Mango (Mangifera indica) is an important fruit served to customers as fresh-cut fruit, juice, ice cream and yogurts in many fruit juice joints, restaurants and hotels in Ghana. However, the crop’s highly seasonal and perishable nature is a challenge for food processors and farmers. Preservation of the fruit in dry particulate form can serve as a substitute in off-seasons. The study sought to determine mango fruit powder production prospects at the farm level and explore its potential use as a substitute during the off-season. Farmer groups and food enterprises were therefore interviewed. The study showed that Keitt and Kent varieties were the most cultivated varieties because of market demand and high yield. However, an average annual fruit loss of 29.8% at the farm level was observed. Postharvest extension delivery service to farmers is inadequate, and where available, frequency of contact is irregular. A limited number of farmers received training in fruit processing; and few were engaged in transformational value addition activities but were willing to add value through processing into powder. Probit regression analysis showed that a unit increase in training would increase transformational farm level value addition into mango fruit powder by 22.9%. The majority of the food enterprises source fruits within Ghana while 79% experienced mango fruit shortage in the off-seasons. Only a few of the enterprises used mango fruit-based substitutes to serve customers in off-seasons. Probit regression analysis showed that a marginal increase in processors’ use of substitute significantly (p≤0.05) increased willingness to use mango fruit powder as a substitute by 47%. The study has revealed that local production of mango fruit powder could serve as a substitute to fill the seasonal gap in mango supply and also reduce post-harvest losses.

Sweet cherries are slightly more demanding than sour cherries. It is grown in warmer areas around the world. The relative ecological values obtained for the varieties obtained by extensive data collection differ slightly from the leading descriptions. Warm and demanding. The woody parts tolerate the cool of the winter quite well, the flower buds are damaged by the spring frosts. Its water demand is medium, in the case of 550 mm of annual rainfall, it adorns well on loose soils with good nutrient supply. Airy ground, neutral soil (pH 5.5-7.5) is optimal, but not suitable for areas with strongly calcareous, stagnant, stagnant groundwater. From the start of ripening, sudden rainfall, stormy winds and birds can cause great damage. Highlighting the world’s leading varieties in the study (Bing, Rainier, Chelan, Van and Burlat) (Iezzoni et al., 1991, Faust & Surányi, 1997) - according to relative ecological and biological values, the most popular cherries are mainly they differed from the other varieties based on TB and KB. Open pollination and with it, the productivity of the varieties exceeded the overall variety average precisely because of the breeding objectives. Certainly, the analysis of historical varieties, the oldest landscape and local varieties based on relative ecological and biological values can help further pomological-ecological research.

In a five-year (2015-2019) study, some vegetative and generative peculiarities of two resistant apple cultivars (‘Galiwa’ and ‘Story Inored’) were assessed in a young orchard with a multi-row training system. Based on our research, cv. ‘Galiwa’ showed significantly weaker growth, than cv. ‘Story Inored’, which was manifested in lower trunk cross sectional area (TCSA) and lower tree height. Cultivar ‘Story Inored’ reached the optimal tree height (3.1 m) at the age of four, but cv. ‘Galiwa’ could not achieve it neither in five-year-old trees (2.7 m). Cultivar ‘Galiwa’ showed 28.4-32.6 t/ha calculated average yield, while cv. ‘Story Inored’ produced 41.3-102.7 t/ha. Larger fruit size was found in cv. ‘Galiwa’ (72.7-79.1 mm) and smaller in cv. ‘Story Inored’ (66.9-69.2 mm). The fruit surface color was under 50% for cv. ‘Galiwa’ (43-49%), meanwhile cv. ‘Story Inored’ reached higher coloration (87-93%) and an excellent color intensity (4.8-5.0). Shape of cv. ‘Galiwa’ fruits was rather flat, than globular (0.83-0.84 shape index), as cv. ‘Story Inored’ was more elongated (0.95-1.00 shape index).

