Environmental impact and economic performance assessments are important subjects for the definition of strategies for sustainable management in agriculture. The objective of the present study was to ...assess such impacts in a set of reference farms dedicated to coconut production, conforming a gradient with respect to the adoption of technologies and ecological intensification practices. Ranging in scale from smaller family farms to larger corporate enterprises, and from coconut monocultures to diversified crops and integrated coconut-livestock systems, the six cases were studied through a multi-attribute utility model comprising 62 indicators related to five sustainability dimensions: (i) Landscape ecology, (ii) Environmental quality, (iii) Sociocultural values, (iv) Economic values and (v) Management and administration. Detailed cash flow analyses permitted a critical view regarding the influence of technology adoption, ecological intensification, and management for sustainability as criteria for economic viability. The results attest to the value of produce diversification as opportunity toward technology integration, which correlated positively with higher sustainability indices in all dimensions. Tradeoff analysis showed a negative correlation between socio-environmental performance indices and profitability, whereas none of the cases studied showed constrained economic viability, indicating that ecological intensification in coconut production can also entail social improvements, by promoting fairer share of revenues and benefits among stakeholders. Recommendations issued to farmers and management teams, related with agronomic factors and practices adopted in production intensification, favor the communication of appropriate mechanisms for technology adoption, translating farm-level sustainability assessments into action for sustainability.
•Impacts of ecological intensification practices in coconut production were assessed.•Diversification and technology correlated positively with higher sustainability.•Profitability correlated negatively with socio-environmental performance.•Ecologically intensive farming systems maintained economic viability.•Sustainability assessments favored ecological intensification in coconut.
Sustainable intensification of agriculture is central to deal with the challenges of feeding a growing population while promoting a rational use of environmental and economic resources. Nowhere is ...this challenge more prominent than in Brazil, where low productivity and environmentally degrading agricultural activities occupy vast areas. We used the emergy synthesis approach, including innovative indices - emergy footprint and carbon-emergy output intensity - to assess and compare the environmental performance of an integrated crop-livestock system to a continuous crop and a continuous livestock system. Our analysis uses survey and empirical case study data from the 2017/18 crop season in Mato Grosso state, Brazil - the largest grain and beef producer in the country. Economic indicators such as gross revenue, production costs and profitability were calculated to complement the sustainability assessments. The emergy indices indicate that integrated crop-livestock system shows a balanced performance between input use and economic and environmental outcomes. In contrast, due to its heavy dependence on external inputs, the cropping system has poor environmental results, but the highest profitability. By excluding these environmental costs, current accounting of soy-corn production in Brazil dramatically overstates its net benefits to society and overall sustainability. The Emergy Sustainability Index for the integrated system was 0.66 and its Net Profit was USD 235.69 ha-1, while for the continuous crop system the values were 0.47 and USD 295 ha−1, respectively. The livestock system performed poorly in both, economic and environmental outcomes, underscoring the need to transition away from existing extensive systems. Livestock shows the highest positive greenhouse gas emissions, 7.98 E−09 tonCO2eq for each joule produced, and Net Loss of USD 0.58 ha-1. These results provide further support for Brazil’s investment in integrated systems as part of its climate mitigation and sustainable agricultural development plans and warrant consideration in sustainable agriculture initiatives in other countries where cattle production is widespread.
•Integrated systems are more efficient in converting environmental and economic resources into final products.•Integrated systems tend to a balanced performance between economic and environmental outcomes.•Continuous crop systems present heavy dependence on external inputs, but higher economic returns.•Extensive livestock systems attained poor economic and environmental outcomes.•Integrated systems contribute to land sparing and CO2 mitigation.
