Soybean harvest begins and Agrodefesa monitors transport

The soybean harvest in the 2022/2023 harvest is already starting with a forecast of production exceeding 150 million tons, according to data from the National Supply Company (Conab). Of this total, the State of Goiás alone is expected to harvest more than 17 million tons, a product that is transported almost entirely by road until it reaches warehouses, industries, railway, waterway and maritime terminals.

From now until the end of the harvest, the Goiás Agricultural Defense Agency (Agrodefesa) carries out extensive inspection work on grain transport, mainly checking whether the loads are adequately packaged to prevent loss of grain along the route. , as established by Normative Instruction (IN) No. 02/2022.

The president of the Agency, José Essado, emphasizes that monitoring soy transport has two main objectives. “The first is to reduce losses and losses for producers, which also impacts the State’s economy. And the second, to prevent the involuntary sowing of grains that grow on the banks of highways and local roads and become hosts for the fungus Phakopsora pachyrhizi, the agent that causes Asian soybean rust,” he explains.

Operation

Agrodefesa inspectors will be attentive to transport on highways throughout the State, including on sections of local roads, observing whether the cargo is packed correctly and, above all, whether there is any loss of grain. Penalties for transporters range from warnings and guidance on adjusting the containment of leaks to the imposition of a fine that can reach R$2,5. IN 02 also determines that adequate packaging is the responsibility of the transporters.

Another front of action is in relation to trucks that enter Goiás from other States with loads of soy. According to the Plant Health Manager, Daniela Rézio e Silva, Inspection is carried out at fixed posts located at the borders and also by mobile units that operate at strategic points not determined on highways that function as crop flow corridors.

Losses

The logistics of transporting and storing grains in Brazil presents flaws that end up causing great losses to producers, storers, industries and exporters. Study prepared by agronomist Thiago Guilherme Péra, coordinator of the Research and Extension Group in Agroindustrial Logistics at the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (EsalqLog), at the University of São Paulo, in 2020 soybean losses in Brazil reached 1,58 million tons in transport and storage operations.

Of this amount, road transport was responsible for the loss of 12,7%; the multimodal rail system lost 11,3%; multimodal waterway transport lost 5%; in transport operations from farms to warehouses there was a loss of 5,5% and in ports a loss of 6,41%. The biggest waste, however, occurred due to storage problems, where there were losses of 52,3% of the total.

These data show the importance of taking care of the adequate flow of grains in all modes of transport, as well as in storage and processing processes, with significant gains in financial values.