Sipcam Nichino launches greening control program in Brazil

Sipcam Nichino Brasil introduced a program with a new strategy for controlling greening at Expocitros 2024, which received special coverage from AgroPages. 

The program is anchored in combining the insecticide Fiera (Buprofezin) and the acaricide Fujimite (Fenpyroximate) for effective disease management.

Transmitted by the citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri), greening is currently the main concern for the citrus sector, causing significant productivity losses and increasing orange prices. According to Sipcam Nichino, integrating these products offers producers effectiveness and a good cost-benefit ratio.

Marcelo Palazim, an agronomist in market development for the Italo-Japanese company, told AgroPages that the new program was tested at the Sylvio Moreira Experimental Station of the Agronomic Institute (IAC), where Expocitros is held. He noted that Fujimite was applied in different doses, achieving psyllid control rates of 80% to 100% at three, five, and seven days after application.

Furthermore, the insecticide Fiera, launched this year in the country, has insect growth regulator properties. "The active ingredient buprofezin acts by contact and vapor on all stages of the psyllid," explained Palazim. Sipcam Nichino's new program recommends two applications of Fiera with seven-day intervals, particularly during high sprouting in the orchard when psyllid pressure is most intense.

The Citrus Defense Fund (Fundecitrus) reports that the greening in São Paulo state increased by 56%, from 24.4% of orchards in 2022 to 38.06% in 2023. There are also reports of losses of up to BRL3.5 million in certain farms due to the disease.

A recent study by Kynetec Brasil revealed that intensified treatments for controlling the citrus psyllid accounted for BRL271 million, or 23% of the total crop protection market (BRL1.2 billion), in the 2022-23 cycle. According to the consultancy, sales of products to contain the pest increased by 42%, compared to BRL191 million in the previous season.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)