Author: Southern Rural Newspaper Sheng Qianyu Xu Jianhua

In the era of large-scale planting, there are countless farmland of more than a thousand acres, but in many cases, millions of pesticide inputs are not satisfactory. For the boss who grows in size, how can we reduce the input cost and achieve better results?

In 2018, the Chinese agricultural capital market was surging. Formulations and agricultural additives have ushered in a turning point in development. The former enters the adjustment channel, while the latter is the rapid growth period.

According to the report data of the world agrochemical industry, under the “green plant protection” concept, the global agricultural auxiliaries sales market has maintained a compound growth rate of 7% for years. Among them, due to the impact of pesticide reduction, zero fertilizer growth, planting pattern changes, and innovation in application methods, many research institutions expect that China will become the fastest growing region in the auxiliary agricultural market in the next five years. The volume is expected to exceed 800,000 tons, and the market value is about 50 billion yuan. Among them, the tank mixing auxiliary market is 500,000 tons and the market value is about 30 billion yuan. Tank mixing additives will become the most important synergy and reduction in the field of pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and special fertilizers in the Chinese market.

Explosive growth, tank mixing additives will undoubtedly be the future of agriculture. “And those tank mixing additives with better compatibility, superior interface performance, safety and environmental protection, and combined functions will become the new darling and future direction of the market.” Director of the Pesticide Preparation and Additives Committee of China Pesticide Development and Application Association Wu Xuemin, a professor at China Agricultural University, said.

As a substance with higher surface activity than organic silicon and hydrocarbon, organic fluorine is a compounding agent, and it is agreed by the main body of the industry that it may be the explosive product that reshapes the agricultural capital market.

In 2015, the pesticide utilization rate of rice, corn and wheat in China was 36.6%. In contrast, the utilization rate of pesticides for wheat, corn and other food crops in developed countries in Europe and America can reach 50% to 60%.

With the concept of “green plant protection” spread across the globe, more and more countries are reducing the maximum allowable amount of pesticide residues, and this trend will continue in the future. Looking back to China, along with the implementation of “Zero Fertilizer Zero Growth and Pesticide Reduction”, China is urgently calling for more efficient, environmentally friendly and safer plant protection technologies to reduce the use of pesticides and fertilizers and improve farmers' economic returns.

And how to make growers “use less pesticides and have better results”? This is the stage for the "agricultural additives" to show off. Agricultural auxiliaries are a general term for various adjuvants used in addition to active ingredients in the processing or use of chemical pesticides. The main purpose of adding additives is to improve the efficacy, reduce the amount of pesticides, save costs, and reduce the pollution of pesticides to the environment. The use of appropriate additives can not only improve the stability of pesticides, but also facilitate the penetration, conduction and diffusion of active ingredients in pesticides, and help to resist the erosion of rainwater, thereby enhancing and prolonging the efficacy.

“In the next few years, agricultural auxiliaries, especially herbicide auxiliaries, will become an important promoter of pesticide use reduction.” Professor Tao Bo of Northeast Agricultural University pointed out that driven by market opportunities and domestic policies, many research institutions expect that the next 5 China will become the fastest growing region in the agro-industrial market.

According to the global agricultural auxiliaries market report, the growth rate of global agricultural auxiliaries sales in 2019 is between 5% and 6%, which is lower than China's 7%. Although the auxiliaries market is still dominated by North America and Europe, the agricultural auxiliaries market available in China and the Asia Pacific region has tremendous growth potential. In other words, China will certainly occupy an important weight in the future. Many institutions expect that the annual demand for China's agricultural additives market in the next five years is likely to reach 800,000 tons. Among them, the tank mixing additive is about 500,000 tons, and the market value is nearly 30 billion yuan.

Agricultural auxiliaries can be divided into two major categories depending on whether they are placed during processing or mixed during use – “formulation additive additives” and “barrel mixing additives”. It has been added at the time of processing and is directly incorporated into the product called “formulation additive” or “auxiliary agent”. This kind of additive can play the role of dispersing or stabilizing the pesticide dosage form. He is more like a "behind the scenes", although it is not known, but it has always existed and is indispensable.

