Productive potential of early soybeans

Early soybeans, in a simple and summarized way, represent varieties that develop (from planting to harvest) in a shorter period of time when compared to medium or late cycle varieties.

In this scenario, it is important to report that there are different maturation groups and each one with its own particularity in relation to the duration of the cycle, such as: super early (maturity is reached within 60 days after sowing), early (maturity is reached between 61 and 70 days after sowing), medium (maturity is reached between 71 and 90 days after sowing) and late (maturity is reached from 91 days after sowing).

The duration of the cycle is dependent on climatic factors, so it can be specific to each growing region. For example, in the State of Minas Gerais, early cultivars are considered to be those with a cycle of between 101 and 110 days, while in Paraná, the cycle would be up to 115 days (Embrapa-CNPSo, 2008).

The present moment allows us to affirm that early soybeans fit like a glove in the productive context of soybean farmers, especially for those who adopt the second harvest, popularly known as safrinha, as well as those who adopt cover crops thinking about building and preserving the crop profile. ground.

Among the good prospects for early soybean cultivation are the production averages observed in the 2019/2020 harvest, through surveys by the Brazilian Soy Strategic Committee (CESB), which observed an average of 76,1 sc of soybeans/ha in rainfed and 81,3 sc of soybeans/ha in irrigated cultivation. It is worth noting that in irrigated cultivation producers achieved productivity above 90 sc/ha, reaching the production ceiling of 96 sc/ha. In short, it is possible to say that the early cultivars are showing high productive potential, so the genetic breeders did a great job.

The fact of obtaining high productivity with early soybeans, a good commercialization price for the commodity and combining it with the possibility of installing a second crop, such as corn in the production system, helps to generate greater profitability, sustainability and security of agricultural activity, since how well the production system was planned.

In this context, other benefits may make sense for producers, such as: strategy to escape Asian rust in regions with greater disease intensity, early harvest and maintaining grain quality, off-season cultivation installed in periods of more frequent and regular rain. , reduced water and energy costs in irrigated cultivation by spending less time in the field and more uniform and concentrated maturation allowing greater efficiency in application technology and mechanization, 

However, to achieve high productivity, the benefits generated from early soybean cultivation need to be aligned with strategic planning and other technologies adopted in management, for example: seed quality, seed treatment, sowing time, fertilization, weed management , pests and diseases and harvest.

For producers who wish to start growing soybeans early, it is also important to emphasize that “care is similar for all crops, under any circumstances”. A planning and/or management error can result in greater losses, since it is a soybean with a shorter cycle and in the event of an error it will not have enough time to recover, especially considering the productive aspect.

Early soybean is one of the strategies that producers can adopt within the production system. The producer has the power to choose, as other cultivars with different maturity groups (medium or late) also have high productive potential. Therefore, the choice of genetic material depends on the planning and purposes adopted by the producer.