The Authority highlighted the possibilities of soy as an alternative crop for irrigated areas during a visit by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development, María González Corral, to the experimental fields of the Technological Institute of Castilla y León (Itacyl) and the Pascual company in Arabayona de Mógica, Salamanca. He also praises the high added value for the processing industry of this variety.
The advisor highlighted during the visit, during which a group of farmers and members of the Itacyl and Pascualthat this type of testing “allows professionals to better understand crops with high growth potential, which allows them to diversify their production so as to obtain profitable products here that are interesting for the industry.”
It is for this reason that at Itacyl, we have worked in recent years on different projects to promote the cultivation of legumes in Castilla y Leónwith an investment in R&D close to 1.5 million euros, as indicated by the Council in a press release collected by Europa Press.
The soy area in Castilla y León reached by this campaign 401 hectares (135 hectares in León, 106 in Salamanca and 70 in Ávila), double that of last year. In the whole of Spain there are 2,498 hectares.
The agronomic interest of this legume lies, in addition to being presented as an option for crop rotation, in its protein potential, its capacity to fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil and its lower need for irrigation compared to other intensive crops.
Two soy variety trials
Concretely, two trials of commercial soybean varieties were carried out with two different sowing periods: a first sowing trial with 21 long-cycle varietiesand another second seeding test with 18 short-cycle varieties. With these trial fields, crop information is transferred to professionals in the sector and the different short and long cycle varieties as well as their adaptation to the edaphoclimatic conditions of Castilla y León are studied.
In addition, one of the particularities of soybeans is analyzed, such as the need to inoculate the seed before sowing. the bacteria Rhizobia japonicumwhich is not present in the soil if the soybean has not been previously cultivated, and which the plant needs to fix nitrogen and benefit from it in its growth.
During the field day, it became evident that Castilla y León has the capacity to become a soy production area and also transform a local raw material into food products, such as flour, soy concentrates, drinks, yogurts and sauces, all with growing demand.
