Newsletter AgriBrasilis - October 21st
Willian Sawa ?is the CEO of?Latina Seeds, a company focused on sorghum and corn genetics with operations in Brazil and Paraguay.?
AgriBrasilis – Is it worth it to plant sorghum in Brazil?
William Sawa –?It is very worthwhile, both from an agronomic perspective for the farms’ production system and from an economic perspective, as it is a safer investment. Sorghum has already secured its place in the production window, so much so that it even gained ZARC (Agricultural Zoning of Climate Risk) in recent years. Sorghum’s planting window is just after when the corn planting window begins to close.
(Access the full article on the?AgriBrasilis?website)
Media Partner Event:?Fertilizer Latino Americano 2025 (January 26th to 29th, 2025 – Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil)
"Fertilizer Latino Americano brings together fertilizer professionals in Latin America at a crucial time of the year for the market to network, negotiate, and learn about the new trends and opportunities. This leading event attracted 1000+ stakeholders from over 60 countries, representing 500+ organisations when it was last held in Rio de Janeiro in 2023."
Monthly inflation reached 3.5% in September in Argentina.?The result represents a slowdown of 0.7% compared to August, when it was 4.2%.?(INDEC Argentina)
State of Bahia is the national leader in cocoa production. In addition, in 2023 the State’s grain harvest reached a historic record, with growth of 12.2% compared to the previous year.?Fruit production also increased (+16.4%), reaching US$ 1 billion. (SEAGRI S.A.; IBGE)
In Brazil, the?share?of agriculture in the 2024 GDP is?estimated in?21.8%, a drop of 2.2%. This is due to lower prices, a drop in the production of soybeans, corn and sugarcane, and the fact that agricultural economic activity fell by 1.28% in the 2Q?of 2024.?Agriculture?GDP sector fell by 1.22% in this period and accumulated a decline of 5.1% in 2024. Livestock, despite a drop (-1.2%), showed?a?growth of 0.5% this year. (Centro de Estudos Avan?ados em Economia Aplicada (CEPEA); CNA)
Chile has more than 30 agricultural agreements with 65 economies around the world.?Gabriel Boric, the country’s president, said that as?from?August of 2024,?exports grew 9.2%?compared to the previous year and agro-export competitiveness is “advancing at a steady pace.” (Gobierno de Chile)
The winter wheat harvest was concluded?in July 2024 in Mexico. According to preliminary data from the Mexican Agri-Food and Fisheries Information Service, production reached?2.53 million tonnes, a reduction of 25%?when compared to 2023. (SIAP-Agricultura)
The 2024/25 wheat harvest was estimated at 1.3 million tonnes in Paraguay, an increase of 46% when compared to the previous season.?Wheat yields?are also expected to?have?an upward trend, estimated at 2.60 tonnes per hectare.?(USDA; CAPECO)
In Peru, the total number of registered farmers has reached 2.04 million, of which 931,52 thousand are women. 64.5% of men own at least one of the plots of land on the agricultural unit, compared to 35.5% of women, which restricts access to financial credit and greater opportunities. “Women are a key player in the?farms?development, but we still have large gaps?that we must overcome to achieve a more egalitarian reality”, said Giovanna Vásquez, director of the Directorate for the Promotion of Women Agricultural Producers (DPMPA) at?Midagri. (Ministerio de Desarrollo Agrario y Riego)
Leonardo Munhoz is a researcher and professor at?FGV Agro?and FGV OCBio, with a M.Sc. in business law from FGV, and a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in environmental legislation from the?Elisabeth Haub School of Law – Pace University.
AgriBrasilis – What is missing for the implementation of the 2012 Forest Code (CFlor)?
Leonardo Munhoz –?The 2012 Brazillian Forest Code had its implementation delayed due to judicialization in the Supreme Federal Court and problems in the validation of the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR). Now that the judicialization is almost over (i.e., awaiting the judgment on the issue of ecological identity for the Legal Reserve compensation criteria), the implementation is gaining momentum. However, some problems still persist with the CAR, mainly in the case of land challenges and overlapping rural properties.
(Access the full article on the?AgriBrasilis?website)
Lucas Perim is the new “Herbicides Biology Leader” at Corteva Agriscience for?Latin America.
Beekeepers Association of Jicaral – Asoapi, in?Costa Rica,?considers that?banning agrochemicals is not the solution?for?reducing the death of pollinators. This is the largest beekeeper association in the country, with more than 30 members. In a statement, Asoapi?indicates that training and awareness are the most effective measures to protect bees, without the need to ban pesticides. The president jhosman salas said the associates?have been collaborating closely with melon and watermelon farmers nearby Jicaral, where key actions have been implemented to minimize the impact of phytosanitary products.
Rovensa Next has announced the registration of three products in?Colombia?and?Peru. The company registered?a plant extract biofungicide, a pyrethrin-based bioinsecticide, and a bioinsecticide-acaricide with orange oil and Neem extract.
Analyzes performed by Mérieux NutriSciences - Global, under the supervision of the National Agrarian Health Service of?Peru, have?detected levels of agrochemicals in foods that far exceed the Maximum Residue Limits permitted for human consumption. The foods with the worst rates of pesticide contamination were celery, tomatoes and bell peppers.
According to former congressman Jaime Delgado, “there are concentrations of these chemicals that exceed the permitted limits by more than 10,000%”. Delgado warned about the results of the study, in which 47% of the samples were in disagreement with the legislation.?(SENASA PERU) According to phytotechnist Paulo Garollo, corn specialist at FITOLAB, the corn leafhopper (Dalbulus Maidis) has caused a lot of damage to the crops in?Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and the USA.?In Argentina, for example,?the leafhopper caused losses of 40% in the last season.
Suzeti Jara Ferreira is the marketing director of the?Sugarcane Technology Center – CTC, graduated in biology from S?o Judas Tadeu University, with an MBA from Insper.
Silvia M Yokoyama is the director of regulatory affairs at?CTC, with a degree in food engineering from Unicamp, and an MBA and M.Sc. from FGV.
AgriBrasilis – What is the focus of sugarcane research in Brazil?
Ferreira and Yokoyama –?A global leader in sugarcane science, CTC brings together a portfolio of high-yield, pest-resistant varieties. Complete and comprehensive, it includes varieties that can be used throughout the season, in different production environments.
This portfolio is constantly being reinforced with varieties that present high yield, exceeding market standards.
(Access the full article on the?AgriBrasilis?website)