Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation Research Articles

Umbu physicochemical quality, diversity in the Caatinga biome and promising genotypes for consumption

Umbu (Spondias tuberosa Arruda) is a wild fruit species distributed all over the Caatinga biome in the Northeast of Brazil. The objective of this study was to analyze the physicochemical quality variability of umbu genotypes in the Caatinga biome, and to identify the most promising ones for fresh fruit consumption, processing industry and breeding programs. The fruit of 69 umbu genotypes were harvested at the maturity stage known as swollen, presenting full size and beginning of softening. The plants were cultivated in the umbu germplasm bank (UGB) at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, Embrapa, Petrolina, PE, Brazil. Each genotype was characterized by the global position system (GPS) coordinates to understand the distribution of fruit physicochemical quality in different regions in the Caatinga biome. According to the results, fruit physicochemical quality, such as mass, soluble solids (SS), titratable acidity (TA), and SS/TA ratio are homogeneously distributed all over the Caatinga biome. However, there were three main genotype groups, one characterized by higher fruit mass (52, 55, 57, 60, 65, and 68), other by higher SS (08, 09, 11, 20, 38, 41, and 62), and another by lower AT (02, 03, 07, 08, 16, 24, 27, and 51). Umbu genotypes with the highest mass and SS content can be used for commercial production in order to obtain fruit with desirable trait for the market. In addition, genotypes from all three groups can be used in breeding programs to obtain new genotypes with all desirable traits for fresh fruit consumption and processing industry.

Effects of Thidiazuron and Pollinator visits on Fruit Set and Quality of 'Maxigala' Apple Trees

The objective of this study was to assess the effects of thidiazuron (TDZ) application and pollinator visits on fruit set and quality in apple trees of the cultivar Maxigala. The experiment was conducted at the Temperate Fruit Farming Experimental Station of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA Grape and Wine), in Vacaria, RS, Brazil. The evaluated treatments were: TDZ application; floral visitors combined with TDZ application; floral visitors; and control (no floral visitors with no TDZ application). The highest mean final fruit set was found for the treatment with only TDZ application, followed by that with floral visitors and TDZ application.

Are Land Use and Cover Changes and Socioeconomic Factors Associated with the Occurrence of Dengue Fever? A Case Study in Minas Gerais State, Brazil

Several studies have already demonstrated the relationship between the loss of natural habitats and the incidence of diseases caused by vectors, such as dengue, which is an acute fever disease that is considered a serious public health problem. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the number of dengue cases and land use and cover changes (LUCC) and socioeconomic and climatic factors by municipality, using the state of Minas Gerais as a case study. For this, secondary data obtained from openly available sources were used. Natural vegetation cover data were obtained from the MAPBiomas platform and dengue occurrence data from the Ministry of Health, in addition to eight socioeconomic parameters from the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics and precipitation data from the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA, Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais). Between 2015 and 2019, 1,255,731 cases of dengue were recorded throughout the state of Minas Gerais, ranging from 0 to 227 per thousand inhabitants between municipalities. The occurrence of dengue was distributed throughout all regions of Minas Gerais and was associated with LUCC and socioeconomic factors. In general, municipalities with a net loss of natural vegetation, predominantly located in the Cerrado biome, had the highest number of dengue cases in the studied period. Additionally, the occurrence of dengue was associated to three socioeconomic parameters: population density, human development index (both positively), and Gini inequality index (negatively). These results indicate that, contrary to expectations, municipalities with better social conditions had more dengue cases. Our study indicates that natural vegetation is, directly or indirectly, involved in the ecosystem service of dengue control, despite the occurrence of this disease being affected by multiple factors that interact in a complex way. Thus, policies towards reducing deforestation must be complemented by a continuous investment in public health policies and a reduction in social inequalities to efficiently control dengue fever.

Evapotranspiration from Irrigated Mungo Bean Cropping in The Cerrado Region of Mato Grosso

Objective: The objective of this study was to calculate the evapotranspiration of irrigated mung bean crops in the Cerrado region of Mato Grosso.
  
 Theoretical Frame: This research used the following main citations as a theoretical basis: Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) for the methodology for classifying soil characteristics; and Guan et al. (2015) using the water use efficiency methodology.
  
 Method: The study was carried out from April to June 2023 at the State University of Mato Grosso (UNEMAT), in Nova Mutum – MT. Each experimental unit consisted of a lysimeter with 18 L of volume, spaced 0.40 m between rows and 0.05 m between plants, with a total of 12 experimental plots. Irrigation management was carried out daily considering irrigation volume, precipitation and drainage. Variables analyzed: crop evapotranspiration, water use efficiency and grain productivity. Scatterplots and Boxplot (descriptive statistics) were created for a better analysis of the results obtained.
  
