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Cowpea is a staple food in the Northeast of Brazil, thus, genetic improvement of this species is important. Samples of cowpea landraces were collected in the State of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, and the most promising ones were evaluated in the present study. The objective was to identify the most productive varieties and the characteristics that have greater direct effect on grain yield, for breeding purposes. Twelve landraces were evaluated using a randomized block design with five replications, in two experiments—one in the dry season, and other in the rainy season. However, water irrigation was used in both experiments, due to the almost total absence of rainfall in the rainy season. The Baraúna, and Carnaubais cowpea varieties were the most productive in both experiments. Campo Grande was the best variety found in the experiment carried out in the dry season. José da Penha, Lagoa de Pedra, Umarizal, and Upanema were the best varieties in the experiment carried out in the rainy season. The number of pods per plant was the characteristic that had greater direct effect on grain yield. O feijão-caupi é uma das principais culturas alimentícias do Nordeste brasileiro e, por essa razão, existe interesse em melhorá-la geneticamente. Foram coletadas variedades tradicionais dessa cultura no Estado do Rio Grande do Norte e as mais promissoras foram avaliadas no presente trabalho. Objetivou-se identificar as mais produtivas e distinguir, entre as características avaliadas, a que possui o maior efeito direto sobre o rendimento de grãos, para fins de melhoramento. Doze variedades foram avaliadas em blocos ao acaso com cinco repetições em dois experimentos. Um dos experimentos foi irrigado. O outro experimento foi realizado na época das chuvas, mas requereu irrigação devido à ausência quase que total de chuvas. As variedades Baraúna e Carnaubais foram as mais produtivas nos dois experimentos. No experimento realizado com irrigação foi destaque a variedade Campo Grande. Sob condições de sequeiro (com chuvas) destacaram-se também as variedades José da Penha, Lagoa de Pedra, Umarizal e Upanema. O número de vagens por planta foi o principal caráter a influenciar o rendimento de grãos.

Beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) is a tuberous vegetable that is under experimentation in the vegetable production system in Rio Grande do Norte state (Brazil). It is quite demanding, in nutritional terms. One of the alternatives to meet this need is green manuring using spontaneous species of the Caatinga biome. The aim of the present work was to optimize the agro-biological performance and economic profitability of the beetroot 'Early Wonder', fertilized with different doses of hairy woodrose (Merremia aegyptia (L.) Urb.) in this semi-arid environment. Hairy woodrose is a spontaneous species of the Caatinga biome that is widely distributed, being found in forests, fences, forest clearings and fields, growing in soils of different textures, producing biomass with a high content of macronutrients. This material was collected from spontaneous vegetation, native to the region, and used as green manure.The experimental design was a randomized complete block, with four treatments and five replicates. The treatments consisted of four amounts of hairy woodrose biomass incorporated into the soil (10, 25, 40 and 55 t ha-1 of dry matter). The following agronomic characteristics were evaluated in each beetroot treatment: plant height, fresh mass of shoots, number of leaves per plant, dry mass of shoots and dry mass of roots, total and commercial root productivity, and root productivity classified into scrap and extra roots, extra A roots, extra AA and great roots. Apart from these characteristics, the following economic indicators were also determined for each treatment: gross income, net income, rate of return and profit margin. The maximum agro-biological efficiency of beet root productivity (22.68 t ha-1) was obtained from 44.92 t ha-1 of hairy woodrose biomass added to the soil. The maximum economic efficiency of the yield of beet roots was achieved as a net income of AU$2,491.00 (R$6,406.36) ha-1, provided by the production of 22.04 t ha-1 of commercial roots, using 37.03 t ha-1 of hairy woodrose biomass incorporated into the soil. The use of hairy woodrose as green manure presents agro-economic feasibility in beet cultivation in this semi-arid environment.

