Sowing depths of brachiaria in intercropping with corn in no tillage planting

The forage production in crop-livestock integration is critical both for formation of straw for no tillage planting and food for livestock farm. The experiment was conducted in the autumn/winter of 2009 and 2010, in the city of Selvíria -state of Mato Grosso do Sul -MS, Brazil, at Experimental Station of FEIS/UNESP. The objective was to evaluate the optimal depth for deposition of seeds of two Brachiaria species intercropped with corn with emphasis on grain yield and straw. The experimental design was a randomized block design in a factorial scheme 3 x 3, with four replications. The main treatments were two species of Brachiaria (Urochloa brizantha "Marandú" and Urochloa ruziziensis), which seeds were mixed with corn fertilizer and a control treatment (without intercropping). Secondary treatments consisted of three depths (8; 10 and 16 cm) in the deposition of fertilizer (in the consortium and the control treatments). The intercropping corn with Brachiaria produced similar amounts of straw. The straw total production was higher when intercropped and decreased with depth. The consortium with U. ruziziensis provided higher grain yield of corn in relation to U. brizantha, in 2010. The sowing depth of forages did not affect corn yield.

Energetic analysis of landrace varieties and hybrids of corn produced in different technological levels of management

The aim of this study was to analyze, under the energetic point of view, the cultivation of corn in three management systems (low, medium and high-tech), using two landrace varieties ('Argentino' and 'BR da Várzea'), a double hybrid cultivar (SHS 4080) and a simple hybrid (IAC 8333). Five performance indicators were used: energy efficiency, liquid cultural energy, cultural efficiency, energy balance and productive energy efficiency. From the perspective of family farming, it was verified the largest social importance of the systems under low and medium levels of technology, due to the increase employment capacity of rural labor. The liquid cultural energy and energy balance were more favorable for the system under high technological level, unlike cultural efficiency and productive energy efficiency, which were significantly higher for medium and low technological levels. The variety 'Argentino' showed lower productive energy efficiency. The variety 'BR da Várzea', on the other hand, presented the potential to generate energy as much as the hybrids. In general, the biggest sustainability in the corn crop was achieved when the management system under medium and lower levels of technology were used.

Fragment size of corn silage according to the dry matter and forage harvester adjustments

In Brazil, the best results in milk production are found in the state of Paraná. Such results are reached through genetic selection of the animals and management of their diets, in which whole plant corn silage is widely used. Aiming the silage quality, it was evaluated the influence of dry matter content of the corn culture as forage and the harvester adjustments on the fragment size of whole plant corn silage. The fragment size of two corn hybrids silage (SPEED and 2B688) was evaluated using a 5x3 factorial, with 4 repetitions. The first factor was the harvest time of the plants (105, 108, 112, 118, and 123 days after sowing (DAS)), which determines the forage dry matter (DM) content. The second factor was the harvester adjustments (2, 6.5 and 11mm of theoretical fragment length (TFL)). The DM content did not affect the average fragment size of 2B688. For SPEED, however, the real fragment size decreased as the maturation of plants increased. The conclusion is that the DM content and harvester adjustments can affect the real fragment sizes, according to different plant genotypes. The alterations of the harvester adjustments resulted in different fragment sizes, however, it were different from those indicated by the manufacturer.

Potential of utilization of rain water excess for irrigation of green roofs in Mato Grosso, Brasil

The aim of this study was to identify the relation between the evapotranspirometer demand and the supply of water from local rainfall, evaluating the possibility of using water excess for irrigation of Green Roofs in the State of Mato Grosso, in Brazil. The study was done using a series of historical data provided by the National Institute of Meteorology (INMET - Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia) which has official climatological stations in 12 cities and regions of the State. The evapotranspiration values were obtained by the Penman-Monteith method and by the Climatic Water Balance (CWB) by the Thornthwaite and Mather method using Available Water Capacity (AWC) of 12mm. With the CWB the excess and deficit were calculated, which were used for the estimative of the volume and area of a reservoir as a function of a collector area of a roof of 100m² and the volume of supplementary water for irrigation. With the obtained results, it was found that in most investigated regions of the State the use of green roofs is not compromised by the water deficiency. On the other hand, the use of a reservoir to accumulate the rain water excess may be impractical, because it requires a considerable area for installation and also because of the high cost of the land.

Positioning of fertilizer in corn sowing

The aim of this study was to determine whether the form of placing the fertilizer by the planter during the sowing under mulch in the no till system affects the yield of corn. The treatments consisted of placing the fertilizer during the seeding 0.05 m below and beside the seed, in front of the cutting blade and without fertilizer, in 03 farms during 03 cropping years. The experimental design at each farm was the randomized block, with 08 repetitions, whose plots had 30 m² each. The initial population and yield components were evaluated. Under the experimental conditions it is concluded that base fertilization can affect the yield. Fertilizer placement can affect the initial stand, but not the yield.

