Agrishow 2022 – Adjuvants certification guarantees quality and safety

One of the topics highlighted in this year's edition of Agrishow is the importance of creating a quality certification for adjuvants. AgroPages is covering the largest Brazilian agribusiness fair in the city of Ribeirão Preto, state of São Paulo.

Hamilton Ramos, a researcher at the Agronomic Institute (IAC), of the Secretary of Agriculture and Supply of the State of São Paulo, says that advances have been made in recent years, such as the creation of the “Spray Adjuvants” program, of which he is the coordinator.

For Ramos, it is important that new investments be made in research to increase the knowledge of agribusiness, in relation to the effects of adjuvants.

“Contrary to what happens in the agrochemical or pesticide industry, whose inputs are subject to rigorous research stages for registration and inspection, agricultural adjuvants produced in Brazil do not pass through official regulations. This legal loophole makes room for the incorrect and unsafe use of pesticides, and also adjuvants”, said Ramos.

Adjuvants are products added to the pesticide mixture at the time of spraying. “Adjuvants have the function of adding spreading, wetting, penetrating and other effects. Low quality products and unproven functionality can cause ‘drift’ and bring environmental, agronomic and health problems to rural workers,” noted Ramos.

Ramos also points out that, at the end of last year, the Spray Adjuvants program launched a specific seal to certify the functionality stamped on the labels of these products. The IAC Seal for Agricultural Adjuvants has already been obtained by 14 companies in the sector.

“We defend that criteria and methods used in the evaluation of the functionality of agricultural adjuvants be discussed with manufacturers, researchers and users of the products, within the scope of technical chambers, such as ABNT (Brazilian Association of Technical Standards). The objective is to develop a set of norms that support an Official Certification System, but this process takes time”, noted Ramos.

Another advance for the adjuvants sector, says Ramos, was the creation of the first totally Brazilian “wind tunnel”, which was developed by the team of the Spray Adjuvants program. “The wind tunnel accurately and cost-effectively assesses the interference of adjuvants in the 'drift' of agrochemicals, such as herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and acaricides”, he said.

The Spray Adjuvants program is financed with private resources and is operated from the premises of the Engineering and Automation Center (CEA), of the Agronomic Institute (IAC), an agency of the Secretary of Agriculture and Supply of the State of SP.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)