In March 2014 a group of early career researchers and academics from São Paulo state and from the UK met at the University of Campinas to participate in a workshop on ‘Responsible Innovation and the Governance of Socially Controversial Technologies’. In this Perspective we describe key reflections and observations from the workshop discussions, paying particular attention to the discourse of responsible innovation from a cross-cultural perspective. We describe a number of important tensions, paradoxes and opportunities that emerged over the three days of the workshop.

In this paper we assess the potential economic effects of climate change on Brazilian agriculture scenarios in different regions in a general equilibrium framework, using a detailed regional economic database for the year 2005. Two different climate change impact scenarios are simulated. This paper extends the Brazilian literature in three different ways: by considering detailed shocks by product and region; by highlighting the connections between the potential impacts of climate change on agriculture and the labor market, with an inter-regional focus; and by specifying the links between climate change forecasts for agriculture and household expenditures. Results show that climate change impacts on Brazilian agriculture would have a relatively small economic effect on the Brazilian economy in aggregate terms, but with severe consequences at the regional level, making a strong case for losses that would be concentrated in the poorest regions and for the poorest workers and households in those regions.

Smallholder farming is among the most vulnerable sectors due to its great social and economic sensitivity. Despite future climate change, current climate variability is already an issue of concern that justifies adaptation efforts. In Brazil, the Semi-Arid Region is a climate hotspot, well known for both historic socioeconomic setbacks, and agriculture failures caused by dry spells and severe droughts. In 2010, the Brazilian government enacted the National Policy on Climate Change, which states as one of its key goals the identification of vulnerabilities and the adoption of adequate measures of adaptation to climate change. The improvement of vulnerability assessment tools is a response to the growing demand of decision makers for regular information and indicators with high spatial and temporal resolution. This article aims at undertaking a comparative assessment of smallholder farming’s vulnerability to droughts. An integrated assessment system has been developed and applied to seven municipalities located in the Brazilian Semi-Arid Region (within the State of Ceará). Results show regional vulnerability contrasts driven by institutional and socioeconomic factors, beyond climatic stressors.

This paper analyzes the potential effects of climate change on Brazilian agriculture by considering irrigation as an adaptive strategy. Investigations were performed to determine how climatic variability influences irrigation and whether this adaptive measure actually reduces producers’ vulnerability to climate change. We used a simultaneous equations model with endogenous switching to account for the heterogeneity in the decision of whether to use adaptive measures. We compared the expected land values under the actual and counterfactual cases of farm households that either adapt or do not adapt to climate change. Simulation results show that irrigation can be an effective tool for counteracting the harmful effects of climate change. The income of farmers tends to increase on lands where irrigation technologies are practiced. These conclusions confirm the need to invest in adaptation strategies to prepare Brazil for coping with the adverse effects of global climate change.

O abacateiro apresenta grande diversidade de tolerância a baixas temperaturas devido às suas regiões de origem. As raças mexicanas são mais tolerantes, as raças antilhanas são mais sensíveis e as guatemalenses têm comportamento intermediário. Neste trabalho o zoneamento de riscos climáticos fundamentou-se na severidade das geadas, por meio da análise de séries históricas de temperaturas mínimas em um ambiente de Sistema de Informação Geográfica. Foram identificadas quatro zonas distintas de risco, caracterizando geadas muito fortes e frequentes, onde não se recomenda o cultivo; geadas fortes, onde somente a cultivar Fuerte é recomendada; geadas moderadas, onde somente as cultivares Primavera e Margarida não são recomendadas, e uma zona de baixo risco, no norte e oeste do Paraná, onde todas as cultivares são indicadas. As diversidades de climas no Paraná e as exigências térmicas das cultivares possibilitam a colheita em grande parte do ano por meio da combinação de diferentes cultivares e regiões de plantio.

