Growth opportunities using Vive’s Allosperse technology

Vive Crop Protection makes proven products cutting edge using the Allosperse® Delivery System. Allosperse is a nanotechnology “shuttle” that enables active ingredients to mix better – with liquid fertilizer, other chemicals, micronutrients and hard water. This allows farmers to use these products in new ways to increase efficiency, crop quality and yield.

AgroPages has recently had a dialogue with Jordan Dinglasan, VP Product Development at Vive Crop Protection,who shared his viewpoints about Allosperse® delivery system and its application situation, as well as their future plan etc.

What do you see for the future of applying nanotechnology-based agrochemicals?

This is an interesting question because there’s some misinformation out there about what nanotechnology can do. Nanotechnology doesn’t change what a chemical does – it just changes how it behaves in its environment. Nanotechnology brings incremental – not revolutionary - changes to ag chem.

For example, Vive developed AZteroid FC 3.3 fungicide that contains azoxystrobin. Our use of nanotechnology doesn’t change the azoxystrobin properties – it still controls diseases and increases plant health like any other azoxystrobin would. In this case, nanotechnology allows azoxystrobin to mix with other things in the spray tank or irrigation pivot, which wasn’t possible before. Any performance benefits come from azoxystrobin – our technology just allows the product to be applied in different ways and at more beneficial times in a crop’s life.

Tell me more about Allosperse - what is it?     
       
The Allosperse Delivery System is a nanoscale, polymer-based delivery system with extremely high ‘tunability.’ We can produce many different types of polymer encapsulation particles with different internal and external chemical properties. The inside can be tuned for optimal association with an active ingredient, while the outside can be tuned for whatever behavior is desired - mixability, targeted mobility, stability, etc.

So is Allosperse technology the future?

We view Allosperse as a critical component to innovation in agriculture. Industry consolidation and increased regulatory barriers mean that fewer new active ingredients are being developed each year. We, as an industry, need to find new techniques to improve existing active ingredients, to help them be used in new ways. Delivery systems that help improve how active ingredients behave can provide new life to older chemistry, as well as improving environmental impact. Allosperse technology can be readily applied across multiple crops and/or active ingredients.

Is Vive doing this alone or in partnership with other companies?

We work with many other agrochemical companies to improve their proven products or new active ingredients using the Allosperse Delivery System. We view ourselves as being the “Intel Inside” in these unique products as they hit the market.

Are any products using Allosperse technology commercially available?

Vive was the first to bring nanotechnology to US crop protection and has two commercially-available products and three more awaiting US EPA approval.

Vive’s AZteroid FC 3.3 fungicide (azoxystrobin) and Bifender FC (bifenthrin) insecticide are worry-free, convenient and easy-to-use products that mix uniformly with liquid fertilizers. They maximize yield and profitability in a broad range of crops including corn, soybean, alfalfa, sugarbeets and potatoes. In fact, AZteroid FC 3.3 has been proven to increase sugarbeet yield by an average of 3.1 T/ac and sugar content by up to .6%.

Arysta Lifescience utilizes Allosperse technology in two commercially available products. Arysta and Vive received the Agrow Award for Best Industry Collaboration in 2017.

So what’s next?

Vive has a deep pipeline of branded products under development and the ag chem industry is very interested in Allosperse and what it can do - now and in the future. Our next generation of nanotech polymers will improve various active ingredients by improving their ability to reach targets below the soil surface by targeted soil mobility.

The third generation of Allosperse technologies will optimize the adhesion and uptake into foliage to improve retention and residual control of foliar applied products, improve viability of formulated biologicals or improve stability of formulations for moderately soluble active ingredients.

All of these are designed to help growers do more with less and create new ways growers can use and benefit from existing active ingredients.

This article was initially published in AgroPages '2019 Formulation & Adjuvant Technology ' magazine. Download the PDF version of the magazine to read more articles.