The sunflower was introduced in Europe (in Spain) in the 15th century, and later in Italy in the second half of the 16th century by Giacomo Antonio Cortuso who was the head of the Botanical Garden in Padua. He and Andrea Mattioli published a detailed description of the species. The sunflower was mainly used for ornamental and medicinal purposes in the following two centuries. In the early 1800s, its cultivation area expanded as a consequence of two new, divergent uses and breeding programs: oilseed production and seed consumption. Nowadays, sunflower is cropped for many uses, mainly food, feed, and biodiesel. Beyond the global interest in this crop, it is extremely difficult to predict its cultivation and productivity in the short/medium term because of the current geopolitical and climate change scenarios. In this last perspective, sunflower cropping should foresee the integration of (i) crop breeding for improving quali-quantitative traits and biotic and abiotic stress tolerance; (ii) agronomic practices to increase the resilience of this crop through anticipated sowing dates and scheduled irrigation according to its phenological phases; and (iii) exploration of new cultivation areas towards higher latitudes.

Canopy reflectance sensors are a viable technology to optimize the fertilization management of crops. In this research, canopy reflectance was measured through a passive sensor to evaluate the effects of either crop features (N fertilization, soil mulching, appearance of red fruits, and cultivars) or sampling methods (sampling size, sensor position, and hour of sampling) on the reliability of vegetation indices (VIs). Sixteen VIs were derived, including seven simple wavelength reflectance ratios (NIR/R460, NIR/R510, NIR/R560, NIR/R610, NIR/R660, NIR/R710, NIR/R760), seven normalized indices (NDVI, G-NDVI, MCARISAVI, OSAVI, TSAVI, TCARI), and two combined indices (TCARI/OSAVI; MCARI/OSAVI). NIR/560 and G-NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index on Greenness) were the most reliable in discriminating among fertilization rates, with results unaffected by the appearance of maturing fruits, and the most stable in response to different cultivars. Black mulching film did not affect NIR/560 and G-NDVI behavior at the beginning of the growing season, when the crop is more responsive to N management. Due to a moderate variability of NIR/560 and G-NDVI, a small sample size (5–10 observations) is sufficient to obtain reliable measurements. Performing the measurements at 11:00 and 14:00 and maintaining a greater distance (1.8 m) between plants and instrument enhanced measurement consistency. Accordingly, NIR/560 and G-NDVI resulted in the most reliable VIs.

Water availability is a key factor affecting both morphological development and secondary metabolite production in Cannabis sativa L. This study evaluated the effects of water stress applied during the vegetative and flowering stages on plant performance, cannabinoid concentration, and terpene composition in two Chemotype III (cannabidiol-dominant) varieties. Plants were subjected to moderate and severe water stress, and responses were assessed through biomass measurements, GC-MS analyses, and multivariate statistics. Water stress significantly influenced biomass allocation, with increased dry biomass but reduced harvest index, particularly under flowering-stage stress. Cannabidiol (CBD) content declined with increasing stress, while tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels increased under vegetative stress, indicating a stress-induced shift in cannabinoid biosynthesis. Cannabinol (CBN) levels also increased, suggesting enhanced THC degradation. Terpene composition was predominantly genotype-driven. PCA-MANOVA showed significant effects of variety, stress level, and their interaction, yet only minor volatiles were modulated by stress, while the most abundant terpenes remained stable across treatments, preserving the varietal aroma profile. These results underline the importance of genetic background and irrigation timing in determining cannabis yield and quality. Optimized water management is essential to ensure phytochemical consistency and sustainable production, especially in high-value medicinal and aromatic applications.

This study aimed to assess whether hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) behaves as a Cr(III)-tolerant or a hyperaccumulator species and whether it could be a suitable species for the phytomanagement of Cr(III)-contaminated soils. The experiment was conducted in pots under greenhouse conditions comparing two fiber hemp (Fibranova and Carmagnola) and two seed hemp (Futura 75 and Fedora 17) varieties under four different soil Cr levels (24.3, 40.1, 55.8, and 87.4 mg kg⁻¹) supplied with tannery sludge. The Cr level did not significantly influence hemp biomass production or Cr accumulation in the aboveground biomass. Focusing on marketable fractions, Cr uptake was 0.03 ± 0.04 mg plant⁻¹ in the stems of fiber varieties and 0.60 ± 0.17 mg plant⁻¹ in the seeds of seed varieties. The only significant accumulation of Cr content was indeed observed in the root system, where it reached 0.63 mg plant⁻¹ for the fiber varieties and 1.76 mg plant⁻¹ for the seed varieties in the fertilization with 200% N by tannery sludge (T200) treatment. The Cr translocation factor (aboveground-to-belowground biomass) decreased from 2.17 to 0.37, increasing the Cr level applied from 24.3 to 87.4 µg g⁻¹. The maximum Cr concentrations in aboveground biomass fractions (average value of 40.4 mg kg⁻¹) were found in the seeds, regardless of treatment. The low Cr content in the aboveground biomass suggests that hemp can be considered an excluder species, valid as a candidate for Cr-contaminated soils’ phytomanagement.

Wireworms (Agriotes spp., Coleoptera, Elateridae) are a major threat to potatoes, as are the current commercial standards for assessing potato damage. To reduce wireworm impacts on potato crops and comply with IPM legislation, we started research to assess the potential for new Italian 4x-breeding clones to reduce wireworm feeding on daughter tubers. Two sets of trials were carried out over a six-year period (2018–2023): in-field and in semi-natural conditions, with pots used to introduce a set number of reared wireworms. In the field trials, the varieties were planted in 4.8 × 9–12 m plots in a randomized-block layout with at least three replications. The same wireworm damage assessment was used for both sets of trials. The assessment involved counting all the erosions/scars caused by wireworm feeding activity. The prevalent wireworm species studied was Agriotes sordidus. Both sets of trials showed that some 4x-breeding clones were tolerant to wireworm attacks. The percentages of tubers damaged (any symptom) or with at least one ordinary/large hole was up to five times lower than in the commercial varieties. Glycoalkaloids and the caffeic acid content in tubers are considered to be the main cause of lower appetibility to wireworms.