Russell IPM: Reliable Partner in the Pheromone Field

Q1: Can you please talk a bit about your company, Russell IPM’s work with local and multinational companies, and how you got started?
Russell IPM Ltd started from a University laboratory back in 1987. The early beginning was purely synthesis of complex insect pheromones which later expanded into the formulation of insect pheromones to provide management tools based on semiochemicals. Over the years Russell IPM became a reliable partner in the pheromone field to many Multinational companies, International organizations as well as national partners/distributors. This became the case due to commitment to quality, punctuality and continuous development and improvement. 

 

 

Russell IPM continually invest in people development, technology and above all research and development. Thinking outside the box and bringing novel and speedy solutions to the market to address current challenges has been the hallmark of Russell IPM. The team adopt “can do” attitude in addressing current challenges and often come up with novel and effective solutions. Although semiochemicals is Russell IPM’s core knowledge base, it does not confined itself to a particular technology or shy away from delving in unfamiliar territories. This led to the development of multidisciplinary solutions with unexpected outcome. For its size, the company has attracted many experienced scientists from different disciplines and collaborates with many leading research centres in UK and abroad.  

 

 

Russell IPM believes that fortifying plant health through biopesticides and biostimulates is fundamental to world food security while preserving the fragile ecosystem and human health. Most farming communities in developing countries have been flooded with cheap highly toxic pesticides combined with ignorance of the nature of these products and their application and risk has lead to increased resistance leading to exceeding recommended dose and untold damage to the farmer’s health as well as the people who consume his produces let alone falling in a spiral of debt due to imbalance between the increasing cost of input and the dwindling price of the produce. It almost as if the pests and the farmers became addicted to pesticides despite their obvious harm to the farmer’s health as well as his pocket. It is the challenge to change the face of agriculture in developing countries which prompt us to search for holistic bio solutions to assist farmers in producing healthy food sustainable and economically viable manor. And saving him and his family from their current edition. Other objective which we addressed is to develop bio solution to help small farmers in developing countries to reduce pesticide residue in their crop, opening the door to export markets and improved income. The new direction of the Chinese government to support the growth of bio pesticides and their application as a way to address the resistance of pest and diseases as well as the quart of the food, was and encouraging sing prompted Russell IPM to expand its activities in China.

 

The main challenges we are facing as proper to biopesticides are: One, the agrochemical regulatory regime in most countries is designed around chemical pesticides. The staff are trained around that as well for many years. Due to their ignorance with the nature of biopesticides, they tend to look at it in a suspicious way leading to huge delay to market entry. It will not be an exaggeration to say that some regimes are suspicious of biological control agents in a not dissimilar way to “Biological weapon agents” !

 

The second challenge is the supply chain. Ag input sales people and small agri dealers are not keen on developing alternative and more cost effective methods which in the future may cannibalizes their lucrative trade . 

Breaking these barriers are not easy but recently we succeed to get the support of the Government of Bangladesh to fund a three year project to introduce biopesticides, train extension officers and demonstrate the advantage of adopting a bio based agriculture in sectors currently barred from export due to its problem with insecticide residue. This project will be delivered in partnership with research institutes and extension services in selected regions. Such a government promoted models could be the way forward to advance the entry of biopesticides in many of the developing countries .

 

 

Russell IPM always adopted a steady organic growth with balancing market development with internal development and technology pipeline. The two main growth paths the company is committed to in the next five years are microbial fertilisers and plant protection system targeting food security crops in many parts of the world and specifically Africa. Secondly is the gradual rolling our of our smart remote monitoring systems in the main large agricultural markets. At this stage we will be seeking strategic partners to assist in the rolling out of their solutions. 

 

 

Looking at the bigger picture , biopesticides and biostimulants are the future no doubt. But we have a lot of work to do. There are many who are benefiting from the current situation by keeping this segment as a niche. I do not see any fundamental change to the share of the biopesticides in the pesticides market without fundamental change in governmental attitude toward biopesticides and the regulatory control of these products. Fundamental market change to word biopesticide is not expected before 2022. However, from our observations in many developing markets, we can see attitudes have started to change.

 

 

Current consolidations in my opinion does not represent a shift in the multinationals attitude toward biopesticides and does not effect the amount of products pumped into the market. In most cases, in the short term it may lead to some restrictions due to the lack of understanding and convictions of their frontline distribution channels which are trained on chemical solutions. Multinationals will most likely focus on high value and highly regulated markets such as USA and Europe leaving the rest of the world open for development by pioneering research and development companies to grow and flourish. Biopesticides and biostimulants will remain lead by small dynamic enterprising companies who are will to take risk and explore new frontiers. 

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