Brazil Mapa regulates production, registration and trade of rock powder in agriculture

The Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa) has standardized the production, registration and trade of rock minerals, known popularly as rock dust or rock powder. It is a milled and sifted rock with the function of improving the physical and chemical quality of the soil. The difference for the common fertilizers are at the solubility and concentration, but both have a complementary action. With the new legislation, consumers can check the quality of these products, which now will receive the Mapa registration.

The Normative Instructions 5 and 6, at the Monday (03.14) edition of the Official Union Gazette, establish several requirements to manufactures in order to guarantee the offer of quality and safe products. Besides, the instructions define the rules that will be required by the Ministry at the registration.

The regulation of rock mineral represent one more option for the Brazilian farmers, who already rely on limestone and mineral fertilizers to recover soil fertility. This is an old demand in the sector, especially for organic producers that do not use mineral fertilizer, but admits the use of rock dust.

Minister Kátia Abreu highlighted that one of the big advantages of rock dust is the availability in abundance and the low cost. One metric tons of mineral fertilizer has an average cost of R$ 1.5k, while the same quantity of rock powder costs R$ 200 to 300 (taking into account the freight and application costs).

"Those are abundant natural minerals in the national territory, have easy exploitation and logistics distribution. It can supply the nutritional necessities of the plants and act jointly with the traditional fertilizers in the recovery of land fertility,” explains the minister.

Technical requirements

Mapa's Normative Instructions establish rules for the registration of rock minerals, define administrative sanctions, precautionary sanctions and enhance inspection and enforcement procedures for the production and trade of these inputs.

The texts also deal with the plant substrates, which were already regulated by law as soil remediation category. With the new legislation, it is no longer a category, but a product class.