White tarpaulin in road transport preserves seed quality

The quality of the seeds that reach the rural producer is of fundamental importance for the success of production. High germination rate and excellent vigor are among the first aspects that will allow the initial development of healthy plants and the rapid establishment of crops, directly contributing to good harvests. Before being placed in the ground, however, there are two moments that can affect this initial quality, if they do not have the necessary conditions: transportation and storage.

Regarding transportation, one of the essential precautions is ensuring the ideal temperature inside the truck body. Aware of this, Girassol Agrícola, from Rondonópolis-MT, began the transition from using dark tarpaulins that cover the trucks in its outsourced fleet to the use of white tarpaulins. The initiative is not new, however, there is still little adherence by seed companies, and its benefits were reported in a study in 1990 by Embrapa Soja, and carried out again in 2016.

The experiment, coordinated by researcher José de Barros França Neto, showed that 70% of the lots of soybean seeds analyzed had a drop in vigor during road transport on brown or darker canvas, on trips lasting two to four days. The average germination of these seeds reduced by 20,5% compared to the time before the trips. As there was no equipment such as sensors at the time, the tests considered the characteristics of the seeds at departure and arrival.

This data also encouraged a Brazilian logistics startup, Trucker do AgrO, to delve deeper into the subject, through new research carried out in 2021. Durval Carneiro, CEO of the company, conducted the study together with an agricultural cooperative in Paraná, which monitored for three months the internal temperature of the double-sided truck model, one with the body covered with blue tarpaulin and the other with white tarpaulin.

The evaluated route had a distance of 550 kilometers, from Campo Mourão to the Port of Paranaguá, in Paraná, with the transport of different products, both in bulk and bagged. These vehicles traveled the route throughout the day and the equipment that measured humidity and temperature was placed in the same position, being monitored in real time.

For measurement purposes, the research considered the temperature range of 20°C to 35°C as acceptable. The data using white canvas draws attention. While in the truck with the blue tarpaulin the temperature was 26,8% above the ideal average for the days analyzed, the vehicle with the white tarp was 8,8%. With the dark cover, the temperature in the body and cargo had peaks of up to 53,7°C and many days with temperatures above 40°C. In the light cover, there was a peak of a maximum of 44,7°C, just once, with 75,4% of days maintaining the ideal range, while with blue tarp it reached 61,1%.

Adhesion of companies

Just because it is white, the canvas has proven to reduce heat absorption, but it must still be of good quality so that it does not tear or puncture easily. “There are good companies on the market and durability tests, which show the resistance of the material. Many still care about the appearance, but when we talk about seeds, the essential thing is quality. Little by little, I believe that adherence will increase, because for the end customer this matters a lot, it gives guarantees, after all, the seed is a living being”, considers the CEO.

Welinton Cunha, logistics coordinator at Girassol Agrícola, comments that the benefit of the white canvas is evident and that tests on the fleet began two weeks ago. At sowing, shipments of soybean seeds take place in the months of September and October and of cotton in November and December and, for this harvest, there will initially be 20 trucks with white canvas. “Of these 20, each one carries out an average of five to six transports, we are going to concentrate the project in the southern region of Mato Grosso and next season we should increase this number”, he concludes.