© Archyde.com/Ueslei Marcelino
Archive image of a plane spraying a soybean field near Palmeirante
By Ana Mano
SAO PAULO, Jan 18 (Archyde.com) – The group of producers Aprosoja Brasil will request permission from the Ministry of Agriculture to directly import Diquat, a herbicide used as a desiccant during the harvest period, because there is a shortage of the product just when most farmers they need it, a statement said Tuesday.
Brazil’s soybean harvest started in late December and Aprosoja said that Syngenta, which is the registration holder for Diquat in Brazil, is not meeting orders.
The ministry did not immediately comment.
“The huge demand for Diquat has not been met in the industry,” Aprosoja, which represents some 400,000 soybean and corn farmers, said in the statement.
Aprosoja said that Syngenta issued a notice on December 23 stating that there was not enough product available on the market to meet the demand of Brazilian farmers.
Syngenta did not respond to a request for comment. Aprosoja said that the company has not been able to deliver products that have already been sold, which worries farmers.
According to Aprosoja, the problem arose following Anvisa, the Brazilian health watchdog, banned the use and marketing of Paraquat in the country as of September 2020.
The decision forced farmers to look for similar herbicides on the market, although only Diquat has the same function and quality, Aprosoja said.
(Reporting by Ana Mano. Editing in Spanish by Marion Giraldo)