Agrochemical Update Brazil & Latin America - 12/06/2023

Anvisa has released Public Consultation No. 1221, from November 28^th of 2023, allowing a 60-day period for public opinions regarding the inclusion of “Trichoderma hamatum” in the List of Active Ingredients of Pesticides, which must be made through the Agency’s website. (Anvisa)

Adriano Carneiro Roland is the new executive director of Microgeo, a Brazilian biofertilizer company. (Microgeo)

The minister of agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, is in favour of the Pesticide Bill No. 1459/2022, approved by the Senate on November 28^th, which modifies the rules for the approval and commercialization of pesticides in Brazil. Fávaro said that the project is necessary to modernize legislation and to ban the most harmful pesticides. “One of the most important points of the approved text is that no new molecule can be approved unless it is less harmful than the already existing ones”, said the minister. (MAPA)

Despite the 40% annual growth of the bioinputs market, logistics is still a limiting factor. According to Promip’s CEO, Marcelo Poletti, the biggest challenge is the shelf life of biological products, since in many cases the living organisms used in these products only survive a few weeks at room temperature. Additionally, companies that use refrigerated storage and transportation face higher costs. An alternative, according to Poletti, would be the “regionalized” production, with factories closer to farmers. (Promip)

Anvisa released rejection of pesticide toxicological evaluation for registration of technical clomazone from Perterra and fipronil 800 g/kg WG from Syncrom. (Anvisa)

Yara announced YaraAmplix, a new brand of biostimulants. The brand’s portfolio should feature “natural ingredients, such as seaweed and plant extracts”. YaraAmplix will be commercially launched in China, Brazil and France at the end of 2023 and will be gradually implemented in other countries in 2024. (Yara Brasil)

Main illegal pesticides sold in Brazil are paraquat, a banned herbicide, and the insecticides thiamethoxam and emamectin benzoate, both approved for use in the country. In the 1H of 2023, 210 tonnes of counterfeit pesticides were seized in Brazil. The most seized product was paraquat (106 tonnes). Confiscated quantities increased, especially in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. The pesticide market reported losses of US$ 4.21 billion in 2022 due to the illegal products. “There is a compound effect, that is, everyone loses with this parallel market”, said Antônio Bezerra, executive president of the Brazilian Association of Fine Chemical, Biotechnology and Specialty Industries. The most common illegal practices are theft, forgery, smuggling and diversion of purpose of use. Bezerra said that smuggled pesticides are predominantly products which are legally sold in Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Bolivia, but that enter Brazil illegally. (Abifina)

Ministry of Agriculture approved pesticide registrations of 179 technical products and 310 formulated products until December 1^st of 2023, totaling 489 registrations. Among these, were registered 24 new formulated products and 11 new technical products, in addition to 72 products listed as biological and/or approved for organic agriculture. (MAPA)

The president of the Brazilian Association of Cotton Farmers, Alexandre Schenkel, said the approval of the Pesticides Bill No. 1459/2022 in the Senate is a reason for celebration. “We waited more than 20 years for this to happen. Contrary to what some may think, the Bill does not make the legislation more lax. From now on, product risk assessment becomes mandatory. The Ministry of Agriculture will coordinate the system, but the entire process will be collegial, with Anvisa and Ibama, without taking away the powers of the agencies focused on control and inspection”, said Schenkel. (Abrapa)

Newton Macedo, director of the pest control consultancy Araújo & Macedo, led research on the control of root leafhopper (Mahanarva fimbriolata), a pest widely present in sugarcane farms, using pyriproxyfen. According to Macedo, pyriproxyfen prevents leafhopper nymphs from hatching. He said farmers and the sugarcane market should remain alert due to the pest, mainly because of the possibility of more rainfall in the coming months. The root leafhopper can cause yield losses of 50%. (Araújo & Macedo)

