Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

The dry forests of Nicaragua present a diversity of goods and services such as timber species as non-timber species (medicinal, floor protection, wild fauna) and scenic beauty. This study was carried out at The Chipopa, community of the department of Granada. The objective was analyzing the floristic composition, structures, floristic diversity and increment, of the secondary vegetation of the tropical dry forest. To obtain basic information on the arboreal vegetation that allows guaranteeing a management ecologically sustainable. There were two mensuration of the diameter of the arboreal species bigger than five centimeters in three permanent plots. The plots were of 0.25 hectare and were established during the period 2006 and 2009. A total of 43 species were identified represented in 26 botanical families, being the most representative Fabaceae, Euphorbeaceae, Hipocrataceae, Mimosaceae, Rubeaceae. The diversity of species is a little bigger in the 2009; confirming in this way that the forest follows a slow but sure process of enrichment floristic. The periodic increment annual average was of 0.58 cm year-1. As the time the forest reaches a structure with trees of all the sizes and a bigger composition of species. It is recommended to apply silvicultural treatments such as lianas liberation, thinning to improve increment of the species.

According to the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, in Nicaragua, the main transfer problems are the lack of technology adoption indicators for soil and water conservation. Due to this, the study is given with the purpose of documenting longterm environmental and socio-economic effects of the process of adoption of soil conservation techniques promoted by the Nicaraguan Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) and the Rural Research and Development Foundation (FIDER) in the 1990s. The title of the research is Technological adoption in soil and water conservation and its effect on agricultural income and organic matter contents in rural localities, from 2002 to 2008, was executed with a sample population of 45%, the methodological process started with The planning phase to design the field instruments and select the sample per community, followed by the data collection process in fields, to be analyzed and interpreted with the community. The variables evaluated; (Adoption, Productive Income, Simple Reproduction Threshold and Organic matter content in soils). Land-owning producers were able to adopt up to 16 conservation techniques and maximum no-owners 4 technologies. The living and dead barriers were the most adopted techniques in the two communities and the organized producers were the most adopters. Revenues increase by more than 50% as more technologies are adopted and approach the Simple Playback Threshold. Organic matter contents increase to 2.8% in combined systems and with a longer adoption time.

In Nicaragua, the study of the weeds, important components of the agro ecosystem, has been neglected to a second place. In the period comprised between August and September 2010, a study was conducted aimed to update the information on weed science in Nicaragua. The research was transversal; the information was obtained through document analysis and interviews with key stakeholders from state institutions, leaders of regional institutions, producer associations and academia. The results show that most of the farming systems in Nicaragua are affected by weeds presence, in which there is predominance of conventional management practices that promote greater weeds infestation. Thirteen weed species are considered highly problematic in Nicaraguan agriculture, and thirteen as very problematic. The weed management practice used by small farmers is manual control, with the use of light tools and manual pulling. Medium and large farmers use herbicides which include paraquat, glyphosate and 2,4-D, some of them restricted in many countries. In the last ten years there has been an increase in the use of herbicides, existing farming systems such as rice, sorghum, sugar cane, coffee and oil crops (soybean, peanut and sesame) that depend on them to control weeds. According to the informants, few professionals are working in weed science, as well as there are few programs and ongoing research projects that consider the subject. Information on aquatic weeds and biological control practice are nonexistent, and few seed certification programs fulfill established standards of a particular weed management to not affect the seed quality. Nationally there are regulatory or policy documents on weeds, as well as international agreements or treaties subscribed by the country, which influence the management options of these plants.

The research was conducted at the National Agrarian University of Nicaragua in the years 2014-2015 in order to generate a system of indicators to assess the state of incorporation of the environmental dimension in the areas of planning and institutional implementation. The research is exploratory and descriptive, analytical and documentary type. The indicator system was built based on secondary information available (books, articles, essays and others) and professional experience of the researcher, using the following procedure: a) Collection and analysis of secondary information; b) Definition of the reference model (establishment of categories that are grouped indicators), c) Development of a basic proposal of indicators and validation by expert judgment, d) Preparation of Indicator System. This system is a methodological tool for the status of actions in the areas of institutional planning and implementation from which to evaluate compliance with the commitments assumed institutional training, conservation and environmental protection.

