DOGAL: Continuously Invest in R&D and Launch New and Edgy Products Become Key Player in Emerging Markets

″We are planning to invest in new production lines, additional facilities, biological products, enhance export activities, develop technical marketing in abroad countries and enlarge the scope of our laboratory's R&D topics. We fully believe that these investments will provide a significant increase in the market share of our companies in the next 5 years. Our goal is to become one of the main players in emerging markets and to increase our turnover by 15% and production quantity 40% in the next 5 years,″ said M.Murat Turkmenoglu, Board Member - Technical Marketing & Business Development at DOGAL, in a recent interview with AgroPages. 

He also shared his views on the DOGAL’s agrochemical product series and the strategies of product development, the overview of formulation R&D, production, and application, innovation formulation technology, as well as the development plan of DOGAL etc.

Please briefly introduce DOGAL, global presence, and core competitiveness.

Shortly DOGAL(transl. PESTICIDES & AGROCHEMICALS INDUSTRY TRADE AS), was established in 1992 as a member of group companies (3 Agrochemicals and 1 in the food industry), that started operating in 1989, in Istanbul - Türkiye by experienced founders in agrochemicals’ field. DOGAL’s headquarter is in the commercial center of Türkiye, Istanbul and the factory is located in the greenhouse capital of Türkiye, Antalya. Together with the difference provided by our advanced production facilities, we are proud of signing unique activities in the agrochemicals’ field.

The plant and a cutting-edge QC lab are also located on the Antalya campus. With more than 200 employees, DOGAL has the capacity to provide agrochemicals to all customers and farmers with technical support, including registration, chemical R&D, procurement, formulation, synthesis, and QC.  

DOGAL has regional offices and sales force in agriculturally active regions of Türkiye with around 60 agronomists, who provides responsive customer service and technical support to farmers and customers. Currently, DOGAL A.S. reaches traders and farmers in more than 19 nations outside of Türkiye. Export activities also play an important role in Doğal's production processes.

We have established companies in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan that are 100% belong to DOGAL. More than 10 agricultural engineers employed in these 3 regions. We continue to work in these countries from a technical and marketing point of view; field trials, field days, demos, actively using CRM and social media. We develop our marketing potential in these countries. 

Our extensive team in agro sector has been serving Türkiye's wide crop range for more than 30 years. Our core competitiveness comes from our experience, our extensive and professional technical staff, and our valuation of product management selected from a marketing perspective. And in this context, we continue to work on crop-oriented programs both in Türkiye and abroad. 

Talk about your company’s agrochemical product series. What are the strategies of product development of DOGAL and corresponding initiatives?

DOGAL A.S. has become a leading formulator, manufacturer, distributor and importer- exporter of more than 200 registered off-patent crop protection products (fungicides, insecticides, herbicides, nematicides) and plant growth regulators; chemical and organomineral fertilizers certified by The Turkish Ministry of Agriculture; and other agro-products namely pH regulators, soil regulators, special plant feeds, adjuvants, sun screens for both crops and greenhouses. As DOGAL, we are proud of our wide range of quality products and the responsive technical service we provide.

Türkiye has multicultural product pattern. Thanks to its geographical position, Türkiye has a climate in which agricultural activities are easily diversified. Citrus, cereals, stone and pome fruits, potato, hazelnut, maize, rice, cherry, olive, pistachios, lentil, undercover vegetables, vinery, walnut, almond, tobacco, cotton and sunflower are some of the leading products, which led us to develop a wide product portfolio. We focus on all kinds of Plant Protection Products (PPP). Although we are active in 19 countries, our highest market share is in Türkiye. 

We continue our promotional activities to leading producers and agricultural enterprises in the market, with our products selected in line with sustainable agriculture, with around 60 sales and technical engineers working in the field. To mention some of these products are Megafil Tablet and Megafil WSG, Nordox 75 WG, Super Artıran, Sun Stop, Greenhouse Shader, Durduran 3 C, Jasop, Fatcho 5 EC, Tripp 900 EC, Nergofex. As a result of our intensive work in recent years, we have made significant progress in the wheat market with Megafil Tablet and Megafil WSG. Producers using Megafil achieved a 10-15% yield increase in their wheat. The combined use of Megafil Tablet and Super Artıran has become a practice and perceived as guarantee of yield and quality by wheat producers. Our technological non-staining, superior quality liquid coppers Jasop and Fatcho 5 EC have become effective solution brands against bacterial and fungal diseases of growers in Türkiye and abroad with their high formulation quality and effective performance in the field. Our special products SunStop and Greenhouse Shader, which are used to protect from the negative effects of the sun, are used extensively by the growers and provide high benefits, increase in quality and quantity. Our nematicide Tripp 900 EC has become the primary brand used by growers by providing effective nematode control in the tomato, pepper and potato market. In variable climatic conditions, our PGRs are among the most frequently applied aids, Durduran 3 C is mainly for cotton and cereals. Nergofex is common for kiwifruit producers.

