Project evaluates the use of biologicals in the soy-cotton system

The important contribution of organic products to Brazilian agricultural production is already consolidated. Different projections point to the marked growth of the industry in this sector, as well as the interest of rural producers in using this management tool. Aware of its role in contributing to increasingly sustainable and profitable agriculture, through research information that results from the scenario of each harvest, the Mato Grosso Agricultural Research Support Foundation (Fundação MT) has been developing the Project for almost three years Biologicals.

Conducted by the institution's Phytopathology and Biological sector team, the project was designed in the 2020/21 harvest with the installation of treatments at the Learning and Dissemination Center (CAD) of Nova Mutum and Sapezal. In the 2022/23 cycle, the work is mainly being carried out at CAD Oeste, in Sapezal, and began on October 19th, with the sowing of soybeans.

Researchers João Paulo Ascari and Karla Kudlawiec, members of the team, which also includes researcher Mônica Müller, explain the main objectives of the project. Among them is evaluating the performance of biological products in controlling diseases, pests and nematodes in soybean and cotton crops, as well as the contribution within integrated management. And with the information elucidated each harvest, disseminate the strategies and their results to rural producers.

“Today, the control of pests and diseases, and especially in the soybean-cotton system, is greatly intensified in the use of chemical pesticides, but there are other alternatives available. The use of biocontrollers is a way to achieve more sustainability, increasing the management already practiced, with satisfactory productivity results for the producer and with less impact on the environment”, highlights João Ascari.

How works

In the 2022/23 edition, two companies participating in the initiative with the positioning of their respective products, Biocontrol and Lallemand. The macro objective of the project is to gather information from management that combines chemical and biological applications and show the different options available to the producer”, highlights Karla Kudlawiec.

In a multidisciplinary way, the research includes nematological analysis, the severity of diseases that affect the evaluated crop, monitoring of pest infestations and productivity results.

To interpret the data obtained in the field, the Data Science sector at Fundação MT, currently composed of researchers Paulo Souza and Danilo dos Reis Cardoso Passos, developed an exclusive Analysis Platform for the project. They are tools for robust statistical analysis, which consider the nature of data distribution and report with interactive results.

Each participating company has access to four treatments – control, chemical standard, biological management and integrated management, positioning their products only within the biological and integrated.

In the chemical standard, the seeds were treated and then foliar applications for diseases and pests are scheduled, as they reach the control level, and only the inoculant is a bioinput. In the biological standard, seed treatment is also carried out, planning of foliar applications and the use of chemicals will be available as needed or not, depending on the positioning of the portfolio used.

In the integrated one, chemical management will be maintained (TS and foliar applications) and biological management will be added, with bionematicides, bioinsecticides (as per monitoring of the pest population) and biofungicides. For the plot with the control, only the biological inoculant is used in the seed treatment, without carrying out pest and disease control.

After the end of the soybean harvest, the project continues during the cotton harvest, with sowing in Sapezal estimated for January 25, 2023.

Expectations, results and disclosure

The researchers believe that, in this soybean harvest, the diseases that may be most present and will be the target for the research results are target spot and cercosporiosis. Among pests, the expectation is for greater pressure from caterpillars, suckers (bedbugs) and whiteflies.

Severity data, which diseases and pests were present, possible nematodes in the area and the productivity result of the Biological Project will be presented at Fundação MT events. “We will take the data to the Soya Technical Meeting, Cotton Technical Meeting, but also in the rounds with producers and technical visits. The final report will also be available to the community in general through the MT Foundation application”, point out those responsible.

Experts also emphasize that the aim is to develop the project over a longer period of time and, in this way, have consistent data to be disclosed to producers. “Each harvest is a different condition, so we need to bring data from several harvests and thus have greater consistency in results with different materials, different scenarios, and show the feasibility of using biological products”, concludes João Ascari.

For more information about the Biological Project in the 2022/23 harvest, contact can be made with researcher João Ascari, at joaoascari@fundacaomt.com.br.