Narrative: Two specialists detailed strategies on how an additional US$1 billion in earnings could be achieved by narrowing down the productivity gap.
In the vast Pampas region of Argentina, extensive crops face a yield gap of between 30% and 50%, primarily due to inefficiencies in crop management practices and nutrition, according to a presentation by researcher Nahuel Reussi Calvo at the Aapresid Congress.
The problem starts earlier, as limited data makes it challenging to make informed decisions in maize cultivation. However, the need to adapt nutritional strategies to each condition is emphasized. A planned nutrition strategy based on precise soil analysis could potentially halve this yield gap.
The main cause of the yield gap is rooted in poor crop management practices and nutrition inefficiencies that fail to match the environmental conditions adequately. Strategies to improve efficiency through more environment-appropriate nutrition have been proposed. These strategies focus on tailored nutrient management with optimized nitrogen use and environment-specific adjustments aimed at improving nutrient use efficiency and crop resilience.
Optimizing plant density and nitrogen fertilization rates to suit local environmental and crop conditions is crucial. Precision nutrition approaches, such as balancing nutrient inputs specifically adjusted to environmental stresses, can also contribute to closing the yield gap. Implementing precision feeding and nutrition strategies that account for the environment’s demands and crop growth stages can enhance metabolic efficiency and stress resilience.
More broadly, improving crop management practices, which involve soil health maintenance, nutrient recycling, and adaptive fertilization, help close the yield gap by minimizing inefficiencies and losses. Soil fertility isn't just chemical; it's also physical and biological. Most of these mobile nutrients are associated with soil organic matter, which is steadily declining.
A drop of 1% in soil organic matter represents a loss in nitrogen availability that costs $96 per hectare to supply with fertilizers. Therefore, maintaining soil health is essential to preserve nutrient availability. Wyngaard presented updated maps of nutrient availability in the Pampas region, highlighting the need for targeted nutrient management.
In the case of phosphorus and potassium, replenishment is possible, but not with mobile nutrients like nitrogen and sulfur. Managing nutrients well is not enough, as it's only a cog in the production system. If balanced nutrition is implemented, up to 50% of the yield gap could be closed. Balanced nutrition could generate an additional result of 500 dollars per hectare in profitability.
Reussi Calvo and his colleague Nicolás Wyngaard presented an updated diagnosis of the nutrient status in the soils of the Pampas region. In 2024, 42% of the sampled soils showed phosphorus levels below the critical threshold. For zinc and boron, 56% of the sites analyzed showed deficiencies.
More than 90% of the maize area is fertilized, but only 30% of those areas are sampled, and the starting point is known. The cost of a soil analysis represents a minimal fraction compared to the investment in seed or fertilizer. If the industry can overcome the data limitations and adapt its mindset, the yield gap in the Pampas' extensive cropping systems could be significantly reduced.
The lack of precise soil analysis makes it difficult to make informed decisions in maize cultivation, highlighting the importance of a planned nutrition strategy that could potentially reduce the yield gap by half. Such a strategy embraces tailored nutrient management, optimized nitrogen use, and environment-specific adjustments to improve nutrient use efficiency and crop resilience.
To further close the yield gap, strategies should focus on optimizing plant density and nitrogen fertilization rates according to local environmental and crop conditions, and adopting precision nutrition approaches that cater to environmental stresses and growth stages, enhancing metabolic efficiency and stress resilience.
