The effects of thermal gradients on stem add one methodological constraint for estimating sap flow through the Granier method (thermal dissipation probe). The present work studied the effect of natural thermal gradients on estimates of sap flow by using thermal dissipation probe in mango plants. The study was carried by using mango plants of the cultivar Tommy Atkins during two development stages: (a) during the initial development phase of plants with leaf area of 0.66, 0.73, 1.78 m2 , planted in 15 and 50 liters pots. The study was carried in a greenhouse environment and in the field. Different thermal shields were used around the stem of plants in pots in order to minimize the effects of thermal natural gradients. The measurements of thermal differences were obtained from an adult plant with high leaf density and small exposition of branches to solar radiation. Sensors placed in stems of adult plant with high leaf density provided smaller thermal gradients compared to those inserted in young plant stems. It is necessary to cover the whole branch with neoprene and a shield (skirt type) of aluminum paper above and below the location of probe insertion for exposed branches. The air temperature at 2 m height may be used efficiently to correct thermal gradients. It is indispensable the correction of natural thermal gradients in the stem for adequate estimating sap flow density by the Granier method.

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.

Basil is a medicinal aromatic plant of the Lamiaceae family, it is rich in essential oils with high industrial interest. The present work to verify the production of basil plants, from different sources and combinations of substrates. The study was conducted in greenhouse Sector, Department of Soil Environmental Science, Federal Rural University of the Semi-Arid (UFERSA) in May 2010. Basil seedlings were grown from seeds from plants on the campus of UFERSA. The experimental design was randomized blocks representing five treatments and four replicates of 10 seedlings per plot. The treatments employed arisco, sand, cattle manure and earthworm castings in different combinations. Features diameter, leaf number, shoot length and root dry mass of shoots and roots were evaluated thirty days after sowing. It was found that adding cattle manure in the compositions of the substrates was increased growth and development of seedlings. In the production of seedlings of basil is recommended mixture of substrates containing cattle manure, sand and arisco in the ratio 1:1:1.

In order to evaluated the impact of the high salinity reject brine from reverse osmosis desalination on hydroponics lettuce cultivated in greenhouse an investigation was carried out in Mossoro, Northeast of Brazil (5º11'S, 37º20'O and 18m above sea). Two lettuce cultivars ('Verônica' and 'Babá de verão') were cultivated with a basic nutrient solution with 1.1 dS m-1 (control) during the crop cycle (1-28 days after transplanting - DAT) - T0 and with basic nutrient solution containing 50% of the reject water from desalinization with 4.8 dS m-1 exposed during 1-7, 21-28, 7-14 e 1-28 DAT (T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively). The addition of 50% of brine reject from desalination into the hydroponic nutrient solution allows grow only 'Verônica' lettuce with no reduction in fresh biomass. This lettuce cultivar shows to be more tolerant to salinity for all exposure time with reject brine in the nutrition solution, despite the fact that 'Babá de Verão' cultivar is more productive.

In response to defense against herbivores, plants produce one versatile bioactive molecules synthesized in plant secondary metabolism. This paper aimed to evaluate the efficiency of plant extracts on the population level of whitefly nymphs on tomato cv. IPA 6, assess the number of fruits per treatment, fruit weight, ripeness and irregular pith. The experiment was installed in the field with the tomato crop IPA 6, block design, making use of substances extracted from plants, etanolic extract straw (Ipomoea carnea subsp. Fistulosa), etanolic extract castor (Ricinus communis L.), aqueous extract tingui (Mascagnia rigida Griseb ), aqueous extract Mexican poppy (Argemone mexicana L.) and neem oil (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) for the control of whitefly (Bemisia tabaci biotype B). The spraying was carried out by spraying, between 16 and 18 h, with an interval of seven days. Statistical analysis performed by WinStat and percentage of treatment efficiency calculated by Abbott (1925). The straw (72.41%) and neem oil (67.26%) were the most effective on nymphs. The number and weight of tomato fruits did not differ significantly between treatments. In relation to irregular maturation, extracts of I. carnea and M. rigida were significant. The extracts of I. carnea, M. rigida and A. Mexicana shown to be effective in controlling the pith. All plant extracts used in this experiment show efficiency on nymphs of B. tabaci.

