Infrastructure

LABORATORIES AND EXPERIMENTAL AREA

The Laboratories that serve the Graduate Course in Organic Agriculture are located in the two partner units. The course also has an experimental area resulting from an agreement between UFRRJ, EMBRAPA-Agrobiologia and PESAGRO-RIO. A brief description of these structures follows.

UFRRJ

The laboratories at UFRRJ have basic and essential infrastructure and have been used in undergraduate (Agronomy, Agricultural Engineering, Forestry, Animal Science and Degree in Agricultural Sciences) and postgraduate (Phytotechnics and Soils) teaching activities.

The Postgraduate Course in Organic Agriculture has its initial base of support in laboratories already structured with resources from research projects, agreements or resources transferred by UFRRJ.

The laboratories that will be available for the proposed course are listed below:

Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory – Department of Phytotechnics, Institute of Agronomy – has equipment and facilities for the in vitro cultivation of plants, both for research and scale production.
Seed Analysis Laboratory – Department of Phytotechnics, Institute of Agronomy – has equipment and facilities to carry out routine analysis of seed quality.
Plant Disease Control Epidemiology Laboratory – Department of Plant Science, Institute of Agronomy – has optical microscopy and microbiology equipment as well as facilities for growing organisms under controlled conditions.
Post-harvest Physiology Laboratory – Department of Phytotechnics, Institute of Agronomy – has basic infrastructure to carry out research work in the post-harvest of fruits and vegetables.
Agroecology Laboratory – Department of Phytotechnics, Institute of Agronomy – has equipment for carrying out N, P and K analyzes in plant tissues, equipment for growth of organisms antagonistic to pathogens and nitrogen-fixing organisms.
Phytosanitary Laboratory – built in the Horticulture sector of the Department of Phytotechnics, Institute of Agronomy – has the structure to attend practical classes in microbiology applied to phytosanitary.
Laboratory and Sector of Medicinal Plants – Department of Phytotechnics, Institute of Agronomy – has a laboratory and field structure for the cultivation and processing of medicinal plants.
Laboratory of Soil Physics – Department of Soils, Institute of Agronomy – Study of water-soil-plant relationships. Soil aggregation study.
Plant, Soil and Waste Analysis Laboratory – Department of Soils, Institute of Agronomy. Routine for carrying out analyzes of soil, plant and residues (total and exchangeable contents).
Laboratory for the Study of Soil-Plant Relationships – Department of Soils, Institute of Agronomy. Study of soil-plant relationships and the biotic and abiotic factors that affect this relationship. Emphasis on the study of root systems. Basic equipment: HPLC – Perkin Elmer; Centrifuges (Beckman L7 – 65), visible and UV spectrophotometers; Image analysis acquisition and processing system; Rotavapor, Oximeter; Luximeter; Thermohygrograph.
Soil Biology Laboratory – Department of Soils, Institute of Agronomy. It studies the biology of the soil and searches for alternatives to reduce the consumption of inputs in agriculture.
Laboratory of Water Resources (hydraulics, irrigation, drainage, hydrology and sanitation) – Department of Engineering, Institute of Technology – has a laboratory structure for measuring flow, pressure measurement, head loss equipment, hydraulic channel, experimental flow laboratory water in the soil, experimental laboratory for localized irrigation, lifting facilities, fertilizer injectors, greenhouses, precision scales, equipment for determining water infiltration in the soil (concentric rings, rain simulator), soil solution extractor probes, permeameter constant load, etc.
Laboratory of plant physiology – Department of Physiological Sciences, Institute of Biology – has structure for studies of cultures in nutrient solution and measurement of enzymatic and chlorophyll activities. There is a growth room for Arabidopsis thaliana, which is the model plant for plant genetics and physiology, with which the bioactivity of humic substances is studied;

National Center for Research in Agrobiology (CNPAB/EMBRAPA)

They have approximately 3,500 m2 of built area, with 14 laboratories, IT area, auditorium and 6 greenhouses. The Center’s laboratories are distributed in the two main buildings, which make up the Center’s headquarters area. The facilities meet the lines of research in ecology of associative and symbiotic diazotrophic bacteria, mycorrhizae, culture collection and production of inoculants, electronic microscopy, leguminous plants, nutrient cycling, mass spectrometry, routine analysis of soils and plants, chromatography, Genome sequencing, microbial biomass, soil fauna and biological control.

