Development of China's Biopesticide Industry in the Ascendant

Differing from China’s chemical pesticide research which is falling behind, China’s biopesticides development is basically able to keep pace with international biopesticides development level. It has been over 50 years since China started to develop biopesticides, so far China has a good command of key technologies and production processes of various biopesticides. The level of development in China is same as the world level, of which fermentation process is taking a lead in the world. Since recent years China’s biopesticides development is believed to have started its golden time, thanks to the favored market and policy support.

Market & Registration

A report gives a forecast that by 2015 global biopesticides end-market value will reach US$2.8 billion, 27% up YOY. China’s biopesticides business is found in the continuous ascendant. Up until end of 2012, China’s biopesticides industrial output amounted to Yuan 32.73 billion, which accounting for 13.4% of the total pesticide industrial output, being still growing year by year. 

Prime Biopesticides Registrations in China in 2013
Product	Technical (Qty)	Formulation(Qty)
Abamectin	13	481
Emamectin benzoate	2	118
Bacillus thuringiensis	3	46
Kasugamycin	0	23
Ethephon	8	14
Brassinolide	3	15
Indoleacetic acid	5	12
Matrine	0	14
Polyoxin	3	7
Bacillus subtilis	0	10
Pyrethrin	2	3
Note: inclusive of formal registration & temporary registration Source: ICAMA

At present China’s biopesticides output was annually 120,000 tons, covering service area of 26.70 million hectares, which accounts for 5% of the entire pesticides coverage. There are totally some 200 enterprises producing microbial pesticides, botanical pesticides and biopesticides, as well as some 1,700 enterprises producing antibiotics. Most of the enterprises that produce biopesticides also produce chemical pesticides. There have been over 90 kinds of registered biopesticides effective ingredients and over 3,000 registered products, of which registered antibiotics account for 70% of the total registered products; biopesticides account for 11-13% of China’s registered pesticides.

Development Bottlenecks

As the use of biopesticides is of a higher cost and lower efficiency compared with chemical pesticides whilst the selling prices of the green farm product are not significantly higher, so there is no positive momentum for farmers to purchase and use biopesticides. Furthermore, environmental awareness of farmers is not strong enough yet. Also under most circumstances, the prices of biopesticides are higher than chemical pesticides, agricultural materials dealers might think that sales of biopesticides are not easy. All these factors are directly affecting the industrialization of biopesticides applications.

Although China’s conventional biopesticides have a cost advantage, the release of new varieties is relatively falling behind European and US producers, which is technically a barrier to biopesticides industrialization. Applications of biopesticides are not mature yet compared with European and US market, being still in an initial phase of development, and there is not a fundamental change yet to the mode of growing.

To improve the present status of the biopesticides industry of China requires common effort and close collaboration of government departments, enterprises, research institutions and users, who should work jointly to enhance the biopesticides innovation and industrialization to speed up the biopesticides development and contribute to the globalization of biopesticides industry.

Commentary on Latest Policies

In early 2013 the State Council of China issued the Biological Industry Development Program, which has asked to build the biological industry into one of the pillar industries of national economy. Biological industry is one of the 7 emerging industries, and biopesticides is a part of biological industry. The social benefit and ecological contribution brought by biopesticides development are far higher than economic benefit, and biopesticides development has become a means which is closely associated with agriculture safety.

On 28 November 2013, Chinese Ministry of Agriculture started to prepare a national agricultural sustainable development program, focusing on ecological construction and maintaining proper balance between agriculture and environment. At present there is an overuse of fertilizer and pesticide in China, the Ministry of Agriculture’s initiation of such a sustainable development program will enable to raise the proportion of the use of biopesticides or others which are of lower toxicity.

As a newcomer in the 21st century, biopesticides is highly recognized day by day. The greatest advantage of biopesticides lies on its reduced environmental impact and reduced residues in farm product. According to China’s 12th-5-Year Plan of Pesticide Industry, the proportion of high-efficient, safe, economic and environment-friendly pesticide shall reach above 50% by 2015. It has become a national competition strategy to develop biopesticides, and the commercial value of biopesticides will be further raised.

The No.1 Resolution of Chinese Central Government (a decision on agricultural reform and agricultural industrialization) specifies that the present agricultural development should give priority to the completeness of national food security system and meanwhile to establish a long-term mechanism for agricultural sustainable development.

Furthermore, from 2013 to 2014, China has published a series of biopesticides-oriented national standards, which will ensure the biopesticides quality control, market supervision and dispute arbitration, playing a key role in promotion of biopesticides development.

New Product & New Technology

1.The “biocontrol strain NKY122 & biocontrol fungicide against aromatic tobacco sickle-shape blight”, winning national invention patent in China.
2.The novel antibiotics doramectin metabolic engineering bacteria of independent intellectual property, as developed by Northeast Agricultural University.
3.Jiangxi Yichun Xinlong Chemical obtaining China’s first MbNPV registration.
4. Diamide insecticide (code: SYP9080) of independent intellectual property obtaining ICAMA registration.
5. A New biopesticide phenazine (tentative name) as developed jointly by Zhejiang Heben Pesticide & Chemicals and Sichuan Industrial Institute of Antibiotics.
6.Zhejiang Jinghua Biotechnology Development obtaining China’s first berberines registration.
7. China’s first plant activator of independent intellectual property: methiadinil registered by Lier Chemical.
8. Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences developed China’s first protein biopesticide against plant virus disease -- “6% oligosaccharides protein WP” 

Development of biopesticides well corresponds to China’s agricultural sustainable development strategy, being closely correlated to the reform and restructuring of Chinese agricultural science reform. Research into novel biopesticides will promote the technical upgrade of pesticide industry and will drive the development of the entire agro industry toward the Economy of Scale. Currently although some problems still exist with China’s biopesticides development, yet there will be a promising future for the long run due to the high efficiency, broad spectrum, safety and environment-friendly natures of biopesticides.