Corn leafhopper almost doubles grain producer investment in specific insecticides

Recently concluded, the BIP study – Business Intelligence Panel -, by Spark Inteligence Estratégica, showed that the agrochemicals market for off-season corn – whose cycle lasts an average of four months, from the beginning of the year – moved US$ 1,36 billion this 2021. Compared to the previous harvest, says the consultancy, the data revealed little variation in sales. Insecticides were the most sold products to protect the grain, with a share of 36%, around US$490 million. The survey, however, Spark points out, confirmed the trend of the corn leafhopper's advancement in crops.

According to the consultancy's project analyst, Vitor Hugo Leite, the producer's investment in managing this pest, which in previous surveys had emerged as one of the crop's emerging phytosanitary challenges, has practically doubled. According to the executive, specific products to control leafhoppers currently account for 14% of the insecticide segment for corn in the off-season (US$70 million), compared to 8% in the 2019 cycle (US$36 million).

Described by experts as a vector for the transmission of economically relevant diseases, including pale stunting, red stunting and fine-striped stunt virus, the corn leafhopper causes the appearance of unproductive ears of smaller size than what is considered normal, mainly due to the reduction nutrient absorption by plants.

High pressure 

According to BIP Spark, the increase in sales of insecticides for corn leafhoppers was due to the strong pressure of the pest in 2021, observed in the main producing regions. Leite emphasizes that in Paraná the adoption of the products jumped from 9% to 42%. In Goiás, it rose to 81%, against 57%. In Mato Grosso do Sul, this ratio went from 8% to 21%.

“In the general analysis, the adoption of specific insecticides for the corn leafhopper increased from 19% of the planted area, in the 2020 harvest, to 35% in 2021. The average number of treatments also increased, from 1,7 to 2,1. 24, an increase of XNUMX% and highly representative”, highlights Vitor Leite.

Official data added to the Spark study attest that the area planted with corn in the 2021 harvest, of 14,6 million hectares, corresponded to around 80% of the total cultivated with the cereal in the country, compared to summer corn, which is sown between the months of September and December and harvested at the beginning of the following year. Summer corn occupied 3,6 million hectares in the last cycle, according to Spark.

Also according to Spark, the insecticide segment for the corn leafhopper is expected to grow again compared to current projections, linked to possible increases in planted area and prices of higher value-added agricultural commodities.

Other segments

BIP Spark Milho/Safrinha 2021 also found that the herbicides category came in second place in the list of agricultural pesticides most demanded by producers, with a 24% share or US$325 million. Fungicides, the third segment in sales, according to the consultancy, accounted for US$ 260 million (19% of the total), followed by seed treatment products: 17% or US$ 229 million.

Other inputs for crop protection, various, close Spark's survey with a 5% share (US$63 million). As the research points out, there was no record of relevant variations in the share of each category of products used in off-season corn, more or less, in relation to total sales in the 2020 cycle.