In Brazil, rural producers are increasingly adhering to sustainable and economical agricultural practices, which use more bio-inputs and biological organisms. To improve plant fertility and reduce production costs, thousands of farmers in the country started using so-called soil remineralizers in different types of crops.
Experts point out that this movement has enabled the search for natural sources of nutrients, such as rocks and stones, which contain minerals with the potential to recover soils in more arid regions.
According to the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), it is estimated that the area planted with agrominerals in Brazil already exceeds two million hectares. In Goiás alone, a pioneering state in the use of new inputs, there is a record of at least 250 thousand hectares planted with mineral or biological fertilizers.
The objective of producers, mainly small and medium-sized ones, is to reduce dependence on high-priced chemical inputs and ensure crop profitability. However, their main complaint is the low supply of efficient national inputs on the market. Around 95% of potassium chloride, for example, one of the most used fertilizers in Brazil, is imported.
“We want to practice agriculture that is done with regional inputs, so that the money stays in the region. So, we work with rock dust, natural phosphate, cover plants from our nature, some exotic, that add fertility to the soil, and with bio-inputs, which are bacteria, fungi, efficient microorganisms to recolonize the soil”, explains Rogério Vian, rural producer from Mineiros, a municipality in the southwest of Goiás.
Vian chairs the Sustainable Agriculture Group, known as GAS, which was created with the aim of changing agricultural production paradigms and defending producers' freedom in choosing inputs considering the regional context of the properties.
In partnership with the Brazilian Association of Soy Producers (Aprosoja), the group has already mobilized more than 2.300 farmers from across the country who practice different fertilization and management methods and seek new types of inputs of biological origin.
One of the regional remineralizers or agrominerals that producers in Goiás have prioritized is rock dust, which can be applied directly to the soil or together with conventional soluble fertilizers.
“We recolonize the soil and add biology, which is being lost due to the high use of inputs. Rock dust rebuilds the soil, because all soil was formed by rock, but with the weathering of millions of years, the soil became impoverished”, explains Vian.
A survey by the Institute for Strengthening Agriculture in Goiás (Ifag) shows that fertilizers and pesticides make up practically half of the production costs of conventional soybeans, for example. In the institution's latest estimates, the profitability of soybean producers has been negative, a fact that has generated debt for farmers, according to members of the sector.
“Producers have no pleasure in using agrochemicals. So, the idea of the sustainable agriculture group is to bring a new tool to the producer so that they can produce at a lower cost and in the end produce healthier food”, he highlights.
One of the main researchers on the topic, agrogeologist Eder Martins, who works at Embrapa Cerrados, highlights that the alternative planting system brings direct and indirect effects to plantations and represents a viable solution to return agricultural profitability.
“This entire movement is linked to the sustainability of the activity. The viability of agriculture is a crucial issue today. In reality, agriculture has always been organic, but over time emphasis has been placed on chemical inputs. However, there is technological exhaustion, and when this exhaustion hits the pocket and does not close the accounts, it means that the model is not viable”, he highlights.
Martins warns that agriculture based on natural inputs presupposes the use of mineral sources of nutrients, biological organisms to control pests and cover crops to protect and nourish the soil, but does not replace or eliminate conventional inputs, such as fertilizers or chemical pesticides.
“This new model is a type of organic farming that is not incompatible with the previous model, nor is it prejudiced against traditional inputs. But it is not possible to have a solution just from one aspect, it is necessary to have an association of inputs. We still need agrochemicals as one of the tools. And we will continue using fertilizers, the difference is that we will be more economical”, explains Martins.
The expert highlights that in areas where there is verticalization of the poultry production process, for example, waste from agro-industries, which are very rich in nutrients and microorganisms beneficial to the soil, can be better used to make compost with rock minerals.
“It is the search for economic sustainability and, in this process, you will also find environmental and social sustainability, because the development of new regional production chains will be stimulated and resources will be able to circulate in the agricultural regions themselves”, he states.
According to the expert, conventional soluble fertilizers, generally made from nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, have low efficiency if not well applied, and the composition with minerals has the advantage of better use of nutrients.
“When the process is done well, we can effectively use only 50% of these elements. We have recent results showing that it is possible to increase productivity when you combine soluble fertilization with these new agrominerals” .
One of the pioneers in the use of soil remineralizers in Goiás was Giberto Yuki, who produces cereals in the Cristalina region, around 100 km from Brasília. In an area of approximately 1.200 hectares, Yuki plants soybeans, beans, corn and wheat, using rock dust-based fertilizer.
