Sustainable Production of Fruit Trees and Disease Resistance

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable fruit production protects and broadens the interests of countries and contributes to the conservation of national treasures—the diversity of plant and animal species, humus content in the soil, etc. Following the guidelines for such farming, the use of agro-chemicals is minimized, the dependence on fuels is reduced, natural biological processes are enhanced, and soil fertility is restored.

Plant diseases nowadays are increasing due to the climate change we are witnessing, but also due to intensive plant production and technology. Similarly, infections are always higher in orchards with higher planting densities and where drastic pruning and abundant irrigation are present, like excessive nitrogen fertilization. Since the natural balance is disturbed under such production conditions, the plants’ vigor and resistance are reduced and various problems arise, like a large number of new diseases and their occurrence on a large scale. Under the current situation, plants become more susceptible to various diseases.

The importance of research on the proposed topic is based on the fact that there is an actual possibility of finding potential solutions to the struggle against pathogens of fruit trees that do not currently have adequate curative plant-protection remedies. Therefore, there is a need and necessity to find alternative natural ingredients and compounds in the fight against plant diseases. At the same time, effective antimicrobial, natural, and non-hazardous compounds are an alternative answer and an ecological solution to the problem of plant protection and could be a response to the increasing endangerment of human health.

In addition, the use and further development of organic plant-protection products will largely depend a) on the interest of the pesticide industries or the pharmaceutical industry (which is increasingly interested in this area, as alternative solutions to plant protection need to be pursued as registration and authorization of usage have been abolished for a large number of products); b) on the farmers' demands (which are growing over time); c) on the results of scientific research (which is increasing in that specific area); and d) on public opinion (which is more and more turning to so-called 'green' solutions).

Research on alternative compounds and agents in phytomedicine is not strongly represented in databases, as such research can be said to have just begun. This Special Issue deals with the innovative and original research on this topic nowadays.

Since science has an extremely important task in the introduction and development of any new technology, we also consider our task in fulfilling this purpose through this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Edyta Đermić
Dr. Sara Godena
Dr. Slavica Matic
Guest Editors

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