Cinchona officinalis, known locally as cascarilla or cinchona, is a plant species native to South America. It was used as a source of quinine to combat malaria in the 17th century. The species is threatened by various anthropogenic activities. Further, the propagation of the species depends on seed dispersal and its germination capacity. Therefore, it is necessary to conserve and propagate this species. Because C. officinalis seeds have a low germination capacity, we determined the effect of arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) on their germination and growth. A randomized design was employed with two treatments, one treated with mycorrhizae (CM) and another without mycorrhizae (SM). For each treatment, three replicates of 100 seeds were used. Germination, growth, and fungal characteristics were evaluated. In germination parameters, the CM treatment showed better performance, but the improvement was statistically insignificant. However, the application of AM significantly improved seedling height (cm), root length (cm), leaf area (cm²), and root number by 53.52, 28.72, 29.73, and 61.66%, respectively. Likewise, mycorrhization intensity (%), mycorrhization frequency (%), and extraradical mycelium length (cm) in the CM treatment were 37.13, 3.44, and 174.97% higher compared to the SM treatment, respectively. Therefore, the use of AM fungi proves to be advantageous in the propagation of C. officinalis, and these results provide a basis for the largescale and sustainable propagation of this species.

Non-destructive methods that accurately estimate leaf area (LA) and leaf weight (LW) are simple and inexpensive, and represent powerful tools in the development of physiological and agronomic research. The objective of this research is to generate mathematical models for estimating the LA and LW of Cinchona officinalis leaves. A total of 220 leaves were collected from C. officinalis plants 10 months after transplantation. Each leaf was measured for length, width, weight, and leaf area. Data for 80% of leaves were used to form the training set, and data for the remaining 20% were used as the validation set. The training set was used for model fit and choice, whereas the validation set al.lowed assessment of the of the model’s predictive ability. The LA and LW were modeled using seven linear regression models based on the length (L) and width (Wi) of leaves. In addition, the models were assessed based on calculation of the following statistics: goodness of fit (R²), root mean squared error (RMSE), Akaike’s information criterion (AIC), and the deviation between the regression line of the observed versus expected values and the reference line, determined by the area between these lines (ABL). For LA estimation, the model LA = 11.521(Wi) − 21.422 (R² = 0.96, RMSE = 28.16, AIC = 3.48, and ABL = 140.34) was chosen, while for LW determination, LW = 0.2419(Wi) − 0.4936 (R² = 0.93, RMSE = 0.56, AIC = 37.36, and ABL = 0.03) was selected. Finally, the LA and LW of C. officinalis could be estimated through linear regression involving leaf width, proving to be a simple and accurate tool.

Cinchona officinalis, conocida como árbol de la quina, es una especie emblemática de Perú, con alto valor medicinal, se popularizó por su uso antimalárico y se encuentra en peligro de extinción. El objetivo de la investigación fue estudiar el efecto del sustrato sobre la propagación sexual de C. officinalis. Se aplicó un diseño completamente al azar con cinco tratamientos de acuerdo con el tipo de sustrato T1 (25 % de tierra de bosque + 75 % de arena), T2 (50 % de tierra de bosque + 50 % de arena), T3 (75 % de tierra de bosque + 25 % de arena), T4 (100 % de tierra de bosque) y T5 (100 % de arena). En los tratamientos se emplearon tres repeticiones y 100 semillas por unidad experimental. El inicio de la germinación de C. officinalis ocurrió a partir de los 12 días después de la siembra hasta el día 42. El sustrato tierra de bosque tuvo mejor efecto en el índice (18.45 ± 3.63), velocidad (0.40 ± 0.06), tiempo (21.44 ± 0.98) y porcentaje de germinación (85 % ± 13.23 %); seguido por los tratamientos T3 y T2. Por su parte, T5 fue el tratamiento con menor efecto sobre la germinación de C. officinalis. El estudio evidencia que el tipo de sustrato empleado favoreció el proceso de germinación de semillas de C. officinalis; sugiriendo usar un sustrato procedente de bosques naturales y puro (sin combinación).

