The present study was carried out aiming to evaluate the effects of potassium, copper and zinc on the growth and seed yield of castor (Ricinus communis L.), cultivar BRS Nordestina and BRS Paraguaçu. Two experiments were conducted in a greenhouse, in Campina Grande, Paraiba State, Brazil. The experimental was conducted 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design completely randomized amounting in each experiment, a total of 24 experimental units, subjected to the following levels of fertilization: potassium (150 and 250 kg ha-1), copper (16 and 32 mg dm-3) and zinc (32 and 64 mg dm-3). Plant height, stem diameter, number and length of leaves were measured at 21, 42, 62, 82, 102 e 123 days after planting (DAP). Number and weight of seeds were measured. Potassium, copper and zinc did influence BRS Paraguaçu and BRS Nordestina growth and BRS Paraguaçu production. The highest yield of seed weight of BRS Paraguaçu corresponded to 250 kg ha-1 K2O, 16 and 32 mg dm-3 Cu and Zn, respectively.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the utilization effects of two native cacti named mandacaru (Cereus jamacaru DC.) and xiquexique [Pilosocereus gounellei (A. Weber ex K. Schum.) Bly ex Rowl.] associated with sabiá (Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Benth.) and flor de seda (Calotropis procera (Ait.) R.Br.) about the nutrient intake, daily weight gain, and feed conversion in sheep feedlot. Twenty Morada Nova male hair sheep with an average weight of 15.40, were allocated in a randomized block design, with four treatments and five replicates. The experimental treatments consisted of four diets (30% native cacti + 30% shrub hay + 40% concentrate, on dry matter basis): T1- xiquexique + sabiá hay; T2- xiquexique + flor de seda hay; T3- mandacaru + sabiá hay e T4- mandacaru + flor-de-seda hay. The concentrate consisted of 100.0% algaroba (Prosopis juliflora (Sw) DC) pods. No significant difference was observed for daily weight gain which averaged 88.77 g, and also for voluntary intakes of dry matter, organic matter, ether extract, total carbohydrates, nonfiber carbohydrates, total digestible nutrients and digestible energy in relation to g/day, %BW and g/kg0.75. Significant differences were observed for intake of water in g/day.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the production of Freshwater Angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare) in different stocking densities in cages polycultured with Amazon River Prawn (Macrobrachium amazonicum). Four treatments were evaluated (1; 2; 3 and 4 fish.10 L-1) using two ponds and 24 experimental units. Water quality parameter reached adequate levels for the species. Production data were submitted to ANOVA. Fish produced in the lowest density showed higher values of final weight and standard length, and lower total biomass in comparison with the others treatments. Feed conversion rate, survival, batch uniformity and body factor were not significant different among treatments. The highest density tested produced more fish and gross yield than the others treatments. The density 20 fish.10L-1 is recommended to produce Freshwater Angelfish in cages polycultured with Amazon River Prawn.

This work aimed to evaluate the effect of cut height on jurema-preta control. Thus, two trials were carried out, one in September 15th and other in December 15th of 1997. The experimental area had 1,400 m². Treatments were the height cuts of 25; 50; 75 and 100 cm from the soil. Evaluations were done when more than half of plants were showing 50% of their regrowth with a diameter of 0.7 cm. The experimental design was in randomized blocks with split-plot, being the height cut the parcel and the cut the sub-parcel. In the first trial and at the end of the 3rd cut, the higher mortality of 84.6% was found among plants cut at 75 cm and the higher number of regrowth was observed in plants cut at 100 cm, but the stem diameter was not affected by treatments. In the second trial and at the end of the 3rd cut, the higher mortality of 50% was found among plants cut at 100 cm and the other variables were not affected by cut height. The control of jurema-preta may be done in September, cutting the plants at 75 or 100 cm from the soil and always cutting the regrowth plants when they reach 0.7 cm of diameter. The jurema-preta control by standardization cut in December was inefficient regardless the cut height.

The aim of this work was to evaluate some empirical equations performance used to estimate the evapotranspiration of reference in relation to the standard method Penman-Monteith FAO - 56 for the climatic conditions of the city of Eunápolis - BA. Climatic variables were used as referrals to the years of 2006 to 2007 obtained through the automatic platform collection of data from Hydrical Resources Superintendency of Bahia / National Institute for Space Research, where it was obtained the average for two years. In order to compare the values of ET0 estimated by empirical equations with the standard method Penman-Monteith (FAO 56), were considered the parameters of the regression equation (a and b), the coefficient of determination (r²), coefficient correlation c, estimate of the standard err (EEP), index of agreement (d), index of confidence or performance c, in the scales of one, three, five and seven days. The results obtained from this study reveal that the Hargreaves-Samani method overestimated the ET0 in 23% characterizing it as the less method to estimate it. The methods of Radiation and Blaney-Criddle satisfactorily met the estimate of ET0 for the climatic condition on the studied region.

