Substrates containing 0, 10, 20, and 40% (v/v) of urban waste compost were evaluated for the production of Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) seedlings in polytube containers. At 40 days after planting, growth characteristics and macro nutrient content in shoot were determined. The urban waste compost added to the substrate promoted increase in Jatropha plants growth. The maximum growth was obtained with the estimated dose of 24% of compost mixed with subsoil material. Increments in the dose of compost caused linear increase in K, Mg, and S shoot content, but N and Ca contents were reduced by dilution, as the shoot dry mass increased more than the uptake of those nutrients.

The aim of this research was to investigate the similarity of water quality in space and time in the upland of Salgado watershed, Ceará, Brazil. Multivariate analysis/Cluster Analysis was used for this investigation. Water samples were took in nine stations, spread out along the rivers during March, May, July, August and September, 2005, totalizing 45 samples. The water quality attributes analyzed were: electrical conductivity (EC), chloride (Cl-), sulphate (SO4-2), soluble orthophosphate (OPS), nitrate (NO3-), dissolved oxygen (DO), bicarbonate alkalinity (BA), total coliforms (TC) and turbidity (T). Four homogeneous groups were identified. The water samples collected at rainfall season defined the dissimilarity of group 1 in relation to the others. This group showed the best water quality due to the dilution of salts. Water samples collected during the end of rain-fall season and began of dry season formed group 2. Waters sampled at dry season in stations located down of discharge point of effluents defined group 3. These stations presented the highest concentrations of Cl-, EC, SO4-2 and TC. The values of NO3- and TC defined the similarity of group 4. Although Cl-, SO4-2, DO, and TC influenced the cluster definition, the most important variables were EC and NO3-. The water quality similarity was defined by two factors: punctual pollution and climatic seasonality.

In order to evaluate the growth and accumulation of nutrients in watermelon 'Quetzal' grown under different levels of salinity of irrigation water, was developed in the period november/2007 to January 2008, an experiment at the Experimental Farm "Rafael Fernandes", University Federal Rural do Semi-arid (UFERSA) Mossoró-RN. The experiment was a randomized blocks design with four replications. The treatments were arranged in split plots with the plots represented by the salinity levels of irrigation water: 0.60, 1.69, 2.36, 3.46 and 3.98 dS m-1, and the subplots consist of samplings of plants: 12, 22, 32, 42 and 52 days after transplanting, DAT. In achieving the levels of salinity were mixed natural waters and / or saline in order to obtain approximate composition of natural waters in the region. Plant growth, expressed by the accumulation of dry matter and accumulation of macronutrients by watermelon over the age of the plants decreased with increasing water salinity. The largest increases of dry matter and macronutrients occurred after fruit set, which took place from 42 DAT. The period of greatest demand for phosphorus, potassium and calcium was 42-52 DAT, and nitrogen, and magnesium was 32-42 DAT. The order of extracted nutrients was K> N> Ca> Mg> P.

Water is a limiting factor for crop yields, for example yellow passion fruit, requiring from use of irrigation due to limitation of surface waters. This study aimed to evaluate irrigation levels and fruits quality in yellow passion fruit production in Semiarid conditions, thus an experiment was carried out. The seedlings were grown in greenhouse and transplanted in the field spacing 4 m x 2 m. The treatments studied were five water levels: 60; 80; 100; 120 and 140% from ETo, applied through drip irrigation with 4 repetition. The parameters evaluated were average fruit weight (g), yield (t ha-1), the pulp yield with seed (%), juice yield (%) and skin percentage (%). The results obtained in the experiment showed that the highest yield of hybrid passion fruit with average weight over 150 g, and the highest yield was obtained with the blade of 120% ETo. The yield of pulp with seeds was negatively affected by increased volumes of water for irrigation. Can use plant 120% ETo for the irrigation of yellow passion fruit 'IAC 273/277¿ to optimize production and improve fruit quality in semiarid conditions.

This work aimed to determine over the Brazilian territory extreme air temperatures: maximum (Tx) and minimum (Tn) absolute, using multiple regression techniques, orbital data and climatological. The data of Tx and Tn were observed between the years of 1961 and 1990 in 204 meteorological stations by the National Institute of Meteorology (INMET), and topography information was obtained from the program Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). The multiple regression models were validated with the observational data of 30 meteorological stations in different locations than those generated. The statistical analysis was performed using bootstrap techniques. The results showed that the multiple regression model for Tn presented good agreement with the observed data (R² = 0.86) showing no tendencies to overestimate or underestimate Tn. The Tn varied between -12 to 25 °C and the Tx between 31 and 42 °C. For the Tx the results were not as satisfactory. In a first approach, the limits of the Tn can be used for data quality control of the meteorological station. The map of Tn can be used to subsidize research in agroclimatic zoning in the region where these data are not available.