Could you introduce the overview of formulation R&D, production, and application of DOGAL and relevant facilities & capabilities? What are the challenges and countermeasures during above process?

In the last 3 years, we have undergone renovations in terms of both the building and the machinery to increase the capacity and quality of our production in a closed area of 15.000m2. Our aim is to make the total quality system 100% efficient, to increase our product quality and to make it perfect. In addition, in recent years, we have made our factory ready to meet the contract manufacturing demands from international companies by producing just-in-time and in accordance with the demands.

In our factory SL, LS, EC, SC, DC, FS, CS, OD, WP, DS, SP, EW, FF, DF/WDG, Tablet and Powder manufacturing and filling lines are available separately for each kind of plant protection and nutrition products. This proves the variety of options coming out of our production line.

As DOGAL, our annual liquid formulation capacity is 20.000 MT and powder/granule formulation capacity is 5.000 MT. Our sun protection products production capacity is 5.000 MT/year. 

We are an ISO 9001:2015 and ISO14001:2015 certified company engaged in manufacturing of pesticide and other agrochemicals. 

Highlight the innovation formulation technology and special features. And share some technologies to accelerate formulation innovation. Tell us some successful cases to develop formulations based on different application scenarios and market needs. 

DOGAL A.S continuously invest in R&D and launch new and edgy products to fulfill the gaps in crop protection market and differentiate from its competitors. We make improvements on existing formulations and make them better than their counterparts. We successfully market both domestically and internationally. 

Our company, which is in the leading position in the Gibberellic Tablet market in Turkey in terms of quality and sales quantity, increases the sales of this quality formulation abroad day by day and receives significant demands. The experience we have accumulated over the years in the production of gibberellic acid has brought our quality to the highest point. And we are constantly investing to make this quality sustainable. In the same market, we have licensed the gibberellic acid WSG formulation and presented it to the field crops market this year. In addition, considering the increasing need in the changing world market, we developed approximately 30 new formulations to create in our organomineral fertilizer portfolio and presented them to the market in 2023.

Two of the many well performing products of our portfolio, GREENHOUSE SHADER and SUN STOP, are the top selling sunscreen products in Türkiye, and also very popular in the global market. These 2 are very special formulations we have developed on market demand against heat stress and sun damage, which has been increasing in recent years. SUNSTOP is a sunscreen to be sprayed on the plants and GREENHOUSE SHADER is a shading product to be applied to the outer surface of greenhouses. 

Could you share some changes of market requirements, regulation & policy and application technologies of your company's target markets? What are the product development strategies in response to evolving changes?

As a company in the rapidly changing agricultural market in the world, we witness every day that the world continues to develop on a sustainable basis. According to this situation, the companies should also renovate themselves in all areas of production progress specific to sustainability. In this context, we evaluated new investment opportunities related to biological production in the technology development center in addition to our existing factory in the Antalya Organized Industrial Zone. We have projects related to biological production. 

We examine the EU Green Deal Agreement in great detail while determining our strategy. We determine our strategy according to our predictions about what the results of this will bring in years 2030-2040. We especially take into account the demands of export markets, follow the banned products in the European list very closely and determine our strategies to ensure compliance with the EU list. We aim to expand our portfolio of newly off-patented assets, biopesticides and fertilizers.

Could you share the major agrochemical formulations and types in Türkiye, key considerations and challenges for developing formulations in Türkiye?

All formulation types applied in the world find the opportunity to be produced and put on the market as a result of R&D activities in our country. Since our R&D laboratory is experienced and strong in the development of formulations, there is no difficulty.

We make a serious investment in our R&D laboratory so that these formulations can be produced in high quality. Especially as a result of our experienced and strong staff in the R&D lab, we successfully produce the existing formulations and perfect our formulations by making analyzes in accordance with world standards in the laboratory and field trials by our agronomists.

What’s the development plan of DOGAL AS. in the next 3-5 years?

As a group, we have 2 main brands; Dogal and Agrotez. We are planning to increase our current market share with the production investments we have made in recent years by increasing our current marketing strategies and staff in order to increase the recognition and sustainability of these 2 main brands both in the country and abroad. In this context, we are planning to invest in organomineral fertilizers and biological products and new formulations that are rapidly developing in the world in accordance with the changing market conditions. We fully believe that these investments will provide a significant increase in the market share of our companies in the next 5 years. Our goal is to become one of the main players in emerging markets, to increase our turnover by 15% and production quantity 40% in the next 5 years.

This article was published in AgroPages '2023 Formulation & Adjuvant Technology ' magazine published this May.

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