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  • Author or Editor: Yue Zhao x
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The economic downturns of 2007–09 and the COVID-19 pandemic affected most industries in the United States, including landscape services and equipment sales, and provoked both short-term disruptions and long-term changes. To understand how the landscaping industry has responded, we investigated patterns of consumer expenditures on landscape services and equipment from 2009 through 2021 using a representative sample of 76,895 US households. We categorized US households as detached single-family residents and townhouse residents to more fully articulate the factors that turned potential consumers into purchasers and the factors that affected purchasers’ expenditures. We used a double-hurdle model to identify key factors that drive consumer demand for landscape services and equipment over time, including social-demographics, geographic characteristics, housing conditions, year and seasonal trends, and the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that during the studied period, the demand for landscape services declined in terms of both the percentage of consumers purchasing the services and the purchasers’ average expenditures, while the demand for do-it-yourself (DIY) equipment remained relatively unchanged. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the percentage of consumers who purchased landscape services increased, while the expenditures on landscape services decreased in 2020 and then began to rebound in 2021, but not enough to reverse the overall downward trend. In contrast, purchases of DIY equipment were relatively stable in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and mainly relied on current consumers.

Open Access

The floral industry has experienced declining sales in the past few decades, causing many to speculate as to the underlying causes. To identify consumers’ spending patterns for fresh flowers and potted plants, we extracted and analyzed quarterly expenditure interview data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1996 to 2013. Our analysis revealed consumption trends over time by age group, and compared the differences in expenditure patterns across states. Additionally, we employed the Heckman two-step model to estimate how flower consumption is affected by sociodemographic characteristics, geographic factors, housing status, and seasonal factors. The estimation results show that the source of declining demand can be attributed to the decrease in both number of flower purchasers and expenditure among purchasers. Many factors including age, marital status, gender, education, income, number of earners in household, population size of the residing city, house type, and number of rooms in the house affect the demand for fresh flowers and potted plants. Given that floral expenditure has been decreasing among consumers under 40 years of age for the past two decades, innovative marketing strategies to target this age cohort are essential for the floral industry’s success in the future.

Full access

GA20-oxidase (GA20-ox) is a key enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of gibberellic acid (GA). To investigate its role in plant growth and development, we suppressed MdGA20-ox gene expression in apple (Malus domestica cv. Hanfu) plants by RNA interference (RNAi). After 20 weeks of growth in the greenhouse, significant phenotype differences were observed between transgenic lines and the nontransgenic control. Suppression of MdGA20-ox gene expression resulted in lower plant height, shorter internode length, and higher number of nodes compared with the nontransgenic control. The expression of MdGA20-ox in transgenic plants was significantly suppressed, and the active GA content in transgenic lines was lower than that in the nontransgenic control. These results demonstrated that the MdGA20-ox gene plays an important role in vegetative growth, and therefore it is possible to develop dwarfed or compact scion apple cultivars by MdGA20-ox gene silencing.

Free access

We conducted choice experiments with both strawberry producers and consumers. Consumer and producer willingness to pay (WTP) for the fruit attributes were estimated using mixed logit models. Through simulation using the mixed logit model results, we derived the market equilibrium prices, supply and demand curve, as well as quantities demanded and supplied for every fruit attribute. We found the highest equilibrium price was for strawberry internal color followed by flavor. Strawberry breeders can use the information when setting breeding targets, allocating resources appropriately during their breeding process and focusing on the improvement of attributes that produce the highest social surplus and total revenue.

Free access

This study investigates U.S. peach producers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for potential improvement of peach fruit attributes. Data were collected from 124 U.S. peach producers. The choice experiment and socioeconomic data were analyzed using mixed logit (ML) models to estimate the producer WTP and preferences for peach attributes. The results indicate that the WTP for attribute values vary across peach producers from different production regions (California and eastern United States), with different selling targets (fresh and processed) and different orchard sizes (smaller or larger than 15 acres). These results provide useful information for peach breeders in prioritizing traits in their breeding programs.

