Elizangela Cabral dos Santos

DESEMPENHO PRODUTIVO DO SISTEMA CONSORCIADO DE CENOURA E FEIJÃO-CAUPI SOB DIFERENTES ARRANJOS ESPACIAIS E DENSIDADES POPULACIONAIS

Spatial arrangement and population density of component cultures, when well structured, may contribute to increased crop yields relative to monocultures. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the productive performance of carrot and cowpea in an intercropping system under different spatial arrangements and population densities. This research was conducted on the “Rafael Fernandes” experimental farm of the Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido (UFERSA), Mossoró, RN, Brazil. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with four replicates, where the treatments were arranged in a 3 × 4 factorial scheme, in which the first factor was three spatial arrangements (2:2, 3:3, and 4:4) and the second factor was four different population densities of cowpea (100%, 80%, 60%, and 40% of the recommended population in the single crop [RPSC]). Rooster tree Calotropis procera (Ait.) R.Br., a spontaneous species of the ‘Caatinga’ biome, was used as fertilizer. The characteristics evaluated in carrot were as follows: total and commercial productivity of roots and classified root production. The following characteristics were evaluated for cowpea: number of pods per square meter, length and yield of green pods, number of grains per pod, 100grain weight, and yield of green grains. The modified monetary advantage was used to evaluate the feasibility of the intercropped systems. Spatial arrangements between the component cultures did not influence the agroeconomic performance of the carrot-cowpea intercropping system. The highest agro-economic performance of the carrot-cowpea intercropping was obtained in the population of cowpea, which was 42% of the RPSC.

Armazenamento e qualidade pós-colheita de frutos de figueira cv. Roxo de Valinhos no Oeste Potiguar

Fig tree fruit have a relatively short shelf life due to their fragile structure and high metabolism, which requires enormous storage. This study aims to evaluate the physical and chemical attributes in the different storage times in post-harvest conservation of fig tree cv. Purple of Valinhos. A completely randomized experimental design was used in a 5 × 3 factorial scheme (5 storage times: 0, 4, 8, 12, 16 days) and (3 harvest points: 50, 75 and 100% mature) with four replicates and 8 fruits per treatment. The fruits were stored in a cold room, with a temperature of 10 ± 2°C and 80-90% relative humidity. These storage conditions were an efficient alternative to maintain fruit quality for up to 4 days for fresh mass and vitamin C characteristics, while soluble solids content (°Brix) had its best values at 16 days of storage. The stage of maturation III obtained greater length and diameter as well as smaller loss of fresh mass and firmness of the fruits.

Quality of sweet potato cultivars planted harvested at different times of two seasons

This study aimed at adapting harvest time of different potato cultivars in two seasons during the year. Two experiments were conducted: one in the rainy season and another in the dry period. Two production factors were studied in experiments using a splitplot design in a complete randomized block design. The first factor (including 3 sweet potato cultivars: ESAM 1, Paraná and Mãe de Família) was assigned to the plots. The second factor (harvest time: 90, 105, 120, 135 and 150 days after planting) was assigned to the subplots. Soluble solids, total soluble sugars, starch content, pulp firmness, cooking time and vitamin C were assessed. The harvest after 150 days resulted in increased levels of soluble sugars, starch, and vitamin C in both growing seasons, compared to other harvests, demonstrating that tuberization does not depend on season. In addition, late harvesting increased the cooking times with all cultivars, especially those grown in the rainy season. In the dry season, cooking time was higher for cv. ESAM 1. Of the three sweet potato cultivars, cv. Parana presented the highest total amount of soluble sugars and vitamin C, as well as faster cooking time, while cv. ESAM 1 had the highest starch content, pulp firmness and the longest cooking time. The results suggest that Paraná and Mãe de Família are feasible for the fresh market and ESAM 1 for industry, regardless of the season or harvest time. These cultivars offer growers flexibility when deciding on sweet potato crops for different purposes, i.e. fresh market or industry. Delaying the harvest of sweet potatoes until 150 days gives greater flexibility to producers in the semi-arid region of Brazil in relation to either fresh or the industrial market.

EFEITO DA BIOFERTILIZAÇÃO NA PRODUÇÃO E QUALIDADE DE FRUTOS DO MARACUJAZEIRO AMARELO

This study aimed at evaluating the effects of bovine biofertilizer on passion fruit production and fruit quality. We carried out an experiment in the city of Nova Floresta, Paraíba State, Brazil. It was carried out in a randomized block design with three replications and three plants per plot. We adopted a 3 x 5 factorial scheme, which evaluated three passion fruit genotypes and five cattle biofertilizer doses. The assessed genotypes consisted of a local one (Guinezinho LG) and two hybrids (BRS Gigante Amarelo GA and BRS Sol do Cerrado SC). We applied five rates of cattle biofertilizer (B) monthly at a constant volume of 5 L plant, after diluting in irrigation water (W) at an electrical conductivity of 1.4 dS m. The evaluated rates were 0% (100% irrigation water 0B + 5W), 10% (1B + 9W), 20% (2B + 8W), 30% (3B + 7W) and 40% (4B + 6W). Every week, we sampled, counted and weighed fruit to gather data on fruit number per plant, pant production, and yield. At peak production, we also sampled two fruit randomly from each plot floor area. These fruits were used for determinations of the average mass in fruit, peel and pulp (seeds + juice), peel thickness, fruit diameter and length, pulp yield, soluble solid content, titratable acidity, vitamin C, pH and pulp electrical conductivity. As a result, we observed that the biofertilizer did not compromise both LG and GA production capacity. Overall, the biofertilizer doses provided quality characteristics superior to those required by the fruit market.