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Magnetic field (MF) treatment, as an efficient and pollution-free treatment method, has received extensive attention from researchers and found broad prospects in horticultural and agricultural development. According to relevant studies, mainstream research direction is aimed at utilizing MF treatment to improve the economic traits of horticultural and agricultural crops. MF has positive effects, for example, on seed germination, seedling growth, crop yield and quality and plant tolerance to stress. In recent years, more and more researchers have focused their work on using seed MF or magnetised water (MW) irrigation treatment to improve plant tolerance to salt or heavy metal stresses, to achieve the purpose of soil restoration by plant heavy metal accumulation. In this review, the most commonly utilised MF or MW treatment methods have been described in detail, and the effects of MF treatment on horticultural and agricultural crops have been presented. Furthermore, new prospects for MF treatment and the associated molecular basis have been presented. Since different species or cultivars have different optimal dose requirements for MF treatment, it is still a challenge presently to promote MF treatment use in commercial applications. For successful implementation of MF treatments, it is essential to conduct a large number of screening experiments and more in-depth research on the effects of MF on cultivated plants.

The purpose of this work was to investigate the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in Allium fistulosum seeds stored under different conditions. Optimized seed storage conditions are essential to maintain seed viability, otherwise accumulation of ROS-induced oxidative damage can lead to seed aging. The A. fistulosum seed lots used in this study have been selected based on their breeding background and reproduction site. Seed samples were stored up to 22 months under six different conditions of temperature (25, 10, and 7.5 °C) and relative humidity (RH) (25% and 45% RH). A germination test and ROS quantification assay were performed on the samples collected after 12 and 22 months of storage, respectively. Within a time-window of 10 months, the tested seed lots evidenced a decrease in the germination rate associated with increased ROS levels. Correlation analysis also showed that ROS production was influenced by genotype. The reported data showed that ROS accumulation was dependent on the storage condition and genotype. Some of the tested seed lots appeared to be prone to ROS accumulation, independent of storage conditions. On the other hand, specific condition storages (25 °C, 25% RH; 25 °C, 45% RH; 10 °C, 25% RH; 7.5 °C, 25% RH) resulted in a lower impact on seed aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research was carried out on the effect of the umbel position on the ‘Amat’ dill (Anethum graveolens L.) plant on selected features of the seed stalk in the years 2002-2004. Commercial seeds of the species were sown on a small production field and grown for the purpose of producing seeds. Out of the field plant stands, three hundred plants were randomly selected. The following morphological features were then measured in respect to the seed stalk architecture in these plants: the length of the seed stalk, number of branches with primary, secondary and tertiary umbels, length of branches with primary umbels, as well as the main and primary umbel diameters. In addition, seed yield per plant, the weight of 1000 seeds, germination capacity, seed length and width, seed embryo and endosperm lengths for seeds from the main and primary umbels were also calculated and measured. Additionally, the main and primary umbels were divided into three parts: external, middle and internal, and seeds from each were examined separately. The position of the umbel on the seed stalk did not affect the number of branches with primary, secondary, and tertiary umbels on the dill plant and had no effect on its seed stalk architecture. There was no significant difference within the position of the main and primary umbels on the seed stalk grown in field stands. The diameter of the main umbel was the same as the primary one. The lower its position on the seed stalk, the lower the seed yield and germination capacity. The best seeds, in terms of their 1000 seed weight, came from the external part of the main umbel. The different localisation of seeds within the three designated parts of the main umbel had no effect on seed length or width or on their endosperm and embryo lengths. The recorded seed embryo length from the internal part of the primary umbel was smaller than its values from the two other parts of that umbel.

