Embrapa Soja promotes Online Field Day, this March 25th, starting at 8:30 am, on the Embrapa Soja YouTube channel, launching soybean cultivars with XTEND technology, presenting the performance of Intacta, RR and conventional cultivars , in the 2021/22 harvest, and addressing the rational use of fertilizers in soybean cultivation. Register here to receive the broadcast link.
At the technical station on the efficiency in the use of fertilizers, researcher César de Castro, from Embrapa Soja, will demonstrate how producers can use the nutrients that are missing in the soil, rationally, adding only what the plant needs. The debate on the topic has been gaining relevance, given the crisis caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, associated with Brazil's dependence on fertilizer imports.
Currently 97% of the potassium used in Brazil, for example, is imported. “This external dependence impacts, in principle, directly on soy production, since for each ton of soy produced, around 18 kg of potassium are exported”, explains Castro.
According to him, in general, producers put a greater amount of nutrients into the soil than is required to meet the needs of the crops. In other cases, there is a lack in the soil, and fertilization strategies need to be employed. However, when there is a shortage of product, the strategy must be to increase efficiency.
“To follow this path, the producer needs to know the soil, the history of fertilizer applications, that is, have soil analyzes that say that the nutrient levels are at or above critical levels”, he says. “Producers who are above the critical level can only put in what the plant removes, for example”, he assesses.
Castro recalls that in Brazil, soils are traditionally poor in phosphorus and, therefore, the nutrient is applied in excess quantities, due to this characteristic. “Anyone who has mapped the characteristics of their own soil can, at this point, slightly reduce the dose of phosphorus and potassium or even stop fertilizing, which is the heaviest investment in the variable cost of production”, he argues.
Furthermore, Castro explains that it is necessary to evaluate the production system in which soybeans are inserted, considering what other crops also export in terms of nutrients. “When you do crop rotation or succession, you don’t plan fertilization just thinking about soybeans, but rather considering the crops that make up the production system,” he says. “While soybeans consume a large amount of fertilizers, wheat and corn consume little potassium,” he explains.
“The system’s fertilization aims to achieve a balanced balance between the crops that make up the production system”, he says. During the event, Castro will present research results, field observations and, mainly, how soil analysis is used to reduce or even eliminate fertilization, in a time of crisis.
Performance of BRS cultivars in the 21/22 harvest
Regarding the 2021/22 harvest, Ralf Dengler, executive manager at Fundação Meridional, recalls that it was an atypical year in the southern part of Brazil - notably in Rio Grande do Sul, western Paraná and southern Mato Grosso do Sul - where There was a long period of drought, associated with high temperatures, exactly during the pod formation and grain filling phase. Dengler explains that in these regions, production averages were very low, ranging from 15 to 25 bags per hectare, associated with the low quality of these grains, which caused economic losses.
“So, when we talk about the performance of BRS soybean cultivars, what was reported to us by a large number of farmers and technicians is the emphasis on tolerance to water deficit”, highlights Dengler. “In regions not affected by drought, the highlight is the productive potential, which confirmed the TOP 5000 concept of yield in many areas, including large areas”, she states.
According to Dengler, in Montividiu (GO), the cultivar BRS 1003IPRO reached an average of 88 scs/ha in an area of 700 ha, used for seed production. “A differentiator of this cultivar is the Block Technology for tolerance to bedbugs, which ensured that only one application of insecticide was carried out at the end of the cycle. To give you an idea, in neighboring areas, 5 to 7 applications were made”, he reports. Other highlights were BRS 1061IPRO, which produced 83 scs/ha on 47 ha, and BRS 1003IPRO reaching 75,5 scs/ha on 53 ha, both in Quirinópolis (GO).
On the other hand, in Cambé (PR), there was a report of production of 77 scs/ha, on 24 ha, with the same cultivar. In Araraquara (SP), BRS 1061IPRO reached the excellent mark of 82,4 scs/ha, in an area of 49,7 ha, with Meiosi system - Interrotational Method Occurring Simultaneously - in sugarcane. “For the BRS 1054IPRO cultivar we still don't have numbers, as the harvest has just started in the central-south region, but from what we were able to verify in the field, the crops promise good results”, says Dengler.
The launches of the Embrapa Meridional partnership for this harvest - BRS 559RR and BRS 546 - are also close to harvest in the seed fields, presenting an excellent view of productive potential, explains Dengler. “As an example, in Apucarana (PR), BRS 546 was harvested in a demonstration area of 3,2 ha, reaching 64 sc/ha, under adverse conditions of drought and heat,” he says.
“We could also highlight the conventional cultivar BRS 539, which has in its genetics increased tolerance to stink bugs (Block Technologies) to soybean rust (Shield technology) and is in excellent seed production areas in the highest and coldest region of Paraná and in Patos de Minas (MG)”, he says.
For macro-regions 3 and 4, in the Brazilian Cerrado, the performance of BRS 531 stands out, which adds Shield technology and resistance to cyst nematode, in addition to the approximately 110-day cycle in the region. Also worthy of attention, says Dengler, is the BRS 1074IPRO, recommended for sandier soils and which adopt production systems involving sugarcane and pasture reform.
Dengler says that the cultivar has been successful among producers from the north of Paraná, south to north of Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás and south of Mato Grosso and Minas Gerais. “I would also like to mention that, in the case of conventional soybeans, the highlights are BRS 573 and BRS 531, which have been sown in Goiás and Minas Gerais, traditional in the production of conventional soybeans”, he highlights.
Partnership - Over 22 years, the partnership between Embrapa Soja and Fundação Meridional has developed a portfolio of cultivars on different soybean genetic improvement platforms. Fundação Meridional began its activities in Paraná, São Paulo and Santa Catarina, however, it gradually expanded its geographic coverage in the seed market to macro-regions 3 and 4 (North of Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás, Minas Gerais and south of Mato Grosso) .
“The great characteristic of the cultivars generated is productive stability, combined with precocity and health”, argues Ralf Dengler, executive manager of Fundação Meridional. “These are differentiators of Embrapa’s genetics, with its almost 50 years of research to adapt soybeans to tropical agricultural systems”, he highlights.
Online Field Day Schedule
- Launch of Embrapa's XTEND cultivars in the 21/22 harvest - BRS 2553XTD and BRS 2558XTD
- Performance of soybean cultivars in the 21/22 harvest
- Increasing the efficiency of fertilizer use: understanding the Nutrient Balance and Export mechanisms in soybeans
Order date: March 25
Open Hours: from 8:30 am
Location: Embrapa Soja channel on Youtube
Register on the page to receive the broadcast link: www.embrapa.br/soja/dconline