 Results and Conclusions: The total evapotranspiration of the mung bean crop was 521.10 mm during 50 days of cultivation and the daily average was 10.63 mm. Grain productivity for mung bean cultivation in the soil and climate conditions of Mato Grosso was 5,325 kg per hectare. The water use efficiency of mung beans in the Cerrado of Mato Grosso was 1.66 kg of grains per m3 of water. The results of this study provide knowledge about the water consumption of mung beans and serve as a basis for irrigation management by bean producers in the Cerrado region of Mato Grosso.
  
 Implications of the research: The results achieved with this study are of great relevance for the purposes of the Department of Agricultural Engineering of the State University of Mato Grosso, Nova Mutum Campus, as well as for the academic and scientific community and producers in the Cerrado region of Mato Grosso who aim to cultivate irrigated mung beans.
  
 Originality and value: This research aimed to disseminate to the academic and scientific community and producers of Cerrado Mato-Grossense the need for water required by the Mungo bean crop throughout the cultivation cycle, in which this information will serve as a basis for agricultural planning in the region, such as: volume of water needed to cultivate mung beans aiming for maximum productivity, savings on water, electricity and labor.

Porta-enxertos de videira sob déficit hídrico: respostas em biomassa, variáveis bioquímicas e trocas gasosas

ABSTRACT Water resources used for irrigation should be managed using technologies that improve water use efficiency, mainly in semiarid regions. Using drought-tolerant rootstocks is a strategy to handle this challenge. The objective of this study was to select suitable grapevine rootstocks for cultivation in semiarid regions based on their biomass, biochemical, and gas exchange attributes. The experiment was conducted at the Bebedouro Experimental Field of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA Semiarid), in Petrolina, PE, Brazil. Rootstocks from grapevine plants of the cultivars Paulsen 1103, SO4, IAC 313, IAC 572, IAC 766, Ramsey, and 101-14 MgT were subjected to three irrigation water depths (100%, 50%, and 20% ET0). A randomized block experimental design with four replications was used, in a split-plot arrangement consisting of irrigation water depths in the plots and rootstocks in the subplots. Biochemical, biomass, and gas exchange attributes were assessed for selecting the best rootstocks regarding tolerance to drought using multivariate principal component analysis (PCA) and analysis of variance. The rootstocks IAC 313 and IAC 766 presented the highest root proline synthesis; IAC 766 presented better result for leaf sucrose synthesis; and Paulsen 1103 presented the highest leaf proline synthesis and carotenoid contents, as well as total chlorophyll-to-carotenoid ratio. IAC 313, IAC 766, and Paulsen 1103 presented better performance regarding the studied characteristics and, therefore, are suitable for growing grapevine crops in the Lower Middle São Francisco Valley, mainly under water deficit conditions.

Shallow fixes and deep reasonings: framing sustainability at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa)

Shallow fixes and deep reasonings: framing sustainability at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa)

Condition of the soil resource and provision of ecosystem services from a Brazilian Oxidic soil under conventional and integrated livestock-based systems

Integrated crop-livestock-forest systems promote soil health and deliver more ecosystem services (ES) compared to conventional livestock systems, although most studies on the subject poorly describe the soil component of these systems. This preliminary studyassessed the condition of the soil resource and its role in the provision of ecosystem services from a Brazilian Oxidic soil under conventional and integrated livestock-based systems. Five systems were studied from pasture only to partial and fully integrated croplivestock-forest systems. All are located on one of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) Research Farms. Data for the quantification of the soil resource and ES for each of these livestockbased systems were retrieved from previous studiesand used to quantify soil health, the provision of food and fibre and climate regulation, as well as report their impacts on receiving environment. Soil organic carbon content, a key component of soil health, was higher in the most integrated system. Soil-based grass yields were lower in integrated systems due to competition for resources from the trees or space taken by crops but had the highest overall provision of food and fibre. Carbon sequestration by trees in the integrated systems offsets enteric methane emissions from beef production, and this ES contributes to mitigating climate change. Future studies should include analysis of all the naturalresources and a wider range of soil-based ecosystem services, along with impacts on receiving environmentsto provide a more complete picture of the performance of integrated livestock-based systems.

