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Quantifying soil evaporation is required on studies of soil water balance and applications aiming to improve water use efficiency by crops. The performance of a microlysimeter (ML) to measure soil evaporation under irrigation and non-irrigation was evaluated. The MLs were constructed using PVC tubes, with dimensions of 100 mm inner diameter, 150 mm depth and 2.5 mm wall thickness. Four MLs were uniformly distributed on the soil surface of two weighing lysimeters conducted under bare soil, previously installed at Iapar, in Londrina, PR, Brazil. The lysimeters had 1.4 m width, 1.9 m length and 1.3 m depth and were conducted with and without irrigation. Evaporation measurements by MLs (E ML ) were compared with measurements by lysimeters (E L ) during four different periods in the year. Differences between E ML and E L were small either for low or high atmospheric demand and also for either irrigated or non-irrigated conditions, which indicates that the ML tested here is suitable for measurement of soil evaporation.KEYWORDS: water management, water balance, lysimeters, soil water. TESTE DE UM MICROLISÍMETRO PARA A MEDIÇÃO DA EVAPORAÇÃO DO SOLORESUMO: A quantificação da evaporação do solo é requerida em estudos de balanço hídrico de culturas e em aplicações que visam a aumentar a eficiência do uso da água pelos cultivos. O objetivo deste trabalho foi testar um modelo de microlisímetro (ML) para medir a evaporação do solo em condições irrigada e não irrigada. Os MLs foram construídos utilizando tubos de PVC rígido, medindo 100 mm de diâmetro interno, 150 mm de profundidade e 2,5 mm de espessura da parede. Quatro MLs foram assentados sobre a superfície de dois lisímetros de pesagem de alta precisão conduzidos com solo nu, previamente instalados no Iapar, em Londrina-PR. Os lisímetros tinham dimensões de 1,4 m de largura, 1,9 m de comprimento e 1,3 m de profundidade, e estavam sendo conduzidos com e sem irrigação. A evaporação medida nos MLs (E ML ) foi comparada com a medida nos lisímetros (E L ), durante quatro períodos do ano. As diferenças entre E ML e E L foram mínimas para condições de baixa e elevada demanda atmosférica, e também para condições de solo irrigado ou não irrigado, indicado que o modelo de ML testado neste trabalho é adequado para medir a evaporação do solo. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: manejo de água, balanço hídrico, lisímetro, água no solo.

RESUMOMedidas do índice de área foliar são necessárias para a maioria dos estudos agronômicos e fisiológicos envolvendo crescimento vegetal. Foi desenvolvido um experimento no Instituto Agronômico do Paraná (IAPAR), em Londrina (PR), durante a safra 2005/2006, com objetivo de avaliar dois métodos diretos de medição de área de folíolos de soja por meio de dimensões foliares e por imagens digitais capturadas por máquina fotográfica digital amadora, em duas situações distintas, folíolos íntegros e folíolos danificados. As estimativas obtidas foram comparadas com as medidas feitas com um integrador de área foliar LI-COR ® , modelo LI 3100, tomado como referência. Nas estimativas realizadas em folíolos íntegros, tanto pelo método de dimensões foliares como no de imagem digital, notou-se excelente concordância com as medidas obtidas pelo método LI-COR ® (R 2 = 0,983 e R 2 = 0,997 respectivamente). Para folíolos danificados, o método de imagem digital revelou coeficiente de determinação um pouco superior ao método de dimensões foliares, mas com um erro-padrão três vezes menor. O método de imagem digital pode substituir o método usado como referência (LI 3100) com vantagens de custo inferior e acuracidade similar.Palavras-chave: índice de área foliar, imagem digital, LI-COR ® . ABSTRACT SOYBEAN LEAFLET AREA ESTIMATION USING DIGITAL IMAGERY AND LEAF DIMENSIONSMeasurements of leaf area index are required in most of agronomic and physiological studies involving plant growth. Two direct methods for estimation of soybean leaf area (leaf dimensions and digital images captured by ordinary digital cameras) were evaluated, in two distinct conditions (entire leaf and damaged leaf). The estimations were compared with measurements taken by a LI-COR ® leaf area meter (model LI 3100), used as control. Both methods gave good estimations for entire leaf (R 2 = 0.983 for leaflet dimensions and R 2 = 0.997 for digital image). However, the evaluations of damaged leaves showed slightly better performance of digital image method, but a standard error three times lower as compared with leaf dimensions method. As a conclusion, the digital image method using ordinary cameras can replace the reference method (LI 3100) with advantages of lower cost and similar accuracy.

