Farmers achieve productivity of 40 to 50 sc/ha with millet hybrids

Brazilian farmers are seeking to bring more profitability to their properties with alternatives that help them obtain income during the off-season. One of these options is millet, a crop most commonly used for straw production, soil protection and improvement, which is also a good alternative for grain sales. Productivity can exceed 50 bags per hectare.

The millet grain market is already consolidated due to its quality and differentials and, therefore, presents high liquidity, with prices reaching 90% of the price of corn in most producing regions.

Farmer Armiston Cassiano Barbosa, from the city of Poxoréu (MT), harvested 51 sc/ha of millet, planting grain millet hybrids from ATTO Sementes. In addition to productivity, he highlights the quality generated in the soil. “The millet did a great job in correcting the soil, as it managed to recycle the nutrients and helped a lot when I planted the soybeans in sequence”, he highlights.

Agricultural engineer Wilson Takuro Higuchi, who works on an agricultural property in the municipality of Formosa do Rio Preto (BA), also reached this productivity level, 51 sc/ha. In addition to producing the grains, he used the straw to prepare the soil for the next crops.

Benefits for soy

In addition to grain production, millet is widely used to improve the soil for the next crop, bringing many benefits to soybeans, for example.

Field work on commercial crops, carried out by the ATTO Sementes Research Department, demonstrates that the increase in soybean productivity, over millet straw, can reach 3,48 more bags per hectare, a result obtained on the average of four harvests consecutive. “Due to its high synergy with soybeans, the farmer achieves direct and indirect gains from millet cultivation, increasing their profitability as a whole”, reports Juca Matielo, commercial director at ATTO Sementes.

Millet also has several benefits. As it has a deep and abundant root system, it recycles soil nutrients found in the deeper areas, making these nutrients available for subsequent crops, which helps with soybean productivity.

Producer Grazziani Rodrigo Menezes Carvalho, who plants millet in São José do Xingu (MT) and Jataí (GO), felt this difference in soybeans. “I noticed that the soybeans planted later became much more uniform, due to the organic matter left in the planted area and the reduction in nematodes that affect soybeans,” he says. Millet reduces the nematode population Pratylenchus brachyurus, which greatly affects grain productivity.

Quality for feed production

For poultry farms, pig farmers and livestock farmers, millet grain also has great advantages. The protein content of millet grain produced from grain hybrids reaches 14%. Therefore, the grain can generate high-quality feed for animals, reducing costs.

“In feed formulation, the highest cost is protein. And, when soybean meal becomes more expensive, millet ends up having unbeatable competitiveness”, reports the chief breeder at Atto Melhoramento, Luiz Bonamigo. He also mentions the issue of whether millet can be used in natura, without the need to grind, thus generating savings in electrical energy when processing the feed.

Constant research

ATTO Sementes began investing in millet improvement in 2002, understanding that it would be a highly synergistic crop with soybeans for the formation of quality straw and, since then, the project has only grown. The company's first millet hybrid was launched on the market in 2007, and the project has evolved, always seeking to increase grain productivity, to generate more income for customers.

“The grain hybrids that are on the market today, ADRG 9060 and ADRG 9070, present an excellent delivery to the farmer, as they are synergistic with large crops and have already reached an excellent level of grain productivity. But the improvement project is growing and we invest every year to seek even greater productivity. We will have good news in the coming years”, says the chief breeder.