Paraná Wood Group hired an agronomic consultancy for technical guidance based on applied research
Seeking the help of technical assistance to professionalize agricultural production is a practice adopted by most farmers. The technical assistance can provide guidance and directions for the crops to have high productivity and performance, with a greater profitability to the producers. But sometimes these technical assistance companies are linked to input and seed brands, which do not always correspond to the best results for the farming area. Considering this, the Paraná Wood Group (GPW) signed an agreement with Helpen Consultoria Agronômica, a “different” technical assistance. Helpen’s work, although belonging to the Castrolanda Cooperative, also includes non-cooperated members, and caught the attention of GPW due to the efficiency in the results and also for its partnership with Fundação ABC, a non-profitable institution developing applied research to develop and adapt new technologies with the purpose of promoting technological solutions for agribusiness.
“We are a consultancy service totally disconnected from the commercial area of the cooperative. Our agronomists do not have to recommend this or that product. With the support of the research developed by Fundação ABC, which validates only the best products – regardless of their brands -, our purpose is to present the best cost-benefit to the producer, so that he can have greater profitability”, explains Rudinei Borgoni, Helpen’s coordinator. According to him, this generates economy to the producer, who will be using the best products, regardless of the brand, with the best results. “Helpen’s unique selling point, in addition to its knowledge in research, is that we are close to the producer out in the field, week after week, doing all the process for calibrating the machinery, regulating the equipment, applying corrective products and fertilizers. When the time to plant comes along, our technicians provide support on the planters, to have them sowing with the right regulation. They are out in the field analyzing which is the best timing, the environmental condition for the best moment to apply agrochemicals, for example. And they are also there during the harvesting, defining together with the producer the time to start harvesting, the entire regulation process of the harvesters, so that they have the minimum loss as possible”, he states.
According to Jackson Franchesco Lima Bomfin, Helpen’s agronomist following Paraná Wood Agrícola during this soybean crop, this has been a challenging year due to the critical scenario of purchasing inputs, due to the increase of the dollar. “Therefore, we have to organize and optimize the crop so as not to lose profitability”, he says. At Paraná Wood Agrícola, the first step was to know the planting history of each area in the farms, the operating area, and try to understand each department and organization of the works. “We talked with everyone in the operating area to know each one of them. We take this very seriously, mainly to value the people. We analyzed the soil fertility and the phytosanitary issues, the handling that was being made during the past years, and we also tried to understand a bit of the reality of the company as a whole, the investment level, and the challenges. With that, we started to build an understanding of how we could work to bring the best results, with targets to be reached”, he explains.
Together with GPW managers, Helpen started to work on planning in the most orderly fashion as possible. “The organization level of the company, which was already high, became even higher. In addition, we created a work group on WhatsApp with the leaders and even those working at the operating level, so that everyone knew what was going on. With that, we will have all the demands for the season in that group, as well as the weekly and on-site meetings we have. One of our main targets is the disclosure of information and to have this easy access , to avoid precipitated decisions”, the agronomist declares.
One of the first steps in the consultancy at Paraná Wood Agrícola farms was to classify each parcel of land, which were given names so that they could be treated differently. “We understand that each area is different from the next one. In a single farm we can have 10 different planting areas, none of them equal to the other. With this planting zone, we are able to insert a given soy type in each plot so that it would behave in the best possible way, according to the fertility of that area, which was also structured. The amount of investment has to match its return, what the areas are able to deliver”, he says.
According to Douglas Mendes, GPW general manager, the group hired Helpen because it liked their work system, providing transparent information, with technical planning based on research rather than brands. “This level of evaluation increases the production, work which is more and more focused, professionalized. It will provide technical guidance to evolve our farming process”, he adds. According to Mendes, GPW, which has a computerized system controlling everything – from each liter of diesel used, each input used, each employee working on the land, and the machinery logistics to optimize the use -, they could relate to the consultancy. “The farmer profits on what he is able to save. And therefore, we must have the control of everything, have planning integrated with management so that we have no further expenses”, he declares.