The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of increasing pollen supply to honey bees (Apis mellifera) during the dry season in Caatinga (shrub vegetation of NE Brazil) by inducing Mimosa tenui-flora to bloom. The work was carried out from August to December 2012 in Altamira Apícola Apiaries, situat-ed at Limoeiro do Norte – Ceará, Brazil. The experiment comprised three phases: Phase 1 – the amount of wa-ter needed to induce the blooming of Mimosa tenuiflora (T0L, T250L, T500L, T750L and T1000L); Phase 2 – Floral biology and flower visitors; Phase 3 – pollen harvested by the colonies and percentage of M. tenuiflora in the honey bee diet by sampling and comparing pollen loads from colonies placed 20m with those more than 3km away from the induced plants. Results of the Phase 1 showed that the treatments 3, 4 and 5 induced blooming, and T1000L produced a greater number of inflorescences (p <0.05). Blooming reached its peak eight days after induction. Hymenoptera represented more than 95% of floral visitors with Apis mellifera, Trigona spinipes and Melipona subnitida as the most frequent bee species. Palynological analyses carried out in phase 3 showed a significant (p<0,05) increment in pollen collection and the participation of M. tenuiflora pollen in the diet of colonies situated 20 meters from the induced plants. Induction of flowering Mimosa tenuiflora increased the supply and collection of pollen by bees in the critical period of the year, minimizing the effect of drought on the colonies.

Several breeding programs aim to develop superior maize genotypes able to be explored in off-season cropping, mainly due to the increased area under maize produced in alternative season. Few hybrids on the market are adapted to the environmental conditions of autumn-winter. The objective of this study was to identify the inbred lines adapted to off-season condition, by the analysis of combining ability of 50 S3 maize inbred lines, developed by the Maringá State University. These inbred lines were crossed with two adapted hybrids (AG9040 and P30K75), used as testers. The male and female flowering time and also the grain yield (kg ha-1) adjusted for moisture (14,5%) and stand (65.000 plants) were evaluated in 3 locations of the western region of Paraná. The tester AG9040 presents itself as the best to contribute to high grain yields in their topcrosses. The line 30 had high general combining ability for yield in the three environments. The crossing line AG9040 x 49 obtained significant estimates of specific combining ability (SCA) for grain yield in Toledo and Palotina. Also, there is the crossing line AG9040 x 38 to obtain relevant SCA for yield and flowering Tupãssi in male and female. With the tester 30K75 mainly determined by the intersection with the line 27, so it is recommended that this inbred line can be used as tester lines from the commercial hybrid 30K75. With the tester AG9040 mainly determined by the intersection with the line 48, therefore, thes lines can be used as a new tester inbred lines derived from commercial hybrid AG9040.

The culture of coffee is quite important on the national scene and in the country's economy. Though, the crop response to salt stress is not well known. The objective of this paper was to evaluate compar-atively the initial growth of seedlings of two Conilon coffee cultivars under different conditions of soil salinity, and low water availability in the soil. The experiment followed a randomized block design in factorial arrange-ment with two Conilon cultivars (clones 120 and 14), two levels of water in the soil (50% and 70% of available soil water) and four levels of soil salinity (0; 2.0; 4.0 and 6.0 dS m-1). The physiological characteristics of growth: leaf area (Area F), stem height (Height. C), Stem diameter (Dia. C), reproductive branches numbers, shoot biomass and root were evaluated. Among the growth variables, leaf area and leaf dry mass and root are the best indicators of the presence of saline-hydric stress. The cultivar clone 120 is moderately tolerant of soil salinity, with less reduction in leaf area and leaf dry mass when subjected to salt stress.

