This paper evaluated the effect of different herbicides applied isolated and mixed on two species of dayflower (Commelina benghalensis and Commelina villosa). Both species were grown under pot conditions with a capacity of 14 L. Three stems with 10 cm were planted per pot. The herbicides application was made using a stationary spray system, to provide a spray volume of 200 L ha-1, with spray tip XR 110.02VS, when the plants were with dimensions of 25-35 cm for C. benghalensis and 30-35 cm for C. villosa. The mixture saflufenacil more effective control of C. benghalensis were saflufenacil + glyphosate (48 + 720 g ha-1) and, saflufenacil + (glyphosate + imazethapyr) with and without the addition of ammonium sulfate (24 + 623 g ha-1). The combination of carfentrazone + glyphosate (20 + 720 g ha-1) were also effective in the C. benghalensis control. The saflufenacil mixture allowed plant control of C. villosa, where saflufenacil + glyphosate (24 + 720 g ha-1) with the addition of ammonium sulfate, showed a good visually control of this species. The application of 2,4-D (720 g ha-1) and 2,4-D + glyphosate (720 + 720 g ha-1) provided the best visual controls of C. benghalensis e C. villosa. All chemical treatment regardless of Commelina species reduced the dry mass of dayflower.

Given the pressure on biodiversity, due to its use in an unsustainable way, particularly in the Caatinga biome, and the need to restore the popular knowledge, is that this paper was developed in order to conduct a survey of medicinal plants used by the community of Laços, Tanhaçú, in the state of Bahia. And identify, among these, those species that are found in the National Forest Contendas Sincorá, the city of Contention Sincorá, Bahia. The data collecting was done through interviews, having as a tool the use of questionnaires. The vegetal species mentioned by the community and found in the Conservation Unit were collected and sent for identification. The community were cited 92 species of plants used for medicinal purposes, of which only 10.9% were found in the conservation area and, among them, the species Bidens pilosa, known as ¿carrapicho de agulha¿, was the most cited (52.4%), followed by Amburana cearensis (27.7%), popularly known as ¿umburana macho¿. The paper showed that target community of the study uses many medicinal plants to treat their illnesses, however, few species were found in the National Forest Contendas do Sincorá.

The search for new antimicrobial agents from plants is intense due to the increasing resistance of pathogenic microorganisms to synthetic products. Moreover, the long term use of pesticides cause negative impacts to society and the environment due to pollution caused by chemical waste. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the effect of Lippia sidoides and Piper aduncum oils, carnauba wax and dextrin to control stem-end rot of mango. Fruits of mango cv. Kent were inoculated with suspensions of 106 (conidia/mL) of Lasiodiplodia theobromae or Botryosphaeria dothidea, and after 24 hours there were applied the treatments. The experiment was organized on a completely randomized design with three replications and the experimental unit was composed of a tray containing six fruits. After eight days in cold storage (10 ± 2 º C) the fruits were placed for five days at room temperature (25 ± 2 º C) when were evaluated daily for the disease severity. The best treatments were Lippia sidoides and Piper aduncum oils that showed specificity to control stem-end rot caused by L. theobromae and B. dothidea on mango.

The population growth not only demands further exploration and use of water, but generates different types of wastewater, such as sewage which is dumped directly into watercourses. In this context, the aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of the use of wastewater from domestic sources on the growth of plants of physic nut during the third year of production under protected ambient. A randomized block design in a 5 x 2 factorial scheme was used, the factors being five levels of water replacement - WR (0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00 and 1.25 times water consumed by the plant) and two levels of phosphorus (135 and 200 g plant-1 year-1) with four replications. Plants were grown in recipients with a capacity of 200 L and in the beginning of the 3rd year of production (present study) a drastic pruning was performed. The variables plant height, stem diameter; leaf number and leaf area of the physic nut were influenced by the depth of water replacement from 30 days after pruning (DAP). The leaf number and stem diameter were affected by phosphorus dose at 30 and 90 DAP, respectively. The plant height and leaf area were influenced by the interaction (WR x phosphorus dose) at 30, 60 and 90 DAP. The weight of the fruit and water use efficiency of physic nut were affected by the depth of water applied but were not influenced by phosphorus dose.

The development of soybean cultivars adapted to different regions and generation technologies contribute to Brazil to increase its production, placing it as the second largest world producer and exporter of grain. Several factors have limited its production among these diseases, approximately 40 already identified in Brazil, especially powdery mildew (Erysiphe diffusa U. Braun & S. Takami), one of the most important, resulting in reductions of up to 40% in income susceptible cultivars. The study aimed to evaluate the severity of powdery mildew on soybean genotypes during seven seasons of evaluation, by analyzing disease progress, using regression. It was developed at the Federal University of Viçosa, Minas Gerais arranged in split plots inrandomized block design seven evaluations were performed by visual quantification of the level of infection of leaf area infected (NIAFI). Regression analysis was performed to check the progress of thedisease. The results showed that the method is efficient for such studies, showing clearly the evolution of the disease, and aiding in the discrimination of resistant and susceptible genotypes at the third assessment. Stood out as sources of resistance genotypes UFV-16, UFV-19, UFV 89-361826T2, FT-Abyara RC5 (F4), FT-RC6 Abyara (F2), FT-10 RC5 (F3), Doko RC, UFV UFV 95-4121333 and UFV 94-334268. FT-104 and FT-Crystalina stood out as susceptible and BR-16 and FT-Estrela as highly susceptible, while the other showed intermediate behavior.

