Globalization of Precision Ag and the Need for Higher...

Globalization of Precision Ag and

the Need for Higher Yields Dr. Matias Ruffo

Agronomy Manager Silvano Abreu, Shashikant Bhende, Kenneth Hylton, Peter Liu, Carlos Michiels, Eduardo Salgado

Mosaic Business Confidential

Growing Population 7 billion today, 9 billion in 2050

UN, World Population Assessment 2006

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1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000 2050

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(bill

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wth

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e (b

illio

n)

Increasing News Media Dialogue

Mosaic’s Mission

We Help the World Grow the Food it Needs

Serving customers in more than 40 countries Five potash mines and nine phosphate rock mines and plants

9.3 million tonnes annual production capacity of Potash

10 million tonnes annual production capacity of Phosphate

Production Distribution

Mosaic’s Premium Products

Fertilized Unfertilized

W Australia, Australia

Temperate Soils: 54-64% Subtropical Soils: +90%

Stewart et al; Agronomy Journal, 2005

Balanced Crop Nutrition and Soil Fertility

Matto Grosso, Brazil

Unfertilized Fertilized

The Big Four

Crop Area (1000 ha) Wheat 223,086 Corn 176,975 Rice 161,415

Soybean 110,236 Barley 50,862

The Yield Gap

Potential Attainable Actual

Yie

ld (

%)

0

20

40

60

80

100

Potential: f (radiation, temperature, rainfall, genetics) Attainable: using best available technology Actual: using standard technology


SP PR

BA GO

SP PR BA GO

Contest Winner (bu/ac) 84 103 109 89

Whole Field (bu/ac) 78 89 76 72

Yield Gap (bu/ac) 38 49 59 37

Soybean in Brazil

SP PR BA GO

Contest Winner (bu/ac) 84 103 109 89

State Average (bu/ac) 46 54 50 52

2012 High Yield Soybean Contest Winners

CESB: http://cesbrasil.org.br/


• How big is the yield gap? • Can one single factor close the yield gap?

• If not, how much does each factor contribute to closing the yield gap?

Key questions to answer

Manageable factors that affect yield

Genetics Planting date

Planting rate

Fungicide application

Row spacing

Planting speed

Tillage

Previous crop/Rotation

Nutrition Weeds

Fertilizer management (rate, time, placement, source)

Insects

Diseases


Yie

ld (

%)

0

20

40

60

80

100

Factors Yield reducing factors: weeds diseases insects

Foliar fungicide Transgenic resistance Seed treatment


Yie

ld (

%)

0

20

40

60

80

100

Factors Yield enhancing factors: Structure (plants/ac, row width) Nutrient availability

Plant population Fertilizer

TREATMENT Fertility Nitrogen Genetics Population Fungicide

HIGH TECH MESZ Base + Slow release Triple stack 45,000 Strobilurin

Rem

ove

Tech

nolo

gy

Fertility No P & K Base + Slow release Triple stack 45,000 Strobilurin

Nitrogen MESZ Base Triple stack 45,000 Strobilurin

Genetics MESZ Base + Slow release Refuge 45,000 Strobilurin

Population MESZ Base + Slow release Triple stack 32,000 Strobilurin

Fungicide MESZ Base + Slow release Triple stack 45,000 none

STANDARD No P & K Base Refuge 32,000 none

Add

Tech

nolo

gy Fertility MESZ Base Refuge 32,000 none

Nitrogen No P & K Base + Slow release Refuge 32,000 none

Genetics No P & K Base Triple stack 32,000 none

Population No P & K Base Refuge 45,000 none

Fungicide No P & K Base Refuge 32,000 Strobilurin

Omission Plot

Sta

nd

ard

Hig

h T

ech

-MES

Z -N

-Gen

etic

s

-Pop

ula

tion

-Fu

ng

icid

e

Yie

ldYield Gap

Factor Omitted from High Tech

Yield response to each factor

(under High Tech)

Corn Country Production (MT) U.S.A. 313,918,000 China 192,904,232 Brazil 55,660,400

Argentina 23,799,800 Ukraine 22,837,900

Country Exports (MT) U.S.A. 50,906,268

Argentina 17,546,457 Brazil 10,815,275

Illinois, U.S.A.

