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The almond industry in Italy presents a high degree of structural variability that is determined by the jeopardized coexistence of old, traditional orchards and new plantations that differ each other not only in terms of age but also mainly in terms of orchard system. Apulia and Sicily still remain the most important production areas where the 90% of the almond orchards are concentrated. In this southern part of Italy, almond and its derivatives still remain really important. In the last two decades, the Italian almond industry did not show a regular trend, neither with respect to production nor to acreage. An innovative almond industry revealed its consistency year after year since 2000: self-fertile cultivars, clonal rootstocks and new planting design ideal for mechanization were the most important technical aspects which revealed a new way to set up almond orchards. As a matter of fact, the Italian almond industry is still characterized by two strongly different structures: a traditional one, which is based upon old cultivars and orchard systems, with unsatisfactory yields indeed, and an innovative one which is really interesting and appears to be able to partially renew the sector. Technical aspects on this new way to obtain innovative almond orchards and their perspectives are here reported mostly in terms of technical choices.

Almond germplasm has been studied throughout the world with high diversity identified in the Mediterranean Basin. Each production region is based on specific types of cultivars, frequently without a real commercial strategy. For this reason we still have a wide range of particularly interesting almond germplasm, especially for genetic improvement. In some parts of the world, local germplasm is still interesting for a restricted almond industry, usually related to a local or internal consumption. In this paper we provide details about the almond industry in the traditional area of Bostanlyk, Uzbekistan. Since 2007 a specific approach to evaluate the local germplasm has been applied; the most important aspects describing the growing areas and the local history. The pomological traits are reported in a project carried out by the Slow Food International Foundation for Biodiversity.

The Mi.P.A.F. (Italian Ministry of Agriculture) targeted project "National Lists of Recommended Rootstocks and Cultivars", coordinated by Prof. F. Loreti, University of Pisa, aims at evaluating the performance of fruit rootstocks introduced into the Italian nursery market. As part of this project, trials were established to compare some of the most interesting rootstocks for European and Japanese plum in 9 different locations in Italy. The rootstocks tested were: 'Citation-Zaipime', 'GF 31', 'Marianna GF 8/1', 'Ishtara-Ferciana', 'Jaspi-Fereley', 'Julior-Ferdor', 'Myrobalan 29C', 'Myrobalan B', 'MrS 2/5' and 'Myrocal'. In 1995, nine orchards were planted at 5 × 5 m spacing; in each orchard, 15 trees per rootstock, grafted either with 'Stanley' European plum (EP) or 'Ozark Premier' Japanese plum (JP), and trained to open vase, were randomly distributed in blocks of single tree plots. Locations of the orchards were distributed throughout Italy: two in the North (Cuneo and Forlì), two in the centre (Pisa and Ancona) and five in the South of the peninsula (Caserta, Metaponto, Catanzaro, Palermo and Cagliari). This report highlights the main results obtained after 6 years of growth (3 years of production). Data are summarized either per rootstocks or per location. Both for JP and EP, 'Myrobalan 29C' and 'B', 'Marianna GF 8/1', 'Julior® -Ferdor'and 'Jaspi® -Fereley' showed the best adaptability to the pedo-climatic conditions of the different experimental locations; all by sustaining a quite balanced plant growth and production. 'Ishtara® -Ferciana' showed a better capacity to control plant vigour and to increase fruit size. 'Citation® Zaipime', 'GF 31' and 'MrS 2/5' exhibited the lowest aptitude to the Italian plum production system, although there were some exceptions related to particular locations.

The effects of rootstock vigour on scion xylem hydraulic conductivity were studied on potted trees of cv. ‘Armking’ nectarine grafted onto GF677 (vigorous) and MrS 2/5 (low-vigour) rootstocks. Water potential gradients of non-transpiring leaves were measured at three levels of the stem starting at 10 cm above the graft-point. Transpiration rates were estimated by weighing. Two sets of measurements were taken on the same trees, at two different transpiration-rate levels obtained by imposing a different level of evaporative demand. Measurements were taken after allowing transpiration to reach a steady-state (20 minutes after any environmental perturbation). Trees grafted onto the low-vigour rootstock (MrS 2/5) showed the lowest water potential at all levels along the stem and the lowest hydraulic conductivity along the stem, about half the values observed on GF677-grafted and self-rooted trees.

The simplified apple dry matter production model developed by Lakso and Johnson (1990) was modified by inputing tree-specific parameters from a study of seasonal growth and gas exchange of 4-year-old Empire/M.9 apple trees, and light and temperature response curves developed for Empire apple organs. Measurements of the seasonal trend of diurnal net C02 and canopy water vapor exchange were made at intervals on three four-year-old 'Empire'/M.9 slender spindle apple trees in the orchard from 10 days after bloom until 25 days after harvest. The tree canopies were enclosed in clear plastic "balloon- type" chambers (similar to Corelli and Magnanini, 1993) that was monitored continuously for more than 40 days with an automated control/datalogging system. The measurements over the season under different weather conditions and with late-season reductions in leaf photosynthesis due to pests gave a good range of values with which to test the model. In general, the model simulations showed the same seasonal patterns of gas exchange as the measurements, and gave actual values quite close to those measured. Variation in the canopy gas exchange rates after pest damage were not adequately reflected in the sampled single leaf gas exchange rates that were used as model inputs, suggesting that leaf sampling patterns should be adjusted for non-uniform pest damage.

Trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA) and mineral content were recorded for 4 years in the major Sicilian pistachio cultivar, Bianca, budded in 1991 onto eight in v/fro-propagated clonal rootstocks (Pistacia atlantica and P. integerrima) and one seedling rootstock (P. terebinthus). The trees were grown using standard cultural practices for Sicilian dry-land farming in a fine sandy soil, located inland in Sicily (20 km SW of Palermo, 350 m a.s.l.). From nine trees per rootstock, samples of 10 leaflets from the mid-section of current year shoots were taken yearly in August and analyzed for the main plant mineral elements (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu and B). The TCSA was measured at the end of each growing season. Clones of P. integerrima, especially clone 2, proved to be the most vigorous among the tested rootstocks, with a TCSA more than three times that of P. terebinthus. Clones of P. atlantica were of intermediate vigor, but differences in TCSA among the rootstocks tended to disappear in the last year of observation. There were no particular significant differences in the foliar concentrations of N, P, Fe, Mn and Zn, whereas there were significant differences among the rootstocks for Mg and K. Clone 3 of P. atlantica was the most efficient in using Mg and P. terebinthus in using K. Finally, an antagonistic effect was detected between these last two elements, with a highly significant negative correlation between K and Mg.