In the context of drought damage to winter and early summer crops, the biggest bets for the large grain campaign have been made on late and substandard crops.
But it’s not just a question of regular rains: from the agronomic management, the producer has the possibility of adapting the plans to obtain better results even in a year with a water deficit, for example through the selection of the hybrid, the definition of planting date, density and, most importantly, fertilization.
For Santiago Vacca, coordinator of Agronomic Services of KWS Argentina and specialist in positioning for the southern corn region of the company, from now on the producer who decides to plant late-ripening corn from central to southern Buenos Aires must have as objective performance stability.
“Currently, I am looking for hybrids with good cycle length and good yield ratio. Thus, the best alternative at the moment are intermediate to short cycles that can be sown in December with a low risk that the grain filling is interrupted by an early frost,” says the technical adviser, recalling what happened last campaign.
PLACEMENT
Before talking about strategic feeding, Vacca warns about other very important aspects of this season, such as the choice of hybrid and density.
“To capture the yield potential of the lot this year, intermediate to low densities should be targeted, depending on environments, which is part of defensive stability management,” he cautions, adding that hybrids such as KM 3927 VIP3, KM 3916 VIP3 o KM 4216 VIP3 have excellent responses of the long cycle type for objective yield, at the December planting date.
“These materials have compensatory performance mechanisms for lower densities. In the case of KM 3916 VIP3, it compensates for the yield by weight of 1,000 grains, KM 3927 VIP3 will do it by number of grains, while KM 4216 VIP3 has the ability to give a second peak,” he explains.
NUTRITION
On the other hand, Vacca underlines the importance of a close but dynamic fertilization, supported by the main nutrients required by the crop, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur and zinc, which will enhance the characteristics of the KWS genetics.
“Nitrogen and sulfur, which are mobile nutrients, depend on the target yield, while phosphorus and zinc are managed by thresholds,” says Vacca, whereby the producer must be very clear on the target yield he is aiming for. propose a fertilization thinking mainly of nitrogen.
For “non-mobile” nutrients, however, according to Vacca, the relative response for phosphorus in this season may be greater in drought conditions than in wet years, considering that both root interception and diffusion of said nutrients are conditioned by soil moisture and temperature.
Therefore, the first thing is to characterize the environment with soil analysis, therefore: “the late corn must leave well nourished with phosphorus, it must be well fertilized with nitrogen, according to an objective yield, and the best that can be done is monitoring the availability of nitrogen to make corrections, according to the moment in which the right conditions arise”, says the adviser.
TO THE NORTH
Meanwhile, “all the maize produced outside the potential area is starting to have some sort of restriction,” warns the coordinator of the Agroservice of the northern region of the KWS, Fernando Guerra.
In this sense, he anticipates that, “the zones of stability or sanitary zones -which have greater pressure from pests and diseases-, have as their objective this year, from the bad conditions of the beginning given by the drought, to ensure good performance of the floors” .
From his point of view, the producer must determine his yield expectation and “the next step is to sow the crop with the nutrients it needs in relation to the objectives. From there will come the time to correct the power supply, as the environmental condition improves”.
Likewise, he believes that, in environments with greater sanitary pressure, a better nourished crop responds better to the attacks of various pests and pathogens.
“From the Agroservice team, we recommend KM 3916 VIP3 hybrid for late dates, a hybrid with potential and a cycle according to these dates with sanitary management, KWS 19-120 VIP3 as it is a hybrid with a new sanitary standard for NEA and NOA , and KM 4216 VIP3 for the western and southern areas of Argentina”, indicates Guerra.
