Crop Protection Formulation Technology Critical for New Application Methods
24 September 2019 Post-patent companies are experiencing heightened competition as a result of fewer AIs falling off patent and market saturation of generic products. New revenue streams are threatened as a glut of generic crop protection companies battle for market share for fewer than 10 AIs per year reaching post-patent status.
In-country distributors and retailers, in turn, have more options for generic products than ever before as generic products reach 85% market penetration on average around the world, according to research consultancy Kleffmann Group. With a dearth of newly commercialized generic products and a glut of generic companies selling the same products, there are fewer ways to differentiate products in a world where price has become consistent among manufacturers, import/export companies, and trading houses.
Three key business evolutions for crop protection companies:
- Business partnerships must become more consultative than transactional. Buyers are no longer solely concerned about price outside of large-acre, commoditized chemistries. Biological and specialty products require a more collaborative sales approach that emphasizes long-term partnerships. Read more about this in our India Report.
- Agronomic consulting, agronomic decision support, digital farming, and precision technologies must be integrated into basic product offerings. Companies must identify and adopt next-generation technologies for end users to gain traction at the retail/cooperative level. Leading companies are already investing into this reality, including Adama, Bayer’s Climate Corp., and Xarvio by BASF.
- Formulations must be optimized to thrive amid new application methods, evolving best practices, and new or heightened pressures from pests and weather. This optimization will become an imperative for product differentiation, competitive market share, and long-term allegiances with trading partners.
Learn how to get ahead:
Clariant has been a longtime leader in helping manufacturers optimize formulations for a variety of challenges. Much of this research and innovation has been through its Crop Solutions Competence Center, which has developed a series of adjuvants that biologically enhance pesticides under conditions of low water volume, heightened environmental restrictions, complex tank mixes, and varied climate conditions.
Dr. Peter Baur, Head of Clariant’s Competence Center Crop Solutions, will discuss adjuvant innovations and pesticide optimization during his talk “Exploiting the Full Potential of Drone Application with Specialized Adjuvants” at the Precision Application Asia Conference later this year.
“Drone application has special characteristics in the sequential processes of foliar delivery, and here we consider the role of individual steps in the transfer of actives and activity, or bioavailability, respectively, from the formulation to the target site,” Baur says. “Particular challenges are seen in the areas of low solvent or solubilization power of application liquid, crop selectivity, UV-degradation of both natural and synthetic actives, the impact on residual activity, drift of high fraction of fine droplets, and for efficient uptake of systemic herbicides.”
Baur’s talk will discuss microemulsions for ultra-low-volume application scenarios, drift reduction, photo-degradation reduction, rainfastness, and other optimization needs in low-volume application settings.
Precision Application Asia Conference will explore leading research pushing precision agriculture in emerging markets.
Additional speakers in this discipline include:
Fernando Lopez, Agro Asia Pacific Lead, Lamberti, who will discuss how new application methods require a rethink on how adjuvants and nozzles interact to influence drift and deposition for low-volume formulations. Lamberti’s emerging research in this area is creating new best management practices for service providers who provide application services to farmers.
Also: Leading researchers from China public and private sectors:
Dr. Huizhu Yuan, Professor of Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and Founder of the Joint Laboratory for UAV Agriculture with DJI, the world’s largest manufacturer of drones.
Dr. Xuemin Wu, Professor of National Pesticide Formulation Laboratory, China Agriculture University, and national regulation adviser to China’s regulatory body ICAMA.
This conference conducted in English and will be simultaneously translated in Mandarin and Thai. Mandarin speakers will be translated simultaneously into English. See the full program, speakers, attendee list, and networking opportunities at www.precisionapplication.com.
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