This paper aims to examine the issue raised by the consumption of locally produced food in all its various aspects, and in particular, addresses how this practice contributes to local and global sustainability. It analyzes the different definitions of local food, the strategies used, the implications of the distance traveled in the transportation of food to the consumer's table -food miles, the relationships between local food consumption and sustainability, farming practices that reduce carbon emissions, contribution of urban agriculture to local food, local trading of food produced by rural farmers, as well as a number of relationships between the consumption of local food and human nutrition and health, local food protection and the ability to support local food production for humanitarian actions in disaster situations. The promotion of "local food" is a complex problem covering environmental issues, the economy and health.Transportation is not the only factor that determines how efficient it is to consume local food. Often, the technologies used for agricultural production are those most responsible for the degree of sustainability in the production and supply of food to the population. Local production does not always mean lower emissions of greenhouse gases. In general, the consumption of local foods, produced in ways adapted to the local environment using technologies with an ecological basis, is something beneficial and salutary for the environment, economy and society in general.

Copper is an essential nutrient for plants, animals, and humans because it is an indispensable component of several essential proteins and either lack or excess are harmful to human health. Recent studies revealed that the breakdown of the regulation of copper homeostasis could be associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common form of dementia. Copper accumulation occurs in human aging and is thought to increase the risk of AD for individuals with a susceptibility to copper exposure. This review reports that one of the leading causes of copper accumulation in the environment and the human food chain is its use in agriculture as a plant protection product against numerous diseases, especially in organic production. In the past two decades, some countries and the EU have invested in research to reduce the reliance on copper. However, no single alternative able to replace copper has been identified. We suggest that agroecological approaches are urgently needed to design crop protection strategies based on the complementary actions of the wide variety of crop protection tools for disease control.

Currently, Brazil is the world's largest producer of sugar cane. Various factors can interfere in the productivity and technological quality of sugar cane, which in the end, represent the integration of the different conditions to which the culture was exposed. Some of the most relevant aspects for good final yielding or stand of plants are related to planting practices. These practices directly affect the ability of sprouting and tillering of sugar cane. Based on a review of the literature, this article aims to report the various factors that can affect sprouting and tillering of sugar cane.

Infl uência do espaçamento e da população de plantas de sorgo sacarino em diferentes épocas semeadura.Ciência Rural, v.44, n.6, jun, 2014. 975Infl uência do espaçamento e da população de plantas de sorgo sacarino em diferentes épocas semeadura

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a produtividade de fitomassa da parte aérea e o acúmulo de N, P e K nas leguminosas arbóreas em sistemas agroflorestais de aléias, bem como verificar o efeito da adição de fósforo sobre as leguminosas. Foram realizados experimentos de campo com a utilização de leguminosas, com e sem adição de P, por dois anos consecutivos de avaliação, em Campos dos Goytacazes,RJ. Os tratamentos consistiram do sistema de aléias com Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth., Peltophorum dubium (Spreng.) Taub., Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit., Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp., Sesbania virgata (Cav.) Pers., Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia Benth. e Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Pers. Após oito meses de plantio das leguminosas, estas foram podadas a 1,5 m de altura, restando a haste principal. O material podado foi pesado, descartando-se os ramos com diâmetro superior a 1,5 cm e sendo retiradas as amostras compostas para determinações da fitomassa seca e dos teores de N, P e K. Efetuou-se nova poda 80 dias após a primeira, e pesou-se esse material. No primeiro ano, o guandu mostrou-se superior na produtividade de fitomassa seca e no acúmulo de N, P e K. No segundo ano de avaliação, no experimento com adição de P a leucena e a canafístula assemelharam-se ao guandu na produtividade de fitomassa, enquanto a leucena e o guandu, no acúmulo de N e P, porém a leucena superou o guandu e a canafístula no acúmulo de K na parte aérea. A aplicação de P teve efeito positivo na produtividade de fitomassa seca de algumas espécies.