In the south-eastern region of Brazil there are millions of hectares of deforested, almost-treeless hillsides with sparse ground-cover of grasses of African origin. For the establishment of more productive pastures in these areas, silvopastoral systems (SPSs) have been recommended, and the objective of this study was to quantify the N fluxes in the soil/plant/animal systems as a means compare the sustainability of a SPS planted with legume trees (Acacia mangium and Mimosa artemisiana) and eucalyptus, compared to that of a grass-alone Brachiaria decumbens (BDH) pasture. The annual live weight gain of Zebu × Friesian heifers, assessed 5 years after pasture establishment, was significantly higher on the SPS than on the grass-alone pasture, at 205 and 177 kg head−1 year−1 respectively. The N deposited as animal excreta (38–49 kg ha−1 for BDH and SPS, respectively), especially urine, is considered to be much more susceptible to loss than N derived from decomposing plant litter, and was found to be much less than the N recycled though the grass litter (107 and 114 kg ha−1, respectively) in both systems. The extra N recycled in tree-leaf and grass litter increased this by 34 kg N ha−1 in the SPS and we conclude that this would contribute to sustain forage productivity. The added advantage of trees in the provision of shade for the animals and protection from soil erosion should further contribute to the long term sustainable productivity of this SPS.

The dynamics of N losses in fertilizer by ammonia volatilization is affected by several factors, making investigation of these dynamics more complex. Moreover, some features of the behavior of the variable can lead to deviation from normal distribution, making the main commonly adopted statistical strategies inadequate for data analysis. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the patterns of cumulative N losses from urea through ammonia volatilization in order to find a more adequate and detailed way of assessing the behavior of the variable. For that reason, changes in patterns of ammonia volatilization losses as a result of applying different combinations of two soil classes [Planossolo and Chernossolo (Typic Albaqualf and Vertic Argiaquolls)] and different rates of urea (50, 100 and 150 kg ha-1 N), in the presence or absence of a urease inhibitor, were evaluated, adopting a 2 × 3 × 2 factorial design with four replications. Univariate and multivariate analysis of variance were performed using the adjusted parameter values of a logistic function as a response variable. The results obtained from multivariate analysis indicated a prominent effect of the soil class factor on the set of parameters, indicating greater relevance of soil adsorption potential on ammonia volatilization losses. Univariate analysis showed that the parameters related to total N losses and rate of volatilization were more affected by soil class and the rate of urea applied. The urease inhibitor affected only the rate and inflection point parameters, decreasing the rate of losses and delaying the beginning of the process, but had no effect on total ammonia losses. Patterns of ammonia volatilization losses provide details on behavior of the variable, details which can be used to develop and adopt more accurate techniques for more efficient use of urea.

Objetivou-se caracterizar o potencial produtivo, a distribuição mensal, a composição morfológica e botânica da forragem de aveia preta e de azevém anual submetidos a estratégias de manejo de corte no estado de São Paulo. O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualizado, com tratamentos correspondendo a combinações entre formas de cultivo (aveia e azevém exclusivos ou combinados) e estratégias de colheita (cortes com 95% de interceptação de luz (IL) ou intervalo FIXO de 30 dias de rebrotação), em arranjo fatorial com três repetições. Os estandes colhidos por IL acumularam 1580kg MS ha-1 corte-1, e os por FIXO 2020kg de MS ha-1 corte-1. A proporção de folhas foi maior no azevém (70%), seguido do cultivo combinado (64%) e depois pela aveia (52%). Entre os manejos, a IL resultou em maiores proporções de folha e menor proporção de colmos que o FIXO. A proporção de azevém foi de 64%, sob o manejo por IL, e 70% no manejo por descanso FIXO. Ao longo do tempo, ocorreu a substituição da aveia pelo azevém na composição do dossel combinado. Ambas as estratégias de manejo podem ser adotadas para essas forrageiras de inverno em sistemas de integração agricultura e pecuária, com vantagem para o azevém.