Dr. Below U. of Illinois, USA

11 sites – 2011

Stan

dard

Hig

h T

ech

-MES

Z -N

-Hyb

rid

-Pop

ula

tion

-Fu

ngi

cide

Cor

n Y

ield

(bu

/ac)

150

160

170

180

190

200

High Tech Omit MicroEssentials SZ

15%

Santa Fe, Argentina

Dr. Borras U. of Rosario, Argentina

One site – 2 years

Stan

dard

Hig

h T

ech

-MES

Z

-Pop

ula

tion

-Fu

ngi

cide

-Gen

etic

s

Cor

n Y

ield

(bu

/ac)

160

170

180

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200

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230


19%

late season corn

Matto Grosso, Brazil

Dr. Kappes Fundacao MT, Brazil

Stan

dard

Hig

h T

ech

-Nu

trit

ion

-Pop

ula

tion

-Fu

ngi

cide

-Gen

etic

s

Cor

n Y

ield

(bu

/ac)

130

135

140

145

150

155

160

One site – 2 years

14%

double crop corn

http://www.fundacaomt.com.br/

Soybean Country Production (MT) U.S.A. 83171600 Brazil 74815400

Argentina 48878800 China 14485105 India 12282000

Country Exports (MT) U.S.A. 42350556 Brazil 25860785

Argentina 13616013

Illinois, U.S.A.

Average Response (4 sites)

Dr. Below U. of Illinois, USA

Stan

dard

Hig

h Te

ch

-MES

Z

-Var

iety

-Fun

gici

de

-Ins

ecti

cide

-Fol

iar

-See

d Tr

eat.

Soyb

ean

Yie

ld (

bu/a

c)

50

55

60

65

70

Four sites – 2012


14%

Santa Fe, Argentina St

anda

rd

Hig

h T

ech

-MES

Z

-Pop

ula

tion

-Fu

ngi

cide

-Irr

igat

ion

Soyb

ean

Yie

ld (

bu/a

c)

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

Dr. Borras U. of Rosario, Argentina

One site – 2012/13 High Tech Omit

MicroEssentials SZ

18%

1.Increased (doubled) plant population • 200-280K seeds/ac, • Crossed, at 20 in

2.Doubled P, K. • Included elemental sulfur

3.High yielding variety

Standard • Already applying fungicides 3-5 times • Inoculation • Liming, pH is an issue in Brazil

High Yield Soybean - Brazil

http://cesbrasil.org.br/

Soybean Yield Contest - Brazil

• Very large potential to increase yields

• Mosaic is also working with these farmers

• Rural development projects that include other interventions

water filter check dam

What about for the smallholder?

Corn in Guatemala

Large Small

Corn Yield Gap

Foley et al. 2011, Nature

Corn in Guatemala

Project with Mayan communities in Alta Verapaz Agronomic practices included: Double plant population Planting 2 seeds per hill (vs 5) Uniform row spacing (35 in vs quasi random) Seed treatment Balanced crop nutrition (secondary and micros)

Traditional

Corn in Guatemala Planting in rows

Right Source

Right Rate, Place and Time

Corn in Guatemala

In the program Traditional

62 bu/ac 30

bu/ac

Wheat in India

Large Small

Wheat Gap Fraction

Foley et al. 2011, Nature

40 on-farm strip trials with IPNI Used Wheat Nutrient Expert Reduced seeding rate (45 lb/ac vs 65 lb/ac)

Balanced Nutrition NPK +S + ZnB vs NP

In the program

Traditional

Wheat in India

In the program Traditional

53 bu/ac 77 bu/ac

46%

Wheat in India

Summary

• More people and they will want to eat better

• We must increase crop yields

• We can reduce the yield gap applying proven technologies

• No silver bullet. Technologies work as a team.

