Biopesticides + Chemical pesticides, leads the future of the crop protection market
Pesticides are necessary in agricultural production and play an important role protecting crops from diseases, pests and weeds, preventing the pest transmitted pathogens spread and reducing the microbial toxin pollution in foods. It is estimated that the agricultural production will be reduced by 40-60% without pesticides. At present, the global pesticide market is still dominated by chemical pesticides, accounting for nearly 90% of the crop protection market. At the same time, pesticides are also a double-edged sword, agricultural intensive planting is inseparable from the use of pesticides, and the use of pesticides is a game between interests and harms. Long-term incorrect use of chemical pesticides can lead to increased pest and disease resistance, residues, environmental safety and human health impact. With the increasing pressure of environmental protection and food safety, as well as the promotion of national policies, as a new type of agricultural inputs with unique and more environmentally friendly properties, biopesticides have shown great advantages in the market.
1. The development status of biopesticides and chemical pesticides
Chemical pesticides play a pivotal role in addressing the impact of biotic stresses including diseases, pests, and weeds on agriculture, and the crisis of food security and hunger. With the technology development and people’s more attention to health, great efforts have been made on the research of chemical pesticides advance. But at the same time, the time for developing a new chemical pesticide and the investment on R&D personnel have increased significantly driven by the environmental protection and health policies of different countries. According to statistics, currently it takes over 10 years and 1 billion US dollars to develop a new chemical pesticide. In contrast, the time and cost for developing a new biopesticide are 50% less. Moreover, biopesticides have advantages such as high safety and environmental friendliness, and their use in agriculture can bring more values to the agricultural products.
With the public’s concern on environmental protection and the improvement of the quality of agricultural products, the biopesticide market has developed rapidly in the past ten years. According to a report issued by Transparency Market Research, the global biopesticide market size has reached 3.3 billion US dollars before 2017, and will continue to grow rapidly at CAGR of 13.9%, and is estimated to achieve a market value of 9.5 billion US dollars from 2020 to 2025.
However, compared with biopesticides, the chemical pesticides application techniques are mature with lower costs and no barriers for market development and promotion which are the main reasons why chemical pesticides still occupy more than 90% of the crop protection market share. But there are still major problems of increased pest and disease resistance, residues caused by overuse of chemical pesticides, and food safety that are urgently needed to be solved. The increasing preference for organic foods in the United States and Europe makes the US market occupies 1/3 of the global biopesticide market share. It is the trend of the pesticide industry in recent years that the combination of biopesticides and chemical pesticides that can complement each other and provide the complete eco-friendly crop protection solution for control of different pests and diseases on crops, gradually reduce the use of chemical pesticides. Now, the main international companies are also committed to this work, which will be the biggest market opportunity for the biopesticide industry.
2. Biopesticides and chemical pesticides complement each other
Biopesticides, as an important part of the pesticide industry, and chemical pesticides complement each other. It is inevitable that chemical pesticides are used in large scale in agricultural production. The combination of biopesticides and chemical pesticides can supplement the shortcomings of each, which can not only play a synergistic effect and reduce the use of chemical pesticides, but also make up for the shortcoming of the short efficiency period of biopesticides and make biopesticides more acceptable by the growers.
- Biopesticides + chemical pesticides, higher control efficacy
As we know, the reason why chemical pesticide resistance develops quickly is that the same active ingredient or the active ingredients of same mode of action are applied repeatly on target pests and diseases. Plant-extract biopesticides contains various natural active ingredients with different mode of actions and synergistic effects, so the resistance is not easy to occur. Therefore, biopesticides + chemical pesticides, of which the mode of actions and targets are different, are used in combination, synergistic and complementary to each other and can have much higher efficacy than applying biopesticide or chemical pesticide only.
