Biopesticide market generates US$237 million in Brazil

By Leonardo Gottems, Reporter for AgroPages

The recently released Business Intelligence Panel Season 2019-20 (BIP) study by the consultancy company, Spark – Smarter Decisions, highlighted the growing popularity of bio-based products that control pests and diseases among Brazilian farmers. 

According to Spark, this market already generates 930 million Reais or US$237 million in the country, equivalent to approximately 2.5% of the local revenue of the crop protection sector, currently in order of $12 billion annually.

Spark, which has been analyzing the performance of biopesticides products in the Brazilian market over three harvests, noted that in the 2019-20 season, the segment grew by 46% in Reais and 34% in dollars, compared to the previous season in 2018-19. The potential treated area (PAT), according to the consultancy, also rose by 23% to 19.4 million hectares in regions covered by the BIP survey.

According to Spark, the greatest demand for biological pesticides is currently concentrated in soybean crops (59% of the total market), sugar cane (27%) and cotton (6%). Adherence to inputs will grow in the coming years in the fields of corn, coffee, beans and horticulture, it added, affirming that by product category, bioinsecticides are among the top sellers with a 41% share, followed by bionematicides (35%) and biofungicides (24%).

As assessed by Spark, the main company in Brazil researching the pesticide and seed markets, the trend to integrate biologicals into producer management was consolidated in the BIP survey, driven by an increase in the supply of such products and by the continuous emergence of technological innovations in this area.

Lucas Lima Alves (Spark's Project Coordinator) said that the increasing availability of technical information related to biological control tools has also contributed to the expectation of an increase in economic performance of related products in the coming harvests.

“The need for alternate products with different modes of action that counter the resistance of pests to active ingredients should naturally encourage farmers to integrate biological tools into their so-called standard management,” he added.