Macroptilium martii Benth. is a native grass species of the Caatinga, used in the feeding of cattle and goats during dry periods. This study aimed to characterize the fruit and seeds, as well as evaluating the germination of the seeds of M. martii subjected to different methods of scarification. For the characterization of the seeds was carried out using biometrics a random sample of 100 seeds and 100 fruits. Mass, length, width and thickness of fruits and seeds, and number of seeds per fruit were evaluated. With and without lopping: monitoring the soaking curve using two treatments: with and without lopping. Twelve pregerminative to assess seed dormancy treatments were used: control, coating, soaking for 12, 24 and 48 hours, warm to 80 °C for 3, 6 and 12 minutes and sulfuric acid (H2SO4) for 3, 6 water 12 minutes. The seeds were germinated as substrate type germitest paper towel. The design was completely randomized with four replications of 25 seeds each. The data were submitted to Tukey test at 5% probability. The seeds of M. martii have low variation for biometric features. Furthermore, seeds respond to standard soaking phase, being verified by the dormancy coating impermeable. The most appropriate method for breaking dormancy is blunt on the side opposite the micropyle, it provides the best conditions for seed germination.

Fueron conducidos dos experimentos individuales en el municipio de Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Se empleó dos cultivares de melón, ‘Olimpic express’ (del tipo Cantaloupo) e ‘Iracema’ (del tipo Amarillo), para evaluar el crecimiento y la acumulación de macronutrientes, bajo el diseño de bloques al azar con siete tratamientos (épocas de muestreo) y tres repeticiones. Los muestreos de plantas fueron realizados a los 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49 y 56 días después del trasplante (DDT). El crecimiento fue lento hasta 28 DDT en ambos cultivares evaluados, intensificándose en el periodo siguiente, alcanzando a los 56 DDT, 246.4g planta-1, en ‘Olimpic express’,y 266.9 g planta-1, en ‘Iracema’, siendo la materia seca (MS) de los frutos correspondientes a 60% y 64% de la MS total, respectivamente. Mayores acumulaciones de N, P y K fueron obtenidos en los frutos, mientras de Ca, Mg y S en las hojas. Al final del ciclo, en ‘Olimpic express’, cuya productividad fue de 32 t ha-1, fueron acumulados 173.4, 110.1, 101.1, 26.9, 15.6 y 13.5 kg ha-1 de K, Ca, N, Mg, S y P, respectivamente, y en ‘Iracema’, cuya productividad fue de 38 t ha-1, fueron acumulados 136.0, 93.9, 84.1, 22.6, 15.4 y 9.5 kg ha-1 de K, N, Ca, Mg, S y P, respectivamente. En relación al total acumulado, las exportaciones de N, P, K, Ca, Mg y S en los frutos fueron de 61, 73, 66, 9, 35 y 39% (‘Olimpic express’)y 58, 70, 55, 6, 33 y 41% (‘Iracema’). Con una menor producción de frutos y una mayor acumulación de nutrientes, ‘Olimpic express’ ha demostrado ser menos eficiente en el uso de nutrientes que ‘Iracema’.

One of the characteristics of maize cultivation in the Northeast region of Brazil is the diversity of production systems. One can find from large companies, which adopt modern cultivars and relatively high sowing densities, to small properties, with traditional cultivars grown at low sowing densities (cultivation in pits spaced more than 1.0 m). The objective with this work was to evaluate the effects of sowing density (30, 40, 50, 60, or 70 thousand plants ha-1) on green ear yield and grain yield of maize cultivars (AG 405 and BR 106). Green ears and grain are assessed and marketed differently. Consequently the optimum densities for ob- taining each product may be different. In addition, maize cultivars may respond differently to increased density. Densities were achieved by maintaining a constant spacing between rows (1.0 m) and varying the spacing be- tween pits within the same row. Cultivars and sowing densities were combined in a factorial scheme, arranged in a random block design with five replications. The maximum yield of marketable husked green ears of culti- vars AG BR 405 and 106 were obtained with densities of 59 and 62 thousand plants ha-1, respectively. The maximum grain yield of cultivars AG 405 and BR 106 were obtained with densities of 61 and 70 thousand plants ha-1, respectively. In general, to produce marketable green ears, cultivar BR 106 was better in terms of number of ears, but the other cultivar was better in terms of ear weight. Cultivar AG 405 responds better to increased density for grain production.

