As they say, variety is the spice of life. For those in the agriculture industry, though, variety isn’t just some additive to enhance flavor, it’s the bread and butter of their income.
Leonard Gianessi, CropLife Foundation consultant, says the agriculture industry is one of the most competitive industries in the world. In order to compete, and continue feeding the masses industry professionals down to the end consumer of the agrochemical have to understand that diversification of portfolios, services and product lines is no longer a luxury − it’s a necessity.
This diversification is manifesting itself in the fact that companies are bundling their products by crop now instead of type. In the last decade, Gianessi says, there has been a move away from listing the various insecticides and herbicides available by class. Portfolios, he explains, generally now offer maize or wheat divisions, providing everything needed from pre-plant to post harvest. “Each year we have tried to improve our portfolio,” says John Enoiu, assistant manager of Naturevo, a Romanian distributor. “To do this we’ve created programs for Integrated Crop Management (ICM) bearing in mind aspects like climate change, residue levels, yield, quality and organic demand.”
This one-stop-shop mentality is not only easier for growers to understand, but it’s more effective and precise − meaning cheaper for the grower− than blanketing crops with a la carte products. “Biologicals are a perfect example of how growers are now combining and mixing modes of action to suit their needs,” says Gianessi. “A biological may be really good for one species of weed, but if you look at a grower’s field, they might have 15 different kinds.”
预混料和捆绑产品是公司以直接方式提供广谱控制的一种方式，减少了种植者去其他地方购买产品的机会。
Patrick Chen, marketing director for BOF Agrochemical Co., LTD, spoke to FCI at the Trade Summit in Miami, saying premixes have far surpassed other products in their portfolio in recent years. Although Chen says they can be a bit more expensive to ship than concentrated actives due to the extra weight, he explains that less technologically advanced growers appreciate avoiding the margin of error mixing can create. Chen also reports that BOF Agrochemical’s most popular premix this growing season in China is azoxystrobin, an off-patent product that can be applied to a range of valuable crops.
产品增强服务产品
公司也越来越多地提供咨询和应用服务，以保持甚至扩大他们的客户群。 Rallis India 的顾问 Manik Ghose 提到了市场的竞争力和可供客户选择的大量公司，他说，通过动手服务提高产量的能力有助于使自己和产品的功能脱颖而出。
Gianessi explains that in the United States there are around 100,000 farmers that grow 90% of the nation’s food. Major companies know the growers, where they live, where they went to college, their kids’ names, and whether or not they play golf, he says. In places like Africa and some parts of Latin America, though, there are many more tiny operations that could be as small as a hectare or less, so there are more small distributors serving them. “In that case, dealers have to be trained like U.S. extension representatives. They have to have backpack sprayers available for use, and they have to be stewards of the products as far as storage and container disposal is concerned,” he says.
Israel Garita Cruz, UPL’s development manager for Central America and the Caribbean agrees, saying that the India-based UPL has been testing this full-service option with a program called “TRUST” on 1,500 hectares of Costa Rica’s high-value banana crops. The year-old program, provides growers with a control bundle for the devastating black sigatoka pest that includes scouting, product recommendation and aerial application, and gives growers an online, password-protected record of weekly pest levels and application history. TRUST has been such a success, Garita says the company is planning on expanding to rice crops in Nicaragua and Panama and eventually to other parts of the world.
The faster growers see the difference the products make, the quicker they are able to start investing in more crop inputs, aiding food supply. “Potato production in South Africa is another great example of this,” says Gianessi. “Output has tripled in recent years even though acres planted has remained roughly the same. The use of fungicides on late-blight made all the difference in the world.”
诚信为本
Portfolios and services can be top-notch, but if the product quality isn’t there, suppliers have nothing to provide growers. “We can’t make it without these chemicals with the increasing population and the necessity for a better diet,” Gianessi says.
一些公司从发现到商业化每个产品花费$2.5亿。虽然从长远来看这可能意味着创新技术会进入市场，但 Gianessi 表示，高成本意味着一些更具体的产品无法进入市场，因为在公司看到利润之前必须制造数百万美元。在许多地方，这种利润被专利后的假冒所蚕食，因此企业可能不会选择在一些风险较高的国家/地区将某些产品商业化。这些产品是下一代专利后管道。
Naturevo’s Enoiu says fake products have spoiled some consumer’s minds in Romania, making them unable to understand the price required for high-quality inputs. “Distribution networks grew very fast, and in an unprofessional direction, making the point-of-sale price difficult.”
Gianessi, however, says that many countries around the world are working to enforce counterfeiting laws for exactly this reason. “The softball approaches of the past are falling on their faces,” he says, “You have to feed the people or governments will fall.” Agricultural concerns around the world are rising, Gianessi explains, and if countries want to work with companies that offer novel products, they have to demonstrate the work they’re willing to do to protect patents, including those proprietary off-patent products.
他说，印度是这种进步的完美例子。 Gianessi 说，现在腐败和假冒产品的问题比五年前少了，大公司正在重新承诺销售，从而使分销商和种植者等的选择多样化。
The need to diversify throughout the supply chain is something echoed at all levels. “At the end of the day, it’s really just about having all of the tools available in your tool box,” says Gianessi.