Newsletter AgriBrasilis - February 26th

Cultural Practices, Use of Hybrids, and Corn Co-inoculation Are Strategies Against Water Stress

Paulo Cesar Magalh?es?is a researcher at?Embrapa Corn & Sorghum , has a degree in agronomy from the Federal University of Lavras, a M.Sc . from the Federal University of Vi?osa and the 美国明尼苏达大学双城分校 , and a Ph.D. from Mississippi State University .

Is corn co-inoculation a good option to mitigate situations of water stress? Why?

Yes. Currently, co-inoculation in corn has shown promising results, largely due to the fact that rhizobacteria acts in the development of root architecture, altering its morphology, causing better use of water and nutrients. The microorganisms involved in co-inoculation are responsible for the production of phytohormones that regulate plant growth, increasing the ability of roots to extract water and nutrients from the soil.

(Access the full article on the?AgriBrasilis ?website)

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Overview by AgriBrasilis (02/17 - 02/23)

Argentina:? Rains forecast for the next few days in the Pampas region should boost the 2023/24 soybean and corn crops, according to a report from the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange dated February 21st. Heavy rains in early February helped reduce crop damage after a period of dry, hot weather in January.?2023/24 season is expected to reach 52.5 million tonnes of soybeans and 56.5 million tonnes of corn, with the harvest expected to begin in April. ( Bolsa de Comercio de Buenos Aires )

Agricultural emergency was declared?in the province of Misiones, due to hail storms, strong winds and rainfall.?14 departments were affected:?Guaraní, San Pedro, 25 de Mayo, Oberá, San Javier, Cainguás, San Ignacio, Leandro Nicéforo Alem, Libertador General San Martín, Montecarlo, El Dorado, Iguazú, General Manuel Belgrano.?(Ministry of Economy)

Brazil:?Agribusiness exports of the State of Rio Grande do Sul?reached US$ 16.2 billion in 2023, driven by?sales of soybean and tobacco.?This is the highest nominal value in the historical series, and for the third year in a row. There was an important recovery in annual soybean sales (US$ 6.3 billion; an increase of?13.8%), after the severe drought recorded in 2022. (Secretariat of Planning, Governance and Management of the State of Rio Grande do Sul)

Association of Soybean Farmers from Brazil and from the State of Paraná are requesting measures from the Ministry of Agriculture to help farmers affected by the losses of the 2023/2024 season. They are asking for an extension, for at least six months, of agricultural financing installments that are about to expire, in order to allow farmers to finance their next crop. According to the Association of Soybean Producers from the State of Paraná,?there are companies in the soybean market that insist on overestimating the 2023/2024 harvest, ignoring losses, which affects grain market prices and harms farmers.?( Aprosoja Brasil ; Aprosoja – PR)

2024/25 coffee harvest,?to?begin in the coming months, was estimated at?67 million 60 kg bags, an increase of 4.2% when compared to the previous season. Despite the increase in production, the harvest will be below potential due to the influence of the El Ni?o, according to a report by analysts Fernando Maximiliano and Glenio Caetano ∴ . (StoneX Consulting )

Brazilian economy grew 3% in 2023, driven by the strong performance of the agricultural sector.?Highlight to soybean, with a 25.3% increase in production.?(IBRE/FGV)

嘉吉 should?invest US$ 48.50 million in its biodiesel plant?in Três Lagoas, State of Mato Grosso do Sul, to expand the factory’s crushing capacity by approximately 50% and install a glycerin refining unit. (Cargill)

Colombia: Colombian American Chamber of Commerce announced the objective of?increasing exports to the USA by 250%?by 2027, reaching US$ 1.4 billion. According to María Lacouture, president of the Chamber, it is necessary to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the US agro-industrial sector. Since the signing of the Free Trade Agreement between Colombia and the US in 2012, “non-traditional” agricultural exports [products such as palm, avocado, and sugar, for example] to the US have increased by 364%. ( AmCham Colombia - Cámara de Comercio Colombo Americana )?