The correct management of an irrigation system depends on reliable estimate of reference evapotranspiration (ETo). This paper aimed to evaluate the performance of some empirical equations used to estimate ETo under the climatic conditions of the municipalities of Anagé, Piatã and Ilhéus, located in the Southwest of Bahia State, Brazil. Climatic variables were used for the years 2006 and 2007 obtained through the automatic data collection platform of the Superintendence of Bahia Water Resources / National Institute for Space Research, in which he averaged variables for the two years. To compare the ETo values estimated by methodos of Penman Modificado FAO 24, Radiação, Blaney-Criddlle, Hargreves-Samani, Priestley-Taylor and Turc with the standard method Penman-Monteith (FAO 56) was performed by parameters of regression equation (b), determination coefficient (r²), correlation coefficient (r) estimated standard error (EEP), agreement index (d), index of confidence or performance (c) in daily, three, five and seven days scales. The best methods to estimate ETo for the climatic conditions of the three sites, depending on the indices and parameters studied were by the order: Blaney-Criddle, Penman Modified - FAO 24, FAO 24 Radiation, Turc, Priestly- Taylor and Hargreaves-Samani.

The objective of this research was to evaluate the color of tomatoes coated with different concentrations of pectin during storage at room temperature. Were used tomatoes with color greenish-pink divided into four lots: uncoated tomatoes (CT) and covered with biofilms with 2% (P2), 5% (P5) and 8% (P8) of solution of pectin. Initially it was evaluated the rind of tomatoes, then these were cut in half and it was evaluated the pulp (fleshy part), subsequently the two parts of tomatoes were processed in a blender to yield the processed pulp, which also was evaluated. Evaluations were done at 0, 2, 4, 7, 11 and 16 days storage with analysis of luminosity (L*), intensity of red (+a*) and intensity of yellow (+b*) in portable spectrophotometer. It was observed in all treatments that the rind and the fleshy and processed pulp showed a reduction in the values of L*. At the end of the storage, the treatment CT showed the highest values +a* for the rind and the fleshy and processed pulp, followed of the treatments P2, P5 and P8, respectively. The values of +b* decreased in the rind and in processed pulp of the CT and P2 treatments, but increased in the P5 and P8 treatments. It is concluded that the use of edible coatings pectin is effective to retard development of coloration typical of ripe tomato, results to be associated with the evaluation of physical and chemical parameters for a respect to retardation of the ripening.

The objective of this work was to evaluate the chemical composition and microbial of biofertilizers at different decompositions times. For this, we used biofertilizers two. The experimental designused was entirely randomized in factorial scheme 2x7 two sources of manure (cattle and chicken) and seven times of decomposition (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 days), with three replications. We evaluated the chemical parameters (pH, CE, dry mass, N, P, K, Ca and Mg) and microbiological (bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes total). The chicken manure gave significant increase of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, dry mass and electrical conductivity. The highest concentration was within 15 to 20 days of decomposition, with the exception of nitrogen, with the highest concentration on the preparation of biofertilizer. In the microbiological analysis, the chicken manure resulted in higher total population of microorganisms (bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes total) compared to beef. The decomposition periods of biofertilizers influence on nutrient levels, diversity and populations of microorganisms.

The aim of this paper was to evaluate biochemical activities related to promotion of plant growth of isolates of the genus Bacillus originated from areas under maize cultivation, and to evaluate the genetic similarity among the isolates using PCR-based RAPD markers. Several strains of the genera Bacillus were isolated from twenty distinct maize production areas of the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Forty isolates were obtained and characterized as antagonistic to plant pathogenic fungi, production of auxin (IAA), phosphate solubilization in vitro and root colonization. The potential for phosphate solubilization was not identified in any of the isolates. In addition, the majority of the isolates did not show any antagonistic effect against Fusarium oxysporum and Colletotrichum truncatum. Based on root colonization, six Bacillus isolates were selected to evaluate their growth-promotion activities in maize. All the six isolates increased root growth, while only one isolate did not promoted shoot growth and nutrient uptake in plants when compared to control. Low genetic similarity among the selected isolates was detected by RAPD analysis using eleven primers. Our results showed the utility of the in vitro selection criteria used in this study for screening of Bacillus sp. with plant growth-promoting activity, as they may reduce the number of Bacillus isolates required at the final screening stage in field.

Banana crop is one of the most cultivated fruit in the Northeast of Brazil, but it requires a considerable amount of water during its cycle making it essential the appropriate management of irrigation in order to optimize the water use. Thus, aimed to study the effect of water levels on growth, productivity and water use efficiency of banana cv. Nanicão in the second cycle. The research was carried out at the Campus IV of Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, located in Catolé do Rocha, PB, under field conditions, in a block randomized design with five irrigation levels (55%, 77.5%, 100%, 122.5% and 145% ETo) and four replications. Four plants were used per plot, spaced of 3 m x 3 m and irrigated by a drip system. Height, stem diameter and leaf area were evaluated every two weeks. It was determined in the harvest, the bunch weight, number of hands, fruits per bunch, weight and number of fruits of the second hand, length and diameter of three median fruits of the second hand and the productivity and water use efficiency were also estimated. Irrigation based on 145% of ETo provided higher increase on growth and productivity, but did not different significantly from results obtained when was applied 122,5% of ETo. Maximum water use efficiency was obtained with application of the lower water level.