Agronomic feasibility of biostimulant products in dryland wheat crops in Minas Gerais, Brazil

Fungi and bacteria are among the most widely used biological agents in Brazilian agricultural practices. However, their application in wheat under rainfed tropical conditions remains limited. This study was developed to evaluate the feasibility of applying biological products as inoculants in rainfed wheat cultivation in the southern region of Minas Gerais state. Field trials were carried out over two crop seasons (2021 and 2022) at two and three locations, respectively. Four biological products and a control were tested in this study. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with four replicates. Seven agronomic traits, such as thousand grain weight and grain yield per hectare, were evaluated. Statistical analyses included combined mixed model analysis, followed by the multilocation GGE biplot and AMMI analysis and a principal components (PCA) multi-trait analysis, using R software. No significant differences were observed among treatments, likely influenced by suboptimal environmental conditions during the study periods. As an initial assessment under field conditions, it was observed that the biological products did not significantly enhance rainfed wheat productivity.