Characteristics of Selected Genotypes of Brachiaria for Brazilian Pastures

Brachiaria is a grass genus of African origin. Some genotypes have shown good adaptation to poor, acid soils and now cover millions of hectares of pastures in tropical America. In an effort to increase diversity for selection, CIAT led collection expeditions to East Africa and later distributed this germplasm to collaborating institutions. Agronomical evaluation of a Brachiaria collection of broad genetic base was conducted at EMBRAPA/CNPGC with the objective of selecting potential new cultivars. Multivariate analysis was used to classify 193 accessions of nine different species into 8 groups using annual and seasonal production, leaf:stem ratio and regrowth characteristics. Resistance to spittlebug was evaluated under controlled conditions and monitored in the field. The evaluation resulted in the selection of 19 genotypes with superior agronomic characteristics. B. brizantha accessions BRA 003361, 003204 and 003395 combine good overall production with spittlebug resistance, important prerequisites for potential new cultivars

Componentes não-integrantes da carcaça de bovinos de três grupos genéticos terminados em confinamento ou pastejo rotacionado com suplementação.

Foram avaliados os componentes não-integrantes da carcaça de bovinos castrados (novilhos) Brahman, Brangus e Hereford terminados em confinamento ou pastejo com suplementação (capim-mombaça). Os animais foram abatidos com espessura de gordura subcutânea superior a 4mm. A dieta do confinamento foi formulada com 60% de volumoso e 40% de concentrado, com 13% PB e 62% NDT. O capim mombaça apresentou 7% de PB e 56%NDT e o suplemento apresentou 24% PB e 76% NDT. O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualizado, com arranjo fatorial 3x2 (três grupos genéticos e dois sistemas de terminação) e as médias foram comparadas pelo teste de Tukey ajustado. Foram observadas diferenças significativas para o peso de abate (PA) e peso do corpo vazio (PCV) favorável aos animais mantidos em pastejo com suplementação (444,03 vs 416,50kg para PA e 409,68 vs 375,24kg para PCV), entretanto não houve diferença significativa entre os sistemas de terminação para o rendimento de corpo vazio (RCV). O menor percentual de órgãos vitais foi apresentado pela raça Brahman independente do sistema de terminação utilizado (2,19%). A mesma tendência foi observada para o trato digestivo com um percentual de participação de 3,77% PCV do Brahman vs 4,87% e 4,48% PCV do Hereford e Brangus, respectivamente. Os novilhos Brahman apresentaram menores pesos de coração, pulmão e baço que os Hereford e Brangus. Os animais terminados em pastejo apresentaram maiores pesos de abomaso, pulmão e rins que os terminados em confinamento, 0,47 vs 0,35% PCV; 0,77 vs 0,71% PCV e 0,77 vs 0,71% PCV, respectivamente

Strategic notes on Brazilian beef cattle

The Brazilian beef production chain is one of the main protein production networks in the world and is based on a structure of suppliers of inputs, technologies, services and information. From this base, the cattle ranchers develop the production systems, using a set of techniques associated with the inputs and the processes, with the purpose of developing this fundamental portion of Brazilian agribusiness. This activity presents a predominantly pastoral basis system, zebu breeds or products of their crosses with taurine races and whose indicators of efficiency and productivity have been evolving in the last decades. The meat produced is primarily intended for the domestic market, but given its volume, it occupies the top positions on the international market. Since the 1990s, it has become a more competitive chain as a result of the availability of environmental resources, extensive pasture areas and the availability of specific technologies for the tropical environment. Prior to this period, Brazilian production did not even have sufficient production volume and quality to supply the domestic market, and despite its evolution, it still has extensive systems of low productivity, presenting operational, logistical and sanitary aspects of the herd, which limits access to the markets that best remunerate the meat. In Brazil, natural resources are already sheltered by regulatory environmental limits that limit the horizontal expansion of cattle production, which will be a new driver of intensification. For this, the producers have a system of research, development and extension made up of universities, institutes and research and innovation centers. Increasing land opportunity costs, consumer demands and environmental legislation coupled with the need for specialized human resources will be the major challenges of the next decade. In this scenario, production costs will increase, demanding that this be accompanied by technological innovations so that the competitiveness of the sector is not compromised

Carbon footprint in different beef production systems on a southern Brazilian farm: a case study.

