PetroTandil, distributor of YPF Agro, is a seed brand multiplier. And it carries out interesting trials with customers to learn more about the Tero, Tordo and Hornero varieties, as well as Canario, which is to be released soon.
Tandil, in the south of Buenos Aires, is in the epicenter of the most important wheat area in the country, where the highest yields have historically been obtained. There, YPF Agro stomps hand in hand with one of its distributors, PetroTandil, which is strongly expanding the presence of Illinois seeds in the region.
PetroTandil has already been an Illinois multiplier for two years and carries out interesting development tasks adapted to the area, which are part of a new episode of “Touring YPF Agro”, a mini-series that tells the story of the brand’s distributors and their customers.
Alfredo Gagetti, manager of PetroTandil, says that the entire range of Illinois seeds (both wheat and corn and soybean) came to provide the producer with a comprehensive offer of solutions starting with the choice of the seed, in addition to protection and crop nutrition.
The referent adds that the fact of offering seeds marks another stage in the evolution of the distributor, which always tries to provide the latest services, just as it did with YPF fuels and lubricants until it began to incorporate everything related to agriculture a few years ago. years.
From a more technical point of view, Cristian Marguerite, PetroTandil agronomist, says that they have a lot of information to position each Illinois material where it belongs. For that, they also carry out trials with the producers themselves.
“It is a very powerful tool to be able to have local data, whether they are varieties (wheat or soybeans) or maize hybrids”, he explains.
The engineer remembers that the work they do consists of multiplying the original seed provided by Illinois in the field. Thus, they obtain the first multiplication seed, which is the one that the producer buys to use in his lot.
“It is key to have good seed quality. And to achieve this, you have to start with the choice of the lot and the planting date. Then, the trials also play a key role, because they allow us to generate knowledge with the producers in the area and not only with the one who is doing the trial”, says Margueritte.
Precisely, Javier Ciccimarra is an agricultural producer and client of PetroTandil. He says that the strongest crops in the area are the fine ones. “We do a lot of wheat and barley. Then corn, soybeans and some potatoes, ”he details.
The producer has been doing wheat and corn trials for almost 5 years with the Illinois and YPF team. “It’s a great benefit for us, because by doing field trials we have real numbers on our situation and potential,” he says.
Margueritte says that it is fantastic to be able to work with producers like Ciccimarra who open the doors of their fields to be able to test the materials. And the producer says that they have already verified that, in those fields with good potential, if they are helped with the appropriate technology, they respond.
“It is essential to be able to work with him, with his team, to compare what happens in the trial versus his production batches,” explains Margueritte.
In this 2022/23 campaign, they carried out a trial with the three varieties that Illinois currently has in its portfolio, which are IS Tero, IS Tordo and IS Hornero; in addition to IS Canario, next release.
Margueritte says that she has a strip of each variety with the producer’s proposal. “This year we wanted to do a simple trial that would give us data on optimal planting density,” she details. For the short cycles, which are IS Hornero and IS Tordo, they used the producer’s density, but in the case of Tero they have that, plus a higher and a lower one.
“We seek to determine with what amount of seed per hectare, with this agronomic management, we can obtain the greatest benefit,” says the engineer.
“The Illinois wheat portfolio has varieties that are perfectly adapted to this area, which is the most important wheat area in the country. Our offer includes materials that have a very high performance potential and a good sanitary profile”, he is proud.
He adds that what they are looking for is to have “the best variety with the best density and the best fertilization proposal, to obtain, ultimately, the best performance.”
All varieties can be purchased for sow evolutionan autogamous seed marketing system promoted by the seed industry that provides the producer with permanent access, and with significant benefits, to the latest advances in genetics and biotechnology (More information at www.sembraevolucion.com.ar).
It is all part of the way in which this YPF Agro distributor works with its customers: generating key information to make better decisions and thus take full advantage of the products and services offered by the company.
“Our role and our challenge is to be a provider of comprehensive solutions for customers. That is why we are also with them, we accompany them in the monitoring of the batches, we see how the varieties and hybrids behave to adjust the recommendations”, concludes Margueritte.