Spray Adjuvants Program launches official seal to certify product functionality

Six companies from Brazil and abroad will be the first to have the functionality certification seal from the Spraying Adjuvants program, a public-private initiative led by the Engineering and Automation Center (CEA), of the Agronomic Institute (IAC). ), an entity of the Department of Agriculture and Supply of the State of SP. The official seal will be launched in a ceremony* that takes place this Thursday, 7th, with the presence of the general director of IAC, Marcos Landell and adjuvant companies.

Coordinator of the Spray Adjuvants program and director of CEA-IAC, located in the city of Jundiaí (SP), researcher Hamilton Ramos states that the introduction of the seal on the market constitutes a strategic step to ensure the reliability of agricultural adjuvants sold in the country.

As Ramos explains, adjuvants are products added to the pesticide mixture at the time of application. “Adjuvants assist in the effectiveness and safety of spraying and phytosanitary control, as they have effects such as spreading, wetting or penetrating, among others. Associating an adjuvant with imprecise functionality with a good quality pesticide calls into question the investment in the crop”, warns Ramos.

The first companies to acquire the right to use the seal, adds Ramos, submitted their product lines to CEA-IAC functionality analyzes over the last two years. They are: Agrocete Fertilizer Industry, Apex Agro Insumos Agrícolas, Equilex Chemicals, Momentive Performance Materials, Thera Química and Vittia Fertilizandos e Biológicas.

No registration in the country - According to the director of CEA-IAC, agricultural adjuvants manufactured in Brazil are not registered with the Ministry of Agriculture. “Such products are not subject to the strict requirements that regulate the agricultural pesticides sector, hence the need for the market itself to seek solutions to prove the functionality of adjuvant brands sold in the country”, highlights Ramos.

According to Ramos, the IAC-SP Engineering Center has been proposing the classification of adjuvants by functionality for more than 20 years. “We advocate that criteria and methods used in evaluating the functionality of agricultural adjuvants be discussed with manufacturers, researchers and users of the products, within the scope of technical chambers such as ABNT (Brazilian Association of Technical Standards). The goal is to develop a set of standards that support an Official Certification System, but this process takes time.”

Coopercitrus and marketing – The largest producer cooperative in the State of São Paulo, with branches in Minas Gerais and Goiás, Coopercitrus will also be present at the Jundiaí event. Recently, the Spraying Adjuvants program and the cooperative signed an agreement for certification of adjuvant functionality. Under the agreement, the cooperative will recommend manufacturers of similar products to evaluate them in the CEA/IAC laboratory.

According to information, Coopercitrus will only sell agricultural adjuvants recognized by the Functionality Seal of the SP State Department of Agriculture and Supply program.