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.

The municipal district of Mossoró - RN is inserted into the Caatinga biome and like other coun- ties its vegetation is notably mischaracterized. Thus a phytosociological study of forest remnants was conduct- ed in Mossoró, seeking knowledge of forest wealth for possible conservation. Bibliographic and cartographic materials were consulted, as well as maps were used for better spatial visualization of forest remnants. Areas where there are forest remnants were highlighted and four sites were chosen to characterize the vegetation. At these sites, the phytosociological study was conducted by installing plots of 20 x 20 m, within which were esti- mated height and diameter at breast height (DBH) of all living individuals of the shrub and herbs layers. The phytosociological parameters considered were: Margal ef and Menhinick Diversity Index, Frequency, Density, Dominance and Coverage and Importance Percentage Index. It was found that Poincianella pyramidalis (Tul.) and Croton sonderianus Mull. Arg. have excelled in number of individuals, frequency and density. Poincianel- la pyramidalis (Tul.) was the one that stood out in most of the analyzed parameters. Species that stand out in an area are found at low frequency in the other. This variation can be probably explained by several factors, one of them may be the anthropic level among the studied areas. Diversity indices indicated that Point 4 showed the greatest diversity and the lowest point 3. However, the Caatinga vegetation of the areas analyzed has low diver- sity, probably by the effects of human disturbance, but with proper planning and managements could avoid its complete disappearance.

The study was conducted to evaluate the intake, digestibility, production and composition of milk from goats fed with diets containing different protein sources (soybean meal, cottonseed cake, aerial part cassava hay, leucaena hay). Were used eight goats with 96.5 ± 3.7 days in lactation, producing 2.0 ± 0.44 kg of milk and with an average initial weight of 47.5 ± 6.6 kg distributed in two Latin square 4 x 4. The animals fed the diet containing aerial part cassava hay presented (P<0.05) higher intake of rumen undegradable protein and an intake neutral detergent fiber corrected for ash and protein higher than (P<0.05) the diet with soybean meal. The use of cottonseed cake as protein source have provided (P<0.05) intake of rumen degradable protein and ether extract higher than the remaining diets. The nutrient digestibility, production and milk composition were similar (P>0.05) between the protein sources evaluated. The efficiency of nitrogen utilization and secretion of urea in milk presented significant effect (P<0.05) in that diet with aerial part cassava hay had lower average compared to the diet with soybean meal. Diets containing soybean meal, cottonseed cake, aerial part cassava hay or leucaena hay can be used as a protein source in diets for lactating goats, not to change the digestibility of nutrients or interfere with the production and composition of milk.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relative expression of three candidate genes, CHIA1, SGF14c and CHS8 * possibly involved in seed quality, in contrasting seed coats from four soybean genotypes. Two genotypes with yellow seed coats, BMX Potência RR and CD 202, and two genotypes with black seed coats, TP and IAC were studied to determine the relative gene expression through the qPCR technique, in sev- en stages of seed coat development for all four genotypes, at 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 and 55 days after anthesis. The CHIA1 and SGF14c genes showed higher expression in cultivar CD 202; the former in the final stages of seed coat development, at 55 days after anthesis, the latter gene at earlier stages, specifically at 25 days after anthesis. The CHS8* gene showed higher expression in CD 202 seed coats at 50 days after anthesis. All three genes expressed at higher levels on genotypes of yellow seed coats, and are considered relevant to new areas of research based on the expression of genes related to seed quality.