How to increase productivity in soybean crops?

Investment in the soil profile, appropriate choice of specific varieties for each type of region, seed stimulation and correct plant nutrition are some actions that can help increase the yield of a soybean crop.

Today we know the importance of having a corrected soil profile, with nutrient dynamics that are suitable for high production systems. The addition of the microbiological complex and organic matter to the soil is exceptional for reaching these large production ceilings. In other words, if I talk about increasing productivity, I automatically have to increase the available organic matter.

After this correction process, the implementation of the culture begins. At this point, the farmer has to be careful when choosing the genetic material that best adapts to his region and that is more conditioned to respond to his local soil, fertility and climate conditions.

For example: I have a material with a high production ceiling, but the area in which I place it does not provide all the nutrients it needs to respond well. So, although I have material adapted for the region, it is being placed in a place where there will be no response.

Another example is materials that are more tolerant to stressful situations, such as water scarcity or heavy rainfall during harvest, and that respond better in productivity under these conditions. Therefore, the producer must be aware of the type of genetic material. Choose it, test it on the property and start using it from the moment it adapts to your property.

Ok, material chosen, and the next step is to define the treatment and stimulation of seeds that aims to improve the seed's establishment condition so that it can emerge with high vigor. The farmer and his technical team must work with inoculation, a practically free source of nitrogen within the system; and with rooting agents, products that stimulate cell division, the nitrogen fixation complex and the development of the plant in the aerial part more vigorously. Another important point is to link the biological to the chemical. It is necessary to improve the efficiency of fungicides and insecticides, in addition to providing dynamics and sustainability to the system.

After the emergency phase, we enter the vegetative part of the plant, where various adverse events can occur and the producer must be careful. It is worth remembering that even after the implementation of the crop, there are still precautions to maintain the productive potential, as the main bottlenecks today are phytosanitary and nutritional.

Within phytosanitary areas, pests have been recurrent in the country. We still have the presence of many serious diseases such as target spot or rust, for example. Fungicides with a broad spectrum and the ability to control rust are essential to the system and will reduce losses caused by diseases as much as possible.

However, we observed in the field that what has responded most to increased production is the correct mineral nutrition of plants. We moved away from foliar nutrition application management based solely on correctors to products that also work on the physiology of the plant as a vehicle for high productivity. This involves using correct volumes of nutrition and the use of amino acids to improve the plant's water usage condition, its ability to cool itself and to better tolerate stress.

It is necessary to keep the plant nourished and protect the structures. For example: the leaf has to be photosynthetically active as much as possible and the plant needs to be reproducing. You have to guarantee maximum cell division in the pods and grains to achieve heavy grains and pods with the maximum possible grains. We depend on sequenced nutrition. In soybeans with high productive potential, it is not enough to place hope for the plant's potential simply on what was placed in the soil; we need to encourage it to assimilate what went into the soil and better use these nutrients in its area, a major challenge for today's phytotechnician.

Once all this is done, excellent results will be achieved. As harvests advance, the producer specializes, research reaches the field and technology transfer comes through new products and new varieties. By making this mixture of knowledge and implementing the actions on his property, the farmer's production limitation is only the limits of the system's capacity and the interaction with the environment.

The important thing is that as long as we can increase this productivity, we break ceilings and paradigms and prove that more efficient agriculture also becomes more productive and economically viable.