Croda officially opens its Crop Care Product Validation Centre

Croda International Plc, the company that uses smart science to create high performance ingredients and technologies that improve lives, has officially opened its Product Validation Centre on September 21. Located in Holambra near Sao Paolo, Brazil, this state-of-the-art centre is dedicated to serving the agrochemical market.

The new Product Validation Centre will enable Croda to prepare plant growth mediums according to climate characteristics of each region, and mimic test conditions accordingly. Research and development teams at the centre will then be able to perform applications during the desired growth period. The state-of-the-art facility also houses a spray chamber, providing customised product application according to specific requirements, enabling the company to tailor each trial to customer, crop or regional requirements and providing more detailed efficacy analysis.

Fernando Vinagre, Sales Manager for Croda Latin America commented: “The new facility captures our entire research and development cycle. Harnessing the skills of our dedicated team of specialists, which includes agronomists, chemists and biologists, this state-of-the-art facility will strengthen future product development. In addition, it will allow us to carry out further collaborative work with our customers by validating and substantiating the claims and results obtained in our formulation, microbiology and seed treatment laboratories.”

Fully digitised greenhouses at the new facility will also generate a controlled environment for different tests carried out in vivo. As well as evaluating the effectiveness of their adjuvants and additives, this new centre will give Croda the capability to analyse other variants, such as phytotoxicity, biomass and percentage of control, thus obtaining robust data for further product development. This will further facilitate Croda’s commitment to be Land Positive by 2030, meaning their products will save more land than they use.

Maximiliano Diaz, Marketing Coordinator at Croda concluded: “This centre brings together many of the great things that contribute to the Croda success story, all under the one roof. It will house a multitalented team, with a strong focus on innovation, digitalisation and new technologies, combining to create sustainable solutions for our customers. If you’d like to know more about our Product Validation Centre check out our website and social media channels or contact a member of the Crop Care team.”

Videos of the new Product Validation Centre can be viewed on the Croda Crop Care website.