IHARA to launch 7 new technologies in 2024

IHARA has revealed exclusively to AgroPages its intention to offer Brazilian farmers seven new solutions this year. 

By 2026, the company expects to register ten products, including biologicals. In 2023 alone, the company launched seven new products, marking a significant advancement in its portfolio, including an insecticide, a fungicide, four herbicides, and a biological.

IHARA announced these projections as part of its celebrations marking 59 years of a trajectory marked by "innovation, commitment to quality, and sustainability in the field."

"Throughout its history, the company has stood out for its constant investment in research and development, providing effective solutions to the challenges faced by Brazilian farmers," IHARA said.

According to the company, these investments have allowed it to launch new products and modernize its portfolio, contributing to the protection and increased productivity of various crops in the country. 

"We are committed to offering innovative and sustainable solutions to Brazilian farmers, contributing to increased productivity and quality of crops," emphasized IHARA's Marketing, Culture, and Access Director, Rodrigo Lima.

To achieve this, he explained, "We direct all our potential into researching and developing new crop protection solutions, with sustainable, productive, and environmentally safe technologies, bringing increasingly modern molecules developed in Japan but adapting them to the reality of Brazilian agriculture."

"These new molecules help us develop more concentrated formulations with lower application rates, being selective and environmentally friendly," he added. 

This also reduced logistical costs, optimized storage space, and fewer packaging returns. 

"In addition, our product labels are increasingly comprehensive to control the largest number of targets at once, aiming to achieve maximum productivity potential and reduce the number of applications in the fields," Lima added.

The company currently works with 18 new active ingredients, representing the potential to generate 164 new fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, and biologicals in the coming years. 

For example, in 2023 alone, IHARA conducted over 200 research projects covering the development of new products, innovative formulations, and new applications for existing products. In 2024, the company is already conducting over 160 R&D projects.

Studying new active ingredients for the biological control of major pests and diseases has become essential to IHARA's R&D strategy. For this, the company invested in a laboratory focused on developing biological products, with a dedicated technical team for prospecting new active ingredients. The company aims to launch at least 15 potential new biological solutions.

"The use of agricultural pesticides, whether chemical or biological, is essential to ensure productivity by controlling the main pests, diseases, and weeds that harm crop development. Without these solutions, agricultural production losses could exceed 40%," Lima stressed.

To boost the development of new products, whether chemical or biological, IHARA currently has three research centers of its own, located in Sorocaba (SP), Sarandi (PR), and Primavera do Leste (MT). These centers are responsible for 90% of the company's research activities, with the remaining portion carried out through partnerships with Embrapa, universities, and other renowned private institutions, both national and international. 

With a portfolio of over 80 products to protect more than 100 types of crops, IHARA states that it aims to be a "close partner of Brazilian farmers, collaborating so they can produce food and energy with higher quality and sustainably."

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)