In the years 2002 − 2004 research was carried out on the effect of onion (Allium cepa L.) ‘Wolska’ bulb size on selected morphological characteristics of seed stalks, seed yield and quality. Commercial bulbs (vernalised, one-year-old mother bulbs) were divided into three groups: small, medium and large, with diameters of 4.2-5.3 cm, 5.4-6.3 cm and 6.4-8.5 cm, respectively. Then, the bulbs of each group were planted in the field and grown routinely with the purpose of producing seeds. The following characters were measured on the seed stalks: number and height of seed stalks grown out from one bulb, the seed stalks’ diameter at the height of 10 cm above the ground, the diameter of the inflorescence, seed yield from a single stalk and from the entire plant, the weight of 1000 seeds, number of seeds in 1 g, length and width of the seeds, length and width of the embryos, and germination energy and capacity. Our experiments showed a significant influence of bulb size on the number of seed stalks and the inflorescence diameter. It was discovered that the big bulbs gave larger numbers of seed stalks than the seed stalks grown from the medium and small ones. Small bulbs gave seed stalks with smaller inflorescences than the medium and large ones. The bulb size had no effect on the seed stalk height or their diameter when measured at the level of 10 cm above the ground. The bulb size also did not affect seed yield per one seed stalk, but it did affect the seed yield obtained from the entire plant, which was bigger for plants grown from large bulbs in comparison with the small ones. The size of the bulbs had no effect on either the weight of 1000 seeds or the number of seeds in 1 g. It did not affect either the seed and embryo length and width or the seed germination energy and capacity.

‘Tina’ and ‘Libra’ cultivar seeds of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) beginning germination capacity of 98%, were subjected to artificial ageing. In the thermal chamber, they were twice treated for 72 hours at 45°C. After the treatment, the seeds had lower viability. They germinated at 12% and 0% for ‘Libra’ and ‘Tina’ cultivars, respectively. The dynamics and rate of seed drying were measured in samples with high and low viability. It was found that the seeds of both cultivars with high viability, expressed by high germination capacity, dried at a slower rate than ones with low viability. In the future, this method of estimating the drying rate could probably be used to test seeds with different degrees of viability.

Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) is a herbaceous perennial plant rich in inulin and useful source of biomass. Due to its low agricultural requirements and high adaptability, it can provide a high amount of biomass yield even on low quality sites. The plant is used in food industry, bio-fuel production, forage, pharmacy and nutrition. Its tubers accumulate approx. 10-20% of inulin in fresh weight. Currently, the use of Helianthius tuberosus L. as a potential dietary strategy in patients affected by type 2 Diabetes is a real challenge. Moreover, deep understanding of the relationship between diet and composition of gut microbiota can bring the new insight in the treatment of inflammatory-dependent diseases. The main aim of this study was to examine the effects on plant growth of retardant Chlorocholine Chloride (CCC) -on the plants' height of H. tuberosus- and inulin content in the tubers. The plant material (528 tubers) for the experiment was bought from a Polish commercial company and planted in field in the middle of April 2014. After planting, half of them were sprayed with 0.75% retardant of CCC. Furthermore, in every week for 12 weeks, the plants' heights were measured. At the end of the vegetation period, 6 tubers from each treatment were dug out and chemically analyzed for inulin content using High Pressure Size Exclusion Chromatography. After the first week of CCC use, 16% decrease of the plant's heights was observed. The heights of the plants sprayed with CCC were significantly different comparing to Control plants. Week after week the plant growth was significantly slower in plants sprayed with CCC already after the first three weeks of applying retardant. Differences in plants height sustain to the end of measurements. Used retardant and its concentration did not affect the inulin content of the tubers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bitter gourd or bitter melon (Momordica charantia L.) is an unknown in Poland vegetable of the Chinese origin commonly used in Eastern Asia to feed and cure diabetic people. In the years 2012-2013, the investigations were carried out on preparing its transplants and growing it in Poland using two ways of cultivation: with the supporting sticks or lying directly on the ground. The received transplants and then plants were analyzed for their selected morphological characters. The collected fruits were analyzed for their ash, dry weight, total protein, fats and carbohydrates, Ca, Mg, K, Na, Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu contents. The best transplants were those of 3 leaves, 7 cm high with the biggest leaf's width over 5 cm. The growing the species with the sticks lowered their total fruit yield but increased the weight of an individual fruit. When planting the transplants before June lst, germinating