Off-season corn: how to maximize gains and reduce risks?

Off-season corn, like any other crop, suffers from adverse factors that reduce its productive potential. Climate, soil fertility, cultivar, planting, insect pests, diseases and weeds are the factors that end up not allowing the crop to reach productivity levels that are profitable for the producer.

We understand the difficulties encountered by farmers, who are often left without options to implement ideal planting technique recommendations. However, the Agricultural Climate Risk Zoning (Zarc) establishes the period of lowest risk for planting crops through historical series and, when not used, implies greater probabilities of crop losses for farmers. If planting is carried out at the correct time, but for financial reasons or any other reason the farmer does not use cultivars adapted to the region, the expected productive genetic levels will probably not be reached.

But not only the cultivar is important in planting. Population density and distribution of plants in the field (plantability) are fundamental for a good harvest. In this sense, several experts in the field state that around 50% of the success of a good harvest is associated with the planting phase, considering the correct time, the appropriate cultivar and the right plantability. However, if the farmer does not pay attention to fertilizing the off-season corn, all the effort spent on planting could be wasted.

One of the premises of genetic improvement is to develop the productive potential so that crops are able to produce in areas where fertility is corrected and fertilization is carried out in order to replace all the export of nutrients that occurs by the crop. After the crop is installed, interference from biotic agents (insect pests, diseases and weeds) may occur, which can reduce productivity by around 35%. In extreme cases, this reduction could reach up to 90%.

The use of cultivars that present resistance to certain insect pests concomitantly with the use of chemical pesticides, when levels of economic damage are detected, contributes to the phytosanitary management of the crop. The application of products through monitoring helps identify the potential for damage, applying the correct product at the recommended dose, seeking to respect good agronomic practices and respecting the environment. Biological control contributes to the population balance of beneficial agents and, therefore, must always be in the producer's view for use, when available.

Furthermore, the farmer must make use of productive agricultural systems that help reduce the incidence of these biotic agents through crop rotation, not disturbing the soil and the use of permanent vegetable mulch. If the farmer carries out not only economic but also technical planning, the probability of an increase in the profitability and sustainability of the property will be considerably higher.

By Décio Karam, member of the Sustainable Agro Scientific Council (CCAS), Ph.D, Weed Management researcher at Embrapa Milho e Sorgo