Present in Brazil for five harvests, the Australian-American company AgBiTech is among the fastest growing in the biological pesticides market. Specialist in the development of baculovirus-based bioinsecticides, the company closed the 2020-21 cycle at the forefront of the bioinsecticides market for caterpillar control in the main crops, with a 78% share in cotton, 37% in soybeans and 31% in corn. The data comes from the Spark Intelligence Strategic consultancy.
According to AgBiTech's global CEO, Adriano Vilas Boas, when the company arrived in Brazil in 2016, there were consultants and researchers who were still skeptical about the performance of baculoviruses. Through significant investments in research & development, says the executive, the company managed to turn the tide. Today, he adds, the trend identified by the company, in market studies, is that of progress, harvest after harvest, in the integration of baculoviruses into the producer's management.
Agricultural engineer, post-doctorate in entomology, researcher Lucia Vivan, from Fundação Mato Grosso (FMT), believes that the adoption of baculoviruses is consolidating in the agricultural frontier. “The virus is sometimes a little more complicated than the chemical one, because the caterpillar takes longer to control. But this perception changes as the producer sees the result of the infection over time”, she summarizes.
Leading research in the mid-north regions of Mato Grosso and Serra da Petrovina, Lucia Vivan highlights that she finds effectiveness in using baculovirus on caterpillars. “We observed that there is a good interaction between viruses and agrochemicals, including the reduction of chemical doses, which improves the issue of costs for the producer”, she emphasizes. For her, baculovirus also delivers positive results if applied alone, “as long as the virus is used at the right time, when the caterpillars are at the beginning of their development”, she adds.
Doctor and researcher at the consultancy Desafios Agro, agricultural engineer Germison Tomquelski has also been carrying out studies involving baculoviruses for more than five years. “Success lies in monitoring caterpillars, training teams to achieve better results by managing caterpillars that are still small”, reinforces Tomquelski. “Data from studies show that viruses increase the results of chemicals by 30% to 40%”, continues the researcher.
According to Germison Tomquelski, in soybeans, for example, the association of baculoviruses and chemicals, “with applications made at the right time” has provided efficiency gains of around 80% to 90% in control. “Baculoviruses are effective in integrated caterpillar management. It is a tool that integrates very well with the chemical, against various caterpillars, including Spodoptera frugiperda”, he concludes.
For the agronomist and managing partner of the Spark Intelligence Strategic consultancy, André Dias, the integration of bio-inputs, such as baculoviruses, into the management of caterpillars, appears to be a viable alternative with increasing representation, in the set of market studies recently released by the company , specialized in the pesticides and seeds segments
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Criso-Vit is a macrobiological insecticide that helps producers with one of the most common problems in crops: attacks by aphids and whiteflies
Studies have shown that preventive control is also more economically advantageous than the costs involved in remitting symptoms or attempting to cure and maintain production when living with the disease.
