BASF Agricultural Solutions: Have a leading fungicide portfolio and continuously innovate new fungicides active substances

Editor's Note: "Our innovation power focuses on meeting customer needs and is reflected in new application methods which are challenged by increased regulatory pressure and more ambitious sustainability goals. For this, we apply the most advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, automation and modelling," said Gustavo Palerosi Carneiro, Senior Vice President, Global Strategic Marketing, BASF Agricultural Solutions in a recent interview with AgroPages.

He also shared his views on the BASF Agricultural Solutions ' fungicide product lines and special features, company’s research & technology and production facilities, challenges and countermeasures of the fungicide development and production, as well as strategies of product development etc.

Gustavo Palerosi Carneiro 

Senior Vice President, Global Strategic Marketing, BASF Agricultural Solutions

Please introduce your company fungicide product lines and special features. Pls highlight the innovation formulation technology and unique strengths?

At BASF Agricultural Solutions, we are committed to provide tailor-made solutions to farmers that help them to produce more and better crops efficiently and in a sustainable way around the world. We focus on improving agricultural outcomes in major cropping systems, like soybean, corn and cotton in the Americas, fruits and vegetables globally, wheat and oilseeds in Europe and North America and rice in Asia. 

We have a leading fungicide portfolio with many chemical and biological solutions across different mode of actions and for all major crops.

Our innovation power focuses on meeting customer needs and is reflected in new application methods which are challenged by increased regulatory pressure and more ambitious sustainability goals. For this, we apply the most advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, automation and modelling. 

We continuously innovate building a track record of new fungicides active substances. Our latest innovation is Revysol®, a unique chemistry that meets future efficacy levels and regulatory requirements. 

Could you introduce your company’s research & technology and production facilities and relevant capabilities in fungicide? 

BASF Agricultural Solutions relies on a strong international network of R&D and production sites. This proximity to customers enables us to leverage our innovation power for fungicides and tailor our solutions to the specific regional market needs of our customers. It also positions us to seize future market opportunities and increase our competitiveness.

What are the challenges and countermeasures in R&D, formulation & production, marketing and application of fungicide? Pls highlight the solutions for accelerating fungicide innovation.

The environment is changing very dynamically, also with regards to climate and regulatory, while innovation cycles for crop protection products usually take several years. At BASF Agricultural Solutions, we are proactively researching new active ingredients that will help farmers to answer tomorrow’s challenges. In the past, industry used a linear research approach to optimize fungicidal performance of new active ingredients prior to environmental testing. BASF has shifted this research process to a parallel testing and significantly accelerated it by applying digital methods such as 3D modelling. This transformation in our crop protection R&D allows us to better meet sustainability requirements at an early stage and to balance environmental requirements with field performance.

The accelerated discovery and development processes lead to a more targeted development of new fungicidal active ingredients that are highly efficient and at the same time are very safe and meet the highest regulatory standards.

Could you share the latest changes in market needs, regulation & policy and application of fungicide in different regions globally? Accordingly, what are the strategies of product development? What are the corresponding strategic measures?

Societal expectations, regulatory requirements, more extreme weather events and the development of resistances are only some of the many challenges farmers are facing. 

With a deep understanding of this complexity, we provide growers a holistic portfolio, including conventional and biological crop protection such as fungicides, but also seeds, traits, and digital products and solutions.

Digitalization will play an increasingly important role for farmers worldwide. BASF, through xarvio® Digital Farming Solutions, is at the forefront of the digital transformation of agriculture. The digital products under the xarvio® brand are designed to deliver independent field-zone specific agronomic advice to enable farmers produce more effectively, efficiently, and sustainably.

At the same time, we work on adapting our fungicide innovations for digital agriculture, e.g. drone application, which allows to apply crop protection products safely and only where needed. 

In your professional opinion, what kind of fungicide products do you think are the most promising? Why?

Fungicide products that provide an excellent regulatory profile and high CO2 efficiency, are safe to use and deliver better yields will become increasingly important. We continuously innovate to offer farmers a wider range of mode of actions. This is an essential part in resistance management, which is vital to protect yield sustainably. 

Revysol^® is BASF’s latest fungicide innovation and the first isopropanol-azole being introduced to the market. It shows an outstanding biological performance, delivering a new level of disease control compared to existing azoles. Farmers benefit from an outstanding solution to reduce complexity and improve farm management. More information on Revysol^® is provided here.

Could you briefly introduce fungicide global market landscape / scenario, driving force and its growth prospects over the coming years? 

To contribute to food security for a growing world population, farmers need reliable tools to safeguard their yields, now and in the future. At the same time, we expect increasing regulatory requirements and consumer demand for even more sustainably produced food in the coming years. Latest fungicide innovations from BASF Agricultural Solutions will help secure yields, are safe and enable environmentally sound application. Our innovations in agriculture are key to finding the right balance for success – for farmers, for agriculture and for future generations. 

If you'd like to share your company/solutions story, please contact Grace Yuan via: grace@agropages.com

This article was initially published in AgroPages' 'Annual Review 2021' magazine.