following a cradle-to-farm gate perspective. A cloud-based decision support system and a sensor-based irrigation management system (both referred to as “smart irrigation” approaches) were analyzed and compared to the farmer’s experience-based irrigation. The potential environmental indicators were quantified using life cycle assessment (LCA) with the ReCiPe 2016 method. For the economic analysis, life cycle costing (LCC) was applied, accounting not only for private product costs but also for so-called “hidden” or “external” environmental costs by monetizing LCA results. Smart irrigation practices exhibited similar performance, consuming on average 38.2% less irrigation water and energy, thus generating environmental benefits ranging from 0.17% to 62%. Single score results indicated that life cycle environmental benefits are up to 13% per ton of product. The cost-benefit analysis results showed that even though the implementation of smart irrigation imposes upfront investment costs, these costs are offset by the benefits to water and energy conservation associated with these practices. The reduction of investment costs and higher water costs in future, and lower internal rate of return can further enhance the profitability of smart irrigation strategies. The overall results of this study highlight that smart and innovative irrigation practices can enhance water-energy efficiency, gaining an economic advantage while also reducing the environmental burdens of greenhouse cultivation in a Mediterranean context.

LA GESTIONE IRRIGUA AUTOMATIZZATA, BASATA SULL'UTILIZZO DI SENSORI PER LA MISURA DELL'UMIDITÀ DEL SUBSTRATO, CONSENTE SIGNIFICATIVI RISPARMI IDRICI E INCREMENTA L'EFFICIENZA D'USO DELL'ACQUA

A 2-yr field study was conducted to evaluate the effects of calcium cyanamide as an alternative nitrogen (N) fertilizer source on N use efficiency (NUE), yield, and quality of two types of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), romaine (var. longifolia, cv. Manavert) and red oak-leaf (var. crispa, cv. Aruba), grown on clay soil under a Mediterranean environment. Pretransplanting application of 120 kg ha-1 of N as calcium cyanamide (120CC) was compared with a traditional split application of 120 kg ha-1 of soluble N (120SN) consisting of 50% ammonium sulfate applied before transplanting and 50% as ammonium nitrate applied after transplanting. An unfertilized control (0-N) was included to calculate NUE indices. At harvest leaf area index, dry weight, fresh yield, dry matter concentration, and NUE indices were not affected by the N source. Leaf nitrate (NO3-) content was on average 55 and 41% higher in Aruba than in Manavert in the first (Exp-1) and second (Exp-2) season, respectively. Plants fertilized with 120CC had lower leaf NO3- content (41 and 18% in Aruba and 70 and 21% in Manavert in Exp-1 and Exp-2, respectively) compared with those fertilized with 120SN. These results suggest calcium cyanamide may be used as an effective tool to reduce leaf NO3- accumulation and to produce high-quality lettuce in compliance with European Regulation No. 1258/2011 while assuring competitive yields.

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of native vascular flora in Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes to the Italian administrative regions for taxa in the genera Ajuga, Chamaemelum, Clematis, Convolvulus, Cytisus, Deschampsia, Eleocharis, Epipactis, Euphorbia, Groenlandia, Hedera, Hieracium, Hydrocharis, Jacobaea, Juncus, Klasea, Lagurus, Leersia, Linum, Nerium, Onopordum, Persicaria, Phlomis, Polypogon, Potamogeton, Securigera, Sedum, Soleirolia, Stachys, Umbilicus, Valerianella, and Vinca. Nomenclatural and distribution updates, published elsewhere, and corrigenda are provided as Suppl. material 1.

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions of taxa in the genera Bunias, Calocedrus, Calycanthus, Celosia, Clerodendrum, Convolvulus, Crassula, Cyclamen, Datura, Dicliptera, Eragrostis, Erigeron, Gamochaeta, Gazania, Impatiens, Kolkwitzia, Leucaena, Ludwigia, Medicago, Muscari, Nigella, Oenothera, Opuntia, Paulownia, Petroselinum, Phyllostachys, Physalis, Pseudosasa, Quercus, Reynoutria, Roldana, Saccharum, Sedum, Semiarundinaria, Senecio, Sisyrinchium, Solanum, Sporobolus, Tulipa, Vachellia, Verbena, and Youngia. Nomenclatural and distribution updates published elsewhere are provided as Suppl. material 1.

