Source: AFP
Surveying a thriving green field, Brazilian farmer Adriano Cruvinel beams: Using a fraction of the chemicals he used to, he’s growing even more soybeans, thanks to natural pesticides.
Agriculture Brazil may be the world leader in chemical pesticide use, but Cruvinel is part of a growing trend of farmers turning to natural products known as “biopesticides.”
“Our soybeans are doing great,” says the 36-year-old agricultural engineer, giving a tour of his 1,400-hectare (nearly 3,500-acre) farm in the central-west Montividiu County, as combines cut through a field.
“Thanks to the micro-organisms we apply to the crop, it is much more resistant to pests and diseases.”
Brazil, the world’s largest exporter of soybeans, corn and cotton, is also the top consumer of chemical pesticides: nearly 720,000 metric tons in 2021, or one-fifth of global sales, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
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Seeking to improve his profits, in 2016 Cruvinel began the transition to so-called “regenerative” agriculture.
The technique seeks to restore soil biodiversity by replacing chemical fertilizers and pesticides with natural alternatives.
Source: AFP
It still uses genetically modified soy, widespread in Brazil. But near these fields he built a state-of-the-art laboratory and factory.
Inside, the coolers harbor fungi and bacteria, some of which are harvested from woodlands on his farm.
He grows them en masse in tanks and then uses them to treat his fields.
“Here, we’re mimicking nature on a massive scale,” says Cruvinel, who has replaced 76 percent of the chemical pesticides he used in the past with natural products.
The approach is good for health and the environment, but also good for business: His production costs have dropped by 61 percent, while his soybean yields have increased by 13 percent, he says.
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‘Still a long way to go’
Natural pesticides “could revolutionize Brazilian and global agriculture,” says Marcos Rodrigues de Faria, a researcher at Embrapa, Brazil’s public agricultural research agency.
Source: AFP
But “there’s a long way to go,” he adds.
Brazil still relies heavily on chemical pesticides, known here as “agrotoxic” or “agrotoxic” products.
Natural products increased from 4% of total pesticide sales in Brazil in 2020 to nine percent in 2022.
Their use has expanded four times faster in Brazil than internationally, says Amalia Borsari of CropLife Brasil, an organization representing the agricultural chemical industry.
“There’s been exponential growth,” he says.
Geographer Larissa Bombardi, an expert on pesticide use in Brazil, calls the trend “interesting.”
Source: AFP
But he says it is not yet changing Brazil’s dominant model of massive, land-intensive monoculture agriculture, which leaves little room for small-scale producers or more environmentally friendly practices.
“The area of cultivated land in Brazil increased by 29 percent from 2010 to 2019, while pesticide use increased by 78 percent,” he says.
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“Gift to Agricultural Enterprises”
The agribusiness sector accounts for nearly a quarter of Latin America’s largest economy, making the pesticide debate politically charged.
After a long standoff with Congress, where agribusiness interests are a powerful force, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a bill in December easing regulations on agricultural chemicals.
The veteran leftist used his veto to block some controversial aspects of the bill. However, the final text significantly lowered the bar for new pesticides to be approved, drawing scathing criticism from environmentalists.
Source: AFP
Chemicals that can cause cancer and mutations or harm the environment are no longer automatically banned — only those found to pose an “unacceptable risk.”
Bobardi calls the law a “tragedy” and “a gift to agribusiness and the agrichemical industries.”
The stakes go beyond Brazil.
The country’s massive use of pesticides is one of the main objections raised by opponents of a landmark trade deal between the European Union and the South American Mercosur bloc, in which Brazil is the biggest player.
Source: AFP