In 2012, the fourth consecutive year, the Brazilian agriculture was the most boosted global growth of the area planted with GM varieties (GM), with a 21% increase compared to 2011, reaching a record of 36.6 million hectares, an increase of over 6.3 million. No other country has achieved such growth, which contributes to performance that Brazil is recognized as a global leader in the adoption of biotechnology.

Plans to plant a record soybean crop in Brazil could leave the No. 2 producer with a seed and pesticide shortage, the local head of Syngenta said on Thursday.

Brazil's area of soybeans to be planted in 2012/2013 will likely surpass the 24.8 million hectares (61.3 million acres) last year by 2 million hectares, or 8 percent, as farmers eye record-high soybean future prices, Laercio Giampani of Switzerland-based Syngenta said.

Brazil has initiated re-evaluations of those pesticides "linked to adverse effects on bees." The environmental agency, the Ibama, will re-evaluate four neonicotinoid insecticides, starting with Bayer CropScience's imidacloprid. The other three to be subsequently reassessed are thiamethoxam, clothianidin and fipronil. The Ibama issued details of the program in Brazil's official gazette this month.