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 cladodes size is an important feature when selecting cuttings for red pitaya (Hylocereus undatus (Haw.) Britton & Rose) seedling production. The paper was carried out with the aim of evaluating different sizes of cladodes in the production of dragon fruit seedlings. The experimental design was randomized blocks with five treatments, which were the cladodes sizes: 5; 10; 15; 20 and 25 cm, with four replicates and four cladodes per plot. After 80 days of the experiment, there were evaluated: number of shoots per plant, percentage of rooting, length of greater root and dry weight of roots. The size of cladodes directly influences the production of seedlings. The lengths of cladodes from 15 to 25 cm are the most suitable for the dragon fruit seedlings.

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.

Atrazine is a herbicide applied to a number of important crops, but litle has been done to study the susceptibility of species like Digitaria horizontalis to such herbicide. This work was carried out to evaluate the effect of the stage of development of Digitaria horizontalis at spraying on the suppression imposed by atrazine. The experiment was conducted in 10 dm-3 pots, under greenhouse conditions, and the experimental units were disposed in a completely randomized design, in a factorial scheme 5x3, with four replicates. Treatments were composed by Five rates of atrazine (0; 0.5; 1.5; 2.5 and 4.0 kg ha-1), applied in three stages of D. horizontalis development (two leaves, four leaves and one-two tillers). Applications accomplished in later stages of development were inefficient in controlling this species, despite causing significant reductions of weed shoot and root dry mass and plant height. For applications at two leaves stage, a maximum of 60% control was achieved by using 4.0 kg ha-1 of atrazine, indicating the lack of efficiency of this herbicide in controlling this species.

The preliminary investigation of chemical constituents of a plant allows the prior knowledge of the extract and indicates the nature of the present substances. The aim of this paper was to detect the absence or presence of appreciable amounts of various chemical constituents in extracts of jurubeba [Solanum paniculatum Linnaeus (1762)], capim santo [Cymbopogon citratus Stapf (1906)], batata de purga [Operculina hamiltonii (G. DON) D.F. Austin & Staples (1983)] and melão de são caetano [Momordica charantia Linnaeus (1763)], which has been indicated as alternative treatment against gastrintestinal helmintiasis of small ruminants. The jurubeba was collected in the city of Teixeira - PB. The capim santo, the batata de purga and the melão de são caetano were collected at the Centro de Saúde e Tecnologia Rural/UFCG, Patos - PB, in august and september of 2008. After, was realized the identification of the indicated shares to the ethnopharmacology study, deposited in the Herbário Caririense Dárdano de Andrade - Lima of the Universidade Regional do Cariri-URCA. The acquisition of the extract and phytochemical study followed the methodology described by Matos (1997). To obtain the extract was used the dust of the shares collected from each plant and as solvent ethanol PA. Four tests (phenols and tannins; anthocyanins, anthocyanidins and flavonoids; leucoanthocyanidins, catechins and flavanones; and alkaloids.) were conducted for the exploration of hydroalcoholical constituents. In the chemical assay were concluded that the ethanol extracts of the four plants with compounds such as tannins and catechins, and absence of phenols, anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins.

The bit of cane sugar, Diatraea saccharalis (Fabricius, 1794), (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), is the main plague of sugar cane in Brazil. The objective of this study was to evaluate the intensity of infestation in five varieties of commercially sugar cane. The experiment was conducted at Parnaíba Valley Company (COMVAP), that belongs to the Olho D'água Group, located in the city of União - Pi (latitude 04° 51' 08" S; longitude 42° 52' 59" W). Gallo methodology was used to evaluate the the intensity of infestation. It is calculated by: II% = 100 x blocked internodes / total number of internodes. The intensity of infestation of all sorts was considered very low. The varieties SP73-2577, SP83-2847, SP81-3250, SP79-1011 and RB92-579 did not present infestation, using the no-parametric test of Kruskal - Wallis, meaningful statistic differences among them. All varieties showed similar intensity of infestation and may be recommended respecting other desired characteristics.