Free access

Rain-shelter cultivation could protect grape berries from many diseases and affect grape berry quality. However, there have been few studies of the effects of rain-shelter cultivation on the accumulation of volatiles in Shuijing grapes grown in Yunnan Province. Therefore, the goal of this research was to explore the effects of rain-shelter cultivation on the accumulation of volatiles in Shuijing grape berries during development. The Shuijing grapes used during this study were grown in the Yunnan Province of southwest China in two consecutive vintages (2018 and 2019). The results showed that rain-shelter cultivation promoted grape ripening and inhibited volatiles synthesis in Shuijing grape berries. However, the application of rain shelters did not affect the accumulation patterns of volatiles; instead, it affected the concentrations of volatiles in Shuijing grape berries, especially during the maturation phase [12–15 weeks after flowering (WAF)]. The concentrations of isoprenoid-derived volatiles (2019), fatty acid-derived volatiles, and amino acid-derived benzenoids in Shuijing grape berries were decreased by rain-shelter cultivation during the maturation phase. The concentration of 2,5-dimethyl-4-methoxy-3(2H)-furanone (mesifurane) was also decreased by rain-shelter cultivation during the late maturation phase (14 and 15 WAF). A principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that the vintage had a much greater influence on the physicochemical parameters and volatiles of the Shuijing grape berries than the cultivation method. This work reveals the formation and accumulation patterns of volatiles of Shuijing grape berries under rain-shelter cultivation during development and has significance for exploring the potential of rain-shelter cultivation in grape-producing regions with excessive rainfall.

Open Access

Consumer preferences for attributes of fresh peach fruit in the United States are largely unknown on a national basis. We used a choice experiment to explore market segmentation based on consumer heterogeneous preference for fruit attributes including external color, blemish, firmness, sweetness, flavor, and price. We collected the data using an online survey with 800 U.S. consumers. Using a latent class logit model, we identified three segments of consumers differing by different sets of preferred quality attributes: experience attribute-oriented consumers, who valued fruit quality (48.8% of the sample); search attribute-oriented consumers, who valued fruit appearance (33.7% of the sample); and balanced consumers, who considered search attributes and experience attributes but who valued each in a balanced way (17.5% of the sample). Each group demonstrated differentiated demographics and purchasing habits. The results have important marketing implications for peach breeders and suppliers.

Free access

Macadamia (Macadamia spp.) has been widely planted in southern China and has been now developed into an important industry. China has the largest area of macadamia plantation in the world but provides only 3% production of the world. Current farming systems have a fertilizer surplus of about 73 g of nitrogen (N), 103 g of phosphorus (P), and 24 g of potassium (K) per macadamia plant per year in southern China. Optimizing fertilization recommended for macadamia improves production by about 5 kg per plant. Macadamia develops cluster roots (i.e., proteoid roots) in a P-starvation environment. Overuse of P fertilizers restrains the development of cluster roots as well as rhizosphere processes, thus decreasing the P-use efficiency. Excessive fertilization, especially P fertilization, is one of the major limiting factors in China macadamia production. This study is the first to analyze current management practices and then discuss approaches of improving nutrient management based on the specific root biology of macadamia. For a sustainable macadamia industry, it is imperative to develop appropriate nutrient management by integrating root-zone soil nutrient supply, fertilizer application, and rhizosphere processes.

Free access

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has been proven to be a multifunctional signaling molecule in plants. In this study, we attempted to explore the effects of H2S on the climacteric fruit tomato during postharvest storage. H2S fumigation for 1 d was found to delay the peel color transition from green to red and decreased fruit firmness induced by ethylene. Further investigation showed that H2S fumigation downregulated the activities and gene expressions of cell wall–degrading enzymes pectin lyase (PL), polygalacturonase (PG), and cellulase. Furthermore, H2S fumigation downregulated the expression of ethylene biosynthesis genes SlACS2 and SlACS3. Ethylene treatment for 1 d was found to induce the expression of SlACO1, SlACO3, and SlACO4 genes, whereas the increase was significantly inhibited by H2S combined with ethylene. Furthermore, H2S decreased the transcript accumulation of ethylene receptor genes SlETR5 and SlETR6 and ethylene transcription factors SlCRF2 and SlERF2. The correlation analysis suggested that the fruit firmness was negatively correlated with ethylene biosynthesis and signaling pathway. The current study showed that exogenous H2S could inhibit the synthesis of endogenous ethylene and regulate ethylene signal transduction, thereby delaying fruit softening and the ripening process of tomato fruit during postharvest storage.

Free access