Workshop brings together chain to discuss fertilizers

The III Fertilizer Workshop was held for the first time in Mato Grosso last week. There were two days of lectures, round tables and work presentations in the Sinop Rural Union auditorium, and a field day at the Embrapa Agrossilvipastoril technological showcase. Around 220 people followed the program, including producers, consultants, fertilizer companies, students and researchers.

The event is biannual and promoted by the Soil Fertility Study Group (Gefert) of the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV). That year, it was co-organized by Embrapa.

“Here we have different segments represented, we have a lot of producers, professionals, consultants. So, I think that was the objective and we managed to bring different audiences here. The topics were very interesting and here different points of view on different management conditions could be put forward. This is good because it creates a critical culture among people in relation to this topic”, explained the event organizer and professor at UFV, Edson Mattiello.

With the theme “Efficient use of fertilizers in integrated production systems”, the event featured speakers, researchers and professors from UFV, UFMT, Embrapa, Fundação MT, Instituto Tecnológico Vale, Anda and the International Institute of Plant Nutrition.

Student Samuel from the Alta Floresta Animal Science course spoke about the knowledge that the lectures added to his academic life.

“I thought it was very important, because it was a soil teacher who brought us to the event. It was an in-depth look at what she had already told us in class, which I found very important. It will add a lot to our knowledge in practice. I see that there are many important researchers here and it is opening new doors for us to meet people in the field, which will help us in the future,” she explained.

The program was divided into thematic moments. The first was the production space, followed by the research space, the company space and the innovation space.

The space dedicated to the presentation of creative ideas related to the production and use of fertilizers, featured two presentations.

The first by professor Fabiano Petter from UFMT in Sinop. He spoke about the use of organomineral nitrogen fertilizer based on biochar, the result of research in partnership with Embrapa. It showed results related to the performance of crops fertilized with this material and also data on the reduction in nitrous oxide emissions, which causes the greenhouse effect.

Embrapa Agrossilvopastoril analysts Gabriel Faria and Aisten Baldan gave the second presentation, showing the ILPF in augmented reality, through an application that will be launched in October by the ILPF Development Network. With the app installed on your cell phone, simply point it at an image and a 3D representation of the production system appears. The application will be available for Android and IOS.

Before the official closing of the workshop, retired agronomist Inevaldo Martini, 78 years old, who was participating in the event, found space for an unusual statement. In 1986 he started planting soybeans in Sorriso. In 2000 he chose to try ILP, including the livestock component, and stated “There is no better business than doing agriculture with livestock”.

This statement encouraged the possibility of including – in future editions – a space for testimonials from participants.

Field day

The III Fertilizer Workshop program concluded on Friday morning with a field day at the Embrapa Agrossilvopastoril Technological Site. Participants walked a circuit of three stations.

At one of the stations, located inside an open trench in an ILPF area, UFV professor Reinaldo Cantarutti spoke and demonstrated about the dynamics of nutrients in the soil. In another station, Embrapa researcher Maurel Behling addressed the forestry component of the ILPF, considering the points that should be observed when choosing the species and system configuration. In the third season, researcher Bruno Pedreira presented results from livestock farming in integrated systems and experiments using new forages launched by Embrapa, with and without the use of inoculants.