Commodities Shuttle: Drought causes soybean producers in RS and PR to lose BRL 140 billion in four harvests

Is the world experiencing climate change or just climate variations? The discussion about the future of the climate is not very important at the moment. What matters is that the problem is already present in the crops.

In the last four harvests, the losses of soybean producers from Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul amount to US$ 28 billion (R$ 140 billion), due to increasingly frequent and intense adverse weather phenomena.

The climate assessment and the loss numbers are by José Renato Bouças Farias, a researcher at Embrapa Soja. These values ​​refer only to what the producer did not receive, but the economic damage spreads even more throughout the entire soy chain and the country’s economy, according to him.

Since soy is the main product of Brazilian agriculture, with a Gross Production Value of R$ 352 billion in this harvest (income within the gate) and exports of US$ 58 billion from the soy complex (grains, bran and oil), the Embrapa introduces a new agricultural risk zoning for the oilseed, which should reduce risks and allow producers to better manage their production.

Together with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Central Bank of Brazil, Embrapa is promoting improvements that bring risk assessment closer to the reality of production systems.

The new risk assessments now include six new types of soil, taking into account the textural composition and the amount of water available in each of them. Until now, the Zarc (Agricultural Zoning of Climatic Risk) considered only three types of soils, established by the clay content.

Farias says that the water retention process is also important, which is why Embrapa classified the available water in the soil based on sand, clay and silt.

The new process will better determine the availability of water in the soil. As a result, zoning, which was previously used to determine agricultural insurance, is now also an instrument for the producer.

The samples can identify different types of soil in the same property, allowing a more precise orientation for the producer.

Farmers, with better knowledge of the soil and its ability to recharge water, can better manage their risks, according to Farias.

With the information, the producer will be able to better manage the risks between planting soybeans and corn, two of the main crops.

If the conditions are more favorable for corn, you can anticipate the sowing of soybeans, expanding the planting window for the cereal and improving its profitability.

If conditions indicate an improvement for soybeans, the producer will delay planting the oilseed and take more risk in planting corn.

This new agrometeorological model, which considers temperatures, rainfall, frost, available soil water and crop water demand, allows the producer to choose the type of crops and cultivars, which can be harvested for short, medium and long durations. This new agricultural risk zoning system for soybeans, launched today by Embrapa, will be available in the 2022/23 crop year. It was a project well accepted by the financial system, by producers, cooperatives and unions, says Farias.

A second step, starting with the 2023/24 harvest, is to introduce new levels of management in the field, considering the six types of soil and available water.

A set of indicators will demonstrate the technological level of the property’s soil. The better the management, the greater the use of the soil, says the Embrapa researcher.

Management allows for greater water recharge, storage and maintenance of a root system that allows water to rise from the soil to the plants.

Farias participates in Embrapa’s 9th Brazilian Soy Congress, which runs until Thursday (19).

Science Embrapa’s soy congresses seek to connect academia, science and the productive sector, according to Alexandre Nepomuceno, chief general of Embrapa Soja.

Aspects Soybean is one of the pillars of agriculture and the Brazilian economy. Therefore, the congress discusses the various aspects of this chain. This year, it will be low-carbon agriculture, bio-inputs, digital agriculture, sustainability and external dependence on inputs.

losses The people of Paraná had losses of R$ 37 billion in this harvest, due to adverse weather variations, according to Norberto Ortigara, secretary of Agriculture. At least 9 million tons of soy and 1.5 million of corn were not harvested, in addition to the reduction in the supply of other crops.