Grupo de Estudo em Ruminantes e Forragicultura da Amazônia

GERFAM PARTICIPATES IN V ECOARIDO AND THE FIELD DAY OF NEEF IN FORTALEZA-CE

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Between December 3rd and 6th, 2018, GERFAM participated in the V International Symposium on Semiarid Pastoral Ecosystems Research – ECOARIDO, held at the Pici campus of the Federal University of Ceará in Fortaleza. During the event, topics related to strategies for livestock development and coping with drought in the semi-arid region were presented through lectures and academic papers displayed in poster format. Researchers from Brazil, China, the United States, and African countries participated in the event, which included 14 lectures. On this occasion, GERFAM was represented by four group members: one of the group's coordinators, Prof. Aníbal Coutinho do Rêgo, and three graduate students, Amanda Queiroz, Vitor Macêdo, and Rosana Ribeiro. During the event, the graduate students had the opportunity to present results of scientific work conducted by the UFRA group in Belém in poster format. Graduate student Vitor Macêdo presented the work in the area of modeling titled “Modeling the dry matter accumulation of Panicum maximum cv. Mombaça as a function of nitrogen fertilization and agro-meteorological variables.” Meanwhile, graduate students Amanda Queiroz and Rosana Ribeiro presented respectively the works “Use of Lactobacillus buchneri reduces silage losses” and “Aerobic stability, pH, and microbiological composition of silages from commercial hybrid corn,” both in the area of forage conservation.

On the third day of the event, Prof. Aníbal Coutinho delivered a lecture titled “Long-term anaerobic stability in silages,” addressing topics such as the demand for silage storage in semi-arid regions, as well as changes in fermentation and chemical composition over storage time. Prof. Aníbal also clarified some factors that can influence the stability of long-stored silages and discussed management practices to reduce losses during storage, such as preventing air infiltration with effective sealing.

After the conclusion of ECOARIDO, the Forage Science and Studies Nucleus – NEEF, in celebration of its 20th anniversary, organized a “Field Day: NEEF 20 years of forage science for society” on December 7th. The event featured 5 stations covering various topics on forage science and animal nutrition in the semi-arid region. GERFAM also participated, with Prof. Aníbal Coutinho presenting one of the stations on the theme “The technique of silage making and the use of agro-industrial by-products.” In this station, the professor discussed the importance of forage conservation in semi-arid regions and the use of agro-industrial by-products obtained from processing cashew, passion fruit, pineapple, and acerola. Elephant grass silages containing dehydrated by-products as additives were presented. Participants had the opportunity to learn about these by-products and their chemical composition.

GERFAM thanks NEEF for the invitation and congratulates the entire team for the successful organization and realization of the events. These events were of great importance for discussing methodologies applied to pastoral ecosystems.

Text written by Rosana Ribeiro
ASCOM-GERFAM
11-12-2018