Strategies for increasing productivity are part of the routine of all rural producers. Even with the best strategies designed, new challenges appear and require quick decision-making to avoid incurring losses in crop profitability. Given this scenario, alternatives to minimize possible environmental stress and maximize the resilience of the agricultural system become fundamental.
Summer grain production, especially soybeans, has shown a significant increase in productivity in recent years. This growth results from the high production potential of modern cultivars and technological advances in production systems. All this progress has led to the crucial need to nourish crops with balance, so that they can express their maximum potential. This means thinking about nutritional management of the crop, which is essential to achieving high productivity. More than ever, it is necessary to think about balanced nutrition and not just the supply of a certain nutrient.
The Law of the Minimum conceptualizes balanced nutrition, which in turn allows faster plant responses to environmental variations, both by promoting a robust root system and by stomatal closure, both helping in situations of water limitation. Another benefit caused by good nutritional management in the face of environmental adversities is the better development of the plants' natural defense system, which increases tolerance against pests and diseases, in addition to greater accumulation of grain reserves and greater crop productivity.
Nutrients, whether macro or micro, have structural and physiological functions in plants. In soybean cultivation, for example, it is possible to mention potassium and magnesium, which are essential for the translocation of assimilates to the grains, calcium and boron, which are essential for fertilization and fixation of reproductive structures, molybdenum to maximize biological nitrogen fixation and enhance the activity of the nitrate reductase enzyme, among many other nutrients with versatile purposes.
Given this scenario, it is noted that for successful productivity, nutritional elements must be available in a balanced way in the production system, and it is important to consider the source, dose, time and place in which correction, maintenance applications or replacement will occur. To this end, the relevance of soil analysis, as well as visual and foliar diagnoses, is highlighted, so that one can be assertive in decision-making. Finally, it is necessary to be efficient in supplying nutrients to crops, both at the base and in the leaves, so that they can complete their cycle at the appropriate time, and are able to minimize the effects of adverse conditions and maximize the return on invested agricultural management. by the producer.
Guilherme Bavia, State University of Londrina, State University of Maringa, Kansas University (USA)
With each new edition, Cultivar Grandes Culturas publishes a series of technical content produced by renowned researchers from all over Brazil, which address the main difficulties and challenges encountered in the field by rural producers. Through research focused on controlling the main pests and diseases in the cultivation of large crops, the Magazine helps farmers in the search for management solutions that increase their profitability.
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