Castor produces racemes primary, secondary, tertiary, among others, whose contributions to the overall productivity differ. In this context, the aim was to evaluate the agronomic characteristics and to deter-mine the influence of the order of racemes and nutrient sources on yield of castor bean. Thus, under field con-ditions, in the municipality of Remigio, Paraíba State, an experiment with BRS Nordestina cultivar was carried out in randomized blocks design arranged in 5 (different sources of organic manure: without organic manure, compost, compost enriched with rock powders and manure and mineral complete) x 4 (orders of racemes pri-mary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary) factorial experiment, with four replications. During the experiment, plant height and insertion of racemes were evaluated, length and number of racemes, early blooming and matu-ration of racemes. After harvesting, the following variables were determined: mass of racemes, number of grains per plant, yield, weight of hundred grains, length and width of the grains and the contribution of differ-ent orders of racemes in total yield. The growth of castor bean increased with the fertilizing, especially for or-ganic compounds. The first inflorescences were emitted in castor bean plants fertilized organically. The mass of racemes, the number of grains per plant and productivity were higher in racemes of secondary and tertiary orders. The length and width of the grains was higher in primary racemes. The highest yields were obtained with the use of organic sources.

The effect of the covered and conventional cultivation of grapevine (cv. Superior Seedless) on the aerial dispersion of pathogen inoculum and dynamic of diseases was investigated in two-year (2009 and 2010) and period similar to the year. The experiment was conducted at the experimental station of Embrapa semiarid. The traps were maintained at 0.5 meters above the canopy of the grapevine, and the samples taken every 24 hours with the exchange of slides 9:00 a.m. Greater dispersion of pathogens (Plasmopara viticola, Phakopsora euvitis, Alternaria alternata) and intensity of diseases (downy mildew, rust, and bacterial canker) were detected in grapevines under conventional cultivation. The aerial dispersal of the fungus Lasiodiplodia theobromae was similar under grapevine covered and uncovered.

Native seeds should be studied and appreciated as they can contribute to the improvement of production, trade and supply aspects of family farmers, and breeding programs. The aim of the current study was to compare the physical characteristics (color and size) and the chemical composition of the grain in natura five genotypes creole red beans, grown in organic system, on the Nossa Senhora Aparecida farm, in Hi-drolândia-GO, Brazil. Completely randomized design with five treatments and four replications was employed. Caliper was used to determine the dimensions (length, height and width), Sphere II colorimeter ColorQuest to the instrumental color parameters (L*, a* e b*), and methods recommended by Association of Official Analyti-cal Chemists to the chemical composition. The Safira beans showed the greatest length and width (13.89 and 7.59 mm, respectively), in addition to greater luminosity (42.38), less reddish (3.53) and lower levels of ash and crude fiber (3.59 and 12.05 g 100 g-1, respectively). The beans Bolinha Vermelha showed the lowest di-mensions (9.1 x 4.3 x 5.7 mm), while the Vermelho Rajado beans showed lower protein (16.61 g 100 g-1) and higher ash (3.91 g 100 g-1). The bean Vermelho Rajado received the greatest levels of protein and crude fiber (18.83 and 16.45 g 100 g-1, respectively). All creole beans adapted to organic production system. Among the genotypes, beans Safira stood out for having larger and lighter in color, the beans Vermelho Rajado and Bolin-ha Vermelha dot by higher protein, beans Bolinha Vermelha by higher contents of ash and ether extract, and Vermelho Rajado the higher fiber content.

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.

This study reported for the first time the occurrence of the pink hibiscus mealybug Maconelli-coccus hirsutus (Green, 1908) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) in Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil attacking the following fruit species: soursop (Annona muricata L.) (Annonaceae), guava (Psidium guajava L.) (Myrtaceae), mango (Mangifera indica L.) (Anacardiaceae), carambola (Averrhoa carambola L.) (Oxalidaceae), acerola (Malpighia glaba L.) (Malpighiaceae), cajazeiro (Spondias lutea L.) (Anacardiaceae) and cupuaçuzeiro (Theobroma gran-diflorum) (Willd. ex Spreng.) Schum.) (Malvaceae). The percentages of injured plants were recorded for each plant species in the field. Damaged plants showed short internodes, wrinkled leaves, fruit deformation, and sooty mold developed on the honeydew excreted by the mealybugs. Infested plant structures were taken to the Laboratory of Entomology of the Center for Agricultural Sciences, of the Federal University of Alagoas, where the mealybug species was identified through morphological characteristics. The following injury percentages were recorded on the plants: soursop (100%), guava (10%), mango (10%), carambola (100%), acerola (100%), cajá (50%) and cupuaçu (100%). The mealybug collected in Maceió, AL; Brazil was identified as Maconelli-coccus hirsutus (Green, 1908) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae). It was the first record of this species in the state of Alagoas and infestation by pink hibiscus mealybug on the host plants mango, acerola and cajazeiro in Brazil.

The use of cashew apple bagasse for bioethanol production aimed at taking advantage of a re-gional culture that has about 85% of waste. Due to the complex structure of the material, it is necessary to sub-mit it to physical pretreatments and/or chemicals such as acid prehydrolysis, alkali, steam explosion, CO2 ex-plosion, hot water treatment, pretreatment with microwave, among others, before hydrolysis process for ethanol production. The aim of this paper was to study the prehydrolysis and acid hydrolysis in the cashew bagasse peduncle (Anarcadium occidentale L.), and the removal of toxic compounds from the hydrolyzate liquor using the residual lignin as adsorbent and alcoholic fermentation of liquors for the production of the second genera-tion bioethanol. The cashew bagasse, based on its chemical characterization and physical chemistry, presented itself as a promising source in order to produce bioethanol. The prehydrolysis, is effective in the removal of hemicelluloses mainly in the extraction of arabinose, the temperature being the major variable influencing the process. For the acid hydrolysis done with the following hydrolysis conditions: temperature at 200 °C, acid concentration equal to 6% and ratio of 1:6 has presented the combination of the highest concentration of sugars with a minimum concentration of toxic compounds. During the study of the alcoholic fermentation of liquors with hydrolyzed yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, presented yield and efficiency of production of ethanol from cellulosic pulp of processing stalk cashew maximum dry were respectively 0.445 g ethanol/g of pulp and 87.1% hydrolyzed liquor with the addition of cashew apple juice.

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.

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.

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.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the kinetics of ruminal fermentation dry matter and car-bohydrates of two varieties of sugar cane ensiled with different additives using a semiautomatic technique in vitro gas production. We used a completely randomized design with a factorial 2 x 5, two varieties of cane sug-ar (RB 86 7515 and IAC 86 2480) and five additives (urea, NaOH, CaO, corn and L. buchneri) and without additive treatments, with the opening of the silos being made at 60 days after ensiling. Pressure readings were performed on days 0; 2; 4; 6; 8; 10; 12; 15; 19; 24; 30; 36; 48; 72 and 96 h. The pressure caused by organic matter was recorded in a pressure transducer universal and for adjusting the parameters kinetic model was used bicompartmental. The technique of in vitro gas production satisfactorily estimated the volume of gases from silage and sugarcane raw. The higher gas volume fraction of fiber was not in IAC 86 2480, with the additive NaOH. In the fiber fraction only difference between varieties with the additive urea, and the IAC 86 2480 that had the highest volume. The cane silage IAC 86 2480, showed the best values for most of the evaluated kinetic parameters. The best results for the parameters of degradability were in silages with NaOH and CaO.