Economic viability and opportunity cost of on-farm microorganism multiplication units for soybean pest management in Brazil

Viabilidade econômica e custo de oportunidade de unidades de multiplicação de microrganismos On-Farm para o manejo de pragas da soja no Brasil

Abstracts

Abstract  This case study in Brazil aimed to evaluate the opportunity cost of implementing an on-farm unit for the multiplication of entomopathogenic fungi and bacteria for pest and disease management (On-Farm) in soybean cultivation during the 2022/2023 season. The economic simulation analyzes four multiplication unit models, catering to producers of 50, 200, 500, and 1,000 hectares. To analyze the investment costs for implementing the unit, the costs were estimated for raw materials, labor for the multiplication of biological control agents, and the costs of insecticides and fungicides for conventional management, covering the complete soybean cycle for the 2022/2023 season. Subsequently, the costs of pest and disease control in soybean cultivation were compared for Conventional, Integrated Pest, and On-Farm management to identify the opportunity cost in the exchange relationship between management strategies. The results demonstrate that the savings generated by choosing On-Farm biological control compared to conventional management were approximately 73% for 1,000 ha, 63% for 500 ha, 70% for 200 ha, and 27% for 50 ha, considering only soybean cultivation in the season of implementing the multiplication unit.

Keywords:
on-farm production; entomopathogenic microorganisms; biological pest control; opportunity cost analysis; soybean integrated pest management