The salinity is one of the stresses that more limits the income of the agricultural cultures, mainly in areas semiarid as the Northeast, though, it is known that the biostimulants are substances capable to alter the metabolism of the plant and to favor development under adverse conditions of stresses. In this context, it was aimed at with this work to evaluate the initial growth of the passion fruit plant irrigated with saline water and the application of biostimulants. The experiment was conducted at the Federal University of Campina Grande, campus Pombal, in factorial outline 5 × 3, corresponding to five salinity levels (S1 = 0.3; S2 = 2.3; S3 = 3.3; S4 = 4.3 and S5 = 5.3 dS m-1) and two biostimulants (B1 = Acadian and B2 = Crop Set) and treatment testifies (without an application of biostimulant). The dose used for each product was 4 ml L-1 of Acadian and 3 ml L-1 of Crop Set. It was used seeds of the passion fruit of the variety BRS-giant, sowed in containers of black polypropylene of 400 ml, containing sand and substrate Carolina Soil, in the proportion 1:1. For the 32 days after the sowing was determined the height, the root length, the fresh and dry mass (aerial, root and total) of plants, the biomass production and the index of tolerance the salinity. The data were submitted to the variance analysis of the test F at the level of 5% of probability, and when significant, the averages were submitted to the test Tukey for both factors, saline levels and biostimulants. The use of vegetable biostimulants increases the initial growth of the yellow passion fruit plant. The salinity in the irrigation water attacks the growth, however, I use of the biostimulant Crop Set lessens the harmful effect in passion fruit seedlings.

Under salt stress conditions, plant growth is reduced due to osmotic, nutritional and oxidative imbalance. However, salicylic acid acts in the mitigation of this abiotic stress by promoting an increase in growth, photosynthesis, nitrogen metabolism, synthesis of osmoregulators and antioxidant enzymes. In this context, the objective was to evaluate the effect of salicylic acid doses on the growth and physiological changes of eggplant seedlings under salt stress. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse, where the treatments were distributed in randomized blocks using a central composite matrix Box with five levels of electrical conductivity of irrigation water (CEw) (0.50; 1.08; 2.50; 3.92 and 4.50 dS m-1), associated with five doses of salicylic acid (SA) (0.00; 0.22; 0.75; 1.28 and 1.50 mM), with four repetitions and each plot composed of three plants. At 40 days after sowing, plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, leaf area, electrolyte leakage, relative water content, and total dry mass were determined. ECw and SA application influenced the growth and physiological changes of eggplant seedlings. Increasing the ECw reduced growth in the absence of SA. Membrane damage with the use of SA remained stable up to 3.9 dS m-1 of ECw. The relative water content independent of the CEw increased with 1.0 mM of SA. The use of SA at the concentration of 1.0 mM mitigated the deleterious effect of salinity on seedling growth up to 2.50 dS m-1 of ECw.

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Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a molecule that can flag plants under biotic and abiotic stress conditions. Among the kinds of stress, the salinity stress is the one that most usually affects plants. Consequently, the purpose hereof was to use hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to mitigate the possible harmful effects of salinity in yellow passion fruit seedlings. We employed a randomized block design, in a 5 × 3 factorial scheme, corresponding to five irrigation water electric conductivity levels (0.3; 1.3; 2.3; 3.3; and 4.3 dS m-1) and three hydrogen peroxide concentrations (0; 5; and 15 μmol L-1), with four repetitions. The treatments were applied foliarly 7 and 15 days after the seedlings’ germination with hand sprayers. Sixty days after sowing, we evaluated the seedlings’ growth and quality variables, which finally proved that hydrogen peroxide mitigates the harmful effect of the irrigation water’s salinity up to 2 dS m-1 in the growth of yellow passion fruit seedlings at the concentration of 5 μmol/L. Nonetheless, excessive concentrations (15 μmol L-1) associated with high salt concentrations were proven detrimental to the seedlings’ phenological growth and quality.