seeds were produced. When planting after that time, fruit were set but seeds were not ripened. The fruits from plants grown with the sticks had lower dry matter and Mn contents than the ones lying on the ground. The way of cultivation of the plants had no effect on all other analyzed chemical elements and characters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2006, the total value of the seed sector in the world exceeded 50 billion USD. Seed value of commercial transactions increased during the period of 1970-2006 five times. This part of the economy, because of participation in food production, has always played an important role in the world. According to the International Seed Federation (ISF), three key countries in the world seed industry in 2011 were the U.S., China and France. This increasing speed of the development the seed sector and the growing competition in the market, made seed companies to undertake activities to improve the quality of offered seed material. Harvesting, drying and cleaning of seeds is the second, after breeding, most labour consuming stage in seed production. It significantly affects the final quality of seeds. Due to high competition on market one of the ways to compit is to lower cost when keeping the same quality. It could be reached by using new machines to process seeds. The paper gives examples of some of them. Based on the materials collected in 2011 in selected seed companies in Italy and France, some new or already known but modified, machines were presented. These are: combine to collect seeds of the cucurbit plants, spiral separator in sets, belt machine with across direction of the belt, electromagnetic separator, multichannel photocell separator, pressure machine for unthreshed dry fruit, robot to pack seed bags on a palette. The progress in this area consists on either creating a new machine, enlarging the use of already existing machine, increasing their effectives through using new materials or their other arrangement on the working place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1990, organic farming in Poland started with only 27 farms. The number of organic farms increased more than double by 2000. Since then, organic land increased more than tenfold. In 2009, there were already nearly 17,423 organic food producers and 277 processors, i.e. over 367,000 hectares of agricultural land were managed organically, which constituted 2.28% of the country's total agricultural land. Twenty farms, out of over 2090, producing organic food were selected in the area of Lublin (Eastern Poland). They were given the questionnaire about using the organic seeds in their production in the season 2010-2011. Eight-five percent of the farmers used organic seeds in their organic food production, however, only 35% of them used organic seeds exclusively, although three fourth of them claimed that it was right to use them. Over half of the farmers used home-saved seeds in their organic food production or exchanged them with other organic farmers. Only one third of the farmers bought organic seeds from the seed companies. All the farmers, who used organic seeds, thought the quality of the seeds was good. Still, less than one third of them thought that the tolerance to diseases and pests of the cultivars used for organic production was good. Eighty percent of the seeds used for organic food production had no treatment. Modern organic ways of farming were used only by 25% of the surveyed farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After changing an economic system in Poland from socialistic into capitalistic in 1989, Polish horticultural seed companies went through crucial and drastic changes. One of them consisted on developing a new strategy of management to produce more competitive and cheaper seeds. One of its elements was to move production of seeds from European locations to China. The most important advantages of it were: more favorable weather conditions, longer vegetation period, lack of some diseases recorded, lower economic risk of production, lower labour price, higher quality of the final product and increasing their own selling record through entering a Chinese market. The most profitable production in China is carried out on hybrid cultivars, in which no male sterile forms are available and therefore much hand labour is needed. The paper shows a scheme of the Polish-Chinese co-operation in seed business and market relations. This newly developed strategy has been highly profitable for both Polish and Chinese seed companies. Moreover, it has increased the seed trade turnover between our both countries. It also stimulates Chinese seed production companies to introduce new technologies and learn know-how. