Acephate and methamidophos residues in greenhouse and in field grown tomatoes

O aumento da produção hortícola em cultivo protegido necessita de estudos mais detalhados acerca da ocorrência de resíduos de agrotóxicos, devido às condições ambientais peculiares nesse sistema, no qual pragas de pouca importância no campo assumem relevância. Avaliou-se os resíduos dos inseticidas acefato e de seu metabólito metamidofós em tomate sob cultivo protegido e em campo. Os tratamentos aplicados foram: (a) testemunha; (b) uma aplicação de 75 g i.a. acefato.100 L-1 de água; (c) uma aplicação com 150 g i.a.100 L-1 de água; (d) quatro aplicações na dosagem de 75 g i.a.100 L-1 de água. As amostras foram tomadas a (-1), zero, 1, 3, 7, 14 e 21 dias após a última ou única aplicação. A determinação quantitativa foi feita por técnica de cromatografia em fase gasosa, usando-se detector fotométrico de chama. Os resíduos de acefato e de metamidofós nos frutos de cultivo protegido e de campo, sempre estiveram abaixo dos respectivos limites máximos de resíduos (LMRs) em todo o período de colheita das amostras. Ainda, o metabolismo de acefato a metamidofós foi muito baixo nos frutos, particularmente importante nas folhas, mas não foi bem caracterizado no solo. Os resíduos de acefato foram maiores no cultivo protegido do que no campo, especialmente em folhas e no solo, sendo também estáveis e persistentes, em geral até a amostragem de 7 dias após a aplicação.

Greenhouse gas balance due to the conversion of sugarcane areas from burned to green harvest in Brazil

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)

Yield and quality of net melon cultivated in sand in the greenhouse

The behavior of two hybrids of muskmelon ('Bônus no 2' and 'Don Carlos') in relation to the productivity and quality of its fruits, making use of fertigation in sand substrate in protected environment, was studied. Amianthus cement structures of the Canalete runlet type were used to keep the plants 0.30m from each other and 1.0m between lines. 'Don Carlos' hybrid had fruit mean weight, longitudinal and transversal diameter, pulp mean thickness, and total acidity substantially superior in relation to 'Bônus no 2'. Considering the total soluble solid content, 'Bônus no 2' had better results. However, there was no significant difference in fruits/plant or pulp thickness between the two hybrids.

Thelytokous parthenogenesis in the fungus-gardening ant Mycocepurus smithii (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

The general prevalence of sexual reproduction over asexual reproduction among organisms testifies to the evolutionary benefits of recombination, such as accelerated adaptation to changing environments and elimination of deleterious mutations. Documented instances of asexual reproduction in groups otherwise dominated by sexual reproduction challenge evolutionary biologists to understand the special circumstances that might confer an advantage to asexual reproductive strategies. Here we report one such instance of asexual reproduction in the ants. We present evidence for obligate thelytoky in the asexual fungus-gardening ant, Mycocepurus smithii, in which queens produce female offspring from unfertilized eggs, workers are sterile, and males appear to be completely absent. Obligate thelytoky is implicated by reproductive physiology of queens, lack of males, absence of mating behavior, and natural history observations. An obligate thelytoky hypothesis is further supported by the absence of evidence indicating sexual reproduction or genetic recombination across the species' extensive distribution range (Mexico-Argentina). Potential conflicting evidence for sexual reproduction in this species derives from three Mycocepurus males reported in the literature, previously regarded as possible males of M. smithii. However, we show here that these specimens represent males of the congeneric species M. obsoletus, and not males of M. smithii. Mycocepurus smithii is unique among ants and among eusocial Hymenoptera, in that males seem to be completely absent and only queens (and not workers) produce diploid offspring via thelytoky. Because colonies consisting only of females can be propagated consecutively in the laboratory, M. smithii could be an adequate study organism a) to test hypotheses of the population-genetic advantages and disadvantages of asexual reproduction in a social organism and b) inform kin conflict theory. For a Portuguese translation of the abstract, please see Abstract S1. © 2009 Rabeling et al.

Greenhouse gas emission associated with sugar production in southern Brazil

Background: Since sugarcane areas have increased rapidly in Brazil, the contribution of the sugarcane production, and, especially, of the sugarcane harvest system to the greenhouse gas emissions of the country is an issue of national concern. Here we analyze some data characterizing various activities of two sugarcane mills during the harvest period of 2006-2007 and quantify the carbon footprint of sugar production.Results: According to our calculations, 241 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent were released to the atmosphere per a ton of sugar produced (2406 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent per a hectare of the cropped area, and 26.5 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent per a ton of sugarcane processed). The major part of the total emission (44%) resulted from residues burning; about 20% resulted from the use of synthetic fertilizers, and about 18% from fossil fuel combustion.Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that the most important reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from sugarcane areas could be achieved by switching to a green harvest system, that is, to harvesting without burning. © 2010 de Figueiredo et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Greenhouse gas mitigation potential from green harvested sugarcane scenarios in São Paulo State, Brazil

Brazil is a major sugarcane producer and São Paulo State cultivates 5.5 million hectares, close to 50% of Brazil's sugarcane area. The rapid increase in production has brought into question the sustainability of biofuels, especially considering the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated to the agricultural sector. Despite the significant progress towards the green harvest practices, 1.67 million hectares were still burned in São Paulo State during the 2011 harvest season. Here an emissions inventory for the life cycle of sugarcane agricultural production is estimated using IPCC methodologies, according to the agriculture survey data and remote sensing database. Our hypothesis is that 1.67 million hectares shall be converted from burned to green harvest scenarios up to years 2021 (rate 1), 2014 (rate 2) or 2029 (rate 3). Those conversions would represent a significant GHG mitigation, ranging from 50.5 to 70.9 megatons of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2eq) up to 2050, depending on the conversion rate and the green harvest systems adopted: conventional (scenario S1) or conservationist management (scenario S2). We show that a green harvest scenario where crop rotation and reduced soil tillage are practiced has a higher mitigation potential (70.9 Mt CO2eq), which is already practiced in some of the sugarcane areas. Here we support the decision to not just stop burning prior to harvest, but also to consider other better practices in sugarcane areas to have a more sustainable sugarcane based ethanol production in the most dense cultivated sugarcane region in Brazil. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Greenhouse gas balance in the conversion from extensive pasture to other agricultural systems in Andean region of Colombia

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Ciência do Solo) - FCAV

Evaluation of Brazilian sugarcane genotypes for resistance to Sugarcane mosaic virus under greenhouse and field conditions

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

Greenhouse gas balance associated with sugarcane production in South-Central Brazil, considering the management and expansion

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Greenhouse gas emissions and N2o mitigation in beef cattle production on tropical pasture

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

Development of technologies and methods for monitoring the spatial variability of air temperature in greenhouse environment

Climatic factors directly influence growth and productivity of plants inside greenhouses, where temperature can be considered one of the major parameter in this context. Thus, the aim of this research was to develop a low cost device for thermal sensing and data acquisition, and use it in data collection and analysis of spatial variability of temperature inside a greenhouse with tropical climate. The developed equipment for thermal measurements showed a high degree of accuracy and fast responses in measurements, proving its efficiency. The data analysis interpretations were made from the elaborations of variograms and of tridimensional maps generated by a geostatistical software. The processed data analysis presented that a greenhouse without thermal control has spatial variations of air temperature, both in the sampled horizontals layers as in the three analyzed vertical columns, presenting variations of up to 3.6 ºC in certain times.

Soil greenhouse gas emissions and their relations to soil attributes in a sugarcane area

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

Effects of mineral stress on the vegetative development of greenhouse-grown bell pepper plants

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)