This study aimed to characterize the morphology of seeds and seedlings and evaluate the germination of seeds of Albizia edwallii submitted to different substrates and temperatures. In physical characterization were evaluated thousand seed weight, the number of seeds per kilogram and moisture content. To determine the morphological characteristics, it was evaluated the biometry of 50 seeds, as well as its internal and external characteristics. Germination was conducted at three temperatures (20 ° C, 25 ° C and 30 ° C) and three substrates (sand, vermiculite and blotting paper) with five replications of 40 seeds per treatment, in a factorial 3 x 3 and completely randomized design. The variables were germination percentage, germination rate index, mean germination time, and synchronization index. The thousand seed weight was 47.7 g, while the number of seeds per kilo was 20.964 for the moisture content of 13.1%. The seeds have an elliptical shape, no endosperm and have persistent funiculus. Germination is epigeal, and the seedling is phanerocotylar being fully formed at 15 days. Temperatures of 20 ° C and 25 ° C provide the highest germination rates, 42 and 38%, respectively, and germination speed index (GSI). The use of sand as a substrate provided better germination percentage than the other substrates. Thus, it is recommended to use sand as a substrate and temperatures of 20 ° C and 25 ° C in A. edwalli germination tests.

Los objetivos del trabajo fueron evaluar la calidad sanitaria en cariopsis de maíz (Zea mays L.) infectados por F. graminearum provenientes de plantas inoculadas en diferentes momentos de la floración y determinar la ubicación de F. graminearum en los tejidos de cariopsis de maíz. Se evaluó la patología de los cariopsis y se determinó la calidad sanitaria de las espigas inoculadas con F. graminearum en diferentes mo-mentos de floración en el Campo Experimental de la Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Zavalla – Santa Fe, Argentina. Para determinar la ubicación de F. graminearum en tejidos del cariop-sis de maíz se realizaron cortes histológicos en los cariopsis con probables síntomas de enfermedad mediante técnicas de corte por congelación, diafanización, tinción y técnica de inclusión en parafina y coloración y se utilizó la Técnica de Rayos X para observar el efecto de la colonización por F. graminearum en los tejidos se-minales. Se observaron diferencias entre híbridos, sin embargo F. graminearum afectó de manera similar los cariopsis en los tercios superior, medio e inferior de la espiga de maíz; la incidencia por F. graminearum es baja en cariopsis de maíz debido a la mayor agresividad de F. verticillioides al ingresar al estigma del maíz con el grano de polen. F. graminearum y F. verticillioides no penetran al interior del cariopsis, sino que llegan has-ta las capas internas del pericarpo y no afectan la capa de aleurona y el embrión del cariopsis de maíz.

This study was carried out at SIPA (Integrated System of Agroecological Production), situated in Seropédica, RJ, Brazil, in order to evaluate the effects of two cropping systems on yield and growth of sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). The trial was conducted in a scheme of plots split in time, with three rep-lications, where cropping systems (conventional - CT and e no-till - NT) were assigned to the plots, while sam-pling dates were assigned to the subplots. Although values observed suggested that NT system provided a better crop growth performance in relation to CP, this superiority was not confirmed when comparing growth analysis methods. The functional method provided different values of biomass accumulation and leaf area index (LAI) of plants between two cropping systems. The highest values of LAI were 1.61 m2 m-2 and 1.31 m2 m-2, respec-tively, for NT and CT. Similar behavior was observed for accumulated plant biomass, being obtained values of 634.29 g m-2 and 511.44 g m-2, respectively, for NT and CT. In both cropping systems evaluated, three produc-tion cycles were identified, which yield peaks occurred at 58, 100 and 149 days after planting (DAP). However, yield per harvest and total yield presented no difference between the cropping systems.

The objective was to evaluate the growth of clones of forage cactus, subjected to different conditions of water availability in the Brazilian Semiarid, during a year of climate anomaly (biennium 2012-2013). The experiment was carried out in the first production year of the second crop cycle (March 2012 to February 2013), in the district of Serra Talhada, State of Pernambuco. The experiment was carried out in a randomized block design using a factorial arrangement 3x3 with three replications, being used three intervals of application of a fixed irrigation depth (7.5 mm), (7, 14 and 28 days), and three forage cactus clones (IPA: IPA Sertânia; MIU: Míuda and, OEM: Orelha de Elefante Mexicana). Eight biometric campaigns were performed during the experiment period for morphological analysis of the plants and cladodes along the time. It was found that water availability conditions showed no significant influence (P>0.05) on the majority of the absolute and relative values of the growth variables of the three forage cactus clones. However, when comparisons were performed among different clones, regardless of the water availability conditions, it was observed that, in terms of absolute values, the OEM had the highest means, differing only from the MIU clone. Regarding evaluations over time, there were increased growth rates in the last months of the crop cycle because of the occurrence of rainfall, which in conjunction with the application of the irrigation treatments promoted the best biometric increments for the OEM and IPA Sertânia clones.

