Chemical composition, energy values, digestibility coefficients and the values of true amino acid of eight different deactivated full-fat soybeans were determined. The total excreta collecting method was used to determine the energy values, where 180 broiler chicken, aging 21 days, were distributed in a completely randomized design, with nine treatments (eight soybeans and one reference diet), four replicates, and five birds per experimental unit. The method of “forced feeding” was used to determine the digestibility coefficients, where 40 cecectomized roosters were distributed in a completely randomized design, with eight treatments, five replicates and one rooster per experimental unit five cockerels were fasted to determine endogenous losses. The values for apparent metabolizable energy (AME), nitrogen corrected AME (AMEn), and coefficients of metab-olizability (CAME and CAMEn) for the soybean, ranged respectively, from 3.191 to 4.242 kcal/kg, 2.953 to 3.906 kcal/kg, 64.85 to 80.42% and 60.00 to 74.07%. The average values of true digestibility coefficients of essential and nonessential amino acids from soybeans evaluated ranged from 79.74 to 93.08% and from 78.33 to 91.85%, respectively. The soybean one (deactivated organic) showed the lowest digestible coefficients com-paring to the others (obtained commercially), probably due to a subprocess, confirmed by the urease activity of 0.32.

The implantation of the mechanized harvesting system of sugarcane led to changes in the pro- duction system, in the production system was the modification of the weed flora, promoting the emergence of weed species that weren`t present in the conventional production system where the sugar cane was burnt. The present work had the objective of determining dose response curves of the herbicides amicarbazone, saflufenacil, mesotrione and sulfentrazone in post - emergence, over the weed species Merremia aegyptia ; Ipo- moea purpurea ; Luffa aegyptiaca ; Mucuna aterrima e Ricinus communis. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse, with delineation entirely randomized, with four repetitions. The treatments constituted of the spraying of different doses of the herbicides amicarbazone, saflufenacil, mesotrione and sulfentrazone over the weed plants M. aegyptia ; I. purpurea ; L. aegyptiaca ; M. aterrima e R. communis when the plants had two pairs of true leaves. . The method used was the dose response curves, being sprayed doses equivalent to 1,5; 1,0; 0,5; 0,25 and 0,0 times the commercial dose of each product ( amicarbazone, saflufenacil, mesotrione, and sulfentrazone). The herbicides were sprayed individually over each weed species,. By 7, 14 and 21 days after the applications of the treatments (DAT), the symptoms of phytotoxicity were visually evaluated, and by 21 DAT, the dry mass of the shoots was determined. The herbicides saflufenacil and mesotrione weren`t effective in controlling Luffa aegyptiaca e Ricinus communis, respectively. The application of the herbicides sulfentrazone and amicarbazone resulted in control supe- rior to 80% for all weed species times the commercial dose studied. Therefore, different levels of susceptibility of the weed plants to post - emergent herbicides were observed. The herbicides amicarbazone and sulfentrazone were the most effective.

The Golden mosaic, caused by Bean golden mosaic virus (BGMV), causes severe losses to faba beans (Phaseolus lunatus L.) growers in the Northeastern region of Brazil. This study aimed at analyzing the temporal and spatial aspects of the disease at two experimental plots (A and B with 1360 m2 each) cultivated with faba beans located in Rio Largo, Alagoas. The evaluation of the disease incidence was done by visual in-spection of all plants at 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 days after planting (DAP). The epidemics were compared with respect to initial incidence (yo), maximum incidence (ymax), rate of disease progression (RDP), and area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC). The spatial pattern of the disease was analyzed by isopath mapping, ordi-nary runs, fitting the beta-binomial distribution and spatial autocorrelation. The analysis of the progress curves showed that the epidemic was significantly (P≤0.05) faster in plot B, probably associated with increased expo-sure to whitefly populations from areas external to assay. The within rows aggregation increased along with the period after planting and the increase in the disease incidence in both areas. In plot A, there was a slight pre-dominance of aggregation within the rows while, in plot B, the across rows aggregation of sick plants was prevalent.

The irrigation frequency to meet the water requirement for the production of passion fruit seed-lings can cause nutrients leaching, reducing the fertilization efficiency. Thus, the work was carried out to evalu-ate the effect of hydro-absorbent polymer in reducing losses of leached nutrients during the production of yel-low passion fruit seedlings. The factorial design 5 x 2 was used, distributed in a completely randomized design, being the factors represented by five doses of polymer (Hidroplan®-EB/HyB-M): 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 g L-1 of substrate and two types of substrates: Bioplant® and Provaso® with four replications and 10 plants per plot. The polymer was incorporated into the substrates, making up the homogenization of the mixture at the time of planting. Irrigation was carried out daily sufficient to keep the substrate moisture control treatment at field ca-pacity, programmed by a system of automated irrigation sprinkler type. Collection of the leachate was carried out at 30 and 60 days after emergence of seed, which was submitted to laboratory analysis to determine the amount of nutrients leached. In the last evaluation determined the seedlings size and nutrient content in leaf dry mass. The incorporation of hydro-absorbent polymer to substrate reduced nutrient losses by leaching in the substrates. The losses reduction of leached nutrients favored the growth and increase of leaf nutrients in passion fruit seedlings with the polymer.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the development and the intrinsic growth rate (rm) of Euseius concordis on Tetranychus bastosi on physic nut (Jatropha curcas). The experiment was conducted in incubator BOD at 25 ° C and 70 % RH, with 12h photoperiod environment. The evaluations were performed twice daily for the biology of the mite, and once to the reproductive parameters. The average life cycle of fe-males was 6.3 ± 0.14 days and the males of 6.22 ± 0.14 days. The sex ratio was 0.64, and the average longevi-ty of females was 22.6 ± 2.22 days with an average production of 7,42 eggs per female. The parameters of the life table were obtained : net reproductive rate (Ro), 54,9 individuals ; average length of generations (T) , 7,77 days; intrinsic growth rate (rm), 0,22 female per female per day; finite rate of increase (λ), 1,24 female per fe-male; and in population doubling time (TD), 3,16 days. The E. concordis mite has developed satisfactorily when created with T. diet bastosi, with the short development cycle.