Alliance Portfolio, Internal Resources, and Innovation Performance of an Agribusiness Public Research Institute: The Embrapa Case

This paper analyzes the phenomenon of open innovation in three Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) units through the interaction of their alliance networks, internal resources, and capabilities through a multiple case study analysis. The results show the importance of open innovation for an agribusiness public research institute because balancing internal and external resources and capabilities improves innovation. A well-structured alliance portfolio helps to mitigate the most relevant internal weaknesses related to the innovation processes, leading to a better innovative capacity. This work finds evidence for the existence of complementarity between internal and external resources and capabilities. However, the organization must present some level of internal capabilities, especially related to innovative culture, if they wish to take full advantage of this complementarity.

Detection and evaluation of volatile and non-volatile antifungal compounds produced by Bacillus spp. strains

The identification of antifungal compounds produced by microorganisms is crucial in the context of sustainable agriculture. Bacteria of the genus Bacillus have a broad spectrum of action that can influence plant growth and control pests, vectors of public health relevance and phytopathogens. Lipopeptides are the main compounds related to the biological control of several pathogen species. Strains with biotechnological potential are identified by means of in vitro bioassays and molecular tests. In this study, strains from the Bacillus Bank of Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA/DF/Brazil) were selected to control the fungal pathogens Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Fusarium oxysporum by pairing assays. The detection of genes for biosynthesis of antifungal compounds from strains with high pathogen-inhibition capacity was correlated with peptide synthesis, such as bacillomycin D, fengycin d, bacilysin and surfactin. Their gene expression in contact with the pathogen was analyzed by Real-Time PCR. The volatile organic compounds produced by selected Bacillus strains were identified and quantified. In co-culture assays, the inhibition zone between Bacillus strains and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy. Thirteen potentially anti-pathogenic strains were selected. Genes related to the synthesis of antifungal peptides were detected in 11 of them. In five strains, all tested genes were detected. Bacillomycin was the most frequently found lipopeptide gene. The fungus-bacteria interaction potentiated the production of volatiles. Several ketones and other volatile compounds with antifungal activity were identified. Relevant morphological changes in the fungus were observed when paired with bacteria. The study demonstrated the efficacy of the selected strains with regard to the biological control of phytopathogens and their biotechnological potential.

Population improvement via recurrent selection drives genetic gain in upland rice breeding.

One of the main challenges of breeding programs is to identify superior genotypes from a large number of candidates. By gradually increasing the frequency of favorable alleles in the breeding population, recurrent selection improves the population mean for target traits, increasing the chance to identify promising genotypes. In rice, population improvement through recurrent selection has been used very little to date, except in Latin America. At Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation), the upland rice breeding program is conducted in two phases: population improvement followed by product development. In this study, the CNA6 population, evaluated over five cycles (3 to 7) of selection, including 20 field trials, was used to assess the realized genetic gain. A high rate of genetic gain was observed for grain yield, at 215 kg.ha-1 per cycle or 67.8 kg.ha-1 per year (3.08%). The CNA6 population outperformed the controls only for the last cycle, with a yield difference of 1128 kg.ha-1. An analysis of the product development pipeline, based on 29 advanced yield trials with lines derived from cycles 3 to 6, showed that lines derived from the CNA6 population had high grain yield, but did not outperform the controls. These results demonstrate that the application of recurrent selection to a breeding population with sufficient genetic variability can result in significant genetic gains for quantitative traits, such as grain yield. The integration of this strategy into a two-phase breeding program also makes it possible to increase quantitative traits while selecting for other traits of interest.

Closed-Vessel Conductively Heated Digestion of Dry Dog Food for Spectrometric Determination of Essential Nutrients

The closed-vessel conductively heated digestion system (CHDS) was evaluated to digest dry dog foods for further determination of K, Na, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn by high-resolution continuum source flame atomic absorption spectrometry (HR-CS FAAS). The CHDS method was optimized using a fractional factorial design with five variables (HNO3 concentration, H2O2 volume, temperature, holding time, and pre-digestion time) at two levels. The accuracy of the CHDS procedure was checked by the analysis of reference materials from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST SRM 1577b Bovine Liver and 2976 Mussel Tissue) and Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa MR-E1002A Fish Food). Also, the digestion efficiencies were calculated from residual carbon contents (RCCs). The RCC and blank values in the CHDS digested samples were consistently low, which is suitable for determinations using ICP OES and ICP-MS techniques. For comparison, all samples were also digested by microwave-assisted digestion in closed vessels (MW-AD). Results for Na, K, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn determined in sample digests obtained by CHDS were not statistically different at a 95% confidence level from those observed for MW-AD. Limits of quantification (LOQ) calculated from digests in CHDS and MW-AD were comparable, and the values provided adequate limits for elemental determinations in dog foods. Data from mineral composition and moisture were employed in a clustering analysis (HCA) and the discrimination of the samples among different manufacturers and food for dogs at different life stages was possible.

