Agrochemical Update Brazil & Latin America - 01/10/2024

In compliance with a court decision, Anvisa approved the toxicological evaluation of the glufosinate – ammonium salt 200 g/L SL herbicide from Alamos. (Anvisa)

Vinicius Batista is the new marketing director at FMC in Brazil. (FMC Corporation)

In 2023, Ambipar increased the production of organic fertilizers by 25%, reaching 500 thousand tonnes. “We have invested around US$ 8.16 million in the last 10 years to build our factories and now we are investing to add value to the fertilizers that we manufacture”, said Gabriel Domingos, head of innovation. Ambipar has three organic fertilizer production facilities: one of them is part of the facilities of the paper manufacturing and exporting company Klabin, in the State of Paraná; the others are in the States of São Paulo and Santa Catarina, where the company has partnerships with the American companies Sylvamo and WestRock. (Ambipar)

William Weber is Syngenta Seeds’ new marketing director for Brazil and Paraguay. (Syngenta)

“Incorporation of bio-promoters into hydroponic lettuce production has stood out as an innovative and promising practice, with the potential to double production”, according to Caio dos Santos, Harleson Monteiro and Sinara Brito, researchers from the Federal Rural University of Amazônia and the São Paulo State University. “By introducing bio-promoters into the hydroponic system, an environment conducive to the healthy development of lettuce plants is created”. (UFRA; Unesp)

Anvisa published toxicological evaluation withdrawal requests regarding the technical pesticide products quizalofop-P-ethyl and azoxystrobin, from Nortox. (Anvisa)

Campo Limpo System, managed by the National Institute of Empty Packaging Processing, has disposed of 750 thousand tonnes of empty pesticide packages. In 2023, approximately 53 thousand tonnes of packaging were processed. “The program is a success story regarding circular economy”, said the president Marcelo Okamura. (inpEV)

Erich Duarte is the new R&D director at Andermatt Brasil. (Andermatt Group)

Fertilizer deliveries to the Brazilian market reached 4.71 million tonnes in October, an increase of 21.9% compared to the same month in 2022. During the first 10 months of 2023, the volume delivered reached 38.21 million tonnes, an increase of 12.5% when compared to 2022. (National Association for Fertilizer Diffusion)

Mosaic plans to accelerate investments in Brazil in 2024. At the Taquari-Vassouras Industrial Complex, in Rosário do Catete, State of Sergipe, the company intends to expand potash processing to 450 thousand tonnes in 2024, compared to 300 thousand tonnes in 2023. According to Eduardo Monteiro, Mosaic’s country manager in Brazil, the mixing unit in Palmirante, State of Tocantins, should reinforce operations in the States of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia, as it will facilitate the unloading of trucks and railway wagons, the storage of inputs and distribution of products. The Palmirante mixing unit received an investment of US$ 82.16 million in 2023. (The Mosaic Company)

After 01/01/2024, farmers from over 138 municipalities in the State of Rio Grande do Sul will need to take a course to obtain permission to purchase and apply hormonal pesticides, totaling 209 municipalities covered to date. This is the third wave of municipalities that must comply with the rules of Normative Instructions 12 and 13, from the State of Rio Grande do Sul’s Department of Agriculture, which include new requirements for the application of herbicides such as 2,4-D and picloram. On 01/01/2025 and 01/01/2026, new municipalities will have to adapt to the rules. (Seapi)

In 2023, chemical imports were four times greater than exports. While Brazil imported US$ 56.7 billion from abroad, it exported only US$ 13.4 billion, which resulted in a deficit of US$ 43.3 billion in the trade balance. Prices charged by competing countries were on average 24.4% lower, which has been identified as a factor responsible for unbalancing the domestic market and threatening national manufacturing. (Abiquim)

According to the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources – Ibama, the Institute’s role in controlling pesticides was preserved due to the vetoes of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who sanctioned Law No. 14785/23, derived from the Pesticide Bill No. 1459/22, with 14 vetoes. “One of the vetoes was related to the removal of the powers of Ibama and the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) in analyzing the impacts of pesticides on the environment and human health, transferring the activity exclusively to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAPA). Currently, the competence of the analysis is tripartite, that is, each agency carries out the evaluation under its responsibility. If there is a veto from any of the three agencies, the product cannot be registered”. (Ibama)

Controlling greening is one of the main challenges for citrus farmers in Brazil and around the world. “The disease causes severe damage to the yield and quality of fruits”, said Alberto Oliveira, specialist at Kynetec. “Rotation between different insecticide active ingredients is one of the key points to prevent the growth of the resistant psyllid population. Such products reached 98% of the cultivated area in Brazil and generated US$ 55.59 million in the 2022/23 orange season”. According to Oliveira, sales of insecticides to control the psyllid insect have increased 42%, compared to US$ 39.18 million in the previous season. (Kynetec Brasil)

