In the reclamation of a degraded area, it is important the use of nitrogen fixing legumes, associated with climax species, to make possible a faster recovery of the environment. In urban centers various wastes are produced, among them the marble rock waste, which, despite having agricultural value, ends up being thrown in the environment.. The objective of this work was to evaluate the Cedrela fissilis growth and of pioneering legume in quincunx system, in degraded area, fertilized with doses of marble rock waste. The treatments, distributed in factorial scheme 2 x 4, in the randomized block design, with three replicates, were: two species of pioneering legume (Acacia mangium and Acacia auriculiformis in quincunx system with the Cedrela fissilis) and four doses of marble rock waste (0; 300; 600 and 900 g.cova-1). Were determined annually, along three years, the height of the plants, the stem diameter, the cup diameter and, in the end, the mortality percentage. The Acacia auriculiformis presented characteristic of better growth than the Acacia mangium and greater resistance to adverse conditions of degraded soil. There was tendency of reduction of the characteristics of growth of the Cedrela fissilis and of the Acacias with the increment of the doses of rock powder applied to the soil. The Cedrela fissilis presented, in general, larger growth, when combined with Acacia mangium than with Acacia auriculiformis, however, showed a high mortality after two years of planting.

The abusive use of pesticides results in contamination of the environment, food and people. The aim of this research was to evaluate the use of silicon in the integrated management of Diamondback moth, as a physical barrier, reducing the use of pesticides. Agrosilício was the source of silicon used in the research. This product has 23% of silicon. Discs of cabbage were sunk in water (control) and on four solutions containing 3, 6, 9 e 12 kg.ha-1 of silicon, in 10 replicates. The discs were offered to 2o instar larvae, reared in laboratory, and morphological and behavior responses were recorded in the first 24 hours. Feeding preference, mortality and jaw damage were evaluated. Treatments had a significant effect in all variables. Larvae were more attracted and mortality was high in treatment with 12 kg.ha-1 of silicon. Silicon damaged larvae jaw, limiting ingestion and causing high mortality. Silicon in the integrated management of diamondback moth may contribute to reduction of pesticides use.

Heteropterys tomentosa A. Juss. belonging to the Malpighiaceae family has its roots extracted and used in the Cerrado of Mato Grosso, mainly as a tonic and aphrodisiac. Evaluation of seedling growth may provide information for growing and selecting plants of the species. In this paper the aim was to evaluate the growth of progenies of H. tomentosa in a greenhouse. 30 progenies were evaluated in a randomized experimental design with three replications of 10 plants per plot. The variables analyzed were height (cm/plant), diameter (mm/plant) and number of leaves/plant. The plants were grown at an average speed of 0.38 cm per day. However, the average speed was higher at 120 days, with about 0.53 cm.day. The diameter increment was much lower in the first 60 days, about 0.01 mm.day, but there was an increase to 0.03 at 100 days, 0.02 mm.day stabilizing again to the end of 150 days. The increase in speed to the number of leaves at 45 days and 105 days was the same (0.13 leaves.ind.day). However, it was between 60 and 90 days after planting that the growth rate was higher (0.26 leaves.ind.day). The highlights were significant associations between fresh weight and dry weight and between length and weight of the plant. It is concluded that the seedlings of H. tomentosa kept in a greenhouse grow up too quickly and can be transplanted to grow efficiently. The selection of individuals for increased root production can be done by those with the greatest number of leaves.

This paper aimed to characterize the main agricultural productive systems of the county of Ibimirim in the semi-arid region of the state of Pernambuco, Brazil, in order to obtain data that can serve as subsidy to the implementation of agroforestry systems. Different productive unities were characterized through semi-structured interviews with local agriculturists selected through a stratified sampling. Each layer was composed by the main activity executed by the family which correspondent to: group 1: irrigated agricultural systems; group 2: traditional systems and forest extractivism; group 3: apiculture; group 4: handicraft fishing. The sample was composed by 5% of the small agriculturist in the groups 1, 2 and 3 and 2% in the group 4, due to this group being more homogeneous. The irrigated agriculture stood out in economic terms, althought it has demonstrated limited autonomy due to external raw materials dependence in addition to contribute to soil and hydric resource degradation. The traditional systems high adaptability and the apiculture conservationist character have generated a low impact under the local ecosystems. Fishing, forest extractivism and forest management are activities that allow the agriculturist maintenance in the rural environment and constitute a source of revenue during the dry season. The activities diversification and the integration of different productive systems has been a concrete possibility for income generation and improvement in the life quality of the families in the region. This way, the agroforestry systems of multiple use must be priority in rural development programs for the region sustainability.

This paper presents morphoanatomic characteristics of roots, cataphylls, leaves and scapes of Amaryllidaceae s.s. and Alliaceae s.s. species from Northeastern Brazil. The histological laminas were prepared following standard plant anatomy techniques. Among the organs studied, leaves and scapes were shown to be useful for the delimitation of groups in family, genera and species. Among the diagnostic characters are raised: the presence of biconvex scape is unique in Griffinia and Hymenocallis (Amaryllidaceae s.s.), epidermal cell with sinuous anticlinal walls in the leaves and scape occur only in Griffinia espiritensis e acute maple leaf only in Habranthus robustus. Zephyranthes candidula differs by having subcircular and unifacial leaves, Hymenocallis littoralis by having subepidermal strands of collenchyma in the scapes and above the vascular bundles in the leaves. The presence of latex is unique of Nothoscordum pernambucanum (Alliaceae s.s.).

