Perdas na colheita de soja em função do horário e velocidade de deslocamento das colheitadeiras

Abstract

Soybean is the main agricultural crop in Brazil and worldwide, due to its fundamental role as a source of protein in human nutrition, both directly and indirectly. Its importance is significantly reflected in the trade balance of several countries. However, losses throughout the production chain represent a high commercial value, resulting in economic losses for producers. Among the main challenges of production, grain loss during harvesting stands out as one of the most relevant. The objective of this research was to evaluate grain losses as a function of the speed of movement of the harvesters and the operating time. The experiment was carried out in a randomized block design (RBD), in a 2 x 2 factorial scheme, with two harvesting speeds (7.0 and 9.0 km/h) and two harvesting times (10:00 and 14:00 hours), with four replicates. It was conducted in March 2024, during the soybean harvesting process at the BrasilAgro farm with geographic coordinates 7° 33 '30 "S 45° 14'32 "W and Frei Galvão Farm with geographic coordinates 7° 32 '55 "S 44° 58'47 "W, both located in the municipality of Ribeiro Gonçalves-PI. Natural grain losses in front of the cutting platform, harvesting time and harvester speed were evaluated. The variables described above were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and F test to detect significant effects (p <0.05) and, in case of significant effects, the comparison of means was performed by the Tukey test at a 5% significance level, using the AgroEstat computer program. The tested speeds (7 and 9 km/h) and harvest times (morning and afternoon) did not significantly influence losses in mechanized soybean harvesting. Therefore, the operation can be carried out at different speeds and at any time of the day without compromising harvest efficiency