New rules for hormonal herbicides to come into effect in 2022 in southern Brazil

By Leonardo Gottems, Reporter for AgroPages

One of the largest producers of soy and corn in Brazil, the southeast state of Rio Grande do Sul, announced that it has extended the deadline, until May 31, 2022, for implementing two Normative Instructions (INs), which aim to prevent issues related to the drift of hormonal herbicides after application. The most common case is drift after the application of the herbicide, 2,4-D.

As of June 1, 2022, all 473 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul must comply with the rules established by IN 06 and IN 09, both from 2019.

IN 06/2019 establishes rules for the registration of applicators of hormonal agrochemical products, as well as the need for rural producers to provide information on the use of the product on their crops. IN 09/2019, on the other hand, regulates the targeted sale of hormonal herbicides in Rio Grande do Sul.

Rafael Lima, Head of the Agricultural Supplies and Services Division of the Department of Agriculture of the Brazilian state, stated that during this period, rural producers should seek out rural unions, cooperatives, Emater and other institutions to plan for organizing courses.

Currently, the registration of applicators and the targeted sale of products must be observed by 24 priority municipalities, which witnessed more cases of product drift after application on commercial crops. Grape producing entities report losses in excess of 30%.

The regulations were issued after sensitive crops, such as vines, olive trees, pecans and vegetables, were affected and recorded losses due to the drift of the 2,4-D applied on soybeans to neighboring crops. Since then, affected producers have been reporting the cases to the state’s Agriculture Department, which collected samples and analyzed the incidents.