Protecting the environment by improving the crop-system nitrogen (N) use efficiency (NUE) while maximising yield and quality is a primary challenge for modern agriculture, and understanding the processes that govern N fluxes in the plant-soil system is essential to improve NUE. An on-farm study was conducted over two fall-winter seasons to evaluate the NUE, agronomical and physiological response of romaine (var. longifolia , cv Manavert) and red oak-leaf (var. crispa , cv Aruba) lettuce ( Lactuca sativa L.) to different N-rates (0, 60, 120, 180 kg ha–1 of N). Nitrogen rate influenced all tested parameters, including plant fresh and dry weight, N accumulation, leaf NO 3 – and dry matter content, NUE indices, N nutrition index (NNI), soil residual N and the estimated N losses at the end of the crop season. Fresh yield, dry weight and N-accumulation response to N rate were influenced by lettuce genotype. Manavert had higher N recovery, NUE, and lower leaf NO 3 – concentration than Aruba. Analysing the NNI overtime, 120 kg ha –1 of N assured an optimal N status in both Manavert and Aruba, while N deficiency and excess were observed at lower and higher N-rates, respectively. An empirical relationship was observed between NNI and leaf NO 3 – concentration, suggesting that leaf NO 3 – concentration may be used to predict NNI and thus the crop N status. The relationship between NNI and leaf NO 3 – concentration may be used to define optimal leaf NO 3 – concentration ranges for the rapid and site-specific assessment of the crop N status, and the dynamic adjustment of N-fertilisation, contributing to improve crop NUE, minimise N-losses, and optimise yield and quality of lettuce crops.

“Early” potato is a typical crop grown in most of the Mediterranean countries, and it is one of the most important horticultural crops exported towards the Northern European markets. In order to improve market value of early potatoes, growers are more and more involved in choosing new potato varieties and constantly looking for methods to improve the commercial quality of tubers. One of the most increasingly used agro-techniques is chemical haulm desiccation, which aims to simplify harvesting and can help to manipulate tuber size distribution and tuber skin-set. Its effect on yield and quality aspects of early potato remains to be better evaluated. This paper resumes results of trials and analysis conducted during 2007 concerning the effect of the application of a chemical desiccant (gluphosinate ammonium) on some relevant nutritional parameters of three early potato varieties (Spunta, Ditta, and Krone) grown in Southern Italy. Tubers from the trials were analyzed for tuber size distribution, flesh and skin colour, dry matter, nitrate, soluble carbohydrates, total and resistant starch, vitamin C, phenol content, and total antioxidant activity. Results indicate that chemical desiccation does not affect the levels of vitamin C and those of other molecules with antioxidant properties as well as those of total soluble carbohydrates. On the other hand, it induces a significant decrease in starch storage and an increase in the percentage of resistant starch (a component of dietary fibre).

BACKGROUND: Glufosinate-ammonium (GA) is used for chemical vine killing of potato crop before harvest. Over two years we tested the effect of GA, applied at 0.48 kg ha−1 of active ingredient, on desiccation of haulms, yield and some qualitative traits of tubers of three cultivars of early potatoes, a typical crop of southern Italy and large areas of the Mediterranean countries. RESULTS: Seven days after treatment desiccation reached 90% of leaves for all cultivars. At harvest, the highest desiccation percentage of haulms was 85% in Spunta. The desiccant did not affect yield in either year during which the analysis was carried out, but it increased the percentage of tubers in the range of 35–70 mm in diameter. In the first year, the treatment decreased dry matter and vitamin C content and increased free sugar concentration in tubers. In the second year, no negative effects on the nutritional traits were observed. Strong differences were found on yield and quality between the two years as a result of the different climatic conditions. CONCLUSION: In the two experiments GA had no influence on yield, but increased the percentage of potato tubers in the 35–70 mm range. From a qualitative standpoint in 2004 the chemical vine-killing treatment had some negative effects (decreased dry matter and vitamin C content, increased free sugar concentrations), whereas no such negative effects were observed in 2005. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry

Water management is a strategic activity for farmers who have to find the optimal trade off between water saving and high quality production, especially during summer, when crop water requirements increase. Hydrotech project aims to support farmers to define and apply a sustainable and effective irrigation strategy based on real crop water requirements and water resource availability. Hydrotech was carried out by a local consortium of private ICT SME (Sysman Progetti & Servizi) and Research institutions (CIHEAM-IAMB, CNR-ISPA) in order to develop an ICT solution focused on precision farming and irrigation support. The Hydrotech-system performances were presented in collaboration with ASSOCODIPUGLIA in the framework of the Interreg IRMA project. Test results on peach crops have shown a potential water saving of 15% with a resulting reduction of water losses due to deep percolation and a correspondent increase in the water use efficiency.

