ABSTRACT In Brazil, sugarcane is the crop whose agro-industrial development has taken the longest path and has the greatest prominence in the national agro-industry, without precedent. With 500 years of history, Brazil is today the largest producer of sugarcane raw material and sugarcane ethanol in the world. In addition, has the world's largest program for the replacement of fossil fuel by ethanol in vehicles and shares with India the position of largest sugar producer; in addition, it has developed the largest active sugarcane genetic improvement program in the world. However, in contrast to these achievements throughout its history, it has also received criticism even from businesspersons of the sector itself, mainly regarding State intervention and its inefficiency. This is a paradox: “success and inefficiency?” The general objective of this work was to analyze exactly this contradiction since the great agro-industrial development occurred especially during the 60 years of State intervention (1930‒1990). We concluded that this intervention was a key element in the success of the agroindustry both during and after the intervention. Many personalities deserve mention in this process, in both the field of ideas and decisions and practical actions: politicians, public agents, businesspersons, sugar mill owners, agroindustry technicians, and independent producers. We selected a researcher, Dr. Gilberto Miller Azzi, as an example, due to the fact that, from 1955 onwards, as a researcher at the IAA, he represented the scientific and technological area of the Brazilian State, acting decisively for the achievements of the sector. In this regard, an analysis was made of the main factors that have leveraged the national sugar and alcohol sector from the 1930s to the present day.

RESUMO: O principal interesse na cana energia reside na produção de bioenergia a partir do bagaço. O caldo obtido após a moagem da cana pode se constituir em substrato para as unidades de produção de etanol de primeira geração, no entanto, pouca atenção tem sido dispensada a esta questão. O presente trabalho avaliou o caldo de cana energia obtido de dois clones Tipo I como substrato para a produção de etanol, com base na determinação das suas características microbiológicas e deterioração ao longo do tempo, em comparação com o caldo de cana-de-açúcar (variedade RB867515). Foi observada uma clara diferenciação quanto ao crescimento bacteriano e de leveduras nas amostras de caldo analisadas, sendo o crescimento mais rápido no caldo de cana energia que no caldo de cana-de-açúcar. A manutenção do caldo por 8 horas a 30oC não causou impacto sobre a fermentação etanólica para quaisquer das amostras analisadas, apesar do crescimento significativo de bactérias. Houve um decréscimo de aproximadamente sete pontos percentuais na eficiência da fermentação com caldo de cana energia em um ciclo fermentativo de 24 horas com a levedura da panificação, em relação ao caldo da cana-de-açúcar. Apesar de a deterioração do caldo da cana energia ter sido mais rápida que a apresentada pelo caldo de cana-de-açúcar, o presente trabalho demonstrou que o caldo de cana energia tem potencial para ser utilizado como substrato nas indústrias produtoras de etanol. Do que se tem conhecimento, esse é o primeiro trabalho que trata das características de deterioração e fermentabilidade do caldo de cana energia.

ABSTRACT: The main interest in the energy cane is the bioenergy production from the bagasse. The juice obtained after the cane milling may constitute a feedstock for the first-generation ethanol units; however, little attention has been dedicated to this issue. In order to verify the feasibility of the energy cane juice as substrate for ethanol production, the objectives of this research were first to determine the microbiological characteristics and deterioration along the time of the juices from two clones of energy cane (Type I) and second, their fermentability as feedstock for utilization in ethanol distilleries. There was a clear differentiation in the bacterial and yeast development of the sugarcane juices assayed, being much faster in the energy canes than in sugarcane. The storage of juice for 8 hours at 30oC did not cause impact in alcoholic fermentation for any sample analyzed, although a significant bacterial growth was detected in this period. A decrease of approximately seven percentage points in the fermentative efficiency was observed for energy cane juice in relation to sugarcane in a 24-hour fermentation cycle with the baking yeast. Despite the faster deterioration, the present research demonstrated that the energy cane juice has potential to be used as feedstock in ethanol-producing industries. As far as we know, it is the first research to deal with the characteristics of deterioration and fermentability of energy cane juices.