Cropping systems modify soil attributes and may change its quality.The work had the objective to evaluate the changes in physical, chemical and biological soil under organic farming systems (soils cultivated organically for more than seven years), in conversion to organic and conventional, with reference to the soil under native forest, and identify the attributes used as indicators of soil quality. Three areas of farm crops, located in the municipalities of Areia, Remígio, and Lagoa Seca, the state of Paraíba, Brazil were selected, and soil samples deformed collected in the layers 0-10 and 10-20 cm. The data were analyzed using ANOVA, the Tukey Test, and the Principal Component Analysis. There was a reduction of soil density (Ds) and increased porosity (PT) in the system of organic farming compared to cropping systems in conversion organic and conventional. The contents of phosphorus and organic carbon (CO), the base sum (SB), cation exchange capacity (CTC), light particulate organic matter (MOPL), carbon particulate organic matter light (CMOPL), edaphic respiration (RE) and pH of soils under organic cultivation are higher than soils under conventional tillage.The growing organic basis contributes to the maintenance of soil quality under similar conditions and/or even better than the condition forest and, under the conditions of this study, the most appropriate indicators to analyze the cultivation organic basesare Ds, PT, CO, MOPL, CMOPL, pH, SB, CTC e RE.

It was objective to evaluate the influence of vegetation structure in the selection of plant species by sheep in Cerrado (Brazilian savanna). The research was conducted in an area of Cerrado sensu stricto in the north of Minas Gerais between January 2009 and March 2010. A phytosociological survey conducted the anal-ysis of the vegetation structure, using the plot method. In the tree stratum were delimited 38 continuous plots of 20 m × 20 m. In the regenerant stratum, were allocated sub-plots of 5 m × 5 m. In herbaceous stratum were made two transects in the area of pasture and every 2 m, with the movable square of 0.50 cm × 0.50 cm, 283 points for each transect (566 m).To the identification of the selected species, were used three sheep of the breed Santa Inês, which were kept by grazing in the experimental area and accompanied by observers. In the vegetation were identified 1288 tree, 102 regenerating and 1388 herbaceous individuals, grouped in 117 species distributed in 72 genera and 33 families, among these species: Tachigali rugosa, Heteropterys by sonimifolia, Astronium fraxinifolium, Lantana fucata, Evolvulus sp. e Rhynchospora sp. were important. The selected spe-cies by sheep in grazing, both in the rainy and dry season, in more than 50% species were: Casearia sylvestris, Erythroxylum deciduum, Heteropterys by sonimifolia e Ximenia americana. The feeding preference of sheep in the rainy season was by the species of herbaceous stratum, in the dry period by the species of the tree and re-generating strata. These species are structural bio-indicators of the Cerrado biome, for the grazing of sheep. It is necessary to evaluate, identify and quantify the chemical compounds of selected vegetal species because these can act as nutritional bio-indicators and potential in sheep feeding.

The treated domestic wastewater use in agricultural production has increased in research pro-jects, because providing nutritional qualities available to the plants. However, studying the challenges that this water source can cause to the this irrigation system located, is an important result to the sustainability of pro-duction. The current study has to evaluate the hydraulic performance of emitters under time exposure of drip-pers in the domestic sewage. With the performance evaluation system hydraulic prepared on a bench was car-ried out two experiments in a completely randomized design (CRD). In the first experiment, the treatments were three pressures (kPa) supplied to the system and in the second the treatments were made by operating time in interval of 60 h (composing seven intervals) with 28 drippers as repetitions. The system performance was evaluated for each treatment by the coefficient of distribution uniformity (CUD) and Christiansen's uni-formity coefficient (CUC). There was no statistical significance was set at a 5% for the different pressures, but there will be 1% for different times. When the CUD and CUC fell to 60 and 70 %, respectively, was cleaned with sodium hypochlorite. The system showed uniformity acceptable in the first 120 hours of operation with no need for cleaning. According to the coefficients evaluated this cleaning must occur before the 180 h, however, suggests that to maintain good uniformity this procedure should be done every 60 h.