This paper aimed to evaluated the effect of the use of potassium nitrate on the reduction of stress on the melon plants exposed to excess salt in the irrigation water. The experiment was carried out at the Centro de Ciências e Tecnologia Agroalimentar (CCTA/UFCG) Pombal-PB, from 19/09/2009 to 20/10/2009, using the hybrid melon 'Hales Best Jumbo'. The treatments consisted of two levels of of salinity of the irrigation water (0.3 and 5.0 dS m-1) and rates of N in the form of potassium nitrate (5.5; 6.25; 7.0 and 8.5g per plant). The experimental design was randomized blocks, on the factorial scheme 2x4, with four replications. The highest rates of photosynthesis, stomatic conductivity, transpiration, leaf area, total dry mass and the fruit yield per plant were observed on melon plants irrigated with low salinity water (0.3 dS m-1) compared to the ones with the high saline water (5.0 dS m-1), and on rates of N between 6.10 and 7.8g of N per plant for both levels of salinity. The supply of N in the form of potassium nitrate was effective on reducing the melon plant the stressing effect caused by the salinity of the irrigation water up to the rate of 6.85g of N per plant. On absolute terms we can affirm that the best performance of the melon plant was achieved with the rate of 7.0g of N per plan when irrigated with normal water and 6.25 of N per plant when irrigated with saline water.

This paper presents the results of a taxonomic study of the family Poaceae held in Parque Nacional Serra de Itabaiana, with the objective of contributing to the knowledge of species richest of the Park. The PARNA Serra de Itabaiana (10 45'15''S and 37 25'15''O) is located in the state of Sergipe and covers an area of 7966 ha which includes three units, the serra do Cajueiro, Comprida and de Itabaiana. Collections were made between April 2006 and April 2008 and deposited in UFP, ASE, MO, and RB. Information on distribution have been raised from herbaria, literature and databases available on the Internet. We identified 40 species in the PARNA classified into 19 genera, the richest of which is Paspalum L., with eight species. Five species had their distribution extended in this work. A key to identify the species is presented, as well as comments on distribution and ecology.

The blossom-end rot of tomato is characterized by the appearance of a necrotic tissue in the distal part of the fruit. This disorder is not caused directly by the calcium deficiency, but it results from the expression of some genes in stress conditions. Interactions between temperature, water availability, high saline or ammonium concentration, etc., control the appearance of the blossom-end rot in the fruits. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the influence calcium and ammonium on the productivity and blossom-end of tomatoes grown hydroponically. The experiment was carried out in the green house of the Department of Agronomy of the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, and consisted of factorial arrangement between six levels of calcium and two levels of ammonium in the nutrient solution (6 x 2), with six replications in experimental design of randomized blocks. Calcium treatments were the concentrations of 120, 140, 170, 200, 240 and 280 mg L-1, and ammonium treatments were the absence of this cation in the nutrient solution and the addition of 28.4 mg L-1, corresponding to 15% of total-N of the nutrient solution. The blossom-end rot, productivity, fruit diameter and number of fruits were evaluated. The data were submitted to the analysis of the variance and regression. The calcium addition caused a reduction in the tomato productivity, and the treatments with ammonium caused a lesser incidence of blossom-end rot.

Aiming to evaluate the nodulation and grain yield by cowpea inoculated with rhizobia isolates obtained of soil samples from Brazilian Northeast region, an experiment was carried out in Leonard jars under greenhouse conditions. The experiment was performed on a randomized block design with five replicates and five sampling times, performed at 15, 30, 45, 60 and 75 days after emergence (DAE). Nine rhizobia isolates and the recommended strain (BR 2001) were inoculated on cowpea. Besides, it were used two control treatment: mineral nitrogen (TN, applying 150 mg N plant-1) and an absolute control (T0). Evaluating the number of nodules per plant (NN), nodule dry mass (NDM), plant dry matter (PDM), Accumulated N (Nac), grain dry mass (GDM) and straw dry mass of pods (DMP). Results showed that the NN, NDM, PDM and Nac content increased until 45 DAE. Although variations had been occurred after 60 DAE for these parameters, significant difference was only found for Nac content at 75 DAE. Evaluated parameters (NN, NDM, PDM and Nac) showed a high correlation with GDM. Although no statistical difference had been observed to the strain BR 2001, five of the nine Bradyrhizobia isolates provided GDM production from 1.6 to 2.4 times more than the recommended strain, indicating high potential of use of these isolates as inoculant. However, further experiments are needed, mostly under field conditions to confirm these results.