New Study regarding Strategic Intelligence in Innovation – Fertilizers published by the BRPTO

On February 7, 2024, the BRPTO initiated a series of publications on strategic intelligence in innovation with the purpose of presenting important themes for developing the new industrial policy structured by the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce, and Services (MDIC), to be a part of the national policy.

In January of 2024, the new action plan of New Industry Brazil was disclosed, incorporating six primary missions, wherein the first is related to agro-industrial chains. To initiate the above-mentioned series of publications, the first selected theme is related to the first main mission of the New Industry Brazil.

The publication is named “Studies of Strategic Intelligence in Innovation: Biofertilizers” and brings an overview of the Brazilian agro-industrial complex and the fertilizers sector in Brazil, followed by the external dependency of the fertilizers sector and its impact on the increase of costs.

Thus, the patent scenario is presented with more than 215,000 patent counterparties related to fertilizers from across the world, filed between 2010 and 2023. Among those, 81% have their origin in China, in which approximately 57% are related to biofertilizers and 22% to NPK fertilizers. Moreover, 2017 is the peak of patent applications filed by Chinese around the world for these two mentioned types of fertilizers.

Besides the Chinese applications, which were separately presented, patent applications of biofertilizers lead to other jurisdictions as well. This is being led by the USA with more than 3600 patent application counterparties, followed by South Korea, Russia, Japan, and India finalizing the Top Five. Brazil occupies the 7^th position in biofertilizers. Regarding NPK fertilizers, the USA also leads, while Brazil occupies the 5^th position.

The study, then, presents an econometry analysis, in which the results suggest that the Brazilian GDP provided by the agri-business is highly sensitive to the variations in agricultural yield when compared to the variations in labor or capital availability. Through the econometry analysis, the strong correlation between the average price of fertilizers and inflation indicates that innovation in this sector can positively impact the living costs of several families.

The need to invest and develop science and technology able to provide food security goes beyond Brazil’s borders. However, Brazil is capable of playing a main role due to its size, agricultural capacity, and other variables. The field of fertilizers, and specifically, biofertilizers is therefore, a great opportunity in Brazil.

Read the entire study at: https://www.gov.br/inpi/pt-br/central-de-conteudo/noticias/inpi-lanca-serie-de-estudos-sobre-inteligencia-estrategica-em-inovacao/IEemInovao_vol1Biofertilizantes_completo.pdf

Author Tainara Medeiros Barbosa