Intercropping system and the use of green manure with spontaneous species has been an alternative farming method applied to the productive sector of vegetables in the northeastern semi-arid region. The objective of this work was to determine which amount of Calotropis procera must be incorporated into the soil to provide the highest productive performance of the component crops and increase the profitability of the carrot and cowpea intercropping. The experimental design used was randomized complete blocks with five replicates. The treatments consisted of four amounts of C. procera incorporated into the soil: 10, 25, 40 and 55 t ha-1 on a dry basis. The characteristics evaluated in this intercropping system were: commercial productivity of carrot roots, yield of cowpea green grains, land equivalent ratios for component crops and for the intercropped system, score of the canonical variable of the association, and the economic indicators of gross income, net income, rate of return, and net profit margin. The maximum agronomic efficiency of the carrot x cowpea intercropping was reached at the land equivalent ratio of 1.12, using 43.39 t ha-1 of C. procera biomass incorporated in the soil, while the maximum economic efficiency of the carrot and cowpea crops association was obtained at the net income of R$ 17,856.43 ha-1, in the amount of 40.60 t ha-1 of C. procera biomass added to the soil. RESUMO Sistema consorciado e uso de adubação verde com espécies espontâneas tem sido um método alternativo de cultivo aplicado ao setor produtivo de hortaliças na região semiárida nordestina. O objetivo deste trabalho foi determinar qual quantidade de Calotropis procera deve ser incorporada ao solo para proporcionar o melhor desempenho produtivo das culturas componentes e aumentar a rentabilidade do consórcio de cenoura e caupi. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi de blocos completos casualizados com cinco repetições. Os tratamentos consistiram de quatro quantidades de C. procera incorporadas ao solo: 10, 25, 40 e 55 t ha-1, em base seca. As características avaliadas neste sistema consorciado foram: produtividade comercial de raízes de cenoura, produtividade de grãos verdes de caupi, índices de uso eficiente da terra das culturas componentes e do consórcio, escore da variável canônica da associação e os indicadores econômicos renda bruta, renda líquida, taxa de retorno e margem de lucro líquido. A máxima eficiência agronômica do consórcio cenoura x caupi foi alcançada no índice de uso eficiente da terra de 1,12, utilizando-se 43,39 t ha-1 de biomassa de C. procera incorporada ao solo, enquanto a eficiência econômica máxima da associação cenoura x caupi foi obtida com a renda líquida de R$ 17.856,43 ha-1, na quantidade de 40,60 t ha-1 de biomassa de C. procera adicionada ao solo.

This study aimed to determine the doses of maximum agronomic and economic efficiency as a function of different amounts of roostertree [Calotropis procera (Ait.) R.Br.] biomass added to the soil, that results in the maximum yield of green grains of cowpea in the semi-arid of Rio Grande do Norte state, Brazil. The experiment was conducted at the “Rafael Fernandes” Experimental Farm of the Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido (UFERSA), Alagoinha, RN, from August to November 2013. In the experiment was used a randomized completely block design with 5 replicates. The treatments consisted of 20, 35, 50, and 65 t ha-1 (on a dry matter basis) of roostertree biomass added to the soil. The evaluated characteristics were: number of green pods per m2, productivity and dry mass of green pods, number of green grains per pod, weight of 100 green grains, and dry mass of green grains. The following economic indicators were determined: gross and net incomes, production operational costs, rate of return, and profit margin. The maximum agronomic efficiency of the yield of cowpea green grain was reached at the yield of 3.05 t ha-1, using 61.0 t ha-1 of roostertree biomass in the soil. The maximum economic efficiency yielded a net income of R$ 8,701.42, at the production of 3.02 t ha-1 green grains with 53.57 t ha-1 of roostertree biomass added to the soil. The use of roostertree as a green manure presents technical-economic feasibility in cowpea cultivation for green grains in the semi-arid conditions of Rio Grande do Norte. Este estudo teve como objetivo determinar as doses de eficiência agronômica e econômica máximas em função de diferentes quantidades de biomassa de flor-de-seda [Calotropis procera (Ait.) R.Br.] adicionadas ao solo, que resultem no rendimento máximo de grãos verdes de feijão caupi no semiárido do estado do Rio Grande Norte, Brasil. O experimento foi conduzido na Fazenda Experimental “Rafael Fernandes” da Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido (UFERSA), Alagoinha, RN, no período de agosto a novembro de 2013. No experimento foi usado um delineamento de blocos completos casualizados com cinco repetições. Os tratamentos consistiram de 20, 35, 50 e 65 t ha-1 (em base seca) de biomassa de flor-de-seda adicionada ao solo. As características avaliadas foram: número de vagens verdes por m2, produtividade e massa seca de vagens verdes, número de grãos verdes por vagem, peso de 100 grãos verdes e massa seca de grãos verdes. Os seguintes indicadores econômicos foram determinados: rendas bruta e líquida, custos operacionais de produção, taxa de retorno e índice de lucratividade. A eficiência agronômica máxima do rendimento de grãos verdes de feijão-caupi foi alcançada com o rendimento de 3,05 t ha-1, utilizando-se 61,0 t ha-1 de biomassa de flor-de-seda incorporada ao solo. A eficiência econômica máxima produziu uma renda liquida de R$ 8.701,42, no rendimento de grãos verdes de 3.02 t ha-1 com 53,57 t ha-1 de biomassa de flor-de-seda adicionada ao solo. O uso da flor-de-seda como adubo verde apresenta viabilidade técnico-econômica no cultivo do feijão-caupi para grãos verdes nas condições semiáridas do Rio Grande do Norte.

