Aiming to evaluate the digestive use and performance of growing rabbits fed with diets con- taining sugarcane bagasse enriched with vinasse, 118 New Zealand white rabbits was used in a digestibility, caecotrophy and performance trials. The experimental design was completely randomized, being applied in the digestibility and caecotrophy three treatments (a reference diet, a diet containing sugarcane bagasse and a diet containing sugarcane bagasse enriched with vinasse) and in performance trial, four treatments (0, 50, 100 and 150 g kg - 1 of bagasse enriched with vinasse). The data were subjected to variance analysis and subsequently carried out comparisons between the averages of the treatments. The bagasse enriched or not with vinasse changes consumption, excretion and the digestibility coefficients of dry matter, mineral matter, organic matter, crude protein, ether extract and gross energy. The inclusion of vinasse promotes the improvement of the values of digestible energy and digestible protein of bagasse. There was no change in the dry matter of the ceco- trophes, while there wasn’t on the crude protein of cecotrophes by the inclusion of the bagasse enriched or not with vinasse. There was a reduction of the nutritional contribution in dry matter, from the inclusion of test feeds. This did not affect nutritional contribution in crude protein. The use of bagasse enriched with vinasse in diets for growing rabbits proved viable, so that the inclusion did not alter the average daily weight gain of ani- mals and therefore, the time required to reach slaughter weight.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the microbial activity and the contribution of light organic matter (LOM) in areas under natural regeneration of the Caatinga, checking the effect of seasonality and turn (daytime and nighttime) about the the release of CO2 from the soil. The experiment was conducted in the mu-nicipality of Santa Terezinha, Paraíba, where four areas were selected: (1) pasture (P), (2) Early Stage (E) of natural regeneration in the last five years, (3) Intermediate Stage (I) regenerating the last 15 years, and (4) Late Stage (L) of approximately 50 years. Microbial activity was determined in the field, monthly in two turns (daytime and nighttime). Respiratory activity in the soil was low in all areas and periods evaluated, with the lowest values for the areas of P and L. The CO2 values tended to be higher in the rainy season when compared to the dry season. The content of LOM was higher in P and E, in the dry season, and did not differ statistically between the areas during the rainy season. All attributes have tended to be influenced by temperature and soil moisture.

Moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) is an exotic species, from the Indian Northeast, the Moringaceae family and has significant economic importance, with many applications in industry and medi-cine. This species spreads mainly by seed, so obtaining information on the behavior of different temperature and substrate on germination becomes essential since there is no standardized methodology for installation of the germination test. Therefore, this study aimed at evaluating the influence of substrate and temperature on germination and vigor of Moringa oleifera Lam. seeds. The experiment was conducted at the Seed Analysis Laboratory of the Federal Rural University of the Semi-Arid (UFERSA). The statistical design was completely randomized in a 5x2 factorial scheme (temperature x substrate), totaling ten treatments with four replicates of 25 seeds. The substrates were tested roll paper and vermiculite. Then the seeds were incubated at room Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (B.O.D.) at constant temperatures of 20, 25, 30 and 35 °C and 20-30 °C alternating with a photoperiod of 8 hours. We evaluated the percentage, the average time and the germination speed index and the shoot length and root and total dry weight of seedlings. The roll paper substrate at temperatures of 25 to 30 °C, as well as vermiculite of 30 °C temperature are the most suitable combinations to evaluate germination and vigor of seeds of Moringa oleifera Lam.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different additions of flour I endocarp of babassu on consumption and digestibility in diets. Twenty uncastrated male sheep were distributed in a completely ran-domized into four treatments with five replicates per treatment. The animals received experimental diets isoca-loric and isonitrogenous (zero, 7.5%, 15%, 22.5%). The dry matter intake as a function of body weight and metabolic weight decreased linearly with the inclusion of flour I Endocarp in the diet. The apparent digestibil-ity coefficients demonstrate the occurrence of a linear decrease with the inclusion of by-product in the diet. Nitrogen balance was positive with all inclusion levels, decreasing with larger inclusions in a linear response. The inclusion of this byproduct promotes change in score of the feces. The flour endocarp I of babassu present-ed the typical features of consumption and digestibility of forages. The inclusion of by-product in diets for lambs should stand at 7.5% inclusion.

The present study aimed at evaluating the effect of different treatments to overcome dormancy of Luffa operculata seeds. The tests were conducted at the Laboratory of Seed Analyzes of the Federal Univer-sity of Paraíba, in the city of Areia-PB. The seeds of L. operculata were submitted to scarification treatments with sandpaper, cutting with scissors, imbibition in cold water, immersion in hot water and immersion in sulfu-ric acid. In evaluating the effect of treatment, was determined percentage, first count and germination index speed as well as length and dry mass of roots and hypocotyl. The mechanical scarification with sandpaper and cutting with scissors with or without imbibition in cold water for 12 hours are recommended for overcoming dormancy of L. operculata seeds.