Born in the interior of Paraná and of Japanese origin, Yuki arrived in Cristalina in 1988, attracted by the second stage of the Japanese-Brazilian Cooperation Program for the Development of the Cerrados (Prodecer), created in the 70s to boost agriculture in the central region of the country. .
The program was developed by the federal government in partnership with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and provided for the offer of settlements and machinery to settlers selected by accredited cooperatives to stimulate agricultural production without deforestation of large areas and with low environmental impact.
Following the program's premises, Yuki still produces in two settlement areas and in others that he acquired over the years. In 2015, the producer began testing mineral inputs and, since 2016, has been using rock dust and natural phosphate throughout the planted area.
The producer also rotates crops and, to protect the soil between harvests, created brachiaria planting areas with a mix of ground cover plants, such as millet, turnip, buckwheat and sudan grass, all planted with rock dust. . He explains that the cover provides biodiversity, brings a large amount of straw and forms roots longer than two and a half meters that attract organic substances and good species of microorganisms.
The results were noticed in the first three years. According to Yuki, just by reducing the use of conventional fertilizers, production costs fell by 25% to 30%. "A good average productivity has stabilized, in the range between 61 and 65 bags, with a lower cost. We have reached an average productivity with a higher profitability, with a lower cost", she said.
Yuki also noticed that plants are more resistant to pests and diseases and, as a result, managed to reduce the use of chemical pesticides by half. He says that, in the case of corn, for example, in which three to four fungicide applications were made per year, last year's harvest only required one and a half applications. And in one of the plots that will be harvested this year, control was carried out only with biological organisms.
“Rock dust provides uniformity in the area and better resistance to some diseases and pests. It doesn’t mean that you don’t need to use insecticide, but it gives a certain reduction in the attack”, says Yuki.
To carry out biological control of pests and diseases, the producer uses commercial biodefensive products and three years ago installed a biofactory where he produces bacteria and other microorganisms. Recently, Yuki also started using homeopathic medicines. “Homeopathy is more about improving the vital force of the plant and correcting any imbalance,” he says.
Remineralizers have been used especially in grain crops, but there are positive experiences with results in improving production quality and increasing resistance to pests in sugarcane, eucalyptus, rubber and fruit plantations.
On the property neighboring Yuki's, rock dust has also been used to plant garlic, onions and carrots. Partners Guilherme Shiniti Koyama and Henrique Massakatsu Sakamoto, from G9 Agronegócios, decided to use rock dust after encouragement from other producers and noticed a change in the quality of the products and even in productivity.
“Generally speaking, the advantages are quality and health. I saw quality in the garlic skin and rooting. Having healthy roots also increases production. And the carrots gained weight, on average an extra kilo per box”, reports Guilherme Koyama.
Challenges
Despite the benefits already perceived, producers warn about the lack of consultants and agricultural technicians specialized in this type of bioinput. Farmers also expect an increase in the availability of products on the market certified by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply.
“We have to assume that there is a lack of research and answers to this demand, because all institutions are now beginning to realize the importance of the topic. The farmer is using it and does not know if the dosage is correct, if this is the best cost-benefit, in other words, the agronomic part has not yet been well studied. And the research is long-term, so it is necessary to create research programs”, suggests Martins.
These are topics that the Ministry is working on. According to Law 12.890, of 2013, remineralizer is a material of mineral origin that alters soil fertility and biological activity levels through the addition of nutrients. The registration and inspection of this type of input were regulated three years ago by the Ministry through normative instructions.
“We have seen a concern regarding the use of products for pest management, but we know the miracle of Brazilian soy, which is carried out largely due to the issue of biological inputs, which is the case of biological fixation, the case of rhizobia. It is with this scenario that the Ministry is working in light of the need to look at the sector with the particularities it has”, highlights Mariane Vidal, coordinator of the Bioinsumos program, in Mapa.
Between August 5th and 7th, the city of Campo Grande, in Mato Grosso do Sul, will host the 3rd Brazilian Forum on Sustainable Agriculture. With the theme “Green Evolution”, the event will bring together rural producers, businesspeople, consultants, researchers and agribusiness professionals from all over Brazil and abroad.
The program includes a short course on initial management in sustainable agriculture and lectures with renowned experts on various topics, such as fertility with regional agrominerals, microbiology applied to soil management and control of pests and diseases, genetic improvement aimed at sustainability, homeopathy in agriculture, between others.
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