The impact of seed on production costs: Applied research helping grain producers: pesquisa aplicada auxiliando o produtor de grãos

Abstract

The search for increased productivity has become a challenge to grain producers, especially those who are qualified to obtain greater profits, but also preserve quality. Every year, many agricultural products are launched, followed by intense marketing, especially with regard to products for seed treatment, as well as new cultivars for use in different regions of the country. In this context, several researches are carried out by public and private institutions, in an attempt to obtain results from those new goods, mainly increased productivity, but disregard their costs. Thus, this paper aims to, without disclosing previous scientific work's findings, present results of some applied research projects on costs and profitability of corn, soybean and wheat production, developed at the Santo Augusto campus of Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Farroupilha, therefore providing evidences for decision-making processes. The results reveal a great variation in gross income in each crop, despite the same management conditions, as a consequence of different methods of cultivation and treatment. Hence the importance of decision-making for the producers to improve their profitability and the relevance of being aware of all the available technologies, making it possible to choose the best options.