Mapa Commission reduces interval for application of fungicides

The application interval for fungicides used to control Asian soybean rust increased from 21 to 14 days in Brazil. The guidance comes from the Technical Commission for the Reevaluation of Fungicides of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa). The group, made up of phytopathologists and researchers from the sector, re-evaluated the products available on the market and analyzed their leaflets.

“The commission found that there were fungicides with an application interval of 21 days, but with the lower effectiveness observed in recent harvests due to the fungus' resistance to the products, control of Asian rust was compromised. The costs will increase slightly, but the registered fungicides will now be guaranteed to be effective in combating the disease, when applied as recommended in the leaflet”, explains Roseli Giachini, 2nd vice-president North of the Association of Soy and Corn Producers of Mato Grosso ( Aprosoja) and coordinator of the Agricultural Defense commission.

PhD in Phytopathology, she is the representative of Aprosoja on the technical committee also formed by representatives of the Brazilian Society of Phytopathology, the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), the National Union of the Plant Defense Products Industry (Sindiveg) and by the Brazilian Fungicide Resistance Action Committee (FRAC-BR).

Roseli Giachini says that the technical committee reevaluated all the fungicides available on the Brazilian market and the companies defended their products by presenting technical efficiency reports and opinions. Companies that did not forward the documents had their fungicides suspended for the target of Asian soybean rust, meaning they were no longer recommended to combat the disease.

 Of the more than 100 products analyzed, only 26 were kept on the market with indications for controlling Asian soybean rust.

“Aprosoja's participation was fundamental in the evaluation of these products because we, rural producers, are in the fields every day and directly check whether or not the fungicides are controlling the disease in the field. In addition, we are also concerned about avoiding a drastic reduction in the number of fungicides available on the market for targeting Asian rust, which would make the production cost of soybean crops quite high”, assesses the director of the association.