ANPII highlights validation of biological use

With increasing acceptance among Brazilian farmers since 2009, the inoculant with Brazilian Azospirillum has been gaining prominence in grain crops. The use of microorganisms that promote plant growth – capable of replacing, partially or completely, chemical fertilizers – represents a key strategy for Brazil, which imports the majority of fertilizers used in agriculture.

Recently, Embrapa Soja (PR) communicated an important result of research carried out over the last ten years in corn crops and validated the replacement of 25% of nitrogen fertilizer with inoculant with Brazilian Azospirillum. This inoculant, launched on the Brazilian market in 2009 and widely disseminated by ANPII (National Association of Producers and Importers of inoculants), becomes even more essential for agribusiness with this important recommendation, as it reduces expensive nitrogen fertilizer, bringing lower production costs for the farmer. Bioinput also contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and low-carbon agriculture strategies.

“This validation, once again, is the result of close cooperation between public research and private companies. The first inoculant sold in the country was produced with strains selected by Embrapa, but the large-scale production technology was fully developed in companies associated with ANPII”, analyzes Guilherme de Figueiredo, president of ANPII.

Currently, the associates produce the inoculant of azospirillum, with the selected strains and the quality demanded by farmers. Brazil's inoculant production industrial park is one of the most modern in the world, being able to meet the demand for different types of inoculants in quantity and quality.

“With all certainty, with the validation of the reduction of nitrogen fertilizer in corn, the use of inoculant in this crop will have significant increases by Brazilian farmers who use the most modern technologies. The use of inoculants with these bacteria already exceeds ten million doses annually and should increase considerably in the next harvests.”, explains Solon Araujo, executive director of ANPII.

The economic and environmental benefits of this technology were presented by researchers Marco Antonio Nogueira and Mariangela Virgínia, from Embrapa Soja, during an online event held in November. According to the researchers, the technology for inoculating corn with the bacterium Azospirillum brasilense reduces nitrogen top dressing and also allows an average increase of 3,1% in grain productivity.

For researchers, these results are a reflection of two complementary microbial processes, coordinated by plant growth-promoting bacteria (BPCP). One of them is biological nitrogen fixation, which is capable of meeting 5% to 20% of the plant's needs. The other process favors corn root growth, via the synthesis of phytohormones, mainly indoleacetic acid, which improves the soil's exploitation of water and nutrients.