The rice–fish farming system is an efficient ecological model with economic, ecological, and social benefits, reduces environmental impacts and optimizes the use of resources. The objective of the research was to explore and analyze scientific publications through a systematic review and meta‐analysis related to rice–fish intercropping. A review of publications hosted in the Scopus and PubMed database from January 2000 to April 2025 was conducted. Research articles were selected, excluding review articles, com‐mentaries, book chapters, and letters, and only documents published in English were analyzed. The analysis shows that the countries with the highest number of publications were China and Bangladesh, with a proportion of 48% and 24% respectively, followed by Thailand with 10% and Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and India with 5% each. The fish species used in rice–fish systems were reported to be Cyprinus carpio (37%), Oreochromis niloticus (29%), Barbonymus gonionotus , Micropterus salmoides and Pelteobagrus fulvidraco (8%), Amblypharyngodon mola (5%), and Labeo rohita and Monopterus albus (3%). On average, fish settle in the rice–fish system 27 days after rice planting, with a density of 13,390 fish/ha. Between rice planting and harvesting 132 days pass, obtaining an average yield of 4397 kg of rice/ha and 1383 kg of fish/ha. It is recommended to prioritize integrated research on unstudied fish species, optimal densities, fertilization, culture models, and emerging technologies in rice–fish systems, considering regional variations to improve sustainability, productivity, and food security at a global level.

Cinchona pubescens es una especie icónica de Perú ya que fue usada como único tratamiento efectivo contra la malaria por más de tres siglos. Esta especie está amenazada por diversas actividades antropogénicas y su propagación está supeditada a la dispersión de semillas cuyo poder de germinación es bajo, por ende, es necesario conservarla y propagarla. El objetivo del estudio fue evaluar el efecto del sustrato sobre la germinación de C. pubescens. Se aplicó un diseño completamente aleatorio con cinco tratamientos según el tipo de sustrato T1 (25% tierra de bosque+75% arena), T2 (50% tierra de bosque+50% arena), T3 (75% tierra de bosque+25% arena), T4 (100% Tierra de bosque) y T5 (100% arena), la tierra de bosque fue extraída de zonas donde C. pubescens está presente de forma natural. En los tratamientos se utilizaron tres réplicas y 100 semillas por cada réplica. La germinación de C. pubescens inició 12 días después de la siembra hasta el día 42. El T4 tuvo un mejor efecto sobre el índice (14,23±0,41), tiempo (24,18±0,69) y porcentaje de germinación (88,3±2,88%); seguido por los tratamientos T3 y T2. Mientras que el T5 fue el tratamiento con menor efecto sobre la germinación de C. pubescens. El estudio indicó que el tipo de sustrato empleado influye significativamente en la germinación de las semillas de C. pubescens, por lo que se sugiere emplear el sustrato procedente de bosque natural sin combinación para alcanzar índices altos de germinación y propagar esta especie.

Seed germination is the fundamental phenomenon that determines the successful growth and development of each plant species, even more so in Cinchona officinalis, which is a forest species that stands out for its medicinal importance. The objective of this work was to determine the best sigmoidal mathematical model describing the germination of C. officinalis. For the germination test, a completely randomized design was used with six treatments and three replicates per treatment; 100°C. officinalis seeds were used per replicate, and 1800 seeds were needed in the trial. Gompertz sigmoidal, logistic, and von Bertalanffy models were used to analyse the germination curves of C. officinalis. The results of these adjustments were analysed based on the graphic representation and statistical criteria (Akaike’s value (), , and ). The results suggest that the Gompertz and logistic models have a better graphic representation, showing values close to those observed, while the von Bertalanffy model shows negative germination values. According to the statistical criteria, the lowest AIC and the highest were obtained. and with the Gompertz model, followed by the logistic model and von Bertalanffy. It is concluded that the Gompertz model can represent the shape of the germination curves of C. officinalis for the six treatments of the test.