This research, with a qualitative approach, is based on a literature review and a press analysis related to mergers, acquisitions and dissolutions of Higher Education Institutions in South America. Our findings evidence a gap in the academic literature for analyzing and understanding these processes. The literature on the subject is scarce; however, the press has recorded them in a constant way. While in the past this phenomenon was mainly among public universities, currently it is a fundamentally private trend. The main reasons to carry out this process by Higher Education Institutions are those related to geographic expansion or positioning (for merger processes), absorption and concentration of institutions by groups of interest (for merger processes, acquisition) and, the crisis resulting from the financial-administrative management of the institutions, as well as the non-compliance with national and international quality standards designed by accreditation agencies and institutions (for dissolution processes). On the contrary of some literature results, in any of the processes the search for prestige or reputation by the institutions was detected as a reason.

Considering the need to adopt more sustainable agricultural systems, it is important that sweet potato breeding programs seek to increase not only root productivity, but also the productivity and quality of branches for silage production. The objective was to evaluate the genetic divergence and the importance of traits associated with the production and quality of branch silage in sweet potato genotypes. The experiment was conducted on the JK Campus of the Federal University of Vales do Jequitinhonha and Mucuri Valleys in a randomized block design with 12 treatments and four repetitions. Twelve characteristics of branches and silage were evaluated. There was genetic variability between the genotypes, making it possible to select parents divergent for future breeding programs for silage production. The genotypes BD-54 and BD-31TO were the most divergent in relation to the others, being indicated its use in crossbreeding aiming the improvement of the culture for silage, once the high performance per se of all genotypes evaluated has already been verified in previous works. The characteristics Na, TDN and NDF were those that most contributed to the divergence.

Major spices crops such as black pepper (Piper nigrum L.), cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum Maton.) and turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) production in India, is sustained losses due to several reasons. Among them, one of the major constraints are nematode infesting diseases, which causes significant yield losses and affecting their productivity. The major nematode pests infesting these crops include burrowing nematode Radopholus similis; root knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita and M. javanica on black pepper. Whereas, lesion nematode, Pratylenchus sp., M. incognita and R. similis infesting cardamom and turmeric crops. Black pepper is susceptible to a number of diseases of which slow decline caused by R. similis and M. incognita or Phytophthora capsici either alone and in combination and root knot disease caused by Meloidogyne spp. are the major ones. Root knot disease caused by Meloidogyne spp. is major constraints in the successful cultivation and production in cardamom. Turmeric is susceptible to a number of diseases such as brown rot disease is caused by Fusarium sp. and lesion nematode, Pratylenchus sp. and root knot disease caused by M. incognita. Adoption of integrated pest management schedules is important in these crops since excessive use of pesticides could lead to pesticide residues in the produce affecting human health and also causing other ecological hazards.