Tiafenacil is registered in the United States for use in annual crops such as corn and soybean, but not on orchard crops. Field studies were conducted to determine orchard crop safety and efficacy of tiafenacil on important California orchard weeds. To evaluate crop safety, tiafenacil was applied at 74, 148, and 222 g ai ha−1 alone and with 38 g ai ha−1 of tolpyralate three times per year at the base of almond, pistachio, prune, and walnut trees. The first treatment was applied 2 mo after the trees had been transplanted. In all four tree crop experiments, treatments were applied once in May 2020, then three times again during the winter of 2021 and 2022 at 21-d treatment intervals. There were no visual foliar injury symptoms or treatment-related effects on tree trunk diameter change even at the highest tested rate of tiafenacil applied seven times over three growing seasons. In a separate study of weed control, in most instances, tiafenacil applied at 12 g ai ha−1 performed similarly to that of tiafenacil plus glufosinate. Control of glyphosate-resistant hairy fleabane with tiafenacil applied alone at 25 g ai ha−1 was 65% by 14 d after treatment. Tiafenacil applied at 50 g ai ha−1 to hairy fleabane performed similarly to glufosinate plus glyphosate. In a greenhouse study, tiafenacil applied at 12 g ha−1 provided 95% to 100% control of barnyardgrass and junglerice, and there was no significant difference between tiafenacil applied alone or with glufosinate. Saflufenacil applied alone or in a mixture with glufosinate was not as effective as the tiafenacil treatments for grass weed control. Based on experiments conducted over three growing seasons in four tree fruit and tree nut crops, tiafenacil crop safety appeared to be acceptable even at up to 2- or 3-fold the expected use rate.

To evaluate the effects of pistachio consumption on the glucoregulatory status in individuals with a high risk of CVD, a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCT) were conducted. Online databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Cochrane Library were searched from inception until June 2019. Human trials that reported data for fasting blood sugar (FBS), fasting insulin and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were included. Data were pooled using the random effect models and expressed as weighted mean difference (WMD) with 95 % CI. Eight RCTs were included in the analyses. Pistachio consumption, exchanged isocalorically for other foods, decreased FBS (WMD: −5·32 mg/dl, 95 % CI (−7·80, −2·64), P < 0·001) and insulin (WMD: −1·86 µIU/ml, 95 % CI (−3·13, −0·59), P < 0·01) concentrations in individuals with a high risk of CVD. However, no changes were observed in the levels of HOMA-IR between the groups (WMD: −0·66, 95 % CI (−1·89, 0·58), P = 0·30). Pistachio consumption may improve glucoregulatory status in individuals at risk for CVD, as evidenced by reduced FBS and insulin concentrations. However, due to the limited availability of studies with diabetic cases and relatively small sample sizes of available studies, well-designed trials with adequate sample sizes aimed at diabetic populations are recommended.

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of pistachio by-product silage (PBPS) as a partial replacement for corn silage (CS) on chewing activity, nutrients digestibility and ruminal fermentation parameters in Holstein male calves over a 6-month assay. For this purpose, 24 Holstein male calves (4 to 5 months of age and 155.6±13.5 kg BW) were randomly assigned to one of the four dietary treatments (n=6). In these treatments, CS was substituted with different levels of PBPS (0%, 6%, 12% and 18% of dry matter (DM)). Nutrient digestibility was measured at the end of the experimental period (days 168 to 170). Ruminal fermentation parameters were determined on days 90 and 180 and chewing activity was determined on days 15 of the 3rd and 6th month of the experiment. Results showed that calves fed rations containing 6% PBPS spent more time ruminating (P<0.05) than the control group on the 3rd and 6th months. Feeding PBPS was found to have no effects on DM, organic matter (OM), ether extract or ash digestibility, but apparent digestibility of CP, NDFom and ADFom linearly decreased (P<0.01) with increasing substitutions. On days 90 and 180, ruminal concentrations of volatile fatty acids and NH3–N linearly decreased (P<0.01) with increasing levels of PBPS in the diets; however, ruminal pH and molar proportions of acetate, propionate and butyrate were similar across the treatments. It was concluded that partial substitution of CS with PBPS (6% or 12%) would have no adverse effects on nutrient digestibility, total chewing activity and ruminal fermentation parameters.

The potato bug, Closterotomus norwegicus (Gmelin) (Hemiptera: Miridae) is an introduced pest of lucerne, white clover and lotus seed crops in New Zealand and a key pest of pistachios in California, USA. Efforts were made to identify potential biological control agents of C. norwegicus in Europe. A total of eight parasitoids, including six primary parasitoids from the genus Peristenus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and two hyperparasitoids from the genus Mesochorus (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae), were reared from C. norwegicus nymphs collected in various habitats in northern Germany. With a proportion of more than 85% of all C. norwegicus parasitoids, Peristenus closterotomae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a new species, was the most dominant parasitoid, whereas other parasitoid species only occurred sporadically. Peristenus closterotomae did not fit in the keys to any described species and is described as new to science. Parasitism caused by P. closterotomae was on average 24% (maximum 77%). To assess the host specificity of parasitoids associated with C. norwegicus, the parasitoid complexes of various Miridae occurring simultaneously with C. norwegicus were studied. Peristenus closterotomae was frequently reared from Calocoris affinis (Herrich-Schaeffer), and a few specimens were reared from Calocoris roseomaculatus (De Geer) and the meadow plant bug, Leptopterna dolobrata (Linnaeus) (all Hemiptera: Miridae). The remaining primary parasitoids associated with C. norwegicus were found to be dominant in hosts other than C. norwegicus. Whether nymphal parasitoids may potentially be used in a classical biological control initiative against the potato bug in countries where it is introduced and considered to be a pest is discussed.