XIV Cotton Technical Meeting promotes debate on the 21/22 harvest of the crop in the main producing regions

The second cotton harvest 21/22 in Mato Grosso was marked by weather conditions that had a significant impact on vegetative development, production and fiber quality. With the end of the harvest approaching, it is possible to say that there has been a drop in final productivity, which in some regions reaches 30%. They are the result of the effects caused by excess rain at the beginning of sowing and the end of rainfall in April. The challenges of the cycle and its retrospective will be one of the moments of the XIV Cotton Technical Meeting, which will take place next week (29 to 31 August), in Cuiabá, promoted by the Mato Grosso Agricultural Research Support Foundation (MT Foundation).

To contribute, professionals who work in institutions and agricultural groups that grow cotton in the main producing regions of Mato Grosso and also Bahia were invited. Check out, below, a preview of some important aspects of the harvest and the measures taken to minimize the season's problems.

About Mato Grosso

Márcio Souza, coordinator of Projects and Technology Dissemination at Imamt - Instituto Mato-grossense do Algodão, will be the moderator of the retrospective. He comments that second crop cotton in the State was sown at the appropriate time, with around 80% in January and the remainder in February. The rain cut occurred, in general, between March 18th and 22nd. In April, some regions were still able to count on precipitation, but in May very few areas had rain. “So this second crop cotton, planted after January 20th, suffered a lot, it was unable to have good formation of the upper middle third and pointer. The later it was planted, the worse the productivity. In the regions of Sapezal, Campo Novo do Parecis, Deciolândia and Diamantino, this was very evident”, he adds.

Another highlight, according to the coordinator, was the excess rain that occurred throughout the month of February and part of March. “The waterlogging favored superficial roots and the death of some of them due to the lack of oxygen in the soil, caused by the high humidity, so when the rain stopped the plants even started to develop, but this still harmed us”, he explains.

For him, the central problem of the second cotton harvest comes down to two water stresses: waterlogging and lack of rain. “In some regions that did not receive rain, the drop in productivity reaches 30%. In Campo Novo do Parecis and Sapezal, these climatic problems affected almost 50% of the second harvest production area, so, in general, productivity will drop a lot”, he comments.

Márcio emphasizes that good agricultural practices are the main tool so that producers are not so dependent on bad weather. And he also advocates a shorter window between the first soybean harvest and the second cotton harvest so that possible climate problems can be better addressed. “For this, the producer’s structure is very important in terms of planting and harvesting soybeans in the ideal window, with the choice of early varieties to also establish cotton at the best time”, he points out.

Middle North Region of MT, along BR 163

Agricultural engineer Fernando Piccinini, regional technical coordinator of the Bom Jesus Group, reports that, although the weather conditions made it possible to plant earlier in this region of Mato Grosso, between January 5th and 23rd, the expectation of an excellent cycle was affected by the lack of of rain from April onwards. The management strategies used, such as the appropriate use of growth regulators and fertilizer management, were fundamental for anticipating the definition of production potential. “They were essential for our productivity averages, although a little lower than expected, to be above other regions of the State that also suffered from the stoppage of rain”, he highlights.

In his presentation, the professional will also talk about the cotton cultivars used by the Group, with medium and late cycles, their characteristics, the behavior of the varieties in the climatic situation experienced, as well as the productivity and fiber quality results. The management of diseases, pests and weeds adopted will be another highlight, with a report on what worked in controlling these problems.

Bahia

Rural producer Paulo Schmidt, who grows cotton in western Bahia, reports that at the beginning of the cotton harvest, which in Bahia occurs in December, the crops were underwater. The waterlogging damaged the rooting of the plants, which soon had to face drought, as the rains that were supposed to continue until March or April ended in February.

The producer also draws attention to the significant increase in nematode pressure in cotton crops, according to him, favored by excess rain at the beginning of the cycle. “They had favorable conditions to establish themselves very early on,” he comments.

Numbers

According to the Mato Grosso Association of Cotton Producers (Ampa), Mato Grosso cultivated 1.185.733,72 hectares of the crop in 21/22, with 152.977,52 ha of cotton harvest, with planting in December, and 1.032.756,20 XNUMX ha in the second harvest, established in January.

In Bahia, to date, 94% of the cotton grown on 308.987 hectares has been harvested, between rainfed (258,4 thousand ha) and irrigated (50,5 thousand ha), an area 15% larger than in the last harvest. The general productivity average is 274,3@/ha.

For comparative purposes, in 2020 in August, the average productivity in Bahia was 311,3 @/ha and, in 2021, it was 310,6 @/ha. The information is from Abapa – Bahian Association of Cotton Producers.

MT Foundation

Created in 1993, the institution plays an important role in the development of agriculture, serving as support to the agricultural sector in its mission to provide technical, impartial and reliable information that guides the producer's decision-making. The headquarters is located in Rondonópolis-MT, with three laboratories and greenhouses, six Learning and Dissemination Centers (CAD) distributed throughout the State in the municipalities of Sapezal, Sorriso, Nova Mutum, Itiquira, Primavera do Leste and Serra da Petrovina in Black stone. For more information access www.fundacaomt.com.br and download the institution's app.