Plantain cultivation is a high yield commodity with an acceptable and production rates in Nicaragua, it represents an alternative product of great importance in the department of Rivas. Crop security is provided for small, medium and large producers, but, it has been threatened by a group of pests and diseases that affect plant and fruit. With the aim of contributing to scientifi c knowledge on major insect pests associated to cultivation of plantain (Musa paradisiaca. L), this study was conducted in the period from January to September 2014 in six plantain farms of the department of Rivas. For this study sampling of weevil insect was done by using plantain corms as discs. To sample insects in plantain leaves, the bottom canopy leaves of 25 plants per farm were sampled. All insects found in the study were identifi ed in the laboratory of entomology at the National Agrarian University. The identified insects were, Cosmopolites sordidus, Methamacius hemipterus, Rhinchosporum Palmarum and Dysmicoccus Grassi. The months of May through September were the period where increased presence of these insects was found, compared to the summer months of January to April where populations found of these insects was lower.

Solid state fermentation (FES) of the mixture of shredded sugar cane and different levels (0, 5, 7.5 and 10% ) of Moringa oleifera leaf meal (HHMO) as protein source was studied in a completely randomized design, with four treatments and three replicates each one. During fermentative process, pH, environmental and fermentation temperature was recorded every four hours in each replicate by treatment during a 36 h period. Dry matter content (MS), Crude protein (PB), Neutral detergent fi ber (FDN) and In vitro digestibility of dry matter (DIVMS) were analyzed. No statistical signifi cance was observed for environmental temperature (28.85 0C ± 3.3), nor inclusion levels of HHMO over fermentation temperature (26.07 0C ± 1.94) nor pH of the fermentation product (5.75 ± 0.46). Signifi - cant increase of Crude protein content occurs (P<0.05) from 12.3 to 24.3% when inclusion of HHMO increased from 0% to 10% and no signifi cant diff erences exist between inclusion levels of 5% and 7.5% of HHMO with 20.8 and 21.4%, respectively. Inclusion of HHMO signifi cantly improves DIVMS even when no signifi cant diff erences were found in respect to FESCA with 0% of HHMO. It can be conclude that HHMO inclusion signifi cantly increase PB content and improves DIVMS on FES of sugar cane mixtures and 10% in the most adequate proportion of HHMO as additive to stimulate microbial growing and it protein content.

Several important phytosanitary problems have been recorded in potato cultivation due to the presence of viruses, bacteria and fungi. In recent years, producers in the departments of Estelí and Jinotega have reported plants with symptoms of the Zebra disease chip caused by the fastidiosa bacterium Candidatus liberibacter solanacearum. The Zebra chip disease has caused large economic losses to potato producers in the country where the production is developed all year. Faced with this problem, the Nicaraguan Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA), together with the National Agrarian University (UNA), conducted a study between August 2015 and July 2016 with the objective of generating information related to the presence and distribution of Ca. Solanacearum in the above mentioned departments. A total of 162 tissue samples with disease symptoms were collected from four locations in Jinotega and three locations in Estelí during the three cropping cycles. Tissue samples were processed and analyzed at the National Center for Agricultural Research and Biotechnology (CNIA-INTA) to detect causative agent Ca.l. Solanacearum using the molecular primers bound to the bacterium Lso Tx 16/23 and the cleansing gene Lso adk. 50 samples were positive with the Lso Tx 16/23 primer indicating high specificity for the detection of this pathogen, whereas with the Lso ADK primers 42 samples were positive presenting polymorphisms. The bacterium was detected in the areas of El Tayacán and El Zacatón in the department of Estelí and in the department of Jinotega El Mojón, La Palmera and San Gregorio. The highest percentage of aff ection for Ca. L. solanacearum was presented in Jinotega with 52.17% compared to Estelí that presented 22.41% of the samples collected

