• Energy Research

The Mediterranean region is one of the main region affected by the impact of global climate change, with a strong drawbacks on agricultural productions and thus on food security. Durum wheat is a rain-fed crop mainly cultivated in the Mediterranean basin and threatened by climate change. In particular drought stress (DS) is one of the major constraints that can negatively affect crops production worldwide. In the present contribution high-throughput phenotyping was used to characterize shoot and root traits of a set durum wheat landraces (SSD) held by CNR-IBBR institute. On the basis of these results 2 genotypes have been identified for interesting features linked to drought tolerance.

AbstractTo ensure the food security of future generations and to address the challenge of the ‘no hunger zone’ proposed by the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), crop production must be doubled by 2050, but environmental stresses are counteracting this goal. Heat stress in particular is affecting agricultural crops more frequently and more severely. Since the discovery of the physiological, molecular, and genetic bases of heat stress responses, cultivated plants have become the subject of intense research on how they may avoid or tolerate heat stress by either using natural genetic variation or creating new variation with DNA technologies, mutational breeding, or genome editing. This review reports current understanding of the genetic and molecular bases of heat stress in crops together with recent approaches to creating heat-tolerant varieties. Research is close to a breakthrough of global relevance, breeding plants fitter to face the biggest challenge of our time.

Wheat straw is an abundant source of lignocellulosic biomass that is generally not utilized for biofuel production, nor for other uses. Recent EU renewable energy directive fosters bioethanol production through lignocellulosic sugars fermentation, but the cost of this process is an issue that often depends on biomass characteristics. Lignin is a class of three-dimensional polymers providing structural integrity of plant tissues. Its complex structure, together with hemicelluloses and uronic acids content, could affect the ability of hydrolyzing biomass to fermentable sugars. To get insights into this variation, a set of 10 durum wheat genotypes was analyzed to determine variation of straw digestibility to fermentable sugars. The results showed that the lignin content was the major factor determining the recalcitrance to enzymatic process. The analysis of Spearman’s correlation indicated that the sugar released after enzymatic hydrolysis had a negative connection with the lignin content, while it was positively correlated with the culm length. The possible role of other cell wall components, such as arabinose and uronic acids, was also discussed. This work aimed at analyzing the diversity of lignocellulosic digestibility to fermentable sugars of wheat straw in a small germplasm collection. Some of the selected genotypes were characterized by high sugars digestibility and high grain yield, characteristics that could make biorefining of wheat straw profitable.

The scarcity of water due to climate change is endangering worldwide the production, quality, and economic viability of growing wine grapes. One of the main mitigation measures to be adopted in the viticulture sector will be an adequate irrigation strategy. Irrigation involves an increasing demand for water, a natural limited resource with increasing availability problems for the foreseeable future. Therefore, the development of a precision irrigation system, which is able to manage the efficient use of water and to monitor the crop water stress, is an important research topic for viticulture. This paper, through the analysis of a case study, aims to describe the prototype of a software platform that integrates data coming from different innovative remote and proximal sensors to monitor the hydric stress status of the vineyard. In addition, by using a cost analysis of grape cultivation and implementing economic indices, this study examines the conditions by which irrigation strategies may be economically justified, helping the decision-making process. By combining different sensors, the platform makes it possible to assess the spatial and temporal variability of water in vineyards. In addition, the output data of the platforming, matched with the economic indices, support the decision-making process for winemakers to optimize and schedule water use under water-scarce conditions.

AbstractIrrigation is key to increasing crop yield and meeting the global demand for food. This study reports the assessment of tomato water consumption by bioristor, a new in vivo an Organic ElectroChemical Transistor-based biosensor. Bioristor enables direct, real-time acquisition of biophysical information about the plant’s water requirements directly from the plant sap, and thus the water input can be adjusted accordingly.The aim of this study is to demonstrate the efficacy of bioristor in rapidly detecting changes in the plant’s water status enhancing water use and irrigation efficiency in tomato cultivation with significant savings in the water supply. To this end, experiments were carried out in 2018 and 2020 in Parma (Italy) in tomato fields under different water regimes. The sensor response index (R) produced by bioristor recorded the real time plant health status, highlighting an excess in the water supplied as well as the occurrence of drought stress during the growing season. In both years, bioristor showed that the amount of water supplied could have been reduced by 36% or more. Bioristor also measured the timing and duration of leaf wetting: 438 h and 409 h in 2018 and 2020, respectively. These results open up new perspectives in irrigation efficiency and in more sustainable approaches to pesticide application procedures.