Azospirillum brasilense inoculant in corn intercropped with Brachiaria reduces losses

The use of an inoculant based on the bacterium, Azospirillum brasilense, in corn can reduce productivity losses of the cereal when planted while intercropped with forages.

This result was confirmed by a study conducted by Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa), which highlighted an even greater level of root growth due to the action of phytohormones, enabling the fixation of nitrogen in plants.

The technology favors the reduction of the use of nitrogen fertilizers and more sustainable agriculture. The work was published in the journal, Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira (PAB).

Gessí Ceccon, Embrapa

″Inorganic fertilizers are the traditional and standard way of adding this nutrient to the soil,″ said agronomist and Embrapa analyst Gessí Ceccon.

According to Ceccon, an inoculation technology supported by a biological input associated with a biological insecticide, such as Azospirillum brasilense, reduces environmental impacts.

″This is a sustainable and viable alternative during times of scarcity and high prices for chemical fertilizers,″ he added.

″The inoculation of corn with Azospirillum does not completely replace fertilization, which contains elements other than nitrogen, such as potassium, phosphorus, calcium and magnesium. But it reduces the costs related to the number of fertilizers required by crops, providing gains for producers,″ he further added.

″This bacterium benefits crops. However, in the study, we found that this biological inoculant achieved an effect even under restrictive conditions. In this case, it still proved itself under sandy soil conditions with lower fertility, achieving competitiveness with Brachiaria,″ Ceccon said.

He then explained that research was carried out on experimental crops to identify the productive potential of each corn hybrid, to find results that will make it possible to quantify the crop's productivity reduction.

″It works like this: experiments are carried out with single corn cultivation without Brachiaria, in which the productivity of this crop are evaluated in isolation. In another area, cultivation is carried out in a consortium way,″ he noted.

″Afterwards, the difference is calculated so productivity losses can be quantified. As a parameter, the number of grains per harvested corn cobs can be evaluated, as well as by checking the weight of harvested cobs. We can then quantify the reduction in productivity,″ he said in conclusion.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)