Newsletter AgriBrasilis - December 2nd
Bioinputs “On Farm” Production Will Not Be Prohibited in Brazil
Luis Eduardo Pacifici Rangel (right) is an agricultural engineer, former Secretary of Agricultural Defense and former Director of Economic Analysis and Public Policies at the Ministry of Agriculture.
Carlos Ramos Venancio (left) is an agronomist, former general coordinator of pesticides and similar products at the Ministry of Agriculture.
There are around 629 biological products registered in Brazil for pest control. Approximately 20% of farmers around the world adopt these bioinputs, with 55% of farmers using them in Brazil, compared to 6% in the USA. Considering biostimulants, the ratio is 50% versus 16%. Brazil has at least 170 biofactories, capable of treating 25 million hectares, with a market growing by up to 20% per year.
Data from the Ministry of Agriculture shows 803 registered low-risk products, including biologicals and products approved for organic agriculture. This includes pheromones and other products that would not be capable of being produced “on farm”.
(Access the full article on the AgriBrasilis website)
Media Partner Event: BioSummit 2025 (June 04th to 05th, 2025 – Campinas, SP)
“The aim is to integrate the stakeholders of the biological inputs universe, bringing together more than 600 professionals including leaders, production and distribution companies, researchers, consultants, associations and farmers to understand, discuss and thus build connections, the future of bio-inputs and a new agriculture in an organized and creative way.”
Overview by AgriBrasilis (11/23/24 - 11/29/24)
Supermarket sales fell 12.8% in September, the worst performance in five months. The reduction is attributed to the weakening of consumers’ purchasing power and reflects inflationary pressure and the country’s economic instability. Argentina’s economic activity fell 3.3% in September when compared to the same period in 2023. (INDEC Argentina)
Projection by the National Institute of Meteorology shows heavy rains over the State of Rio Grande do Sul in early December. It is estimated rainfall of over 100 mm in areas of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina over the next week. (Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia (INMET)
Brazilian Lower House of Congress approved a Bill prohibing the expropriation of land, establishing restrictions on government action on farms for agrarian reform purposes. (Agência Câmara de Notícias)
President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, said on November 26th, she will send a letter to the President-elect of the USA, Donald Trump, asking for dialogue and cooperation after his promise to impose 25% tariffs on products from Mexico and Canada. “For one tariff another will come and so on, until we put our common businesses at risk”, Sheinbaum said during a press conference. The tariffs could violate the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which the countries signed in 2020. (Government of Mexico)
Corn production reached its lowest level in a decade in Paraguay, with a 30% drop in yields and 59.8% in exports by October of 2024. (Paraguayan Foreign Trade Department)
National Meat Institute sent a letter to Carrefour, inviting CEO Alexandre Bompard to visit the country’s meat companies to “avoid misleading generalizations”. “In relation to beef, the EU-Mercosur agreement establishes incremental access through a quota of 99 thousand tonnes of carcass; which is equivalent to 1.6% of the total consumption of the European bloc”, according to the letter. (INAC Uruguay)
“Current regulations for pesticides and fertilizers are not suitable for bioinputs”
Júlia Emanuela de Souza is the director of institutional relations at the National Association for the Promotion and Innovation of the Biological Industry – ANPII Bio.
Souza is an agronomist from the University of Brasília and Missouri State University, specialist in Plant Protection from the Federal University of Viçosa, with an MBA from FGV.
AgriBrasilis – Will the production of on-farm bioinputs be prohibited?
Júlia Emanuela de Souza – The on-farm production of bioinputs will not be prohibited, but regulated. The proposal seeks to ensure that this practice is carried out safely, following technical criteria and parameters that ensure the quality of products, environmental protection and the health of workers and consumers.
(Access the full article on the AgriBrasilis website)
Crop Protection and Nutrition – Weekly Update Brazil & Latin America (11/21/24 – 11/26/24)
The Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with authorities from Argentina to enable the import of natural gas. According to Carlos Fávaro, Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, the agreement should reduce costs and boost fertilizer production in the country, as gas is one of the main inputs used for manufacturing fertilizers. It is estimated that the agreement will promote the import of 2 million m3/day in the short term, reaching 30 million by 2030. (Ministério de Minas e Energia)
“CuidAgro” Program is expected to train 5,200 farmers from Costa Rica in the correct use and application of agrochemicals by the end of 2024. According to the program coordinator, Tanya Delgado López, in addition to face-to-face training, the program has digital tools to reach more people, including audiobooks and videos. “Since its creation, the ‘Limpiemos Nuestros Campos’ Foundation has trained more than 17 thousand farmers through the CuidAgro Program”, according to Delgado.
Go Energy, a company from the Arab Emirates, is in the process of surveying suitable locations for the development of a green ammonia factory in Paraguay. Green ammonia is used in the manufacture of fertilizers. “We want to position Paraguay as a global spearhead in this new market”, said the company’s president, Mr. Curro Nicolau. According to him, the project is estimated at US$ 700 million. It is in the feasibility evaluation phase, and technical and market studies are already advanced.
According to Tales Tiecher, professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, in Brazil, nitrogen is the most challenging nutrient in corn farming. “Unlike soybeans, which perform biological nitrogen fixation, corn depends entirely on nitrogen supplied via fertilization. Therefore, it is crucial to apply the correct dose, considering factors such as the previous crop, the soil’s organic matter content and the plant’s development stages”. According to Tiecher, the moment of application is decisive to avoid losses and maximize absorption by the plant. “If there is no rain after application, nitrogen can be lost through volatilization in the form of ammonia. On the other hand, very intense rains shortly after application can cause leaching losses in the form of nitrate”. (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul)
(Access the full article on the AgriBrasilis website)