Mobile drip irrigation kits for pre-sprouted seedlings guarantee savings for producers

The technology known as MPB, or pre-sprouted seedlings, is characterized as a sugarcane multiplication system whose principle is the planting of seedlings. Cultivation with this methodology guarantees seedlings of known origin, healthy, free from pests and diseases and with a high rate of setting.

However, as it is a pre-developed plant, it does not contain any reserve structure and is therefore extremely sensitive to water deficits. Therefore, for the establishment of the crop it is necessary to use some irrigation method. The following graph shows the greatest difficulty in adopting MPB planting.

Irrigation can be done in several ways. The most used method is through adapted water trucks, however, in addition to the low yield and low efficiency in water use, these are high-cost processes, which can reach R$300,00 per hectare per day of irrigation.

Thinking about solving this problem, Netafim, together with plants and suppliers, developed MOBILE irrigation KITs for setting up and maintaining the MPB. These kits consist of a mobile pumping unit (diesel motor pump and manual disc filters; flexible pipes – flex net and medium to thin-walled surface dripper pipes).

The main benefits of these kits are: efficiency in making water available to plants; easy assembly and collection; workforce reduction; and savings in the cost of water transportation. Furthermore, the amount paid for this type of kit represents around 50-60% of the cost of irrigation using adapted trucks.

Several production units in the state of São Paulo are adopting the method and have so far seen its characteristics, thus managing to establish their sugarcane fields without depending on increasingly unstable weather conditions.

Daniel Botelho Pedroso, agronomic specialist, Netafim Brasil