The purpose of this work was to evaluate the effects of phosphor dosages and sources on productivity and fruit quality of yellow passion fruit. The experiment was carried out in orchards in Lavrasmunicipality, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The experimental outline used was a 2 X 5 factorial on a randomized complete block design, with four replicates. The treatments were composed by two phosphor sources (super triple phosphate and termophosphate) and five dosages (6, 30, 60, 90 and 120 g/plant). Productivity, fruit number per plant, juice yield, total soluble solids (TSS), total titratable acidity (TTA), ratio TSS/TTA and peel thickness were evaluated. There was no productivity increase or improvement of the fruit quality for the treatments, except for the increases of TTA and peel thickness when Yoorin termophosphate was used as fertilizer.

This work aimed to evaluate the economic viability of the pineapple production in the Northern region of Rio de Janeiro State. One concludes that the majority of producers in this region presented an internal return average rate of 33.08%, indicating that pineapple production shows satisfactory economic viability. On the other hand, several pineapple producers of this region are deficient in both production management and administration control. In this sense, it was observed low productivity, inefficiency of the production resources and product price instability in the commercialization process, as one among other factors that result directly in the low profitability of this enterprise. It was found out that the main determinant factors of pineapple production competitiveness in the mentioned region are related to unsuitable management of irrigation, diseases and weeds control, defensives usage, costs management and commercialization process.

Copaifera langsdorfii is a typical tree species very important for restoration of degraded areas. This study evaluated the effect of different temperatures and light conditions on Copaifera seed germination. The applied treatments were the temperatures of 25ºC, 30ºC and 20-30ºC and three different light expositions (constant dark, 8h of light plus 16h of dark and constant light). The tested variables were percentage, velocity and average time of germination. The treatments consisted of 200 seeds, with four replications of 50 seeds each, sown on a Germitest towel paper and maintained for 28 days on germination chamber. The completely randomized design was used and the averages compared by Tukey test at 5% probability. Germination percentage was not influenced by the treatments. The constant temperatures of 25ºC or 30ºC, independently of light regime, promoted a higher rate of germination velocity and caused the reduction of the germination average time.

Different substrates were tested, aiming to verify the ones that provided better development conditions for the mandacaru without thorns (Cereus hildemannianus K. Schum.). The work was carried out in the period from January to December 2005 in room temperature at Embrapa Semi-Árido, Petrolina, Pernambuco State, Brazil. A randomized blocks design, in a 5 X 3 factorial with five treatments and four replications, was used. The treatments consisted of five different substrate compositions and three plant types. Bud number, length, weight and dry matter of the flowers, besides weight, length and diameter of the roots were evaluated 360 days after planting. The substrates composed by sand, soil and cattle manure, presented the highest percentages of mandacaru buds growth.

In agriculture practiced in Brazil, the branch of the horticulture is one of the prominences, in production and in exportation, being melon one of the more produced fruits, especially in Brazil¿s northeast. In this context, the use of a good quality substrate is essential for the development of the plants. In this study it was evaluated the growth of melon seedlings and the role of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF),Glomus clarum, associated to the use of coconut dust, as an alternative substrate, at 100, 80, 60, 40, 20, 10 and 0% concentrations, as a soil mixture (grayish Argissol). The plants were cultivated under greenhouse conditions and, at the end of a 35 days period, were analyzed the diameter of the stem, number of leaves, height of plants, shoot dry weight, microbial biomass carbon content, basal soil respiration, metabolic quotient, colonization with AMF and shoot nutrient content (N, P, K, Ca and Mg). It was observed that 100% and 80% concentration of coconut dust were the more restrictive treatments for plant development. Microbial carbon and mycorrhizal colonization were higher when the substrate was composed by 10 and 20% of coconut dust. The basal soil respiration and the metabolic quotient (2,07) were higher when 100% coconut dust was used, while the smallest value (0, 96) was found in treatment without coconut dust. The use of concentrations higher than 40% of coconut dust decreased AMF activity and growth of the melon plants.

This study had the objective of surveying the occurrence of tubers in native imbu (Spondias tuberosa) trees in the Northeast of Brazil. It was carried out in 36 native trees in the Caatinga area of the communities of Sitio Papagaio (Juazeiro-BA), Saco Farm (Jaguarari-BA) and Alto do Angico (Petrolina-PE), from August 2000 to November 2002. In each community, twelve plants were randomly selected for tuber extraction. The following variables were analyzed: plant height, trunk diameter at soil level, canopy diameter, as well as number and total weight of tubers per tree. In the community of Sitio Papagaio, in average, 978.42 tubers per tree were collected, with a total weight of 1731.2 kg. In the community of Saco Farm, in average, 1011.58 tubers were collected, with a total weight of 1820.13 kg. In the community of Alto do Angico, in average, 731.58 tubers per tree were collected, with a total weight of 1370.09 kg. The occurrence of tubers per tree in the communities was, in average, 907.19, with a total weight of 1352.12 kg per tree.