Agrion opened up an organomineral fertilizer factory in Tupaciguara, State of Minas Gerais, with a production capacity of 60 thousand tonnes/year. The factory demanded investments of US$ 6.14 million and it’s the first of 20 factories that are planned until 2033. Project was developed in partnership with the sugar and ethanol company Aroeira, which will supply the organic inputs, coming from what’s left of the industrial process (filter cake, vinasse, etc). “We have a 10-year contract with Aroeira, renewable for another 10. In this way, we have access to inputs and Aroeira has a priority on the fertilizer”, said Ernani Judice, CEO of Agrion. (Agrion; Aroeira)

Technical Assistance and Rural Extension Company – Emater of the Federal District offered a course to guide farmers in Brazlândia, an administrative region of the Federal District, on the correct use of pesticides. Farmers participated in the fourth stage of the pesticide application course. According to agronomist Claudinei Vieira, manager of the Emater office in Brazlândia, the course reinforces the importance of proper pesticide management. “With correct application, we minimize damages to the environment and, mainly, to the health of workers and consumers,” said Vieira. The course also covered the application of pesticides using drones. “Despite being a new technology, it is already a reality in most properties in the Federal District and in the country”, according to Vieira. (Emater – DF)

Fertilizer deliveries in Brazil grew 16.7% in September, compared to the same period in 2022, reaching 4.89 million tonnes. Between January and September of 2023, 33.5 million tonnes were delivered, representing an annual growth of 11.3%. State of Mato Grosso had the largest volume of deliveries since the beginning of the year, with 7.72 million tonnes, followed by Paraná (3.88 million), Goiás (3.66 million) and Rio Grande do Sul (3.56 million). (ANDA)

Vinícius Scandolara Boleta is the new national herbicides manager at Adama Brasil. (Adama Brasil)

State of Goiás is developing “Brazil’s first Agricultural Defense Code”. The state’s agricultural agency – Agrodefesa leads the initiative, which seeks to simplify legislation. “We saw the need to update our laws to comply with federal laws, which have already advanced in some points”, said the president of Agrodefesa, José Ramos. “We have to adopt programs that allow us to work with autonomy, giving Agrodefesa the role of guide and disseminator of good practices”, said the director of agricultural defense, Augusto Amaral. (Agrodefesa)

Agricultural Defense Agency of the State of Paraná – Adapar, together with the Civil and Military Police, inspected a warehouse suspected of counterfeiting fertilizers in the city of Laranjeiras do Sul, State of Paraná. They found two granulated fertilizer mixers, 315 new “big bag” packages, 194 tonnes of fertilizers without identification and labeling, etc. The warehouse was closed and products were seized. (Adapar)

Sales of “multisite” fungicides for soybean increased 218% between the 2018/19 and 2022/23, reaching US$ 770 million. Adoption of “multisite” products reached almost 80% of the soybean area in 2022/23, compared to 5% in 2014/15. Despite the increase in “multisite” transactions, the fungicide category fell to second place in value, representing US$ 3.82 billion (33%) of the US$ 11.51 billion soybean pesticide market. For the first time, herbicides led sales, reaching US$ 4.04 billion (36%). Lucas Alves, account manager at Kynetec Brasil, predicts that this change in the ranking will not last. Fungicides are expected to regain leadership due to price increases and restrictions in the supply of herbicides. (Kynetec Brasil)

Warning of a possible increase of the population of sugarcane borer (Diatraea saccharalis), which may increase during the summer, due to the higher incidence of rainfall. According to Maurício Oliveira, marketing manager at FMC, the losses caused by the pest in Brazil could reach US$ 1.02 billion per season. Furthermore, for each 1% of infestation, sugarcane yields can be reduced by 1.21%. “It is necessary to start control right at the beginning of the infestation to stop damages”, said Oliveira. (FMC Corporation)

President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said Petrobras can establish partnerships with companies from Saudi Arabia to manufacture fertilizers. “For example, we could make cross-investments between Petrobras and companies in Saudi Arabia to produce fertilizers, and provide a guarantee to the world inside this uncertainty created by Russia’s war in Ukraine,” said Lula. Recently, Petrobras made official the resumption of investments in fertilizer production by announcing its strategic plan for 2024 – 2028. (Government of Brazil)

