Brazil Declares Emergency in Two More States
27 November 2013 
Helicoverpa armigera is considered one of the most serious insect pests worldwide, causing huge losses due to its high reproductive potential and polyphagy.
Photo courtesy Bayer CropScience
The Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture declared an emergency in Goiás and Minas Gerais states on Wednesday following the Helicoverpa armigera caterpillar outbreak that has wrought heavy damage to crops in the past year.
The state of emergency, which is also in effect in Mato Grosso and Bahia states, means that pesticide products with the active ingredient emamectin benzoate can be imported. Agricultural producers must also follow the measures under Ordinance No. 1,109, which establishes guidelines for the integrated management of the caterpillar – also known as corn earworm or cotton bollworm.
According to the agriculture lobbying organization CNA, the pest cost soybean producers in western Bahia alone $648 million in the 2012/13 season.
All of Goiás has been placed under the emergency measures. In Minas Gerais, the measures are in effect in the following municipalities: Abaeté Araguari Araporã, Araxá Arinos, Bamburgh, Good Hope, Good Order, Bonfinópolis of Mines, Buritis Buritizeiro, Bedside Large, Cachoeira Dourada Campina Verde, Campo Florido, Altos, Canápolis, Capinópolis, Carmo da Cachoeira, Cassia, Catuti, Centralina, Chapada Gaucha, Conceição das Alagoas, Conceição do Rio Verde, Coquitlam, Corinth, Coromandel, Delfinópolis, Espinosa, Southern Star, Formoso, Frontier, Fruity, Mor Guard Ibiá, Iguatama , Ipiaçu, Iraí of Mines, Itacarambi, Itapagipe Ituiutaba Jaíba, João Pinheiro, Formosa Lagoon, Luz, Martin Fields, Mato Verde, Minduri, Monte Alegre de Minas, Mount Blue, Mount Carmel, New Bridge, Father Peter Paracatu Patos de Minas, Sponsorship, Partridges, Pirajuba, Flatness, Portsmouth, Silver, President Olegario, Riachinho, Rio Parnaíba, Sacramento, Santa Juliana, Santana Vargem, Abbot St. Benedict, St. Francis de Sales, St. Gonçalo Abaeté, Gotthard, Del Rei, Sao Romao, Sao Vicente Mine, Tapira, Shots, Three Hearts, Three Marias, Three Points Tupaciguara Uberaba, Uberlandia, Unai, Union Mine, Mine Uruana, Varjão of Mines, Ebb and John Verissimo.
According to CropLife Latin America, Helicoverpa armigera is originally from Africa and currently threatens crops across Asia, Europe and Oceania. It was identified in South America in February of 2013 by researchers from the Brazilian Agriculture and Livestock Research Company (Embrapa); Silvana Paula-Moraes and Alexandre Specht from Embrapa Cerrados and by Daniel Ricardo Sosa-Gomez from Embrapa Soybean, through morphological and DNA analyses in male adults. Characterizing the outbreak are a high level of resistance to insecticides, high mobility and an elevated reproduction rate with females laying 1,000 to 1,500 eggs.
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