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Taxol® (paclitaxel), an important anticancer agent, is found in many species of yew. As the need for Taxol increases, sustainable sources must be found for this drug. Plants often respond to stress with increased production of terpenoid compounds such as Taxol and related taxanes or hormones such as abscisic acid (ABA). To determine whether water stress would enhance the production and recovery of Taxol from stem clippings, 100 young Taxu×media `Hicksii' shrubs were grown for sustainable production of Taxol from stem clippings for two seasons in the dry climate of the Malheur Experiment Station in Ontario, Ore. Shrubs were grown under minimal, moderate, or severe water stress, and the relationships between taxane content and 1) soil and plant water potentials, 2) percentage of stomatal closure, and 3) ABA content were examined. Severely water-stressed shrubs produced significantly more taxanes and ABA than did the less stressed shrubs. Chemical names used: Taxol; 10-deacetyl baccatin III; baccatin III; 10-deacetyl taxol, cephalomannine; 7-epi; 10-deacetyl taxol; abscisic acid. Taxol is a registered trademark of Bristol-Myers Squibb.
A fundamental way to schedule irrigation is through the monitoring and management of soil water tension (SWT). Soil water tension is the force necessary for plant roots to extract water from the soil. With the invention of tensiometers, SWT measurements have been used to schedule irrigation. There are different types of field instruments used to measure SWT, either directly or indirectly. Precise irrigation scheduling by SWT criteria is a powerful method to optimize plant performance. Specific SWT criteria for irrigation scheduling have been developed to optimize the production and quality of vegetable crops, field crops, trees, shrubs, and nursery crops. This review discusses known SWT criteria for irrigation scheduling that vary from 2 to 800 kPa depending on the crop species, plant product to be optimized, environmental conditions, and irrigation system. By using the ideal SWT and adjusting irrigation duration and amount, it is possible to simultaneously achieve high productivity and meet environmental stewardship goals for water use and reduced leaching.
Although the term consultant is used extensively, the duty of an international horticultural consultant (IHC) lacks precision. We propose that the job of an IHC has many attributes similar to an extension agent in the United States. Accordingly, we highlight the responsibilities of an IHC and put them in a historic and organizational context. Subsequently, we give advice about how to act and behave adequately when going to a new country. We bring in experience from successful IHC and a synopsis of specialist literature. Because we stress the importance of the credibility of an IHC within the farming community he is working with, we emphasize interaction with her/his professional and social environment. An IHC must have a genuine interest in the people being served and their challenges and adequate competence to provide a genuine contribution.
With the intensification of horticultural research around the world, increasing numbers of scientific manuscripts are being written in English by authors whose primary language is not English. English has become the standard language of science, and English language manuscripts are readily accessible to the global scientific community. Therefore, non-native English speakers are encouraged to publish appropriate studies in English. Reviewers of manuscripts written in English by non-native speakers are encouraged to focus on scientific content and to provide constructive criticisms to facilitate the international exchange of information. Problems associated with writing scientific manuscripts in English can impede the publication of good science in international journals. This article describes problems in horticultural manuscripts that are often encountered by authors who are non-native English speakers and provides suggestions and resources to overcome these problems. References have been selected that provide clear help for authors in horticulture and other plant sciences.
Onion (Allium cepa L.) production in the Treasure Valley of eastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho has been based on furrow irrigation with 318 kg·ha-1 N fertilizer and average yields of 70 Mg·ha-1, but these practices have been implicated in nitrate contamination of groundwater. Drip irrigation, introduced in the early 1990s, has several advantages, including reduced leaching losses. Since onion plant populations and N fertilizer rates can affect economic returns, studies were conducted in 1999, 2000, and 2001 to determine optimum plant populations and N fertilizer rates for subsurface drip-irrigated onion. Long-day onion (`Vision') was subjected to a combination of seven nitrogen fertilization rates (0 to 336 kg·ha-1 in 56-kg increments applied between late May and early July) and four plant populations (185, 250, 300, and 370 thousand plants/ha). Onion was grown on silt loam in two double rows spaced 0.56 m apart on 1.1 m beds with a drip tape buried 13 cm deep in the bed center. Soil water potential was maintained nearly constant at -20 kPa by automated irrigations based on soil water potential measurements at a 0.2-m depth. Onion bulbs were evaluated for yield and grade after 70 days of storage. Onion yield and grade were highly responsive to plant population. Onion marketable yield increased, and bulb diameter decreased with increasing plant population. Within the range of plant populations tested, gross returns were not always responsive to plant population. Returns were increased by the increase in marketable yield obtained with higher plant population, but higher plant population also reduced the production of the largest sized bulbs which had the highest value per weight. Onion yielded 95 Mg·ha-1 with no applied N fertilizer, averaged over plant populations and years. Onion yield and grade were not responsive to N fertilizer rate or interaction of N fertilizer rate with plant population. Preplant soil available N, N mineralization, and N in irrigation water all contributed N to the crop. Onion N uptake did not increase with increasing N fertilizer rate.
