-The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of the pasture (Urochloa brizantha) component age on soil biological properties, in a crop-livestock integrated system. The experiment was carried out in a Brazilian savannah (Cerrado) area with 92 ha, divided into six pens of approximately 15 ha. Each pen represented a different stage of the pasture component: formation, P0; one year, P1; two years, P2; three years, P3; and final with 3.5 years, Pf. Samples were taken in the 0-10 cm soil depth. The soil biological parameters -microbial biomass carbon (MBC), microbial biomass respiration (C-CO 2 ), metabolic quotient (qCO 2 ), microbial quotient (q mic ), and total organic carbon (TOC) -were evaluated and compared among different stages of the pasture, and between an adjacent area under native Cerrado and another area under degraded pasture (PCD). The MBC, q mic and TOC increased and qCO 2 reduced under the different pasture stages. Compared to PCD, the pasture stages had higher MBC, q mic and TOC, and lower qCO 2 . The crop-livestock integrated system improved soil microbiological parameters and immobilized carbon in the soil in comparison to the degraded pasture.Index terms: metabolic quotient, microbial biomass carbon, microbial quotient, soil respiration. Atributos biológicos do solo em pastagens de diferentes idades no sistema de integração lavoura-pecuáriaResumo -O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito da idade do componente pastagem (Urochloa brizantha) sobre as propriedades biológicas do solo, em um sistema de integração lavoura-pecuária. O experimento foi realizado numa área de Cerrado, com 92 ha, dividida em seis piquetes de aproximadamente 15 ha. Cada piquete representou um estágio diferente do componente pastagem: em formação, P0; de um ano, P1; dois anos, P2; três anos, P3; e final de 3,5 anos, Pf. As amostras foram coletadas à profundidade de 0-10 cm. As propriedades biológicas do solo -carbono da biomassa microbiana (CBM), respiração da biomassa mircobiana (C-CO 2 ), quociente metabólico (qCO 2 ); quociente microbiano (q mic ); e o carbono orgânico total (COT) -foram avaliadas e comparadas entre as pastagens de diferentes idades, e entre uma área adjacente sob vegetação nativa de Cerrado e uma pastagem degradada (PCD). O CBM, o q mic e o COT aumentaram gradativamente, e o qCO 2 diminuiu, nas pastagens de diferentes idades. Em comparação à PCD, o CBM, o q mic e o COT foram maiores, e o qCO 2 menor, nas pastagens. O sistema de integração lavoura-pecuária melhorou os parâmetros biológicos e imobilizou carbono no solo, em comparação à pastagem degradada.Termos para indexação: quociente metabólico, carbono da biomassa microbiana, quociente microbiano, respiração do solo.

In the face of the traditional model of succession of native environments in pastures or agricultural areas, followed by superpastejo and the concern with emissions of greenhouse gases in the Brazilian Amazon region, this work aims to determine the influence of different land uses on carbon sequestration and soil organic matter changes in the municipality of Pindaré-Mirim, in state of Maranhão. This study evaluated different uses of the soil: native forest; secondary vegetation (capoeira); degraded pasture and CLFI (Crop-Livestock-Forest Integration) system. The deformed and undisturbed samples were collected at depths: 0.00-0.10, 0.10-0.20, 0.20-0.30, 0.30-0.40, 0.40-0.60, 0.60-0.80 and 0.80-1.00 m. Soil densities were determined by the volumetric ring method, the carbon stocks by the carbon content in the soil evaluating the dry combustion, and the accumulated carbon stocks were calculated in 1.00 m. The physical fractions of the organic matter were determined by means of the granulometric method. At depth 0.0-0.10 m, the soil density in the native forest (1.17 g cm -3 ) was lower than the average of degraded pasture (1.40 g cm -3). There was no difference in the carbon content between all the land uses up to 0.40 m depth. The accumulated carbon stocks up to 1.00 m ranged from 49.52 Mg ha -1 to 64.41 Mg ha -1 and were higher in the native forest compared to capoeira and the ICLF system. In relation to the accumulated carbon stock, the native forest and degraded pasture were the ones that obtained the highest levels, followed by the capoeira and the CLFI system.

The objective of this study is to estimate the production costs and profitability of corn cultivation in the setup phase of the crop-livestock-forest integration system for pasture recovery in the municipality of Pindaré-Mirim/MA, Brazil. The study was developed at the Technological Reference Unit (TRU) for the Integration of Crop-Livestock-Forest (ICLF) of Embrapa Cocais, located in the municipality of Pindaré-Mirim/MA, Brazil. Data collection occurred during the agricultural year 2015/2016. The management of the ICLF system was carried out following the molds of the "Santa Fé" technique. The cost of production was used to calculate the Total Operational Cost (TOC) and were extrapolated per hectare. For the economic analysis of corn production, three different prices were considered: (a) the price received by the producer; (b) the historical average of the last 30 months to the date of actual sale of the product; and (c) the minimum guarantee price of the federal government. The TOC was found to be US$ 1,672.72 per hectare. The economic efficiency indicators showed promising profit values, demonstrating that in this study with corn production in the 1st year, it would be possible to pay for the implementation of the ICLF system as an alternative for the recovery of degraded pasture.