The study was conducted to compare the improved banana technology against the local production technique to enhance demand-driven banana technology up-scaling and diffusion. Data were collected at the field and farmers' levels. Descriptive and inferential statistics, cost-benefit analysis and matrix ranking were employed for analysis. The result revealed that the average yield (38.40 ton ha^-1) of improved banana technology had a significant yield advantage (47.24%) over the local practice (p<0.05). Despite the higher cost of production, its net return was by far higher than the local practice. The benefit-cost ratio also displays that 9.49 Ethiopian Birr (ETB) profit per 1.00 ETB investment in an improved technology package. The overall farmers' perceptions were laid under strongly agree and agree categories, and 95% of them believed that the improved banana technology was appropriate for their area and hence accepted with full confidence. The respective organizations working on rural livelihood improvement are therefore advised to up-scale the improved technology for the wider community based on the irrigation potential.

The trials were designed with three replications in a randomized complete block design in order to evaluate the phenological, growth and yield potential of hot pepper varieties such as ‘Mareko fana’, ‘Melka Zala’, ‘Melka Awaze’, ‘Melka Shote’ and local check. Significant difference was observed between growing year and used varieties. The varieties also performed significantly different (p<0.05) for most of the considered traits in the study. The result revealed that varieties ‘Melka Zala’, ‘Mareko fana’ and ‘Melka Awaze’ were scored highest green pod yield of 8.39, 8.71 and 11.39 ton per hectare, respectively. However, ‘Mareko fana’ variety was susceptible to disease attack as compared to other varieties. Therefore, promoting both ‘Melka Awaze’ and ‘Melka Zala’ varieties for widespread production for Teppi and the areas with similar agro-ecological conditions could contribute to boost the productivity of hot pepper. ‘Mareko fana’ could also be used for dry pod purpose due to its attractive color.

Among the leafy vegetables, lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is the most widely grown species in the world. Wide ranges of physical properties of the products are used to assess the degree of maturity. In this study, different lettuce varieties were grown under an unheated plastic tunnel in springtime. We evaluated the agronomic properties of different lettuce varieties, evaluated the condition of the plants, and determined the bioactive substances. Larger head weight can be achieved by the ‘King of May’ butterhead (259.31 g) and ‘Great Lakes 659’crisphead (220.40 g) genotypes. A very strong correlation (r = 0.995) was observed between the lettuce head index, and leaf index and both had a strong positive correlation (r = 0.828 and 0.760) with NDVI. The highest SPAD values were measured for cos lettuce ‘Romaine lettuce’ (44.01) and iceberg lettuce ‘Great Lakes 659’ (42.71). However, these genotypes showed the highest (9.52%; 8.74%) dry matter content, too. The red leaf variety 'Lollo Rosso' had the highest total polyphenol content (181.53 GAE/100 g FW).  Among the evaluated properties, iceberg lettuce showed favorable morphology, plant condition, and good dry matter content. In addition, between the loose-leaf lettuces, the red leaf lollo type was outstanding with bioactive content.

Snap bean, a warm-season crop, have low frost tolerance. The optimal temperature for seed emergence and plant growth is important. Therefore, appropriate planting dates for adapted varieties has paramount significance in improving pod yield and quality of snap bean under short cool season climates. Three snap bean cultivars planted at 3 different dates were examined to evaluate the effects of planting dates on snap bean pod yield and quality traits in a 2-year study in a short season climate in Manitoba, Canada. Results of this study showed that three, two weeks apart, planting dates had a non- significant effect on marketing yield of three different cultivars tested in this study. Planting dates showed significant effect on un-marketable yield, pod fresh weight, pod length and total soluble solids. Higher marketable and un-marketable yields along with longer pod length and soluble solids, in all three cultivars, were more profound when seeded at mid and late planting dates. Snap bean grew under higher temperature and accumulated more growing degree days (GDD) when planted in mid June and early July when compared to early June planting. These results conclude that marketable yields of snap bean were not significantly affected by planting dates when seeded-two weeks apart-in shorter growing environments which allow commercial and market gardeners, in northern areas with shorter growing seasons to optimise planting snap bean, without reducing pod yield and quality.

