The objective of this work was to evaluate the postharvest quality of the Tommy Atkins mango commercialized in the city of Mossoró-RN. The fruits had been collected, randomized, in three commercial establishments (Market of great port, free Fair and market of small port). In each establishment 6 collections had been carried through, distributed during the months of August, September and October. The experimental design was blocks randomized with three treatments and six repetitions, two fruits for experimental unit for physicist-chemistries analyses and five fruits for phytopathology analyses. The days of collection had been considered as blocks and the markets as treatments. The variables analyzed were: mass, longitudinal and ventral lengths, price, internal appearance, external appearance, firmness, solubles solids, titratable acidity, solubles solids and titratable acidity relation, pH, incidence and frequency of fungus isolation. The fruits commercialized in the three establishments had presented physical and chemical characteristics that fit in the standard considered reasonable for consumption in natura of 'Tommy Atkins' fruits. It was found high incidence of spots and/or podrition, mainly in market C. The fungus found in the isolation frequency had been of the Colletotrichum, Alternaria, Aspergillus, Lasiodiplodia and Rhizopus.

A survey was made of the plant species used in popular medicine in the coastal city of Natal, and the rural city of Santa Cruz, both in the northeastern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte. Information on the medicinal properties of the plants was obtained from interviews with local residents performed between February and August, 2005 and between September and December, 2007. In each area, 100 inhabitants filled out standard forms, for a total of 300 interviews. Data was collected on the plant (popular name, part of the plant used, form of use and function) and on the population (age group, sex and schooling). We recorded 57 species distributed into 54 genuses and 34 botanical families. Regardless of schooling level, more than 50% of the respondents reported using plant species for curing a wide assortment of ailments. The most used families in terms of number of species were: Lamiaceae (seven), Euphorbiaceae (four), Myrtaceae (four), Zingiberaceae (three) and Lauraceae (three). Around 49% of the species were common to the three areas studied. The most used plant parts for preparing remedies, which are used mainly for treating respiratory diseases, were the leaves, fruits and roots. Teas are the most common form of dispensing the medicine. A table is presented containing information, especially on the use and function of the species, as described in the interviews.

The agriculture soil in the semi-arid Brazilian Northeast, it finds, in many areas, degraded by the utilization of not sustainable practice. This work proposed to evaluate the effect of increasing NaCl levels in the soils under Spondias tuberosa plants colonized with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Under greenhouse conditions, Spondias seeds were going placed to germinate in trays with mycorrhizal soil and in trays with soil autoclavado. The germination occurred 15 days after the planting and in the 30th cultivation day, the plants were going transferred to plastic vases with capacity for 2 L of nutritious solution with the next NaCl doses: 0, 100 and 150 mM. They were monitored the transpiration rate and stomatal conductance until the plants introduced toxicity symptoms to the Na+. After the saline stress suspending, they were evaluated the N, P, K, S, Ca, Mg, Na and Cl contents in the drought matter of the aerial part (stem + leaves) and root. It was going observed the reduction in radicular phytomass and aerial in NaCl first-level regarding the control. Stomatal conductance in plants not micorrizadas was equally reduced. In the root, it was observed significant reductions in Ca, K and Mg contents for the mycorrhizal plants and not mycorrhizal. In the leaves, the increase of NaCl dose induced a substantial reduction in the Ca, Mg and N contents and probably it was caused the reduction in the mass drought production.

The Calotropis procera has been an alternative feed for the ruminants in the brasilian semiarid region, presenting fast establishment and constant availability of fitomassa, until 3.0 t of DM/cut, in the dry season. On the aspect biochemical studies have detected various active substances as cardiac glycosides, non enzymatic proteins and enzimatics proteins, that can cause toxicity in animals when inserted in their diet. In nutritional terms, this species provides important nutrients with emphasis on protein, average value of 20%, and in vitro digestibility above 70%. It researches they showed that the intake of C. procera by goats and sheep in the form in nature can cause deaths, however, to make the process of hay and silage the toxicological effects are reduced. The utilization of C. procera is promissing, needing studies for maximize of the productivity; biochemical evaluation for identification of active substances, their mechanisms and local action in the animal, as well as testing to obtain the safe levels for inclusion in various forms of supply (in natura, hay and silage).

This study aims to identify the diversity of mimercofauna sabiá in an area of the municipality of Rio Largo, Alagoas. There were 17 species of ants belonging to six subfamilies. Atta opaciceps (Borgmeier, 1939) was the most abundant species. Camponotus blandus (Fr. Smith, 1858), Camponotus atriceps (Fr. Smith, 1858) and Pheidole sp.2 gp. aberrans.

