With the end of the cotton harvest, this Wednesday (20), when the sanitary vacuum began, farmers maintained the growth in cotton production in Bahia. With a planted area of 201.6 thousand hectares, around 393.7 thousand tons of lint cotton and 937.5 thousand tons of seed cotton were harvested in the 2016/2017 harvest. Although there was a reduction in area of 33.3 thousand hectares, compared to previous planting, there was an increase of 149.5 thousand tons of cotton lint and 356.1 thousand tons of seed cotton. The answer to this equation was a high productivity that reached an average of 310 arrobas/hectare, well above the 165 arrobas/hectare of the 2015/2016 harvest, hampered by climatic factors.
The latest estimate from the Bahian Association of Cotton Producers (Abapa) shows that good productivity results should bring excellent results for the next harvest. The forecast is that the cotton planted area in the 2017/2018 harvest will increase by 35% and could reach 273 thousand hectares. Western Bahia continues as one of the main cotton agricultural centers in Brazil and represents 93% of all of Bahia's lint production, being the second largest Brazilian cotton producer behind only Mato Grosso. Bahia, through the western region, contributed to the favorable cotton scenario in Brazil, the majority of whose production serves the spinning industries in the Northeast, and the rest is destined for the international market.
For the president of Abapa, Júlio Cézar Busato, the increase in productivity combined with the increase in planted area expected in the next harvest is good news given the rainfall rate below the historical average that has been repeated in recent harvests. “Fortunately, the weather has returned to normal and we are achieving record productivity. In times of difficulty, producers improved their production processes, advanced technology and equipment, seeking greater efficiency. Today, in the region, we have plots of crops producing up to 500 (five hundred arrobas/hectare), which was unimaginable in Brazil until recently”, he says, believing in the resumption of growth in cotton production in Bahia.
In addition to the regularity of more rain that fell this harvest compared to the last, Júlio Cézar Busato also credits the productivity results to the strategic actions of the Phytosanitary Program carried out by Bahian producers coordinated by the Abapa technical team for the control and prevention of the boll weevil. cotton. “We are all doing our homework and continuing to fight pests, encouraging the involvement of producers, farm managers, consultants and agricultural defense researchers”, he explains.
According to the results of the Phytosanitary Program, there was a reduction in insecticide applications throughout the cotton cycle in this harvest and the majority of producers had zero damage from the boll weevil, providing an increase in income. “We are using all the necessary technology to produce more and higher quality fiber. For the next harvest, with the arrival of La Niña and the normalization of the climate, we will resume our planted area, believing that in the next three or four years, we will reach our installed capacity of 400 thousand hectares, seeking back farmers for the planting cotton, generating wealth and development in the region”, says Busato.
Source: Agrolink
