Buenos Aires Cereal Exchange: Argentina applied less technology over last five years

Two economic problems faced in recent years by the agricultural sector in Argentina due to policies that did not foster production have had the direct consequence of reducing applications of technology, prioritizing other types of expenditure or investment instead.

A study introduced by the Buenos Aires Cereal Exchange confirms this trend. During the 2014/15 period, only 30% of the producers invested in advanced technology, a strong decline from five seasons ago, when 46% of producers had done so.

Data

The survey, called "Applied Agricultural Technology," covers the 2014/15 season. The main factors behind this reduced adoption of technology are the use of smaller doses of fertilizer, a decline in the use of the no-tillage system, and an increase in the use of herbicides because of inefficiencies in the process of controlling weeds and plagues.

In the case of no-tillage, for instance, although 94% of producers used the system during the 2010/11 crop season, this dropped to 90% in the 2014/15 season for the six major grains planted in Argentina. This was mostly because of problems with weeds and water scarcity.

Crops

According to the Buenos Aires Cereal Exchange, sorghum has seen poor adoption of technology, with 69% of producers across the country investing in low-level technology, while a minority invested in mid-level technology.

In barley, there was a more significant drop in the use of technology compared with all other crops. It received small doses of fertilizer with nitrogen or phosphate.

Corn showed average densities of planting in Argentina, though overall numbers have declined. For the 2014/15 season, the average planting was around 62,000 plants per hectare in the early season and 58,000 plants per hectare for the second crop. This suggests large amounts of corn were included in the late planting season in Argentina, but the large harvest may also be related to the regional adoption of technology or a cost-cutting strategy.

For corn, there was also an increase in the volume of insecticides applied to the crop, dependent on the type of hybrids used. The incorrect use of glyphosate in some areas broke the crop's resistance. The use of refuge with corn had a 22% adoption at the national level.

For soybeans, there were variations in the use of herbicides. The data show a change in the use of concentrated glyphosate versus the classical formula and an increase in the need for complementary weed management.