The objective of this work was to study the influence of the seeds storage period of the Imbu Tree (Spondias tuberosa Arruda) in the germination percentage and germination velocity index. The study was carried out from January to December 2004 in a greenhouse with 50% shadowing screen, under room temperature, at Embrapa Tropical Semi-Arid, Petrolina, Pernambuco State, Brazil, in a randomized complete block design, with six treatments and four replications. The treatments consisted of seeds harvested in six different crops. The germination percentage and germination velocity index were evaluated at 30, 60, 90 and 120 days after sowing through daily counts. The seeds of 2001 and 2002 crops had the best performance in terms of emergence and germination velocity index.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the synthetic compound Thiazolidines-2,4- dione on the ¿in vitro¿ development of Monosporascus cannonballus, the causal agent of the melon sudden wilt (vine decline) and Trichoderma sp., the biocontroller agent of the referred pathogen. The work was done through two experiments. In the first experiment the following concentrations of the composition were used: 0, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175 ìg.mL-1, combined with four isolates of M. cannonballus. The evaluated variables were mycelial growth inhibition (MGI), mycelial growth rate (MGR) and area below mycelial growth curve (ABMGC). In the second experiment the effect of the same concentrations of the synthetic compound were analyzed regarding a Trichoderma sp isolate. In the first experiment, there was a significant interaction between concentrations andisolates. High correlation coefficients confirmed the agreement of combination among the variables. The progress curves of the variables, according to compound concentrations, were adjusted by polynomial models. The most efficient concentration was 75 ìg.mL-1,, for inhibiting the mycelia growth until the experiment end, except for the Mc4 that showed TCM of 5.07. Regarding other isolates, Mc 3 was the least resistant, as with concentration of 50 g.mL- 1showed TCM of 2.36, while Mc1, Mc2 and Mc4 presented a higher growth rate, being 8.48; 8.08 and 8.97, respectively. The recommended dosage of the compound for the inhibition of M. cannonballus development when measured in vitro is 153 ug.mL .Neither concentrations influenced the mycelial development of Trichoderma sp.,as it didn¿t differ from control (P=0,05), demonstrating the potential of this synthetic compound as a complementary form of Monosporascus cannonballus control, together to the Trichoderma spp.

The predatory mite Euseius alatus DeLeon has been reported in several economic crops in Brazil, with certified importance in fruit trees and coffee. In order to establish an integrated pest management program it is important to determine the efficient pesticides in pests control, but presenting low impact to predators. This work had the objective of evaluating the toxicity of acaricides (abamectin, azocyclotin, diafenthiuron, dicofol, sulphur, fenpropathrin, fenpyroximate, propargite, tetradifon) to eggs and adult females of E. alatus. Leaf discs of "feijão de porco" (Canavalia ensiformes L.) containing 10 eggs of E. alatus were immersed into the acaricides dilutions, during five seconds, and dried for 30 minutes under room temperature. Treated eggs were observed up to 72h to determine egg survival. The residual effect of the same acaricides to adult females of E. alatus was studied using arena constituted by treated leaf disc. Ten adult females were confined per arena, 30 minutes, 24h and 72h after immersing the discs into the acaricides dilutions. Mortality was measured 24, 48 and 72h after confining the females on the treated leaf discs. All tested acaricides showed low impact on egg survival, except for fenpropathrin that caused reduction of egg survival at rate of 66%. The acaricides azocyclotin, diafenthiuron, tetradifon and abamectin caused 100% of mortality to adult females. Otherwise, diafenthiuron (500g de a.i./Kg), fenpyroximate (50g de a.i./L), propargite (720g de a.i./L) and tetradifon (80g de a.i./L) caused lower impact to adult females of E. alatus and, therefore, being of potential recommendation into an integrated pest management.

The knowledge of hemoglobin types may help in near future the selection of animals, serving as a genetic marker. The present work aimed to determine the types of hemoglobin in Santa Ines crossbreed sheep, and verify whether it has correlation with the erythron. It were collected 49 blood samples from different healthy Santa Ines crossbreed sheep, from Mossoró city, RN, Brazil. These samples were used for determination of packed cell volume, red blood cells counts, hemoglobin concentration, hematimetric indices (mean corpuscular volume - MCV, mean corpuscular hemoglobin - MCH, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration - MCHC), and electrophoretic separation of hemoglobin. The electrophoresis revealed a slow band characterized as hemoglobin A (HbAA), a fast band characterized as hemoglobin B (HbBB) and both bands in the heterozygous hemoglobin A and B (HbAB). The type HbAB was the most frequently found, but all found types were present at representative amounts. The statistical analysis for comparison between the hemoglobin parameters and each parameter of the erythron revealed significant difference only for MCH; the other measurement were not statistically different. Thus, the hemoglobin types (HbAA, HbBB e HbAB) did not influence the erythron of sheep.