21
ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • MARCH 17, 2014
Most importantly, the caterpillar appears to be eating away at Brazil’s proud claim to have conquered the craft of growing reliable crops in a tropical region where pests and disease can spread more quickly than for other major growers. “When you find helicoverpa armigera you have to act immediately, while they are still small,” said Rudelvi Bombarda, who farms 2,000 hectares (4,942 acres) with his brother in São Desidério, a dusty farming hub in western Bahia. Bombarda found his first helicoverpa armigera in a bean plant. He knew by the way the fattened, worm-like creature had chewed its way inside the pod, beyond the reach of chemicals, that it was not one of Brazil’s usual leaf-eating pests. “If you wait and send it to a lab it will be too late,” he said. Bahia, one of Brazil’s newest farming frontiers, lost three million tonnes of soy and cotton, nearly half of its usual grains production, between the caterpillar and the drought last year, according to the National Confederation of Agriculture. Still, Brazil produced an 81.5-million-tonne soybean crop. And it has provided a wake-up call on the risks of farming in the bug-ridden tropics, especially as more farmland is put into use. It also shows how Brazil’s emergence as a major breadbasket has made it the fastest-growing market for biotechnology firms like Monsanto, which could benefit from the outbreak by selling its new caterpillar-resistant genetically modified soy and cotton seeds.
‘It changed everything’
The government’s agricultural research agency Embrapa determined helicoverpa armigera was a new species in Brazil in February 2013, a year after farmers in Bahia had noticed it was different from other pests and seemed immune to pesticides. “No one was expecting a species like this,” said Alexandre Specht, the researcher whose microscope identified the caterpillar at a laboratory outside Brasilia. A small display case at the Embrapa Cerrados research cen-
“When you find helicoverpa armigera you have to act immediately, while they are still small.” Rudelvi Bombarda
tre compares brown helicoverpa armigera moths with the nearly identical helicoverpa zea, already known in South America. Most likely, the caterpillar arrived with cargo on a plane or ship from Asia, said Luis Rangel, director of the sanitation department at Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry. In response to the outbreak, the government has added organic material detectors in its main ports and airports, technology that Argentina and Chile already had, Rangel said. Further measures will be taken in conjunction with the national intelligence agency when the World Cup starts in June, he said. The government had hoped to beat a pest cycle that has plagued Brazil once each decade since it started large-scale commercial agriculture. First there was the silverleaf whitefly in the 1990s, followed by soy rust fungus 10 years later, and both are still problems. Brazil was also the world’s top cocoa producer until witches’ broom disease devastated the industry in the 1990s. The country’s soy area expanded by some 40 per cent in the past five years, meaning the helicoverpa armigera outbreak has had a more significant economic impact, Rangel said. The tendency of farmers to plant soy repeatedly instead of rotating crops has also made Brazil more vulnerable to pests, he said. To prevent another outbreak, the government is promoting “integrated agriculture,” which involves monitoring pests, rotating crops and seed varieties, and using biological controls and nat-
The caterpillar of the cotton bollworm moth (helicoverpa armigera) sits on the thumb of a technician in a laboratory. Photo: REUTERS/Mick Tsikas ural enemies, with chemicals as a last resort. It is a completely new approach, according to Rangel. “The helicoverpa changed everything about phytosanitary policy in Brazil,” he said.
Rangel said bureaucratic hurdles had been worked out and Emamectin Benzoate would be available with special approval on an emergency basis.
Brazilian bureaucracy
Two weeks from harvest, Bombarda’s soybean crop looks healthy. He applied pesticides 10 times, including five coats of Belt, a product he had never used before, made by Germany’s Bayer AG. Syngenta has so far lost out on what would have been a lucrative opportunity to sell Emamectin Benzoate in Brazil. But Monsanto, the world’s largest seed company, had better luck. Over the past 11 years, Monsanto developed a caterpillarresistant soybean strain specifically for South America, with an eye on Brazil’s growing pesticide reliance.
The Bahia state government announced that Emamectin Benzoate, a substance manufactured by Swiss crop chemical maker Syngenta, would be available in March 2013, shortly after Embrapa identified the new caterpillar. Yet a year later, farmers still do not have access to it. Syngenta said the company awaited decisions from federal and state governments on regulations and permits needed to import the product, which is sold all over the world, including the United States and parts of Latin America.
Syngenta’s loss, Monsanto’s gain?
“Today there is basically 12 months of continuous planting and you don’t break the pest cycle,” said Renato Carvalho, an insect control specialist at Monsanto in Sao Paulo. “Over the years pressure increases, the pests become resistant to the insecticides and increase in population.” China approved imports of the new seed, Intacta RR2 Pro, in June and it was first sold on the Brazilian market in July. The seeds accounted for some four per cent of soybean area planted this season and are so far proving resistant to helicoverpa armigera. The company is also selling Bollgard Cotton seeds, which have helped control helicoverpa armigera in Australia. Some 90 per cent of soybeans planted are genetically modified in Brazil, where international companies including Syngenta and Dow Agrosciences also sell seeds.
WIN 1 OF 2 JOHN DEERE RSX850i SPORT GATORS™
Gators™ awarded may not be exactly as illustrated. Approximate value $17,500.
Fuel Up For Spring for the chance to WIN 1 of 2 brand new John Deere RSX850i Sport Gators™ (ARV $17,500).
FOR
Spring
For every 2000L purchase of marked agricultural fuel*, you’re automatically entered to win. Fuel* purchases are cumulative, so every purchase between March 17th and May 31st, 2014 qualifies. The more fuel you buy, the more entries you get!
Stop by your local Petroleum location today to Fuel Up For Spring and win with UFA *Fuel must be purchased with a valid BCREF, AFFB or SFTX permit. Cardlock and bulk fuel purchases apply, purchases may be cumulative over contest period. To enter and be eligible to win a person must be a legal resident of Canada (excluding the province of Quebec) who has reached the age of majority at the time of entry in the Province or Territory in which he/she resides, AND be a member of UFA Co-operative Ltd. (“UFA”). Prize vehicle may not be exactly as shown. No purchase necessary. Visit UFA.com for complete contest details. All other products are registered trademarks of their respective companies. © 2014 UFA Co-operative Ltd. All rights reserved.
UFA_36393 Fuel Up-10.25x5.14_AFE.indd 1
UFA.com 2014-03-06 11:29 AM