Several international initiative goals include the commitment of countries to protect biodiversity, to promote the diversification of production and increase the diversity of crops for sustainable agriculture and to carry out research on the domestication of wild species. The center of the province of Buenos Aires presents different rural and urban environments with a high floristic richness. The objective of this work is to identify wild and potentially edible native plants of Argentina that live in this region and to make their preliminary inventory. We found 69potentially edible species, which must later be studied to ensure their nutritional value.

Consumption of leafy vegetables is beneficial, however, the ingestion of contaminated food may cause diseases. The objective of this study was to obtain data on microbiological quality of leafy vegetables produced in the Fronteira Oeste region of Rio Grande do Sul. Samples of lettuce, cabbage leaf, arugula and a mixture of parsley and chive were collected, with quantification of total and thermotolerant coliforms by most probable number method and detection of Salmonella sp. using Petrifilm™ Salmonella Express System. A questionnaire was applied to understand the cultivation system of leafy vegetables used in the region: local, type of fertilizer, water source and surroundings.  Results showed high counts of coliforms ranging from 2.21 to 3.38 MNP/g for total coliforms and from 0.60 to 3.38 log MPN/g for thermotolerant coliforms, and 47% (n=16) of prevalence for Salmonella sp. In addition, 100% (n=8) of arugula, 85.7% (n=6) of parsley and chive, 75% (n=6) of cabbage leaf, and 60% (n=6) of lettuce samples were classified as improper for consumption, mainly in the municipalities of São Borja and Alegrete. The use of fertilizer considered organic and untreated water for irrigation and the presence of animals close to the production could be some of the factors involved in this type of contamination. Microbial contamination indicated unsatisfactory hygienic-sanitary quality, which emphasizes the need of good agricultural practices and good handling practices for leafy vegetables in order to reduce health risks to consumers.

It was observed in the walnut nursery of Valle Viejo department - Catamarca, symptoms coinciding with those caused by Agrobacterium tumefaciens circumscribed to the area of ​​the graft. The transmission of the pathogen causing these gills can be by means of tools during the grafting work. The nurserymen disinfect the tools with sodium hypochlorite between 2 and 5%, with the difficulty of deteriorating the blades, leaving them blunt. The objective of the present work was to corroborate the presence of the pathogenic organism that causes the gills observed, and to test, in the laboratory, the effectiveness of different tool disinfectant products. The bacterium was isolated by planting small pieces of gills in two different culture media: Nutritive Agar (AN) and Agar extract of yeast dextrose calcium carbonate (YDC). The ability of four antiseptics to disinfect the graft blade was also evaluated: Sodium Hypochlorite, Glutaraldehyde, 70 ° Alcohol and Quaternary Ammonium, at different concentrations, for 10 and 30 s. Colonies corresponding to A. tumefaciens were isolated and the pathogenicity tests on tomato seedlings reproduced the symptoms. The re-isolations confirm A. tumefaciens as causal agent of the gills in the walnut seedlings examined. The glutaraldehyde at 2% has an efficiency of 100% when submerging 10 s the tool. The glutaraldehyde does not oxidize the tools and does not remove the edge, an advantage over the hypochlorite rejected by the operators because it deteriorates the tools and they must be replaced more frequently.

Squash, summer squash or zucchini, is grown in the green belts and major vegetable areas of the country. It is an alternative for the area of Villa Mercedes, due to the great demand of the local consumerswhich is satisfied by the neighbor provinces productions.Traditionally, Cucurbitaceaeare direct seeded at the beginning of cultivation, however the transplanting system in pots  has been increasingly used for the advantages it offers. The objective of the trial was to evaluate two techniques of starting cultivation (direct seeding and transplanting) and their effect on the performance of different genetic materials.The two implantation techniques combined with five materials of zucchini were considered as treatments: ItalianoAlargado, Italiano Redondo, ItalianoOvalado, Nutri-C INTA andVeronés INTA.The experimental design was a factorial of implantation techniques and cultivars as treatments, established in a completely randomized plot structure (2m2of four plants). The yields obtained were statistically analyzed through the InfoStat program. It was demonstrated that the best culture starting technique was by transplanting, regardless of the materials used. The material with the highest yield was Veronés INTA summer squash initiated through the pot technique and subsequent transplant with an average performance of 21.5 kilograms per plot. 

The volume of onion production in Paraguay does not supply the domestic demand causingthe import of the product mainly from Argentina. The local research on onion cultivation is scarce and hinders the improvement of the national production.The effects of transplanting dates on onion cultivars performance are not well known in the Paraguayan environments. Therefore, seedlings of 17 onion cultivars weretransplanted on three different dates, May 24, June 26 and August 6, 2012, respectivelyin order to evaluate the effects on yield and quality of the bulbs. The trial was carried out in the experimental field of the "Hernando Bertoni" Research Center, Paraguayan Institute of Agrarian Technology, Caacupé, Paraguay. The experimental design used was the split-plot with three replications. The mass, total and commercial yield of onion bulbs were evaluated. The data were subjected to the analysis of variance and the comparison of means performed by the Tukey test at 5% of probability. The obtained results indicate that delaying the transplant date reduces the yield and mass of bulbs. The cultivars that recorded the highest yields and mass of bulbs on the first date of transplant were Aurora, Primavera, Bella Dura, Victoria, BaiaPeriforme, Rainha and Red Creole. On the second transplant date, the Aurora, Cascata and Yellow Grano cultivars, and on the last transplant date, the Cascata cultivar obtained higher yields, respectively.