Brazil reaches 60 approved phytosanitary products for organic agriculture

The Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAPA) announced that it has reached 60 phytosanitary products approved for use in organic agriculture. 

This milestone was achieved following the publication of Ordinance No. 1,127, with new ″reference specifications″ (ER).

″The new ERs are widely accessible and should facilitate the registration of products based on biological control agents,″ MAPA said. According to them, these specifications are ″minimum guarantees that phytosanitary products approved for use in organic agriculture must follow to obtain registration.″

″Thus, the establishment of a reference specification precedes the request for registration of a phytosanitary product approved for use in organic agriculture,″ MAPA defined. Products registered based on ERs can be used in phytosanitary management in organic and conventional crops.

They expanded the range of ″low-impact options″ for pest and disease control, which includes other categories of pesticides and already had more than 300 products registered by May 2024.

″Almost 90% of products based on biological control agents registered in Brazil are through ERs,″ emphasized Angélica Wielewicki, head of the Reference Specifications Service of the Agricultural Defense Secretariat at MAPA. She said the expectation is that this number would increase with the new reference specifications.

ER59 features the wasp Aphidius colemani as the active ingredient for the phytosanitary management of the aphid Aphis gossypii. 

″Although pesticides are registered in Brazil to control this pest, the options for low-impact products are still few. In this case, the innovation is that Aphidius colemani is the first parasitoid authorized against Aphis gossypii,″ Angélica highlighted.

In ER60, the active ingredient is also a parasitoid wasp, Telenomus remus. The indication of the use of this new agent was the contribution of Researcher Ivan Cruz, from Embrapa Corn and Sorghum, who targeted the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda). This is the second parasitoid authorized to control this pest, which until then only had Trichogramma pretiosum. 

Photo by Ivan Cruz - Embrapa

In the new Ordinance, ER25 and ER30, both microbiological control agents, were republished. The main changes included adjustments in taxonomic classification, the form of presentation of the active ingredient, and the observation field at the end of the specifications. ER30, which is widely accessible, also now includes 27 new ″other ingredients″ for commercial formulations.

Organic Agriculture

Organic agriculture in Brazil is defined by Law (No. 10,831/2003 and Decree No. 6,323/2007) as the organic production system ″in which specific techniques are adopted.″ Organic agriculture is a production model characterized by not using synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and genetically modified seeds, aiming to reduce environmental impact.

Inputs intended for organic agriculture have a differentiated registration process to ensure ″simplification and speeding up their regularization.″ Pesticides or related products with only ingredients permitted in organic legislation receive the denomination ″Phytosanitary Products approved for organic agriculture.″ These products are considered low environmental impact and toxicity, and their ingredients should not generate residues in their final products.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)

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