Physiological Assessment of Rocha Pear Trees to Agronomic Enrichment with CaCl2 and Ca(NO3)2

Cláudia Campos Pessoa; Inês Carmo Luís; Ana Coelho Marques; Ana Rita F. Coelho; Diana Daccak; José C. Ramalho; Maria José Silva; Ana Paula Rodrigues; Paula Scotti Campos; Isabel P. Pais; José N. Semedo; Maria Manuela Silva; José Carlos Kullberg; Maria Graça Brito; Paulo Legoinha; Maria Fernanda Pessoa; Manuela Simões; Fernando H. Reboredo; Fernando C. Lidon

doi:10.3390/IECPS2021-11999

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Physiological Assessment of Rocha Pear Trees to Agronomic Enrichment with CaCl2 and Ca(NO3)2

Cláudia Campos Pessoa

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1, 2},

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⁵,

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Maria Fernanda Pessoa

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Manuela Simões

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Fernando H. Reboredo

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Fernando C. Lidon

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¹ Departamento de Ciências da Terra, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Campus da Caparica, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
² Centro de Investigação de Geobiociências, Geoengenharias e Geotecnologias (GeoBioTec), Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Campus da Caparica, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
³ Earth Sciences Department, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Campus da Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
⁴ GeoBioTec Research Center, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Campus da Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
⁵ PlantStress & Biodiversity Lab, Centro de Estudos Florestais (CEF), Instituto Superior Agronomia (ISA), Universidade de Lisboa (ULisboa), Quinta do Marquês, Av. República, 2784-505 Oeiras, and Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal
⁶ Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária, I.P. (INIAV), Avenida da República, Quinta do Marquês, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal
⁷ ESEAG-COFAC, Avenida do Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal

Academic Editor: Feibo Wu

Published: 01 December 2021 by MDPI in The 2nd International Electronic Conference on Plant Sciences—10th Anniversary of Journal Plants session Plant Physiology, Signalling and Communication

https://doi.org/10.3390/IECPS2021-11999

Abstract:

The exponential increase of the world`s population is a major concern for the food sector since quantity and quality of food products needs to be ensured for consumers. Thus, in an orchard of pears located in Portugal, a total of seven foliar sprays, using CaCl₂ and Ca(NO₃)₂ were performed. The first two sprays with three different concentrations each (CaCl₂ - 0.4, 0.8 and 1.6 kg.ha^-1; Ca(NO₃)₂ – 0.1, 0.3 and 0.6 kg.ha^-1), the third with CaCl₂ 4 kg.ha^-1 and the remaining four with CaCl₂8 kg.ha^-1. During the workflow, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was attained with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and later correlated with photoassimilates synthesis (assessed by a portable open-system infrared gas analyzer) and Ca content in leaves and fruits (assessed by X-Ray fluorescence analysis). Regarding NDVI values, the exclusive use of CaCl₂ presented slightly inferior values, however no major signs of disrupted vegetation were detected. For leaf gas exchange, only minor changes occurred (namely E and iWUE parameters), while calcium content in leaves during the workflow and fruits at harvest increased. In conclusion smart farming techniques can be correlated with in situs analysis to monitor Rocha pear trees and the concentrations used in this study increased Ca content in fruits without reaching toxicity levels.