Map publishes zoning of 1st harvest corn and sorghum crops from the 2020/2021 harvest

Published in the Official Gazette of the Union on Tuesday, July 14, the ordinances 166 to 182  with the Agricultural Climate Risk Zoning (Zarc), crop year 2020/2021, for the cultivation of 1st corn for the following units of the Federation: DF; GO; MT; MS; BA; BAD; PI; B.C; RO; TO; ES; MG; RJ; SP; PR; RS and SC.

Agricultural Climate Risk Zoning (Zarc) aims to reduce problems related to undesirable climatic events and allows producers to identify the best time to plant, taking into account the region of the country, the crop and the different types of soil.

The agrometeorological model considers elements that directly influence the physiological development of the plant, 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).

Zarc

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 and for the planting of cultivars indicated in the zoning ordinances.

For the 2020/2021 harvest, the zoning of 1st harvest corn underwent a methodological review, making it possible to indicate with greater certainty the ideal windows for planting. The main advances in the study were: inclusion of greater water requirements at the time of planting; assessment of excessive rain during the harvest period; readjustment of the average cycles of cultivars and greater precision in quantifying the risk of frost.

15 validation meetings were held for corn cultivation, between June 10 and 29, 2020, all via videoconference.

The Zarc Ordinances for Sorghum cultivation were also published for the states of Bahia, Maranhão, Piauí, Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul. Sorghum will undergo a methodological review later this year, so other states will have ordinances published by November this year . Access ordinances 161 to 165 here.  

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 on the Android system.