The additives added on site before spraying are called “bucket-mixed additives” or “spray additives”. Among the foreign additives, barrel mixing additives have become very common. In the United States, there are corresponding use of tank mixing additives on the herbicide label; in the introduction of new pesticide products, the matching tank mixing additives will also be introduced to improve the efficiency of pesticide utilization. Tao Bo pointed out that “in special environments such as drought and rainfall, tank mixing additives can play a role, to some extent, to solve the problem that the efficacy is not ideal.” But in China, the additives are more used in formula addition additives. There is still a lot of room for the development and research of tank mixing additives.

Space also means opportunity. It is understood that many companies including Guilin Jiqi Biochemical, Beijing Nuonong, Beijing Guangyuan Yinong, Zhejiang Xin'anjiang, Jiangsu Qingyu Chemical, Jiangxi Xinghuo Base and Sichuan Infrastructure have already taken action. Su Yue, a crop manager at Coseiji, pointed out that “the cost of formula addition additives is low, but the stability must be considered, and the built-in space is limited; the tank mixing additives are more flexible. In China, with the application of flying anti-drugs, etc. The development of the mode, the amount of tank mixing additives has risen, there is a chance for further increase in the future."

For this reason, domestic and foreign auxiliaries research and development and production companies have never paid attention to China's agricultural auxiliaries market. Wu Xuemin said that many foreign giants, as well as many domestic enterprises, have already obtained the cakes for the agricultural additives market in China, and the intention is very obvious. Recently, the market-selling plant orange oil has products from Spain. In addition, another Adelaide company, also from Spain, has completed the development of new additives, a synergistic product with “organic fluorine”, which will be released in the Chinese market.

Wu Xuemin said that agricultural additives have been hidden behind the scenes, but with the continuous deepening of national agricultural strategies and policies such as pesticide reduction, zero fertilizer growth, green agriculture, and plant protection and flying defense, they have begun to move toward the stage and move toward the center of the industry trend. In particular, the new changes in planting methods have prompted the application of pesticides, application equipment, and methods of application to precise, low-volume, target, variable, and automated development, and the matching of formulations, preparations, or additives. It has become an important direction for the development of pesticide formulations in China. "This is also why the future of pesticides and barrels of functional additives is the most predictable and most disruptive." Wu Xuemin said.

In the "1.0 era" of the development of agricultural additives, the two types of products that play the leading role are "surfactant additives" and "mineral oil additives". Statistics show that in the early 1990s, among the 150,000 tons of additives in the United States, mineral oil additives accounted for 73% of the market, surfactants reached 15%; in 1993, Western Europe 20,000 Among the tons of auxiliaries used, the proportion of mineral oils and surfactants was 43% and 52%, respectively.

Surfactant additives can enhance the wetting, spreading and adhesion of pesticides on the surface of plants and on the surface of pests, and promote the penetration and absorption of active ingredients. Among them, nonionic surfactants are used as a common product to enter the Chinese market early. "The problem of ineffective use under drought conditions is rickety; dissolve the corneum and cell membrane of crop leaves, and mix it with some herbicides to aggravate the phytotoxicity." Wang Xianfeng, the former station manager of the plant protection station of Heilongjiang Land Reclamation Bureau, pointed out. In China, the early barbaric development of such products has also brought many problems. Some products have the effect of auxiliaries and gimmicks, but the quality is mixed.

Another major category of mineral oil additives has been used for a long time. In the early years, it was widely used in foreign countries, especially herbicides. However, the problem is that mineral oil additives often have no affinity with crops and have poor safety. When mixed with some pesticide products, there is a problem of increased phytotoxicity. There is no obvious enhancement effect under drought conditions, and with the environmental problems that it is difficult to avoid, such products cannot escape the fate of being eliminated.

