Efficiency for the processes of production, processing, quality control and marketing of soybean seeds. A case study in the state of Paran??

A soja ?? a cultura que ocupa maior ??rea de cultivo no Brasil e continua com a lavoura em expans??o e lidera as exporta????es do agroneg??cio nacional. O uso de sementes de elevada qualidade ?? condi????o indispens??vel para obten????o de altas produtividades. Neste sentido o presente trabalho foi realizado com o objetivo de determinar a efici??ncia nos processos de produ????o, tecnologia de p??s-colheita e de comercializa????o de sementes de soja em um produtor de sementes no estado do Paran??. O estudo foi realizado na empresa de sementes Guerra localizada no munic??pio de Pato Branco no Estado do Paran??. Este produtor al??m de produzir sua pr??pria semente tamb??m produz semente de soja sob contrato para a empresa Syngenta Seeds das cultivares NK 412113 e NK 8350. A base de dados do estudo, abrangendo os anos de 2001 a 2006, consistiu de; 1 - ??rea implantada para produ????o de sementes: 2- ??rea reprovada para produ????o de sementes; 3 - Quantidade semente bruta; 4 - Quantidade sementes limpa e classificada; 5 - Quantidade de semente aprovada para comercializa????o; 6 - Quantidade de semente comercializada. Em rela????o ?? ??rea de cultivo e sua respectiva colheita para semente, calculou-se o percentual da ??rea aprovada, assim como para a quantidade de semente bruta em rela????o a beneficiada e a quantidade aprovada para comercializa????o e a efetivamente realizada. Os registros foram obtidos da pr??pria empresa selecionando-se a partir do ano de 2001 para todas as cultivares produzidas pela empresa a partir de 2003 para as cultivares da empresa Syngenta Seeds Ltda. Os dados foram agrupados em tabelas por ano de produ????o para as 15 cultivares da empresa, enquanto para as cultivares da Syngenta Seeds foram agrupadas por cultivares para acompanhar melhor os objetivos do estudo. Os lotes de sementes foram considerados as repeti????es do estudo. Com base nas informa????es verificou-se que: A efici??ncia na produ????o e beneficiamento de sementes de soja varia acentuadamente entre as cultivares. O processo de beneficiamento de sementes descarta mais de 25% da produ????o obtida. H?? necessidade de melhorar o sistema de controle interno de qualidade.Soybean is by far the most important crop in Brazil, occupying the largest area and leading the exports from the agriculture sector. The use of high quality seeds is indispensable to achieve high yield potential, and this work aimed at establishing the efficiency of the different processes that drive seed production, post harvest technology and commerce of soybean seeds from a producer in the state of Paran??. The case study was undertaken at the Guerra seed company, located in the county of Pato Branco, state of Paran??. Besides growing its own seed produce, this grower manages also seed multiplication contracts for Syngenta Seeds, specifically for the cultivars NK412113 and NK8350. The data base for this study, which covers the period 2001 to 2006 was composed of: 1-Area grown to seed production; 2- Area not approved for seed production; 3- Gross seed produce; 4- Quantity of clean, graded seed; 5- Quantity of seed approved for market release, and 6- Quantity of traded seed. Regarding the area grown to the crop and its harvest as seed, the percentage area approved for seed production was calculated; likewise for the quantity of gross seed harvested in relation to that effectively processed and the quantity finally approved for market release and that effectively realized. The records were obtained directly from the seed company, considering from 2001 onward the data for all soybean cultivars marketed by the latter and as from 2003 those cultivars from Syngenta Seeds. The data were arranged into tables, according to production year for all fifteen cultivars from Guerra Seeds whereas in the case of Syngenta Seeds the grouping was undertaken exclusively on the basis of the cultivars, to best suit the objectives of this work. The different seed lots were considered the treatment replicates. Based on the results it can be stated that there is a large difference among cultivars in the efficiency with which soybean seeds are produced and processed. In general, it was observed that seed processing is responsible for discarding 25% of the produce, which emphasizes the need to improve the internal schemes of quality control