Polycultures from broadleaves with tuberoses are being used in vegetable crop production systems in the semiarid region of Potiguar. The challenge is to determine whether these systems are productively viable when fertilized with organic matter produced by spontaneous species of the Caatinga biome. The objective of this study was to evaluate the agro-economic performance of arugula (A), carrot (C), and coriander (Co) polycultures fertilized with hairy woodrose biomass incorporated into the soil under different population densities among the component crops. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with four replications, with the treatments arranged in a 4 × 4 factorial scheme, from the combination of four amounts of hairy woodrose biomass incorporated into the soil (7.5, 15.0, 22.5, and 30.0 t ha-1 on a dry matter basis), with four population densities (20A-50C-20Co%, 30A-50C-30Co%, 40A-50C-40Co%, and 50A-50C-50Co% of the recommended population in the single crop). The efficiency of polycultures was evaluated through indexes and agro-economic indicators. The most productive agro-economic performance was obtained with a biomass of 18.21 t ha-1 of hairy woodrose incorporated in the soil and a population density of 50A-50C-50Co%. RESUMO Policultivos de folhosas com tuberosas estão sendo utilizados nos sistemas de produção de hortaliças na região semiárida Potiguar. O desafio é determinar se esses sistemas são produtivamente viáveis quando fertilizados com matéria orgânica produzida por espécies espontâneas do bioma Caatinga. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o desempenho agroeconômico de policultivos de rúcula (R), cenoura (C) e coentro (Co) adubados com biomassa de jitirana incorporada no solo sob diferentes densidades populacionais entre as culturas componentes. O delineamento experimental foi de blocos completos casualizados com quatro repetições, com os tratamentos arranjados em esquema fatorial 4 x 4, provenientes da combinação de quatro quantidades de biomassa de jitirana incorporadas ao solo (7,5; 15,0; 22,5 e 30,0 t ha-1 em base seca) com quatro densidades populacionais (20R-50C-20Co; 30R-50C-30Co; 40R-50C-40Co e 50R-50C-50Co (%) da população recomendada no cultivo solteiro - PRCS). A eficiência dos policultivos foi avaliada através de índices e indicadores agroeconômicos. O desempenho agroeconômico mais produtivo foi obtido com uma biomassa de 18,21 t ha-1 de jitirana incorporada ao solo e uma densidade populacional de 50R-50C-50Co (%).

The objective of this work was to evaluate, in two experiments, the effect of water stress and luminosity on the germinative behavior and vigor of Amaranthus deflexus L seeds. The seeds were sown in Petri dishes containing two sheets of filter paper moistened with distilled water, in the control treatment. Using this treatment-control configuration, as a standard of comparison, two assays were performed using subsamples from the same A. deflexus seed population. In the first experiment (experiment 1), solutions of polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG 6000) were used, providing osmotic potentials of -0.3; -0.6; -0.9; -1.2 and -1.5 MPa; however, in the second trial (experiment 2) osmotic potentials of -0.1; -0.2; -0.3; -0.4 and -0.5 MPa were used. At the end of the test, the ungerminated seeds for each treatment were washed and germinated on a filter paper moistened with water. The germination and vigor of the seeds were evaluated through the first germination count, germination test, germination speed index and average germination time. The experimental design was completely randomized, in a 2 x 6 factorial scheme, totaling twelve treatments, with four replicates of 50 seeds each, in both trials. Water stress negatively affects the performance of A. deflexus seeds, reducing germination and vigor from -0.1 MPa. Seed germination was compromised by the absence of light, regardless of the applied stress levels. There was an increase in seed germination after application of the same at higher levels of water stress.

