Opinion: Crop Protection Solution Needs to be Adapted to Local Conditions

Nowadays the crop protection concept of all agrochemical enterprises has changed gradually from providing farmers with affordable quality product toward provision of crop protection solution. Transnational companies are doing it this way, so are Chinese companies.

What is a crop protection solution? There is so far not a clear definition yet. However our understanding of it can be like this: the object of crop protection solution is crop and the main purpose is to solve the pest problems existing with crops in all growth stages so as to ensure the yield, quality and profitability of crops; additionally crop protection solution will guide pesticide to be applied in a timely and reasonable manner such that the number and quantity of applications are reduced in order to reduce cost of labor and environmental impact.

A complete and feasible crop protection solution needs to be practical and adapted to local conditions.

To formulate a crop protection solution requires thorough field survey to understand growers’ climate and environmental conditions, as well as growers’ scale of growth, habit of planting, sort of pest in history, past and present pesticide application statuses and crop growth management skill, etc. All these general elements need to be taken into consideration such that the solution can be worked out as adapted to the specific characteristics of local conditions. Furthermore the experiences of pesticide experts, farm machinery experts, crop protection experts, agrochemical technicians and growers need to be incorporated in the solution. Finally it is important to note that a crop protection solution should not always be the same, instead it will be subject to continuous improvement and upgrade.

Emphasis should be put on the adaptability of crop protection solution. It is easy to understand the adaptability to different crops, but not easy to understand the adaptability to growers’ local conditions.

We know that different locations have different climate and environmental conditions; different locations have different scale of planting and habit of planting; different locations have different pest problems; different locations have different past and present pesticide applications; and different locations have different growth management mechanisms. In case of a change of a single element that affects crop protection solution, the solution must be adjusted.

Taking an example of the widely planted rice in China, there is a big difference between growth of rice in north Yangtze and south Yangtze in respect of seed treatment, seedling, transplantation, tillering, jointing, ear booting, full heading and filling stage; also the sort of pest and time of occurrence of pest problems are different, so the time and quantity of pesticide application are different, and even the quality standard may be different. Therefore the crop protection solution should vary according to locations. Even if in south Yangtze, there is a difference between Hu’nan and Guangxi; or even there is a difference between north Hu’nan and south Hu’nan.

In this regard, Chinese pesticide producers should learn from Bayer. Bayer’s “Much More Rice Project" in cooperation with the National Agro-Tech Extension and Service Center (NATESC) is a good example. The Project provides growers in different regions with an adapted “planting to harvesting full solution” which not only solves the pest problems existing with the growth of rice but also enhances the rice resistance and adjusts the way of growth of rice, having brought higher yield to growers.