The carbon footprint (CF) of beef production is one of the most widely discussed environmental issues within the current agricultural community due to its association with climate change. Because of these relevant and serious concerns, the beef cattle industry is under increasing pressure to reduce production or implement technological changes with significant consequences in terms of beef marketing. The goals of this study were to evaluate the CF per 1 kg of live weight gain (LWG) at the farm gate for different beef production systems in the southern part of Brazil. Aberdeen Angus beef-bred cattle were assigned to one of seven categories: natural grass; improved natural grass; natural grass plus ryegrass; improved natural grass plus sorghum; cultivated ryegrass and sorghum; natural grass supplemented with protein mineralised salt; and natural grass supplemented with protein-energetic mineralised salt. Monte Carlo analysis was employed to analyse the effect of variations of dry matter intake digestibility (DMID), total digestible nutrients (TDN) and crude protein (CP) parameters in methane (CH4) enteric, CH4 manure, nitrous oxide (N2O) manure and N2O N-fertiliser. The method used was a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) centred on the CF. The CF varied from 18.3 kg CO2 equivalent/kg LWG for the ryegrass and sorghum pasture system to 42.6 kg CO2 equivalent/kg LWG for the natural grass system, including the contributions of cows, calves and steers. Among all grassland-based cattle farms, production systems with DMID from 52 to 59% achieved the lowest CO2 emissions and the highest feed conversion rate, thereby generating lower CH4 and N2O emissions per production system. Because the feed intake and feed conversion rate are one of the most important production parameters in beef cattle production with an obvious risk of data uncertainty, accurate feed data, which include quantity and quality, are important in estimates of CF for LWG. The choice of adequate feeding strategies to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions may result in better environmental advantages

Modelos matemáticos para ajuste da produção de gases in vitro em diferentes tempos de incubação e cinética ruminal de silagens de milho.

Suplemento 1

Avaliação qualitativa e quantitativa da microbiota do solo e da fixação biológica do nitrogênio pela soja.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi definir, para as condições edafoclimáticas do Brasil, níveis aceitáveis de dispersão de alguns parâmetros biológicos, utilizados em estudos de impacto ambiental de novas tecnologias usadas na cultura da soja. Dois ensaios com soja convencional e transgênica foram conduzidos em 11 municípios de seis estados e no Distrito Federal; os parâmetros avaliados foram: carbono e nitrogênio da biomassa microbiana, respiração basal e quociente metabólico microbiano, eletroforese do DNA do solo em géis desnaturantes (DGGE), fixação biológica do nitrogênio, população de rizóbios, número e massa de nódulos secos, ocupação dos nódulos pelas estirpes de Bradyrhizobium, massa de matéria seca da parte aérea, nitrogênio total e nitrogênio como ureídos na parte aérea. A variabilidade temporal de: carbono e nitrogênio, da biomassa microbiana, da respiração basal e do quociente metabólico microbiano foi adequada, e o coeficiente de variação máximo aceitável foi estimado em 35%. A homogeneidade entre repetições, tratamentos e coletas foi confirmada por DGGE. Em solos pobres em nitrogênio, os parâmetros de massa de nódulos e massa da parte aérea, com coeficiente de variação máximo de 33 e 18%, respectivamente, foram adequados para avaliar a fixação biológica do N, que contribuiu com 72 a 88% do nitrogênio total da parte aérea

Pontos a serem considerados no manejo de regulador de crescimento na cultura do algodoeiro.

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Competitiveness levels in cattle herd farms.

The aim of this experiment was to identify improvement demands for farms with different levels of competitiveness in the west of Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. A total of 63 owners of large farms were interviewed (farms with an area greater than 900ha) by applying a semi-structured questionnaire, guided by four drivers: technology (TEC), management (MAN), market relations (MR) and the institutional environment (IE).It was used the Statistical Analysis System 9.2 software to perform the cluster analysis and identify farmers' characteristics. Three random clusters with different levels of competitiveness were observed: low competitiveness level (LCL), middle competitiveness level (MCL) and high competitiveness level (HCL). The 29 variables (sub factors) were evaluated in the cluster analysis according to level of impact on competitiveness, being classified into variables of high, medium or low impact. Stratification was carried out, ranking demands for improvements from aspects attributed by experts in relation to sub factors. The farmers with low competitiveness level (LTL) had an unfavorable status for MAN, while the farmers belonging to clusters MCL and HCL have, respectively, favorable and neutral status for the same driver. The management characteristics determined the level of competitiveness of the farms surveye