Assessing the sustainability of agricultural systems encompasses complex and interchanging economic, environmental and social issues, and requires multi-criteria decision-analysis approaches. Various ...models have been proposed to assess agricultural sustainability considering these issues, based for example on programs for multi-attribute decision making or Fuzzy Interference Systems. However, we identify a lack of comprehensive models applicable to broad agricultural conditions in different environments and socioeconomic contexts. To fill this gap, we propose a novel, indicator-based fuzzy logic model for assessing the sustainability of agricultural systems. To test the model’s suitability, we conducted twenty-two case studies over the 2018/19 cropping season in the Brazilian agricultural-forest frontier region; the farms chosen represent the three most common farming systems there: (i) pure crop farming (crop rotation only: soybean - corn), (ii) pure livestock, and (iii) integrated farming (crop - livestock and livestock - forest). Partial indicators were built to assess the economic, environmental, and social performances of those farming systems, then were further integrated in a sustainability index. The results show higher and better-balanced performance for integrated farms, which displayed the highest sustainability index values. In contrast, livestock farms performed poorly in all dimensions and showed the lowest sustainability index. Crop farms showed higher economic, but lower social and environmental performances. These results are in contrast to the oft-perceived trade-offs among different pillars of sustainability and show that integrated systems have the potential to balance multiple sustainability objectives, by leveraging multiple subsystem synergies. The innovative fuzzy inference model proposed is suitable to deal with information at the farm level, handling different types of farming systems, and applicable to different environmental or socioeconomic contexts. Moreover, the proposed indicators and associated indices offer relevant information to policy-makers to foster the sustainable intensification of farming systems, while promoting environmental protection and the coexistence of biodiversity and the agricultural sector.
An ever-growing collection of commercial biostimulants is becoming available in a wide variety of forms and compositions to improve crop performance. Given the intricate nature of deciphering the ...underlying mechanisms of commercial products, which typically comprise various biological components, it is crucial for research in this area to have robust tools to demonstrate their effectiveness in field trials. Here, we took a multi-attribute approach to evaluating the impact of biostimulants on crop performance. First, we assessed the impact of a biostimulant on the soil and rhizosphere microbiomes associated to crops in eight reference farms, including corn (3 farms), soybean (2), cotton (2) and sugarcane (1), in different biomes and production contexts in Brazil and Paraguay. Second, we modeled a set of integrated indicators to measure crop responses to biostimulant application, including five analytical themes as follows: i) crop development and production (9 indicators), ii) soil chemistry (9), iii) soil physics (5), iv) soil biology (6) and v) plant health (10). Amplicon 16S rRNA and ITS sequencing revealed that the use of the biostimulant consistently changes the structure of bacterial and fungal communities associated with the production system for all evaluated crops. In the rhizosphere samples, the most responsive bacterial taxa to biostimulant application were
Prevotella
in cotton;
Prauserella
and
Methylovirgula
in corn; and
Methylocapsa
in sugar cane. The most responsive fungal taxa to biostimulant use were
Arachnomyces
in soybean and cotton; and
Rhizophlyctis
in corn. The proposed integrated indicators yielded highly favorable positive impact indices (averaging at 0.80), indicating that biostimulant-treated fields correlate with better plant development and crop performance. Prominent indices were observed for indicators in four themes: soil biology (average index 0.84), crop production (0.81), soil physics (compaction reduction 0.81), and chemical fertility (0.75). The multi-attribute approach employed in this study offers an effective strategy for assessing the efficacy of biostimulant products across a wide range of crops and production systems.
The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of nine rootstocks on 'Jaffa' sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) for its vegetative, productive, and qualitative traits, and for its susceptibility ...to three pest mites (Eutetranychus banksi, Tetranychus mexicanus and Phyllocoptruta oleivora). The following parameters were evaluated: vegetative growth, yield, physiochemical characteristics of fruit, and density of pest mites. 'Sunki Tropical' mandarin conferred high cumulative yields whereas 'Orlando' tangelo and 'Rugoso Vermelho' lemon imparted bigger fruit with low brix, and less acidity to 'Jaffa'. Indio and 'Riverside' citrandarins induced more acid fruit of smaller sizes, as well as low-cumulated yields and canopy volumes. Also, the 'Cravo Santa Cruz' lime, 'San Diego' citrandarin, and the hybrids HTR-051 and LVK x LCR-010 conferred lower-cumulated yields to 'Jaffa'. The rootstocks did not influence the population levels of the evaluated mites. 'Sunki Tropical' mandarin, 'Cravo Santa Cruz' lime and 'Rugoso Vermelho' lemon stand up as excellent rootstock options for 'Jaffa' sweet orange in the Northeastern Brazil.
