Reference Unit will bring efficiency and sustainability gains to the use of agrochemicals, say consultants

The Reference Unit (U.R) formed a group of consultants specialized in Pesticide Application Technology. The course was given at the Engineering and Automation Center of the Agronomic Institute (CEA/IAC), in the city of Jundiaí (SP). According to the participating professionals, the training model proposed by U.R. will result in efficiency gains for Brazilian crops and tends to make pesticide application operations safer and more sustainable.

Maintained by a partnership between the private sector and the Department of Agriculture and Supply of the State of São Paulo, the Reference Unit for Technology and Safety in the Application of Pesticides prepares instructors to train workers in the management of agricultural pesticides. The Application Technologies training, with 80 hours of theoretical and practical classes, was attended by technicians and agronomists from agricultural companies such as Irmãos Andrade and Hasegawa.

Among the new consultants, agricultural technician Carlos Yukio Utsumomya, from the Hasegawa group, a vegetable producer in the city of Biritiba Mirim (SP), was surprised by the depth of the training. “The knowledge acquired about spray droplet sizes, calibration and adjustment of sprayers will allow us to correct procedures and obtain gains in the cost-benefit ratio of crop treatment”, summarizes Yukio.

An agricultural engineer for 33 years, consultant João Roberto do Amaral Jr. has worked for 31 years with the Andrade group, which produces potatoes, onions, tomatoes and grains on properties located in the São Paulo cities of Monte Mor and Sumaré and in the Minas Gerais state of Sacramento and Uberaba. For him, the engagement of the U.R. to bring about changes in behavior in crops will expand, in the medium term, knowledge about the application of pesticides in the country.

“Safety does not only involve PPE – personal protective equipment –, we have to study changes involving variables ranging from nozzles and spray tips to chemical and biological targets of treatments, for example. I realize that the work of the Reference Unit helps to shorten the gap between official agricultural research and the field, one of the difficulties facing Brazilian agriculture today”, emphasizes Amaral Jr.

Working in the State of Maranhão, agronomist Rita de Cássia Neiva Cunha highlighted that U.R.'s approach to precision agriculture resources, among others incorporated into crop spraying, will produce changes in the work it carries out. “Knowledge of these technologies starts to make a big difference. Faced with so many innovations, if I don’t correctly use the technology I have available, I won’t have successful treatments,” she notes.

CEA/IAC scientific researcher and coordinator of the Reference Unit for Technology and Safety in the Application of Pesticides, Hamilton Ramos, assesses that sharing quality information in rural areas is the most suitable strategy to increase the effectiveness and safety of treatments aimed at controlling pests, diseases and weeds. “The result of U.R.’s work will never be measured by the number of people trained, but by the quality of the training”, points out the scientist.

Founding partner of the company Herbicat Tecnologia de Aplicação and guest instructor at the Reference Unit, agronomist Luís Cesar Pio invites new trained consultants to disseminate central fundamentals of the application technology area in the field. “We need to identify people who are willing to learn and share knowledge about doing what is right. We have to work hard to improve the professional qualifications of these workers, as the deficiency is still enormous”, emphasizes Pio.

The CEA/IAC estimates that between 25 million and 30 million people currently work in agribusiness. Of this amount, around 4,5 million are illiterate, 12 million work as temporary workers and 85% work on small properties.

The next U.R. course, with an emphasis on Regulatory Standard 31.8. (N.R. 31.8) takes place from November 6th to 10th and 4th to 8/12. Registration is open, for classes limited to 15 participants, on the website www.unidadedereferencia.com.br.