Sumitomo Chemical launches best practices program for pesticide application

Safety is one of Sumitomo Chemical's priorities. Food production with respect for employees and less impact on the environment made the company a pioneer in the development of SumiSeg, a program of good practices for applying pesticides, creating an effective protocol and respecting current legislation. The program will start in October, in the northern region of Brazil. In the next harvest, the objective is to expand the protocol to Latin America.

Rafael Ferreira, specialist in correct and safe use at Sumitomo Chemical, recalls that the company is the first in Brazil to create this safety criterion. “It is a Sumitomo Chemical project that began with the company's pasture sector, in aerial application operations. The project was registered with a company innovation committee, which was classified. It was then implemented as an initiative for the entire company”, explains Ferreira.

SumiSeg will be implemented next month in the pasture sector and, by the end of 2021, in the agricultural area. Initially in the northern region, the program should be applied alongside harvests in the rest of Brazil. Ferreira reinforces that in the use of land-based machinery, SumiSeg will be inserted by the end of the year.

“It started with aerial applications because these are areas that are often not so structured. Firstly, it was implemented for the safety of the operator, so that he can handle the products without a high risk, reduce exposure to third parties and leave the operation centralized. Furthermore, the preparation of the syrup is more controlled, with trained agents, with the right dosage, with all the necessary resources, emergency protocols in case of an incident”, he reinforces.

The field team will implement SumiSeg with the Sumitomo Chemical standard of work. It is made up of technical sales representatives, technical sales assistants, market development, distribution and redistribution teams and direct sales customers.