The experiment was carried with the objective of evaluating the adaptability of the breeds goats to Semiárid through physiologic parameters: rectal temperature, respiratory frequency and surface temperature and the structures of the tegument: perspiration glands, fat of glands and hair follicles. 40 female were used goat, of the breeds Anglo-Nubiana, Savana, Boer and Moxotó, being 10 animals of each breed, with medium age of five months. For the physiologic answers, he animals were allocated into a completely randomized design entirely in portions subdivided in the time, with the main treatments constituted by the breeds and the secondary ones by the shifts. For the study steorologic of the tegument was used in a completely randomized design entirely with four treatments and three repetitions. There was in significant teraction (P<0.05) between breed and shift, for the rectal and surface temperature. The breed Savanna it presented larger medium (P<0.05) for respiratory frequency and the Anglo-Nubiana to medium smallest (P<0.05). There was significant difference (P<0.05) regarding the number of hair follicles for breed Anglo-Nubiana that presented the smallest number, differing significantly (P<0.05) of the breeds Savanna and Moxotó that presented the largest averages, however these didn't differ (P>0.05) of the Boer breed. The breed Anglo-Nubiana it presented larger number of glands perspiration (P<0.05) and the breed Savanna presented the largest average of fat of glands (P<0.05). The studied breeds demonstrated to be physiological well adapted and with characteristics of the favorable tegument to the climatic conditions of semiarid.

Brazil is the fourth cocoon producer in the world. In São Paulo State there are mulberry some hybrids whose productivity are higher than the commonly cultivated varieties. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of mulberry hybrids (Morus spp.) on the cocoon production of silkworm (Bombyx mori L.). The experiment was conducted at the Unidade Regional de Pesquisa de Gália do Instituto de Zootecnia, SP. The caterpillars were fed on leaves of the hybrids IZ-3/2, IZ-13/6, IZ-15/7, IZ-19/13, IZ-56/4, IZ-57/2, IZ- 40, IZ-64, in a rearing hut at 25 oC ± 3 oC and 75% ± 5% relative humidity. 'Korin' was used as standard. The hybrids affected the duration of the larval period and the weight of the caterpillars, prepupaes and the silk glands as well. There was a reduction in the duration of larval development when the caterpillars had been fed with hybrid IZ-56/4 and the 'Korin' variety. Hybrids IZ-57/2, IZ-56/4 and IZ-15/7 presented the highest cocoon production.

The matriconditioning of seeds aims to improve the germination of seeds and to homogenize the establishment of seedlings in field. This study aimed to evaluate the physiological quality of cotton seeds immersed in solid matrix Algalita under different moisture and conditioning periods. We used seeds of cultivar Pantion cotton chemically delinted, coated in proportions of 100 g of seeds for 1000 g of Algalita. The treatments consisted of five levels of water used for wetting the matrix (10, 25, 50, 75 and 100 mL) during six conditioning periods (0, 1, 4, 8, 16 and 32 days). The experimental delineation was arranged as completely randomized, in the factorial project 5x6 (water texts x periods of conditioning) with four replications. The results indicate that there is a tendency to increase the vigor of seeds when they are stipulated in different levels of humidity in the solid matrix compared with the witness. This behavior happened exactly with the germination of the seeds, with the exception of the treatment of 1,00 mililiter of water.

Today there is still a search for substrates economical, easy to use, available in large quantities and good characteristics for the production of seedlings, so are many substrates available. Thus, an experiment was conducted using different substrates for the production of yellow passion fruit seedlings at the University Vale do Rio Doce in Governador Valadares - MG, from November 2007 to January 2008. The objective was to evaluate different commercial substrates and a substrate used by small farmers in the region, associated with different rates of mineral fertilizer 8-28-16 (0, 21.4 and 42.8 g / plant) on the initial growth of two new cultivars (FB100 and FB200). We evaluated the physiological characteristics of seedlings. It was found that the cultivar FB 200 had the best vegetative growth, the substrate manure + soil was the best for cultivar FB 200, together with the plantmax® was superior to coconut fiber in the initial growth of cultivar FB 100 and the increasing rates of fertilizer stimulated the growth of seedlings.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the production of lettuce Lactuca sativa cv. Verônica to water levels. The experiment was conducted at Centro de Ciências Agrárias at Universidade Federal de Roraima (State of Roraima, Brazil). The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse following the completely randomized blocks design with four replications. The treatments consisted of six water levels based on fractions of the class A pan daily evapotranspiration (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, 100% e 120%). The results of yield and fresh matter showed a linear response of the applied irrigation levels. The water use efficiency showed a decreasing linear response with respect to the irrigation levels. The maximum of yield showed 17.35 t ha-1 with 120% Class A Pan evaporation level.