The efficiency of an intercropping system depends mainly on the cropping system and on the crops, which should complement each other. However, the choice of crops and factors of production are extremely important for maximizing the advantages of intercropping, which, in turn, means maximizing the bio-agro-economic performance of the system. The present study sought to assess, based on appropriate indexes and indicators and using univariate and bivariate analysis, the agronomic/biological and economic returns from a system in which salad rocket was intercropped with carrot at different population densities and one of spontaneous species of the semi-arid region of Brazil, namely hairy woodrose (Merremia aegyptia L.), was used as green manure. The population densities of both the crops were maintained at 40%, 60%, 80%, or 100% of the recommended population for a sole crop (RPSC). The following values were recorded or calculated: green biomass of rocket, biomass of carrot roots, aggressivity indexes, competitive ratio, land equivalent ratio, productive efficiency index, canonical variable score, and four economic indicators, namely gross and net returns, rate of return, and net profit margin. The most effective combination was carrot at 40% of its RPSC intercropped with rocket at 100% of its RPSC with hairy woodrose as green manure because the combination resulted in the highest values of land equivalent ratio (1.72), productive efficiency index (0.91), canonical variable score (1.68), gross returns (R$ 41,186.91 ha−1), net returns (R$ 18,621.64 ha−1), rate of return (1.84), and net profit margin (52.77%), making it a highly profitable combination for the north-eastern semi-arid region of Brazil. The most effective indicators of economic value were yield and the rate of return.

Beet and lettuce are industrial vegetable crops valued for their high mineral, vitamin and fiber contents and for their additional health benefits. These crops are usually grown in intercrops in family production systems in a sustainable manner in semi-arid regions. This work aimed to evaluate the effects of incorporating different levels of hairy woodrose, as a green manure, on the agro-economic sustainability indicators of lettuce-beet intercrops, planted in different spatial arrangements and involving two successive croppings. The experimental design was a randomized complete blocks with treatments arranged in a 4 x 3 factorial scheme, corresponding to four hairy woodrose levels incorporated into the soil (6, 19, 32 and 45 t ha-1, dry basis) and three spatial arrangements between the component crops (2:2, 3:3 and 4:4), with four replications. The optimized agroeconomic performance of lettuce-beet intercropping was achieved with the incorporation of approximately 35.30 t ha-1 hairy woodrose. The lettuce crop contributed significantly to the productivity efficiency and sustainability of the intercropping with beet, compared to the single vegetable crops. The spatial arrangements between component crops did not affect the agroeconomic performance of the lettuce intercropped with beet. RESUMO A beterraba e a alface são hortaliças de alto valor nutritivo pelo teor de sais minerais, vitaminas e de fibras e por seus benefícios adicionais à saúde. Essas culturas são geralmente cultivadas em consórcios em sistemas de produção familiar de forma sustentável em regiões semiáridas. Objetivou-se neste trabalho avaliar os efeitos de diferentes níveis de jitirana, como adubo verde, nos indicadores agroeconômicos de sustentabilidade de consórcios de alface-beterraba, em diferentes arranjos espaciais e em dois cultivos sucessivos. O delineamento experimental foi de blocos casualizados com os tratamentos dispostos em um esquema fatorial 4 x 3, correspondente a quatro níveis de jitirana incorporados ao solo (6, 19, 32 e 45 t ha-1, em base seca) em três arranjos espaciais entre as culturas componentes (2:2, 3:3 e 4:4), com quatro repetições. O desempenho agroeconômico otimizado do consórcio de alface-beterraba foi alcançado com a incorporação de aproximadamente 35,30 t ha-1 de jitirana. A cultura da alface contribuiu significativamente para a eficiência produtiva e sustentabilidade da consorciação com a beterraba, em comparação com as culturas em monocultivo. Os arranjos espaciais entre as culturas componentes não afetaram o desempenho agroeconômico da alface consorciada com a beterraba.