Atributos físicos do solo submetido a ensilagem com diferentes conjuntos mecanizados

ABSTRACT The evaluation of the physical attributes of the soil in cultivated areas is essential for understanding the impacts of agricultural operations, especially those with intense machine traffic. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the physical attributes of the soil submitted to silage with different mechanized sets. A randomized block design was adopted with three treatments: forage harvester with a one-row cutting platform (T1), forage harvester with a three-row cutting platform (T2), and T2 with a forage harvester with a conveyor wagon. Before ensiling and 24 hours after the operation, intact samples of soil classified as Latossolo Vermelhoamarelo álico, intact, were collected to determine the micro, macro, and total porosity, soil density, and volumetric soil water content according to the methodology proposed by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa). After ensiling, the resistance to soil penetration was measured with an electronic manual penetrometer, before and after ensiling, at the A horizon of the soil in the layers of 0.0-0.2 m and 0.2-0.4 m. We analyzed the data by establishing the confidence interval using the t-test at 10% probability. The sets reduce the macroporosity and total porosity of the soil in the 0.0-0.2 m and 0.2-0.4 m soil layers. T2 promoted greater total density in the 0.0–0.2 m layer. The silage increased the resistance to soil penetration to a depth of 0.15 m.

Diversidade morfoagronômica e identificação botânica de acessos de melão do nordeste brasileiro

ABSTRACT Melon (Cucumis melo L.) crops are grown in the Semiarid region of Brazil by small, medium, and large farmers, focused on domestic and international markets. However, melon is also grown by family farmers using their own seeds, which are important germplasm for melon breeding programs. Samples of these seeds were collected and stored in the Active Germplasm Bank of Cucurbitaceae from the Northeast Region at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa Semiarid), and require more thorough studies for a better understanding of the existing variability. Thus, the objective of this work was to characterize sub-accessions and their respective endogamic progenies to assess the genetic variability between and among these accessions. Two experiments were conducted in a randomized complete block design, with three replications, using 11 quantitative and 8 qualitative descriptors: the first using seeds from 17 accessions from natural pollination, and the second using seeds from S1 progenies. Morphological data were used for comparisons between generations. The 17 accessions evaluated originated 24 sub-accessions, denoting variability between and among accessions and sub-accessions. A dendrogram developed based on the Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA) showed the existing variability and, according to the newest melon classification, the groups identified were: makuwa, subgroup nashi-uri; and momordica and cantalupensis, subgroup prescott. The results showed a probable existence of introgression of alleles between different botanical groups, and some sub-accessions were not identified regarding their group by presenting variations in morphological characteristics, indicating the presence of new botanical groups.

AgroAPI platform: An initiative to support digital solutions for agribusiness ecosystems

Agriculture is directly related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations. Digital transformation in agriculture is an important trend for sustainable practices and governance. In recent years, various sensors have been used in agriculture to collect large volumes of data that allows faster and more complex analysis. This paradigm shift has led to data-driven agricultural management, which aids farmers in the decision-making process. Digital platforms for data storage, organization, and management are important tools used by companies to generate better solutions for end users. However, there are challenges related to the acquisition time and retrieval of scalable and accurate data. To address these challenges, this paper presents the AgroAPI platform that provides access to data and models for the agricultural sector through Application Programming Interface (API). This is an initiative from the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) and its partners. The AgroAPI's APIs focus on agricultural productivity, indication of planting dates, soil classification, weather, bio-input catalog, and vegetation indices obtained from satellite images. This study showed that the AgroAPI platform, its available APIs and the applications developed with them contribute to reaching SDGs, particularly those related to agriculture.

