Crop Protection and Nutrition – Weekly Update Brazil & Latin America (01/02/24 – 01/08/25)

Ministry of Agriculture published a summary of pesticide registration requests with 37 equivalent technical products. (Official Gazette, Act No. 60 from 12/31/2024, MAPA)

DigiFarmz began a new cycle of research on Asian rust to strengthen the database and improve the algorithms of its agronomic recommendation platform. The studies, carried out in Passo Fundo, State of Rio Grande do Sul, involve 73 soybean cultivars tested under conditions of high occurrence of the disease and different sowing times, aiming to evaluate the effectiveness of fungicides and cultivar resistance. “The focus at this stage is to evaluate the behavior of cultivars under high incidence of Asian rust. Sowing at a later time, when the disease reaches its peak, allows us to differentiate the resistance of cultivars, validate fungicide application programs and identify the most effective management”, according to Ricardo Balardin, the company’s CRO. “Investing in studies like this is essential for us to continue offering practical and reliable solutions. Our commitment is to provide accurate data”. (DigiFarmz)

Alexandre Jahn is the new marketing director at Cibra, a Brazilian fertilizer company. (Cibra Fertilizantes)

Cropchem, a pesticide company, announced restructuring in its commercial area. From January of 2025, the company will use its commercial structure to access the Cerrado Biome and Central North region of Brazil. CropChem informed that it will no longer use Agriconnection’s sales service. “We thank Agriconnection for the partnership… which was certainly very productive for both companies”. (CropChem)

Eradication of the apple moth (Cydia pomonella) in Brazil completes 10 years. Monitoring of the pest, important for apple farming, is still ongoing using traps in orchards. The Ministry of Agriculture published Normative Instruction No. 10, in 2014, declaring Brazil as free of the first insect pest to be eradicated in the country. “The eradication was a milestone, but it is the continuous monitoring that supports this achievement. Therefore, we will remain vigilant to protect our agriculture and keep the State of Rio Grande do Sul and Brazil free from this pest”, said the head of the Plant Health Defense Division of the Secretariat of Agriculture of Rio Grande do Sul, Rita Antochevis. Currently, the Secretariat has more than 100 traps installed to monitor the pest in Vacaria, Caxias do Sul, Bom Jesus, Arvorezinha and Anta Gorda. (Seapi)

Syngenta signed an agreement with Olfar Agro, which will now manage the Atua Agro stores in the State of Rio Grande do Sul and Agrocerrado stores in Goiás. The operations will offer services such as grain receipt, financial business, input sales and technical assistance for monitoring crops. The deal was submitted for analysis by the Administrative Council for Economic Defense. (Syngenta)

IneditaBio, specialized in genome editing, and Shull Seeds, a Brazilian corn and sorghum seed company, announced an R&D partnership to create corn hybrids that are more efficient in absorbing nutrients. “The R&D collaboration with Shull will boost the development of biotechnological traits in corn hybrids”, said Paulo Arruda, CEO of Inedita Bio. The goal is to create a hybrid whose management requires less nitrogen fertilizers, acting in a similar way to bacterial inoculants like Rhizobium spp. (Idenita Bio; Shull Seeds)

For Bruno Laviola, head of R&D at Embrapa’s Agroenergy Unit, the approval of Law No. 15070/2024 is expected to stimulate research involving bioinputs. The new regulatory framework should guarantee legal certainty and encourage innovation, expanding the transfer of technologies to the production sector. The researcher highlighted the high synergy between the Bioinputs Law and the Future Fuel Law, No. 14993/2024. “By regulating and encouraging the use of bioinputs, Brazilian agriculture becomes more sustainable and emits fewer greenhouse gases. Crops managed with bioinputs tend to have a lower carbon footprint, providing cleaner raw materials for the production of biofuels”. (Embrapa)

The application technique and spraying nozzle models are important for improving precision and safety conditions in pesticide spraying. In a “MEIOSI” environment – a method in which sugarcane is multiplied in the farm, with areas interspersed with “mother lines” of sugarcane – in sugarcane and peanut crops, the application technique, combined with the appropriate selection of nozzles, allows to increase control effectiveness and reduce the risk of contamination by drift. “Once the crop is in more advanced vegetative stages, in which the lines are completely closed, a new organization of the spraying nozzles is recommended, aiming for better uniformity in product distribution”. (Sabri Sabedoria Agrícola; Herbicat)

Ordinance 747/2024 defines new criteria and requirements for accreditation and inspection of laboratories that provide services to agricultural defense agencies in Brazil. The rule revokes Normative Instruction 57/2013 and other previous regulations, coming into force on January 2^nd, 2025. Ordinance 747 is aligned with Law 14515/2022, known as the Self-Control Law. Among the main changes is the introduction of public notices for the selection of laboratories, prioritizing strategic demands for agricultural defense. (MAPA)

The coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei) is the second most significant pest for Brazilian coffee farming, especially in Arabica coffee crops. “Managing the coffee berry borer begins with a good harvest, eliminating as many grains as possible from the crop to remove the borer’s host. Traps located at strategic points help to indicate the best application period, and chemical or biological control must be carried out during the insect’s flight”, according to Patrick Rodrigues de Souza, consultant at the agricultural cooperative Cocari. (Sistema Ocepar)

According to a survey by maritime agency Williams Brasil, the import of 8.581 million tonnes of fertilizers was scheduled between December 1st and 30th. Most of it is expected to be unloaded through the port of Paranaguá, State of Paraná, reaching approximately 2.446 million tonnes. The report takes into account shipments that are already anchored, those offshore awaiting docking and those scheduled to arrive until 3/02/2025. (Williams Brasil)

The small soybean beetle (Myochrous armatus) has caused successive losses to crops in the Midwest. The most critical cases occur in the north and center-west of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul and in the south and east regions of the State of Mato Grosso. In the last season, losses reached 30% in infested areas. The increase in the pest population requires integrated and assertive actions for management and control, according to Andressa Lima de Brida, researcher at Fundação MS. Some control strategies are: seed treatment, which protects seedlings during the initial phase, considered the most critical; night applications, when the insect is more exposed; etc. (Fundação MS)

The 13th Civil Chamber of the TJ/MG ordered a seed and pesticide company to compensate farmers by paying approximately US$ 342 thousand. The decision stems from problems with corn seeds purchased by farmers, which generated plants vulnerable to leafhoppers (Dalbulus maidis) in 504 hectares. The farmers also stated that the company announced its seeds as highly efficient, but had hidden the information, in publicity materials, about susceptibility to corn leafhopper. When filing a lawsuit, they requested compensation of US$ 131 thousand for material damages, US$ 211 thousand for lost profits associated with a loan made to purchase the seeds, in addition to US$ 13 thousand for moral damages. (Court of Justice of Minas Gerais)

Collegiate Board Resolution (RDC) 950/2024 came into force on 01/02/2025, which establishes complementary requirements to optimize the analysis of petitions for evaluation and toxicological classification of formulated pesticides based on equivalent technical products. This measure applies to products without technological innovations, where the toxicology of the active ingredient has already been evaluated and for which there is already an action protocol and guidance on the appropriate measures to reduce exposure of the population to the dangers posed by the molecules. (Anvisa)

Petrobras announced that its fertilizer factories that were leased to Unigel, located in the States of Bahia and Sergipe, could return to operation in 1Q2025. (Petrobras)

After the Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira bridge collapse, the quality analysis of the Tocantins River water has not detected, to date, the presence of acetamiprid and picloram in any of the four monitored points. The pesticide 2,4-D was only detected at the collection point in Porto Franco, State of Maranhão, with a concentration of 0.2 µg/L, with the Maximum Allowed Value being 30 µg/L, which means it was 150 times below what is allowed by the Ministry of Health. This concentration of 2,4-D is considered normal in rivers that cross agricultural areas, therefore, no evidence of water contamination by agricultural pesticides resulting from the accident at the Bridge was found. According to the National Water Agency, while the material is submerged in the Tocantins River, there is a risk of containers breaking, resulting in water contamination. (Secretariat of Social Communication)

662 pesticide registrations were approved in Brazil in 2024, encompassing 464 formulated products and 198 technical products. The number surpasses the record of 652 registrations achieved in 2022. The companies with the most approved registrations were AllierBrasil (45; 6.80% of the total), Nortox (37; 5.59%), Rainbow (34; 5.14%), Adama (30; 4.53%), Sumitomo (28; 4.23%). (AllierBrasil)

According to Jonas Leite da Silva, analyst at Agro Amazônia, the Brazilian agrochemical market is expected to show moderate growth in 2025. “This is driven by the recovery in the prices of commodities such as corn, which has encouraged farmers to resume investments”, he said. “Farmers are increasingly focused on optimizing costs, due to tighter profit margins… the demand for agrochemicals could be influenced by more efficient management practices and the use of technologies that aim to reduce expenses… The bioinputs market shows a more pronounced growth perspective, with estimates of an adoption increase above 10%… It is important to note the agricultural inputs market, including agrochemicals, still faces challenges arising from global disruptions in the supply chain, with expectations of complete normalization only in 2025”. (Agro Amazônia)

Ministry of Agriculture has published a summary of post-registrations of pesticides, including 4 registration withdrawals, 3 registration request withdrawals, 25 changes in usage recommendations, 37 import authorizations, etc. (Official gazette, Act No. 62 from 12/21/2024, MAPA)

450 researchers and participants in social movements signed a note in support of the superintendent of the Ceará Agrarian Development Institute, former congressman João Alfredo, after he took a stand against Bill No. 1075/23 authored by congressman Felipe Mota, which allows the use of drones to spray pesticides in the State. (Idace)