Wet deposition of major ions in a rural area impacted by biomass burning emissions

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Greenhouse gas balance due to the conversion of sugarcane areas from burned to green harvest, considering other conservationist management practices

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Fungus incidence on peanut grains as affected by drying method and Ca nutrition

An experiment was conducted to study the effects of liming and drying method on Ca nutrition, fungus infection and aflatoxin production potential on peanut (Arachis hypogea) grains. Peanut cv. Botutatu was grown in the absence or presence of liming to raise the base saturation of the soil from 20 to 56%. Calcium contents of the soil were increased from 5.5 to 14.6 mmol((c))kg-1 and pH from 4.2 to 4.9. After harvest, plants and pods were dried in (1) shade, (2) field down to 100 g water kg-1 (3) field down to 250 g water kg-1 and transferred to a forced-air oven at 30°C, (4) field down to 360 g water kg-1 and transferred to a forced-air oven at 30°C. Calcium contents were analyzed in the grains, pericarps and seed coats. The incidence of Aspergillus spp., Penicillium spp., Rhizopus spp. and potential aflatoxin production in vitro were evaluated, as well as the seed coat thickness. The seed coat was thicker when peanut was grown in the presence of lime, leading to a decrease in seed infection by Aspergillus spp. and Penicillium spp. When plants were dried in shade, the growth of aflatoxinogenic fungi was independent of liming. However, in plants dried in the field or field + oven, the development of these fungi was decreased and even suppressed when the Ca content of the seed coat was increased from 2.2 to 5.5 g kg-1.

Emissions from sugar cane fires in the Central & Western State of São Paulo and aerosol layers over metropolitan São Paulo observed by IPEN's lidar: Is there a connection?

The central and western parts of the State of São Paulo are well-known for vast sugar cane plantations, which during the harvest time are traditionally burnt about 12 hours before manual cutting. This procedure causes the release of large quantities of aerosols and a variety of gases, which can be observed by IPMet's radars, located in Bauru and Presidente Prudente, on days with no or little rain. Depending on the distance of these plumes from the radar, they can be detected up to 5 km amsl or more, and are subsequently being transported by winds to other regions. During the dry winter season of 2008, such plumes, attributed to cane fires, were frequently observed by IPMet's radars and documented in terms of radar reflectivity, time and location during the period 10 th - 21 st July 2008. At the same time, IPEN's Elastic Backscatter Lidar in São Paulo observed layers of aerosols of variable strength and heights above the city. The most significant days, viz. 14 and 15 July 2008 had been selected for calculating backward, as well as forward trajectories, deploying the European Flextra 3.3 Trajectory Model, which was initiated with ECMWF historic data with a 0,25 o×0,25 o grid spacing. The results presented here show an excellent match between the radar-detected sources of the plumes on 11 th July 2008 in the central parts of the State and the observations by IPEN's Lidar over Metropolitan São Paulo on 14 th July 2008, both in terms of forward and backward trajectories, as well as their heights, with a transport duration of approximately 70 hours under the prevailing meteorological conditions. © Sociedad Española de Óptica.

Pre-harvest sugarcane burning: Determination of emission factors through laboratory measurements

Sugarcane is an important crop for the Brazilian economy and roughly 50% of its production is used to produce ethanol. However, the common practice of pre-harvest burning of sugarcane straw emits particulate material, greenhouse gases, and tropospheric ozone precursors to the atmosphere. Even with policies to eliminate the practice of pre-harvest sugarcane burning in the near future, there is still significant environmental damage. Thus, the generation of reliable inventories of emissions due to this activity is crucial in order to assess their environmental impact. Nevertheless, the official Brazilian emissions inventory does not presently include the contribution from pre-harvest sugarcane burning. In this context, this work aims to determine sugarcane straw burning emission factors for some trace gases and particulate material smaller than 2.5μm in the laboratory. Excess mixing ratios for CO2, CO, NOX, UHC (unburned hydrocarbons), and PM2.5 were measured, allowing the estimation of their respective emission factors. Average estimated values for emission factors (g kg-1 of burned dry biomass) were 1,303 ± 218 for CO2, 65 ± 14 for CO, 1.5 ± 0.4 for NOX, 16 ± 6 for UHC, and 2.6 ± 1.6 for PM2.5. These emission factors can be used to generate more realistic emission inventories and therefore improve the results of air quality models. © 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Structural changes in soybean seed coat due to harvest time and storage