Ministry of Agriculture published registration requests for 74 pesticides: 28 herbicides, 14 fungicides, 18 insecticides, etc. (MAPA)

Cases of multiple resistance and cross-resistance of Eleusine indica (crow’s foot grass) to herbicides from the groups of “ACCase Inhibitors” [also known as lipid synthesis inhibitors] and “EPSPs Inhibitors” [total action herbicides, with broad spectrum, which controls annual and perennial monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants]. This is a species that requires attention and an intense adoption of good agricultural practices and resistant weed management techniques. (HRAC-BR)

Brazilian farmers lose US$ 7.08 billion/year due to nematodes, being US$ 3.03 billion only for soybeans. “Over the years, agrochemicals have lost effectiveness due to resistance acquired by nematodes… Today, more than 90% of soybean nematicides purchased in Brazil are biological, applied via seed treatment or planting furrows”, said Thales Martins, portfolio manager at Biotrop. “The use of biological products adds live microorganisms to the soil biota, such as fungi and beneficial bacteria, which have a direct action against nematodes. This use interrupts a cycle that is harmful to plants, which would even end up causing the proliferation of other diseases, enhanced by injuries caused to the roots”, said Martins. (Biotrop)

Anvisa directors will meet for the last meeting of the Collegiate Board of 2023 on December 06^th. The meeting should start at 9:30 am and will be broadcasted live on Anvisa’s YouTube channel. Among the items on the agenda is the presentation of the results of the Pesticide Residue Analysis Program in Food. The report will bring the results of monitoring carried out during 2018, 2019 and 2022. (Anvisa)

Ministry of Agriculture approved 51 pesticide registrations, 8 of which are of biological products. (MAPA)

Brazilian fertilizer market to reach approximately 44 million tonnes in 2023, compared to 41 million in 2022. (Yara Brasil)

According to Jean Paul Prates, president of Petrobras, the company is studying ways to attract investments from companies in the Middle East, such as in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which could guarantee gas at more competitive prices for Brazil and, in this way, expand the production of nitrogen fertilizers. (Petrobras)

National Union of Employees of National Regulatory Agencies requests the presidential veto of the Pesticides Bill No. 1459/2022. The Union is worried that the project will remove Anvisa’s ability to act. “In addition to the blatant conflict of interests, it weakens the regulation of the sector and opens gaps for technical decisions to be politicized, without taking into account the real interests and well-being of the population”, said Fabio Rosa, president of the Union. (Sinagências)

Yara announced an investment of US$ 18.25 million in its foliar fertilizers factory in Sumaré, State of São Paulo. Resources will be invested until 2025, directed to R&D, with the aim of obtaining a portfolio of products focused on regenerative agriculture. “Sustainability is no longer enough. We want to start giving back to nature what we have extracted from it”, said Marcelo Altieri, CEO of Yara Brasil. (Yara Brasil)

SDA/MAPA Ordinance No. 961, from November 30^th of 2023, calls for a Public Consultation, for 45 days, about the proposed Joint Ordinance from MAPA, Ibama and Anvisa, which establishes guidelines for the procedures involving reworking, revalidation and reprocessing of pesticide formulated products, technical products and premixes. (MAPA)

Pesticides Bill No. 1459/2022, changes Brazilian pesticide legislation. Among the changes, the Ministry of Agriculture will organize the queue, coordinate the process and forward the toxicological dossier to Anvisa and the environmental dossier to Ibama; there will be a risk analysis for granting registrations for new products and for uses that imply an increase in dose, inclusion of crops and of application equipment; deadlines for completing registration processes are determined: 24 months for new products (formulated and technical), 12 months for formulated products, generic products, and equivalent technical products, 60 days for identical formulated products; registration holders will have up to 2 years to start production and sales, under penalty of registration cancellation; revaluations of pesticides must be carried out and completed within 1 year, extendable for 6 months; registration for exports will be waived; etc. (Federal Senate)