Agrochemical Update Brazil & Latin America - 11/22/2023

Anvisa approved the toxicological evaluation of seven new formulated products – with an active ingredient not yet registered in Brazil, fluazaindolizine, from Corteva. (Anvisa)

UPL to expand its biofactory in Brazil in early 2024, in Lucas do Rio Verde, State of Mato Grosso, according to the company’s CEO in Brazil, Rogério Castro. (UPL Corporation)

According to Ihara, the company is “working with 24 new active ingredients, which represents the potential to develop 173 new fungicides, herbicides, insecticides and biological products in the coming years… currently more than US$ 8.97 million is being invested in the development of new technologies”. (Ihara)

During the 1º Fórum de Fertilizantes da Matriz Orgânica (1^st Forum on Organic Fertilizers), organized by Abisolo, the Superbac’s innovation director, Giuliano Pauli, emphasized Brazil’s potential to manufacture organic fertilizers as an alternative to reduce the dependence on imported inputs and to increase nutritional efficiency. José Polidoro, advisor at the Ministry of Agriculture, said that “emerging” fertilizer market segments (organic, organomineral, etc.) are essential to guarantee food security and promote environmental sustainability. According to Polidoro, organomineral fertilizers can account for 25% of the demand for inputs based on nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. (Abisolo)

Use of vinasse should cover 78% of the area cultivated by Tereos in 2023/24. The company’s goal is to reach 90% of vinasse usage by 2025/26, reducing the use of fertilizers. “The agricultural area represents 65% to 70% of the company’s costs. If we don’t have this under control, we won’t be able to make money”, says Pierre Santoul, president of Tereos in Brazil. According to Santoul, the use of drones for spraying and mini-planes to identify flaws in sugarcane farms are already common practices for the company. Another technology, still being tested, is a robot that roams the farms identifying weeds and spraying herbicides. This new development is expected to reduce the use of herbicides in sugarcane farms by 50%. (Tereos)

Unigel has reversed its Notice of Employment Termination, which had been given to hundreds of employees, while it maintains negotiations with Petrobras with the objective of resuming operations at the nitrogen fertilizer unit in Camaçari, State of Bahia. The Federation of Oil Workers has asked Petrobras to “take back” the fertilizer unit, alleging Unigel is not fulfilling contractual obligations. “To move the fertilizer sector forward and to promote the technological updating of the units, Petrobras’ role in the operation and conduct of the business is necessary”, states the note sent to the president of Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates, and to the executive director of processes industrial and products, William França. (FUP; Unigel)

Father and son were arrested transporting more than 500 kg of unidentified pesticides in the city of Bagé, State of Rio Grande do Sul. The suspects said products were purchased in Uruguay and would be sold in the central region of the State. (PRF)

Losses following theft at an agricultural pesticide company in Uberaba, State of Minas Gerais, could reach US$ 200 thousand. (Civil Police)

According to a study performed by CropLife Brasil, in partnership with the consultancy Agroconsult, over the last 25 years, GMO products generated an additional revenue of US$ 29.28 billion for the agricultural sector. According to Débora Simões, from the Agroconsult’s strategies and solutions department, this amount was calculated considering yield gains, the price of commodities and the planted area since the 1998/99 season. According to the president of CropLife Brasil, Eduardo Leão, the GMO crops contributed to avoiding the use of 1.597 million tonnes of pesticides. (Croplife Brasil; Agroconsult)

Rafael Simões de Almeida is the new commercial director of fertilizers at Agriconnection. (Agriconnection)

Public Prosecutor’s Office of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul announced a preparatory procedure to investigate the death of bees in Brasilândia, State of Mato Grosso do Sul. The incident might have occurred due to the improper use of pesticides by a sugarcane mill. (Public Prosecutor’s Office of Mato Grosso do Sul)

Fertilizantes Heringer fertilizer company reduced its net loss in the 3Q to US$ 12.78 million, compared to US$ 22.70 million in the same period of 2022. The company’s net revenue fell 9%, reaching US$ 340 million. (Heringer Fertilizantes)

Reinaldo Senedese is the new commercial director of Café Brasil Fertilizantes. (Café Brasil Fertilizantes)

