The experiment was conducted in the district of Minga Guazú, Paraguay (25º29'04''S, 54º45'52'' W). The study evaluated the effect of two types of organic fertilizer (cow and hen manure) applied in different doses to cabbage (Brássica oleracea L.). The general objective was to determine the yield, weight and diameter of the fruit or head of the cabbage. The design used was completely randomized blocks with 5 treatments; T1: control (without any fertilization); T2: 3 kg.m-2 hen manure; T3: 5 kg.m-2hen manure; T4: 3 kg.m-2cow manure; T5: 5 kg.m-2 cow manure; and with 4 replicates totaling 20 experimental units. The evaluated variables were fruit weight and diameter, and yield (kg) per hectare. The values obtained were subjected to analysis of variance, and for mean comparison, the Tukey test at 5% probability of error was used. There was an effect due to the treatments on the studied variables. The largest fruit diameter corresponded to the T3 treatment with 20.68 cm, while the highest fruit weights corresponded to the T3 treatments (890.25 g) and T2 (701.25g). The highest yields corresponded to treatments T3 (7.05 kg.m2), T2 (5.59 kg.m-2) and T4 (4.37 kg.m-2).

Viral diseases can affect the stability of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) production, therefore it was considered of interest to evaluate the behavior of different cultivars and promising lines obtained by the INTA breeding program against natural virus infection. Symptoms severity, incidence and relative concentration of Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), Cowpea mild mottle virus (CpMMV), Alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV), Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) and geminiviruses were evaluated for 14 bean cultivars during three growing seasons. SMV and AMV were found in very low incidence during the three years. Differences in cultivar response were observed: L24 and L15 were tolerant to begomoviruses, while CR8, CR5, L22 (cranberry and white bean types) were susceptible. The most severe symptoms were found during the 2013 growing season, when a high incidence of begomovirus and CpMMV were observed. No differences between cultivars were found for CpMMV incidence, but a higher relative concentration of virus was detected in CR5, CR8 and L17. Although L15 was tolerant to geminiviruses, it was the most susceptible to CMV, a fact that must be taken into account because this virus is transmitted by seeds and might become a serious problem in bean production.

Asparagus is a non-traditional perennial vegetable crop for which evaluation of the performance of different genotypes is required. With the aim of determining the productivity of a set of all-male genotypes from Italy, a trial was planted on 22/11/06 using large (PG) and small (PCH) seedlings. The following characters were evaluated: total (PFT) and commercial (PFC) fresh production, total (NTT) and commercial (NTC) spear number, calibre distribution (J: Jumbo; XL: Extra-Large; L: Large; M: Medium; S: Small and A: Asparagina), defects (DE: opened bracts; P: plague damage; and OD: other defects). Thirty-two harvests were carried out between 1/9/14 and 14/11/14. Data were analysed by ANOVA-LSD (P≥0.05). No significant differences were found between the two seedling sizes. From the thirty-two harvests, a mean productivity of 14.5t.ha-1 was obtained, with a commercial prime quality productivity of 5.4 t.ha-1. A total of 553,241 spears were obtained, of which 252,420 were of commercial prime quality, with an average weight of 21 g per spear. Regarding seedling size, no significant differences were found. The Italian genotypes performed better than the control genotype from the USA, with Eros outstanding for PFT, and Ercole, Eros, Italo and H-668 for PFC. For spears produced, significant differences were observed between hybrids: for NTT, Zeno, Eros, Ercole and H-668 stood out, while for NTC, Ercole. Regarding calibre distribution, Italo, UC-157, H-668, Zeno and Eros stood out for J; Eros, Italo, Zeno and H-668 for XL; Eros, Italo, Ercole and H-668, UC-157 and Zeno for L; Ercole, Eros and H-668, and UC-157 for M; UC157 and Ercole for S; and UC-157 and Ercole for A. In conclusion, all male hybrids represent a valuable production alternative.