Pirated soybean seeds account for 11% of soybean acreage in Brazil

Soybean seed piracy in Brazil is costing the country 10 billion reais ($1.76 billion) a year, according to a study by CropLife Brasil and consulting firm Celeres Consultoria released Wednesday.

The findings in Brazil, the world’s largest producer and exporter of soybeans, underscore the challenges faced by seed, chemical and biotechnology companies doing business here.

The country, which competes in world markets with the United States and Argentina, sells most of its soybeans for processing in China.

Pirated soybean seeds account for 11% of the area planted with soybeans in Brazil, the study showed after examining seeding data for the 2023/24 season. At that time, the total area planted to soybeans was 46.15 million hectares (114.039 million acres), data from Conab, the national crop production agency, showed.

The country’s soybean planted area for the 2024/2025 season is 47.45 million hectares.

The study estimates that about R$1 billion in taxes could be lost over the next 10 years due to seed piracy. In addition, the fight against seed piracy could increase investment in improving seed varieties by R$900 million over the next decade.

Croplife represents seed companies, biotechnology firms, and pesticide and bioinformatics manufacturers.

Tags: soybean, Brazil