• Biggest challenge will be to do it minimizing environmental impact and as efficiently as possible

• Precision Ag plays a key role

Precision Agriculture and the 4Rs

Precision Ag in SE Asia – Dr Majumdar

Precision Ag in Southern Cone+Brazil Dr Ruffo

Wednesday, 4 PM

Smallholder Ag

Kenya

China

Guatemala

India

Challenges • Small fields

– India: 62% farmers hold less than 2.5 ac – China:80% farms average 0.5 ac

• Fragmented landscape

• Complex terrain

• Very limited mechanization

• Limited Agronomic information – Calibrations

– Fertilizer and crop management recommendations

• Soil and plant testing: – Expensive

– Limited availability

• Imbalanced Crop Nutrition – Excessive N application

– Low K application.

– Multiple deficiencies

Challenges China, Asia, Africa, and Central America

Adapt tools and technolgies: SoilDoc kit

• Developed by Dr Ray Weil and Dr Pedro Sanchez

• Portable toolkit

• Measures –Chemical: pH, OM, EC, nitrate-N, sulfate-S, phosphate-P, K –Plant: sap N, P, K, and S –Physical: surface sealing strength, compaction, water content

• Cost: 1-2 U$S/sample (not including labor)

• Ideal to compare low and high yielding areas

$$$$ USD

$$$ USD $$ USD

$ USD Dr Ivan Monasterio, CIMMYT

Adapt tools and technologies: crop sensors

Nitrogen Uptake (kg N/ha)

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

Whe

at Y

ield

(kg

/ha)

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

Farmer's Field

0 5 10 15 20 25

Kg

N/h

a

0

50

100

150

200

250

Mexico: wheat and nitrogen

Nitrogen Demand Residual Nitrogen

Sensor Calibration

Active NDVI Sensor

On-farm strip tests

Sensor Strip N Rich Strip

Dr Ivan Monasterio, CIMMYT

432 on-farm strip trials

No yield difference Reduced N rate: 70 lb N/ac


Sensor increased N Use Efficiency

Adoption Adoption of NDVI Sensor in the Sonora Valley


China

• Food security is national security: must increase yields

• Increasing environmental pressure

• Largest potential in Inner Mongolia and North East: • Large farms • Potatoes, corn, soybean • Eager to apply technology and improve yield and efficiency

• Government investing in soil testing and improving fertilizer recommendations

• Successful examples with smallholders

China • Xinzhou City, Shanxi Province

• Average field size: 0.2 to 0.4 ac

• 2,000,000 ac of corn in Shanxi Province

• Average Yield: 85 bu/ac

• 2.5 ac soil sampling grid

pH OM N P K

Ave. 8.0 0.22 8.3 8.3 88 CV (%) 1.2 47 68 46 19 Deficient (%) 100 86 23

higher P close to houses

• Yield increased: 1,025 kg/ha (12%) • Net Income increased 9%

Wang et al., Better Crops, 2006

Low P on sandy soils

Brazil and Argentina

• Brazil:

– Very large potential, relatively low adoption

– Coops and farmer organizations are key

– Diversity of crops: soybean, corn, sugarcane, coffee, citrus

– Operational efficiency gains are extremely valuable

Brazil and Argentina

• Brazil:

– Very large potential, relatively low adoption

– Coops and farmer organizations are key

– Diversity of crops: soybean, corn, sugarcane, coffee, citrus

– Operational efficiency gains are extremely valuable

• Argentina:

– Large potential, good adoption

– Consultants play a KEY role

– Rented land dominates and is a barrier

– Low cost / efficiency is key

Summary

• We must and can increase crop yields globally

• Precision Agriculture can help to do it more efficiently

• Need to understand the limiting factor/s in different regions

• Adapt the technology to each region

Thank you! [email protected]

Globalization of Precision Ag and the Need for Higher...

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