Resumo: O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito de nove porta-enxertos sobre os parâmetros vegetativos, produtivos e qualitativos da laranjeira-doce 'Jaffa' (Citrus sinensis) e sobre a sua suscetibilidade a três ácaros-praga (Eutetranychus banksi, Tetranychus mexicanus e Phyllocoptruta oleivora). Os seguintes parâmetros foram avaliados: crescimento vegetativo, produtividade, características fisioquímicas dos frutos e densidade de ácaros-praga. A tangerineira 'Sunki Tropical' conferiu elevada produtividade à laranjeira 'Jaffa', enquanto o tangeleiro 'Orlando' e o limoeiro 'Rugoso Vermelho' induziram frutos maiores, com baixos valores Brix e menos ácidos à laranjeira 'Jaffa'. Os citrandarins 'Indio' e 'Riverside' induziram frutos mais ácidos e de tamanhos menores, assim como baixa produtividade acumulada e menor copa. Adicionalmente, o limoeiro 'Cravo Santa Cruz', o citrandarin 'San Diego' e os híbridos HTR-051 e LVK x LCR-010 conferiram menor produção acumulada à laranjeira 'Jaffa'. Os porta-enxertos não influenciaram os níveis populacionais dos ácaros avaliados. A tangerineira 'Sunki Tropical', o limoeiro 'Cravo Santa Cruz' e o limoeiro 'Rugoso Vermelho' se destacam como excelentes opções de porta-enxertos para a laranjeira 'Jaffa' na região Nordeste do Brasil.
The objective of this work was to determine the influence of eight rootstocks on the yield, fruit quality, and survival of 'Pêra CNPMF D6' sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) trees grown under rainfed ...conditions in a cohesive soil of the Brazilian Northeast. In 2014-2018, the yield, fruits, and survival of trees planted in 1997 were evaluated in a randomized complete block design. Yield was assessed using annual fruit production, yield efficiency, and the alternate bearing index. Tree survival was considered the percentage of plants that remained alive until 2018. Fruit quality was evaluated by physicochemical attributes. 'Cravo' confirmed its good yield performance. Despite the lower number of trees, the 'Mazoe' rough lemon rootstock induced the highest fruit yield. The 'Cravo' x 'Cleópatra' hybrid and 'Volkameriano' lemon favored the highest trees survival, whereas 'Indio' citrandarin and 'Cravo' lime resulted in intermediate levels. The 'San Diego' and 'Riverside' citrandarins induced shorter tree with a high yield efficiency and a higher alternate bearing index, respectively. Fruits with less juice and mass were induced, respectively, by 'Riverside' citrandarin and 'Volkameriano' lemon. It can be concluded that the 'Mazoe' rootstock induces a higher fruit yield and 'Cravo' x 'Cleópatra' and 'Volkameriano', a greater survival. In addition, all rootstocks, except 'Riverside' and 'Volkameriano', induce fruit that meet the minimum quality requirements.
Resumo: O objetivo deste trabalho foi determinar a influência de oito porta-enxertos no rendimento, na qualidade do fruto e na sobrevivência de laranjeiras (Citrus sinensis) 'Pêra CNPMF D6' cultivadas, em regime de sequeiro, em solo coeso do Nordeste brasileiro. Em 2014-2018, foram avaliados, no delineamento de blocos ao acaso, o rendimento, os frutos e a sobrevivência de árvores plantadas em 1997. O rendimento foi avaliado a partir da produção anual de frutos, da eficiência produtiva e do índice de alternância produtiva. A sobrevivência das árvores foi considerada a percentagem de plantas que permaneceram vivas até 2018. A qualidade dos frutos foi avaliada por meio de atributos físico-químicos. 'Cravo' confirmou seu bom desempenho produtivo. Apesar do menor número de árvores, o porta-enxerto limoeiro rugoso 'Mazoe' induziu a maior produtividade de frutos. O híbrido 'Cravo' x 'Cleópatra' e o limoeiro 'Volkameriano' favoreceram a maior sobrevivência das árvores, enquanto o citrandarin 'Indio' e o limoeiro 'Cravo' resultaram em níveis intermediários. Os citrandarins 'San Diego' e 'Riverside' induziram, respectivamente, árvores menores, com alta eficiência de produção e maior índice de alternância produtiva, respectivamente. Frutos com menos suco e massa foram induzidos, respectivamente, pelo citrandarin 'Riverside' e o limoeiro 'Volkameriano'. Conclui-se que o porta-enxerto 'Mazoe' induz maior rendimento de frutos e 'Cravo' x 'Cleópatra' e 'Volkameriano' maior sobrevivência. Além disso, todos os porta-enxertos, exceto 'Riverside' e 'Volkameriano', induzem frutos que atendem os requerimentos mínimos de qualidade.
