The Carne Carbono Neutro Accordance to Brazilian Consumers’ Attitude towards Beef

The Brazilian project Carne Carbono Neutro (CCN) assumes that a more sustainable beef will increase its value for the consumers. The paper aims to verify this assumption and to suggest a communication strategy supporting the CCN valorization. An online survey involving 506 Brazilian consumers showed three different classes of consumers with significantly different attitudes towards environmental issues. Price and quality always strongly influence their demand for beef. A communication campaign should focus on the CCN lower beef environmental impact and beef price/quality issues. Social media on internet and education programs in schools and different institutions should be used

Anatomical Characteristics and Leaf Blade Digestibility of Five \u3cem\u3ePanicum\u3c/em\u3e Genotypes under Integrated Crop-Livestock-Forest System

Integrated crop-livestock-forest systems (ICLF) are intended to increase land use efficiency and to harvest benefits from interactions among the components involved. Thus, cattle husbandry success on such systems depends on the suitability and adaptability of the forages used. Shadow causes stress to plants growing in the understory of ICLF systems due to limitation of photo synthetically active radiation, whose intensity varies with location, time of the year and the tree component. Reduction of light incidence on forage leads to limited growth rates as a function of energy restriction necessary to the photosynthetic processes, requiring a number of morphological, physiological, structural and anatomical adaptations from the plant, called acclimatization (Gobbi et al., 2011). In this context, this work aimed to evaluate anatomical characteristics of tropical Panicum grasses under an ICLF system in the Brazilian Cerrado

Produção e desempenho agronômico de bananeiras ‘Prata Anã’ e ‘Prata Graúda’ submetidas à irrigação

An adequate irrigation system with high efficiency application can improve vegetative growth, yields, plant height, pseudostem diameter, leaf area index and number of standing leaves on banana plants. This paper compares responses to the foot-dripping irrigation of two banana cultivars: ‘Prata Anã’ and ‘Prata Graúda’. Yields and agronomic traits related to growth parameters are analyzed. The trial was carried out at Universidade Católica Dom Bosco Experimental Station in Campo Grande, MS, Brazil, between December 2005 and April 2007. Traits related to production cycle were: number of days from planting to flowering and to harvesting as well as from flowering to harvest. The following production traits were evaluated: yields; bunch weight; number of hands per bunch; number of fruits per bunch; average fruit weight, diameter and length. The experimental design was random blocks in factorial scheme 2 x 2 (cultivars x irrigation) with five repetitions and three useful plants per plot. Results showed statistically significant differences between cultivars. There were also significant differences on superior development performance, yield and agronomic traits when cultivars were irrigated. It indicates that the use of strategic technologies, such as irrigation, can enhance banana production in the central part of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.O uso adequado de sistemas de irrigação com elevada eficiência de aplicação de água pode melhorar o crescimento vegetativo, rendimento, altura de planta, diâmetro do pseudocaule, índice de área foliar e número de folhas em plantas de bananeira. Assim sendo, o presente trabalho comparou a resposta à irrigação por gotejamento de duas cultivares de banana: ‘Prata Anã’ e ‘Prata Graúda’ em suas características vegetativas e produtivas. O ensaio foi conduzido na Estação Experimental da Universidade Católica Dom Bosco em Campo Grande, MS, Brasil, no período de Dezembro de 2005 a Abril de 2007. As características de crescimento avaliadas foram: número de dias do plantio à colheita, do plantio ao florescimento e do florescimento à colheita. As seguintes características de produção foram avaliadas: produtividade; massa dos cachos; número de pencas e de frutos por cacho; massa, comprimento e diâmetro dos frutos da segunda penca. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos casualisados em esquema fatorial 2 x 2 (cultivares x irrigação), com cinco repetições e três plantas úteis por parcela. Os resultados mostraram diferenças significativas entre as cultivares, bem como superioridade no desenvolvimento, produtividade e características vegetativas quando as cultivares foram irrigadas, indicando que o uso de tecnologias estratégicas, como a irrigação, pode potencializar a produção de banana na região central do Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil

ASSESSMENT OF PROJECT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT ON PUBLIC RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS: A CASE APPLIED TO AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN BRAZIL

