Sales of pesticides against greening vector jump 42% in Brazil

The Research Coordinator at Kynetec consultancy, Alberto Oliveira, informed AgroPages exclusively that sales of insecticides to control the psyllid (Diaphorina citri) jumped 42% this harvest. 

In total, 102 municipalities were visited by Kynetec's specialist researchers.

The FarmTrak Citrus study by Kynetec, found a significant increase in treatments against the insect that transmits the orange-greening disease. In the 2022-23 cycle, the management of this pest accounted for BRL271 million, compared to R$191 million in the previous harvest. Insecticides for psyllid control already represent 23% of the total crop pesticide market, which amounts to BRL1.2 billion. ″Controlling greening has become one of the main challenges for citrus growers in Brazil and worldwide. The disease causes severe damage to the productivity and quality of the fruits,″ Oliveira summarized.

″The rotation between different active insecticide ingredients is one of the key points to prevent the growth of the resistant psyllid population in the orchard. This practice also contributed to boosting the movement of pest products,″ he added. According to the executive, in Brazil, the adoption of treatments primarily targeting the citrus psyllid rose from 83% to 87% in São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Paraná. ″The products reached 98% of the cultivated area in the Northeast region of Brazil,″ the executive added. In a region where insect pressure tends to be lower, adoption also grew, from 39% in the 2021-22 harvest to 55%.

According to the Kynetec specialist, another relevant data is related to the number of pest treatments carried out in the country, which went from 11 to 14, on average. This variation, he adds, resulted in a 26% increase in application intensity, with the highest average number of sprays measured occurring in the citrus belt of the Brazilian states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais. In this region, points out Oliveira, the most relevant in the culture, the intensity increased from 14 to 18 treatments.

Of the insecticides most used by producers, explains Oliveira, pyrethroids covered 34% of the treated area, followed by neonicotinoids (23%), organophosphates (15%), neonicotinoids + pyrethroids (12%), and others (15%). ″Pesticides constitute only part of the care taken by the producer to control the psyllid,″ the executive pondered.

″Effective psyllid control goes beyond the use of chemicals approved by international legislation. The producer also uses practices to monitor orchards and adjacent areas through visual inspection and sticky traps. It also uses biological control and eradicating diseased plants,″ Oliveira continued.

FarmTrak Citros 2022-23 included almost 400 personal interviews with orange producers-suppliers to the juice industries in the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, responsible for approximately 70% of the cultivated area, in addition to Bahia, Paraná, and Sergipe.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)

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