Fig. 1 Bio acaricide + Chemical acaricide for control of citrus mites
The field test of Veratrum rhizome extract 0.1% in combination with Bifenazate + Etoxazole 40% SC: The result of Bifenazate + Etoxazole 40% SC formulation was not ideal for control of red mites on navel orange, with 82.68% efficacy after 1 day of application and decreased to 65.03% after 7 days. With the combination of Veratrum rhizome extract 0.1% in combination with Bifenazate + Etoxazole 40% SC, the efficacy of 1 day and 7 days after application was 94.72% and 82.68%, which showed a faster and longer-period efficacy and reduced use of chemical acaricide.
Fig. 2 Bio bactericide + Chemical bactericide for control of citrus canker
The average control efficacy of Kasugamycin 2% AS 1000 times dilution + Allicin 5% ME 600 times dilution on citrus canker was 78.44%, reducing the dose of Kasugamycin by 30% and increasing the efficacy by more than 20%.
Fig. 3 Bio fungicide + Chemical fungicide for control of strawberry powdery mildew
Powdery mildew disease outbreak in the green house strawberries. Apply Cnidium extract 400 times dilution + Ethirimol 25% SC formulation 750 times dilution, after 2 days of application, the white powder on the leaves were removed and the efficacy reached 85% after 6 days of application.
- Biopesticides + chemical pesticides, less resistance problem
The incorrect and excessive use of chemical pesticides have caused pesticide resistance greatly increased, like Imidacloprid, its resistance in some pests has increased by more than 3,000 times. Biopesticides, such as Berberine (for controlling fruit tree moss, brown spot, leaf spot, and etc.), Allicin (for controlling anthrax, gray mold, root rot, and etc.), Pyrethrins (for controlling aphids, whiteflies and lepidopteran pests), their control efficacy have been greatly improved and almost no resistance. Therefore, the combination and application of biopesticides and chemical pesticides can not only reduce the use of chemical pesticides, but also slow the pesticide resistance development and extend the market life cycle of chemical pesticides.
- Biopesticides + chemical pesticides, make the quality of agricultural products safer and the environment more friendly.
Because biopesticides are derived from nature and used in nature, they are easily degraded in nature and no residues, safe to the environment, non-target organisms and human. The combination and application of biopesticides and chemical pesticides greatly reduce the use of chemical pesticides and avoid application of over-dose of chemical pesticides, reduce pesticide residues, comply with the MRL standard in foods, make agricultural products safer and the environment more friendly.
- Biopesticides + chemical pesticides, make the agricultural industry more valuable
Agricultural products are essential resources for human survival and development. The quality and safety of agricultural products are closely related to human health and life, and related to the increase of farmers’ income, agricultural development and social stability. The use of pesticides is the basic insurance for the quality and safety of agricultural products, and an indispensable and important measure in the agricultural production. Therefore, by the combination and application of biopesticides + chemical pesticides, we can greatly reduce the use of chemical pesticides, decrease the dependence of crops on chemical pesticides, manage pesticide residues, improve the quality of agricultural products, and achieve higher price and value of agricultural products, which is an important technology to help the green development of agriculture and rural revitalization.
3. Biopesticides + Chemical pesticides, leads the future of the crop protection market
The combination of biopesticides + chemical pesticides greatly increases the pests and diseases control efficacy and reduces pesticide residues, reduces the dose of chemical pesticides by 20%-30%, and significantly reduces pesticide residues in agricultural products and the environments. It also slows pesticide resistance development. The natural components of biopesticides is complex, and the synergistic mechanism of active ingredients is not easy to cause resistance in target pests and disease, and the market life cycle of chemical pesticides can be extended by combining with biopesticides. The combination of biopesticides and chemical pesticides is not only efficient, labor-saving, but also environmentally friendly, whether for farmers or consumers, it can be seen as the “optimal solution” for use of pesticides.
Therefore, the promotion and application of biopesticides + chemical pesticides is in line with the global trend of green agricultural development, is a strategic opportunity to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of pesticide application technology in the future, and is also an “accelerator” to promote the green and high-quality development of agriculture and accelerate the construction of an agricultural powerhouse.
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