Oilseeds

Mostly short-cycle crops, belonging to various taxonomic families, which are normally exploited over large areas and which are commercialized for the extraction of oil from their grains. Their use is exclusively agro-industrial.

SUNFLOWER: Sunflower cultivation adapts well to different climatic and soil conditions. It withstands low temperatures well, although it requires high temperatures for flowering, fruit set, and ripening. It can develop properly even under dry farming conditions, provided that annual rainfall exceeds 400 mm and has not been excessively concentrated in winter. The ideal soil for sunflower cultivation is a deep, fertile terrain with a pH between 6.5 and 8, although it can thrive in shallow, poor, and slightly acidic soils. It is a crop that does not tolerate waterlogging well and has low tolerance to salinity.

RAPESEED: Rapeseed is an annual plant that requires temperate-cold, humid climates, with relatively low temperature during flowering and sufficient water reserve in the soil at this time. As for soils, rapeseed is not demanding, although it prefers fertile, deep, and medium-textured ones. It withstands a certain acidity or salinity well, but not waterlogging. Very heavy or poorly drained land, and in wet years, are not recommended.

SOYBEAN: Soybean is not a plant that is very sensitive to temperatures, although as a spring-summer plant, it does not withstand frost. The minimum temperature necessary for its seeds to germinate is about 9 ºC. Soybean is not very demanding in terms of soils, although it prefers fertile, clayey or sandy-clayey, neutral or slightly basic soils; it thrives well in other types of soil. In rainfed conditions, it will thrive well with rainfall greater than 300 millimeters during the growing months and will do acceptably in those with rainfall between 200 and 300 millimeters in the same period.

NUTRITIONAL NEEDS: To know the amount of nutrients that we must apply to our crop, we must know the level of fertility or the nutritional status of our soil and the extraction of nutrients that our crop performs.

Fertilization advice: Taking into account extractions and contributions, we recommend our following products. (*) In soybean cultivation, being a legume, it is necessary to be careful with nitrogen inputs to favor symbiotic nitrogen fixation with Rhizobium japonicum. For this, a small amount of nitrogen will be applied pre-sowing and only if a lack of nodules on the roots is observed, it will be aided with top-dressing nitrogen.

Roots and tubers: Mostly short-cycle crops, some with intensive management and others with extensive management, which are commercialized for the consumption of their roots and stems with high carbohydrate content. At HAF we recommend these products for fertilizing sunflower, rapeseed, and soybean.