RESUMOO objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar adubos verdes e seus efeitos no rendimento da cana-de-açúcar em sistema de plantio direto (SPD). O trabalho foi realizado em Campos dos Goytacazes (RJ), no período de dezembro de 2003 a julho de 2005. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos casualizados, com quatro repetições. Os tratamentos foram: feijão-de-porco (Canavalia ensiformis), mucuna-preta (Mucuna aterrimum), crotalária (Crotalária juncea) em plantio direto e vegetação espontânea em preparo convencional (testemunha). Com crotalária aos 35 dias após emergência (DAE) houve maior taxa de cobertura do solo -87% -e, aos 92 DAE produziu 17.852 kg ha -1 de matéria seca, respectivamente, 41%, 78% e 407% superior ao feijão-de-porco, mucuna e vegetação espontânea, além de superá-las em acúmulos de K, Mg, S, Zn e Fe. O feijão-de-porco e a mucuna proporcionaram o maior teor de N na parte aérea. Com feijão-de-porco, os teores de P e Ca foram maiores que a crotalária e a mucuna. Com vegetação espontânea, o maior teor de K foi na parte aérea. As leguminosas acumularam maiores quantidades de N e Cu do que a vegetação espontânea. A crotalária e o feijão-de-porco acumularam 66% a mais de P na parte área que a mucuna. O SPD utilizando a adubação verde contribuiu significativamente para a maior produtividade de cana-de-açúcar, 135.863 kg ha -1 , sendo 37% superior ao PC com a vegetação espontânea.Palavras-chave: Crotalaria juncea, Saccharum oficinalis, agricultura sustentável. ABSTRACT COVER CROPS IN THE YIELD OF SUGARCANE UNDER NO-TILLAGEThe objective of this experiment was to evaluate green manures and their effects in the sugarcane yield using no-tillage system (SPD). The experiment was carried out at Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro State, from december/2003 to july/2005. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with four replications. The treatments were jack bean (Canavalia ensiformis), velvet bean (Mucuna aterrimum) and sun hemp (Crotalaria juncea) under no-tillage and spontaneous vegetation in conventional tillage (PC) (control). The sunhemp 35 days after emergency (DAE) showed higher rate of soil cover 87% and 92 DAE produced 17.852 kg ha -1 of dry matter, 41%, 78% and 407% superior to jack bean, velvet bean and spontaneous vegetation, respectively, besides overcoming them in accumulation of K, Mg, S, Zn and Fe. Jack bean and velvet bean showed the highest content of N in the aerial part than other covering plants. Jack bean showed higher contents of P and Ca than sun hemp and velvet bean. The spontaneous vegetation showed the highest content of K in aerial part in relation to the cover plants. The legumes accumulated higher amounts of N and Cu than the spontaneous vegetation. Sun hemp and the jack bean accumulated 66% more of P in the aerial part than velvet bean. The SPD using green manures contributed significantly to sugarcane, yield that was 135.863 kg ha -1 , being 37% superior to PC with the spontaneous vegetation.

Foliar fertilization with nickel and molybdenum in common bean cv. 'Ouro Vermelho'The objective of this work was to assess the effect of foliar application with nickel (Ni) and molybdenum (Mo) on components of yield, growth and mineral composition of common bean cv. 'Ouro Vermelho'. The experiment was arranged in a randomized block design with four replications in a 5 x 2factorial scheme consisted of rates of Ni (0, 15, 30, ), and Mo (0 and 80 g ha -1) applied in the leaves 25 days after seeding. The elements were applied in the form of Ni chloride hexahydrate and ammonium molybdate. The foliar application of Ni did not change the foliar contents of N, P, K, Fe, Mo and Ni, but increased the content of N, Ni and the crude protein in the seed. The application of Mo decreased the foliar contents of P, Fe and Ni, but increased the foliar content of Mo and the content of N, Mo and crude protein in the seed. It was found that the foliar application of Ni and Mo did not affect the seed weight, the number of beans per pod, the number of pod per plant and the dry weight of the root system. The application of Mo increased in 21.62% the number of nodules.

RESUMOObjetivou-se avaliar a influência de algumas leguminosas perenes no teor foliar de N, P e K e na produtividade da cultura do milho (UENF 506-8), cultivado no sistema de aléias, sem adubação fosfatada. Foram realizados experimentos de campo por dois ciclos de cultivo, no Campo Experimental do CCTA/UENF, em Campos dos Goytacazes RJ. Os tratamentos consistiram no sistema de aléias com Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth., Peltophorum dubium (Spreng.) Taub., Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit., Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp., Sesbania virgata (Cav.) Pers., Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia Benth., Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Pers. e duas testemunhas com milho solteiro (com e sem NPK). Após oito meses de plantio das leguminosas, essas foram podadas, o material foi incorporado ao solo e em seguida semeado o milho nas entrelinhas, com espaçamento de 80 cm entre fileiras. Após 60 dias da semeadura do milho efetuou-se nova poda. No segundo ciclo de cultivo, as práticas culturais foram similares às do primeiro. Foi utilizado o delineamento em blocos casualizados com quatro repetições. Nas aléias de guandu, observou-se milho com maior teor foliar de N, em relação às demais leguminosas, no primeiro ciclo de cultivo. No segundo ciclo, os consórcios milho+guandu, milho+gliricídia e milho solteiro adubado superaram os demais na produtividade de grãos.Termos para indexação: Agroecologia, Consórcio, Fitomassa, Adubação Verde e Zea mays. ABSTRACTThe objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of perennials legumes, in N, P and K foliar concentration and maize productivity in alley cropping system, without phosphorus fertilization. Field experiments were carried out for two cycles, with legumes intercropping maize (UENF 506-8) in Field Research CCTA/UENF in Campos dos Goytacazes -RJ -Brazil. The treatments consisted of alley cropping system with the species: Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth., Peltophorum dubium (Spreng.) Taub., Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit., Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp., Sesbania virgata (Cav.) Pers., Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia Benth., Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Pers. and two control treatments: sole maize with or without fertilizer NPK. Eight months after the plantation, the legumes species were pruned and incorporated in soil. Maize was sown interows legumes, in rows spaced 80 cm. New prune carried on sixty days after the first cut. In the second cycle, the crop handlings were similar to the first cycle. The experimental design consisted of randomized blocks with four replicates. In the alley cropping with Cajanus cajan the maize show the larger N foliar concentration, in first cycle. In the second cycle, maize+Gliricidia sepium, maize+Cajanus cajan and sole maize with NPK produced more grain than others treatments.