Brazilian soybean agrochemical market value reaches R$31.4 billion

The Brazilian market for agricultural pesticides used on soybeans earned an income of R$31.4 billion in the 2020-2021 season, according to a recently completed study by the consultancy firm, Spark Smarter Decisions, which AgroPages had first-hand access to. The results represented an increase of 17% compared to the 2019-2020 cycle (R$26.7 billion).

The expansion is largely due to the 5% growth in planted area in the 2020-2021 crop to over 38 million hectares. Therefore, soybean crops continued to be the main market for the pesticide sector, according to the Business Intelligence Panel (BIP).

According to Spark's project coordinator Lucas Alves, the fungicide segment again led the marketing of agrochemicals for soybeans, accounting for 41% of sales, valued at R$12.8 billion. Of this amount, products aimed at controlling Asian rust or soybean rust generated R$9.3 billion, an increase of 9.4% compared to the 2019-2020 crop at R$8.5 billion, while fungicides as a whole witnessing an increase of around 13%.

BIP Spark data by product category showed that the insecticides segment came in the second position in the ranking, with a 25% share and sales of R$7.880 billion, an approximate positive variation of 23% compared to the previous cycle at R$6.39 billion, while herbicides accounted for 22% of the total. The sales of these products reached R$6.940 billion, some 19% above the 2019-2020 period at R$ 5.79 billion.

According to Spark, seed treatment products, accounting for 8% of total sales, increased by 13.5% to R$2.427 billion compared to the previous figure of R$2.138 billion. Other products, which accounted for 4% of the agrochemical market for soybeans, closed the 2020-2021 crop with a growth of 20%, rising to R$1.361 billion from R$1.129 billion.

Asian rust is currently the main concern of soybean farmers during the harvest. The disease, which was identified in 2001, represents a high risk to productivity and requires different management strategies, mainly due to the development of resistance by the fungus that causes rust (Phakopsora pachyrhizi) to certain active ingredients in fungicides, he explained.

“This scenario raised the rate of use of 'multisite fungicides' from 6% in the 2014/2015 harvest, valued at R$ 75 million, to 70% in the 2020-2021 cycle at R$2.5 billion. More than 26 million hectares of oilseed crops were treated with these products during the last harvest,” Alves said.

He added that 'multisites' are mainly used to manage resistance to the fungus, Phakopsora pachyrhizi, which involves alternating the application of fungicides with different modes of action and preserving the effectiveness of technologies in controlling the disease.

“Rust management is carried out preventively. On average, 3.5 to 4 applications of these products are carried out,” he added, noting other soybean diseases, which in recent years were considered 'secondary,' have gained more relevance in the fungicide market.

Spark conducted its research through more than 3,800 interviews with rural producers in the main oilseed producing regions of Brazil.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)