By 2022, the Brazilian Union of Plant Protection Products Industry (Sinveg) expects the area of land treated with agrochemicals for the control of the corn yellow-winged leafhopper (Dalbulus maidis) to double.
By the end of this year, this area will reach 39.1 million hectares. For the second season corn planted in Brazil, this area will increase by 177% to 32.8 million hectares. These data come from a regular survey conducted by the consulting firm Kynetec specifically for the Brazilian Federation of the Plant Protection Products Industry (Sinveg), covering the two corn crops grown in the country.
Eliane Kay, executive director of Sindiveg, said, ″The scientific name for the corn yellow-winged leafhopper is Dalbulus maidis, which is only half a centimeter in size but can cause very serious damage to crops. In addition to feeding on the plant’s sap, it spreads a bacterium – causing stunting of the plant during the initial growth cycle of planting, but its symptoms only show up during the production phase″.
Studies by the Brazilian Academy of Agricultural Sciences (Embrapa) have shown that the presence of the corn yellow-winged leafhopper reduces the dry weight of the above-ground portion of each corn plant by 40% and the volume of the roots by 62%.
Farmers’ concerns about this impact are also being reflected in the data:In the control of the corn yellow-winged leafhopper, the area treated with agrochemical products has increased from 19,548,000 hectares in 2021 to 39,072,000 hectares in 2022. In contrast, in 2018, the area treated for this pest control is just 7.2 million hectares.
Júlio Borges Garcia (sinveg president) said that ″these increases in treated areas show that farmers still protect their production by investing and using pesticides, and that phytosanitary issues as well as productivity are still more serious″.
Source: World Agrochemical Network
Post time: Jan-04-2023