In the framework of a specific project supported by the EC-ERDF programme in the Apulia Region (Italy), a local consortium of private ICT companies and Research institutions is currently developing and testing a Decision Support System called 'HydroTech' (HT-DSS), which aims to integrate the latest scientific knowledge on crop water requirements and irrigation scheduling with the more advanced technological solutions for the continuous sensor-based monitoring in the soil-plant-atmosphere system, as well as the remote and automated control of irrigation supply networks. The 'core' algorithm of Hydrotech-DSS is based on the well-established FAO-56 methodology (Allen et al., 1998), further improved in order to allow the application of different models for ETo estimation, to apply the heat unit concept for the simulation of crop development, to customize irrigation strategies options according to a complete set of priorities (including deficit irrigation), and finally to allow the further improvement of the Kc curve according to crop/variety specific biometric and phenological measurements. An additional 'multi-plot/crop management module' has been created for the real-time simulation of the crop water balance, as well as to simulate a 3 to 7- days projected scenario using the high-resolution weather forecasting data, in order to forward a day-by-day irrigation planning. Then, a 'dynamic optimizer' supports the optimal setting of the irrigation priorities at the farm scale by taking into account water availability at the source (e.g. well, reservoir), the level of water stress reached by each crop type and the economic parameters including the cost of applied management practices and expected market price. At plot scale, the continuous monitoring of soil water status by capacitance soil water sensors enables the HT-DSS to further support the application of 'closed-loop' irrigation control strategies by setting irrigation timing and amount in order to reach a specific soil moisture content and/or to avoid/control plant water stress. Finally, HT-DSS integrates a set of flexible solutions for partially or completely automated irrigation management, by means of real-time and remote monitoring in the water supply network (volumes, discharges, pressures, etc.) and control of actuators (at the level of pumping station, hydrants, electro-valves, etc.) to support farm operational management, as described in the companion paper (Riezzo et al.,2013; this issue).The preliminary results of the DSS implementation are presented in relation to the on-going experimental and demonstration activities established in different local farms, and an example of application for a peach orchard is briefly introduced.

A consortium of private ICT companies and Research institutions has developed a new automatized decision support system which integrates the results of scientific achievements and technological innovations in the fields of crop water requirements and irrigation scheduling, on-field data acquisition, transmission and management, and application of web and app tools for real-time irrigation management. The decision support system, called Hydro-Tech (HT-DSS) aimed: a) to design a 'simple and practical', user-friendly computer/mobile-based DSS, by considering also the end-user feedbacks and specific requirements; b) to test and validate at farm level the effectiveness and reliability of simulations for different vegetables, fruit trees and grapevine crops, under different agronomic, management and pedo-climatic conditions; c) to test the effective integration of different technologies; and d) to evaluate the most cost-effective solutions. The HT-DSS is based on the Guidelines for computing crop water requirements described in the FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56 and consecutive updates and improvements. The system runs on a daily basis at the scale of a single 'irrigated plot' and permits the optimization of irrigation inputs at the farm scale through a dynamic multi-crop/farm optimizer. A standard interface connecting the on-field devices with the client software application through a Data Cloud Network (Hydrotech Data Cloud, HDC) was developed. It supports, via new generation of smart devices (tablets, smartphones, laptops), wireless and continuous monitoring of the on-field weather/soil/crop conditions and the remote control and management of irrigation. The main algorithms of the model are briefly introduced in this paper, together with the preliminary results of the ongoing experimental activity at farm level in Apulia region (Southern Italy).