Cooperativa Integrada Agroindustrial, an agricultural cooperative, launches a campaign to control psyllids in citrus farms. Through a partnership between Integrada and IDR – Paraná (Paraná State Rural Development Institute), farmers receive the parasitoid Tamarixia radiata, a natural enemy of the psyllid. The parasitoid “deposits its eggs under psyllid nymphs, eliminating them and reducing the presence of the HBL bacteria vector in the farms. The release of these insects is a strategy used in greening management because it prevents the insect from becoming an adult and damaging the farms”, according to Humberto Androcioli, researcher at IDR – Paraná. (Integrada Cooperativa)

“The shortage of NPK and the expensive price of fertilizers reinforced the important role of biofertilizers. A good example are the inoculants”, according to Johana Perez, global R&D manager for biological products at Rovensa Next. According to Perez, biological nitrogen fixation through rhizobia has become a common practice in soybean farming throughout the country. “Strains of Bradyrhizobium spp. and Azospirillum brasilense are present in approximately 85% and 30% of crops, respectively.” (Rovensa Next)

Transgenic events DBN-09004-6, DP-910521-2 and MON 94637, from the companies Beijing Da-Bei-Nong Technology Group, Corteva and Monsanto, respectively, were considered safe by the National Biosafety Technical Commission. The release for commercial purposes of event DBN-09004-6 involves soybean crops, with GMO cultivars showing tolerance to the glyphosate and glufosinate ammonium herbicides. Event DP-910521-2 allows for Lepidoptera control and glufosinate tolerance. Event MON 94637 contains Bacillus thuringiensis, which acts in the control of lepidoptera in soybean crops. (CTNBio)

“We went from a turnover of US$ 14.28 million to US$ 1.63 billion”, according to Santiago Franco, CEO of Cibra Fertilizantes, regarding the company’s performance over the last decade. Franco said that 2023 “is not being an easy year for the market because we continue to feel the consequences of global conflicts, but, in general, Cibra has performed above average… We are growing almost 40% in volume, compared to last year. Our market is growing on average from 9% to 10%. (Cibra Fertilizantes)

3Tentos, a company in the State of Rio Grande do Sul that operates as an agricultural input dealer, as well as in grain origination, soybean processing and biodiesel production, reached a record of US$ 490 million in net revenue in the 3Q of the year. (3Tentos)

Agricultural Defense Agency of the State of Paraná reached a record number of State registrations of biological and similar pesticides during 2023. There were 104 product registrations until October. “This means that there was a reduction of bureaucracy at the federal level, and State incentives have led to an increase in the supply of these inputs”, according to Suzana Carvalho, coordinator of the pesticide registration program. (Adapar)

Ibama monitors pesticide application and seizes aircraft in the State of Minas Gerais. Total of 17 companies were inspected and 2000 L of expired products were seized. Six fines, worth US$ 86,829, were issued, as well as 12 notifications. Brazil has the second largest fleet of agricultural aircraft in the world, with 2,083 planes, second only to the USA. Minas Gerais is one of eight Brazilian States that, together, hold 90% of the country’s agricultural aircraft fleet. (Ibama)

The Environmental Commission of the Federal Senate has approved the Pesticide Bill No. 1459/2022, together with the approval of a verbal request of urgency to the Plenary. The Bill provides for new rules on registration, inspection, classification and supervision of agricultural pesticides. The project will now be analysed by the House Plenary. (Federal Senate)

Anvisa opened a public consultation on the proposed Normative Instruction that includes the pesticide isopyrazam in the “List of Active Ingredients of Pesticides, Sanitizers, Disinfestants and Wood Preservatives (IN 103/2021). It can be accessed through the Anvisa website. (Anvisa)

The Ceará State Environmental Superintendency launched the Pesticides Subscription and Registration System – SICRA on November 21st. The new system aims to register Registrant/Manufacturing companies and their products. (Semace)

Researcher Lais Fontana from the Goiano Institute of Agriculture warns of an acceleration in the number of nematodes in crops due to high temperatures. According to Fontana, “in years with high temperatures, the plant is stressed and weakened, leading to an increase of nematodes, in addition to a reduction in the antagonistic microbiota in the soil”. During experiments carried out with susceptible cultivars and those with moderate resistance to the cyst nematode, the researcher observed that all cultivars showed an increase in the multiplication of the nematodes, reaching up to 4 thousand nematodes per gram of roots. (IGA)