Fruit tree

Abstract: The article reviews the available information on the start of fruit tree cultivation in the Old World. On the basis of (i) evaluation of the available archeological remains and (ii) examination of the wild relatives of the cultivated crops, it was concluded that olive, grape, date, and fig were the first important horticultural additions to the Mediterranean grain agriculture. They were most likely domesticated in the Near East in protohistoric time (fourth and third millennia B.C.) and they emerge as important food elements in the early Bronze Age. Domestication of all four fruit trees was based on a shift from sexual reproduction (in the wild) to vegetative propagation of clones (under domestication). Olive, grape, date, and fig can be vegetatively propagated by simple techniques (cuttings, basal knobs, suckers) and were thus preadapted for domestication early in the development of agriculture. The shift to clonal propagation placed serious limitations on selection and on fruit set under cultivation. We have examined the consequences of this shift in terms of the genetic makeup of the cultivars and traced the various countermeasures that evolved to ensure fruit set. Finally, it was pointed out that in each of these classic fruit trees we are confronted with a variable complex of genuinely wild types, secondary weedy derivatives and feral plants, and groups of the domesticated clones, which are all interfertile and interconnected by occasional hybridization. It was concluded that introgression from the diversified wild gene pool facilitated the rapid buildup of variation in the domesticated crops.

Abstract: Drought stress is the main cause of reduced fruit tree growth and productivity in Mediterranean semi-arid regions and causes a complex of responses at molecular, cellular, physiological and developmental level. In particular, the response of fruit trees to water scarcity is a speciesand cultivar-dependent and a series of studies have been carried out to clarify and deepen the mechanisms of their adaptation, avoidance, resistance or tolerance against drought. Considering that 16% of the total cultivable land of the Mediterranean area is occupied by fruit crops, the choice of an appropriate and rational irrigation management is of key importance. Furthermore, plant water status in an orchard is related to many biotic and abiotic factors, such as the amount of light intercepted, plant densities and canopy architecture, which play a key role in determining orchard productivity and fruit quality. The recent research on the physiology of fruit trees and on soil chemical and biological fertility in fruit orchards have revealed that sustainable and innovative soil management systems, with a particular emphasis on water management (e.g., sustained defi cit irrigation, regulated defi cit irrigation and partial root-zone drying), can determine an optimal plant nutritional equilibrium, avoid nutrients accumulation and leaching risks, improve irrigation effi ciency and prevent soil erosion and root asphyxia. The application, optimization and innovation of sustainable agricultural techniques with a low negative environmental impact allow to recover or increase the normal levels of total fertility in fruit agro-ecosystems, so Sustainable Fruit Production in Mediterranean Orchards Subjected to Drought Stress Adriano Sofo , Assunta Maria Palese , Teresa Casacchia , Bartolomeo Dichio , and Cristos Xiloyannis A. Sofo ( ) • A. M. Palese • B. Dichio • C. Xiloyannis Dipartimento di Scienze dei Sistemi Colturali, Forestali e dell’Ambiente , Universita degli Studi della Basilicata , Viale dell’Ateneo Lucano 10 , 85100 Potenza , Italy e-mail: adriano.sofo@unibas.it T. Casacchia CRA, Centro di Ricerca per l’Olivicoltura e l’Industria Olearia , c. da Li Rocchi-Vermicelli , 87036 Rende , Cosenza , Italy