The year 2021 was full of climatic challenges for grain producers in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, especially in the second corn harvest when productivity was greatly affected, firstly by the water deficit and then by several frosts that hit mainly the southern region. of the state in the months of June and July.
Similar to other grain producing regions in the south of the country, the 2021/22 harvest also did not start easily again for local producers, soybeans in the south of the state were greatly affected by the drought during the crop development period, causing poor plant development. and grain filling, consequently generating large losses in productivity, which caused a rush to activate rural insurance by many producers. The situation led the State Governor, Reinaldo Azambuja, following the example of other states in the south of the country, to declare an emergency in the State's 79 cities at the beginning of the year, due to drought and drought.
The map below illustrates the percentage of bad crops damaged by the drought in the south of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul.
Confirming the predictions, information shared by local farms and agronomists with the start of the soybean harvest indicates that average productivity in rainfed areas is below 30 bags per hectare, well below the expected productive potential.
Contrary to this scenario of losses that is occurring on several properties due to drought, farms in the region that implemented the underground drip irrigation system are reaping the fruits of this strategic investment, guaranteeing production and reducing losses due to climate instability.
An example of this is Fazenda Esperança, located in the municipality of Itaporã (MS), in the Greater Dourados region, one of the regions that suffered most from the water deficit in the soybean harvest. In an area of 144 ha of the farm irrigated by underground drip, productivity averages were above 60 bags/ha, while in areas maintained under rainfed conditions the averages were around 25 bags/ha. In other words, on average, the irrigated area had 140% higher productivity when compared to the rainfed area. With the benefits of irrigation observed in the first project, the farm invested in another 200 ha of drip irrigation, to be installed in the off-season this year.
Another farm that benefited from underground drip irrigation, in the first harvest after installation, was Bela Vista, in the municipality of Douradina (MS), in its 330 ha of soybean planted area, only 50 mm of rain was recorded in the month of January, well below the local averages for the period, with the water deficit the rainfed area is falling below 30 bags/ha, while the area irrigated by drip, around 140 ha, still in the harvesting process, already demonstrates average productivity 100% higher than rainfed areas.
The examples show us that irrigation is an important and strategic tool for producers to guarantee and increase their productivity, reduce losses and the impact of climate instability, which are increasingly frequent and unforeseen.
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