Producers remain uncertain for the next harvest

The uncertainties in the international fertilizer market caused by the war between Russia and Ukraine, in addition to the economic consequences due to the Covid-19 pandemic in recent years, continue to be the main concerns of farmers in Paraná. At a meeting of the FAEP Cereals, Fibers and Oilseeds Technical Committee (CT), this Wednesday (6), producers revealed that the situation has led to unprecedented difficulties in planning the next harvest. The concern is with the stock and price of fertilizers for planting the 2022/23 harvest.

According to the president of CT, José Antonio Borghi, it is necessary to learn lessons from this turbulent period for the future. "We are seeing the importance of achieving self-sufficiency, enabling more exports, opening new markets. It is necessary to have a State policy, providing tools, such as better insurance and easier credit lines", he analyzed. "Now, for example, if the producer wants to plant wheat, the margin is 1%, with interest rates of 10% to 15%. This limits this chain and the same goes for other products", he added.

Participants in the virtual meeting took a tour of the state. Reports confirmed the drop in soybean and summer corn harvests in the 2021/22 season. In general, although losses were widespread, the worst productivity was recorded in a range that covers the Northwest, West and Southwest. Some plantings that were done later suffered less from the drought, which had its worst month in December 2021.

For off-season corn, it has been raining well so far, with isolated problems. Regarding wheat, there should be no increase in area this winter due to high production costs.

Lectures

The meeting program also included two lectures. The first with researcher Ricardo Sosa Gomez, from Embrapa Soja, dealt with the caterpillar known in the field as "Falsa Medideira" (Rachiplusia nu). In recent years, the entity, based in Londrina, has noted the incidence of the pest in crops in Paraná. Although they did not reach the level of economic damage in known cases, the research entity has monitored the evolution of the insect population.

The second lecture provided an overview of soybean varieties made available by Embrapa. According to researcher Marcos Rafael Petek, from the entity, between 2015 and 2020, 50 new cultivars were developed: 16 conventional, 22 with RR technology and 12 with IPRO technology. Petek gave an overview of how the process works to arrive at new cultivars.