In the framework of the HydroTech project (supported by Apulia region and the ECERDF programme), local private ICT companies in collaboration with research institutions are developing and testing at farm scale an integrated Decision Support System (DSS) for irrigation management, through the integration of advanced software and hardware technologies. Hydrotech-DSS provides standard interfaces, which connect on-field devices with client software application through a Data Cloud Network (Hydrotech Data Cloud, HDC). The HDC is composed of: 1) Knowledge Data Base, a DB for large amount of data coming from heterogeneous but strongly correlated sources; 2) a 'gateway' based on web services technology, to connect external (onfield) devices together with an open standard communication protocol; 3) a set of software components constituting the APP Data Chain from source to destination passing by elaboration steps(Data Assimilation, Model Engine, Decision Maker). The Decision Maker module supports two types of decision system: the MSS (Management Support System) enables the end-user to manage the work flow of his farm, whereas the DSS (Decision Support System) supports him during irrigation/fertigation management activities (e.g. timing and amount of irrigation according to weather forecast, crop water stress, irrigation system constraints, etc.). The system allows fast and simply information transfer directly to the field through an easy interface accessible with new smart devices (tablet, smartphone, etc.). The user interface allows: 1) to receive aid for the decision (irrigation and fert-irrigation advice) directly on the field within its validity time window by means of "push-pull" technology; 2) to interact with the HDC to send the feedback (e.g. treatment registration), characterize the individual farm and adjust the system parameters; 3) to use different type of software client application, such as classic client-server for professional use on rugged tablet and computers, or smart/user friendly for mobile device and web based; 4) to work off-line and to synchronize the database when data connection will be available; 5) to enable users for the automation and remote control of irrigation system equipment (e.g. hydrants, electric valves). With respect to the design and development of the hardware infrastructure, the 'field unit' is composed by sensor devices (EAP, end-acquisitionpoint), actuator devices and the so-called 'coordinator' which is aware of the whole configuration and logics to be respected. Each sensor/actuator must be placed in the most favourable site, and each EAP is equipped with Li-Ion rechargeable battery and a solar panel in order to have the highest installation facility. Acquired data can be transferred to the 'coordinator' by means of different technologies (LAN, 3G, GPRS, ZigBee, WiFI, Bluetooth, etc.). The coordinator is a gateway provided with moderate computation and storage capabilities able to collect data from the EAP, perform basic checks and transmit them to the centralized cloud system, which is able to perform the main computations. Many different technologies can be adopted to transfer data to the cloud system. Once the irrigation decisions have been computed and approved, commands are sent to the 'coordinator' which is responsible to forward these commands to actuators adopting specific field strategies.

Wheat is among the crops that are affected by increasing drought and water scarcity, and deficit irrigation (DI) is considered to be an effective strategy to stabilize yields under limited water availability. To support on-farm DI management, methods based on soil water balance and canopy temperature measurements have been suggested to be reliable for field application. A preliminary experiment was set at CIHEAM-IAMB to evaluate the effect of different water regimes on two durum wheat varieties. In our experiment, under full irrigation (FI) the crop was kept quite constantly under unstressed conditions, while under DI (supported with 50% of corresponding FI supplies) and rainfed regimes, moderate water stress started respectively during the 'early grain filling' and the 'booting to heading' stages, subsequently increasing until the end of the cropping season. Grain yield reached 4.4 t/ha under FI, while it was reduced by only 14% in the case of DI treatment (3.8 t/ha) but with a corresponding potential water saving of about 44% (from 281 mm to 159 mm of total irrigation supplies). On the other side, DI increased yield of about 43% with respect to rainfed production (2.6 t/ha). The 'biomass water use efficiency' (WUEb) decreased moving from rainfed (3.51) to FI treatment (2.42), and similarly the 'yield water use efficiency' (WUEy) increased moving from FI (1.19) to DI (1.32) and to rainfed treatment (1.47). Midday canopy temperature (Tc) was remotely measured at plot scale by means of a thermal camera and the corresponding 'empirical' CWSI was computed. The CWSI followed the same daily trend for the two varieties and it appeared to be a good indicator of plant water stress as it was ranging between 0-0.1 under non-stressed conditions, while it increased steadily after the imposition of water stress, first for rainfed (at booting stage) and after for DI (at early filling stage), reaching values of 0.7-0.9 at the end of the season. A comparison of the 'measured' CWSI with the 'simulated' Ks has been done under the different water regimes, and the modification of some selected crop parameters resulted in the improvement of model simulations.

This study aims at understanding the best management practices to improve water use efficiency of durum wheat, a strategic crop for the Mediterranean region. A field work was carried out at the experimental fields of Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari (IAMB) in Valenzano (Southern Italy), to investigate the performances of two cultivars (Vendetta and Pietrafitta) of durum wheat when grown under the combined effects of two sowing dates (December and February, reported respectively as winter and spring cultivation) and three different water regimes (full irrigation, deficit irrigation with 50% of full irrigation supply, and rainfed). The responses in terms of growth, yield and yield quality and water use efficiency have been studied. The results demonstrated that both sowing practices gave very good yield, in terms of quantity and quality, especially when full irrigation was applied. The winter wheat cultivation resulted in greater yield water use efficiency (WUEy) than the spring wheat cultivation. 'Vendetta' was more productive than 'Pietrafitta', the latter was less adapted to spring cultivation and water stress. Full irrigated wheat provided the highest yield, but lower WUEy in respect to defici irrigated wheat. Favorable climatic conditions during the winter season supported a reasonable level of yield and high WUEy for rainfed crops sown in winter. Spring cultivation of wheat requires irrigation. Deficit irrigated wheat had the highest WUEy, showing that the use of non-optimal (supplemental) irrigation is a good strategy to improve yields of durum wheat in semi-arid areas and save water.