Pesticide-treated area grows 10.9% in Brazil

Between January and September 2024, Brazil registered a 10.9% increase in the areas treated with pesticides compared to the same period the previous year, totaling over one billion hectares (2.47 billion acres). 

The numbers are the result of research commissioned by the National Union of the Plant Protection Products Industry (Sindiveg) for Kynetec Brasil, which highlights soybeans, corn, and cotton as the main crops driving this expansion.

The analysis revealed that the volume of pesticides used to control pests, diseases, and weeds grew 10.3% compared to the same period last year. This amount is divided between herbicides (45%), insecticides (26%), fungicides (20%), seed treatments (1%), and others (9%).

To obtain these results, the Treated Area Product (PAT) methodology considers, in addition to the adoption of each management practice per cultivated area, the number of applications and tank mixes used for the control of different pests, diseases, and invasive plants.

Analyzing the first nine months of 2024, the PAT area is represented as follows: soybeans (35%), corn (27%), cotton (12%), pasture (6%), sugarcane (5%), wheat (4%), beans (3%), citrus (2%), horticulture (1%), coffee (1%), rice (1%), and others (3%). In this scenario, the market value reached US$11 billion, representing a 4.7% decline compared to the same nine months of 2023, when it was $12.3 billion.

The Brazilian states that accumulated the highest market value of pesticides are: Mato Grosso and Rondônia (29%), São Paulo and Minas Gerais (19%), BAMATOPIPA (14%), Paraná (10%), Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina (9%), Mato Grosso do Sul (8%), Goiânia and Federal District (8%), and others (3%). BAMATOPIPA is the region that combines the states of Bahia, Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Pará.

It is worth noting that this growth is the result of more significant infestation by pests, diseases, and invasive plants in the main crops. Some examples are leafhoppers (summer corn and second-crop corn), whiteflies and caterpillars (soybeans, corn, and cotton), and boll weevils (cotton).

Expectations for 2024-2025 Season

For the 2024-2025 season, the pesticide-treated area is expected to grow 6%, totaling over 2 billion hectares (4.94 billion acres), distributed among soybeans (55%), corn (17%), cotton (8%), pasture (5%), sugarcane (4%), wheat (3%), beans (2%), horticulture (2%), coffee (1%), citrus (1%), rice (1%), and others (1%).

When analyzing the most relevant crops in terms of PAT, the research also indicates that the potential treated area for soybeans should grow +7%, with an emphasis on controlling stink bugs (4.7%) and caterpillars (14.3%) and using protective fungicides (19.4%).

Corn is expected to reflect a +4% growth in the treated area, with more significant movements in the second crop (safrinha corn), mainly in the control of caterpillars (10.2%) and leafhoppers (5.4%), foliar fungicide management (3.8%), and atrazine/terbutylazine (1.5%).

For cotton, a growth of 6.6% is expected, with a greater focus on boll weevil treatment (1.2%), aphids (24.1%), in addition to applications with premium fungicides (3.9%) and acaricides (16.1%).

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)