Qilu, industry leader of high quality spinosad

Editor：Mickey Shan

Feature : Showcase of China’s ″Specialized and Novel″ crop protection products/technologies/applications

▋ Special sponsor: Lansheng Biotechy 

▋ A total of 11 enterprises are introduced in this series; The Feature was first published in the latest "2023 China Pesticide Industry Watch" 

The overall industrial upgrading of Chinese manufacture industry happens to coincides with the unprecedented changes in the last 100 years. 

In this new era full of opportunities and policy support, the Chinese pesticide enterprises have worked hard to achieve constant technical breakthroughs via innovation and upgrading, as based on the experiences gained in the past decades. Some enterprises have so far made preliminary achievements, having formed an advanced and sophisticated technology and product cluster. 

In this Feature, we have selected 11 Chinese pesticide manufacturers that are characterized with professionalism, intensification, specialization and novelty, which is a presentation of Chinese pesticide enterprise’s research and development of new products, breakthroughs in technical innovation, upgrading of type of formulations and continued exploration of applications. The publication will exhibit the achievements in each individual sector, which is internationally advanced, revealing the new competitiveness of Chinese pesticide industry.

▉Series of special topics are released in succession → specially planned by AgroPages

• Lansheng Biotech：Green chemical innovation drives fine chemical production to reach a new level

• Eastlake High-Tech: Application of microreaction, continuous flow technologies to improve quality of plant growth regulators

• Qilu, industry leader of high quality spinosad

• KingAgroot – Innovative flagship integrating compound creation and biotechnical breeding

• CAC Nantong: Cyproflanilide, a created novel insecticide with unique action mechanism

• Yonon: Production of L-glufosinate on multienzyme

• Lier Chemical: 20,000-ton L-glufosinate production capacity to start running soon

• Red Sun: Diquat dichloride aims to create new burndown herbicide market trend

• Fosetyl-aluminium: Focusing on European wine grape market, Limin’s product concept upgraded

• Pilarbio: Working imaginatively on CS – an innovative cutting-edge formulation

• Chengdu New Sun: Making breakthroughs in industrialized application of plant growth regulation coronatine, first time in the world

 Qilu, industry leader of high quality spinosad 

With the intensified prohibition and restriction of high-toxic pesticides worldwide and the consumer’s increased demand for healthy food, biopesticides have been proliferating in recent years.

In the long run, biopesticides have a vast market potential providing considerable social, economic and ecological benefits, which play an essential role in safe farming. Currently, manufacturers are paying more attention to biopesticides. In addition, the research, development and application of high-efficient, low-toxic and pollution-free biopesticides have become a hot topic among the industry.

Spinosad is a macrolide pollution-free and efficient botanical insecticide extracted by researchers of Dow AgroSciences from Saccharopolyspora spinosa fermentation broth. It is of contact and stomach toxicity, with the advantages of broad spectrum against insect pests while being safe to humans, non-target animals and the environment. It is biodegradable, not only highly insecticidal but also safe to beneficial insects and mammals, which is fit for application to pollution-free vegetables and fruits. According to the Chinese pesticide toxicity classification standard, spinosad is a low-toxic insecticide. It is relatively low toxicity to mammals and birds and is safe for aquatic life, making it the first choice for integrated pest management.

Spinosad has a novel mode of action, which can continuously activate the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors of target insects, but its binding site is different from nicotine and imidacloprid. It can quickly paralyze pests and eventually cause the death of pests; it can cause the quick death of target phytophagous insects such as caterpillars, leafworm, thrips and leaf-eating beetles.

Spinosad is a mixture containing more than ten ingredients, mainly spinosad A and spinosad D. The ratio of spinosad A to spinosad D is represented by the α value of the product, where the higher the value is, the better the product effect is.

Over the years, Qilu Pharmaceutical has adhered to the concept of green development. The corporate development goal of the company is to make continuous research, development, upgrading and production of green, high-efficient biopeptides to make ″green spraying″ to the crop fields and continue to build a solid ecological barrier to promote the green development of Chinese agriculture.

Many Chinese enterprises have been developing spinosad, whilst Qilu Pharmaceutical has taken the lead in making technical breakthroughs. After more than ten years of research and exploration, Qilu Pharmaceutical (Inner Mongolia) Co., Ltd could overcome the process difficulties and successfully developed and commercialized production and supply of spinosad in 2017, having become the second manufacturer in the world to achieve commercialized production and supply of spinosad, enabling the company to become an industry leader in the Chinese market in respect of technical innovation, production and supply of the product. With the operation of its Hulunbuir production base, the production capacity of spinosad has exceeded 1,500 tons, tanking first in the world.

The spinosad content of Qilu Pharmaceutical Group is as high as 93%, which meets the standard of veterinary drugs, with fewer impurities, which is good for formulation. Meanwhile, the α value of the product gets higher, which ensures the better effect of formulations.

In 2022, Qilu Pharmaceutical Group stepped into the pesticide formulation sector by acquiring Anhui Huaxing Chemical. Hence, Qilu has been making continuous business deployment in the green biopesticide industry to establish a rich product mix, safeguarding China’s national food security strategic development and food safety initiative. At the same time, a wide range of spinosad formulations have been launched, including spinosad 10% SC (Huaxing, Laosha, Hanqingsu and Jitongling), spinosad 480 g/L SC (Banzhi, Jiwuming), spinosad 0.5% powder (Huaxing Gongcheng), spinosad.emamectin benzoate 20% (Wadun). These products provide growers with new choices for control of pests such as diamondback moth, prodenia litura, fruit fly and thrips, having contributed a lot to the development of Chinese green agriculture.

As a botanical insecticide, spinosad is comparable to chemical pesticides in terms of the fast-acting effect and pest-killing rate. Nevertheless, to use spinosad reasonably and fully play its function for prevention and control, attentions need to be paid to the three aspects: Accurate timing of application, sufficient dosage and combination use.

The first to apply the product at the right time. According to the growth stage of different pests, a sensitive period should be determined, and the product applied in a timely manner, thus achieving the best effect. To control thrips, the best timing for application would be the beginning of the high incidence period of thrips; to control pests such as diamondback moth and beet moth, the best timing for application would be the young larval stage.

Second, the dosage should be sufficient. Through the exploration of the marketing team of Qilu Pharmaceutical, it is noticed that the field application of spinosad must be sufficient. Taking Qilu spinosad formulation product as an example, which is usually used to control lepidopteran pests such as diamondback moth and beet moth, the use of 5 mL of 480 g/L of spinosad SC (Banzhi) per mu (1 mu = 1/15 hectare) will be desirable, added with water of 15 kg for an even spraying, at water consumption of 45 kg per mu; to control thrips, the use of 20-30 mL of spinosad 10% SC (Hanqingsu) per mu will be desirable, at water consumption of 45 kg per mu. For other types of pests, refer to the operation instruction manual or consult the retail store.

Lastly, the optimum application would be a combination use. For different types of pests, a single-agent solution may not cause complete death of insects, which may reemerge and even become resistant. Therefore, it is recommended that spinosad is used through a combination to enhance the insecticidal effect and delay the emergence of resistance. Similarly, taking the spinosad formulation product as an example, to control thrips, the use of 10-20 mL of spinosad 10% SC in + 30 mL of emamectin benzoate 5.7% ME (Hongruida) per mu is recommended, at water consumption of 45 kg per mu, thus to kill pests more completely at even less amount of use, versus the use of spinosad alone or emamectin benzoate alone.

This article was initially published in AgroPages' 2023 China Pesticide Industry Watch magazine.