Radical-Scavenging Activity of Orsellinates Lopes, Thiago Inácio Barros; Coelho, Roberta Gomes; Yoshida, Nídia Cristiane ...
Chemical & Pharmaceutical Bulletin,
11/2008, Letnik:
56, Številka:
11
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Lichens are an important source of phenolic compounds and have been intensively investigated for their biological and pharmacological activities. Lecanoric acid (1), a lichen depside, was isolated ...from a Parmotrema tinctorum specimen and treated with alcohols to produce orsellinic acid (2) and orsellinates (3) to (9) (2,4-dihydroxy-6-n-methyl benzoates). Free radical scavenging activity of methyl (3), ethyl (4), n-propyl (5), n-butyl (6), iso-propyl (7), sec-butyl (8), tert-butyl (9) orsellinates was evaluated using 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. Results showed that chain elongation of methyl (3) to n-butyl (6) causes a rise in the antioxidant activity. However, iso-propyl (7) and tert-butyl (9) were more active than the correspondent linear compounds, although sec-butyl (8) was less active among the chain ramified compounds. All the orsellinates were less active than lecanoric acid (1) and orsellinic acid (2). Orcinol (10) and resorcinol (11) were also determined for comparison with activities of orsellinates. Gallic acid (12) was used as control.
The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of the use of different nitrogen fertilizers on N losses by NH3 volatilization and on the grain yield of a corn (Zea mays) crop grown in the ...semiarid region of the state of Sergipe, Brazil. Corn was managed under rainfed conditions and conventional tillage. The fertilization treatments were: sulfur-coated urea (SU) and organo-mineral-coated urea (OMU). Regular urea and ammonium sulfate (AS) were also included as a reference of N sources of high and low NH3-volatilization potential, as well as a control without N fertilization. The N sources were applied to the soil surface at a rate of 150 kg ha-1 N as side-dressing at the V5 growth stage of corn. The experiment was carried out in 2015 and repeated in 2016. Losses of N through NH3 volatilization differed among the N sources in the two study years, with AS presenting the lowest N losses and regular urea, the highest. In the area treated with OMU, losses by NH3 volatilization were consistently controlled, showing a reduction of 74 and 67% in relation to that of regular urea in both years. SU, however, only mitigated NH3-N losses in 2015, increasing them in 2016, compared with regular urea. Corn plant grain yield and N status, assessed by the index leaf, did not clearly reflect N losses by NH3 volatilization. For the semiarid of Sergipe, OMU is the best urea-based fertilizer to mitigate N losses by NH3 volatilization, and the use of AS is an alternative to increase corn yield and eliminate N losses as NH3.
Resumo: O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito do uso de diferentes adubos nitrogenados nas perdas de N por volatilização de NH3 e no rendimento de grãos de cultura de milho (Zea mays) na região semiárida do estado de Sergipe. O milho foi manejado sob condições de sequeiro e preparo convencional. Os tratamentos de fertilização foram: ureia revestida com enxofre (SU) e ureia organomineral (OMU). Também foram incluídos ureia comercial e sulfato de amônio (SA) como referência de fontes de N com alto e baixo potencial de volatilização de NH3, além de um controle não fertilizado com N. As fontes de N foram aplicadas na superfície do solo a uma taxa de 150 kg ha-1 de N, como cobertura, no estádio V5 de crescimento do milho. O experimento foi realizado em 2015 e repetido em 2016. As perdas de N pela volatilização de NH3 foram diferentes entre as fontes de N nos dois anos de estudo, com SA tendo apresentado a menor perda de N e ureia comercial, a maior. Na área tratada com OMU, as perdas pela volatilização de NH3 foram controladas de forma consistente, tendo mostrado redução de 74 e 67% em relação à da ureia regular em ambos os anos. SU, no entanto, apenas mitigou as perdas de NH3 em 2015, tendo as aumentado em 2016, em comparação à ureia comercial. O rendimento de grãos e o status de N da planta de milho, avaliados pela folha-índice, não refletiram claramente a perda de N pela volatilização de NH3. Para o semiárido de Sergipe, OMU é o melhor fertilizante à base de ureia para mitigar as perdas de N pela volatilização de NH3, e o uso de SA é uma alternativa para aumentar o rendimento do milho e eliminar as perdas de N como NH3.
