Expodireto Special: Soil Forum addresses the evolution of conservation practices

The 20th Expodireto Cotrijal hosted, this Tuesday (12), the 4th edition of the State Forum for Soil and Water Conservation. The meeting featured lectures and tributes to producers and technicians who develop conservation practices that boosted productivity.

The event began with an explanation by the professor at the Faculty of Agronomy at UFRGS, Pedro Selbach, about management for productive soils and biological processes. The expert listed the various benefits of cover crops, which provide improvements in soil structure, increased fertility and pest management. "In large areas we have to have adequate management, with adequate plant succession and different contributions of organic compounds from different plant species", stated Selbach.

The professor at the UPF Faculty of Agronomy, Pedro Escosteguy, discussed liming, phosphorus and organic matter, suggesting that producers carry out a detailed soil analysis.

Escosteguy divided the soil fertility process into five stages, starting with chemical and physical correction; application of a crop system with conservation practices; fertility maintenance, soil profile analysis; and crop rotation. "With the continuation of the system, it is important to monitor the soil, four or five years after the first liming, and carry out an analysis as detailed as possible", warned Escosteguy.

The professor at the Faculty of Agronomy at UFSM, Jean Minella, addressed water management due to climate constraints, such as, for example, water deficit. He presented a hillside monitoring study in Júlio de Castilhos, where the terrace technique was used in soybean crops. The objective was to maximize water infiltration and storage in the soil, in addition to regulating the withdrawal and excess of water.

At the monitored location, rainfall of 667 mm occurred, with a storage efficiency in the terraced area of ​​89 mm. Crops with the system had a productivity of 4.550 kg/ha, while crops without a terrace had a productivity of 4.022 kg/ha.

"Today we have climatic events with volume intensity far beyond soil and plant management, so we have to learn or adapt to extreme events. Soils are capable of storing large amounts of water, especially here in the Plateau", evaluates the teacher.

The last explanation was from rural producer Marcos Fridich, from Ajuricaba. In the 2017/2018 harvest, he recorded an average productivity of 5.178 kg/ha of soybeans, while in the 2018/2019 corn harvest, productivity was 11.760 kg/ha.

"Cover plants are not expenses, they are investments", commented the producer, who has two cycles of cover crops in the soybean crop.

Crowded auditorium

Expodireto's central auditorium remained packed throughout the event, which concluded with tributes to five producers and soil conservation technicians (see below). The forum was attended by the chief of staff of the State Department of Agriculture, Erli Teixeira, who was enthusiastic about the seminar.

"We must congratulate the producers who joined the program and reopened their properties to Emater technicians, with this the farmers only benefit from the increase in productivity. The Forum is a success that has been established and must be continued", said Teixeira.

The forum was organized by the management group of the State Soil and Water Conservation Program, coordinated by the State Department of Agriculture.

Honorees:

- Producer Eliseu Weber and agronomist Diego Monteiro, by Doutor Maurício Cardoso

- Colferai family and extensionist José Favretto, from Nova Roma do Sul

- Producer Laurindo Bernardo Belling and biologist Cláudia Bernardini, by Manoel Viana

- Producer Joel Junkherr and agricultural technician Gilberto Carminatti, from Santa Cruz do Sul

- Producer Antonio Carlos Frizzo Nemitz and agricultural engineer Carla Liriam Nemitz, by Manoel Viana