Innovative herbicides drive sugarcane market in Brazil, despite area reduction

Sugarcane is one of the most important crops in Brazil, with an estimated 642.1 million tons, according to estimates from the National Supply Company, Conab. The crop is also one of the most susceptible to pests, weeds and diseases. In the first half of 2020 alone, more than US$785 million was invested in fungicides, herbicides and insecticides in the country's sugarcane crops.

The Business Intelligence Panel (BIP) survey conducted by the consultancy company, Spark Smarter Decisions, highlighted a 3% drop, in US dollars, in the 2020 trade in agrochemicals for sugarcane in Brazil. According to the study, exclusively revealed to AgroPages, in 2020, the sugar-energy sector purchased agrochemicals worth US$1.4 billion.

This drop is the second consecutive reduction in this market, which fell by 2% in 2019 compared to the previous year, valued at US$1.442 billion. However, in terms of the Brazilian currency, sales increased by 9% from R$5.5 billion to R$5.9 billion.

Alberto Oliveira, Project Coordinator and Market Research Specialist at Spark, explained that the negative result in US dollars is due to the 10.6% devaluation of the Brazilian currency during the harvest, noting the dollar average at the time of the purchase of inputs, as well as a 1.8% reduction in the crop’s planted area amounting to 9.122 million hectares. Oliveira added that the biggest decrease in planting area totalling 13% occurred in sugarcane, corresponding to 15% of total cultivated land in the country in 2020, or 1.385 million hectares.

According to Spark, herbicides led the list of agrochemicals most used on sugarcane, with a 53% share and sales of US$729 million. In the second position were insecticides with US$548 million or 39% of the total market, and third were growth regulators with 4% or US$54 million. Of this amount, 66% is equivalent to ripeners (USD 35 million), 31% to flowering inhibitors (USD 17 million) and 3% to biostimulants (USD 1 million).

The category of fungicides appears in the fourth position in the BIP, with sales of US$44 million, 3% of the total movement of the crop. Adjuvant products close the result, with 1% or US$13 million.

Oliveira also pointed out that so-called selective herbicides accounted for 80% of the category's sales, adding that the demand for insecticides in this important segment was driven by the control of leafhopper pests (35%), sugarcane borer (21%), sugarcane weevil (Sphenophorus levis), this with 19% and nematodes (13%). Termites and sugarcane rhizome borer combined accounted for 12%.

The supply of pesticides grows continuously, but product innovation is often one of the main attractions sought by growers, especially in weed control, which directly affects productivity. Agrochemical companies, which are active in the Brazilian market, have been focusing on sugarcane weed solutions innovation.

Ourofino Agrociência’s solutions

Ourofino Agrociência works to re-imagine its portfolio and provide differentiated solutions such as Kaivana 360 CS (active ingredient: Clomazone), which has innovative formulation and hits the market last November.

Kaivana is a suitable solution for the pre-emergent stage, for the control of the main grasses and some broadleaf plants at different times of the year. The micro encapsulation of the active ingredient decreases the occurrence of drift and the risk of phytotoxicity, since this formulation does not have foliar absorption. It counts on a complex system of photo protective agents and exclusive surfactants with different actions, which promote the reduction of losses by volatilization, generating more safety to neighboring crops.

Last year, Ourofino Agrociência also launched another product: Trix (Trinexapaque-ethyl). Trix is a hormonal maturing agent. Besides the control of weeds, another important step in the production of sugarcane is maturation, which is necessary due to the start of the harvest being increasingly anticipated, when plants have not yet reached the point of maturation.

Ihara’s solutions

Weed competition is a growing problem in Brazil because for many years there have been no effective solutions for controlling weeds. Brazil agrochemical Iharabras S/A Indústrias Químicas (Ihara) launched last year new products for the control of weed in sugarcane. 

One product is Falcon herbicide (pyroxasulfone + flumioxazin), a technology that offers a broad spectrum of weed control for broad and narrow leaves, ensuring selectivity and safety.

Ritmo (pyroxasulfone + amicarbazone) is the other product that exclusively developed for use in sugarcane. It has an innovative formulation, with fast absorption and easy for handling weeds with narrow and wide leaves.

UPL’s solutions

The application of herbicides in the cane plant represents 3 to 4% of the cost of the planting operation. The decrease in production due to weed infestation can be 50%. Already, a highly affected area with 10 to 12 weeds per square meter, for example, can have losses of up to 85%. Operational income from mechanized harvesting also drops by around 20%. 

In the late 2020, UPL announced the launch in Brazil of the FlyUP project, characterized by the multinational of Indian origin as "unique in the world". 

It is a technology for aerial mapping of weeds and diseases in sugarcane fields and pasture. With artificial intelligence, it uses extremely high precision images, capable of reaching ground level.

“This new solution performs dynamic, agile and accurate analyses. With the detailing of phytosanitary problems and the management of the information collected, in real-time, it is possible to make faster and more effective decisions, to rationalize and find solutions to the problems based on the use of pesticides with economic and environmental sustainability,” explained Luciano Almeida, marketing supervisor for sugarcane and forests at UPL Brasil.

FlyUP has three aircraft equipped with a device that captures images with a resolution of 0.3 mm/pixel of fields at the leaf level and can cover 5,000 hectares per day at 200 km/h. On an overflight, UPL customers receive information and insights immediately, identifying the first signs of weeds, fungal diseases and even nutritional deficiencies.

“Brazil has stood out in the production of raw material for the bioenergy sector, which has become increasingly important for the planet's environmental sustainability. The sugarcane sector generates income and many jobs in our country,” Almeida said in conclusion.

This article was initially published in AgroPages' '2021 Latin America Focus' magazine.