Tomato demands highest amount of agrochemicals in Brazil, points out research

By Leonardo Gottems, Reporter for AgroPages

Tomato is the crop that demands the most amount of pesticides in Brazil, with 46.87 kilos of active ingredient per hectare. The data was revealed in a recent study conducted by professors, José Otávio Machado Menten and Lourival Carmo Monaco Neto, both professors at ESALQ-USP (School of Agriculture of the University of São Paulo).

The other Brazilian crops that demand the most agrochemicals are apples and potatoes, with 39.18 and 31.60 kilos of active ingredient per hectare, respectively. The researchers used the most up-to-date and currently available data on 19 crops: cotton, garlic, peanuts, rice, bananas, potatoes, coffee, sugarcane, onions, citrus, beans, tobacco, apples, melons/watermelons, corn (first and second crops), soybeans, tomatoes, wheat/oats/rye/barley and grapes.

At the other end of the spectrum are the crops with the lowest demand for pesticides comprising bananas, tobacco and beans, with 0.48, 1.01 and 1.22 kilos of active ingredient per hectare (kg IA/ha), respectively. These crops were well below the average of the 19 products analyzed, which is 4.90 kg AI/ha.

The study also considered the type of pesticide used in each of the analyzed cultures. In terms of toxicity, especially for humans, there is a significant difference between these classes of pesticides, so that, in general, herbicides are the least toxic, followed by fungicides, acaricides and insecticides.

“The use of pesticides varies widely between cultures for agronomic, technical and financial reasons. Some crops, such as apples and potatoes, which were more susceptible to diseases, demand higher levels of protection. On the other hand, crops such as sugarcane, demand less, as they are affected by fewer diseases. In the case of this culture specifically, the use of pesticides is mainly composed of herbicides,” said the researchers.

The three crops with the greatest relative demand, tomatoes, apples and potatoes, for example, require a very intensive use of fungicides. This is an agronomic characteristic of these cultures, which are affected and strongly susceptible to a greater variety of fungal diseases. For tobacco culture, a value of 1.01g AI/ha of the relative demand for pesticides per hectare was found, presenting itself as the second lowest relative demand among the 19 crops analyzed.

For the president of the Interstate Tobacco Industry Union (SindiTabaco), the entity that commissioned the study, the results are not surprising. “This is the fourth study that places tobacco among the crops that use the least amount of pesticides in the country. It should be noted that, of the amount used in tobacco cultivation, 62% are herbicides, the least toxic among the classes of pesticides evaluated. For many years we have spent energy on demystifying issues such as this, considering that anti-smoking campaigns end up confusing their objectives and blaming the sector for a disorderly use of pesticides. It is proven once again, with official data, that the narrative is false,” said the executive.

A study recently presented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations placed Brazil as the 44th largest consumer of pesticides in the world when analyzing its use by cultivated area and 58th when analyzing its use in relation to the volumes of agricultural production. Brazil is also one of the few countries in the world that has the capacity to carry out more than one production cycle per year in the same area, so that more products are required, but proportionally, there is less employment per area of cultivation.

The study took as its starting point the most recent data from the National Union of the Plant Defense Products Industry (SINDVEG), 2016, and also included data from the National Union of the Plant Defense Products Industry (SINDAG) and the Brazilian Institute Statistics and Geography (IBGE).