The sustainability of ecosystems is closely linked with the assessment of soil properties that estimate their quality. This work proposes to evaluate soil chemical attributes as a function of the implantation of a crop-livestock-forest integration system (ICLF) in the region of Mata dos Cocais in the state of Maranhão, Northeast Brazil. The four different land uses evaluated were native vegetation with babassu, capoeira vegetation, degraded pasture and area under ICLF system (with marandu grass, maize and eucalyptus consortium). The samples were collected up to one meter deep, comprising seven layers: 0.00-0.10, 0.10-0.20, 0.20-0.30, 0.30-0.40, 0.40-0.60, 0.60-0.80 and 0.80-1.0 m. The chemical attributes evaluated were pH, Ca, Mg, Al, P, K and Na, potential acidity, base sum, base saturation and soil cation exchange capacity (CEC). The levels of P, in the 0.00-0.10 m layer, were higher in the ICLF system than those of the native forest with babassu. The levels of K in the ICLF system and degraded pasture were higher than the other land uses up to a depth of 0.40 m, ranging from 0.92 cmolc dm-3 to 0.62 cmolc dm-3 and 1.04 cmolc dm-3 and 0.67 cmolc dm-3, respectively. Base saturation was higher in soils under ICLF system and degraded pasture than those observed in native forest and capoeira vegetation. There was an effect in chemical attributes of the soil such as a function of land use and, in general, the highest values were found in areas with degraded pasture and ICLF.

Integrated systems (crops, livestock, and forest) are tools to avoid increases in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, such as CO2, CH4, and N2O. The objective of this study was to evaluate the GHG emissions and soil biological and chemical characteristics in an integrated system. The experiment was carried out in an area with crop-livestock-forest integration systems (CLFI), in Pindaré-Mirim, state of Maranhão, Brazil. The treatments consisted of maize (Zea mays) intercropped with forage (Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandú) between eucalyptus trees (Eucalyptus urophylla × Eucalyptus tereticornis) (S1); maize intercropped with forage (Megathyrsus maximus cv. Massai) (S2); and degraded pasture areas with no soil or forage management for more than 14 years (S3), which was used as reference treatment. The experiment was conducted with four replications of four trenches for soil collection or four static chambers for gas flow assessments. The GHG emissions were collected by static chambers and analyzed by gas chromatography, and the soil quality was determined by chemical analysis. The interaction between GHG emissions and soil characteristics was assessed for each treatment, using multivariate analysis and PCA. The soil of the degraded pasture presented higher GHG emissions. The integrated systems presented negative methane fluxes, which denote their mitigating effect on GHG emissions. The CLFI system with eucalyptus and maize intercropped with U. brizantha cv. Marandú was the best option to improve the soil biological characteristics and mitigate GHG emissions. Crop-livestock-forest integration with Eucalyptus, maize, and U. brizantha cv. Marandú is indicated to improve soil biological characteristics and mitigate GHG emissions in the Amazonian region of the state of Maranhão, Brazil.

O conteúdo dos artigos e seus dados em sua forma, correção e confiabilidade são de responsabilidade exclusiva dos seus respectivos autores.

The cashew pseudo fruit can be used to animal feeding in tropical and subtropical countries as Brazil, Ivory Coast and Vietnam. Thus, our objective was to evaluate the intake, digestibility of nutrients and nitrogen balance of dehydrated cashew apple by-product to sheep. The experiment was carried out with 24 sheep in a completely randomized design with the treatments distributed in a 4 x 2 factorial scheme to test the inclusion (11, 21, 28 and 33% dry matter basis) and the grinding sizes (3 and 19 mm diameter) of dehydrated cashew apple by-product. To grinding sizes there was no effect to intake and digestibility, suggesting the use of dehydrated cashew apple by-product either finely or coarsely milled. The inclusion up to 33% of dehydrated cashew apple by-product inclusion did not affect voluntary intake and nitrogen balance. However, when including above 21%, there was a reduction of ether extract digestibility and more than 28% reduced dry matter and organic matter digestibility.

Direitos para esta edição cedidos à Atena Editora pelos autores. Todo o conteúdo deste livro está licenciado sob uma Licença de Atribuição Creative Commons. Atribuição-Não-Comercial-NãoDerivativos 4.0 Internacional (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).O conteúdo dos artigos e seus dados em sua forma, correção e confiabilidade são de responsabilidade exclusiva dos autores, inclusive não representam necessariamente a posição oficial da Atena Editora. Permitido o download da obra e o compartilhamento desde que sejam atribuídos créditos aos autores, mas sem a possibilidade de alterá-la de nenhuma forma ou utilizá-la para fins comerciais. Todos os manuscritos foram previamente submetidos à avaliação cega pelos pares, membros do Conselho Editorial desta Editora, tendo sido aprovados para a publicação com base em critérios de neutralidade e imparcialidade acadêmica.A Atena Editora é comprometida em garantir a integridade editorial em todas as etapas do processo de publicação, evitando plágio, dados ou resultados fraudulentos e impedindo que interesses financeiros comprometam os padrões éticos da publicação. Situações suspeitas de má conduta científica serão investigadas sob o mais alto padrão de rigor acadêmico e ético.