The objective of this work was to assess the agronomic performance and plant morphological traits of eight lima-bean (Phaseolus lunatus L.) accessions in the edafoclimatic conditions of Mossoró, RN, Brazil. A randomized complete blocks design with eight treatments and four replications was used. The treatments consisted of the BSF 01, BSF 02, BSF 04, BSF 07, BSF 08, BSF 08A, BSF 12 and BSF 15 lima-bean accessions. The following traits were evaluated: growth habit, mean time of blooming, pod length and width, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, weight of 100 seeds and seed yield. It was observed that all lima-bean accessions were of indeterminate growth habit, except for BSF 07B and BSF 12 that show determinate growth habit. BSF 12 and BSF 15 accessions were, respectively, the earliest and the largest seed size. They was not distinction between the lima-bean accessions for pod length, but significant differences were observed on pod width, with BSF 12 and BSF 02 accessions showing the highest and the less width. The accession BSF 01 can be the best alternative for Mossoró country growers because this material had higher number of pods per plant and higher seed yield. The accessions BSF 04, BSF 07B and BSF08 are potentially useful for lima-bean because these materials had higher number of pods per plant, higher seed yield and characteristics of pods satisfactory.

The irregular offer of cupuaçu pulp in the harvest time, the high endable of the fruits and the form of conservation by freezing, are factors that cause difficulties in the offer of this product in the market of Rio Branco/AC. The purpose of this work was to dehydrate the cupuaçu pulp and evaluate the shelf life in a period of 90 days. The experiment was conducted in the Unity of Technology and Foods (UTAL) of Federal University of Acre (UFAC). Cupuaçu fruits came broked, despolped and sanitized. Portions of 300 g of pulp were submitted in the process of dehydration in oven with air circulation by a temperature of 60 °C for 46, 52 e 58 hours. After the dehydration, the samples were submitted to the following analysis titratable acidity, pH, totals solids soluble (oBrix), moisture determination, ascorbic acid and water activity (aw). The microbiologycal analysis involved of Salmonella, thermotholerant coliforms at 45 °C, mesophilic bacteria and yeasts andmoulds, all for triplicats. The results showed significant effect of interaction between dehydration time and storage to variables ºBrix and ascorbic acid. The water activity and the pH kept stable during all the period of storage, while the level of ascorbic acid reduces by the dehydration time and storage. The dehydration of in natura cupuaçu pulp in conventional oven is a practicable method of conservation and storage for 90 days.

In desalination process, besides the potable water, highly salty and pollutant water (brine) is generated, which can be used for producing crops since it is carefully monitored. In order to test this hypothesis, bell pepper plants, cv. 'Margarita', were grown in coconut fiber substrate under greenhouse and were irrigated with nutrient solutions prepared with tap water, brine from desalination plant, and its dilution with tap water at 75, 50 and 25%, giving a range of electrical conductivities of the nutrient solution (ECs) of 2.6, 3.1, 6.6, 10.0 and 12.2 dS m-1 after the dilutions and fertilizers addition. Completely randomized blocks design was used with 5 treatments (salinity levels of the nutrient solutions) and six replications. Leaf area, number of marketable fruit, total and marketable yield were reduced with ECs increase. The marketable yield of bell pepper 'Margarita' reduced 6.3% for each unitary increase of ECs above 2.6 dS m-1 (threshold salinity) and the results suggest that in hydroponic system, the reduction of marketable yield with increasing ECs is promoted by reduction of the number of fruits per plant instead of a reduction of fruit mean weight.

Due the expansion of atemoya cultivation and its increasing consumption in the principal Brazilian markets, it is necessary to investigate the postharvest physiology of fruit as well as the use of technologies to increase their shelf life. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the quality attributes of atemoya 'Gefner' harvested in two maturation stages. The fruit, from commercial plantation located in Neopólis, SE, Brazil, were evaluated at harvest and after three days, staying at 25 ° C throughout the experiment. The experimental design was completely randomized in a factorial 2 x 4 (maturity stage x time), with five replicates. Thecharacteristics evaluated were: color, firmness, weight loss, color, soluble solids (SS), titratable acidity (TTA), pH and vitamin C. The color, the mass loss and the SS and ATT increased during storage, with decrease in pH and a dramatic reduction in the level of vitamin C. The storage time directly influenced all traits. Among the stages of maturation, only firmness differed significantly and may be used as an indicator of ripeness.

The cowpea is a leguminous of great importance for human consumption, providing a source of protein for most of urban population of northern Brazil, therefore the aim of this paper was to evaluate the efficiency of strains of Bradyrhizobium out in association with phosphate and potassium fertilization (PK) in cowpea at the field level in the municipality of Capitão Poço - PA. Two experiments were carried out in randomized blocks with four replications, consisting of five treatments, being two strains of Bradyrhizobium - BR 3262 and BR 3267, a treatment only with PK, another one with NPK in the formulation (10-28-20) and a control. It was evaluated the grain yield, the number of pods and weight of 100 seeds. Fertilization with phosphorus and potassium represented a significant increase in the yield of cowpea, however inoculation with both strains did not increase production.