Fearca: Planting using airplanes in Argentina will increase by 40%

According to the Argentine Federation of Cameras Agroaéreas (Fearca), during the current season, it expects the area planted using aircraft to increase by 40%, reaching a total of 500,000 hectares.

The practice is widely used in agricultural regions in the northern United States, where aircraft are used for planting in times of snowfall, when machines cannot do the job. In Argentina, airplanes have been used for planting for over thirty years, and this trend is expected to continue growing.

"Aerial sowing began in 1980 with the help of Direct Sowing in southern Santa Fe," said Virginia Zarantonello (Agricultural Engineer and Pilot), adding, “In my area, oats, rye, barley and raygrass are mainly planted. Clovers and lately other seeds, such as triticale, vicia, villosa and sativa, are also being incorporated.”

Sowing campaigns are carried out on both soy and corn just before the harvest, to ensure crop coverage on lots without crops for planting pastures.

Carlos Careaga (Pilot Applicator and Flight Instructor) said, “Aerial seeding is exciting, more so than the application of plant protection products. Nowadays, sowing has become more focused and more precise, through performing this type of work with an airplane.”

“Planting is being implemented far beyond the profit that subsequent crops generate. There is talk of how to make a bed for the next crop, and, subsequently, using it as a fallow to control weeds that usually appear when the planting bed is left empty,” Careaga added, stressing, “This practice makes the soil less eroded, in addition to the fact that the lot can be entered under any circumstances or conditions, enabling us to carry out our work when the producer needs it, arranges it or sees it convenient.”

The original Spanish version of this report is from infocampo.com.ar.