Tag: Plant Health
Characterizing avocado production systems for Ugandan exports: the need for consolidation and support for sustainable development
Hass avocado production and trade are rapidly expanding globally, with increasing consumer demands on quality, safety and sustainability. Last decade, the contribution of East Africa has increased tremendously following several comparative advantages. However, despite substantial recent public and private investments, Uganda’s Hass production and export lags behind neighboring countries. This is mainly due to the sector’s limited organization, resulting in a fragmented market with varying socio-economic,
Effects of uniconazole treatment on ‘Hass’ avocado productivity and gas-exchange parameters under Mediterranean climate
Avocado (Persea americana Mill.) productivity faces major challenges due to rising market demand, climate variability, excessive vegetative growth, and labor-intensive management practices. This study evaluated the effects of soil-applied uniconazole (UNI), a gibberellin-biosynthesis inhibitor, on vegetative development, flowering, gas exchange, and fruit yield in mature ‘Hass’ avocado trees. The experiment, conducted over 2 years in a commercial orchard in northeastern Israel, compared three
Optimizing Planting Densities of Avocado on the Basis of Long-Term Canopy Growth and Development at Melkassa, Ethiopia
There is a controversy regarding the spacing requirements of avocado varieties, different experts recommend varying planting densities for different varieties in different avocado growing countries, including Ethiopia. Each avocado variety has its own canopy stature, thus there is no spacing that fits all varieties. The canopy growth of different avocado varieties was recorded annually from a replicated plot of well-established trees, assuming that the tree canopy reached a maximum growth during
Avocado rhizosphere community profiling: white root rot and its impact on microbial composition
Introduction: The avocado rhizosphere supports diverse microbial communities essential for plant health and defence against pathogens. This study aimed to investigate the impact of Dematophora necatrix, the causal agent of white root rot (WRR), on the microbial composition and soil physicochemical properties of infected and non-infected avocado trees in two South African orchards.Methods: ITS and 16S metabarcoding was used to compare the composition and diversity of the rhizosphere microbiome. Soil
Bacterial community shifts in Fusarium-induced avocado root rot and the antagonistic potential of Bacillus siamensis NB92
Avocado root rot, driven by soil-borne fungi such as Fusarium spp., poses a major challenge to global avocado production. The rhizosphere microbiome is critical for plant health, yet the impact of root rot on bacterial community structure and its implications for disease management remain poorly understood. Here, we combined culture-independent 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing with culture-dependent isolation to characterize bacterial communities in healthy and Fusarium-infested avocado bulk and rhizosphere
Phytophthora root rot induces compositional and functional changes in avocado rhizosphere bacterial communities
Understanding how plant pathogens modulate the rhizosphere microbiota is essential to integrated disease management. Here, we assessed the compositional and functional shifts in the avocado rhizosphere bacteriome induced by Phytophthora cinnamomi to elucidate the microbial functions modulated by the infection and identify taxa potentially recruited by the plant as a defense response. Through metabarcoding with metatranscriptomics, we showed that Phytophthora root rot (PRR) induced compositional shifts