Direct weighing lysimeters to study the crop water use by physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.) Recently, there is an increasing interest in using physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.) as a source of oil for biodiesel production. However, currently knowledge regarding its crop water requirement is scarce and constitutes one of the main gaps that limit its use as an agroenergy alternative. In addition, there is a general agreement that an increase in biodiesel production worldwide will bring additional pressure to water resources, what provokes to use water in agriculture in a more efficient way. So, this study had as objective to construct six direct weighing lysimeter that will be used to study the water use of physic nut conducted under sprinkler and drip irrigation, and without irrigation. These lysimeters were calibrated and tested for its sensibility to air temperature and wind. Furthermore, there was also compared the influence of using two different load cells on their quality. Two lysimeters were installed for each treatment, one using ALFA ® load cells and other using HBM ®. Each lysimeter was constituted by a steel tank with 1.955 m inner radius (12 m 2) and 1.3 m of usable depth. They were encompassed by concrete walls, have a drainage system and were directly supported by three load cells. Both load cell models has a nominal capacity of 10,000 kg, with a lysimeter summed capacity of 30,000 kg. Lysimeters calibration procedure was done by adding and, after it, removing 1,000 kg of mass from then. Data were used to fit a linear regression model between the accumulated mass and the mean output value of the three load cells. For testing the sensibility to temperature, lysimeters mass were monitored till two consecutive days, under constant mass and with a barrier for protecting against wind interference. Data were compared to the temperature measured by the weather station and, also, by that measured by a datalogger and a thermohygrometer, which were installed inside the lysimeters pit. For testing to wind sensibility, there were constructed some trees prototypes using PVC pipes and raffia tarpaulin. One tree was installed on each lysimeter and, under constant mass, lysimeters mass were monitored during six consecutive days. Data were compared to the wind velocity, as measured by the weather station. All the six lysimeters constructed in this study presented adequate quality to be used for the determination of evapotranspiration on hourly and daily basis. For ALFA ® lysimeters, the final measurement resolution was 0.0013 mm, being obtained with good precision, hysteresis, and low accuracy (standard error of 0.27 to 1.04 mm). HBM ® lysimeters presented a final resolution of 0.00088 mm, good precision, few or no hysteresis, and high accuracy (standard error between 0.03 and 0.1 mm). All lysimeters proved to be not influenced by air temperature and wind on the determination of evapotranspiration, in spite of, in both, ALFA ® and HBM ® lysimeters, their measurement precision was linearly reduced with an increase in wind ...

RESUMODevido ao recente Programa de Produção de Biocombustíveis do Brasil, o interesse comercial tem crescido em relação à produção de pinhão-manso (Jatropha curcas L.). Informações sobre esta cultura ainda são escassas, o que remete a necessidade de mais pesquisas que possam estabelecer condições de adaptabilidade desta cultura em diferentes condições. Neste contexto, realizou-se um experimento para estudar o crescimento e a qualidade das mudas de pinhão-manso, produzidas em ambiente protegido; as mudas foram monitoradas até o momento de serem transplantadas para o campo. Foi analisada a influência dos tipos e volumes de recipientes, juntamente com diferentes substratos e formas de adubação; o consumo de água também foi analisado durante o experimento. De acordo com os resultados, as melhores taxas de crescimento e qualidade de mudas até a condição de transplantio, foram obtidas com a combinação do substrato comercial, maior tubete e adubo de liberação lenta.Palavras-chave: cultivo em ambiente protegido, recipiente, substrato, Jatropha curcas L.Growth and quality of physic nut seedlings produced in greenhouse ABSTRACT There has been an increasing interest in the commercial production of physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.) due to the recent Brazilian Program of Biofuel Production. Information on this crop is still scarce and more research is necessary to set the grounds of crop adaptability in different local conditions. An experiment was set up on this issue under greenhouse environment. Growth and quality of physic nut seedlings was monitored up to transplanting time. The influence of types and volumes of seedling containers was analysed along with different substrates and fertilization strategies. The water use was also detailed in the trial. Results showed the best achievements of growth rate and seedling quality, at appropriate transplanting time, were reached from the combination of the commercial substrate, largest containers and fertilizers of slow nutrient liberation.