By: Bruno Arroyo, agricultural engineer and market development manager at Agrobiológica, a company of the Crop Care holding.
We’re officially in the summer corn planting season for 23/24. According to the National Supply Company (“Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento” – Conab), planting is already well advanced, at 75.5% of the total forecast for the period, according to reference data from December 26, 2023. However, despite the good prospects, the harvest is not without its challenges. One of them is climate change, driven by El Niño, so feared by farmers.
Climate changes, heat waves and torrential rain are factors that are increasingly present in our daily lives. These sudden changes also have a major impact on national agricultural production. In a planting season, high temperatures bring with them a major obstacle to the production of any food: drought. But what can be done to reduce risks and economic losses?
The key to balancing the situation lies in bio-inputs, more precisely, soil conditioners. These products contain a peculiar characteristic: by improving the physical conditions of the soil, they ensure that the plant absorbs more nutrients, as they promote healthy root growth, which makes it more resistant and resilient to pests such as corn leafhoppers and nematodes, and to extreme conditions such as very high or low temperatures.
In simpler terms, in order to mitigate the risks, you need to ‘put down roots’, a function that soil conditioners perform very well.
Another challenge that is always present, as much as the weather conditions, is pests. The most popular, the famous corn leafhopper, doesn’t spare crops, that’s a fact. But cases of other agents causing plant losses and diseases are increasingly appearing, such as aphids and the cartridge caterpillar, which is proving more resistant to transgenic corn hybrids
Again, the secret lies in the roots of the plants. Soil conditioners promote the use of the soil fertilizer made by the grower (or natural), boosting root growth. And the larger the roots, the more access they have to nutrients, making them more resistant to bad weather.
In addition, biological pesticides, combined with good soil management, act synergistically and guarantee plant protection and resistance.
It’s no exaggeration when we say that bio-inputs are the future of modern agriculture. In addition to biotechnology, powered by transgenics, these products contribute greatly to sustainability in the countryside.
Faced with so many production challenges, the adoption of sustainable management, coupled with the use of bio-inputs and other cutting-edge technologies, generates a good financial return for the producer, as well as reducing the carbon footprint that large-scale production can bring.
To the rural producer: the concern is valid and necessary. But not everything is lost. It is possible to mitigate the risks and guarantee your economic return for this harvest. And I repeat: the secret is in the roots.
About Crop Care
Crop Care is a Brazilian holding company that operates in the chemical, biological, and specialty fertilizer market. Among Crop Care’s investments are Agrobiológica Sustentabilidade, an innovative platform for biological and on-farm solutions; Perterra and K2, which have an extensive post-patent agrochemical portfolio; Union Agro, a leader in specialty fertilizers; and Cromo Química, which specializes in the production of high-performance adjuvants and enhancers for agriculture. Through partnerships with distributors and cooperatives, and direct access to agricultural companies, Crop Care is present in major producing regions in Latin America.
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