Through this research work, evaluating the chemical-bromatologic composition of in natura sugar cane as related to hydrolysis with whitewash. The work was conducted in the Forage Culture Sector of the Animal Science College at José do Rosário Vellano University (UNIFENAS), campus of Alfenas (MG). The experimental design utilized was the completely randomized in a factorial arrangement 4x5, four doses of whitewash were studied (0.0; 0.5; 1.0 and 2.0% on the basis of natural matter) in five times aerobic exposure (0, 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours), with four replicates. The addition of whitewash to sugar cane promoted lower temperatures till 12 hours of storage, from this point on, there no further effects of whitewash upon temperature control. The content of dry matter and ashes increased linearly with addition of whitewash, while protein content decreased. Whitewash promote no fall in the contents of water-neutral detergent-insoluble fiber and lignin, nevertheless, the contents of acid detergent insoluble fiber decreased, with more forceful when using 0.5 and 2.0% of whitewash. The use of whitewash in the hydrolysis of sugar cane alters the chemical bromatologic composition, however, the use of this additive is unjustified, because is not effect positive on the fiber content. The sugar cane in natura and hydrolyzed present the best composition immediately after the desintegration.

This work aimed to study the weed population dynamics of weeds and their influence to analyze in the corn production with the reduction of the space between lines in no-tillage system. The study was conducted in 2003/04 agricultural years, at the Experimental Station of Coimbra ¿ UFV. The experiment was conducted in a complete randomized block design. Treatments were arranged in a 3 x 3 x 2 factorial scheme with four replicates (three cultivars - UFVM 100, AG 9010 and AG 1051) three nitrogen application ways (0, 120 kg ha-1 of N in planting and 30 kg ha-1 at sowing + 90 kg ha-1 at four fully expanded leaves) and two plant spacing (1.0 and 0.5 m). For the phytosociological study, a square of 0.30 m of side was used, thrown at random once in each treatment before the application of the herbicides and 30 and 60 days after the application. The species with the highest density was Artemisia verlotorium, whatever the time of assessment and management used throughout the sampling dates. The population dynamics and the mass accumulation dries of the plants were not influenced by the spacing of the corn, for the nitrogen fertilization and for the studied cultivars. The spacing reduction, from 1.0 m to 0.50 m, provided an increase of 8% in grains productivity.

Concerning the different plant physiognomies of Brazilian semi-arid, the riparian vegetation is the least studied. With reference to this, there is a gap in comprehension of the influence of environments heterogeneity on the flora distribution. In order to evaluate the richness and species composition in distinct environments along a stretch of riparian vegetation of the Pajeú river, was performed a botanical survey in the municipality of Floresta, Pernambuco state. Samples were collected in six hectare. Were identified 78 species in 39 families in four environments: the fluvial terrace, the riverside, the small elevation and the tableland. Families with the greatest number of species were Leguminosae (sensu Engler) and Euphorbiaceae, similar to those reported in other Caatinga surveys. 52% of species collected were herbs. As expected, there were floristic differences between the gradient along the fluvial terrace to tableland, as a function of environmental heterogeneity. The tableland had the highest species richness while the fluvial terrace the lower.

The Alismataceae (excluded Limnocharitaceae) comprises twelve genera of herbaceous aquatic plants. Only two of its genera (Echinodorus and Sagittaria) are native to the Neotropics. A survey of the species of Alismataceae confirmed the occurrence of four taxa of Sagittaria and eleven of Echinodorus from the semi-arid region of northeastern Brazil. Analytical keys to differentiate the genera and species are provided, as well as illustrations of their taxonomic characteristics and data on their geographical distribution. Echinodorus macrocarpus to be considered synonymous with E. pubescens. Echinodorus reticulatus is considered as a different species from E. longipetalus. There are five excluded taxa from the Brazilian semi-arid region: E. grandiflorus, E. macrophyllus, E. martii, E. bolivianus, and E. decumbens.

The objective of this study was to compare the weather data obtained from both conventional (CWS) and automatic (AWS) weather stations, in Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil (latitude: 21º14'05" S, longitude: 48º17'09" W and altitude: 613,68m), from July 1997 to June 2002. Daily data were collected and analyzed statistically by regression analysis. The results showed a good relationship between CWS and AWS, specially for air mean temperature, minimum temperature, maximum temperature and rainfall. Air humidity and atmospheric pressure showed the highest errors, respectively equal to 5,69% and 3,64 hPa. Wind velocity at 2m did not show good precision and accuracy because its estimation for CWS.