Innovation and respect for patents: foundations of sustainability in agriculture

Research and development of new technologies are pillars of agricultural productivity and the sustainability of Brazilian agribusiness. This ongoing commitment to applied science in the field has enabled the country to make significant leaps in efficiency and performance. As a result, in recent decades, Brazil has established itself as a leading player in the world's largest agrifood chains—such as soybeans, corn, coffee, and sugar—driven by a model that combines technological innovation with adaptation to tropical conditions.

In this highly competitive environment, respect for intellectual property—especially patents on inputs and technologies—is essential to ensuring the continuity of innovation, legal certainty, and recognition of investments that make it possible to feed the world efficiently and with environmental responsibility. After all, to maintain the goal of reimagining sustainability in agriculture, protecting investments in innovation is not just a right: it is an ethical and strategic foundation.

Developing a new product—whether a pesticide, a biosolution, or other environmentally friendly formulation—requires time, investment, and technical rigor. The cycle can take more than a decade, from the laboratory bench to the field, and mobilize hundreds of professionals in studies of efficacy, toxicity, environmental impact, and registration. When this innovation is violated, the entire research and development ecosystem is devalued—harming the industry's competitiveness, the return on investment for farmers, and advances toward more sustainable agriculture. I emphasize: every time a patent is breached or violated, a precedent is set that can jeopardize the future of innovation in the most competitive sector of the Brazilian economy: the agricultural sector.

More than a legal obligation, protecting innovation is a matter of ethics. It means respecting the work of researchers (scientists who make our country so proud), the integrity of scientific processes, and a commitment to more sustainable agriculture. In a sector guided by trusting relationships between companies, cooperatives, retailers, and farmers, these ethics must be at the heart of decisions—ensuring predictability, technology appreciation, and safety for producers.

Brazil currently boasts highly complex research centers focused on creating solutions increasingly adapted to regional realities. For this ecosystem to continue growing, it is essential to strengthen the business environment with clear rules, regulatory stability, and effective intellectual property protection. For our nation to remain a global leader in agribusiness, it is crucial that everyone understands: protecting innovation means protecting rural producers—and the population as well. It means ensuring that the fruits of science reach the fields, with environmental safety and a commitment to future generations.

In this scenario, initiatives led by companies like UPL—which invests heavily in innovation in the country—reinforce the importance of an agenda based on legality, transparency, and respect for science. We believe that collaboration is the path to more sustainable agriculture, and that this collaboration must be based on legality, transparency, and respect for intellectual property assets. Valuing patents means valuing the work of scientists, the integrity of the industry, and the responsibility for the future of the food we eat, the fibers that clothe them, and the bioenergy that powers us. Reimagining the future of agriculture necessarily involves protecting these fundamentals.

*Per Ronaldo Bueno Rodrigues, agricultural engineer from the São Paulo State University (Unesp), specialist in plant disease management from the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA) and director of innovation, research and development (R&D) at UPL Brasil