Modeling soil-water regime and solute transport in the vadose zone is strategic for estimating agricultural productivity and optimizing irrigation water management. Direct measurements of soil hydraulic properties, i.e., the water retention curve and the hydraulic conductivity function, are often expensive and time-consuming, and represent a major obstacle to the application of simulation models. As a result, there is a great interest in developing pedotransfer functions (PTFs) that predict the soil hydraulic properties from more easily measured and/or routinely surveyed soil data, such as particle size distribution, bulk density (ρ_b), and soil organic carbon content (OC). In this study, application of PTFs was carried out for 359 Sicilian soils by implementing five different artificial neural networks (ANNs) to estimate the parameter of the van Genuchten (vG) model for water retention curves. The raw data used to train the ANNs were soil texture, ρ_b, OC, and porosity. The ANNs were evaluated in their ability to predict both the vG parameters, on the basis of the normalized root-mean-square errors (NRMSE) and normalized mean absolute errors (NMAE), and the water retention data. The Akaike’s information criterion (AIC) test was also used to assess the most efficient network. Results confirmed the high predictive performance of ANNs with four input parameters (clay, sand, and silt fractions, and OC) in simulating soil water retention data, with a prediction accuracy characterized by MAE = 0.026 and RMSE = 0.069. The AIC efficiency criterion indicated that the most efficient ANN model was trained with a relatively low number of input nodes.

Five greenhouse experiments were conducted in southeastern Sicily (Italy) from 2000 to 2009 to evaluate the effectiveness of soil solarization in reducing natural infections of tomato corky root caused by Pyrenochaeta lycopersici. Tests were performed with clear, traditional, and innovative plastic films and fumigant applications. In all the trials, soil solarization was effective in controlling corky root disease relative to an untreated control. Although inducing different thermal regimes in the soil, the use of different greenhouse covering and mulching films for solarization proved effective in reducing corky root severity relative to the untreated control. Solarization reduced infections caused by P. lycopersici comparable with methyl bromide fumigation and greater than metham sodium and metham potassium. Among the tested films, green coextruded film may be most attractive because it can be left on after solarization as mulch.

Pre-plant soil fumigation for managing soilborne pathogens is practiced worldwide in several intensive ornamental and vegetable production areas. However, global regulations are currently implemented to minimize use of these chemicals. According to these policies, the efficacies of dazomet (DZ, Basamid Granulat^®) applied alone to soil and under virtually impermeable film (VIF) at reduced (247.5 kg ha⁻¹ a.i.) and label (495 kg ha⁻¹ a.i.) rates were assessed in managing natural infections of Verticillium wilt and in reducing yield losses on greenhouse chrysanthemum plantations in two trials carried out in the 2012 and 2013 seasons. The performances of this fumigant at a lower rate combined with VIF application were also compared with standardized metam-sodium (MS, Divapan^®) fumigation applied at 510 L ha⁻¹ a.i. under VIF and application of dazomet at label rate alone to bare soil. Temperatures were monitored at 20-cm depth in plots covered (VIF) throughout the entire fumigation period. Although all fumigation treatments significantly reduced the infection level by V. dahliae on chrysanthemum, the performances differed among them. DZ and MS applied at label rates under VIF showed the most effectiveness in controlling Verticillium wilt of chrysanthemum. However, DZ applied to soil at a low rate under VIF mulching showed good performances, which were always better than application of DZ alone at label rate to bare soil. Moreover, when combining a reduced rate of DZ with VIF mulching, chrysanthemum yield losses were reduced in a similar manner to the label rate application under VIF. Based on these findings, DZ application at a reduced rate could be suggested on a large scale to prevent Verticillium attacks on chrysanthemum cultivated on a protected crop. Future studies should be performed to verify the ability of VIF application in inducing high temperatures in soil and above all in enhancing performances of soil fumigation at low rates performed with other natural and chemical sterilants.

Nowadays, in many countries around the world, abandoned railways are considered as important resources that can be recovered and converted into greenways, thanks to their specific adaptability to this function. With its about 1000 km of dismantled lines, Sicily is the Italian region where the abandonment of railways is more evident. Nevertheless, to the present day, only about 20 km have been converted in greenways. As a recovery action requires large investments, it is necessary to determine a priority list based on the actual suitability of a track to be converted. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to define and apply a methodology, based on multi-criteria analysis associated with geographical information system (GIS), for the assessment of different suitability degrees of an abandoned railway to be converted in greenway for agro-touristic and cultural use of the land. The work was developed on two abandoned railway lines, sited in the province of Syracuse, embedded in landscapes of great value thanks to the existence of natural areas and cultural heritage. The applied method attributes great importance to the quality of the landscape that is considered in the same way as the intrinsic characteristics of the track. Several indicators were weighed and spatially mapped to describe the local resources at the margin of the track and the characteristics of the stretches of the two lines. The GIS analysis allowed obtaining various intermediate maps containing the necessary information for drawing the ultimate maps, which showed the suitability of each line to be converted in greenway. The results showed that the suitability level depends on the specific characteristics of the railroad and its marginal values, as well as on the quality of the landscape and the development opportunities that it offers. The creation of greenways can thus become a support to make easier the integration between the landscape and the growing demands of land, economic and tourist development, while maintaining intact the rural land and favoring its connection with the urban centers. The study, although referred to specific territorial areas, is generally valid from a methodological point of view and can be applied in other contexts.