The storms in April and May affected the harvest, according to Eeaoc technicians.
Mario Devani and Jose Sanchezfrom the Soybean project of the Grains section of the Obispo Colombres Agroindustrial Experimental Station (Eeaoc), shared the progress and challenges of the 2024 soybean campaign in Tucumán.
The yields of the 2024 soybean campaign in Tucumán were uneven, with values that fluctuated between 2 tons and 4 tons per hectare. “We expect the final average to be around or exceed 3 tons per hectare,” they stated.
This year’s harvest has been significantly affected by the storms in April and May. “The light but frequent rains and the large number of cloudy days prevented the proper drying of the pods and grains for threshing,” the technicians explained.
“This resulted not only in lower yields (due to sprouting, wrinkling, rot, cracks in the seed coat, etc.), but also in a significant drop in the quality of the grain and seed. A high incidence of Purple Spot in grains, caused by Cercospora kikuchii, is also observed. The best yields and qualities occurred in the harvests carried out before the storm, which in most cases come from early sowing lots and with short cycle varieties,” the specialists pointed out.
Seed
Regarding seed for own use, they indicated that in this harvest situation it is key to carry out an analysis of its quality, with the aim of conditioning and storing those lots with the best results.
In addition, they stressed that it should also be taken into account that, in many cases, lots with high grain humidity were harvested, which surely affected the price due to the cost of conditioning it by the collectors.
Finally, Devani and Sánchez indicated that many soils retained good moisture in their profiles for planting winter crops, but that in some cases, producers decided not to plant, because the date was already late for certain winter crops (end of May) -both rent and service-, or because humidity levels were reducing, due to the randomness of rainfall.
Attention
To conclude, Sánchez highlighted the importance of carefully analyzing the climatic prospects for the next season with the aim of choosing the optimal sowing dates for each case, seeking to maximize the yields and quality of the future harvest.