In Brazilian sugarcane plantations, fertilization with vinasse, supplemented or not with mineral fertilizer, is a common practice. But little is known about the effects of this application on N losses, especially those forms of N which give rise to greenhouse gas emissions. The aim of this study was to quantify N2O and NH3 emissions from soil after vinasse application and urea fertilizer addition and to examine the possible impact adding vinasse before or after urea. Two experiments were conducted under greenhouse conditions and one in the field with treatments of vinasse and urea fertilizer, either alone, or in sequence. The highest proportions of N emitted as N2O were registered in the vinasse treatment, which amounted to 15 % of the N applied in the first greenhouse experiment, and 2.5 % in the field experiment. With respect to the losses by NH3 volatilization, urea was the only treatment where this process was significant. N2O emission from vinasse was 2.5 %, somewhat above the default emission factor of 1 % of the IPCC. N2O emissions from urea were also variable, but emission factors registered were still well below the default IPCC factor for organic residues. The order of addition of urea and vinasse had little effect on NH3 volatilization in the field, but there were evidences it was important for N2O.

O estado do Paraná localiza-se em uma região de transição climática, abrangendo regimes térmicos
diferentes e variações no risco de geadas. O abacaxizeiro (Ananas comosus L.) é uma cultura sensível
às condições climáticas e o conhecimento dos riscos a que a cultura estará exposta é importante para
o seu sucesso. O objetivo deste trabalho foi efetuar o zoneamento agroclimático para o cultivo do
abacaxizeiro no estado do Paraná. Foram veri¿cados os limites adequados das variáveis climáticas e
avaliadas a temperatura média anual, a temperatura do mês mais frio, o risco anual de geadas, o risco de
de¿ciência hídrica, o número de horas de insolação anual e o fotoperíodo no Estado. O Paraná possui
áreas com baixo risco climático para a cultura do abacaxizeiro. A temperatura média anual acima de
19°C, a temperatura média do mês mais frio superior a 15,5°C e a altitude inferior a 600 m permitiram
delimitar áreas aptas ao cultivo do abacaxizeiro no Paraná. A de¿ciência hídrica anual não é limitante ao
cultivo do abacaxi no Estado. A temperatura média anual e o fotoperíodo podem induzir naturalmente o
Àorescimento do abacaxi no Estado. Destacam-se as regiões Oeste, Noroeste e Norte, com temperatura
média anual superior a 22°C, que são as mais recomendadas ao cultivo. Nas regiões com temperatura
média anual entre 19 e 22°C, a escolha do local de cultivo deve ser criteriosa, levando-se em conta o
risco de geada local. As regiões Centro, Sul e Leste não são recomendadas, por apresentarem faixas de
temperatura abaixo do mínimo exigido.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the forage yield during the growing season of 2003/2004 as well as the ruminal dry matter degradability, neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber concentration in the forage of five Panicum grasses (Mombaça, Tanzânia, Massai, Tobiatã and Atlas) in Piracicaba, SP. Rest period was fixed on 28 days for Atlas, Massai and Mombaça and 35 days for Tanzânia and Tobiatã, according to their morphologic and structural characteristics. The samples were incubated for 96; 48; 24; 12; 6; 3 and 0 hours. Mombaça (15500 kg DM ha-1) and Massai (20400 kg DM ha-1) were the highest yielding genotypes. Ruminal degradability showed that, although chemical composition is similar across genotypes, some parameters such as potential degradability, lag time and effective degradability are variable, suggesting contrasts in animal production potential.

Os citros encontram-se entre as espécies mais estudadas no mundo. Há
várias décadas, são conduzidos programas de melhoramento genético de cultivares
porta-enxerto e copa, principalmente na África do Sul, Austrália, Brasil, China, Espanha,
Estados Unidos, França, Israel, Itália e Japão. Das estratégias clássicas, e mais
recentemente as ferramentas da biotecnologia utilizadas no melhoramento genético
de citros, destacam-se a hibridação sexual controlada, a seleção de mutantes espontâneos
ou induzidos e de híbridos naturais, a hibridação somática via fusão de protoplastos,
o mapeamento genético, o sequenciamento de genoma e a transformação
de plantas que têm sido usados na obtenção de novas cultivares cítricas. Ressalta-se
a importância de aspectos relacionados a diversidade genética, taxonomia e biologia
reprodutiva de Citrus (L.) e gêneros afins, tais como a heterozigosidade, apomixia,
poliembrionia, ploidia, juvenilidade, partenocarpia, autoincompatibilidade, esterilidade
gamética e zigótica. Estes são apontados para as perspectivas futuras na área de
melhoramento genético de plantas cítricas.