Embraer celebrates the delivery of 1.400 units of the Ipanema aircraft, the leader in the agricultural aviation segment in Brazil, with a 60% market share. Powered by renewable energy (ethanol), the aircraft is more agile and efficient, which ensures greater productivity.
The Ipanema is mainly used to spray fertilizers and agricultural defensives, avoiding losses due to crushing the crop and making the operation more flexible. The main crops that have demanded the plane are: soy, corn, cotton, sugar cane, banana, citrus, eucalyptus and coffee. Multitasking, it can also be used to spread seeds, fight vectors and larvae, in primary firefighting and river settlement.
The increase in world population has required agriculture to be increasingly efficient and competitive. “The presence of the Ipanema in the market, and the result of 1.400 aircraft delivered since its conception, makes Embraer a great ally of agricultural production in the country”, says the director of the Embraer Production Unit in Botucatu, Alexandre Solis.
It is in this context that Embraer guarantees the constant search for the best in technology and innovation: proof of this is the performance of the Ipanema 203 model, which guarantees an application range of up to 24 meters with excellent uniformity, proven by the study carried out by the São Paulo State University (Unesp ).
“The improvements incorporated into the Ipanema over the years to meet customer needs explain the success of the aircraft”, says Solis. “Today is an important day, a day of great pride for Embraer and for everyone involved in the success of this aircraft. Few aircraft in the world reached the mark of 1.400 units produced. This is a result out of the curve and motivates us to grow even more”, complements.
The Ipanema is one of the first aircraft launched by Embraer and has been manufactured uninterruptedly for over 40 years at the Botucatu (SP) unit. The airplane began its history in the late 60s with the need to modernize agricultural techniques in Brazil, mainly to combat the pests that, at that time, destroyed coffee plantations. On July 31, 1970, the Ipanema made its first flight and since then it has evolved in several aspects, reaching important results.
