Excessive rain will cause damage to corn and soybean crops in SC

The intense rains in Santa Catarina have been compromising agriculture in the State. According to the vice-president of the Federation of Agriculture and Livestock of Santa Catarina (Faesc), Enori Barbieri, since 2014 not as many rainy days have been recorded as were recorded in September and October 2022. The entity has been monitoring this period of intense rain, as there were records in some municipalities that in 24 hours, it rained around 300 millimeters.

He also emphasizes that excessive rain has hindered the development of some crops and is also delaying the planting of others. This is the case with corn and soybeans, which on rainy days start to have problems. The corn crop, for example, in Santa Catarina was planted until the end of September, but the rainy climate and few days of sun are making it difficult for the corn to germinate, even when the soil is very cold. “With this, we begin to imagine that we will have future problems with crop failure, because, after all, corn has been planted for more than 30 or 40 days and there have been few sunny days”, he commented.

Furthermore, he warns that now, with the arrival of the second half of October, another serious problem is beginning, this time, with wheat. This is the period when pests and diseases are recorded. “With all the humidity recorded, Giberella reappeared in Santa Catarina, which had not been recorded in Santa Catarina for a long time – and which will have consequences for wheat farming. “And unfortunately, the weather forecast indicates more rain for this week. With this, we are going to start carrying out surveys, as we will have problems in this harvest, which had a very high planting cost and if it does not perform well, producers will certainly suffer a lot of losses”, he clarified.

The rain has hampered field activity in every way. With dairy cattle, for example, problems with lack of pasture have already been reported. The excessive amount of rain also caused the flooding of some crops, mainly vegetable farms on river banks. There were also some falls of barriers, including one, which fell on a pigsty with 1.200 pigs, which needed to be rescued.

Gibberella

Caused by the fungus Gibberella zeae, it is one of the most destructive fungal diseases of wheat crops as it reduces crop productivity and contaminates the grains. It is considered a disease that is difficult to control and highly influenced by the environment. Infection by the fungus causes significant damage to wheat production in regions with a humid and hot climate, especially in the flowering stage, which is favorable for the development of the disease.