The impact of an extreme climatic disturbance and different fertilization treatments on plant development, phenology, and yield of two cultivar groups of Solanum betaceum Cav

[EN] Changing climatic conditions impose a challenge both to biodiversity and food security. The effects of climate change affect different aspects of the plant or crop, such as morphological and phenological aspects, as well as yield. The effects of greenhouse conditions might be comparable in some cases to a permanent extreme disturbance in climate and weather, thus, contributing to our knowledge on climate change impacts on plant species. We have investigated the differences for 23 traits in two cultivar groups of an Andean traditional crop, Solanum betaceum, under two different environmental conditions that correspond to the traditional practices in the open field and three cultural managements under greenhouse conditions (no fertilization or control, organic, and mineral). We found that traditional practices in the open field are the less productive. Moreover, in warmer and drier conditions the treatment with organic fertilization was the most productive. Greenhouse conditions, however, delay production. We further identified traits that differentiate both cultivar groups and traits that are linked to either the new climate conditions or the fertilization treatments. Fruit characteristics were quite homogeneous between the two cultivar groups. Overall, our results provide insight on the consequences that climate change effects might exert on crops such as tree tomato, reveal that greenhouses can be a robust alternative for tree tomato production, and highlight the need to understand how different managements are linked to different solutions to fulfil the farmers' demands.M.X.R.-G. was funded by Secretaria Nacional de Educacion Superior, Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion (SENESCYT: www.educacionsuperior.gob.ec/) with a Prometeo Fellowship. This research was co-financed by Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, http://www.upm.es/ (Ayudas para proyectos semilla de investigacion PID para Latinoamerica, proyecto AL14-PID-09: http://www.upm.es/sfs/Rectorado/Vicerrectarode%20de%20Relaciones%,20Internacionales/America%20Latina/AyudaLA_Adjud13.pdf) and Universidad Tecnica Tecnica Paticular de Loja, https://www.utpl.edu.ec/ (proyecto PROY_FIN_CCAA_ 0016). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Tandazo-Yunga, J.; Ruíz-González, MJ.; Rojas, J.; Capa-Mora, E.; Prohens Tomás, J.; Alejandro, J.; Acosta-Quezada, P. (2017). The impact of an extreme climatic disturbance and different fertilization treatments on plant development, phenology, and yield of two cultivar groups of Solanum betaceum Cav. PLoS ONE. 12(12). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0190316Se0190316121

The challenge of the oil palm: Using degraded land for its cultivation

Palm oil is a valuable product used all over the world in a vast number of products for daily use. The oil palm, once well established, is very productive, captures large amounts of carbon and provides good protection to the soil. The use of residues as fuel makes oil extraction plants self-sufficient in energy and produces surplus electricity. A large part of the plant nutrients can be recycled by composting empty fruit bunches, with palm oil mill effluent and ashes added. Smallholders contribute close to 50% of the palm oil traded worldwide. The crop has acquired a bad reputation, however, because of the forests which have been and continue to be cleared for new plantations. The rate of forest clearing has been particularly high in Indonesia and Malaysia, with Thailand and some African countries following at a distance. Forests on peat soils are also increasingly used, releasing even larger amounts of CO2 from peat decomposition. In the ecologies where oil palm thrives, vast expanses of speargrass ( Imperata cylindrica) have resulted from logging and injudicious land use, including poorly managed plantations. Although speargrass is hard to get rid of, a sequence of annual and perennial plant species is capable to suppress the grass, opening a window for planting oil palm in the degraded land. A well-established oil palm crop will then keep the grass out, because of the latter’s intolerance for shade. Thus, the oil palm’s image in the eyes of the public as an ecological disaster can be converted into its opposite: that of a tool to restore the productive capacity of degraded lands. Vast numbers of smallholders can thereby safeguard their livelihood. The oil palm industry has the means and skills to make this happen. </jats:p