The market is eager to call for more "efficient" auxiliaries, leading the auxiliaries into the "2.0 era." In 1985, Monsanto New Zealand first introduced the world's first commercial "silicone additive" L-77 (also known as Silwet M). Many people have heard of its name - "Pulse". Silicone auxiliaries have unparalleled surface activity of common surfactants, and another feature is its super-stretchability, which enables the liquid to spread and penetrate rapidly in the leaves, reducing the dosage and improving the anti-rain scouring ability of the liquid. In terms of aspect, it is far superior to the common surfactant additives.

But just as any coin has two sides, the risk of silicone additives is "drug damage." Some phytosanitary agents, insecticides and other agents with better permeability may cause phytotoxicity after adding silicone auxiliaries; while adding and using silicone auxiliaries, the concentration of the agent may not be increased arbitrarily, otherwise it may cause more serious phytotoxicity. problem.

When the focus of product competition is from simple "efficient" to "safety + environmental protection + high efficiency", "vegetable oil additives" as the protagonist of "auxiliary 3.0 era", finally appeared in the center of the stage, was a bunch The follow-up light illuminates.

Common vegetable oil additives are generally processed from vegetable oils such as soybean salad oil, rapeseed oil, sunflower oil and corn oil, and some plant essential oils including orange peel essential oil. "The herbicidal effect is stable under high temperature and drought conditions, and the effect of controlling refractory weeds is good. It is safe for crops, saves water, saves cost and reduces the amount of herbicides by 20-30%." Wang Xianfeng pointed out that "plant oil type tank mixing additive It is superior to mineral oil type tank mixing aids and nonionic surfactants in terms of synergistic effect on herbicides and crop safety."

At the inaugural meeting of the Professional Committee for Preparations and Auxiliaries, Ji Ying, the chief agronomist of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Pesticide Testing and the vice president of the China Pesticide Development and Application Association, said that the research on the additives used in the domestic support formulation was not satisfactory. Wang Fengle, director of the National Agricultural Technology Promotion Center, said that the improvement of preparations and additives relies heavily on a strong team of experts.

Compared with the domestic market, some foreign companies have already taken the lead in investment and R&D capabilities. Companies like Adjuvant plus Inc in Canada, Brandt in the United States, Clariant in Switzerland, Tanatex Chemicals in Europe, and Adelaide Adler in Spain all have strong capabilities. Products launched in the market are often highly competitive.

“In terms of the performance of agrochemicals, our products can optimize their efficacy and application stability to the greatest extent possible,” said Cao Yuxiu, Technical Director of China, Adelaide Co., Ltd., Spain. He introduced that some preparations, when added, add their auxiliaries “Wonderful Wings”, which not only enhances the effect, but also reduces the maximum amount by more than 50%, thus saving application time and application cost.

This is in line with the domestic policy of “pesticide reduction, zero fertilizer growth”. However, in response to the emergence of some new demands for China's agriculture, Wu Xuemin, chairman of the China National Pesticides Development and Application Association's Pesticide Preparation and Additives Professional Committee and professor of China Agricultural University, believes that the future development of additives should be safe, environmentally friendly and efficient. In addition to (decrease), it should also have certain composite functions, such as modern spray methods such as suitable for air jets, such as having insecticidal ability, or some outstanding advantages. He believes that mixing and compounding will lead the development of auxiliaries in a multi-functional direction.

In this regard, Cao Yuxiu holds the same view. He said that the combination of organic fluorine and various plant extracts belongs to this category. "Wonderful wings not only have good wettability, extensibility, penetration, but also have the ability to eliminate pesticide resistance. It is a very excellent and efficient additive." These additives should belong to the S version of 3.0.

Guangxi citrus garden test showed that 100-1000 times high concentration was diluted, "Miao wing" sprayed citrus tender leaves, observed for 5 days, showing high safety, as shown below:

Wu Xuemin said that agricultural additives can not only reconstitute the pesticide spray mode of pesticide users, but the most important thing is to really boost and accelerate the realization of zero growth of pesticides in China. It is expected to set off a plant protection technology revolution in this century.