Portfolio management can be a major tool for selecting projects where scarce public resources will be invested with the best returns for society. This study aimed to propose a model for diagnostic of project portfolio management (PPM) on public research institutions and to apply it over a case study. The methodology used was literature review and a single case study applied to Embrapa Beef Cattle, a Research Center of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA). Conclusion is that the model can be used for the diagnostic of PPM on public research institutions. The importance given to strategic orientation by the studied research center became evident throughout the work. This need to integrate project portfolio with institutional strategy influences the three dimensions of the model. From the results obtained it becomes evident that putting into practice an effective strategic planning for public research institutions is paramount for project portfolio success. The tool can be enhanced through incorporation of new criteria and dimensions, serving as a starting point for further work focused on public management

Melhoramento genético de erva-mate nativa do Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul

O presente estudo objetivou avaliar geneticamente as melhores progênies de erva-mate, quanto aos caracteres de crescimento, provenientes de plantas nativas da área indígena de Caarapó, Mato Grosso do Sul. O teste de progênie foi instalado sob delineamento de blocos ao acaso com 30 tratamentos, 5 repetições e 10 plantas por parcela em linhas simples, no espaçamento 3 x 2 m. Aos 14 meses de idade, as progênies foram avaliadas quanto aos caracteres altura total das mudas e diâmetro do coleto. A herdabilidade individual no sentido restrito para os caracteres estudados pode ser considerada de média a alta magnitude (0,15 e 0,28), respectivamente, para altura e diâmetro. Os ganhos genéticos estimados com a seleção individual variaram para altura de 5,23 a 8,51 cm e para diâmetro de 2,08 a 3,15 mm. Os valores genéticos preditos com propagação sexuada e assexuada indicam maiores possibilidades de ganhos com a implantação de plantios clonais. Na avaliação da sobreposição de geração, pelos resultados verifica-se que, em geral, os indivíduos da geração atual tendem a ser melhores do que aqueles provenientes da geração anterior.This study aimed at the genetic evaluation of growth of the best erva-mate progenies derived from native individual selected at the Indian reserve in Caarapó, Mato Grosso do Sul State. Experimental design of the progeny test was randomized blocks with 30 treatments, 5 replicates and 10 plants per plot in single rows at 3 x 2 m spacing. Fourteen months old, progenies were evaluated for height and diameter of seedlings. Restrict individual heritability were of medium and high magnitudes (0.15 and 0.28) for height and diameter respectively. Estimated genetic gains with individual selection ranged from 5.23 to 8.51 cm for height and from 2.08 to 3.15 mm for diameter. Predicted genetic values with sexual and asexual propagation indicate better gain potentials for the latter. Evaluation overlapping generations indicate that individuals from current generation tend to be better than the ones from the preceding generation.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

NETWORK AND INNOVATION AT THE BRAZILIAN AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH CORPORATION

Brazil is a major producer of food, fiber and renewable energy, having great importance for the world’s food security. The country has substantially invested in Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) in the last four decades and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) has been coordinating this effort. This study aimed to explore the association between centrality measures for research networking and the generation of innovations by Embrapa research centers and their partner institutions. The study analyzed patent applications from Embrapa between the years 1980 and 2009. The methodological techniques applied were social network analysis, correlation and simple linear regression. Results indicate that the greater centrality in research centers networks of Empraba were associated with higher levels of innovation. Results also evidenced the importance of networks, such as the National Agricultural Research System (SNPA, in portuguese), on generating innovation for agriculture. These findings suggest that public policies promoting agricultural innovation should be designed to strengthen collaboration among institutions and not only with individual scientists

Integrated Land-Use Systems Contribute to Restoring Water Cycles in the Brazilian Cerrado Biome

Cerrado, constituting native Brazilian vegetation in the tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, has been extensively replaced by crop and pastureland, resulting in reduced water recycling to the atmosphere via evapotranspiration (ET). Re-introducing trees via integrated land-use systems potentially restores soil health and water-related processes; however, field data are scarce. During two years, we monitored soil moisture dynamics of natural Cerrado (CER), continuous pasture (COP), integrated crop-livestock (ICL), and integrated crop-livestock-forestry (ICLF) systems across 100 cm soil depth. Across years, mean soil moisture was highest for ICL, followed by COP and lowest in systems with trees (ICLF and CER). However, seasonal and spatial analyses revealed pronounced differences between soil layers and systems. COP and ICL mainly lost water from upper soil layers, whereas in ICLF, the strongest water depletion was observed at 40–100 cm depth, almost reaching a permanent wilting point during the dry season. CER was driest in the upper 40 cm, but water storage was highest below 60 cm depth. Our results suggest that compared to conventional land-use practices, integrated systems, including trees, increase water recycling to the atmosphere via ET and potentially compensate for the loss of key ecological functions of degraded or replaced Cerrado