Mexico: According to the National Water Commission,?76% of the water used in the country is destined for agriculture and livestock.?Lack of technology in the farms and failures in the infrastructure of irrigation systems mean that approximately 60% of the water that goes to irrigate crops ends up being wasted. ( Conagua (Comisión Nacional del Agua) )

Paraguay:? National Federation of Small Farmers has organized protests in several cities, alleging abandonment by the Government.?Hundreds of farmers are asking for technical assistance, help from the Ministry of Agriculture, and cheap access to credit.?Protests took place in front of the HQ of the Ministry of Agriculture and in front of the Directorate of Agrarian Extension, among other places. Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Giménez, said that he is willing to hear the farmers’ demands. (FNC; Ministry of Agriculture)

Peru:? There was an?outbreak of bird flu on a laying hen farm?in the department of La Libertad. Virus killed 4,000 animals and the rest of the flock of 27,000 birds was slaughtered. (WOAH)

Uruguay:? Vice-president of the National Institute for Agricultural Research, Walter Baethgen, said that?livestock farming is not a villain in terms of carbon emissions, and that 75% of greenhouse gases come from the energy sector and the burning of fossil fuels. ( INIA Uruguay )

Requests for Judicial Reorganization Increased by 300% for Individual Farmers in Brazil

Luiz Rabi is a senior economist at?Serasa Experian , a company specialized in risk and opportunity analysis with a focus on credit, authentication and fraud prevention.?Rabi?has a degree in economy, M.Sc . in statistics and Ph.D. in economics from the University of S?o Paulo.

Why did requests for judicial recovery/reorganization increase in agribusiness in 2023?

The analysis for the entire year of 2023 has not yet been finished. Considering data up to September of 2023, which are what we have available, we cannot say that there was an increase in 2023 compared to 2022 for farmers with a Legal Entity (LE)/Corporation profile. However, for Private Individual or Natural Person (NP) profile farmers, there was a 300% increase.

(Access the full article on the?AgriBrasilis ?website)

Crop Protection and Nutrition – Weekly Update Brazil & Latin America (02/15/24 – 02/21/24)

ANVISA has approved the toxicological evaluation of two new formulated products?(isopyrazam + cyproconazole), from Syngenta , and?rejected the toxicological evaluations of aluminum phosphide, from AAZ UTILIDADES, and thiamethoxam, from REAL FERT.?(Anvisa)

Product developed by Embrapa and Innova Agrotecnologia might obtain a?“dual” registration (inoculant and pesticide).?The objective is for this product to replace part of the chemical fungicides in soybeans. The product, which was already?granted a?temporary?use permit, is a combination of three bacterial strains that act in biological nitrogen fixation and promote plant growth: BR 29 (Bradyrhizobium elkani), BR 10788 (Bacilus subtilis) and BR 10141?(Paraburkholderia nodosa). ( Embrapa ; Innova Agrotecnologia )

Fertilizer market is close to resuming its trajectory of records?seen before the 2022 crisis. Sales are expected to increase 4% in 2024, reaching 47 million tonnes. (The Mosaic Company)

In this season,?fertilizer purchases are moving more slowly?when compared to previous years. “So far, fertilizer purchases for the 2024/25 soybean in Brazil are around 20%, whereas in the same period in 2023 almost 33% of the soybeans was already purchased”, said Jeferson Souza , market analyst at Agrinvest Commodities . “If I were to list one factor to justify this delay, it would be the sharp drop in oilseed prices and, more than that, a very sudden drop in the farmer’s profitability. I think that this greatly interferes when it comes to deciding when to purchase”. ( Agrinvest Commodities )