O aproveitamento dos recursos hídricos de forma adequada requer o conhecimento das probabilidades de ocorrência das chuvas, sendo isto possível com o uso das funções de distribuição de probabilidade de ocorrência. Foram analisadas sete distribuições de probabilidade (Exponencial, Gama, Log-normal, Normal, Weibull, Gumbel e Beta) para a precipitação pluviométrica mensal e anual na região Centro-Sul do Ceará, Brasil. Os dados de chuva foram obtidos da base de dados da SUDENE registrados durante o período de 1913 a 1989. Para verificação dos ajustes dos dados às funções densidade de probabilidade foi utilizado o teste não-paramétrico de Kolmogorov-Smirnov com nível de 5% de significância. Para a chuva total anual teve ajuste satisfatório dos dados às distribuições Gama, Gumbel, Normal e Weibull e não ocorreu ajuste às distribuições Exponencial, Log-normal e Beta. Recomenda-se o uso da distribuição Normal para estimar valores de chuva provável anual para a região, por ser um procedimento de fácil aplicação e também pelo bom desempenho nos testes. A distribuição de frequência Gumbel foi a que melhor representou os dados de chuva para o período mensal, com o maior número de ajustes no período chuvoso. No período seco os dados de chuva foram melhores representados pela distribuição Exponencial. ABSTRACT The use of water resources properly requires knowledge of the probabilities of occurrence of rainfall, this being possible with the use of distribution functions, probability of occurrence. We analyzed seven probability distributions (Exponential, Gamma, Log-normal, normal, Weibull, Gumbel and Beta) for monthly and annual rainfall in South-Central region of Ceará, Brazil. The rainfall data were obtained from the database SUDENE recorded during the period 1913-1989. To check the settings of the data probability density functions we used the nonparametric Kolmogorov-Smirnov test with the 5% level of significance. For the total annual rainfall was satisfactory adjustment range of the data distributions, Gumbel, Normal and Weibull and there was no adjustment to the exponential distributions, Log-normal and Beta. It is recommended to use the normal distribution to estimate the annual amounts of rain likely for the region, being an easy application procedure and also by the good performance in the tests. The frequency distribution Gumbel was the one that best represented the rainfall data for the monthly period, with the largest number of adjustments during the rainy season. In the dry season rainfall data were best represented by exponential distribution. Key words - Probability of occurrence. Probability distributions. Adherence tests.

O aproveitamento dos recursos hidricos de forma adequada requer o conhecimento das probabilidades de ocorrencia das chuvas, sendo isto possivel com o uso das funcoes de distribuicao de probabilidade de ocorrencia. Foram analisadas sete distribuicoes de probabilidade (Exponencial, Gama, Log-normal, Normal, Weibull, Gumbel e Beta) para a precipitacao pluviometrica mensal e anual na regiao Centro-Sul do Ceara, Brasil. Os dados de chuva foram obtidos da base de dados da SUDENE registrados durante o periodo de 1913 a 1989. Para verificacao dos ajustes dos dados as funcoes densidade de probabilidade foi utilizado o teste nao-parametrico de Kolmogorov-Smirnov com nivel de 5% de significância. Para a chuva total anual teve ajuste satisfatorio dos dados as distribuicoes Gama, Gumbel, Normal e Weibull e nao ocorreu ajuste as distribuicoes Exponencial, Log-normal e Beta. Recomenda-se o uso da distribuicao Normal para estimar valores de chuva provavel anual para a regiao, por ser um procedimento de facil aplicacao e tambem pelo bom desempenho nos testes. A distribuicao de frequencia Gumbel foi a que melhor representou os dados de chuva para o periodo mensal, com o maior numero de ajustes no periodo chuvoso. No periodo seco os dados de chuva foram melhores representados pela distribuicao Exponencial. ABSTRACT The use of water resources properly requires knowledge of the probabilities of occurrence of rainfall, this being possible with the use of distribution functions, probability of occurrence. We analyzed seven probability distributions (Exponential, Gamma, Log-normal, normal, Weibull, Gumbel and Beta) for monthly and annual rainfall in South-Central region of Ceara, Brazil. The rainfall data were obtained from the database SUDENE recorded during the period 1913-1989. To check the settings of the data probability density functions we used the nonparametric Kolmogorov-Smirnov test with the 5% level of significance. For the total annual rainfall was satisfactory adjustment range of the data distributions, Gumbel, Normal and Weibull and there was no adjustment to the exponential distributions, Log-normal and Beta. It is recommended to use the normal distribution to estimate the annual amounts of rain likely for the region, being an easy application procedure and also by the good performance in the tests. The frequency distribution Gumbel was the one that best represented the rainfall data for the monthly period, with the largest number of adjustments during the rainy season. In the dry season rainfall data were best represented by exponential distribution. Key words - Probability of occurrence. Probability distributions. Adherence tests.

