15th Brasil Agrochemshow Highlights Challenges and Trends in Agribusiness and Agrochemicals

Date:2024/8/19

The 15^th Brasil Agrochemshow, a two-day event held on August 13^th and 14^th, brought together 800 experts and industry leaders from Brazil, China, India, and Latin America, from a total of 13 countries, to discuss the future of agribusiness and the agrochemical sector. The event organized by AllierBrasil, an agribusiness consulting firm, and CCPIT CHEM, from China, highlighted the pesticide registration in Brazil and Peru, and legislative changes in Brazil, the need for sustainable agricultural practices, and the evolving role of cooperatives and digital technologies in agribusiness.

All local registration fees, equivalent to 11 tons of food hamper, were donated to the Crê-Ser charity foundation in São Paulo.

Focus on Legislation, Market Trends, and Sustainability

The first day featured lectures addressing the current landscape of agriculture and agrochemicals in Brazil, China, and Peru.

Carlos Goulart, Secretary of Agriculture and Livestock Defense of Brazil, opened the event with a discussion on the challenges and priorities within Brazil’s pesticide registration process. ″Brazil has the slowest system in the world for chemical pesticide registration, yet the fastest for biological products, all under the same legislation″, he noted, highlighting the unpredictability and high costs associated with the process.

Filipe Guimarães, Head of Product Marketing Latin America at Syngenta Crop Protection, provided an overview of the Brazilian pesticide market, noting its tenfold growth since 2000. Despite cyclical contractions, Guimarães predicted continued growth, with an emphasis on the integration of chemical and biological pesticides in the future.

Adeney de Freitas Bueno, Head of R&D at Embrapa Soybean and Entomology Researcher, emphasized the need for sustainable practices in pest management. He advocated for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies, stating, ″We can’t adopt the tools of the past. We have to use IPM… The tendency is for the use of chemical insecticides to decrease″.

Vanessa Del Pilar Mendoza, General Manager at Agro Advice Perú, spoke about Pesticide Registration in Peru. She pointed to the Andean regulations for pesticide registration and explained the process for product registration in the country.

An Overview of Brazilian Economy

Luiz Fernando Figueiredo, Chairman of Jive Investments, spoke about the ″Overview of Brazilian Economy″. He painted a picture of the many reforms that Brazil went through in the last decade. ″Because of the changes and reforms, the economists made grave errors when forecasting data about the country’s economy. Brazil grew more than expected″.

The Chinese Agrochemical Landscape

Jalen Fan, Deputy Director of Division 1 in CCPIT CHEM, spoke about the Chinese pesticide and biopesticide industry. He commented on data about pesticide registrations and registrant companies, for chemical formulated and technical pesticide products. More than 600 registrations were cancelled, and active ingredients such as omethoate, carbofuran, 2,4-D butylate, paraquat, went through restrictions or were banned.

Zhang Jinlong, an independent researcher, spoke about the evolution of the agrochemical industry in China. He gave an overview of the current circumstances of the agrochemical industry in China, highlighting the past shortages due to shutdowns, or the cases of severe overcapacity. ″The Chinese Agrochemical Industry is not isolated. Chinese companies play critical roles in the global agrochemical industry″.

Agricultural Cooperatives and Regulatory Challenges

The second day focused on the role of agricultural cooperatives, proper usage of pesticides and fertilizers, and ongoing legislative reforms in Brazil.

Fernando Degobbi Sambonovich, CEO of the agricultural cooperative Coopercitrus, discussed the cooperative’s business expansion and future in agribusiness, highlighting the importance of a digital approach to farming.

From the Ministry of Agriculture of Brazil, Tatiane do Nascimento, head of the Formulated Products Registration Division, and José Victor Torres, General Coordinator of Pesticide and Related Products, both addressed the complexities of pesticide registration in the country. They highlighted the critical issues and the implications of the new Pesticide Law No. 14785, which is still under discussion, requires further regulation.

Flavio Hirata, Parter at AllierBrasil, presented on the lengthy and often contentious process of pesticide registration in Brazil, noting that registrations can take up to 10 years, leading some companies to expedite approvals through legal action. ″In 2023, 30% of generic chemical formulated pesticides were approved through court decisions″. He also presented data regarding cancelled pesticides in the country, which reached 177 cancellations in 2023.

Proper Fertilizer and Pesticide Usage

Godofredo Vitti, a researcher and professor at the University of São Paulo, touched on Brazil’s dependency on imported fertilizers and the need for alternative practices like no-till cultivation and soil correction to mitigate this vulnerability.

Paulo Vinicius da Silva, professor of biology and management of weeds at the Federal University of Grande Dourados, spoke about the environmental dynamics of herbicides. He commented on processes such as photodegradation, volatilization, transport, absorption, which can affect the effectiveness of pesticides and their environmental impacts.