Urea Production in Bolivia to Reach a Record in 2024
Brazil
In compliance with court decision, Anvisa approves toxicological evaluation of ethiprole 200 g/L SC (Yonon); prothioconazole 47 + chlorothalonil 670 g/L SC (Oxon); glyphosate 792.5 g/kg WG (Biorisk). (Anvisa)
Fernando Ongaratto, Ph.D. in forage farming and greenhouse gases, has started a new position as market development specialist at Mosaic. (The Mosaic Company)
Problems in the 2023/24 summer harvest and the drop in soybean and corn prices have made farmers hold off on selling production and purchasing fertilizers for the next season. “Many farmers have bet that there will be a reduction on the price of fertilizers and an increase in the prices of agricultural commodities. But it is important to highlight that this scenario can create logistical pressure to meet the application period, due to the continental dimensions of Brazil, known bottlenecks in the sector and the representative volume expected for the year”, said Guilherme Schmitz, director of market development at Yara fertilizer company. Eduardo Monteiro, country manager at Mosaic, said that the current situation is worrying. “The country suffers from logistical bottlenecks, freight prices will rise, there will be queues at the ports”, said Monteiro. (Yara Brasil; The Mosaic Company)
After taking six months to raise US$ 98.56 million in an exclusive Credit Rights Investment Fund – FIDC structured by TerraMagna, AgroGalaxy, a pesticide dealer network controlled by Aqua Capital, reported a new contribution of US$ 78.85 million to the fund, reinforcing its bargaining power in negotiations with suppliers, especially in the case of agricultural pesticides. (AgroGalaxy)
Gustavo Melo is Sumitomo’s new financial director for Brazil. (Sumitomo Chemical)
Ministry of Agriculture published on May 06th, Act No. 19 of deliberations of post-registration of pesticides, with 3 cancellations of pesticide registration requests, 48 import authorizations, 26 changes to use recommendations, etc. (MAPA)
According to Solinftec, specialized in providing technologies for agribusiness, the company’s pesticide spraying robot can achieve a 93% reduction in the use of herbicides, an 80% reduction in the use of water to dilute herbicides, an average increase of 8.6 bags of soybeans per hectare, etc., according to experiments carried out on farms in the States of São Paulo, Mato Grosso, Goiás and Bahia. “An insecticide molecule takes 7 to 10 years to be developed and brought to the market. When resistance sets in within two years, three years, the molecule no longer has any effect. In this way, farmers are always behind in the race. We have a tool that can be effective in control and that absurdly reduces the effect of genetic selection”, said Bruno Pavão, head of robotics operations at the company. (Solinftec)
The largest spraying drone in Brazil, the GT 60, from GTEEX HD Brasil, covers more than 200 hectares in one day, with storage for 60 L. “The evolution of spraying drones is remarkable, from simpler models to more robust ones, such as the GT 60, capable of covering large areas”, according to Luciano Wibrantz, president of the company. The drone is manufactured in the State of Bahia. (GTEEX HD Brasil)
Petrobras’ Nitrogen Fertilizers Unit in the State of Paraná could return to operation in mid-2025, if all processes go as planned, said the executive director of industrial processes and products, William França. “You have to look at [industrial] lines, reactors, pumps, compressors. There is no date for the bidding because we have not yet stopped our ‘hibernation’. If everything goes well, the resumption of operations will be in June of 2025”. (Petrobras)
Paulo Queiroz is the new “Brazil Portfolio | Marketing Team Leader” at Adama. (Adama Brasil)
Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region has prohibited the aerial spraying of pesticides on a rice farm in the municipality of Tapes, State of Rio Grande do Sul, which borders the Lagoa do Junco Rural Settlement. Decision made on April 30th stems from a public civil action filed by Instituto Preservar. Aerial spraying is prohibited until the sentence is published. (TRF4; Instituto Preservar)
Joint meeting of the National Congress is scheduled for 05/09/2024, 10:00 am, to vote on vetoes. The agenda includes the Partial Veto No. 65, of 2022, attached to Bill No. 1293, of 2021, which gave rise to Law No. 14515, of December 29th of 2022, known as the Self-Control Law. “The veto to article No. 24 and its only paragraph was a mistake, as Brazil has already been living with the on-farm production of bioinputs, without the need for registration, since 2009. [There have been] 15 years, therefore, of safe and efficient production that allowed a leap in the adoption of the use of bioinputs in agriculture, and [this] represents the largest program to reduce the use of pesticides ever carried out in Brazil”, according to a note from the Brazilian Bioinputs Association. (ABBINS)
Syngenta’s CEO, Jeff Rowe, says the company’s performance in the Brazilian market should be “neutral” in 2024. According to him, the expectation is “to recover something this year, but probably not at the levels reached in 2022”. The Brazilian business was partially responsible for the drop in Syngenta’s sales in 2023, when revenue fell 4%, to US$ 32.2 billion, and Ebitda fell 18%, to US$ 4.6 billion. A “destocking” movement was one of the reasons for the weaker global performance, according to Rowe. “It happened all over the world, but the movement was more pronounced in Brazil. There was a retraction, but it was still the second-best year we had in Brazil… If we look at it in the long term, it’s still very positive”. (Syngenta)
ZhongXun Agri-Science has inaugurated an office in Brazil, in São Paulo, State of São Paulo, with Guangdong Zhongxun Agri-Science Corporation and Byter Tech Group CO., Ltd. as partners. (Brazilian Federal Revenue Office)
Daniela Maia is the new director of regulatory affairs at Staphyt Brasil. (Staphyt Brasil)