Corn productivity in function of surface application of lime in differents management systems and cultural preparation

The evaluation of technologies employed at the agricultural production system such as crop rotation and soil preparation, both associated with crop-livestock integration, is crucial. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the incorporation of lime for three no-tillage systems and cultural managements in system of crop-livestock integration, with emphasis on corn grain yield. The experiment was conducted from January 2003 to April 2005 at Selvíria city, MS, in Dystroferric Red Latosol, clay texture. The experimental design was randomized blocks with split plots consisted of three main treatments, aimed the soil physics conditioning and the incorporation of lime: PD - No-no-tillage; CM - minimum no-tillage, and PC - conventional no-tillage; and of two secondary treatments related to the management: rotation and crop succession, with four replications. Data on agronomic traits of maize were analyzed: plant height, stem diameter, height of the first spike insertion, 100 grains weight and grain yield. The results showed that the maize produced under the system of crop-livestock integration is quite feasible, showing that grain yields are comparable to averages in the region and the different soil physical conditioning and incorporation of lime did not influence the corn yield as well as the cultural managements, rotation and succession, did not affect the maize crop behavior after two years of cultivation.

Swine wastewater associated with mineral fertilization on corn crop (Zea mays)

This study aimed to evaluate the agronomical and environmental aspects in corn, soil characteristics and leachate resulting from the material combination of swine wastewater and mineral fertilizer in the long run. The experimental area has a history of swine wastewater application for experiments conducted since 2006, this being the seventh crop cycle in the area. Four doses of swine wastewater (0; 100; 200 and 300 m³ ha-1) associated with presence and absence of mineral fertilizer were applied, consisting of eight treatments. The results obtained were subjected to variance analysis and means compared by Tukey test at 5% significance. We conclude that the swine wastewater can be partially used as an alternative fertilizer, since the P and Mn are complemented with specific fertilization. There must be carefulness about Fe+2, Cu+2 and Zn+2 accumulation in soil, and also to the concentrations of Fe+2, Cu+2, Zn+2, NO3- + NO2- and Na+ in leachate which exceeded the limits at the highest SWW applied levels.

Corn production for silage intercropped with forage in the farming-cattle breeding integration

Corn cropping for silage, due to the plant material exportation, intercropping with forage provides greater ground cover and straw formation for the Direct Planting System (DPS) continuity. The objective of this study was to evaluate corn production for silage in DPS intercropped with four forages (Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandu, U. ruziziensis cv. Ruziziensis, Panicum maximum cv. Tanzânia and P. maximum cv. Áries). We applied three sowing methods (in row together with corn fertilizer; by no-till sowing simultaneously to corn sowing and at V4 corn stage) and corn without intercropping. The experiment was conducted in autumn/ winter of 2010, in Selvíria - MS, in a randomized block design in factorial arrangement (4 x 3 + 1) and 4 replications. For corn, we evaluated plant height, basal stem diameter, initial and final stand and silage production and for forage dry matter production. Morphological characteristics and corn yield were not affected by intercropping when compared to sole corn crop. Forage dry matter production sown in corn row with fertilizer is a highlight, which in addition to providing greater productivity, harnesses the operation during sowing.

Management zones using fuzzy clustering based on spatial-temporal variability of soil and corn yield

Clustering soil and crop data can be used as a basis for the definition of management zones because the data are grouped into clusters based on the similar interaction of these variables. Therefore, the objective of this study was to identify management zones using fuzzy c-means clustering analysis based on the spatial and temporal variability of soil attributes and corn yield. The study site (18 by 250-m in size) was located in Jaboticabal, São Paulo/Brazil. Corn yield was measured in one hundred 4.5 by 10-m cells along four parallel transects (25 observations per transect) over five growing seasons between 2001 and 2010. Soil chemical and physical attributes were measured. SAS procedure MIXED was used to identify which variable(s) most influenced the spatial variability of corn yield over the five study years. Basis saturation (BS) was the variable that better related to corn yield, thus, semivariograms models were fitted for BS and corn yield and then, data values were krigged. Management Zone Analyst software was used to carry out the fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm. The optimum number of management zones can change over time, as well as the degree of agreement between the BS and corn yield management zone maps. Thus, it is very important take into account the temporal variability of crop yield and soil attributes to delineate management zones accurately.

Hematological and histopathological evaluation of wildlife green turtles (Chelonia mydas) with and without fibropapilloma from the north coast of São Paulo State, Brazil

Blood profiles were determined in 47 juvenile green turtles, Chelonia mydas, from São Paulo northern coast, Brazil. Twenty-nine were affected by fibropapillomas and 18 were tumor free. Complete gross and histopathologic examinations of the fibropapillo were performed in 21 green turtles. Biometrical data, size, location and amount of tumors were recorded. The papillomas varied in morphology, location, size, color and texture. We found hyperplastic stroma, rich in blood vessels and connective tissue with increase in thickness of the dermis. The tumors w0ere classified as papillomas or fibropapillomas according to their epithelial and/or stromal proliferation. The lowest Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin (HCM) values were observed in affected turtles.

