Expert: Bill for on-farm bioinputs in Brazil must be improved

Despite advances, the bill aimed at encouraging the production of on-farm biological inputs in Brazil must be improved and needs to move forward, said Juan Acosta, SoluBio's Legal Director.

According to Acosta, the initiative deserves to be celebrated for creating relevant advances in terms of sustainability and regenerative agriculture, encouraging the use of bioinputs in agriculture, and creating guidelines for the formulation of public policies.

″It is worth mentioning, however, that it can still be improved during legislative discussions. Some important points were not included and there is the possibility of immediate improvement,″ Acosta said.

″For us to make progress in terms of bioinputs, it is important to consider the difference between the production of bioinputs on farms for their own use and the industrial production of bioinputs for commercial purposes,″ he added.

″Industrial manufacturing, for commercial purposes, requires utilities, facilities and other equipment, such as gas or wood-fired steam generators, packaging, reagents, inputs for industrial sanitation and hygiene, in addition to high water capacity, whether for manufacturing or even for washing areas and equipment, generating effluents that need treatment and proper environmental disposal through a Treatment Station, which is very different from an on-farm laboratory that does not require this structure,″ he further added.

In addition industrial manufacturing demands the packaging of products, a logistics fleet for distribution and commercialization, and the ability to use products controlled by the Federal Police, Acosta explained.

″These factors do not exist in on-farm production, which has adequate and properly-sized equipment for farms. There is no potential pollution as it only works with known and beneficial inputs for agriculture, with a lean production structure serving only the interested party. Therefore, there is no activity or enterprise classified as potentially polluting. On average, the technology demands only two laboratory operators,″ he said.

Dr. Marina Aguiar, Anvisa's specialist in Health Regulation and Surveillance, said that ″well-managed bioinputs have very low risk.″

In the Brazilian state of Goiás, environmental licensing is not required for on-farm biofactories.

″If Brazil wants to continue selling food to China, it will have to reduce the use of chemicals. As the largest importer of food on the planet, China is already requiring producers to use fewer chemicals, both for pesticides and fertilizers. They want more sustainable production in Brazil because they buy from us, and at the end of the day, they know that pesticides will end up on their plates,″ Acosta said.

According to him, when visiting the interior of China, he discovered that local farmers already use bio-inputs for pesticides.

″They are large producers of bioinputs, they are more advanced than in the US and Europe. It is necessary to make production cheaper and chemicals are very expensive, in addition to causing an imbalance in the plantation and the soil, causing even more damage. And when we talk about the production of bioinputs on farms, Brazil is at least 15 years ahead of the whole world,″ he stressed.

″In the context in which the production of bioinputs for own use is classified as a 'very low risk' activity, I think that the PL in question should offer an express exemption from being in the state registration of farmers and maintaining standards only for activities that have a commercial component, to encourage producers to adopt the production of bioinputs for their use, as a regenerative alternative for their crops. I believe we are on the way!,″ Acosta said in conclusion.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)

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