Planning irrigation is essential for the verticalization of production

With the growth of technologies, it is increasingly easier for farmers to design the best business management strategy and thus verticalize their production. It is necessary to structure, monitor and constantly evaluate people, processes and results. Solutions such as irrigation guarantee numerous benefits such as autonomy, guaranteed product quality, savings and, consequently, profitability.

As an example we have underground drip irrigation. Traditionally used for several years in different crops, such as coffee and sugar cane, the solution has been gaining ground and growing annually on grain and fiber farms in different producing regions in Brazil. The search for continuous growth occurred in the most varied crops irrigated by the drip system, the technology provides benefits and brings to the producer less demand for water and electricity, better use of the area, as well as increased productivity through the Nutrirrigation technique , applying nutrients through water in an even and divided manner.

“Since the implementation of the first underground drip irrigation project for grain cultivation in Brazil, carried out by Netafim, in 2012, at Fazenda Três Capões, in an area of ​​81 ha, in the municipality of Palmeiras das Missões/RS, the results productivity of soybeans and corn, with the use of technology, proved to be very promising, with harvests reaching yields exceeding 100 bags/ha of soybeans and 280 bags/ha of corn, a result much higher than the Farm's averages in rainfed conditions ”, says William Roberto Damas, agronomic specialist in grains and fibers at Netafim. 

With the knowledge generated at Fazenda Três Capões, the technology went through a process of technical and agronomic evolution, with personalized project concepts adapted to each type of area, dripper pipes with longer line lengths, gaining installation performance and less interference within area, modern implements for installing dripper tubes generating speed and quality in the operation and new digital control and automation technologies, such as Netbeat, providing greater efficiency in irrigation management, Nutrirrigation, with information in the “palm of your hand” to help the producer in their daily decision making.

“Tabapuã dos Pirineus Farm, located in the municipality of Cocalzinho, in Goiás/GO, is another example of a farm that has been extracting a lot of value from technology, achieving a 76% jump in soybean productivity in its 24 ha project. With drip irrigation, the efficiency in water use, which we call water productivity, becomes very evident. As an example, in soybean production at Fazenda Tabapuã, in the rainfed area for each bag produced, 9,6 mm of water was needed, while in the irrigated by underground drip irrigation, 6,6 mm was required. In the last corn of the second harvest in 2020, the farm's productivity result was very satisfactory in drip irrigation, reaching a productivity of 210 bags/ha, 50% higher than the average productivity of second-crop corn in the region, which are around 140 sacks/ha", reports Damas.

Currently, Netafim has numerous underground dripping projects for grains on a commercial scale, highlighting large projects already in operation, such as one of 400 ha in the region of Campo Grande/MS, and other projects in the most varied grain producing regions of the North to the south of the country.

The engineer also details that, in addition to traditional crops, such as soybeans, corn and beans, technology has also been bringing results in the cultivation of cotton. In demonstration projects using the technology in the regions of Mato Grosso and West Bahia, traditional producing regions, with underground dripping, yields above 420% of seed cotton per hectare have been obtained in first and second harvest crops, results being achieved by application of water and nutrients in installments throughout the entire phenological cycle of the crop and without causing superficial wetting of the plant's open bolls, ensuring greater productivity and quality of the plume. 

“With the excellent results in productivity, we included the possibility of carrying out a third harvest in the agricultural year, bringing greater profitability to the producer, in addition to the rapid return on investment, taking around 2 to 3 years, compared to the conditions in dryland conditions”, concludes Damas.