Simple strategy reduces costs and optimizes fertilization in high fertility soils in the Cerrado

A practical and low-cost strategy can transform the management of fertilizers in agricultural areas with high-fertility soil in the Cerrado. Researchers validated, over three crop seasons, the efficiency of restitution fertilization associated with nutrient balance, a method that replenishes only what is effectively exported by the harvests. The study, developed by Embrapa Corn and Sorghum, was conducted in Unaí (MG), in areas of established production and built fertility. With technological advancement, agricultural machinery can already adjust, in real time, the amount of fertilizers distributed in the field. This process facilitates the adoption of more precise management, such as restitution fertilization, a practice that returns to the soil only the nutrients removed by the harvested grains, avoiding excesses. The results confirmed that the soils studied accumulated, over years of cultivation, a significant stock of nutrients. Thus, maintaining productivity does not ...