Where are the opportunities of China’s potato-use pesticides?

In early 2015, Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) initiated a potato staple food strategy which promoted potato to be the 4th staple food following to wheat, corn and rice, aiming at further assurance of national food security. The initiative will surely bring a profound influence to the potato-associated pesticide industry.

According to the Global Potato Pesticides Application and the Opportunities for China Market , China’s potato planting area appears to be currently in the lead in the world but its pesticide use is falling behind, which leaves potentials for future potato pesticide.

The Report points out that potato is planted through 4 seasons across northern and southern provinces of China due to China’s vast land area, large variety of climate, as well as potato’s short growth period, wide adaptability, poor-soil tolerance. From 2003–2013, China’s potato planting area increased by 3.1% on a yearly basis, having reached 5.77 million hectares in 2013, which accounts for 29% of the world's total potato planting area and 58% of  that of Asia. So far China has become the world’s largest potato production country.
 
China is a large potato planting country quantity wise, but not really a developed potato planting country. Statistics reveal China’s per-unit potato production output of only 15.4 tons / ha in 2013, which is only 81.5% of the world equivalent level. The lower per-unit yield is not only caused for the reasons of potato seed quality, mechanization and fine breed usage rate, but also attributable to the lower level of pesticide applications.
 
While making a comparison between China and foreign countries with respect to the potato growth, yield and pesticide application status, the Report points out that China’s current potato pesticide varieties and production volume are both not adequate to support China’s potato plantation. Therefore the insufficiencies of potato pesticide industry will bring about opportunities for Chinese pesticide producers.

Over recent years multinationals have been promoting their potato pesticides in the global market and have made certain degree of achievement. According to statistics, the global potato-use pesticide sales in 2013 reached as high as US$ 1.658 billion accounting for 3.1% of the total pesticide sales. However in China there have been not too many registered pesticides for potato, the registered pesticides are mostly traditional products like mancozeb and there is a scarcity of novel pesticide varieties.

The shortage of registered pesticides offers little choices of potato pesticide applications, which eventually results in a lower pesticide application level.

The Report finally suggests that Chinese agrochemical enterprises pay close attentions to the global potato-associated pesticide applications; more positively conduct market research and product development; carry our product registrations as early as possible so as to capture a part of the market.