Sindiveg projects doubling of area treated with insecticides against Dalbulus maidis

Brazil’s National Union of the Plant Defense Products Industry (Sindiveg) projects a 100% increase in the area treated with agrochemicals used to control corn leafhopper (Dalbulus maidis) in 2022.

By the end of the year, this area should reach 39.1 million hectares, and in terms of the second Brazilian crop, popularly called ″safrinha,″ its area will see a growth of 177% in pest management, reaching 32.8 million hectares during the year.

These data were obtained from the periodic survey carried out by the consultancy, Kynetec, carried out exclusively for Sindiveg, and refer to two corn crops cultivated in the country.

Eliane Kay, Executive Director of Sindiveg

″The corn leafhopper, whose scientific name is Dalbulus maidis, barely reaches half a centimeter in size but causes very serious damage to crops. In addition to feeding on the sap of the plant, it transmits a bacteria that causes stunting in the initial cycles of planting, whose symptoms are only manifested during the production phase,″ said Eliane Kay (Executive Director of Sindiveg).

Studies carried out by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) have shown that the presence of 10 corn leafhoppers per plant causes a 40% reduction in the dry weight of the aerial part and a 62% reduction in root volume.

The concern of rural producers with this impact is reflected in the data: the applications of agrochemicals in the fight against the corn leafhopper should be reflected in the index of the treated area, from 19.548 million hectares, in 2021, to 39.072 million hectares, in 2022. In 2018, the area treated against the pest was 7.2 million hectares.

Júlio Borges Garcia, President of Sindiveg

″The increase in treated area shows that farmers invest in pesticides to protect their production,″ said Júlio Borges Garcia (President of Sindiveg).

″After all, inputs are part of your investment, otherwise the consequences are serious, with an increased incidence of phytosanitary problems and a consequent sudden drop in productivity,″ he added.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)