Commodity Shuttle: Biological control of pests and diseases advances in the country

New consumer market requirements, use of low-risk technologies, good agricultural practices and regenerative agriculture are driving the production of biological pest and disease control products.

The world market for biological products was worth US$5.2 billion in 2020, 8% of the value of chemicals. The annual growth rate of this sector is 13%. With a strong trend of evolution, it should move US$ 11.1 billion in 2025.

Europe and North America, with almost a third each, are the big players in this sector. Latin America holds 15%, but with a growth rate of 18% per year. One of the highlights is Brazil, whose annual growth reaches 33%.

The data are from the consultancy IHS Markit and were presented by Marcelo Poletti, agronomist and CEO of Promip, a company linked to the sector, at the 9th Brazilian Soy Congress held by Embrapa Soja in Foz do Iguaçu.

Soybean crops become one of the major beneficiaries of these new inputs in Brazil. New application techniques, such as the use of drones, facilitate the placement of these products in the field.

Poletti says that a drone, in just one hour, makes application in up to 50 hectares, a mission much easier than in the previous system, when the work of releasing wasps in the field was done manually by the farmer.

Brazil has a promising future in biological control, mainly due to its use in soybeans, according to Wagner Bettiol, a researcher at Embrapa Meio Ambiente and one of the participants in the book “Bioinsumos na Cultura da Soja”, by Embrapa.

Several factors explain the rapid growth of this sector, according to Poletti. They range from political and commercial issues to technical ones.

Among them are pressure for low risk in production, need for integrated management, low carbon agriculture and regenerative agriculture.

In addition, the increasing resistance of pests and invasive plants to chemical products opens the door to biological products, says Poletti.

For Amália Cristina Piazentin and Leila Campos Vieira, agronomists at CropLife, and also participants in Embrapa’s book on bioinputs, biologically-based products can combine with chemicals in different and efficient strategies for the integrated control of plants and pests.

In their opinion, the growing pressure from the consumer market, demanding healthier products from the countryside, accelerate this option for bio-inputs in production.

For Poletti, concerns about the climate and regulations in Europe are driving the use of these products. In addition, rising costs in crops are also included in this calculation.

Brazil already moves R$ 2.34 billion a year with biological products, according to data from the Blink consultancy commissioned by CropLife, which brings together companies in the sector. In 2030, it will be R$ 9.1 billion.

At least 55% of this movement in the sector is with soybean crops, mainly in seed treatment and applications in the sowing furrow.

Soybean is the product that occupies the largest area of ​​grain in the country. In this harvest, there were 41 million hectares. Sugarcane and corn are also important in the use of biologicals.

Poletti says that it is increasingly difficult to register a chemical product, which opens the door to the biological.

With the 20 pesticides for biological control registered by the Ministry of Agriculture this Wednesday (25), the low toxicity products for pest control now total 545, produced by a number of more than 130 companies, many of them small.

The average registration time of 14 months is also a positive point for biologicals, in relation to chemicals, according to Promip’s CEO.

He also highlights the diversification of products, more companies in the sector, large areas of cultivation and the increase in production within the farms themselves. There is a quest to reduce chemicals in integrated pest management.

​Poletti, the Embrapa researcher and CropLife agronomists agree that the scenario is favorable for bioinputs, but the sector also faces challenges, ranging from quality improvement to more investments in research.

Bettiol says there is a need for greater investment in research and product development, but resources are limited.

Experts also agree that there is a need to put a greater focus on the development of bioherbicides to control invasive plants.

Among the challenges is also to improve the training of professionals working in the biological control sector. The production of these inputs has been growing a lot, including on the farms themselves.

It is also necessary to provide adequate training for agronomists and forestry engineers so that they can better understand the functioning of agroecosystems.

Bioinputs are products of plant, animal or microbial origin that interfere with the growth and development of plants.

Biological control is the use of one organism to reduce the population density of another.