TRANSGÊNICOS: VERDADES E MITOS ACERCA DA CARCINOGÊNESE - UM LEVANTAMENTO BIBLIOGRÁFICO

Introduction: Transgenic foods have been growing exponentially in recent years, emerging as components inevitably present in the diet of Brazilians. This is what Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) points out, when it highlights that, after twenty years of the insertion of the transgenic market, the cultivation area has grown from 1.7 million hectares to 175.2 million, and every 100 hectares planted, 30 have corn seeds with altered genes. Thus, it is essential to understand the association of this massively consumed grain with carcinogenesis. Objective: To propose a reflection on the consumption of transgenic foods and its long-term consequences through the study of a cereal used in the daily life of the national population. Methodology: Analysis of scientific research carried out substantially from 2018 to 2022 on the subject on the platforms: Google Scholar, PubMed and SciELO. Development: It is known that transgenic corn (Bt corn) is essential for Brazilian agriculture, however, associated with pesticides, it becomes a source of toxins, predominantly Atrazine and Glyphosate, both linked to cancerous development according to studies de SOARES, 2020. Conclusions: There are two aspects that are applicable to the subject: understanding transgenic foods as beneficial to the food marketing process and boosting the Brazilian economy or understanding them as questionable and harmful factors in the long term for human beings, raising, above all, the risk of malignant neoplasm. Keywords: Transgenia; Corn; Cancer.

Building Soil Fertility: Embrapa and the Agronomic Development for the “Conquest” of the Brazilian Cerrado (1975-95)

The history of agricultural intervention in the extensive area currently called the “Cerrado biome” reflects the confluence of several projects involving public and private agencies, which brought together knowledge from agronomy, economics, environmental sciences and other areas over decades. The biggest challenge for this venture revolved around converting large areas of “naturally” infertile soils into arable land for large-scale agriculture. A decisive point in the “conquest of the Cerrado”, as advocates of large-scale agribusiness refer to this historic process, was the creation of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária-Embrapa) and its specific unit for this area, the Cerrado Agricultural Research Center (Centro de Pesquisa Agropecuária dos Cerrados-CPAC). The institution has coordinated the research on cerrado soil fertility since the mid-1970s, promoting important scientific advances in agricultural productivity in Brazil. This article observes from a historiographical perspective how the Embrapa reports from 1975 to 1995 produced an important range of knowledge about cerrado soils and ecology, which ultimately led to the conceptualization and construction of the “Cerrado Biome”.

A bibliometric analysis on the agricultural use of biochar in Brazil from 2003 to 2021: research status and promising raw materials

Abstract Biochar is considered a promising option for the development of sustainable agroecosystems, due to its diverse agronomic and environmental benefits. In this context, the aim of this study was to carry out a bibliometric analysis on biochar research in Brazil within an agricultural context, including investigating the raw materials most employed for its production in the country. The analysis was conducted based on a search for scientific articles (peer-reviewed papers) at the Web of Science database (WoS Core Collection) from 2003 to 2020 specifically in Brazil. A performance analysis was carried out by applying a descriptive and metric approach concerning research constituents (authors, institutions, countries and keywords) and science mapping to clarify scientific collaborations and cognitive and intellectual structure patterns regarding the biochar domain in Brazilian research, using the VOSviewer software. The obtained studies were also analyzed individually to classify the different raw materials employed in biochar production. A total of 261 scientific articles met the screening criteria, indicating that the beginning of biochar publications in Brazil took place in 2003, increasing until 2015 and peaking in 2021. Institutions and authors with the highest publication contributions were the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) (Novotny E.), São Paulo University (USP) (Cerri C.) and Federal Lavras University (UFLA) (Melo L.). The United States, Spain, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands present the most collaborations on biochar research with Brazil. The biochar domain was highly associated with the following keywords: biochar, pyrogenic carbon, pyrolysis, charcoal, immobilization, black carbon, soil fertility and soil and characterization. Raw materials of plant origin were the most employed in biochar research in Brazil, with wood residues being the most studied and residues originated from the sugar-energy industry (straw, bagasse and filter cake) identified as exhibiting high potential for future studies. Poultry litter is the most promising animal waste for biochar production, while the use of biosolids can be innovative, contributing to the consolidation of biochar as an option for serious urban waste sanitary management problems.

Assessing the sensitive spectral bands for soybean water status monitoring and soil moisture prediction using leaf-based hyperspectral reflectance