A two trial greenhouse experiment was carried out at Rwanda-Israel Horticulture Centre of Excellence located at Mulindi Station to evaluate seedling quality on growth, yield and quality of tomato. The seedlings were grown in different growing media and produced seedlings with varying quality indices. The growing media of peat moss 100% (T2) and sand + goat manure + carbonized rice husks 50%: 10%: 40% (T8) were revealed in seedlings with the highest mean quality indices of 31 and 28 respectively, while sand 100% (T2) presented the lowest quality indices during both trials. The transplants were planted in polybags filled with 2:1 of topsoil and kitchen manure arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. Collected data were subjected to analysis of variance and means were separated using HSD test at a 5% level of significance. The results revealed that the seedlings grown in T1 (S1) and T8 (S8) consistently presented tomatoes with better growth performance and yield. S1 and S8 produced mean yield of 93.59 and 92.35 t/ha respectively while S2 had the lowest yield with 53.86 t/ha. The fruit produced from seedlings grown in T4 (S4) had the highest mean sugar acid ratio of 5.88 but not significantly different from 5.61 and 5.44 of S1 and S8 respectively. Hence, there was a positive relationship among seedling quality and growth and yield performance of tomato but not in fruit quality.

The existence of international trade and related trade theory are closely related to competitiveness. The following study focuses on the competitiveness of Hungary, which studies the development of comparative advantage in terms of tomato for fresh consumption among horticultural products. As a consequence, the main objective is whether Hungary has comparative advantage over EU-28 countries in case of fresh market tomato. Data in the study were provided by FAOSTAT database. The study period focuses on results from 2004 to 2019, breaking them down into 5-year (average) cycles. The method chosen was the RCA index group, the most widely recognized and applied index group for calculating comparative advantage. Although Hungary is not a significant vegetable-producing country in Europe, the fruit and vegetable sector accounts for 10-13% of the production value of agriculture. Regarding the results, it can be stated that Hungary does not have comparative advantage in case of tomato products. With respect to values of the tomato sector, the RCA index is in the range of 0<RCA≤1, therefore we have no comparative advantage. Spain and the Netherlands have stable competitive advantage. These countries show weak comparative advantage in each period studied, as the indicator values exceed 1 but do not reach 2.

During in vitro multiplication and rooting of Vriesea splendens ’Fire’, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.8 mg l^-1 benzyladenine (BAP), benzyladenine-riboside (BAPR), kinetin (KIN), meta-topoline (MT), indole-butyric acid (IBA) and naphthalene-acetic acid (NAA) were added to basal Murashige and Skoog (1962) MS medium. As compared to the hormone-free control, plants developed significantly more shoots on medium supplemented with almost all cytokinins (excepting KIN), especially BAP resulted the highest multiplication up to almost 26 shoots. Enhancement of cytokinin concentrations increased shoot number (and in case of BAP, peroxidase activity) but decreased plant height and rooting parameters. Regarding root production, both auxins were definitely beneficial (0.2 mg l^-1 NAA resulted more than 7.5 roots and higher auxin concentrations efficiently stimulate root elongation); however, KIN had similar effects. After a three-month duration time of acclimatization, we observed that plants which were previously cultured on medium containing certain cytokinins (KIN in all doses and 0.1 mg l^-1 MT) or both auxins had greater survival, moreover, as negative after-effect, higher cytokinin concentrations reduced the number of survived specimens.

Aloe vera is one of the most famous medicinal plants. Aloin and aloe emodin are the most important active compounds in this plant. The purpose of this research was the comparison of aloin and aloe emodin production after the elicitation by methyl jasmonate, salicylic acid, and phenylalanine in diploid and tetraploid Aloe vera plants in greenhouse conditions. The plants were treated with the concentrations of 25, 50, and 100 µM. The amounts of aloin and aloe emodin were determined 24 and 48 hours after application of the treatment. HPLC analysis showed that the leaves of the control diploid plants (without applying elicitors) had more aloin (1.20 fold) and aloe emodin (1.14 fold) than the control tetraploid plants. The maximum concentration of aloin (1.15 ± 0.07 µg mg-1 dry weight) was obtained after the elicitation by 25 µM methyl jasmonate, 24 hours after treatment, in diploid plants) 6.36 fold compared to the control (0.18 µg mg-1 dry weight (. In addition, the maximum concentration of aloe emodin (0.28 µg mg-1 dry weight) was obtained after the elicitation by 25 µM salicylic acid, 24 hours after treatment, in diploid plants) 6.18 fold compared to the control (0.04 µg mg-1 dry weight)). The long-term effect of three studied elicitors (after 240 days) on plant health and survival was also studied. This investigation showed that only methyl jasmonate at a concentration of 100 µM was resulted in the death of Aloe vera plants.