The opening of the Chinese market gives a new impetus to the planting of peas that was already positioned as a winter crop with benefits within the rotation system. Its short crop cycle, the contribution of nitrogen to the soil and the lower water requirement make this crop provide additional benefits to successor crops and allow, for example, to advance the sowing of second or late maize soybeans by 15 to 20 days.

After seven years of negotiations, Argentina obtained the authorization to export this legume to China, the main world consumer, from the implementation of the corresponding phytosanitary protocols. For the country, this represents an opportunity to grow on the pea production area and, in turn, improve crop diversification.

According to INTA technicians, the timing of planting is key in this crop. For a good start, it is necessary to choose a well-drained soil and then do a good seed treatment, since the complex of soil fungi (mainly Pythium), bring great losses of seedlings.

In this sense, it is recommended to use a broad-spectrum curasem that contains Metalaxil-M in its formulation together with Fludioxinil and Tiabendazol, three very effective active ingredients against soil and seed fungi.

The pea is grown mainly in a spaced sequence of legumes, mainly to avoid foliar, stem and root diseases. Since it is an expanding crop, it is usually introduced into land that was never planted with this species.

This situation transforms inoculation into a high impact practice, since the soils are not massively colonized by Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viceae, specific bacteria responsible for the biological fixation of nitrogen in symbiotic association with the pea plant.

Through inoculation, nitrogen can be fixed biologically more economically than by applying a nitrogen fertilizer, in addition to the physiological advantage that this widely adopted practice has for cultivation. For example, for a 3,000 kg / ha yield pea crop, 300 kg of urea / ha would need to be applied. This represents a cost of $ 120 / ha, about 10 times more than the value of an inoculation.

In inoculation tests carried out by INTA with Rizobacter pack 203 of Rizobacter (containing inoculant and Terápico Maxim Evolution), in soils with no history of planting legumes, the inoculant can provide a difference between 1000 and 1100 kg / ha of yield additional. On land with a pea history, the yield differences due to the inoculant contribution can reach 450 kg / ha.

In this year of opportunities for the pea, attention should be paid to the initial care of the crop to achieve good yields and not lose quality.