Improvements in animal husbandry environment have resulted in major benefits to dairy farming in tropical regions. The aim was to evaluate the effect of changes in sun/shade regimes—restricted shade ...(RSR), moderate shading (MSR), and intense shading (ISR)—on the behavior of crossbred dairy cows. Massai grass with eucalyptus trees were used in the system. The experiment was conducted at Brazil from 2017 to 2018. Eight dairy cows were observed in each regime over three days by seasons every 30 min from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The behavioral variables considered were localization, posture, and activity. Microclimatic variables were studied and hourly averages were calculated for seasons. The experiment was conducted in randomized complete blocks with split-plots; evaluation times were allocated to subplots and sequential days of analysis were considered replications in time. Multivariate analysis (principal component analysis) was performed using Excel. The results showed that the RSR had a higher proportion of idle cows, which was associated with a higher intensity of radiation (1.2 MJ m
−2
h
−1
). The MSR and ISR differed in radiation levels by 17% and 58%, respectively. The opposite was true when shade was available, as cows performed activities such as grazing more frequently, mainly in the morning shift (difference of 20.7% in the RSR for the shade regime). The behavior of crossbred dairy cows subjected to climatic stress environments was benefitted from microclimatic conditions provided by trees. The provision at least moderate shade around the paddocks, alleviates the stress and regulates the vital activities of the animals.
•Cumulative fruit yield was decisive for identify promising rootstocks to ‘Pera’;.•Rangpur, Volkamer x Rangpur, Maravilha Sunki and Indio induced higher yield to ‘Pera’;.•Florida Sunki x citrange ...13–012 and Sunki x Swingle-041 perform similar to Rangpur.•The citrus rootstocks induced no significant change on the fruit's quality.
In tropical cohesive soils of Brazil, ‘Rangpur’ lime provide high fruit yield to ‘Pera’ sweet oranges. However, the predominance of a single rootstock puts the citrus industry in this region at risk. To identify promising rootstocks for diversification of ‘Pera’ sweet orange orchard's in the tropical cohesive soils of Brazil, a trial was established with 37 citrus rootstocks on the northeast coast of Brazil. The horticultural performance, fruit yield up to the tenth year, and physic-chemical fruit quality attributes were evaluated. The rootstocks induced changes in the tree size, cumulative fruit yield fresh mass and size of fruit, but had not significant influence on chemical fruit quality. The Hierarchical Cluster Analysis allowed group rootstocks into three classes, in which the accumulated fruit yield was the attribute that most contributed. A group with 15 rootstocks was chosen due to the best productive performance and fruits with 193.75–218.5 g, 57.36–62.65% of juice with 9.85–13.08° brix, which meets the requirement of the Brazilian market. Among these 15, the hybrid of ‘Volkamer’ lemon (VKL) with ‘Rangpur’ lime (RL), ‘Maravilha Sunki’ mandarin, ‘Indio’ citrandarin and the local selection of RL stood out by inducing the highest yield . VKL × RL – 030 produced fruits later, but favored the highest fruit yield at the tenth year. Trees grafted on these four rootstocks and also onto RLCNPMF, TSKC × CTQT1434 – 001, MXWL × LHA – 004, ‘Santa Cruz’ Rangpur, ‘San Diego’ citrandarin,– 004 and trifoliate TRH-208 had greater production regularity across the harvests, although the last three showed lower cumulative yield. The earliest fruit bearing was induced by TSKFL × CTC13 – 012, followed by the ‘Sunki' mandarin hybrids TSKC × CTQT1434 – 001, RL, TSKC x TRFD -007 and TSKC x CTSW-041. It is concluded that the most promising rootstocks for diversification of citrus orchards under rainfed condition on the northeast coast of Brazil are VKL x RL-030, ‘Maravilha Sunki’ , ‘Indio’, TSKFL × CTC13 – 012 and TSKC × CTQT1434 – 001, RLCNPMF – 004, TSKC x TRFD -007, TSKC x CTSW-041 and MXWL × LHA – 004.
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