This paper evaluated the effect of different herbicides applied isolated and mixed on two species of dayflower (Commelina benghalensis and Commelina villosa). Both species were grown under pot conditions with a capacity of 14 L. Three stems with 10 cm were planted per pot. The herbicides application was made using a stationary spray system, to provide a spray volume of 200 L ha-1, with spray tip XR 110.02VS, when the plants were with dimensions of 25-35 cm for C. benghalensis and 30-35 cm for C. villosa. The mixture saflufenacil more effective control of C. benghalensis were saflufenacil + glyphosate (48 + 720 g ha-1) and, saflufenacil + (glyphosate + imazethapyr) with and without the addition of ammonium sulfate (24 + 623 g ha-1). The combination of carfentrazone + glyphosate (20 + 720 g ha-1) were also effective in the C. benghalensis control. The saflufenacil mixture allowed plant control of C. villosa, where saflufenacil + glyphosate (24 + 720 g ha-1) with the addition of ammonium sulfate, showed a good visually control of this species. The application of 2,4-D (720 g ha-1) and 2,4-D + glyphosate (720 + 720 g ha-1) provided the best visual controls of C. benghalensis e C. villosa. All chemical treatment regardless of Commelina species reduced the dry mass of dayflower.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different freezing times on the physical and chemical properties of goat Saanen breed milk in different the stages lactation L1 (55-65 days); L2 (75-85 days); L3 (95-105 days) and L4 (125-135 days). Three freezing times were tested: -18 ºC (40, 80 and 120 days) and time control (time zero). The stages of lactation of the goats influenced the cryoscopic index, the fat percentages, lactose, protein and total dry extract of the milks samples; nevertheless, the values that were found are between the limits accepted by the law. The results have shown that the milk freezing time did not influence (P<0,05) the density, cryoscopic, fat, lactose, protein and total dry extract parameters of the milk samples. There was an effect of interaction of stages the lactation x the freezing time of the milk (P<0,05) for the pH and acidity, which showed lower values with the increasing freezing time of the milks samples. The freezing time of goat milk proved to be a good means technical of preservation of its physical and chemical components, guaranteeing the product final quality and enabling the delivery the same in periods of low production.

The use of fertigation is becoming increasingly and common, which requires a thorough knowledge about the culture being used. Knowing the uptake is an important point, since this will determine how the split will occur. Among the nutrients of greatest importance to the development of crops are nitrogen (N) and potassium (K). The aim of this paper was to determine the uptake and accumulation of nutrients from cantaloupe melon type "Harper" within the conditions of Mossoró - RN, order for the recommended fertilizer application through drip irrigation. The experiment was in randomized blocks with two replications. The treatments were formed by the combination of increasing levels of nitrogen - N (N1 - 5, N2 - 37.78; N3 - 111.65; N4 - 237.65; N5 - 442.05; N6 - 666.41 kg ha-1) and potassium - K2O (K1 - 5; K2 - 82.86; K3 - 195.67; K4 - 364.61; K5 - 574.13; K6 - 827.54 kg ha-1). We assessed the biomass and accumulation of N, P and K in the plant. The dry matter accumulation in the plant was not affected by levels N and K applied by fertigation. The highest rate of absorption of nutrients occurred around 44 days after transplanting, indicating that this is the time when the plant has increased demand for fertilizer application. Nutrient requirements primary for melon followed the order: K> N> P. To N, the highest accumulation was observed in the vegetative parts (leaf + stem) and the P and K, the highest accumulation was observed in the fruit.

The lacewings appear in many agroecosystems, preying several species of agricultural pests. They have great search capability, high voracity, high reproductive potential and are easily maintained in laboratory conditions. In laboratory rearing, to avoid problems in the mass production are recommended adjustments in the type and quality of prey to be used in order to obtain individuals with desirable characteristics. It is necessary special care with the laboratory populations, avoiding problems from inbreeding. Larvae were reared individually in Petri dishes (9.0 cm diameter) and fed with eggs of Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier, 1789) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), in the amount of 25 mg / larva, while the adults were kept in PVC cylindrical cages (10 cm x 30 cm). Thus, the study analyzed the influence of the size of the population of Chrysoperla externa (Hagen, 1861) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) on the pre-imaginal period (egg to adult) and reproductive capacity of this specie come from different populations and generations of laboratory. To this end, we used two populations, one of Jaboticabal (F8 and F21) and one of Piracicaba (F6 and F15), and subpopulations of 1, 5, 10, 15 and 20 couples, analyzing the incubation of eggs and the number of eggs per female in each population, generation and subpopulation. The pre-imaginal period (egg to adult) and the number of eggs per female of C. externa are influenced by the generation and the number of founding individuals, being these parameters favored when laboratory populations are established with the largest number of couples.

This paper aimed to investigate the dynamic of energy balance components over Orós reservoir and neighboring areas using Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) and TM-Landsat 5 images. Also, the relation among albedo, NDVI, net radiation, sensible and latent heats and soil heat flux were analysed. The studied land uses were: Dense vegetation, irrigation fields and degraded areas (human activities). Eight images of 217/64, orbital/point, for the following data: 08/24/1992, 08/14/1994, 07/02/1996, 07/11/1999, 08/17/2001, 07/06/2003, 07/14/2006 e 08/20/2008 were used. The images were processed using the software Erdas IMAGINE using 9.0IMAGE. The SEBAL algorithm was applied to quantify the latent heat flux from the surface energy balance, which is composed of net radiation (Rn), soil heat flux (G) and sensible heat flux (H). The energy in form of sensible and latent heat showed similar tendencies for irrigated fields and dense native vegetation. The highest increase of sensible heat was registered on the degraded areas (human activities) in the last three years. All of the components of the energy balance presented distinct tendencies over the studied land use, expressing that the energy balance can be used to identify the changes on the land use pattern.

