Biologicals in Brazil: what can the rest of the world learn?

Brazil "leads the world in terms of adoption of biologicals", said Helen Jacintho president of ForbesMulher Agro. According to Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), 55% of cultivated land in the country uses some kind of biological input.

A few reasons explain this, such as favourable environmental conditions, supportive government policies and strong research and development.

Brazil's tropical climate and large swathes of agricultural lands, for example, suits a wide range of crops, creating a need for diverse solutions. The country has implemented more stringent regulations and environmental concerns around chemical pesticides, and less stringent ones in areas of innovation such as gene editing. In Embrapa, Brazil also has a robust research community focused on developing and promoting biological products.

The Brazilian government has also actively promoted the use of biologicals through various initiatives, such as the National Bioinputs Program, which provides low-cost financing to farmers who adopt sustainable practices, including the use of bioinputs.

Innovation in biologicals is therefore booming, led by new technical advances. Upcoming active ingredients, for example, include RNAi, peptides and proteins, natural products like plant extracts and microorganisms like bacteria, fungi and yeast.

But these active ingredients “must work in conjunction with factors like the stability of formulations, costs for users and regulation in order to deliver predictable performance and return on investment for growers”, explained Ashish Batra, the vice president for biologicals R&D at Corteva Agriscience.

“You could have the best microbial product but if you don’t have the ability to stabilise it and deliver stability it’s no good. Likewise, without the right regulatory framework you can’t bring it to market. And without the right costs of goods, you cannot bring a cost competitive product to market.”

Can there be too many new biologicals solutions?  ​

Sebastián Popik, the founder and managing partner of Aqua Capital, sounded a warning that too much innovation and scientific discovery in fact risks slowing the biologicals boom in Brazil. “There’s a plethora of potential inputs which can be mixed and optimised through technologies such as CRISPR to get to superior technology products,” he noted.

But he added, “it took the crop chemical industry decades to evolve into standard molecules with a proven effect and even then, there was differentiation and products unique to companies like Corteva, FMC or Bayer. That stabilisation is not there [at present].”

What’s crucial in Brazil? Young farmers ​

Capital expenditure will be the next challenge to overcome to sustain adoption, believes FMC Corporation’s president Ronaldo Pereira. While regulations and technology are both advancing “the other leg of the stool we need to work on is market access and capital intensity to make this available to growers the way they need it,” he said.

However, what brings him confidence is the fact that in Brazil the average of farmers is, at 48, fairly low compared to devloped countries. This fact, combined with the significant pest and disease pressures in Brazil’s hot and humid climate, means growers are particularly willing to embrace new technology.

“It’s an extremely challenging environment. If you don’t innovate, you’re not competitive anymore,” he said.

Precision farming tools and data are therefore changing the way growers, crop advisors, and retailers make decisions, according to Pereira. He noted a significant intersection of biologicals with precision or digital agriculture in Brazil. Tools and data, he said, will help sustain the adoption of biologicals products among farmers.