Koppert and Embraer are working together to approve the first methodology for aerial spraying of biopesticides in Brazil. Koppert is performing tests with Embraer’s EMB-203 Ipanema agricultural aircraft to obtain certification. Teams from both companies evaluate technical aspects to spray more efficiently and safely. Results will be documented to obtain method approval. Standardization in the way that biopesticides are applied aims to ensure the effectiveness of the product to prevent, reduce or eradicate diseases and pests in crops. (Koppert Brasil; Embraer)
Anvisa published withdrawal by request of Nortox’s technical sulfentrazone pesticide file. (Anvisa)
According to a survey performed by Kynetec five “anchor crops” reached more than US$ 27.58 billion in sales of plant nutrition products in the 2022/23 season: cotton, sugarcane, off-season corn, coffee and soybeans. According to the company’s research specialist, Raquel Ribeiro, “these technologies corresponded to 34% of the movement of the inputs market (around US$ 81.94 billion), including pesticides and seeds”. (Kynetec Brasil)
BioSummit event, focused on the bioinputs market, will be held on May 28th and 29th, 2024, in Campinas, State of São Paulo. The event is supported by Corteva, Biotrop, ALS, Rovensa, Sumitomo, Aenda, Unesp, ANDA, Sindiveg, etc. Lectures will be given by Adeney Freitas Bueno, Alba Marina Cotes, Antonio Carlos Zem, Ângelo Pallini, Leonardo Celini, Luis Eduardo Rangel, among others. (BioSummit)
Percio Meda is the new Brazil business director at Rizobacter. (Rizobacter do Brasil)
Croplife Brasil has launched two manuals for the agricultural sector: “Quality Management – Pesticides, Environmental Control Products and Related Chemicals” and “Guide for the Preparation of the Agricultural Bioinputs Quality Manual”. Publications were made with the assistance of representatives of the companies Albaugh Brasil, BASF, Bayer, CHD’S do Brasil, Corteva Agriscience, FMC Corporation, Ihara Defensivos Agrícolas, Sumitomo Corporation, Syngenta, Ourofino Agrociência, Fundepag, Legis Consultoria, Instituto Biológico. (Croplife Brasil)
A farm owner located in Caarapó, State of Mato Grosso do Sul, a municipality close to the border of Paraguay, was denounced for the irregular storage of a thousand pesticide packages. The packages were placed out in the open, without lids, and in direct contact with the ground, contrary to the provisions of Pesticides Law No. 14785/2023 and to the manufacturer’s recommendation. Presence of the insecticide fipronil and the fungicides metalaxyl and fludioxonil were identified at the site. According to investigations by the Public Ministry, the packages were purchased by the accused for around US$ 0.079/kg for resale, and were being kept outdoors until a buyer was found. (MPMS)
Claudecy Oliveira Lemes is being investigated for spending more than US$ 4.94 million to carry out chemical deforestation in areas totaling 81 thousand hectares – equivalent to the city of Campinas, State of São Paulo, – in the Pantanal Biome, in the State of Mato Grosso. According to the Public Ministry, this was the biggest environmental damage ever recorded in the State. Since 2019, Lemes has been fined 15 times for environmental damage in the biome and has already received fines from the State Secretariat for the Environment of Mato Grosso totaling US$ 1.03 billion. Even so, the farmer obtained US$ 1.99 million in rural credit loans granted by Banco do Brasil (Bank of Brazil) between 2021 and 2022, according to data obtained by Greenpeace Brasil. (MPMT; SEMA-MT; Greenpeace Brasil)
Potássio do Brasil – a subsidiary of Canadian company Brazil Potash Corp – received three Installation Licenses from the Amazonas Environmental Protection Institute to continue the implementation of the Potássio Autazes Project. Licenses authorize the construction of a river port on the banks of the Madeira River, an Ore Shipping Terminal and the drilling of two water collection wells. (Potássio do Brasil)
Latin America
Argentina once again announced a reduction in the tariffs on fertilizers and pesticides. Government spokesman Manuel Adorni ratified the measure communicated by the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo: reduction applies to current rates and varies from 3.6% to 25%, depending on the product. In the case of imports of herbicides based on glyphosate, atrazine and 2-4D, the rate goes from 35% to 12.6%. “The reduction in tariffs will encourage their use in agriculture and improve crop yields”. (Government of Argentina)
Urea production in Bolivia to reach a record in 2024. State-owned company Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos – YPFB forecasts production of more than 500 thousand tonnes, according to Armin Dorgathen, president of YPFB. Urea production in 2023 reached 347 thousand tonnes. According to the company, domestic consumption of fertilizers has “consolidated the import substitution” since 2022. (YPFB)
Study performed by the National Coffee Research Center in Colombia revealed that the average infestation by coffee borer (Hypothenemus hampei) in the country’s crops reaches 3.3%, which exceeds the 2% action level (when it is necessary to apply pesticides) for coffee in most departments. The situation could be harmful for coffee farmers, especially in the regions of Boyacá, Caldas and Risaralda. (Cenicafé)
Benjamín Robles is Rainbow’s new general manager in Mexico. (Rainbow Agro)
National Institute of Agricultural Research – INIA reports on the incidence of blast (a disease caused by the fungus Pyricularia grisea) in wheat crops in the northern region of Uruguay. The disease is especially serious during humid years with high temperatures. Research was performed on 11 commercial farms and/or experimental sites on the north coast of the country in 2023, which confirmed the presence of the disease in wheat farms in the region. “Genetic resistance is the best strategy for disease control, as it has no additional cost for farmers or environmental impact, as it can lead to less use of fungicides”, according to INIA. (INIA)
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