Canola: areas begin to be sown in the region

Productivity of 2010 presented an increase of 50% in relation to harvest 2009

Canola growth has begun in the state. Arrangements for Crop 2011 have been accomplished since the ideal period for the Agroclimatic Zoning lasts from April 11th to June 30th. The technicians from the Development Department of BSBIOS have been running the North region of Rio Grande do Sul in order to visit farmers. Their intention is to make Canola planting to begin as soon as the soybean harvest ends.

According to the Coordinator of the Development Department of BSBIOS, Fábio Junior Benin, this is the right moment to set details. "Our technicians are checking the areas, assisting on the adjustment as well as directing producers towards the use of more adequate hybrids for each technological reality so that we have a successful crop", he emphasized. Some areas have been sown this week. "The expectation is that this year the amount of Canola developed in Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina by BSBIOS reaches 15 thousand hectares. But in Paraná and São Paulo, the goal is to plant nearly 10 thousand ha," Benin stated.

These numbers are the result of a joint effort achieved between BSBIOS, cooperatives, cereal farmers, partners-producers in the region, research bodies and rural extension and financing institutions, each of them focused on its work and providing structure to the program of Canola development. This year, another factor that has stimulated Canola is the support that the crop will receive through ABrasCanola - Brazilian Association of Canola Producers, which headquarter is in Passo Fundo/RS. To the CEO of BSBIOS Erasmo Carlos Battistella, ABrasCanola marks the strengthening of the crop. "We have been searching means so that there is a structured development. With the support of the Federal Government we wish to build public politics which encourage and enable Canola with energetic purpose," Battistella asserted.

Benin still emphasizes the benefits of the crop. "Canola has been a quite distinct winter crop, with a significant growing of area in the last few years. Also encouraged by real guarantees of the market in its commercialization, use of idle areas in the period and because crop rotation is an important alternative. Canola has been featured positively and attracted producers' attention," he emphasized. We have observed that the productivity is a factor which has contributed to that, "in 2009, the average was around 20 sacks per hectare, producing nearly 1200 kilos, in 2010, the productivity increased 50% reaching nearly 30 sacks per hectare, that is, 1800 kilos, having peaks of up to 36 sacks," he stated.

The Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento (CONAB) indicates that, in Brazil, the area grown with Canola last year, harvest 2010/11, was 46.3 thousand hectares, 49.4% superior to harvest 2009 which planted 31 thousand hectares. Among the states which grow Canola, Rio Grande do Sul is the largest producer, with 64.99% of the total produced in the country.

Canola

Canola is a vegetable oil crop that began to be researched and grown in Rio Grande do Sul in 1974 and in Paraná in the 1980s. Its planting fits in rotation systems for production of grains, and it has been an excellent option in the winter in the South region, because it reduces phytosanitary problems and benefits the productivity of subsequent crops. Canola contributes to the yield and quality stability of grains. The grains produced in Brazil have from around 24 to 27% protein and 34 to 40% oil.