Competitividade no agronegócio: proposta de modelo para elaboração de estratégia de integração de cadeias para os defensivos agrícolas – o caso do café

A produção sustentável de alimentos é fundamental para suportar o crescimento populacional. Segundo estimativa da FAO, se a população atingir 9,1 bilhões de habitantes em 2050, a produção de alimentos deverá crescer 70%, e a produção nos países em desenvolvimento deverá dobrar. Ou seja, a maior parte do crescimento vem de países emergentes, onde se concentra o maior potencial de crescimento agrícola. Com o aumento populacional e o aumento da renda da população destes países emergentes, há aumento na demanda por produtos de melhor qualidade, fazendo com que o crescimento na produção de alimentos seja não somente de quantidade, mas também, de qualidade e valor. Portanto, a maior a exigência em termos de segurança do alimento, faz com que rastreabilidade e transparência com relação ao uso de tecnologias de produção se transformem em fatores que influenciam a aceitação de alimentos por parte dos consumidores do mercado doméstico e também de mercados internacionais. Neste contexto, o varejo ganha importância estratégica pela proximidade do seu negócio com o consumidor final. Ele é o primeiro elo da cadeia a receber informações sobre o cliente em termos de comportamento de compra e demandas, podendo assim, repassá-las aos outros elos da cadeia chegando até os produtores, que tem que ajustar suas práticas em geral, e principalmente, as práticas agronômicas, no que diz respeito à qualidade e a segurança do alimento. As empresas de insumos e as agroindústrias, que contribuem para uma produção agrícola sustentável terão a preferência dos produtores rurais e varejistas, que tem a missão de entregar produtos de qualidade, seguros, de forma conveniente para o consumidor final que é o elo capaz de movimentar a cadeia em uma única direção - a da agricultura sustentável. É neste contexto que as empresas de defensivos agrícolas devem desenvolver suas estratégias de negócio. Torna-se necessário ter maior “controle” sobre a cadeia, visando o uso correto de seus produtos, visando contribuir para a agricultura sustentável, ganhando participação de mercado e/ou aumentando sua rentabilidade. Para isso, algumas empresas têm desenvolvido estratégias de coordenação de cadeias, ou “food value chain”, com alguns casos exitosos. Neste trabalho, é proposta metodologia para o desenvolvimento e implementação de estratégias de “food value chain” para os defensivos agrícolas. Ao final do trabalho, conclui-se que existem ganhos importantes para a empresa que adota este tipo de estratégia; entretanto, há um aumento na complexidade da operação. Por isso, é uma escolha importante, que deve ser parte da missão da empresa.

Reaction of sugarcane genotypes to Pratylenchus brachyurus and P. zeae

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Economic valuation of collecting water to billing in the aspersion irrigated bean in the no tillage system and conventional crop

The law's project n.676/2000 approved the collecting of billing water for farmers in a maximum foreseen value of US$ 0.01 m(-3) of extracted water in the São Paulo State. As the irrigated agriculture is the activity that consumes more water, the farmers profitability can be affected. This work was to analyze the economic impact of billing water in the aspersion irrigated bean crop to consider the system of conventional production and no tillage system in the Paranapanema municipal district, São Paulo State, Brazil. The indicators used to analyze the economic results were unit variable cost, market price and unit profitability. The results showed that for the aspersion irrigated bean crop in conventional system, the participation of cost to the recourse water in cost variable totality was of 2.5% and in no tillage system the participation was of 2.2%. The fall of profitability just the billing water in conventional crop system and in no tillage system was US$ 0.01 kg(-1).

Changes on emitter discharge under different water temperature and pressure

The study was conducted at the Research Laboratory of Hydraulic and Irrigation Group in the Rural Engineering Department, Technical University of Madrid (Universidad Politecnica de Madrid), Madrid, Spain. Water temperatures of 20, 30, 40 degrees C and system pressures often encountered in irrigation practices of 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, 160, 170, 180, 190 and 200 k Pa were applied to determine the effects of different water temperatures and pressures on emitter discharge. Non-pressure compensating in-line emitter which has turbulent flow regime with a long-path (labyrinth), emitter discharge was 4 L h(-1) at system pressure of 100 kPa according to the manufacturer recommended, was used. Emitters were spaced 20 cm along the drip laterals with 16 mm diameter. Discharge equations and coefficients of variation related to temperatures of 20, 30 and 40 degrees C were obtained as q = 0.375H(0.51), q = 0.358H(0.52), q = 0.346H(0.53) and 2.68, 2.09, 3.65, respectively. Discharge of the emitter was affected by different system pressures and increased as potentially (R = 0993-0996). In general. the emitter discharge increased with increasing temperature. However, especially in the common system pressures of 90-120 k Pa, differences of obtained emitter discharges between the different water temperatures were not significant (1%).

Efficiency of seed treatment with fungicides in castor bean crop genotypes

With the objective of assessing castor bean genotypes in relation to the influence of seeds treatment on agronomic characteristics and physiological quality of seeds, two experiments were conducted between November, 2005 and March, 2006. In the first study, experimental design used was randomized complete blocks, in factorial scheme (2 x 10), by comparing Lyra hybrid and AL Guarany 2002 cultivar and nine fungicides, including its mixtures and test, with four repetitions. Plant height, stem diameter, medium yield and observation of diseases incidence were evaluated. In the second study, conducted in randomized entirely design, in factorial scheme 2 x 10 with four repetitions, Savana and AL Guarany 2002 genotypes were analyzed, using the same fungicides. Germination, infected and dead seeds, vigor, initial moisture content and simulation of field emergency and seeds sanitary quality were also evaluated. The results obtained point that there is positive influence of seed treatment on agronomic characteristics in castor bean crop, increasing grain yield for AL Guarany cultivar and Lyra hybrid. In the analysis of seed quality, it was observed that seed treatments with fungicides and their mixtures provided superior percentages of germination and vigor, reduced the number of infected and dead seeds and increased seeds emergency for Guarany 2002 cultivar and Savana hybrid.