The scarcity of good quality water in semiarid region has been the main limiting factor for in- creasing the irrigated area. However, due to greater availability of saline water, and reduced costs, when man- aged carefully, can be a viable alternative. The objective of this research was to study the effects of water use with low (S1 = 0,5 dS m-1) and high (S2 = 4,3 dS m-1) salt concentration on growth of melon plant. Melon (Cucumis melo L., cv Sancho) crop was irrigated with water of low and high salinity water under different management strategies: S1S2S2S2 – T1, S1S1S2S2 – T2, S1S1S1S2 – T3, S2S1S2S2 – T4, S2S1S1S2 – T5, S2S2S1S2 – T6 (the 1st, 2nd , 3rd and 4th term of these sequences correspond to different phases of crop – initial growth, flowering, fruit maturation and harvest, respectively), irrigation with S1 water throughout the crop cycle – T7 (control), varying the type of water every two days throughout the cycle (irrigation with S1 during 2 days fol- lowed by S2 1 day – T8 and with S2 during 2 days and followed by S1 1 day – T9) and irrigation with S2 water throughout the cycle - T10. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with four replica- tions. The use of low and high salinity water applied in different phases of plant growth under different man- agement strategies did not affect the characteristics of melon cultivar Sancho. The cultivar Sancho tolerates irrigation water salinity up to 4,3 dS m-1, without any loss in growth and development.

The postharvest losses index for fruits in Brazil is high. To attend the quality exigencies and minimize those losses, it is initially necessary to detect the problems on the commercialization chain. Because of that, this study aimed to evaluate the postharvest losses in table grapes during the operations carried out in packinghouses of firms located in Petrolina-Pernambuco State/Juazeiro-Bahia State region and during the com- mercialization in Mercado do Produtor de Juazeiro. The study was carried out in three packinghouses and in three sell places of the Mercado do Produtor de Juazeiro. In the packinghouses, it was observed one day of ac- tivity, following the normal procedures. For sampling, the wasted fruits were weighted, characterized according the kind of loss and quantified before doing another weighting for each identified category. In Mercado do Pro- dutor de Juazeiro, the study was carried out in a similar way, including the same evaluations. Because of the rigorous quality criteria, the percentage of losses in table grapes in packinghouses was 3.9%. This percentage was higher than the value observed in Mercado do Produtor de Juazeiro, which was 1.5%. The main cause of postharvest losses in grapes was mechanical injury in both studied conditions.

It is reported the occurrence of coleoborers Cosmopolites sordidus (Germar, 1824), Metama- sius hemipterus (L., 1758), Metamasius canalipes (Gyllenhal, 1838) and Rhynchophorus palmarum (L., 1758) attacking banana cultivar 'Terra' (Musa paradisiaca) (Musaceae), in the municipality of Joaquim Gomes, State of Alagoas. Twenty adult specimens were sent to Prof. Dr. Sergio Antonio Vanin, Department of Zoology, In- stitute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo and identified by morphological characteristics, being this the first report of M. canalipes and R. palmarum damaging the cultivar 'Terra’ in Brazil. Attack symptoms in the field are initially manifested by chlorosis, necrosis and fall of the lower leaves, the fruits did not develop satis- factorily and plants finished by fall over. As a result of infestation was observed the death of 70% of the plants evaluated in the area.

