Bioinsecticides market grew 113% in Brazil

By Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages

The bioinsecticides market segment grew 113% in Brazil in the 2020-2021 season, according to survey data from strategic information agency Spark Smarter Decisions released exclusively to AgroPages.

The surprising performance came against the total Brazilian market of insecticides for corn caterpillars, which had a 20% drop in the same harvest, to US$127.5 million, against $158.9 million in the previous cycle.

The biological insecticides category generated $2.9 million, compared to $1.4 million in the 2019-20 harvest. In the treated areas, bioinsecticides covered 415.5 thousand hectares of corn, against 69.6 thousand hectares, an increase of 495%.

For Spark Smarter Decisions, the main company in the field of agribusiness studies, price, performance, and cost-effectiveness factors have been determining factors in the growth of the biological inputs sector. Such products, which include bioinsecticides, moved over R$1 billion in the country in the 2019-20 harvest.

André Dias, the managing partner of the consultancy, emphasized that by enhancing the effect of more affordable chemical insecticides, bioinsecticides, in general, tends to continue advancing in managing the producer. Spark Smarter Decisions data also indicated AgBiTech Brasil as the leader in the corn bioinsecticides segment, with a 31% share.

The Marketing Director of the Australasian-American company, Murilo Moreira, revealed that conquering the segment was linked to the performance of a cutting-edge input for the control of Spodoptera frugiperda, better known as caterpillar-cartridge. According to the executive, the solution, 100% biological matrix and named Cartugen jumped 887% in the treated area, to 123.3 thousand hectares, compared to 12.5 thousand hectares in the 2019-20 cycle.

“The 2020-21 harvest was the first to involve the distribution of Cartugen on a commercial scale to corn producers. In previous cycles, we carried out studies centered around productive areas belonging to large groups in the grain production chain, as well as experimental fields on the agricultural frontier, with the participation of independent researchers,” Moreira explained.

According to the executive, thanks to this pre-launch strategy, the bioinsecticide achieved a high rate of adhesion by the main corn producer groups in the 2020-21 season. This movement, informs Moreira, boosted both the result of the company in the grain harvest, which just ended and also contributed to the unprecedented advance registered by the Spark consultancy in the bioinsecticides segment.

Regarding the technological profile of AgBiTech's leading bioinsecticide, Moreira highlighted the fact that the solution transfers sustainability and support to economic gains to the farmer. It also achieved a significant improvement in the pattern of control of the fall armyworm, considered the most complex pest of the crop due to difficulties in management, according to the executive.

“Cartugen delivers proven efficacy in the control of fall armyworm. When used together with chemical insecticides, the bioinsecticide works as a 'protector' and transfers a more favorable cost-benefit ratio to the producer, compared to other treatments,” Moreira said in conclusion.