Agave sisalana Perrine ex Engelm is an important specie to economy of the semiarid region of Brazil because of it is an efficient source for production of fibers. Information about the anatomy can contribute greatly to plant production, however, there are few papers on the structural anatomy of this specie. The current paper aimed at describing the anatomy of the leaves, roots and rhizomes of Agave sisalana. Adult plants were collected in experimental plots at the Universidade Federal do Recôncavo da Bahia, in Bahia State, Brazil. The samples were processed using standardized plant anatomy techniques. Histochemical tests using Sudan Red and Sudan Black were performed to identify lipophilic substances. A number of characteristics typical of plants adapted to dry environments were observed, including a thick cuticle on both leaf faces. The leaves were phystomatic and had tetracitic stomata, long sub-stomatal chambers, isobilateral mesophyll, unistratified epi-dermis, papilla, cuticular flanges, and alternate collateral vascular bundles accompanied by fibrous sheaths. The roots had a velamen, a cortex with large rounded cells, and three layers of sclerids adjacent to the uniseriate endodermis. The rhizome was of the atactostele type and had no endodermis. OuvirLer foneticamente.

The brackish water can be used on profitable agricultural production, depending on the adoption of appropriated crop practices and the crop tolerance to salinity as well. The hydroponic system can contribute when it is used with brackish water on horticulture production, because the great state of saturation that plants is submitted enables the increase of crop tolerance to salinity. This paper evaluated the effect of salinity on nutritive solution of rocket (Eruca sativa L.), cv. "Cultivada", cultivated in coconut fiber substrate under protected conditions. The experiment was carried out in randomized blocs design, with four types of water, added with NaCl, one was the control (S1 = 2.0; S2 = 3.5; S3 = 4.5 and S4 = 5.5 dS m-1), applied in four development stages (1st week, 2nd week, 3th week and 4th week after the transplantation) with four repetitions. The evaluated characteristics were the crown diameter, fresh and dry weight of the canopy. The results showed that increasing salinity levels decreased the fresh biomass. The first and second growth week of cultivation times were more sensitive to application of saline water with reduction 9.7% on the fresh biomass.

The aim of this paper was to evaluate the influence of different methods of dormancy breaking and substrates in the emergence and early growth of seedlings canafístula (Peltophorum dubium (Sprengel) Taubert). The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design in a factorial 5 x 4, with five substrates, Bioplant®; 75% Bioplant® + 25% bagasse from sugar cane (75B+25BC); 50% Bioplant® + 50% bagasse from sugar cane (50B+50BC); 25% Bioplant® + 75% bagasse from sugar cane (25B+75BC); bagasse from sugar cane (100%) and four methods of breaking dormancy (control, mechanical scarification using sandpaper, immersion in hot water and scarification with concentrated sulfuric acid) with three replications of 12 seeds. We evaluated the index of emergency speed; average time of emergency; emergence percentage at 7, 14 and 28 days after sowing, the dry mass of shoot and root dry mass. Immersion in hot water and chemical scarification with sulfuric acid (98%) are efficient methods to overcome seedcoat dormancy in seeds of canafístula. The substrates Bioplant® and 75B +25BC provide higher initial growth of seedlings.

The aim of this paper was to evaluate the contribution of different strains of rhizobia in the distribution of dry material and grain yield in cowpea plants, grown in cerrado in the state of Tocantins. The experiment was conducted in 2007/2008 season in cerrado in Gurupi, TO. Five treatments were studied with strains BR3301, BR3302, BR3267, BR3299 and BR3262 and treatment as a control (no inoculation and fertilizer). Plants were collected at 15, 25, 35, 45, 55 and 65 days after emergence (DAE) to determine the distribution of dry mass of leaves, stems, flowers and pods and the weight ratio of plant parts. Grain yield was determined at harvest as grain moisture reached 13%. We established the Pearson correlation coefficient of variables. The witness and BR3299 treatments promoted greater dry mass of plants at 65 DAE. The highest yield was obtained by the witness and BR3267. Further study is needed on the selection of strains of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in cowpea under various soil and climate in the state of Tocantins.

The nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) generally are the two nutrients that occur in lower levels in the soil in relation to the need of the plant and are the nutrients most required by the maize crop. With the present work aimed to define the levels of N and P2O5 associated to the maximal economical of green corn in an alkaline soil of the city of Baraúna-RN. The maize hybrid AG 1051 was planted in spacing of 0.70 x 0.23 m and harvested on the condition of green corn to 75 days after planting. Were applied 17 treatments, being 16 treatments resulting from the combination between four doses of N (30, 60, 90 and 120 kg ha-1) and four doses of P2O5 (30, 60, 90 and 120 kg ha-1) and a control treatment, in which not applied any dose of these nutrients. The experimental design was in randomized blocks with four repetitions. The characteristics evaluated were: number and total weight of cobs, number and weight of marketable covered cobs and number and weight of marketable uncovered cobs. The increase of the availability of N and P in soil, as a result of fertilizing, positively influences positively the weight of green maize ears. The culture of green corn responded better to phosphorus fertilization than nitrogen fertilization, showing that in the soil of the experimental area the P was more limiting to the production than the N. Although the majority of production of marketable covered cobs has been estimated for the application of 120 kg ha-1 N + 106 kg ha-1 P2O5, the doses of maximum economic and environmental efficiency recommended were 60 kg ha-1 N + 106 kg ha-1 P2O5.