Brazilians face difficulties in replacing paraquat, banned by Anvisa

By Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages

Three years after the ban on the herbicide paraquat in Brazil, farmers are still finding it difficult to replace this broad-spectrum herbicide belonging to the chemical group bipyridine, which acts on the photosystem of invasive plants, according to the specialized portal Global Crop Protection.

In the absence of paraquat, farmers started to use indirect substitutes, such as diquat and ammonium glufosinate, which caused the demand for these pesticides to increase significantly in the last year.

High demand boosted prices: according to data from Global Crop Protection, in the first half of 2021, the average national price of diquat was 38% higher when compared to the same period of the previous year. On the other hand, the national price of glufosinate increased 29% in the same period.

In addition to the high demand, the price rise is also from logistical problems in China, as 50% of diquat and 48% of glufosinate are of Chinese origin.

“Even three years after the prohibition of paraquat, rural producers still face difficulties in acquiring inputs that keep their crops protected and guarantee their productivity. In the short term, the perspective is that this scenario will not change,” said the Global Crop Protection team.

The use of paraquat was prohibited in Brazil by the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) in September 2017, through Resolutions RDC No. 177 of 2017 and RDC No. 428 of 2020.

As one of the most used agrochemicals in Brazilian agriculture, ANVISA allowed the product's stocks to be used until July 2021 to minimize the economic and productive impacts of crops.