Inspection in the interior of São Paulo prohibits nurseries and destroys irregular seedlings

A joint inspection between the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa) and the Agricultural Defense Coordination (CDA) of the Secretariat of Agriculture and Supply of the State of São Paulo closed two nurseries and destroyed thousands of irregular seedlings this Wednesday (06 /07) in Herculândia, in the west of São Paulo. The operation involved a group of 12 inspectors and support staff and lasted three days. 

Several irregularities were detected, 11 properties were inspected and at least another ten had inspection attempts, but their gates were locked. The CDA issued two infraction notices, one of them referring to a vehicle transporting citrus seedlings – which were destroyed because this type of transport is prohibited throughout the country.

A suspected sample of citrus canker was collected and 5.161 citrus seedlings were destroyed in three nurseries. Another 10.370 myrtle seedlings were destroyed in four nurseries. Two notifications were issued by the state body.

Mapa issued eight terms of inspection, two terms of interdiction and one notice of infraction. The latter and the bans occurred because the nurseries did not have registration with Renasem, which is mandatory. Renasem is the only registration, valid throughout the national territory, linked to a CNPJ (legal entity), whose purpose is to qualify before Mapa companies that carry out the activities of production, processing, repackaging, storage, analysis or trade of seeds or of seedlings. It also covers the activities of technical responsibility, certification, sampling, collection or analysis of seeds or seedlings provided for since 2003 in Law No. 10.711, in Decree No. 10.586, of 2020, and in complementary standards. The lack of registration with Renasem already justifies, by law, the banning of nurseries.

Data from the State and Mapa are different because the bodies monitor different situations. The ministry checks, for example, documentation and registration with Renasem. The CDA is responsible for verifying phytosanitary control, as well as transport and storage conditions.

History

Most nurseries in Herculândia do not produce citrus seedlings in the municipality. They purchase from other regions of the country, which makes regularization difficult. According to agricultural engineer Danilo Romão, technical assistant for Agricultural Defense at CDA Regional Marília, who coordinated the actions on Wednesday, in the last three years, many producers participated in meetings with municipal authorities and also with members of the Secretary of Agriculture in several occasions, when they were advised on the forms of regularization. Also according to Romão, some seedlings reported that they bought these seedlings clandestinely from the states of Paraná and Minas Gerais, in addition to buying discarded seedlings from nurseries in São Paulo.

The action carried out in Herculândia is a continuation of actions to combat Huanglongbing – HLB, also known as greening, and citrus canker, already carried out in the regions of Limeira, Marília and Barretos, in addition to traffic inspection actions.

According to the CDA, in all nurseries inspected in Herculândia, almost all of the citrus seedlings had symptoms characteristic of citrus canker and some already showed symptoms of greening. “The destroyed seedlings did not have any proof of origin, they were being kept in plastic bags with soil, which allows the spread of nematodes and the fungus that causes gummosis, pests that are extremely harmful to several other crops as well,” said Romão.

According to the Input and Plant Health Inspection Service (Sisv) of the Federal Superintendence of Agriculture of São Paulo (SFA-SP), the federal laws that deal with the production and commercialization of seedlings and seeds are law 10.711/2003, regulated by decree 10.586/2020, which revoked decree 5.153/2004. Normative Instruction 48, which specifically deals with citrus seedlings, was published in 2013, almost ten years ago.

Purchasing unregistered seedlings is a risk not only for those who buy, but for all agricultural production around the area in which a seedling of unknown origin is planted. It can transport countless pests and diseases that are difficult or even impossible to control to the region. “It is an inconsequential act by seedling producers to carry out this type of irregular trade for a country that has agriculture as the basis of its economy”, explained Danilo Tadashi Kamimura, head of the Agricultural Defense Division (DDA) of the superintendency. It is worth noting that users may also be penalized for purchasing unsourced (irregular) seedlings of any kind.