Cotton crop protection costs in Brazil reach record $1.48 bln

Brazilian cotton growers spent a record BRL 8.217 bln ($1.478 bln) on crop protection products in the 2025/26 season, up 14% in local currency compared with the previous season. In US dollar terms, spending increased by 10% from $1.341 bln a year earlier. This was reported in the FarmTrak Algodão 2025/26 survey conducted by agricultural market research company Kynetec. The main factors behind the increase were a higher number of crop treatments and rising chemical costs.

According to the survey, the average number of cotton crop treatments per season increased by 13%, from 95 to 107. Meanwhile, the average treatment cost rose by 21%, from BRL 3,472 to BRL 4,209. The cumulative treated area, which includes repeated applications to the same fields, expanded by 6% to 209.07 mln ha from 196.31 mln ha in the previous season. The actual cotton cultivation area in Brazil was approximately 1.95 mln ha.

Insecticides traditionally accounted for the largest share of spending, totaling BRL 4.119 bln, or 50% of the overall crop protection budget. In particular, controlling the cotton boll weevil cost growers approximately BRL 2 bln, with an average of 18 treatments against this pest during the season. Spending on caterpillar control increased by 15%, from BRL 795 mln to BRL 928 mln, making it the second-largest category of insect pest management costs.

Fungicides recorded the fastest growth, with spending rising by 19% to BRL 1.98 bln, accounting for 24% of the total. According to Kynetec, this was partly due to growers switching to more expensive premium crop protection products. Meanwhile, herbicide spending increased by 6.3% to BRL 1.143 bln, representing 14% of the market. Another BRL 986 mln was spent on nematicides, seed treatments and other crop protection products.

The record increase in spending occurred despite a reduction in planted area in Mato Grosso, Brazil’s largest cotton-producing state. In the 2025/26 season, cotton area in the state declined by 8%, from 1.502 mln ha to 1.376 mln ha. This trend indicates that higher crop protection spending was driven not only by the scale of cultivation but primarily by more intensive treatments and the use of more expensive products. This is increasing cotton production costs and could affect the profitability of Brazilian growers.

Tags: Brazil, costs of fertilizers, costs