AVALIAÇÃO DA EFICIÊNCIA E VIABILIDADE ECONÔMICA DE BIOFUNGICIDAS NO CONTROLE DE DOENÇAS EM SOJA

Abstract

In today's world, the market for fungicides based on biological molecules is growing, with the search for products that provide environmental sustainability, disease control and profitability. The aim was therefore to evaluate the management efficiency and economic viability of biofungicides, compared to treatments based on chemical molecules. The experiment was set up in a randomized block design (RBL) in a factorial scheme, with 10 treatments, 4 of which were biofungicides, each evaluated in four and five applications (totaling 8 treatments), as well as a fungicide treatment with chemical agents and, finally, the control, in which no fungicide was used. For the standard chemical treatment, four applications were made of the following products: Score Flexi, Evolution, Orkestra and Bravonil (together), Fusão and Unizeb (together). The biological treatments, which are commercial products, involve Product 1, which is an association of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Product 2 formulated from Bacillus pumilus, Product 3, which is a mix of microorganisms: Trichoderma harzianum, Bacillus pumilus and Bacillus subtilis, and finally Product 4, based on Bacillus velezensis. It is worth noting that disease severity assessments were carried out every 7 days after the onset of symptoms and the area under the disease progression curve was also estimated for each treatment. The other assessments were defoliation, yield and thousand-grain weight (GKW). In terms of economics, the aim was to determine the treatment with the highest net operating income, profitability index and cost in bags of soybeans. The treatment based on chemical molecules resulted in greater control efficiency and consequently greater economic viability, with a higher net profit of R$143.2/ha. Among the biological treatments, the most interesting was Product 1 and Product 4, in four applications, for controlling target spot, with Product 4 standing out in terms of net profit.