GrainsWest Spring 2021

Spring 2021 Grains West 34 FEATURE PAULO KATSUO TSUGE São Gotardo, Minas Gerais state, Brazil Editor’s note: These interviews were translated from Portuguese by Brazilian agricultural journalist Daniel Azevedo Duarte. Watching over more than 2,000 acres of avocados is not a simple job, but it is what Paulo Katsuo Tsuge and his nearly 200 employees do each and every day during the growing season. The 36-year-old farmer of Japanese heritage has roots in Brazil going back to 1954, when his grandfather immigrated to the country to farm. The Cerrado Mineiro region, primarily famous for its coffee production, is somewhat more temperate than other parts of Brazil, typically around 18 to 23 C during the growing season. This is perfect to produce his stone fruit, which is enjoyed locally as well as in Argentina, Spain and the Netherlands. His biggest worry for pests is the Stenoma catenifer , or avocado moth. Each moth can lay 150 eggs inside a single avocado. Larvae simply eat their way out of the fruit, and multiple quickly. “They can destroy, potentially, the entire production,” said Tsuge. A vital beneficial insect of the moth is a parasitic wasp of the trichogramma genus. Since 2017, Tsuge and other farm workers have bred the wasps on-site in a secure facility. They are capable of producing 7.7 million eggs each year. The wasps are released weekly and lay their own eggs inside the moth eggs, parasitizing them before they reach the larval stage. “This insect proves to be highly efficient against the moth,” he said. “Aligning sustainable management into production is always a considerable achievement.” Because pesticides against the moths may have negative effects on bees and other organisms, Tsuge minimizes spraying. “Beneficial insects are highly efficient against this pest and preserve other [insects’] lives for us to be more sustainable,” he said. “The integrated model shows more results on production and reducing costs.” Tsuge’s use of the parasitic wasp as a primary defence against the moth has allowed him to use Group 4 and 5 chemistries rather than Group 1, 2 and 3, which typically have stronger, possibly unintended consequences for other beneficial or neutral insects. “The chemicals already are not the main tool against plagues. Our cultural control and integrated management guarantee less costs and fruits without any residue,” said Tsuge, who adds he spent about 20 per cent of this year’s budget on beneficial insect management. Overall, Tsuge and other farmers have embraced a hybrid model of chemical and biological controls. According to Cleber Soares, director of innovation at the ministry of agriculture, livestock and supply: “In Brazil, in the last three years, there has been an increase in registration of biological products and there is constant introduction of national and imported new products into the market.” Countrywide, there are 25 million acres dedicated to biological pest controls and more than 40 million under production through the aid of bacterial plant growth promotors. “Biological inputs bring annual savings around BRL $165 million [$383 million CAD] through products for biological pest control, in addition to another USD $13 billion [$16.6 billion CAD] brought alone by biological nitrogen fixation on soybeans. These savings tend to increase in the coming years, especially due to market expansion of bio-based products in Brazil and in the world,” said Soares. Paulo Katsuo Tsuge farms more than 2,000 acres of avocados in Brazil and is under constant threat from the avocado moth. Photo:CourtesyofHannaRoyals,ScreeningAids,USDAAPHISPPQ, Bugwood.org