Eleven treatments in 1999 and thirteen treatments in 2000 containing single or combined nonconventional additives from eight manufacturers were compared with an untreated check for their effect on onion (Alliumcepa L.) yield and quality, and for their economic efficiency. The nonconventional additives were tested at commercial rates using the methods of application provided by the manufacturers. The products were applied to soil, foliage, or both. The treatments, including the check, were incorporated into standard cultural practices for onions. All treatments (with exception of an organic fertilizer treatment), including the check, were fertilized based on soil tests. In both years, none of the products evaluated significantly increased onion yield or quality compared to the untreated check. The organic fertilizer treatment, tested in 1999 only, resulted in significantly lower onion yield and size compared to the check. At the application rates used in this study, most of the products supplied plant nutrients or humic acid in amounts insufficient to expect improvements in crop production.
Onion (Allium cepa) cultivars for commercial production in eastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho are evaluated annually in replicated yield trials conducted at the Malheur Experiment Station, Oregon State University, Ontario. Market demand has progressively called for larger bulb size and bulbs with single centers. At harvest onions were evaluated for maturity, number of bolters, and single centeredness. Cultivars showed a wide range of bulbs with only one growing point or “bullet” single centers, ranging from 1% to 57% in 2000, from 7% to 70% in 2001, and from 1% to 74% in 2002. The percentages of bulbs functionally single-centered for processing uses ranged from 18% to 88% in 2000, from 24.7% to 91.3% in 2001, and from 14.4% to 92% in 2002. Bulb yield and market grade were evaluated out of storage. Marketable yield after 4 months of storage varied significantly by cultivar from 643 to 1196 cwt/acre (72.1 to 134.1 Mg·ha–1) in 2000, from 538 to 980 cwt/acre (60.3 to 109.8 Mg·ha–1) in 2001, and from 583 to 1119 cwt/acre (65.3 to125.4 Mg·ha–1) in 2002. Averaging over cultivars, super colossal bulb size averaged 26%, 14%, and 10% in 2000, 2001, and 2002, respectively.
Although an irrigation onset criterion for drip-irrigated onion (Allium cepa) has been determined, the optimal irrigation intensity has not been examined. Some authors have argued that very high irrigation frequencies with low amounts of water are needed to maximize crop responses. Long-day, sweet Spanish onions were grown on 44-inch beds with two double rows spaced 1.8 ft apart and a drip tape buried 4 inches deep in the bed center. Onions were submitted to eight treatments as a combination of four irrigation intensities (1/16, 1/8, 1/4, and 1/2 inch of water per irrigation) and two drip tape emitter flow rates (0.5 and 0.25 L·h–1) on silt loam in 2002 and 2003. The 1/16-, 1/8-, 1/4-, and 1/2-inch irrigation intensities had irrigations scheduled up to eight times, four times, twice, or once per day, respectively, to replenish soil water potential to –20 cbar as needed. Each plot was independently and automatically irrigated if the soil water potential at 8-inch depth was equal to or lower than –20 cbar. This resulted in an average of 564, 269, 121, and 60 irrigations over 107 days for the 1/16-, 1/8-, 1/4-, and 1/2-inch irrigation intensities, respectively. Onions were harvested, stored, and evaluated for yield and grade after 75 days of storage. Averaged over irrigation intensities, the drip tape with 0.5 L·h–1 emitters had significantly higher total yield, marketable yield, and colossal onion yield than the tape with 0.25 L·h–1 emitters. Averaged over emitter type, the 1/2-inch irrigation intensity had higher total and marketable onion yields than the 1/16- and 1/8-inch intensities. Averaged over emitter type, the 1/2-inch irrigation intensity resulted in the highest super colossal and colossal onion yield. Onions grown with an irrigation intensity of 1/2 inch and drip tape with emitter flow rate of 0.5 L·h–1 produced total yields of 50.0 ton/acre, marketable yields of 48.8 ton/acre, super colossal yield of 1.05 ton/acre, and colossal yield of 13.9 ton/acre. Interactions between irrigation intensities and emitter flow rates were nonsignificant for the number of irrigations, water applied, average soil water potential, or onion yield and grade. There was no significant difference in average soil water potential between treatments. There was no significant difference in total water applied plus precipitation between treatments, with, on average, 32.3 and 31.1 inches applied in 2002 and 2003, respectively. Onion evapotranspiration from emergence to onion lifting totaled 34.6 and 37.3 inches in 2002 and 2003, respectively.
Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) is a perennial herbaceous plant native to Paraguay, where it was used by the native Guarani peoples for centuries. Although steviol glycosides from stevia are powerful natural noncaloric sweeteners, stevia has been cultivated and commercially available only for the past 50 years. Cultural practices are still in development, and productivity potential in the United States is largely unknown. Currently commercial growers and processors worldwide are seeking to maximize the productivity of rebaudioside A, a steviol glycoside. The trials reported here examined the effects of location, harvest strategy, and cultivar on stevia dry leaf yield, steviol glycoside content, and steviol glycoside yield. Six or seven stevia cultivars were grown for ≈5 months at four western U.S. locations, with an irrigation criterion of 20 kPa. Stevia at every location was subjected to two harvest strategies: either one harvest at the end of the season or two harvests, one midseason and another at the end of the season. The main plots at each location were the stevia cultivars, and the split plots were the harvest strategies in a randomized complete block, split-plot design with four replicates. Dry leaf yield, leaf steviol glycoside content, and leaf steviol glycoside yield varied by cultivar, location, and cultivar by location, but not by harvest strategy or interactions of harvest strategy with location or cultivar. Dry leaf yield averaged 4.12 Mg·ha−1 with significant differences by cultivar and location. One of the steviol glycosides, rebaudioside A yield averaged 300 kg·ha−1 with significant differences by cultivar and by interactions of location with cultivar. Leaf productivity was greater at Ontario, OR, than at Hanford, CA, Indio, CA, or Yuma, AZ. Dry leaf yield greater than 7 Mg·ha−1 and rebaudioside A yields greater than 500 kg·ha−1 were observed at Ontario. Stevia perenniated at Hanford and Indio, providing the option of multiyear harvests from a single planting.
Long-day onion (Allium cepa L. `Vision') was subjected to five soil water potential (SWP) treatments (–10, –20, –30, –50, and –70 kPa) using subsurface drip irrigation in 1997 and 1998. Onions were grown on 1.1-m beds with two double rows spaced 0.56 m apart and a drip tape buried 13 cm deep in the bed center. Soil water potential was maintained at the five levels by automated, high-frequency irrigations based on SWP measurements at 0.2-m depth. Onions were evaluated for yield and grade after 70 days of storage. In 1997, total and colossal (bulb diameter ≥102 mm) yield increased with increasing SWP, but marketable yield was highest at a calculated –21 kPa because of greater decomposition in storage in wetter treatments. In 1998 total, marketable, and colossal-grade onion yield increased with increasing SWP. Onion profits were highest with a calculated SWP of –17 kPa in 1997, and at the wettest level tested in 1998. Storage decomposition was not affected by SWP in 1998. Maintenance of SWP at –10 and –20 kPa required, respectively, 912 and 691 mm of water in 1997 and 935 and 589 mm of water in 1998. Onion crop evapotranspiration from emergence to the last irrigation totaled 681 mm in 1997 and 716 mm in 1998.