Second harvest corn and consortium with brachiaria have new climate risk zoning

The Agricultural Climate Risk Zoning (Zarc) for the second harvest corn crop was published this Wednesday (13/10) in the Official Gazette of the Union by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa). Fundamental to the efficient management of Brazilian crops in the field, one of these recently prepared zonings is for the intercropping of second-crop corn with brachiaria.

“The adjustment of the corn cultivation cycle depending on the variation in temperatures in this second harvest period can be considered the main improvement of this study, especially for the states in the Center-West, Southeast and South (PR) regions, where crops are concentrated. greater productions”, says Balbino Evangelista, geographer and Research analyst at Embrapa in Tocantins. He is one of the leaders of work with Zarc in the company.

He explains that, due to the great effect of temperature on lengthening the off-season corn cycle, risk assessments were carried out for variable cycles, lasting from 100 to 180 days. In the previous study, this analysis was restricted to cycles of 100 to 120 days. As a consequence, the number of municipalities covered within acceptable risk levels increased and it was possible to adjust the planting windows in critical regions, whether for a longer or shorter period. Some municipalities located in colder regions in the South and Southeast of the country had the window reduced.

Between September 22nd and 24th, virtual validation meetings took place with different agents in the production value chain in four states: Paraná; Mato Grosso do Sul; Minas Gerais; and São Paulo. Professionals such as rural extension technicians, consultants, producers, researchers and financial agents had access to the zoning results which, after technical discussions, were validated with small adjustments.

Zarc 50% will not be implemented

With the delay in planting the second harvest corn in the last harvest, planted from January 2020, several institutions requested the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply to extend the planting date of the crop. As it is a technical-scientific instrument, there was no way to make dates more flexible without prior study by Embrapa.

However, in order to demonstrate which municipalities in Brazil could have another decade of planting second-crop corn with a new risk class of 50%, Embrapa, at the request of Mapa, developed the research, which was presented to the requesting institutions, which declined to create the 50% Zarc.

There were risks of not serving all municipalities that could have planting delays, possible exposure to a very high risk of losses due to weather problems, increased costs of the rural insurance system and Proagro.

What is Zarc for?

Zoning aims to reduce risks related to climate problems and allows producers to identify the best time to plant, taking into account the region of the country, the culture and different types of soil. 

The agrometeorological model considers elements that directly influence the development of agricultural production such as temperature, rainfall, relative air humidity, occurrence of frost, water available in the soil, water demand of crops and geographic elements (altitude, latitude and longitude).  

Farmers who follow Zarc's recommendations are less subject to climate risks and can still benefit from the Agricultural Activity Guarantee Program (Proagro) and the Rural Insurance Premium Subsidy Program (PSR). Many financial agents only release rural credit for crops in zoned areas.  

Right Planting App  

Rural producers and other agribusiness agents can access Zarc's official information via tablets and smartphones in a more practical way, facilitating guidance on the federal government's agricultural policy programs. The Zarc Plantio Certo mobile application, developed by Embrapa Informática Agropecuária (Campinas/SP), is available in application stores: iOS e Android.   

Zarc results can also be consulted and downloaded through the platform “Risk Indication Panel”.