The physical conditions of the soil are directly related to management practices and relief for- mat. Lack of proper management can lead to soil erosion and consequent degradation of these areas. Currently, studies of spatial variability analysis to enable better decisions and resolutions of such problems. The present study aimed to evaluate the spatial variability of soil water infiltration, soil density and texture in the hilly area of the degradation process. The survey was conducted in the hilly area cultivated with grassland, located be- tween Areia and Remigio, two towns from Paraíba state. The soil was sampled at the regular grid with mesh (20x20m) between sample points, making a total of 49 points, into two depths, 0 - 10 cm, 10 - 20 cm, totaling 98 samples. The analyze of spatial variability was doing by semivariogram geostatistical analysis, with data inter- polation by kriging and make maps. All of them physical attributes analyzed presents spatial dependence since no one showed pure nugget effect. It was verified through the maps that there was a very clear relationship be- tween infiltration and other soil physical characteristics, observing this correlation mainly in the upper south- west slope.

The largest production of castor bean ( Ricinus communis L .) focuses on Bahia savanna, where the change of land use to their cultivation has been considered a strategy of degraded areas recovery. However, changes in the native soil can arise environmental impacts as greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. We have assumed that higher GHG emissions come from a change of land use for castor bean cultivation and their sub - products contribute to GHG emissions. The objective of this study was to make the inventory of the emission of GHG resulting from the castor bean cultivation and their sub - products. It was done a study in the municipality of Irecê - BA and were evaluated: changes in carbon (C) soil stocks in cultivated areas with castor bean and Lo- cal native forest; a number of senescent leaves and the biomass produced epigeal; GHG emissions from the sub - products of castor bean. The results showed that the sum of senescent leaves and epigeal biomass obtained by castor bean pruning is more than 1.6 Mg ha - 1 ano - 1 and the castor bean residues used in this soil presented N 2 O emissions close to 600 μg m - 2 . The emissions from the use of castor oil biodiesel represented less than 10% of the emissions. The change in land use handled high emissions of greenhouse gases, accounting for 87% of the total in CO 2 eq. Compared to emissions estimated for sugarcane ethanol, castor biodiesel showed emissions 32% lower.

The present work was accomplished with the objective of evaluating the drying effect on the peanut fruits physical properties. Peanut fruits with an initial moisture content of 0.63 decimal db were dried with a temperature of 40 ºC. Bulk density, true density, porosity, thousand - grain weight, sphericity, circularity, projected area, surface area and surface/volume ratio physical properties were determined. Based on these re- sults, it is concluded that reducing the moisture content promotes reduction in all the physical properties of pea- nut fruits, except the surface/volume ratio that have their values increased with the moisture content reduction. The circularity as sphericity of the peanut fruit values was reduced during the drying process.

This study aimed at evaluating the performance of Nelore cattle during growth classified for different classes of frame size regarding body weights and morphometric measures at different ages. Weights and morphometric measures Nelore bulls up to 1 year of age were monthly recorded. The characteristics evalu-ated were birth weight, 120, 205, 240 and 365 days of age, withers height and rump height, thoracic perimeter, distance between pin bones, distance between hip bones and chest width, depth of chest, space under sternal and hip length. Frame size scores classified as medium, large and extreme, were estimated using equations and tables according to Beef Improvement Federation (BIF). Data were subjected to analysis of variance and Tukey-Kramer test at 5% probability and analyses were performed by canonical variables and the grouping analyses of genotype by method of Tocher. The animals with larger class of frame size were heavier and morphometric measurements as well, when compared with animals classified for smaller class. The correlation between weight at different ages were higher. The weight correlates with body features positively, indicating that the weight gain of the animals increased their influence on the frame size. Cluster analysis resulted in three distinct genetic groups that have similar within the group and genetic divergence between them.

The umbu is an important fruit for the northeast of Brazil because it is being used in reforestation areas and has great economic potential. However, there is a gap on propagation techniques of this culture that is a crucial step for the successful of plant development. Thus, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of alternative substrate on the growth of umbu rootstock, fertility attributes, and microbial populations of these mixtures.The experimental design was completely randomized with 10 treatments: TA = soil + sand (1:1); A = sand; ECSC = goat manure + Plantmax® (1:3); EBSC = manure + Plantmax® (1:3); ECA = goat manure + sand (1:3); EBA = manure + sand (1:3); ECBSC = manure + goat manure + Plantmax® (1:1:3); ECBA = manure + goat manure + sand (1:1:3); HSC = humus + Plantmax® (1:3) and HA = humus + sand (1:3),with four replications. The addition of residues promoted the quality of the umbu rootstock, especially when mixed with a commercial substrate composed of vegetable organic matter and expanded vermiculite. With multivariate clustering, three groups acknowledged a similarity between the substrate mixtures. The use of humus or goat manure mixed with the commercial substrate is recommended for the production of umbu rootstock.