Delays in planting the 2023/24 soybean crop and climate variations caused by El Niño have caused concern among farmers due to fungal diseases in crops, such as Asian soybean rust. In addition to choosing the right fungicides, it is important to pay attention to the correct application intervals. Farmers should also adopt other control strategies, with good agricultural practices to provide a more favorable environment for the plants, soil and straw management to combat end-of-cycle diseases, and with proper care in handling foliar products and their respective compatibilities. (Bayer)

According to Gustavo Shiomi, marketing manager at AgBiTech Brasil, the presence of the Rachiplusia nu caterpillar in the States of Mato Grosso, Piauí and Tocantins is problematic. “It will be necessary to intensify monitoring and adopt effective control measures in these regions. It is a ‘new’, voracious species that attacks soybean crops with BT technology and compromises the farmer’s management”, he said. The caterpillar appears to be adapting to warmer climates, causing damage in previously unaffected regions. “Insect traps allow the farmers to define the best time to control these pests, even before they lay eggs, multiply in the farms and cause significant damage to crops”, according to Shiomi. (AgBiTech Brasil)

It is estimated that bioinputs reached between US$ 820 million and US$ 920 million in sales in 2023, compared to just over US$ 620 million in 2022. This can still be considered a small revenue when compared to the chemical pesticides market, but the tendency is for the difference to decrease. According to Eduardo Leão, president of CropLife Brasil, by 2030 the revenue from biological products is expected to reach between US$ 3.28 billion and US$ 3.49 billion, driven by portfolio diversification and the growth of the agricultural area in which these products are applied, which reaches around 30% of the total. “Currently, the focus is on biopesticides, but we will also see progress in biofertilizers. Sales of biological products grew 60% in Brazil in the last four years, compared to a global average of 15%, and this pace should continue”, said Leão. (Croplife Brasil)

Albaugh Brasil now has three commercial departments. Breno Vieira is the director of Direct Sales for the Northern region. Daniel D´Andrea continues as commercial director for the Southern region, in addition to being in charge of Paraguay’s business department. Jaime Hurtado assumed the newly created Commercial Directorate of Distribution of Central-North Brazil. (Albaugh LLC)

José Zeferino Pedrozo, president of the Federation of Agriculture and Livestock of the State of Santa Catarina, argues that Brazil should adopt policies focused on self-sufficiency in relation to fertilizers, seeking to “reduce the level of exposure of the Brazilian economy to unpredictable and uncontrollable external factors”. Santa Catarina needs, annually, approximately 500 thousand tonnes of fertilizers, for 1.4 million hectares of crops. Crops that most require fertilizers are soybeans, rice, wheat and corn, as well as fruits and vegetables. “We need to seek self-sufficiency in this area because global suppliers are few”, said Pedrozo. (Faesc)

Sanitation Company of the State of Minas Gerais – Copasa is producing organic fertilizers using sludge generated by Sewage Treatment Stations and waste from urban tree pruning. In addition to fertilizers being a sustainable alternative for agricultural and livestock production, the use of sludge can contribute to increasing the service life of landfills and also to reduce the cost of transporting sludge to landfills. “In the first stage, we used 300 tonnes of sludge to produce fertilizers. The product is still in the testing phase. For us to make it available to farmers, there is a new stage that consists of evaluating the behavior of the fertilizer in the soil and in different crops. Only after this research period – around two years of testing – can the product be licensed by the Ministry of Agriculture and then sold”, said Copasa sanitary engineer, Frieda Keifer. (Copasa)

Lavoro announced the acquisition of controlling interest of Coram Comércio e Representações Agrícolas, a pesticide dealer based in Ituverava, State of São Paulo, which has 10 stores in the States of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Goiás. (Lavoro Agro)

On 12/22/2023, Petrobras published a bidding notice to hire evaluation services for the construction of the UFN III fertilizer factory, located in Três Lagoas, State of Mato Grosso do Sul. Process provides for the acquisition of quantitative survey services to prepare the list of remaining materials, equipment and work required to complete the factory. “It is an important step in the commitment made by Petrobras after the announcement of construction resumption. This is a fundamental phase of quantification, cost assessment and redefinition of the schedule”, said Jaime Verruck, secretary of state for the environment at Mato Grosso do Sul. The deadline for submitting commercial proposals is until 01/31/2024. (Semadesc)

Growth of 1 million tonnes in the fertilizer market in Brazil in 2024 was forecast. Total delivery to farmers could reach a historic record of 46 million tonnes. According to Eduardo Monteiro, Mosaic’s country manager in Brazil, fertilizer prices are relatively cheap in the country, which may indicate an appropriate time for farmers to close deals. “Today, Brazil has the lowest fertilizer prices in the world”, said Monteiro. (The Mosaic Company)