The shortage of animal feed during the dry season has led to the development of food handling techniques that are efficient and sustainable for farmers and ranchers. The research aimed to evaluate the chemical composition, voluntary intake and digestibility of faveleira (Cnidoscolus phyllacanthus (Muell. Arg.) Pax et K. Hoffman), to supply the sheep provided as in the form of hay. Five castrated 18 months old sheeps with a mean age of 18 months old with and initial average weight of 31.75 kg ± 1.08 were evaluated, using the conventional method of total collection of feces. The hay was made naturally in sunny area, the forage being harvested in areas of caatinga at the IPA¿s Sertânia Experimental Station belonging to the Agronomic Institute of Pernambuco/IPA. The faveleira hay results of chemical analysis percentages were: 92.95 dry matter (DM); 89.28 organic matter (OM); 13.48 crude protein (CP); 3.52 ether extract (EE); 41.42 does not extract nitrogen (NEN); 41.92 neutral detergent fiber (NDF); 26.71 acid detergent fiber (ADF) and 30.36 non-fiber carbohydrates (NFC). The voluntary intake of DM, CP, TDN, NDF, ADF and NFC, expressed in g kg-1 PV0, 75 were (93.14, 12.52, 56.06, 39.04; 24.88 and 28.28), respectively. The digestibility percentages were: 63.66 (MS); 66.06 (MO); 74.52 (PB); 36.44 (EE); 74.32 (ENN); 57.32 (NDF); 54.77 (FDA) and 56.91 (NFC). These results show that the faveleira hay could be a viable alternative to dietary supplementation of sheep during the dry season to semiarid of Brazil.

Banana crop is one of the most cultivated fruit in the Northeast of Brazil, but it requires a considerable amount of water during its cycle making it essential the appropriate management of irrigation in order to optimize the water use. Thus, aimed to study the effect of water levels on growth, productivity and water use efficiency of banana cv. Nanicão in the second cycle. The research was carried out at the Campus IV of Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, located in Catolé do Rocha, PB, under field conditions, in a block randomized design with five irrigation levels (55%, 77.5%, 100%, 122.5% and 145% ETo) and four replications. Four plants were used per plot, spaced of 3 m x 3 m and irrigated by a drip system. Height, stem diameter and leaf area were evaluated every two weeks. It was determined in the harvest, the bunch weight, number of hands, fruits per bunch, weight and number of fruits of the second hand, length and diameter of three median fruits of the second hand and the productivity and water use efficiency were also estimated. Irrigation based on 145% of ETo provided higher increase on growth and productivity, but did not different significantly from results obtained when was applied 122,5% of ETo. Maximum water use efficiency was obtained with application of the lower water level.

The growth retardants Paclobutrazol (PBZ) and Cycocel (CCC) had been used, in spraying, associates or not with two cytokinins: Benziladenina (BAP) and Thidiazuron (TDZ), and a nitrogenous base, the Uracil, with the purpose of studying its effect in the bud fertility of the 'Superior Seedless', grafted on the 'Harmony' and IAC-766 'Campinas', and of the 'Crimson Seedless' and 'Thompson Seedless', grafted on the 'Harmony', in the conditions of the São Francisco Valley, Brazil. It was observed that the separately use of the products had not promoted significant differences in the studied of the bud fertility, but, the association of the growth retardants with the TDZ it induce the 'Thompson Seedless' to a bigger productivity, and that the expression of the bud fertility of the 'Seedless Superior' benefits on to being grafted on the 'Harmony' rootstock.

This paper aimed to evaluate the use of cactus pear as the main substrate for the production of amiloglucosidase by solid state fermentation with the aid of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger. The experiments were conducted at the Laboratory of Agro-industrial wastes at the State University of Southwest Bahia - UESB. The cactus pear was dried up to about 2% moisture. The variables in the fermentation process were water activity (0.891, 0.964, 0.976 and 0.983) and fermentation time (24 h, 48 h, 72 h, 96 h and 120 h). The results showed high enzyme production by the third day of fermentation, irrespective of water activity in all trials, after the fermentation time reduction of enzyme activity was observed, with the highest activity was 60.32 U/g in 72 hours and the water activity of 0.891. During the fermentation process the fungus synthesized and excreted the enzyme without the need for any other inducer addition to forage cactus and water, thus demonstrating the viability of using the palm as raw materials for bioprocesses.

The goal of this paper is to evaluate the shelf-life of five yellow melon hybrids (AF-5107, AF6742, AF-9136, AF and AF-6798-7719) produced in the Mossoró-Assu agropole. The yellow melon hybrids were grown in soil fertilized and irrigated following the demand of culture. Reaching the stage of commercial maturity, fruit were harvested and brought to the Postharvest Laboratory at the Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-árido, where were taken12 fruits at random for characterization of each hybrid at time zero. Afterwards the other fruits were weighed, identified and stored in cold room regulated at 10 ± 1 ºC and 90 ± 2% RH, where they remained for 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 and 49 days. At each time interval, the following analyses were realized: mass loss, external and internal appearance, pulp firmness and soluble solids. The experimental design was completely randomized in factorial scheme 5 x 7, five hybrids and seven periods of storage. We used four replications, and the experimental unit consists of three fruits. There was significant interaction between hybrid and storage period only for the soluble solids. For the other characteristics evaluated, we observed the isolated effect of the main factors. The hybrid AF-9136 stood out compared to other hybrids tested by greater pulp firmness and soluble solids.