Deadline for sunflower sowing ends on March 31st in Goiás

The Goiana Agricultural Defense Agency (Agrodefesa) alerts rural producers that the deadline for sowing sunflowers in Goiás ends next Sunday (31/03). The period for the end of planting the oilseed is set out in Normative Instruction No. 01/ 2022 and was established with the aim of containing volunteer soybean plants that germinate in the midst of sunflower cultivation and controlling the proliferation of Asian rust, a disease that affects soybean production. This is because sunflower is a typical off-season activity, generally sown in succession to soybeans, and there are no selective herbicides for the crop registered with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa).

Agrodefesa's Plant Health Manager, Daniela Rézio, emphasizes that it is important for farmers to pay attention to deadlines to ensure the phytosanitary actions necessary for agricultural activity. “The Agency adopted measures, such as the sunflower sowing calendar until March 31st, with the aim of reducing the presence of volunteer soybean plants in the middle of the sunflower crop and ensuring that the soybean fallow period is respected . Tigueras could host the fungus that causes Asian rust, thus causing damage to the next soybean harvest,” she explains.

The manager also informs that IN nº 01/2022 also establishes the mandatory destruction of any and all voluntary soybean plants in the vicinity of sunflower crops, allowing only those within the crop to remain without obligation to be destroyed until the sunflower is harvested. . In cases where sowing is done after March 14th, the cultivars must have a short cycle (up to 105 days), because the final harvest must be done by July 15th.

Another aspect that needs to be observed, according to Daniela, is the registration of crops in the Goiás Agricultural Defense System (Sidago) within 15 days after the end of sowing.

Importance

Goiás remains the isolated leader in sunflower production in the country. According to an estimate released by the National Supply Company (Conab), the 2023/2024 harvest should total 47,3 thousand tons in sunflower production, exceeding production by 0,9% of the 22/23 harvest, which resulted in 46,9 thousand tons and was the largest among the Brazilian sunflower-producing states.

“It is a versatile and easily adaptable culture. It has become a good option for cultivation after the main harvest and that is why farmers have invested more and more in the activity. It is used as a source of edible oil, but also in the production of bran and silage, among others”, highlights the president of Agrodefesa, José Ricardo Caixeta Ramos.