Intercropping systems of cowpea with radish are beginning to be deployed in the semiarid region of Rio Grande do Norte state. The great challenge is to know whether or not there is productive efficiency in these systems when fertilized with organic matter produced by spontaneous species from the ‘Caatinga’ biome. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the productive performance of cowpea-radish intercropping systems under different amounts of rooster tree biomass incorporated into the soil. The study was conducted at the experimental farm Rafael Fernandes, rural zone of Mossoró, RN, in the period from June to September 2013, in an experimental design of randomized blocks with four treatments and five replicates. The treatments consisted of the following amounts of rooster tree biomass incorporated into the soil (10, 25, 40 and 55 t ha-1 on a dry weight basis). The best productive performance of the cowpea-radish intercrop was obtained when the rooster tree biomass amount of 50.01 t ha-1 was incorporated to the soil. The use of rooster tree biomass as green manure is agronomically viable in intercropped systems of cowpea-radish.

A utilização de espécies espontâneas do bioma Caatinga como adubo verde tem-se constituído opção importante na produção de hortaliças com o intuito de alcançar o equilíbrio entre aumento na produtividade das culturas e exploração do meio ambiente. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o uso de diferentes doses de jitirana como adubo verde no desempenho agroeconômico da cenoura em cultivo solteiro. O estudo foi conduzido na Fazenda Rafael Fernandes, distrito de Alagoinha, Estado do Rio Grande do Norte, no período de novembro de 2010 a fevereiro de 2011. O delineamento experimental foi de blocos ao acaso com quatro tratamentos repetidos quatro vezes. Os tratamentos consistiram das seguintes doses de jitirana: 7,5; 15; 22,5 e 30 t ha-1 em base seca. A cultivar de cenoura semeada foi a Brasília. As características avaliadas foram: altura de plantas, número de hastes por planta, massa seca da parte aérea e de raízes, produtividades comercial e total de raízes, produtividade classificada de raízes e os indicadores econômicos: renda bruta, renda líquida, taxa de retorno e índice de lucratividade. A otimização do desempenho agroeconômico da cenoura em cultivo solteiro é viabilizada com a incorporação de 13 t ha-1 de jitirana ao solo. O cultivo da cenoura é viável agroeconomicamente com o uso da jitirana como adubo verde. The use of spontaneous species of the Caatinga biome for green manure has been an important option in the production of vegetables, where the intention is to achieve a balance between increasing crop productivity and exploitation of the environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use as green manure of different dosages of hairy woodrose, known locally as jitirana, on the agronomic and economic development of the monocropped carrot. The study was carried out at Fazenda Rafael Fernandes Farm, in the district of Alagoinha, in the State of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, from November of 2010 to February of 2011. The experimental design was of randomized blocks with four treatments and four replications. Treatments consisted of the following dosages of jitirana: 7.5, 15, 22.5 and 30 t ha-1 dry weight. The carrot cultivar sown was 'Brasilia'. The evaluated characteristics were: plant height, number of stems per plant, dry weight of the shoots and roots, marketable and total root yield and classified root yield. The economic indicators, gross income, net income, rate of return and profitability index, were also evaluated. The agronomic and economic performance of the monocropped carrot is optimized when incorporating 13 t ha-1 jitirana into the soil. Cultivation of the carrot is agriculturally and economically viable when using jitirana as green manure.

This study had as objective to evaluate the distribution of probability that better adapts to daily series of maximum temperature in Iguatu city, Ceara, located in the Northeastern Brazil, with climate, according to Koppen, of the type BSw'h. Were used the distribution of probability functions Gumbel I, Gama, Log-normal, Normal, Weibull and Beta. The studied series included a period of 45 years (1961 to 2005), obtained from the 3rd District of the Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia (INMET). The adherence of the distributions was tested by the tests Chi-square and Lilliefors both to the level of significance of 5%. The distribution that best fit the data series of maximum temperature for Iguatu - CE was the Normal distribution and the worse was the distribution of Gumbel type I.