Pesticides Registered & Launched in 2014 and Analysis of Key Products

Pesticides Registered & Launched in 2014 and Analysis of According to Agropages’ available news resources, 2014 saw totally 81 pesticide registrations worldwide including 60 single active ingredient products and 8 mixture products. In 2014 there were totally 62 pesticide varieties being released to market including 34 single active ingredient products and 28 mixture products. Multinationals played major roles in the registrations and new product releases. Here is a summary and analysis of the key products launched in 2014 in different categories.

Multinationals focused on introduction of novel herbicides against resistant weed

Soybean and corn are the two major crops concerned by pesticide producers, and the main purpose of herbicide for the two crops is to deal with the resistant weed occurring over recent years. The herbicide registered and launched in 2014 shows that many of them were launched for the purpose control of resistant weed.

According to BASF, they launched 12 kinds of herbicide with different mode of action, which are used for soybean and corn, taking a leading position. The most prominent one should be the Kixor® herbicide series, which include the Sharpen® and Outlook® registered in 2014. The active ingredient of the first one is saflufenacil, which is a broadspectrum herbicide effective particularly for prevention and control of broadleaf weed and can be used for various crops (approved for use in rice in 2014); its mixture with glyphosate can be used for glyphosate tolerant GM crops and glyphosate-resistant weeds. The product worked very well after being released to market in 2009, resulting in a sales of $110 million globally in 2013.

The historic herbicide Enlist Duo™ of Dow AgroSciences (glyphosate+ 2,4-D choline) was eventually registered in the US in 2014, the new product, which has very superior advantages for soybean and corn resistant weeds is expected to be released to market in the US in 2015. The use of this herbicide is closely linked to the approval of the Enlist GM crop series.

At present Enlist GM soybean and corn have been approved in several countries including Canada and the US. Now Dowm AgroSciences are making preparations for the registration of Enlist GM cotton and other crops in hopes that the mass cultivation of these crops will expand the sales of the Enlist Duo™ herbicide.

DuPont’s soybean pre-planting herbicide Afforia™ comprises 3 active ingredients: thifensulfuron, flumioxazin and tribenuron, having been released to market in the US in 2014. Like other competitor’s products, Afforia™ is excellent in killing off very tough resistant weed. FMC’s corn herbicide Solstice™ (mesotrione+fluthiacet-methyl) can provide high-efficient and flexible postemergence weed prevention and control, being a practical and economical product for resistant weed control.

New Products for 2015

Besides AgroSciences’ Enlist Duo™ herbicide to be launched in 2015, other novel herbicides expected to be soon released to market include Syngenta’s Acuron™ (bicyclopyrone+atrazine+mesotrione+S-metolachlor), which is expected to be the first registered herbicide for prevention and control of giant ragweed.

Bicyclopyrone is Syngenta’s recently developed HPPD herbicide, which is excellent in pre-emergence and postemergence prevention and control of grassy weeds and broadleaf weeds in the field of corn, sugarcane and cereals, a product of high expectations of Syngenta.

Valent’s residual and broad-spectrum herbicide Fierce XLT (flumioxazin + pyroxasulfone) can control glyphosateresistant weed with effective preemergence prevention and control.

Strobilurin fungicide mixtures becoming hot releases

Some new fungicide varieties were registered in 2014, and strobilurin mixture became a very hot variety in the releases of 2014.

Ishihara Sangyo’s isofetamid is a newly developed SDHI fungicide, mainly used for fruit and vegetable; its common name was ISO approved in 2012. Isofetamid was registered in Canada in 2014; its registration in the US is tentatively planned for approval in 2015.

BASF’s fluxapyroxad is a SDHI fungicide launched in 2012, mainly used for cereal, soybean and corn. Its 2013 global sales reached $210 million, being a global hot sale SDHI fungicide only next to boscalid. In 2014 BASF obtained registrations of 2 single active ingredient fluxapyroxad products – Adexar® and Sercadis® as well as 2 mixture products with pyraclostrobin - Merivon® and Priaxor®. Pyraclostrobin is BASF’s strobilurin fungicide launched in 2002, being BASF’s star product. Its sales reached $930 million in 2013, only next to Syngenta’s similar fungicide azoxystrobin.

The strobilurin fungicide mixture products released in 2014 include ADAMA USA Custodia™ (tebuconazole + azoxystrobin), Arysta’s ViGold-T™ (fluoxastrobin + tebuconazole), Bayer CropScience’s 2 trifloxystrobin mixture products - Stratego® PRO (trifloxystrobin + propiconazole + prothioconazole) and Nativo® (trifloxystrobin + tebuconazole), as well as Syngenta’s Elatus™ (benzovindiflupyr + azoxystrobin). A sales comparison shows strobilurin fungicide to be globally the largest fungicide variety only next to triazole fungicides, which is a fungicide full of competition among multinationals. According to sales statistics, Syngenta’s azoxystrobin, BASF’s pyraclostrobin and Bayer CropScience’s trifloxystrobin respectively take the first 3 places in this kind of fungicide.

Replacement products for old insecticides

There were quite many registered insecticides in 2014 for replacement of old insecticides; some of them have novel mode of action, serving as replacement for out-of-date or restricted products.

In 2014 ADAMA USA registered and launched in the US the novel non-fumigant nematicide Nimitz, the active ingredient fluensulfone was a nematicide of brand new mode of action launched by the company in 2013. While other companies are gradually phase out the old, toxic fumigant or non-fumigant nematicide which cause environmental impact, the release of Nimitz™ fills up the gap in this aspect.

Bayer CropScience’s flupyradifurone is a butenolides insecticide of brand-new mode of action for control of sucking pests. The imidacloprid of Bayer CropScience is suspected to have relevance to the death of honey bee, resulting in an impact to sales. The release of flupyradifurone will be an ideal replacement for imidacloprid.

In 2014 Bayer CropScience obtained registrations of 2 formulated products which are respectively the BYI 0296048 and the Sivanto® 200 SL using flupyradifurone as active ingredient. The single active ingredient flupyradifurone product Sivanto ® Prime was released in Central America. The momfluorothrin of Sumitomo Chemicals is also a newly developed non-agriculture oriented insecticide, which was registered in Canada in 2014. Momfluorothrin is a pyrethroid insecticide, which is of wide insecticidal spectrum and is effective in the prevention and control of flying, reptile, biting and arthropod insects.

Conventional pesticide companies stressing on biopesticides registration

On top of the conventional biopesticide companies such as Marrone Bio inovations and Koppert Biological Systems, Bayer CropScience, after acquisition of AgraQuest has become very active in development and registration of biopesticides. In 2014 Bayer CropScience obtained registrations in Canada of the 2 bacillus subtilis – based products - Kodiak ® Concentrate and Serenade SOIL®.