The cultivation of sweet herb of great economic importance for small farmers in the micro and Agrest Swamp of Paraíba and also in the state of Pernambuco. Among the natural enemies, the scissors Euborellia annulipes proves to be a voracious predator, that is, with high ability to attack and feed on different prey, particularly of eggs and immature stages of insects of Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, Coleoptera and Diptera. The objective of this research was to study the biological aspects of E. annulipes on H. foeniculi laboratory. The study was conducted at the Entomology Laboratory, Department of Plant Protection at the UFPB in a climatic chamber, at 25 ± 1 ºC, relative humidity of 70 ± 10% RH and 12 hours. Scissors were selected in adulthood from rearing on artificial diet in the laboratory. From these insects have made observations of posture, viability and morphology of eggs of E. annulipes. Fifty nymphs were selected for each stage of development (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) of the scissors and fed separately with aphids (1st-2nd, 3rd and 4th instar). There has been evaluation regarding the number and duration of instars. There are five instars to the nymphal stage of E. annulipes, the average incubation period was 12.9 days, pre-oviposition period of 18.2 days and 46.75 eggs per clutch, there was an increase of nymphal E. annulipes in that it offered up more aphids developed.

This work aimed to identify the sustainability indicators of the producers in the river Faé, Ceará, watershed. The field analysis was carried out in September 2006, with the application of cross-over forms to the 237 small producers. Through the employment of the Factor Analysis/Principal Component Analysis AF/ACP it was identified that the model of better adjustment to express the sustainability of the watershed Faé was that composed of six factors, explaining 80.25% of the total variance, dissolved before in 12 dimensions. The first factor explained 21.73% of the total variance and it is related with the health of the farmers. The second and third factors presented a close relation with the soil vegetation cover and the irrigation management, responding for 15.57% and 14.82% of the total variance, respectively. The forth factor, explaining 10.18% of the total variance, presents itself as an indicator of the water preservation. The both remaining factor explain, together, 17.95% of the total variation and express the family organization and the agricultural production techniques of the region, respectively. The sustainability of the producers was determined mainly by the health, vegetation coverage conservation and irrigation indicators, expressing the need of practical courses and the action of the rural extension, where the producer will learn agricultural production techniques by doing them.

The caatinga biome covers around 70% of the North-Eastern territory and nevertheless the studies carried out about its natural riches are still insufficient especially tackling the floristics diversity of the biome as a whole, particularly in the state of Paraiba. For this reason the current study aimed to carry out the floristics survey of an area of caatinga in the municipality of Boqueirão, Paraiba State. In the area of study, it was registered 47 species distributed in 39 genera and 20 families of flowering plants. The families that stood out in number of species were: Fabaceae, with 12 species; Cactaceae, with five; Euphorbiaceae and Malvaceae, with four species each one and Convolvulaceae with three species, while the other families (15) showed one to two species each one. The woody component dominated over the shrubby, herbaceous, subshrubby and the woody vines components of the area studied. Based on the data obtained in this study, it was possible to correlate the taxa shown with the flora of different areas of caatinga, especially in the Northeast region, showing up the priority of carrying out floristics studies including other areas of the caatinga of Paraiba as well as of different states of the Brazilian Northeastern.

The knowledge about the magnitude of the genetic variability of collection is great importance to the success and longevity of plant breeding programs. Same authors affirm to exist genetic variability in elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum), being expanded with the use of millet (P. glaucum) in the hybridization. This work presents considerations on genetic variability in elephant grass germplasm and the main methodologies used to assess this variability. Based on the works studied, the methodologies (principal component, canonical variables and agglomerative methods, based in the euclidian and Mahalanobis distances; Jaccard' index and cluster' methods, based in the Ney & Li distances) were efficient in to determine the genetic variability in most genotypes studies in Brazil and other countries, both biometric and molecular level, way be exploited by breeding programs through methods of selection intra and interspecific hybridizations.

In Brazil, the production of watermelon with seeds is highly representative. However, available information about fruit quality of different varieties grown in the same environment is still rare, which makes it necessary to carry out trials that can fill this gap. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the postharvest quality of different varieties of watermelon (Crimson Sweet, Charleston Gray, Sugar Baby, Fairfax and Tendersweet), grown under conventional conditions in Mossoró - RN. The experiment was carried out from September to November 2008 in the experimental field of the Federal Rural University of the Semiarid (UFERSA). The data for the fruit quality were recorded in the Laboratory of Postharvest of UFERSA. The experiment was set under a completely randomized design with six replications and each replication consisted of a fruit. The quality characteristics were analyzed: fruit fresh mass (kg), fruit dimensions (greater length and width), overall appearance, pulp yield in percentage, seed characteristics, pH, acidity, vitamin C, soluble solids and SS/TA ratio. The physical determinations showed variations for fruit fresh mass (4.2 to 9.7 kg), pulp yield (42.0 to 58.5%), rind thickness (1.1 to 2.5 cm), as well as to the number and mass of seeds. In the physical-chemical determinations it was observed phenotypic uniformity among the varieties for almost all variables and, although all of them favorable to consumption, this result indicates narrowing of the genetic basis of varieties, which makes it necessary the evaluation of other genotypes.