Publications by authors named "Thieres George Freire da Silva"

The objective was to investigate the physicochemical stability of stored cactus pear mucilage and assess the technological feasibility to produce polymeric films. Mucilage of cactus pear species (L.) Salm-Dyck MIU and (Haw.

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Brackish water can promote physicochemical changes in the soil. Aiming to mitigate the effect of excess salts in the soil, the use of organic matter promotes restructuring. The aim was to evaluate the productive and nutritional characteristics of cactus pear under different brackish water depths (ID) and levels of organic matter (OM).

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Changes to forests due to deforestation, or their replacement by agricultural areas, alter evapotranspiration and the partitioning of available energy. This study investigated seasonal variations in the energy balance and evapotranspiration in landscapes under different levels of anthropogenic intervention in the semi-arid region of Brazil. Micrometeorological data was obtained from September 2020 to October 2022 for three areas of the semi-arid region: preserved Caatinga (CAA, native vegetation), Caatinga under regeneration (REGE) and a deforested area (DEFA).

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study assessed the chemical composition and digestibility of various silages made from spineless cactus and tropical forages, examining their impact on sheep performance.
  • - Results indicated that silages containing spineless cactus plus other forages, particularly SCG and SCBG, had higher carbohydrate and protein content and greater digestibility compared to standalone corn or cactus silages.
  • - Feeding sheep with SCG and SCS silages resulted in improved dry matter intake, crude protein digestibility, and increased nitrogen excretion, highlighting their effectiveness as feed options.
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Cactus pear is used in large proportions in diets for small ruminants in semiarid regions. However, its exclusive use is not recommended due to the low fiber and crude protein content and the high water and mineral content, leading to metabolic disorders, low dry matter intake, and weight loss. The use of mixed cactus silage associated with protein and fibrous sources seeks to overcome the deficits in dry matter, fiber and crude protein, aiming to improve the nutritional quality of the diets that will be offered to ruminants.

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Cactus pear cladodes, clones 'Miúda' (MIU) and 'Orelha de Elefante Mexicana' (OEM) were harvested at 6 am and 8 pm during the rainy-dry, dry and rainy seasons to evaluate the effect of type of clone and harvest seasons on the physicochemical and technological properties of mucilage as well as the optical, physicochemical, mechanical, thermal and microstructural characteristics of the films obtained. The mucilage of the OEM clone presented a higher content of phenolic compounds, compared to the Nopalea genus, regardless of the season and time of harvest. Furthermore, the dry period resulted in higher carbohydrate levels, regardless of the harvest time.

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In semi-arid regions, is necessary to explore strategies to mitigate abiotic stresses such as water deficit and salinity. This study aimed to evaluate the stress tolerance capacity of three species subjected to different water regimes and salinity levels, based on dry matter production and water use efficiency (WUE). The species , , and were evaluated in combination with different water regimes (50%, 75%, and 100% of reference evapotranspiration - ET) and salinity levels (0.

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The in-situ quantification of turbulent flux and evapotranspiration (ET) is necessary to monitor crop performance in stressful environments. Although cacti can withstand stressful conditions, plant responses and plant-environment interactions remain unclear. Hence, the objective of our study was to investigate the interannual and seasonal behaviour of components of the surface energy balance, environmental conditions, morphophysiological parameters, biomass yield and water relations in a crop of in the semi-arid region of Brazil.

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Article Synopsis
  • Some strategies can enhance water usage in crops facing deficit by improving yields and reducing evapotranspiration (ET) to support sustainable production systems.
  • Four experiments were conducted in the Brazilian semi-arid region to assess the effects of spacing, planting orientation, nitrogen fertilization, and intercropping on water dynamics for forage cactus and cactus-sorghum intercropping.
  • Results showed that intercropping significantly boosted water productivity (by 130%), while certain nitrogen levels reduced ET but caused higher deep drainage losses; optimized practices included specific spacings and orientations for better water use efficiency.
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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has pointed out the high vulnerability of developing countries to climate change, which is expected to impact food and income security. Sheep farming is one of the main animal productions among the families located in the most vulnerable regions of the semiarid region of Pernambuco state, a Brazilian territory known for its high temperatures, low relative humidity, and high net solar radiation. Therefore, the objective of this study was to identify different regions of Pernambuco that may be more suitable for different breeds of sheep, based on non-parametric statistics and kriging maps of the temperature and humidity index (THI).

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Arid and semiarid environments are characterized by low water availability (e.g., in soil and atmosphere), high air temperature, and irregularity in the spatio-temporal distribution of rainfall.

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Plants with the crassulacean acid metabolism commonly present good adaptation to arid and semi-arid environments, but it highly depends on the type of species. In this study, chlorophyll fluorescence, the concentration of inorganic and organic solutes and the productive performance were evaluated along with their relationships in different clones of the genera Opuntia and Nopalea. The experiment was conducted from 2016 to 2018.

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The black globe temperature (BGT) is not a common measurement for weather station networks, despite having great relevance to bioclimatic studies. The aim of this study was to propose equations for estimating the BGT, using meteorological data for different time scales and a bioclimatic evaluation of the Brazilian Northeast for breeding Saanen dairy goats. The data used in elaborating the equations were collected between 1 November 2014 and 31 October 2017.

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