The productivity of passion fruit in Maranhão State, Brazil, is very low, because the deficient utilization of technologies by the smallholders. The present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of polli- nation on the fruiting set and fruit quality, and the frequency of visiting on flowers of carpenter bees (Xylocopa spp.) on passion fruit species Passiflora edulis Sims f. flavicarpa Deg. And Passiflora edulis Sims f. edulis).The treatments of field experiment was formed by the methods of pollination: opened, controlled and manual, using six flowers per plant in five plants of the two passion fruit forms. The frequency of visiting of Xylocopa spp. to the flowers was taken in five intervals of time. The controlled and manual pollination pre- sented higher fruit set per plant in the two passion fruit forms. In the monitoring of visiting, the flowers of yel- low passion received a greater number of visitors from 14 h and in purple passion fruit the visits were retarded in one hour. The frequency of visiting of carpenter bees to the flowers of yellow passion fruitis closely related to the provision of flowers per plant. The manual pollination ofyellow passion fruit resulted fruits with higher total weight, mass of pulp and seed number in relation to opened pollination. Different results were verified to purple passion fruit.

The feeding programs for naked neck chickens in semi-intensive production system from brazilian equatorial semi-arid environment, must consider regional food availability and respective nutritional values. Thus, to evaluate the digestibility and metabolizable energy of alternative forages, it was used 240 naked neck pullets (Isa Label lineage) receiving water and ration ad libitum, pair-housed in cages for total collection of excreta on conventional warehouse. It was used a completely randomized design with factorial arrangement (5x2): one control ration (corn and soy meal) and other four experimental rations with silk flower hay (Calotropis procera), cassava leafs hay (Manihot esculenta), kills pasture hay (Senna obtusifolia) or leucaena leafs hay (Leucaena leucocephala), and all rations were balanced for two growing phases, between 8 and 10 weeks (young pullets) and between 14 and 16 weeks of age (old pullets). The values of apparent digestibility of nutrients for all experimental rations were lower than control ration (P <0.05) and it was observed general means of 72.18% for dry matter, 78.12% for crude protein, 66.90% for ether extract, 28.08% for neutral detergent fiber, 18.51% for the acid detergent fiber, 71.64% for gross energy and availability of 15.61% for mineral matter. The general mean of apparent and corrected metabolizable energy of alternative forages was 1217 kcal/ kg and 1108 kcal/kg, respectively, and the higher value was determined for leucaena hay and the lower value for silk flower hay (P <0.05).

The management of wastewater in agricultural crops in order to explore fully their potential of water and nutrients, have proved a viable alternative for irrigated agriculture, especially in semiarid regions. The objective of this work was to study the quality of ornamental sunflower (cv. Sol Noturno) with increasing doses of cattle manure and types of water. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized block design in factorial scheme (4 x 2), with four replications and five plants per replication, testing two types of water (supply water and treated wastewater) and four doses of cattle manure (5, 10, 15 and 20% in on weight basis) In determining the quality of sunflowers morphological and growth variables were analysed. The manure doses ranging from 15 to 16.7% provided the best morphological and growth characteristics of sunflowers. The nanure dose less than 8.4% provided early onset and opening of buds of the sunflower and the highest number of flower buds was obtained with the manure dose equivalent to 14%. The types of water, as well as the interaction between the factors did not significantly influence the quality of sunflowers (cv. Sol Noturno).

Agricultural use of soil resources under irrigated conditions requires constant monitoring of the soil quality attributes due to important soil functions related to soil water storage and distribution, aeration and root growth. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of citrus cultivation, under irrigated conditions, on the physical quality of a Yellow Ultisol through determination of soil pore size distribution, bulk density and soil water retention, in the Neópolis flat land irrigated perimeter, Sergipe. Soil core samples were collected from the 0-0,10 m, 0,10-0,30 m and 0,30-0,50 m layers, with three replications, in a 15 ha citrus orchard. The same soil type under native forest was also evaluated as a reference of soil quality. It was observed reduction in soil total porosity, macroporosity as well as available water as a function of citrus cultivation. Such alterations in soil physical quality influence negatively root development and plant productivity and also call attention to the need of soil quality monitoring as well as best irrigation management practices. Evaluation of soil quality under native forest was efficient in showing the magnitude of soil alterations as a result of changing in soil use.