Paulo Ribeiro is now responsible for Corteva’s commercial expansion in Latin America. Tiago Contijo is the company’s new commercial director of biological products for Latin America. (Corteva Agriscience)

Director of the National Mining Agency, Caio Mário Trivellato, announced the objective of actively seeking to make potash extraction viable in the region of Autazes, State of Amazonas. “It is essential that we effectively change this behavior of great dependence on potassium imports. I will work intensely to make potash from Autazes viable, not just for the project, but so that Brazil does not depend so much on this resource externally”, stated Trivellato. (ANM)

According to Jeferson Souza, market analyst at Agrinvest Commodities, there was an increase in fertilizer deliveries in 2023, especially phosphorus and potassium. “This happened because the exchange rate was much more favorable in 2023/24 than in the previous season”, said Souza. “Analyzing the data by State, we can see that Bahia presented an increase of 21.9% in fertilizer deliveries compared to 2022, this being the biggest increase among the main consumer States in Brazil. Next came the State of Paraná , with a 20% increase in NPK deliveries compared to 2022. Finally, Mato Grosso, the biggest consumer State in Brazil, also recorded growth”. (Agrinvest Commodities)

According to the Brazilian Association of Fine Chemical, Biotechnology and Specialty Industries – Abifina, the New Pesticides Law “boosts agricultural modernization in Brazil”. According to the association, Brazil is advancing in the “modernization of agricultural legislation with the sanction of Law No. 14785, of 12/27/2023… This new law represents a milestone in the use of agricultural pesticides, aiming for greater agility and efficiency in the regulatory process. (Abifina)

In the areas researched by Fundação MT (a private agricultural research company, based in Mato Grosso), environmental conditions are “not favorable to the occurrence of diseases” in soybeans, such as target spot, which is often a problem in the city of Sorriso, State of Mato Grosso. According to the researcher Daniela Costa, there is a concern about Asian soybean rust in later crop trials (beginning of November), especially in the southern region of the State. (Fundação MT)

Roberto Rosa is Lavoro’s new vice-president of supply chain, leaving his position as purchasing director. (Lavoro Agro)

AgroGalaxy will receive US$ 38.50 million from Multi Strategy Funds managed by Aqua Capital, the company’s controlling company. Of the total, US$ 7.78 million will come in the form of a loan from one of the funds and will be released at the beginning of January, while US$ 30.71 million will be contributed through Advance Instruments for Future Capital Increase. (AgroGalaxy)

According to Pedro Urach Ferreira, application technology specialist at Spraytech, following a “logical order when adding and mixing pesticides is essential to avoid some problems, such as physical and chemical incompatibility between products”. According to Ferreira, the quality and effectiveness of agricultural spraying does not only depend on the good calibration of the sprayer, the correct choice of spray tip or the pesticide product: one of the essential parameters is the correct mixing order of the pesticides that will be applied. Products mixed in the wrong order can cause problems such as the formation of crystals or “lumps” in the spraying solution, as well as settling at the bottom of the tank, excessive foam formation, etc. (Spraytech)

One of the benefits of using spray drones is being able to arrive at difficult-to-reach places, such as coffee farms in mountainous regions. The drone makes it possible to apply pesticides with quality and uniformity in the crops, and, often, the application in these places would not be carried out by farmers, leaving the crop unprotected against pests and diseases. (geoAG; DJI Agriculture)

Using insecticides to control Hemiptera insects at the end of the soybean cycle is “completely unnecessary” and does not bring any financial return to the soybean farmer. (Embrapa Soybean)

Marcos Oliveira, director of Commodity Operations at Lavoro, said that “the agricultural input market is still facing delays”. According to Oliveira, farmers are concerned about the current agricultural season, especially in regions that have undergone replanting. “This caused off-season sales to be delayed. This is the time for the farmer to decide whether the off-season corn planting window is still adequate… or whether they will need to migrate to another crop, such as sorghum or millet”. Sales of pesticides, fertilizers and seeds in 2023/24 are the slowest in the last three years, according to Crosara Consultoria. (Lavoro Agro; Crosara Consultoria)

Marcio Santos will be the new president of Bayer’s agricultural division in Brazil. He took over after Malu Nachreiner, who will move to Bayer’s agricultural division for the Asia-Pacific region. (Bayer)

Approval of pesticide registrations decreased in Brazil in 2023, after seven consecutive years of increases. In 2023, 555 pesticides were approved, which is 15% less when compared to 2022. Despite this, the number of approvals is the 3^rd highest in the historical series, which began 24 years ago. (MAPA)