Building
soil
fertility
Productive area in
theWest incorporates
cover crops like
sorghumandmillet
intended to protect soil
fertility and quality
Two crops added to the representativeness of Western Ba-
hia over the past years, especially in thewinter season, with the
specific goal focused on soil cover, in association with the di-
rect planting system and its benefits towards conserving and
enhancing soil and water. It is the case of sorghum and millet,
which registered bigger planted areas in the 2016/17 season,
both in their second winter crop phase, as sorghum is equally
cultivatedinsummer,butregisteredadropinareainthisperiod.
While in the summer it went down 10%, second crop sor-
ghum, more expressive, was up 14.3%, occupying 40 thou-
sand hectares in the region, according to
surveys conducted by the Bahia Associa-
tionof Farmers and Irrigators (Aiba). It also
fetched better prices at sale, whilst prices
for the first sorghum crop decreased con-
siderably. In this regard, the blame goes to
the fact that sorghum has been replacing
corn in themanufactureof feed, especially
at timeswhen it fetches above ideal prices.
Millet, in turn, only registered in the
second crop, was up by 5.3 percent, and
reached a planted area of 200 thousand
hectares, considering only the represen-
tative destination for the grain. The total area devoted to this
crop reaches 600 thousand hectares, mainly intended to pro-
Sorghum
cultivation
increased inthe
wintercycleof the
2016/17growing
season inWestern
Bahia
ducemulch for soil cover purposes.
The two crops, according to the techni-
cal department, are occasionally used as
cover crops for themain crops of the region.
Millet, in particular, with a deeper root sys-
tem, is the preferred crop for this purpose,
making it easier to establish the crop. Like-
wise, the other crop has also been used in-
tensively for this purpose, seeking, besides
its use as human food, to intensify soil cov-
er, thus avoiding such problems as ero-
sion, compaction, loss of nutrients and silt
deposits in streams, further reducing the
emission of greenhouse gases.
Guilherme Viana
35
Fonte:
Aiba
plantas de apoio
support plants
Performance do
sorgo
no Oeste da BAhia
1ª safra/verão Área (ha)
Produtividade (sc/ha) Produção (t)
2015/16
10.000
30,0
18.000
2016/17
9.000
30,0
16.200
2ª safra/inverno
2015/16
35.000
30,0
63.000
2016/17
40.000
30,0
72.000
Situação do
milheto
(Só 2ª safra/inverno)
2015/16
190.000
15,0
171.000
2016/17
200.000
15,0
180.000