The laboratories are equipped with modern equipment, namely: – Electronic emission (scanning) and transmission microscopes, optical microscopes, phase contrast microscopes and stereoscopes, some coupled to a digital camera; – Megabace Genome Sequencer – Mass spectrometers (15N and 13C), automatic CNH analyzer, liquid and solid scintigraphy counter, lyophilizer and centrifuges;- UV/visible scanning spectrophotometers, ELISA plate reader, gas chromatographs (GLC ), equipped with FID, TCD and ECD detectors, and liquid chromatograph (HPLC);

– Thermal cyclers (PCR), electroporator, transilluminator, Polaroid camera and image capture system;

– Atomic absorption spectrophotometer, automatic nitrogen analyzer, continuous flow injection analyzer (FIA),

In 2008, the multi-user laboratory was inaugurated to meet the growth of the Center’s workforce by hiring new researchers, as well as to accommodate students and manage equipment jointly, avoiding duplication of equipment in the various laboratories in the Unit. These new facilities were designed to meet the research carried out within the standard of Good Laboratory Practices, in a total of 700 m2.

It also has an experimental field of about 250 hectares, of which 50 hectares are kept as a biological reserve, and the rest destined for experimentation, an area equipped with all the necessary facilities (tractors and implements, irrigation accessories, nurseries, sheds).

Research and Training Center for Farmers in the Fluminense Mountains Region-NPTAO

Research and Training Center for Farmers (NPTA) in the Fluminense Mountain Region emerged as a result of negotiations between the Municipality of Nova Friburgo and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), with the aim of bringing researchers closer to the agricultural reality of the mountain region fluminense, the most dynamic agricultural area in the state and known for the production of vegetables, flowers and fruits.

The NPTA having its headquarters located next to the Municipal Secretary of Agriculture of Nova Friburgo and a physical space in the rural environment, provided by the Association of Small Producers and Residents of Santa Cruz and Centenário, in the Third District of that municipality, where with resources from Faperj it will be built space for students to stay and laboratory for minimal processing of plant and soil samples.

Embrapa Agrobiologia maintains two researchers in this Nucleus who will be available for visits and development of the thesis dissertation, when applicable.

Integrated Agroecological Production System (Fazendinha Agroecológica km 47) – Agreement entered into between UFRRJ/EMBRAPAAgrobiologia/PESAGRO-RIO

The importance of researching alternative methods of agricultural production led to the implementation, in 1993, of the Integrated System of Agroecological Production (SIPA- Fazendinha Agroecológica km 47), through an agreement signed between the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian Agriculture, through the National Centers for Research in Agrobiology and Soils, and the Agricultural Research Company of the State of Rio de Janeiro, through the Seropédica Experimental Station. SIPA develops its activities in an area of approximately 60 hectares, in the Municipality of Seropédica- RJ. SIPA has become a space for the exercise of systemic research, of a multi and interdisciplinary nature, seeking to understand the relationships between the different components of a production system,

Irrigation is an essential practice due to the uneven distribution of rainfall. With a view to capturing water for this purpose, dams were built, supplied by their own springs, and three sets of semi-artesian wells were built. To monitor the use of water resources, an agrometeorological station was installed, containing four weighing lysimeters, a Class A evaporimetric tank and an automatic meteorological station. Data on evapotranspiration, evaporation, solar radiation, wind direction and speed, air temperature, relative air humidity and precipitation are measured every second and stored in 30-minute averages in a data acquisition system (datalogger), which it is powered by a 12 volt battery and this is charged by solar energy through a 20 watt panel.

The greenhouse, intended for the organic production of seedlings, meets the needs of Fazendinha and eventually of family farmers in the surroundings, converted to organic agriculture.

Soil fertility is managed using organic fertilizers (farm manure, poultry litter and compost), green fertilizers (with a predominance of legumes) and low solubility mineral fertilizers (bone meal and thermophosphate). As far as possible, soils have been protected through living vegetation covers, or “mulch”, seeking to reduce nutrient losses through erosion and leaching.

Crop diversification contributes to maintaining tolerable population levels of pests and pathogens. Preventive applications with homemade products such as liquid biofertilizer, Bordeaux mixture and calcium sulphur, helping to control phytoparasites.

With a view to evaluating the impact of organic management on the different characteristics of the agroecosystem, monitoring has been carried out within a multidisciplinary approach. Fields of study covered include: ecology, agricultural engineering, plant science, forestry, soils and animal husbandry.

ORGANIC AGRICULTURE TRAINING CENTER

Financed with resources from parliamentary amendment in the amount of 500 thousand reais. It is located in a building measuring 552 square meters, within the perimeter of Fazendinha. This same building serves as the academic and administrative headquarters of the course. Composition of the physical space:

-01 auditorium for 100 people, with air conditioning, media equipment (multimedia projector/computer), whiteboard.

-01 classroom for 50 people, with air conditioning, media equipment (multimedia projector/computer), whiteboard.

-01 classroom for 25 people, with air conditioning, media equipment (multimedia projector/computer), whiteboard.

-01 meeting room for 15 people, with air conditioning, computer, whiteboard.

-03 offices, with air conditioning and computer.

-01 room for students, with air conditioning and computer.

-01 reception.

– Conventional bathrooms and PNE bathroom (People with Special Needs).

-01 terrace of 79 m², equipped with furniture, for outdoor group dynamics.

-01 pantry equipped to support the activities.