This study was conducted in the Private Reserve Mata do Jambreiro (912 ha), localized in the Iron Quadrangle, Minas Gerais, southeastern portion of the Espinhaço Range, which is predominantly covered by semideciduous seasonal montane forest. Three topographically and physiognomic similar areas located within a continuum forest fragment, distant by 1.3 to 1.5 km were sampled by the point-quadrat method. In each area, 30 points were marked. Individuals with a minimum perimeter at the breast height (PBH) of 15 cm were sampled, totaling 111 species belonging to 40 families. The most representative family was Fabaceae, with 14.29% of the total number of species. Low floristic similarity (5.3% to 34.4%) was observed between the areas, pointing out the importance of distribution of sample units in continuous fragments. Shannon diversity index (H') found was 4.22 and Pielou equability (J) 0.894. Soil analysis showed some differences in chemical composition between the three studied areas and was an important component for the interpretation of the floristic variation found. The low floristic similarity observed here for close areas justify the requirement of more detailed inventories by Brazilian Environmental Agencies for the legal authorization procedures prior to the establishment of new enterprising projects. Also, the professionals that conduct rapid inventories, mainly the Environmental Consultants, should give more attention to this kind of floristic variation and to the methods used to inventory complex forests.

This research performed an evaluation of the water distribution on the soil surface and in its profile in a subunit irrigated by microsprinkle cultivated with Annona muricata L., with the purpose of verifying the spatial distribution and quantification of the water availability in the soil profile. The data were collected in 28 spaced emission points of 10 x 24 m, forming a mesh for application of the geostatistics. In the surface evaluation it was determined the coefficient of emission uniformity and the irrigation efficiency, while in the subsurface evaluation the water availability was esteemed in three layers of the soil profile, 0-20, 20-40 and 40-60 cm, one and twenty-four hours after the irrigation, using a neutrons probe. The coefficient of irrigation uniformity found was of 84.69% with an irrigation efficiency of 76.22%. It was verified that, twenty-four hours after irrigation, the water content in the most superficial layers of the soil profile is below the correspondent to the wilting point, while in the deepest layers the water content overcomes the maximum capacity of soil water retention, in other words, humidity superior to field capacity.

The reaction of resistance to ten simple hybrids of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), as well as of their 14 parents were evaluated to the pathogen Colletotrichum sublineolum, the causal agent of anthracnose. In greenhouse, the genotypes were inoculated separately with 20 monosporic isolates obtained from different sorghum producing areas in the Brazil. Evaluation was carried out ten days after inoculation utilizing methodology proposed by Cardwel et al. (1989). Neither sorghum genotype was resistant to all the isolates inoculated. Line CMSXS657 was resistant to 95%, ATF14 to 90%, ATF08 to 85% and CMSXS210 to 70% of the isolates. The most outstanding hybrids were BRS305 (CMSXS210A X BR012R) resistant to 75% of the isolates, 9920045 (ATF14A X CMSXS180R) to 65% of the isolates, BRS308 (CMSXS233A X BR012R) to 60% of the isolates, and BRS650 (CMSXS222A X CMSXS657R) to 55% of the isolates. Lines BR001 and CMSXS222 were susceptible to 90% of the isolates. The resistance frequency of the hybrids was equal or inferior to that of the parent lines, except for hybrid BRS305 (CMSXS210A X BR012R) which was resistant to a larger number of isolates than its parents. None of the isolates tested were virulent to all the genotypes. The isolates from Campo Novo dos Parecis (MT) were the most virulent while the isolates from Jardinopolis (SP) were the least virulent.

The preparation of lists from the obtaining of primary data in herbaria contributes to enrich knowledge about the Brazilian flora. Mainly, for botanical groups present in the region semiarid and characterized by low availability of information as the monocotyledons. In this way, this work presents a floristic survey of monocotyledons of the State of Ceará, northeast of Brazil, analyzing the taxa richness. The data, which are computerized and available in the software BRAHMS 6.7, were obtained from collecting of the Herbarium Prisco Bezerra (EAC). A total of 3,472 exsicates from collections in the State of Ceará were analyzed, representing 540 species, 207 genera and 28 families. The richest families were: Poaceae (193 spp.), Cyperaceae (104 spp.), Orchidaceae (51 spp.), Bromeliaceae (38 spp.) and Araceae (35 spp.). The richest genera were: Cyperus (31 spp.), Paspalum (26 spp.), Panicum (23 spp.), Rhynchospora (17 spp.), Eleocharis (16 spp.) and Eragrostis (13 spp.).

This study was carried out in three irrigated West indian cherry varieties at Petrolina - PE, Brazil, in 2006 and 2007, with the objective of comparatively knowing the floral biology, the reproductive system, the effective pollinators, their habit of visiting the flowers and the contribution of pollination to crop benefit. The floral anthesis was diurnal and occurred between 4.30h and 5.00h, and at this moment the pollen grains were already available and the stigma was receptive. The number of elaiophores varied among the varieties and individuals. The pollinic viability of the variety Okinawa was low (14.8 ± 5.5%) when compared to Flor Branca and (92 ± 3%) and Sertaneja (83.4 ± 9.2%) varieties. The reproductive success due to spontaneous selfpollination varied from 4 to 6% among the three varieties. In the manual crossed pollination among the varieties, the lower fructification tax was obtained for the crossing using Okinawa as pollen donor (<1%) and the major rate was obtained with Sertaneja (43%). In the natural pollination (control) Sertaneja presented the biggest value of fructification (46%). The variety Okinawa showed the lowest frutification rates. The irrigation system adopted in the farming systems influenced the visits of the pollinators. Regarding frequency, behavior and flower constancy, Centris aenea was considered effective pollinator of the crop in the region.