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bitter guard (Momordica charantia L.) and adzuki bean (Phaseolus angularis (Wild.) W. F. Wright) are vegetable species rarely grown in Europe of the Chinese origin. They are widely cultivated in the Far East of Asia. The first species has very low amount of sugars and therefore is highly recommended in the diet for all diabetic people, the latter has many nutritious compounds helping to reduce blood pressure, acting as natural diuretic to reduce human overweight and is being used by supermodels to remove toxins and improve overall skin texture. In the years 2007-2008 several cultivars of both species were tested at the Agricultural University in Poland. It has been proved that the first species can be successfully produced both in the plastic tunnels and in the open field and the latter in the filed in our climatic conditions. They both gave satisfactory yield of fruit and set seeds, which were able to germinate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poland has been a serious producer and seller of seeds of ornamental plants in the European Union. The aim of this work was to describe specifics of Polish flower seeds production based on two very important and different in seed production species: China aster (Callistephus chinensis Nees) and pansy (Viola wittrockiana hort.). The research included their seed production technology and profitability. It was based on the detailed analyses of 12 seed growers' farms located in western (near Wschowa) and northern (near Brześć Kujawski) Poland, the most important ornamental seed production areas in the country. The main differences in seed production technology concerned time of seeds sowing, risk of killing plants by winter, healthy status of the received plants, number of off-type selections, frequency of seed harvesting, seed yields and germination capacity of the received seeds. The profitability of China aster and pansy was 865 zł and 515 zł (1 euro=3.2 zł)/0.1 ha, respectively. Although, the seed yield of China aster was high, and seed harvest easy to carry out, the received seeds did not germinate well and thereby the received price for seeds was low. In the case of pansy seeds, it was opposite: the crop was risky due to winter killing of the plants, seed yield was low, costs of the seeds harvest were high, but the seeds germinated well and the price paid for the seeds was high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, vegetables play a key role in the Chinese kitchen. There are over 100 species of them commercially grown. Some of them can be relatively easily introduced in Europe. They are nutritious, have active compounds, which may be used in natural medicine or for biological enforcement. Some of them do not have certain chemical components, which in turn make them useful for different human diets or natural toxins removal. The paper presents some of them of the Chinese origin, unknown to Europeans or known but not as edible plants. These are: Momordica charanria L., bitter guard, Phaseolus angularis (Wild.) W.F.Wright), adzuki bean, Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis var. utilis, flowering Chinese cabbage, Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis var. communis, Chinese mustard, Chrysanthemum mor(folium Ram., edible chrysanthemum, Amaranthus spp., amaranth. Their possible use for Europeans is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the application of magnetism in agriculture has been paid more and more attention to, especially in the field of its treatment on the seed germination and physiological indexes of seedlings grown out of them. In this experiment, the radish ( Raphanus sativus L.) seeds of two cultivars 'Carmen' and 'Szkarłatna z Białym Końcem' were treated by 20 mT low frequency magnetic field (LFMF) for 10, 30 and 60 minutes, respectively. The MF was generated from a Viofor JPS Delux - a patented device adopted from the routine medical magnetic therapy. By measuring their seed germination rate (energy), seedling length and fresh weight, it was proved that LFMF improved the seed quality of both radish cultivars and the best results were received for the longest exposing time. The received that way results were similar as reported for priming of radish seeds. The developed treatment has a great potential in replacing traditional seed priming methods. However, for its commercial use, for selected crops and cultivars, further research is still needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sword bean (Canavalia gladiata (Jacq.) DC.) also called Jack bean or beach bean, originates from India and China. The crop has been completely unknown in Poland and other Central European countries. Two Chinese cultivars: early and late ones, were produced in Western Poland. During the vegetation period, additional watering, staking and chemical control against aphids and bean weevils were applied. In the field, plant emergence rates, blooming period, number of seeds per pod and total seed yield were evaluated. In the laboratory, 1000 seed weight, seed germination, vigour and water absorbing capacity were evaluated. Both cultivars had good emergence rates in the field - over 60%. Only the early cultivar produced germinating seeds when grown in Poland, whereas the late one produced soft and immature seeds of the size of the wheat grain. On average, one pod had 7.3 seeds. The early cultivar gave good seed yield - 2,067.00 kg ha-1. The germination capacity of the produced seeds was over 90%. The mean germination time was shorter at 25 °C than at 15 °C. Water absorption capacity curves, although different for the 1 hour time point, were basically the same for both Chinese and Polish seeds. The total proteins content for both cultivars was almost 25%. In the climatic conditions of Western Poland in the field, it was possible to produce high amounts of seeds with high germination capacity of the early sword bean cultivar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]