Corn seed treatment with naphthalic anhydride against isoxaflutole phytotoxication action

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Storage temperature and quality of red mombin fruits (Spondias purpurea L.)

The aim was to study the effect of different storage temperatures on quality of red mombin fruit. The red mombin fruits were obtained from the Company CEAGESP/São Paulo/Brazil and transported in cool boxes to the laboratory, where they were selected on the base of appearance, maturity lack of physical damage, sanitized in 50 ppm chlorine-free solution and packaged in polystyrene trays wrapped with film of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The experiment was a completely randomized design with three temperatures (4, 8 and 25 degrees C) and 5 time intervals (0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 days after the experiment installation). In each survey firmness, titratable acidity, soluble solids, ascorbic acid content, the skin color and also the release of CO(2) by the fruit over time were evaluated. It was observed that low temperatures prolong the fruits shelf life and the storage temperature influences the characteristics, the temperature of 8 degrees C was most suitable for the storage of red mombin fruits. Besides, the fruit color was a good indicator of changes in the pulp during storage.

Influence of light quality on germination and initial growth of canephori seedlings Peltophorum dubium (Sprenge) Taub.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Changes in leaf proline and fruit production induced by potassium stress in eggplant

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Fruit maturation as a parameter for selection of sweet orange cultivars in Brazil

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

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

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

Use of different carbon sources in cultivation of baker's yeast for production of glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase

The physiological state of yeast cells changes during culture growth as a consequence of environmental changes (nutrient limitations, pH and metabolic products). Cultures that grow exponentially are heterogeneous cell populations made up of cells regulated by different metabolic and/or genetic control systems. The strain of baker's yeast selected by plating commercial compressed yeast was used for the production of glycerol-3- phosphate dehydrogenase. Glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPD) has been widely used in the enzyme assays with diverse compounds of industrial interest, such as glycerol or glycerol phosphate, as well as a number of important bioanalytical applications. Each cell state determines the level of key enzymes (genetic control), fluxes through metabolic pathways (metabolic control), cell morphology and size. The present study was carried out to determine the effects of environmental conditions and carbon source on GPD production from baker's yeast. Glucose, glycerol, galactose and ethanol were used as carbon sources. Glycerol and ethanol assimilations required agitation, which was dependent on the medium volume in the fermentation flask for the greatest accumulation of intracellular GPD. Enzyme synthesis was also affected by the initial pH of the medium and inoculum size. The fermentation time required for a high level of enzyme formation decreased with the inoculum size. The greatest amount of enzyme (0.45 U/ml) was obtained with an initial pH of 4.5 in the medium containing ethanol or glycerol. The final pH was maintained in YP-ethanol, but in the YP-glycerol the final pH increased to 6.9 during growth.

Chemical control of pathogens and the physiological performance of peanut seeds

The establishment of a peanut crop may be unsatisfactory due to poor seed performance in the field and among the factors attributed to this are a reduction in seed vigor during storage and the presence of pathogens. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of treating peanut seeds with fungicides and the effect on physiological performance and disease control during storage. In a completely random experimental design, two seed batches of the Runner IAC 886 peanut cultivar were submitted to five fungicide treatments (1 control - untreated; 2 thiram; 3 carbendazim + thiram; 4 fludioxonil + metalaxyl-m; 5 fludioxonil + mefenoxam + thiabendazole) and evaluated after zero, 30 and 60 days of storage. The seeds were stored untreated but treated before the evaluation of physiological performance from germination, vigor (first germination count and accelerated aging), field seedling emergence and seed sanitation tests. The results showed differences in batch performance potential during storage, with batch 1 being superior. The sanitation test showed that all the chemical seed treatments controlled pathogens efficiently (Aspergillus spp. and Penicillium sp.), but only thiram did not affect peanut seed performance in the laboratory evaluations.

Eco-physiological aspects of melaleuca seed germination

The invasive behavior of melaleuca (Melaleuca quinquenervia) plants in wetlands is due to its aggressive regeneration strategy, which is based on its seeds germination performance. Understanding of the eco-physiological aspects of the seed germination in melaleuca plants may significantly contribute for the development of management strategies. The objective of this research was to learn how the germination of M. quinquenervia seeds are affected by light and temperature. Melaleuca seeds were placed on filter paper moistened with 12 ml of distilled water at temperatures between 10 and 45°C. Germination was evaluated in dark and light conditions. Seed germination, first count of seed germination (seven days), germination speed index and germination mean time were determined up to 40 days after seeding, when germination had ceased in most of the treatments. After that period, the seeds were transferred to conditions of 30°C and light, which was found to be ideal in the previous phase. Seed germination was daily evaluated up to 63 days when it was again observed no longer to occur. The treatment repetitions were distributed in the growth-chamber according to a completely randomized design in a factorial scheme (eight temperatures x two light conditions) and four repetitions. The data were submitted to analysis of variance with the F test and the means were adjusted to polynomial and non linear regression models. The highest seed germination performance was observed to take place under conditions of 27.3°C with light. The temperatures of 35 and 40°C in the dark induced thermal inhibition of seed germination. The temperature of 45°C was lethal to the seeds.