Articles from Auriga Magasinet No. 2, September 2005
Effective and environmentally friendly plant protection products
Plant protection is important to increasing agricultural production. Cheminova is leading the way as a developer of new and improved pesticides.
Thirty years ago, farmers in Western Europe harvested 3.4 tonnes of grain per hectare – today, farmers harvest more than twice as much from the same land area. This means that it is now possible to feed twice as many people, which reflects the situation worldwide. An important factor for the development of agricultural production is the considerable advances made within the field of plant protection. Decades of research and development have resulted in considerable improvements with regard to effectiveness, safety of use and protection of the environment. Modern plant protection products target specific pests and are applied in low doses. This is a result of research into new chemistry and extensive biological testing.
“The agrochemical industry, together with farmers worldwide, is responsible for
supplying the world with healthy agricultural produce with due consideration
being given to the environment,” says Allan Skov, Vice President, Development.
The challenge of meeting regulatory requirements
The use of plant protection products is subject to strict regulatory requirements. The approval of plant protection products is a lengthy and costly process, the aim of which is to provide documentation that the products meet all the requirements made with regard to effectiveness, safety and environmental impact. These requirements have grown considerably in the past twenty years.
“During the same period, Cheminova has developed its competences so that not only does the company live up to the requirements, it also enjoys a strong position in the markets when it comes to quality at competitive prices,” says Allan Skov, Vice President, Development. “Thanks to our strong competences within product development, production and marketing, Cheminova no longer sees the strict requirements as a problem, but rather as a challenge and an opportunity.”
 
As an example of the development of quality formulations, Cheminova is currently
developing a new generation of seed dressing products. By dressing seeds with
fungicides, the seeds are protected against fungal attacks and secondary diseases
from the time of germination. The method is extremely effective and environmentally
responsible as the active compound is in direct contact with the germinating seed,
allowing a material reduction in doses and eliminating the need for subsequent sprayings.
High-quality products
One of Cheminova’s core competences is the development of modern high-quality formulations on the basis of known and new active ingredients. Key parameters in the development process are environmental soundness, safety of use and a high level of effectiveness. At the same time, products must be competitively priced.
“What these sophisticated products have in common are many years of development, the aim being a treatment profile which ensures the most effective treatment of the crop with the lowest possible impact on the environment. The formulations must ensure that the active ingredient is stable, and promote a specific and targeted effect, and at the same time the substance must be fast-degradable in the soil and on the crop,” Allan Skov concludes.
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