This work aimed to determine instead at determining chemical composition, nutritional aspects and morphological characteristic of tubers from sweet potato roots (Ipomoea batatas L.) of cultivars Rosinha de Verdan, Capivara and orange-fleshed produced under the organic system. The chemical composition of flours from sweet potato (SP) roots was different among cultivars. The starch content for SP cultivar ranged from 26-33 % (d. b.), and the orange-fleshed roots presented 3182 μg of β-carotene/100 g. The flour yield ob-tained for SPF processing was higher in Rosinha de Verdan (25.40%), and the starch content of roots ranged from 12.48-27.63 % (d.b.). The processing condition modified the starch granular characteristics of the flours and reduced 31% the carotene content and vitamin A value of the orange-fleshed flour. The orange-fleshed flour presented higher levels of carbohydrate, starch and total energy value (TEV) than others white fleshed flour. The consumption of serving size of orange-fleshed roots and flour provided higher provitamin A require-ments for children.

The piçarra (subsoil material mainly formed by silt, sand and gravel) is commonly used in the civil construction and activities related to the onshore oil production in the Caatinga biome. The revegetation of the piçarra mines at the end of exploration cycle is mandatory and generally demands the planting of native tree species. However, there is scarce information about tree species able to grow in these degraded environments. This study aimed to evaluate the development and survival of 20 tree species, including native and exotic spe-cies, and nodulating and non nodulating species, planted in five piçarra mines located in three cities in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The experiment was a split-split block design, where 10 nodulating tree species were compared with ten other non nodulating species in areas with and without addition of a 20 cm topsoil layer and/or 2 L cattle manure in the planting hole. Biometric measurements were made at the end of the dry and rainy seasons (February 2008 to February 2010) up to 660 days after planting. The addition of topsoil re-duced the survival of trees, especially of non nodulating species, likely due to the vigorous herbaceous regener-ation in this treatment. Conversely, the addition of manure favored the tree growth. The nodulating species outperformed the non nodulating in respect to survival rate, total height, trunk diameter, and growth rate. The native species with the best survival and development rates were Mimosa tenuiflora, Mimosa caesalpiniifolia, Caesalpinia ferrea and Tabebuia caraiba, and among the exotics were Azadirachta indica and Pseudosamanea guachapele.

This study aimed to estimate genetic parameters and genetic trends for reproductive traits and testicular growth in Guzerá cattle. Variance components were estimated through two-trait analyses using the restricted maximum likelihood method. To age at first calving (AFC), first calving interval (FC1), gestation period (GP), and scrotal circumference at 365 and 450 days (SC365 and SC450, respectively) were included the random residual and additive genetic effects and the fixed effects of contemporary group. The covariates cows age at calving and AFC were included in the model for SC365 and SC450 (linear and quadratic effects) and for FC1 (linear effect), respectively. For GP, The random maternal genetic effects were also considered. Heritability estimates ranged from 0.08 ± 0.05 (FC1) to 0.48 ± 0.11 (GP). Genetic trends were significant (P <0.05) for all traits with the exception of the maternal genetic effect of GP. The SC365, SC450 and GP traits, could be used as selection criteria for presenting additive genetic variability sufficient to respond to the selec-tion process. The genetic correlation between AFC and scrotal circumferences (SC365 and SC450) indicates that selection for scrotal circumference in these ages, reduce the AFC of the females.

This study aimed to associate two concepts of seed vigor testing, the aging and seedling growth using image analysis, providing a feasible and time-saving way to evaluate maize seed vigor in large scale. For this purpose, five seed lots with different vigor levels from two single hybrids were used. The seeds were characterized by moisture content, germination, seedling emergence, seedling emergence speed index, accelerated aging and cold tests. The treatments were composed by varying the accelerated aging periods (0, 24, 48, 72 and 96h) and seedling growth periods (48 and 72h), before submitting the seedlings to image analysis for seedling root length measurement. Considering the results obtained, the adaptation of accelerated aging test by reducing the aging duration from 96h to 48h, and the replacement of the germination test by seedling root length measurement using image analysis could be considered a potential tool for maize seed vigor assessment. The treatments composed of 48h of seed aging followed by seedlings root length measurements using image analysis provided reliable data, compared to traditional vigor tests and it could be considered an efficient and timesaving approach, associating two different concepts of seed vigor analysis.

The physical conditions of the soil are directly related to management practices and relief for- mat. Lack of proper management can lead to soil erosion and consequent degradation of these areas. Currently, studies of spatial variability analysis to enable better decisions and resolutions of such problems. The present study aimed to evaluate the spatial variability of soil water infiltration, soil density and texture in the hilly area of the degradation process. The survey was conducted in the hilly area cultivated with grassland, located be- tween Areia and Remigio, two towns from Paraíba state. The soil was sampled at the regular grid with mesh (20x20m) between sample points, making a total of 49 points, into two depths, 0 - 10 cm, 10 - 20 cm, totaling 98 samples. The analyze of spatial variability was doing by semivariogram geostatistical analysis, with data inter- polation by kriging and make maps. All of them physical attributes analyzed presents spatial dependence since no one showed pure nugget effect. It was verified through the maps that there was a very clear relationship be- tween infiltration and other soil physical characteristics, observing this correlation mainly in the upper south- west slope.