Indústrias que submetem material terroso a altas temperaturas como a de cerâmicas, emitem fluoretos para a atmosfera na forma de gás, particulado ou ácido fluorídrico. Em experimentos de milho (Zea mays L.), do Centro de Ciências Agrárias da Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Araras (SP), as plantas apresentaram sintomas que evoluíam de uma descoloração do limbo foliar até o secamento marginal das folhas. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os teores foliares de flúor (F) na cultura do milho com sintomas de toxicidade causados por fluoretos atmosféricos emitidos por uma indústria cerâmica vizinha, e possíveis diferenças entre as cultivares de milho quanto à severidade desses sintomas. Em um experimento atribuíram-se notas relativas ao grau de injúria das folhas de 22 cultivares e, em outro, foi feita determinação de F em três cultivares de milho semeadas a 350 e 1.000 metros de distância daquela indústria. Os teores foliares de F nas folhas de milho estavam altos nas duas distâncias. Para o milho "safrinha" os teores chegaram até quatro vezes acima do teor crítico, variando entre 126 e 160 mg.kg-1. Constataram-se diferenças entre as cultivares de milho quanto à severidade de sintomas, mas não foi possível estabelecer correlação com danos na produtividade.

The emission of fluoride gases, particles or fluoridric acid is commonly observed in industries that submit terrigenous materials to high temperatures, such as in the ceramic industry. Unusual abnormalities in leaves of adult plants that have been suspected to be fluorine toxicity have been observed in corn experiments carried out in the Center of Agricultural Sciences of the Federal University of São Carlos, Araras, SP, Brazil. The symptoms in the corn leaves started as discolouring of internerval cells of completed developed leaves followed by marginal burning of its tips. The objectives of this work was to evaluate the amount of fluorine (F) in corn leaves with injury symptoms, probably from airborne fluorides nearby a ceramic industry, and to verify differences among corn cultivars for the symptoms severity. Leaf analysis in samples collected in corn plants growing 350 and 1.000 m far from a ceramic industry confirmed fluorine concentration as high as four times the normal, ranging from 126 to 160 mg kg-1. Although the genotypes in those two experimental fields showed distinct reactions, it was not possible to correlate any reduction in production with severity of symptoms.

A presença e a magnitude da interação genótipo--ambiente são fatores que determinam o desempenho de cultivares nos diversos ambientes de produção. A forma de teste e interpretação dessa interação tem sido muito discutida na literatura agronômica, e vários métodos têm sido propostos. O objetivo deste trabalho foi testar uma combinação de métodos paramétricos e não-paramétricos para avaliação da interação genótipo--ambiente de forma simples e fácil. Foram utilizados os resultados experimentais de três grupos de cultivares de cana-de-açúcar, de acordo com suas características de maturação (precoce, média e tardia), em média de três cortes, em cinco locais da região Oeste do Estado de São Paulo. Os testes utilizados, além de simples, permitiram indicar as melhores cultivares para aquela região e para cada época de colheita, e confirmaram, através de modelos probabilísticos, as recomendações anteriormente realizadas pelos melhoristas.

The presence and magnitude of the interaction genotype--environment are factors that determine the performance of cultivars in distinct environments of sugarcane production. Methods for testing and interpreting that interaction have been a matter of concern in the agronomic literature, and several methods have been proposed. In this work the feasibility of using a combination of parametric and non-parametric statistical methods was tested for evaluating that interaction. Results of three successive crops in five locations, of Western São Paulo State, Brazil, and in three groups of experiments comprising sugarcane cultivars of similar maturation (early, intermediate and late) characteristics in each, were used as basic data. It was concluded that the method evaluated, besides its simplicity, permitted the identification of cultivars with better stability for the different kinds of environments tested, confirming previous recommendations of the breeders.