It has been suggested that fatty acid balance in standard sunflower oil may be influenced by the genotype of the plant or by variation in environmental growth conditions. Therefore, this study analysed aspects of sunflower productivity and oil quality obtained from achenes of plants cultivated in a semi-arid environment, resulting from seed obtained from other regions with different edaphoclimatic characteristics. The experiment was conducted between February and May, in a Brazilian semi-arid area. At 90 days after sowing (DAS), the physiological maturation period, tissue was harvested, and the yield of plant green matter, oil and oil per hectare was evaluated. A comparative analysis of the oil content of achenes before and after planting (parental v progeny) was performed. The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design of 4 treatments (genotypes), Embrapa122, BRSG01, Helio253 and Helio250, and 4 replications, for a total of 16 experimental plots, with each plot constituting 8 plants. In this study, sunflowers were produced in the climatic conditions of the Brazilian semi-arid region with biomasses, achenes and oil contents that were different from other crop productions in the country, providing the possibility of obtaining oil with a distinct chemical composition.

The objective of this paper was to evaluate growth and accumulation of dry mass in "Atlas" squash plants with fruiting induced by cytokinin and auxin. The work was conducted from March to June 2018. The treatments were constituted of 6 proportions of plant growth regulators, 0/0 (control); 0/100; 25/75; 50/50; 75/25; 100/0% of the concentration of 2.5 and 10.0 mg L -1 CPPU cytokinin and IBA auxin, respectively, and applied in two different ways: via ovary and through the leaves. A randomizedcomplete block design with 4 replicates was used. The results showed that all treatments affected the studied variables. The proportions 25/75 and 50/50% applied through the leaves were the ones that best favored the growth. The use of 0/100% via ovary stimulates growth and accumulation of root mass, but it does not stimulate fruiting. The accumulation of fruit mass was elevated by treatments 50/50% via leaves and 75/25% via ovary.

A arborização de cidades apresenta inúmeras vantagens dentre as quais melhoria do microclima e bem estar populacional. No entanto, a falta de planejamento e conhecimento do poder público responsável por esse processo pode provocar efeitos contrários aos desejados. Com isso, o objetivo com este trabalho consistiu em avaliar a percepção da população local quanto a qualificação da arborização na cidade de Pombal, Paraíba, no intuito de coletar informações necessárias ao futuro e correto planejamento arbóreo deste centro urbano. Para isso, foram aplicados questionários semiestruturados contendo 11 perguntas objetivas, onde quatro eram para caracterizar o perfil dos entrevistados em relação ao sexo, idade, nível de escolaridade e atividade principal, e as sete restantes abrangiam as questões referentes à arborização do município, atingindo desta forma um público de 200 pessoas. A cidade de Pombal - PB encontra-se razoavelmente arborizada e ainda apresenta problemas com redes elétricas e telefônicas devido a falta de correto planejamento pelos órgãos públicos responsáveis. A população percebe os benefícios da arborização afirmando que as arbóreas existentes favorecem em especial a sombra e redução de temperatura.

The use of medicinal plants is an alternative for the treatment and prevention of diseases that affect animals, since it is a low cost method and easily acquired by the producer. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the population knowledge in the Paraiban semi-arid region regarding the use of plants with healing properties for animals. The research was conducted in the 14th Administrative Region of Paraíba Technical Assistance and Rural Extension Company, based in Pombal-PB, promoting a descriptive field research with a qualitative approach. As an instrument for data collection, a previously structured questionnaire containing objective and subjective questions was used. It was observed that among the respondents that the most used medicinal plant to cure animal diseases was lemon (Citrus limonum) with 12.14%, followed by Fedegoso (Senna occidentalis) with 10.57%, wild bean (Capparis flexuosa) equivalent to 9.57% and therefore aloe vera (Aloe vera) with 8.14%. Among the families that stood out the most are Anacardiaceae, Fabaceae and Euphorbiaceae, both with endemic Caatinga species.