but cotton is al so common ) in the same space after soybean
has been harvested, optimizing the use of land and resources. Second crop production was not particularly prevalent a decadeago,
but by 2014 it represented nearly 58% of the total area of harvested
maize (Conab, 2015).
Double cropping systems are favored by high annual rainfall, a
long wet season and a low variability of the onset of the wet season (Arvoretal. ,2014). In most regions where double cropping has
been adopted, the wet season is about 6–7 months long and there is
very little margin for error in the timing of sowing and harvesting.
For double cropping to be viable, farmers need to ensure that the
soybeans are harvested in time for the second crop to mature while
climatic conditions are still favorable. Considering that sowing may
take as long as two to four weeks for a10,000 ha soybean ranch in