Cadeia produtiva e eficiências técnica e econômica de bioestimulantes, fungicida e silício na cultura do milho verde

Abstract

Corn is one of the most produced crops in the world. In Brazil, its production and consumption are high and the activity employs high technology to achieve high productivity and is geared towards a world market. Green corn, on the other hand, is an activity that uses little technology and its production is all geared to the local market, to meet the demand of supermarkets and specialty store, which consume the green ears. Given this, the productivity is low, which compromises the income of the rural producer. Therefore, the objective of this research was to test new technologies that can increase the yield of green ears, because the agronomic yield of the crop is strongly correlated with the economic profitability of the activity. It was also the objective of this study to evaluate the use of fungicide - associated biostimulants for disease control and yield increase in the field, as maize is a crop that presents many diseases that reduce productivity. Two experiments were carried out, and the first one tested the use of biostimulants plus fungicide to verify their effects on the phytotechnical and economic parameters of the green maize crop. In this experiment, the biostimulants were efficient to increase the weight of green spikes, especially in the first season, and the stem diameter. These compounds influenced plant growth and straw weight. The fungicide influenced the increase of the chlorophyll content and the vigor of the maize plants. The gross income achieved through the production of green ears compensated for all investments in productive factors, paying all the actual costs of acquiring the inputs. The second season was more economically profitable for the rural producer. In the second experiment, the use of biostimulants and fungicides was tested in the presence of agrosilicon to verify their effects on phytotechnical and economic parameters. In this experiment, silicon contributed to gains in physical yields of green ears. All factors together contributed to increases in plant height, stem diameter, chlorophyll content, green ear weights and vigor. Silicon alone increases the weight of the straw and gives greater yield and greater profitability to the rural producer. The fungicide used was the best treatment for plant vigor. Therefore, it can be concluded that investments in modern productive inputs increase productivity gains and increase the profitability of the green maize crop. The results showed, therefore, that increases in productivity increase the gross revenue of the activity, regardless of the increase in production costs, and are responsible for the economic efficiency of the crop. The results of this work will allow new studies involving biostimulants and micronutrients to be performed to evaluate other technical factors in maize crop, such as soil fertility and plant nutrition and crop health.