AgroPages-Corteva invests 20 mn in Cernay site for the production of fungicide Inatreq-Agricultural news

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Corteva Agriscience (formerly DowDuPont's agriculture division) has invested 20 million euros in its Cernay (France) site for the production of a new generation natural fungicide, Inatreq, destined for the European market.

Inatreq (chemical name: fenpicoxamid), whose active ingredient is extracted from a molecule produced by a bacterium," represents a new family of fungicides for cereals, able to fight against Septoria [disease affecting wheat and other major crops]".

The Cernay site hosts a 4,000 m 2 formulation unit and a packaging unit for the new fungicide. The production will begin in October, initially for the countries where the banana disease is rife. "We obtained marketing authorization at the European level. We are waiting for approvals in each Member State of the European Union by 2020-2021, "said Eric Dereudre, Director Northern Europe, who came together with Evaristo Bernades, Director of Formulation and Packaging, and Susan Lewis, Vice President of Operations." It takes ten to fifteen years and $250 million to develop a molecule," said the latter.

At Cernay and on its Uffholtz satellite site, Corteva, classified Seveso II high threshold, focuses on the synthesis, formulation, and packaging of products intended for the protection of crops, in the form of powder, granules or liquid . Cernay specializes in the production of fungicides and insecticides, Uffholtz in the manufacture of herbicides.

The two sites, led by Patrice Swinnen, include a synthesis unit, eleven formulation units and 14 packaging units for containers ranging from 10 g to 500 kg. The opening of this new unit consolidates an industrial site acquired in 1982 by DuPont. It initially allows the hiring of 50 people.