The local as regional landscape presents two distinct landscapes: sediments removal from elevated parts and Pedoenvironmental of accumulation of sediments in the area of sandbank with the pedoforms convex-convex, with the biggest curvatures in the sandbanks. The objective of the present work was of characterize physically, morphologicament and chemically the soils groups, located in Semi-Arid region of the medium one West of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Few studies about the morphology, mineralogy, genesis and classification of the soils developed in the state of Rio Grande do Note mainly in the medium one West of Northeast of Brazil. Inside this context eight soils representative of that landscape into caatinga were characterized by means of description morphologic, granulometric and chemical. The results observed in the granulometry of the Luvisol and Neosol reflect basically the different deposition situations in those soils. The high values of organic matter and nitrogen in the superficial horizons, decreasing with the depth and the strong presence of calcium and magnesium justified the variation of pH and the high value of the cation exchange capacity.

The current model of economic development is based on a predatory and exculpatory vision, which discloses a way of being inhuman. Implying in changes of perception, thoughts and values, it has seen, that the form as the nature is explored in accordance with varies the ambient perception of the community or group. This work objectified to analyze the perception of Juazeirinho/PB agricultural communities referring the extinction of biodiversity of caatinga, aiming at to delineate sensitization strategies that make possible the valuation of this biome. The work portrays a carried through participant research with the communities Escurinha and Mendonça. For the collection of data direct comment was used, with visits to the communities, dynamics, half-structuralized interview and accomplishment of meeting. According to community some vegetal and animal species are disappearing. Between the animals they are cited: corduniz (Nothura sp), gato do mato (Felisa tigrina), gato maracajá (Felis wildi), mocó (Kerodon rupestris), preá (Gálea sprixii), Tejo (Família Teiidae), tatu peba (Euphractus sexcinctus), tatu verdadeiro (Dasypus novmcinctus) e o guaxinim (Procyon camcrivorus).Between vegetables they had been cited: Aveloz (Euphorbia gimnoclada), Imbuzeiro (Spondias tuberosa), Aroeira (Myracroduom unrudeuva), Caatingueira (Caesalpinia pyramidali), Baraúna (Schnopsis brasiliensis), Quixabeira (Bumelia sertorum), Mufumbo (Combretum leprosum). We can verify that it is necessary to promote changes in the ambient perception of the studied communities, thus allowing, to awake for problematic ambient, to point and to search solutions, that take the valuation of local biodiversity.

The fungi entomopathogenic are actually objects of works according to their importance in the ecological system. This work analysed the persistence of Metarhizium anisopliae var. anisopliae and M. anisopliae var. acridum, under different conditions of temperature and humidity, in the period of September to December. After inoculation on soil the fungi were submitted to four different treatments: environment temperature and 25% of humidity; environment temperature and 75% of humidity; 28º C and 25% of humidity; 28º C and 75% of humidity, during 120 days. The results show that M. anisiopliac var. anisopliae presented the most recuperation in the treatment at 28º C and 75% of humidity (P > 0,05) in 30 days and maintained a positive conditions on soil for 120 days of experiment. The same did not happen to M. anisopliae var. acridum that, during the whole process of observation and controll the colonies recuperation avoiding its persistence on soil, during the 120 days of experiment.

This research had as objective determination the floristic composition and some parameters phytosociological of the herbaceous vegetation of caatinga. The studied area is located in the located in the experiment station of UFPB, in the county of São João do Cariri, Paraíba, Brazil. Three caatinga physionomy were selected where were plots fixed of 10mx10m, an open one and another closed, containing 5 plots of 1m x1m total of 30m². Being a represented by the covering vegetable less conserved (Area I), other constituted by an area in intermediate apprenticeship of conservation (Area II), and the third area being represented by the covering vegetable more conserved (Area III). The herbaceous flora was represented by 31 genera, 40 species and 21 families with 3.091 ind.m² distributed in the three areas. The areas II and III presented larger wealth and diversity, expresses so much for the number of families as of identified species. The families, Convolvulaceae, Euphorbiaceae and Fabaceae presented larger number of species in the open and closed plots. Aristida adscensionis, (area I and II) and Cyperus uncinulatus (area III) the species that presented were larger value of importance in the closed and open plots were.

The human specie has always been developing and improving its ways of exploring the natural resources. Among these ways, farming stands out for including various activities which are moving according to the time and space where they are implemented, which makes necessary to consider and study farming as a system. In this work, the concept of farming system was set up, showing that it is formed of several parts that interact with each others and with external components, generating a dynamic. To facilitate the comprehension of the current farming systems in the semi-arid northeast of Brazil, a revision of the evolutionary paths of these systems was done, considering livestock like a subsystem of the sugarmills, and of its importance in the economy and culture of the northeast. Observations about the fragmentation of the land and the appearance of systems of family production were also conducted. This study draws the conclusion that besides the physical characteristics of the area, some socio-political and economical factors have influenced a lot the way in which the farming systems were constituted in the semi-arid northeast.