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Avaliação de maçã Royal Gala revestida com filme de quitosana durante o período de pós-colheita

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Interferência do volume de pulverização no controle da mancha preta (Guignardia citricarpa kiely) em frutos de laranjeira ‘valência’

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Comparativo econômico do corte, carregamento e transporte de cana-de-açúcar com e sem palhada no sistema de colheita mecanizada

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Sugarcane trash management assessed by the interaction of yield with soil properties

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Harvest managements and cultural practices in sugarcane

The presence of trash from the mechanical harvest of green cane on sugarcane plantations promotes changes in the agricultural management, for example, in the mechanical cultural practices of ratoon cane in-between the rows and nitrogen (N) fertilization. The goal of this study was to evaluate the performance of sugarcane in different harvest systems, associated to the mechanical cultural practices in interrows and N rates. The study was carried out on a sugarcane plantation in Sales Oliveira, São Paulo, Brazil, with the sugarcane variety SP81-3250, on soil classified as Acrudox, in a randomized block design with split-split plots and four replications. The main treatments consisted of harvest systems (harvesting green cane or burnt cane), the secondary treatment consisted of the mechanical cultural practices in the interrows and the tertiary treatments were N rates (0, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 160 kg ha-1), using ammonium nitrate (33 % N) as N source. The harvest systems did not differ in sugarcane yield (tons of cane per hectare - TCH), but in burnt cane, the pol percent and total sugar recovery (TSR) were higher. This could be explained by the higher quantity of plant impurities in the harvested raw material in the system without burning, which reduces the processing quality. Mechanical cultural practices in the interrows after harvest had no effect on cane yield and sugar quality, indicating that this operation can be omitted in areas with mechanical harvesting. The application of N fertilizer at rates of 88 and 144 kg ha-1 N, respectively, increased stalk height and TCH quadratically to the highest values for these variables. For the sugar yield per hectare (in pol %), N fertilization induced a linear increase.

Interferência da redução no volume de aplicação sobre o controle da mancha preta (Guignardia citricarpa Kiely) em frutos de laranja 'Valência'

The chemical control of the causal agent of citrus black spot (CBS) has been highlighted for the excessive required number of sprayings, considerably increasing citrus production costs. Improvements in the spray efficiency and reductions in the quantity of phytosanitary products have already been searched, but the results of that practice are not consistent yet for its use at commercial scale. Thus, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the interference of reduced spray volumes in black spot control in citrus fruits. The experiment was carried out in commercial citrus orchard with 16-year-old plants of 'Valencia' variety, during 2007 agricultural season. Treatments consisted of three spray volumes: 3.5; 4.5 and 8.5 liters.plant-1, applied with Arbus 2000/Export airblast sprayer with special manifold of hydraulic nozzles, using fungicides and periods recommended for the disease control, totaling four sprayings plus a control treatment (without spray). The disease incidence and severity were evaluated by visual diagrammatic scale of notes in two different periods (preharvest and harvest), at three plant heights (low, middle and top) and three horizontal sections (entrance, frontal and exit) in two sides of the plant. The fallen fruits were counted every fifteen days, for previously selected plants, from the beginning of maturation to harvest, and the production was quantified (kg.plant-1). The disease incidence and severity were significantly lower when sprayings were done with 8.5 liters.plant-1 in the first evaluation period (pre-harvest), but in the harvest period there were not differences between the same parameters when 4.5 or 8.5 liters.plant-1 were sprayed. None of those treatments reduced the disease on the top section of plants, compared to control. The plant sections with fruits more exposed to sun rays, top and right side of the plant, demonstrated higher disease incidence and severity. The volume reduction from 8.5 to 4.5 liters.plant-1 can be adopted for citrus orchards without damaging the CBS control level.

Iron oxides as proxies for characterizing anisotropy in soil CO2 emission in sugarcane areas under green harvest

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Quality of cut and basecutter blade configuration for the mechanized harvest of green sugarcane

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Assessment of low amounts of meat and bone meal in the diet of laying hens by using stable isotopes

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)