3rd generation of biotechnology corn grows, reduces pesticide use in Brazil

Third-generation biotechnology corn seeds occupied 63% of Brazil's second-crop corn last year, Spark Smarter Decisions revealed exclusively to AgroPages.

The so-called “safrinha” had an area of 9.1 million hectares in 2021 planted with this latest technology, which represented an increase of 214% compared to the 2019 cycle, when 2.9 million hectares were planted.

According to Raquel Ribeiro, market analyst at Spark, “The producer has been betting on modern hybrids to control caterpillars. These technologies are also tolerant to herbicides and are now strategic tools for crop management.”

She revealed to AgroPages that Spark’s research shows “results from the tendency for corn producers to prioritize the pillars of quality genetics, cutting-edge biotechnology, and seeds treated with insecticides and fungicides, in search of more productivity and profitability.”

“Due to the accelerated advance of biotechnologies, the Business Intelligence Panel (BIP) found that there had been a significant drop in the use of pesticides to control caterpillars in the off-season,” Raquel Ribeiro said.

According to the Spark specialist, 57% of cultivated areas had at least one application of products to control caterpillars in 2021. To give you an idea, this rate was over 70% two years ago.

Corn seeds with second-generation biotechnologies reached 30% of the planted area, corresponding to 4.4 million hectares. On the other hand, seeds with first-generation biotechnology corresponded to only 1%, just 93,000 hectares. In 7% of the areas or 973,000 hectares, there was no use of these technologies.

The current BIP study pointed to a 30% increase in seed sales in general. Sales reached BRL7.9 billion, against BRL6 billion in 2020. Spark also found that the grain occupied 14.5 million hectares in the regions covered by the study, an increase of 11% compared to the previous period (13, 1 million hectares).

The BIP Spark Milho 2020-21, which covered corn in the off-season, resulted from more than 3,000 interviews with farmers in the main producing regions. The study also showed that the largest areas planted in the off-season were found in the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso, with 41% of the total, Paraná (17%), Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul, the last two with 15% each.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)