“We continue to aggressively pursue the increasing demand in the row crop market segments in our key geographies.” –Prem Warrior, Chief Operating Officer, Valagro S.p.A.
AgriBusiness Global 最近坐下来 战士, Chief Operating Officer of Valagro, a top producer of biostimulants and specialty nutrient products. Warrior, who joined Valagro in 2012, discussed the evolution of the biostimulant market and how the company’s approach has changed along with it. In addition, look for more on biostimulants in the September issue of AgriBusiness Global.
您如何描述近年来生物刺激素如何整合到作物保护业务中的演变？
Since the green revolution of the ’60s, due to advances in genetic technologies, we are close to achieving the limits of crop improvement in terms of the potential of seeds; even GMOs, while offering significant advances with stacking technologies and RNAi, are approaching their limits. Parallel to this, advances in synthetic chemistry, combinatorial chemistry and knowledge of specific pathways resulted in softer chemistries which have helped address chronic pest problems. However, the acute sensitivities on environmental and non-target effects of chemicals in addition to an overall desire to go natural have created a huge demand for biological products, specifically biologicals. Biostimulants, which are composed of natural extracts, ignored for a long time, have now received significant attention due to the recognition of their value as key components of an integrated crop management system. This interest is primarily due to the efforts of companies like Valagro which have championed the development of effective, credible products with stringent quality control measures and defined natural, yet prescriptive compositions with specific modes of action – comparable to agrichemicals. Biostimulants offer solutions to address hitherto unsolved problems such as abiotic stress tolerance of crops like drought, chilling and salinity as well as enhancing the nutrient use efficiency (NUE) for crops, especially when nutrients can be the most limiting factor in crop productivity. They offer the versatility the farmer needs as inputs, while providing value-added solutions that integrate with seeds and agrichemicals as well as other crop inputs including fertilizers and biopesticides.
瓦拉格罗在这一领域的主要产品是什么？您将它们整合到分销中的方法是什么？
三十多年来，Valagro 的旗舰产品 Megafol 继续为种植者提供前所未有的价值。我们继续与我们在许多国家的主要种植者和分销商合作，以满足他们对各种作物的非生物胁迫情况的独特需求，并开发定制的解决方案。 Megafol 解决了植物的非生物胁迫，而 Viva 以其独特的氨基酸、腐殖酸和特定多糖组合增强了植物的根际能力，使土壤恢复活力，强化了植物根系，从而转化为更好的坐果率、果实大小和没有任何化学植物遗传资源的整体水果质量。
尽管我们的主要市场在历史上一直处于高现金价值的水果和蔬菜领域，但我们通过满足我们的特定需求，继续在我们的主要地区，特别是北美和南美，积极追求行作物市场领域不断增长的需求顾客。事实上，在过去两到三年中，我们在中耕作物市场的份额大幅增加，表明气候变化带来的需求增加以及随之而来的对我们产品的高需求。
经销商和种植者对生物刺激素的教育发生了怎样的变化？他们现在知道了什么以前不知道的事情？
通过我们专有的 GeaPower 技术平台，我们开发了一个系统的创新流程，可以保护天然提取物的活性，确保我们产品的一致性，并最终为我们的客户提供从实验室到现场的无与伦比的价值。 Valagro 投资于确定我们产品的成分和作用方式，此外我们还通过我们独特的 Valagro 学院教育最终用户和经销商的方法，取得了巨大的成功。瓦拉格罗学院计划让我们的客户了解我们的产品是什么、它们是如何工作的，以及将产品集成到作物管理系统中的最佳方式，从而确保他们的投资获得良好的回报。瓦拉格罗率先开展了这项工作，我们相信这让我们更贴近客户；受过良好教育的客户是我们最好的客户。虽然生物刺激素不具有杀虫特性，但更健康的植物自然更能抵抗病虫害，因此需要更少的作物管理投入。对于天然产品，尤其是生物制品，这种方法有助于我们与当地的分销商/经销商团队合作，以最佳方式定位和使用我们的产品，从而帮助克服全球采用生物制品的最大障碍之一。我们还开发了自己的流程来识别我们最好的客户，并与他们合作提供满足他们需求的定制解决方案。
您认为分销这些产品的关键是什么？
作为一名生物学家，我的回答永远是好的科学会带来好的产品，通过给农民带来高投资回报率来确保好的客户。当您投资于良好的科学并确保产品的质量和一致性时，最重要的是，当我们与我们的分销商和经销商合作时，您就不会失败。关键是要了解您的客户及其需求——无论是从农艺学角度还是从他们的业务角度。客户忠诚度是 Valagro 成功的关键，我们的大多数客户都是长期客户。为我们的产品定义价值主张并保证最低 1:3 的投资回报率也很重要。
您认为生物刺激素还有哪些其他机会？此外，您认为哪些生物刺激素的需求更多，驱动因素是什么？
我们有足够的解决方案来满足大多数作物需求，包括病虫害防治。为了应对人口增长、耕地面积减少和迫在眉睫的气候变化问题的需求，我们需要不断推广可持续农业的理念。未来十年，水和土壤将继续成为作物生产力的主要限制因素。通过生物刺激素解决方案提高水和养分的使用效率在所有地区都至关重要。
We also believe there will be an increased need to improve the soil quality including soil remediation and micronutrient deficiencies. There are already instances of crop loss due to single micronutrient deficiency in certain key agronomic parts of the world. We see opportunities for biostimulant companies to develop customized offerings that will address issues related to decreased arable land as well poor soil quality in addition to reduced water use efficiency. In addition, new generation of plant and microbial biostimulants can enhance the quality of produce – an attribute that has become increasingly important for the more discriminant global consumer. Organic agriculture also continues to grow. Precision agriculture’s better forecasting will enable us to prescribe timely, customized solutions, and we will be able to integrate biologicals and optimize their value in an integrated crop management approach. We see biostimulants and biologicals as key elements in the future where prescriptive agriculture will evolve similar to personalized medicine. At Valagro, where “science serves nature,” our vision is to bring together the best in biological sciences to the service of our customers – sustainably.