The broad mite Polyphagotarsonemus latus (Banks) is the main pest causing economic losses in green pepper in San Isidro, Matagalpa. Based upon this problem, a study was carried out with the objective of evaluating pesticides and identifying the most eff ective treatment for the management of the broad mite in the green pepper variety “Tres cantos” under protected conditions The trial was carried out from May to July 2016. Evaluated treatments were, garlic+chili+soap, Sulfo-calcium broth, Oberon® and Abamectina®, compared to the control treatment that was only water use, the evaluated variables were, broad mite number per (kg ha-1) and some economic variables such as partial budget analysis, dominance analysis and marginal rate of return analysis, the experimental design was a randomized complete block (BCA) with three replicates. Results show that the Oberón® and garlic+chili+ soap treatment, presented the best eff ect on the management of the broad mite, obtaining smaller number of individuals per plant, and the lower incidence, as well these two treatment presented, the highest commercial yields, the best marginal rate of return was achieved by the treatment garlic+Chili+soap, followed by Oberón®.

A field experiment was carried out at San Antonio Farm located in Potosí, Rivas from October 2014 to December 2015. Two experimental plots were established with 250 plants each. The variety of banana plantain (Musa paradisiaca L.) cv. CEMSA ¾ was used. The experiment was established on October 23th, 2014. Suckers from plants with bunch with 40 or more fingers was selected to establish the superior plot (Treatment 1). In the test plot the suckers was selected by the farmer (Treatment 2). Rows with 25 plants at 2.4 m between rows and 1.3 m among plants for a density of 3200 plants per hectare. T-test per independent plots and multiple correlation were used to analyze the data. The bunch weigh was 20.44 kg for test plot and 20.31 kg for superior plot (P= 0.714). The number of hand per bunch were 10.06 per test plot and 10.39 for the superior (P=0.002). The number of fingers per bunch was 51.51 per test plot and 52.95 for the superior (P=0.019). The fi nger length was 32.45 cm for the test plot and 31.74 cm for the superior plot (P=0.016). The diameter of fi nger was15.67 cm for test plot and 15.35 cm for the superior plot (P=0.006). The mean weigh of fi nger was 367.0 g test plot and 344.9 g for superior plot. The total yield was 58.86 t ha-1 in the test plot and 58.49 t ha-1 in the superior plot. The field experiment will continue with the harvest 2016 and 2017.

Nicaragua is a country with agricultural characteristics, highlighting livestock production. We studied 153 double-purpose livestock systems in the departments of Rivas (Belén, Rivas and Tola) and Carazo (Santa Teresa, Diriamba and La Conquista). The characteristics of the system were evaluated (areas and distribution of the system, ownership of the property and availability of water), Characteristics of the herd (Race, Number of animals, mortality among others), nutritional characteristics (type of feeding), sanitary management and infrastructure productive The objective of this study was to characterize livestock systems in the departments of Carazo and Rivas, Nicaragua. It was found that the owners predominated, over 50 years old, the level of education that prevails is primary, and followed by secondary education. With average areas between 20 and 50 hectares. During the year there are times with high production of pastures mainly in the rainy season accessible to livestock, however in the dry season there is scarcity so that minerals must be supplied to meet the nutritional demands. In the herd they predominated: Swiss Brown and Brahman. Annual mortality in off spring and adults was lower than 10%. The dominant grass species correspond to Hyparrhenia rufa Nees (38.11%), Andropogon gayanus kunth (23.42%). The presence of corrals and galleys constitute the main productive infrastructures. The epizootiological management is dewormed, vitamin and cattle vaccine against the main diseases present in the departments under study, being the aff ectations by spiders the most common, followed by the presence of internal and external parasites. We identifi ed the existence of producers (28 of 153) that have areas with established forage banks and some agroecological practices that favor productivity.