The stability of soybean yields in Brazil is regularly affected by drought periods, and soil management practices are crucial to expanding the water holding capacity of the soil and providing higher levels of moisture during critical periods, which contribute to increasing crop yields, relieving the need for non-agricultural areas to be converted into croplands. The research reported herein aimed to quantitatively monitor the soil moisture of a soybean crop through leaf-based hyperspectral reflectance and suggest a remote sensing-based approach that might assist in identifying soil management zones. A field experiment at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation during 2016/2017, 2017/2018, and 2018/2019 cropping seasons had ten soybean genotypes subjected to four water conditions: irrigated, non-irrigated, and water deficit induced at the vegetative or reproductive stages. The soil of the experimental site is characterized as Udox Oxisol. Leaf reflectance (400–2500 nm) was collected by the spectroradiometer FieldSpec 3 Jr simultaneously with soil moisture (0–20 and 20–40 cm depths) at eleven dates. Data submitted to Principal Component Analysis (PCA) evaluated the clustering of water conditions and which are the most critical spectral wavelengths to characterize the plant water status. The Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) was applied to develop a quantitative spectral model to predict soil moisture. The PCA explained over 93% of the spectral variance within each assessment day, and shortwave infrared wavelengths presented a higher contribution to water status clustering. At the cross-validation step, the PLSR presented R2 up to 0.860 and 0.906 (0–20 and 20–40 cm) underperforming when soil moisture showed no significant differences between water conditions. Using samples from all assessment days, PLSR presented R2 = 0.609 and 0.722 (0–20 and 20–40 cm) at the external validation step (RMSE = 2.7 and 1.9, respectively), with a soil moisture range equal to 16–35% and 20–35% at both depths, remarkably outperforming the traditional univariate spectral models. Our results contribute to soil moisture assessment in extensive soybean areas regardless of the stage of crop development and provide a significant contribution since the Brazilian soybean crop calendar might present differences of over 30 days within the same production region. Due to that, soybean plants are rarely at the same phenological stage on a given date in the season.

Recursos fitogenéticos ornamentais brasileiros em bancos de germoplasma da Embrapa: entraves e oportunidades

Abstract Brazilian floriculture is driven by novelties, requiring the constant entry of new products into the market. This situation favors Brazil, which has, in its native flora, unique species in the world and with high potential for rational use for commercial purposes. The Brazilian flora with ornamental potential is little explored, and the use of species is restricted and, often, extractive with consequent genetic erosion. The use of native species from different ecosystems may constitute a future alternative of products for Brazilian floriculture. Despite the large amount of plant genetic resources, there are few initiatives for the conservation and domestication of species and improvement for sustainable use. For this reason, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) conserves collections of ornamental plants, and the research initiatives of these collections form the Genetic Resources of Ornamental Plants Project. In addition to conservation, it sought, in partnership with other institutions, the characterization and evaluation of the potential use of these species aiming at the completion of products for floriculture. In this way, the materials already characterized and documented make it possible to add value to genetic resources, already maintained. Currently, Embrapa has six ex situ collections of ornamental plants (Tropical species, Bromeliads, Cactaceae and species from the Pampa Biome, Amazonian Orchids and species from Cerrado) and also counts on the genetic variability of banks of other products (Passion fruit, Pineapple, Paspalum, Pepper, Pumpkin germplasm banks) that have been evaluating accessions, selecting and registering cultivars for ornamental use.

Overcoming dormancy in citrus rootstock seeds

Citrus is a fruit of great importance in Brazil, mainly in the socio-economic issue as it generates employment and income due to the production and export of concentrated orange juice, as well as other products. In view of the above, this work aimed to evaluate the dormancy overcoming of citrus seeds of the cultivars: Flying Dragon, San Diego, Índio, Cravo Santa Cruz, Riverside, BRS Sunki Tropical, Volkamerian, as well as the species Poncirus trifoliata. The seeds from Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) Clima Temperado, located in Pelotas-RS, as well as from Embrapa Cassava e Fruticultura, located in Cruz das Almas-BA, were submitted to the germination test as written in the Seed Analysis Rules and a germination test in which a small cut was made in the seed coat on the side of the embryo, around 0.1 mm with the help of a stylet, which was used 200 seeds (4 samples of 50 seeds per repetition) on germitest® paper, moistened with distilled water in an amount equivalent to 2.5 times its weight and kept inside a germinator at a constant temperature of 25 °C, photoperiod of 12 hours. The evaluations were carried out at the end of the 21 days after the installation of the test, providing data that were expressed in percentage of normal and abnormal seedlings and non-germinated seeds (hard, dormant or dead). of citrus seedlings at the end of the tests and the data obtained were submitted to analysis of variance and the means were compared by the Tukey test at a 5% significance level (p≤0.05), with the aid of the R- bio. It is concluded that, when evaluating germination and shoot and root length of seedlings cultivars Flying Dragon, Índio, Cravo Santa Cruz, BRS Sunki Tropical, Riverside and Volkameriano, San Diego and the species P. trifoliata, were satisfactory when submitted in the dormancy breaking process, but further studies are needed.