Nowadays, dicamba-resistant soybean cultivars are an agricultural reality in Brazil, thus applications of this herbicide have grown in recent years. However, adjacent areas may be grown with dicamba non-resistant soybeans and genetic background of these plants must be considered if dicamba accidentally reaches non-target areas. This study was carried out to evaluate the susceptibility of eleven non-dicamba-resistant commercial soybean cultivars to sublethal rates of dicamba herbicide applied at the V3 stage over two consecutive growing seasons. Two field experiments were carried out: in the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 crop seasons. The treatments consisted of three rates of herbicide dicamba (checkplots, 0.48 g ha-1, and 2.40 g ha-1) and 11 commercial soybean cultivars. The following parameters were evaluated: pods per plant, grains per pod, grain yield (kg ha-1), and thousand-grain weight (TGW; g). Phytotoxicity caused by the treatments was evaluated at 14 and 28 days after application (DAA), and plant height was measured at 42 DAA. Plant stand in the plots was evaluated before harvest. Dicamba rate related to the toxicity process was a more relevant factor for changes in grain yield than the cultivar genetic. The dicamba rates had no effect on plant stand and number of pods per plant. There was a negative effect of dicamba on plant height, grains per pod, TGW, and consequently grain yield. Low difference in cultivar sensitivity to dicamba was found, however with no practical relevance in the field.
Despite its growing popularity in Western diets, vegetable soybean remains relatively underexplored in terms of cultivar performance and management practices. This study aimed to evaluate the agronomic performance and economic efficiency of vegetable soybean cultivars in response to varying doses of poultry litter. The experiment was conducted in Aquidauana, MS, Brazil, utilizing a 2 x 4 factorial design that included two vegetable soybean cultivars (BRS 232 and BRS 267) and four poultry litter doses (6, 12, 18, and 24 t ha-1). The experimental setup followed a randomized block design with four replications. The following agronomic parameters were evaluated: plant height, first pod insertion height, 100-immature grain weight, green pod yield, total yield of immature grains, and number of pods per plant, as well as the following economic indices: gross income, net income, return rate, and profitability index. The cultivar BRS 232 demonstrated superior agronomic and economic performance, with agronomic optimum at 16.36 t ha-¹ and economic optimum at 6 t ha-¹. However, for the BRS 267 cultivar, it was not possible to establish predictive equations for most economic and agronomic indices, except for the first pod insertion height and the 100-grain weight. Consequently, poultry litter is a cost‑effective and profitable option for producers and adequately meets the nutritional requirements of vegetable soybeans.
Eco-friendly coffee processing aims to minimize environmental impact, with emphasis on reducing water consumption and wastewater pollution. In this context, this study evaluated the environmental impact and efficiency of two green technologies used in the post-harvest process: Ecoline® (ECL) and Ecowasher® (ECW), implemented on two coffee farms located in the department of Huila, Colombia. The variables analysed included coffee cherry mass, pulping and washing time, water consumption, wastewater volume, processing throughput, percentage of damaged beans, and physicochemical characteristics of the wastewater. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics and graphical analyses to compare the repeated measurements obtained under the evaluated operating conditions. Under the evaluated operating conditions, the ECL system demonstrated higher processing throughput (359.7 vs. 316.6 kg h-1 of cherry coffee), whereas the ECW system achieved lower water consumption (0.25 vs. 0.76 L kg-1 of cherry coffee) and a lower percentage of damaged beans (0.60% vs. 0.83%). However, wastewater generated by both technologies did not meet several regulatory discharge limits. These findings suggest that both evaluated processing systems can reduce water consumption compared with conventional wet processing; however, the observed differences should be interpreted within the specific conditions of the two farms evaluated.
A ocorrência de salinidade no solo e em substratos é um fator que interfere no desenvolvimento das plantas. Compreender os níveis de tolerância das espécies à salinidade e adotar estratégias para reduzir os impactos negativos, como a aplicação da rizobactéria Azospirillum brasilense, constitui uma alternativa para promover um desenvolvimento mais eficiente das plantas em ambientes salinizados. Objetivou-se avaliar a germinação e o vigor de sementes do porta-enxerto citrumeleiro ‘Swingle’ em diferentes concentrações salinas de cloreto de sódio (NaCl), utilizando A. brasilense, como possível atenuante do estresse salino. Os tratamentos foram arranjados em esquema fatorial 5 x 2, sendo, quatro concentrações salinas de NaCl: 30, 60, 90 e 120 mM, adicionado do tratamento controle (somente água destilada), combinadas com ausência ou presença (imersão em solução pré-semeadura) de A. brasilense. Foram avaliados: o índice de velocidade de germinação, o tempo médio de germinação, a porcentagem de germinação, de plântulas anormais, de sementes vivas não germinadas e de sementes mortas. Também foram mensurados o comprimento da raiz principal e da parte aérea das plântulas, bem como a massa seca de raízes, da parte aérea e total. O estresse salino compromete o processo germinativo, ocasionando atraso e redução da germinação e do vigor das sementes. O porta-enxerto mostrou-se sensível à salinidade, e o tratamento das sementes com a rizobactéria não apresentou eficiência na atenuação dos efeitos deletérios desse estresse.
This study aimed to evaluate the growth-promoting potential of Trichoderma harzianum in sugar apple (Annona squamosa L.) and custard apple (Annona reticulata L.) seedlings. The seedlings were subjected to different nitrogen rates combined with Trichoderma application strategies. The design used was a randomized complete block, with a 3 × 5 factorial arrangement of Trichoderma application strategy and nitrogen rates, and three replications. The Trichoderma application strategy included: S1 – control (no application); S2 – IBLF 006 WP applied at planting; and S3 – IBLF 006 WP applied at planting and again 30 days after seedling emergence. Evaluated variables included relative chlorophyll index (RCI), chlorophyll a (Chl a), chlorophyll b (Chl b), plant height (PH), number of leaves (NL), shoot fresh mass (SFM), and shoot dry mass (SDM). In sugar apple, Trichoderma increased shoot dry mass by 29.4% (S2) and 16.8% (S3) in the absence of nitrogen of fertilization and promoted greater plant height at low rates (0–25 kg ha-¹). In custard apple, S3 resulted in higher fresh and dry shoot biomass, particularly at low (0–25 kg ha-¹ N) and high (75–100 kg ha-¹ N) nitrogen rates. The application of strain IBLF 006 (Trichoderma harzianum) is not recommended for the production of sugar apple (Annona squamosa L.) and custard apple (Annona reticulata L.) seedlings, either alone or in combination with different nitrogen rates, as the observed benefits were limited and inconsistent. Therefore, under the experimental conditions, a nitrogen rate of 100 kg ha-¹ provided the best overall results and is recommended for nursery seedling production.