Green Marketing and its Role in Firm’s Strategy

Tässä kandidaatintutkielmassa tutkitaan vihreän markkinoinnin strategista roolia ja sen tuomaa lisäarvoa yritykselle. Tutkimuksessa selvitetään, mitä vihreä markkinointi on, mistä syistä yritykset harjoittavat sitä ja tuoko se lisäarvoa yritykselle. Case-yrityksinä tutkielmassa ovat UPM-Raflatac ja Lappeenrannan Energia Oy.

Effect of plant row spacing and herbicide use on weed aboveground biomass and corn grain yield

The use of narrow plant spacing in corn (Zea mays) has been suggested as a technological alternative to obtain grain yield increases, due to a better use of resources. The regular pattern could diminish intraspecific competition while favoring interspecific competition with weeds. The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of corn row spacing on weed aboveground biomass and corn grain yield. Field experiments were conducted during 2002/2003 and 2003/2004 growing seasons. Three corn hybrids with two-row width (0.70 and 0.35 m) were tested. A greater photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) interception with a lower weed aboveground dry matter in narrow row arrangement was obtained. Corn grain yield was greater in the narrow row arrangement than in the wide row spacing. This increase in grain yield was related to a better resource use that allows for a reduced interspecific competition. The use of reduced spatial arrangement appeared to be an interesting alternative to increase both the grain yield potential and corn suppressive ability against weeds in corn dryland production systems.

Modeling light interception and distribution in mixed canopy of common cocklebur (Xanthium stramarium) in competition with corn

The aim of this study was to model light interception and distribution in the mixed canopy of Common cocklebur (Xanthium stramarium) with corn. An experiment was conducted in factorial arrangement on the basis of randomized complete blocks design with three replications in Gonabad in 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 seasons. The factors used in this experiment include corn density of 7.5, 8.5 and 9.5 plants per meter of row and density of Common cocklebur of zero, 2, 4, 6 and 8 plants per meter of row. INTERCOM model was used through replacing parabolic function with triangular function of leaf area density. Vertical distribution of the species' leaf area showed that corn has concentrated the most leaf area in layer of 80 to 100 cm while Common cocklebur has concentrated in 35-50 cm of canopy height. Model sensitivity analysis showed that leaf area index, species' height, height where maximum leaf area is seen (hm), and extinction coefficient have influence on light interception rate of any species. In both species, the distribution density of leaf area at the canopy length fit a triangular function, and the height in which maximum leaf area was observed was changed by change in density. There was a correlation between percentage of the radiation absorbed by the weed and percentage of corn seed yield loss (r² = 0.89). Ideal type of corn was determined until the stage of tasseling in competition with weed. This determination indicates that the corn needs more height and leaf area, as well as less extinction coefficient to successfully fight against the weed.

The effects of pigweed redroot (Amaranthus retoflexus) weed competition and its economic thresholds in corn (Zea mays)

The aim of this study was to determine the economic damage threshold of Pigweed redroot for corn regarding its density. An experiment was conducted at the Agriculture Research station of Islamic Azad University branch of Gonabad during 2006. The experiment was carried out as a factorial in a randomized complete block design with three replications. In the experiments, the factors included corn (var. 704) densities of 7.5, 8.5 and 9.5 plants m-2 and pigweed redroot densities of 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 plants m-2. The increase in Pigweed redroot density, decrease in crop grain and biomass yield components such as ear length, ear diameter, number of grains per row, row number, grain number in ear, grain yield and biological yield of corn, decreased. Also, with an increase in corn density, the number of grain per rows, row number, grain yield and biological yield of corn increased. The economic thresholds density of Pigweed redroot was 0.09 to 0.13 plants m-2 in corn different densities, and increased with corn density increases.

Weeds infestation in corn intercropped with forages at different planting densities

Corn is planted in the Center West region of Brazil as a second crop, following soybeans or beans. Intercropping of Brachiaria species with corn as a second crop increases the mulching in the cropping system. This study aimed to evaluate the weeds infestation in soybeans following corn/forages intercrop, as a function of corn plant structure, forage species and density. Experiments were conducted in a completely randomized blocks design with four replications, in Ponta Porã and Dourados municipalities, Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil, in 2010/2011. Treatments consisted of three corn hybrids with distinct plant architectures intercropped with three forage species: Brachiaria ruziziensis, B. brizantha and B.decumbens, at five densities, and the resulting dry mass was maintained throughout the winter. During the following cropping season, forages were desiccated prior to planting soybeans, and the dry mass of weeds, dry mass of the mulching, soil coverage by weeds, and the broadleaf/grass weed species index (WPI) were determined 15 days after soybean emergence, submitted to an F-test, and analyzed either by regression or by multiple mean comparison, according to the nature of the data. When intercropping corn with species of Brachiaria, a reduction in the overall weeds infestation may always be expected; among the studied forage species, more problems with weeds may be anticipated in areas with a less competitive species, e.g. B.ruziziensis. Under the conditions of the trials, B.brizantha and B.decumbens were more capable of inhibiting the emergence of weed species in the winter.