The Federal Senate’s Agriculture and Agrarian Reform Committee should vote?on?Bill No. 699/2023, which establishes the Fertilizer Industry Development Program – Profert. This?project seeks to grant tax benefits to encourage fertilizer production in Brazil.?“The focus of the plan is the production of fertilizers in the Brazilian territory, seeking to reduce the scarcity of the product due to failures in the supply chains and price volatility. Fertilizers in Brazil are a matter of national sovereignty and food security. It is unacceptable for Brazil to have such a huge agricultural sector and live with this vulnerability”, said senator Laércio Oliveira. (Senate Agency)

SELL AGRO , an adjuvant company, highlights the?use?of?adjuvants as fundamental to improve pesticide spraying on cotton.?“They also increase the physiological stimulus of the plant, providing an optimization in the applications of herbicides, fungicides and insecticides. The performance of agricultural products is increased?[by using adjuvants], with more coverage, retention, spreading, wetness and penetration of the products in the leaves, as a result of the standardization and durability of the drops in agricultural spraying”, said the company’s commercial director, Alexandre Gazon. (Sell Agro)

EuroChem facility built in Serra do Salitre, in the State of Minas Gerais, will begin operating?on March 13th and should?manufacture 500 thousand tonnes of fertilizers in 2024.?This is the largest project of the Eurochem group outside Europe,?demanding?investments of US$ 1 billion. “This allows us to be competitive in Brazil and overcome logistics?issues. As there is a reduction in the cost of importing potash-based?products, we will have more competitiveness in the country”, said Gustavo Bastide Horbach , president of Eurochem in South America. (Eurochem)

The non-profit research organization 2Blades, and Bayer, have identified resistance genes against?soybean Asian rust, which may help?to?develop better strategies to control the disease. Furthermore, the project made advances in understanding the fungus?Phakopsora pachyrhizi, which causes soybean Asian rust, by carrying out its complete genomic sequencing. Project was supported by The Sainsbury Laboratory, from the UK, and the Federal University of Vi?osa, from the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. (2Blades ; Bayer | Crop Science )

Atlas Agro plans to invest US$ 867.6 million for the construction of the?first nitrogen fertilizer plant from green hydrogen in Brazil, in Uberaba, State of Minas Gerais. Operations are expected to start in 2028, with the objective?to?produce?green hydrogen, green ammonia and green ammonium nitrate.?The company just announced the hiring of two engineering and construction consortiums that will carry out the development of the engineering project for the construction of the factory.?(Atlas Agro)

Petrobras from Brazil, and TBEA Group from China are expressing?interest in the production of potassium fertilizers in?Bolivia.?According to the country’s minister of hydrocarbons and energy, Franklin Molina, the company “Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos” is receiving technical proposals for projects related to evaporite resources from national and international companies. In this sense, YLB recently received proposals from the companies Petrobras and TBEA, which consist of projects of interest for potash fertilizer factories”. The companies are interested in the salt mines in the departments of Potosí and Oruro. (Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Energy)

Ministry?of Agriculture of?Colombia?has?launched an incentive program for the purchase of fertilizers by small coffee farmers.?Subsidies of up to 30% will be given through the Agricultural Inputs Access Fund. The program benefits small coffee farmers in the departments of Magdalena, Bolívar, Antioquia, Tolima, Valle del Cauca, Cauca, Nari?o, La Guajira, Cesar, Norte de Santander, Arauca, Huila, Santander and Cundinamarca, with farms under?five hectares. 93 municipalities will benefit, in 14 departments. (Ministry of Agriculture)

Low Prices and Misinformation Encourage the Illegal Pesticides Market in Brazil

Nilto Mendes is the manager of illegal products prevention at?CropLife Brasil , with a degree in law from Universidade S?o Judas Tadeu .

Why do farmers buy illegal pesticides?

The main reasons are the low price compared to legal products, as well as a lack of information. To reduce the costs of agricultural production, the farmer acquires pesticides without registration, without agronomic prescription, of unknown origin and without invoice. Farmers imagine that they are getting a good deal, which is not the case.

(Access the full article on the?AgriBrasilis ?website)