Syngenta: Building integrated solutions to aerial crop protection, being active in exploration of new ideas into product development and service

Editor’s note: According to relevant data, by the end of 2023, plant protection UAVs' capacity reached 200,000 units in China. They served an application area of over 2.1 billion mu (140 million Ha), especially with the continued rise in the application to control of rice and wheat pests and diseases. China has become the country with the largest capacity of agriculture drones in the world and the most extensive application area, leading the global aerial application operations in respect of annual operating area, application volume and technical level. 

With the gradual popularization of aerial application, problems are also emerging daily, such as the lack of particular pesticides for aerial application, lack of a sound administration system, lack of effective industry or national standards, lack of professional operator team, and satisfactory social service system. As a critical factor in aerial application,  the aerial application-oriented particular pesticides remain as one of the problems that need to be solved urgently. 

Prime aerial crop protection players have successively upgraded their existing products, or developed new formulations to better match the needs of aerial application scenarios. In addition to making efforts on product and technology, some companies are committed to the whole industrial chain development for aerial application by providing farmers with an integrated ″product + service″ solution.

In light of the existing problems, key players have made suggestions and called for improvement to the administration system as early as possible, wishing to participate in the establishment of effective industry standards or national standards, as well as establishment of a stable and professional pilot organizations. At the same time, the entire industrial chain is required to collaborate closely so as to enable a high-quality development of the aerial crop protection industry.

Recently, AgroPages invited some key players in this field to discuss and analyze the problems and challenges faced by aerial applications, share solutions, practical experiences and forecast the future. These companies include Noposion, Wynca, Syngenta, Bayer CropScience, Guangxi Tianyuan and Jiangxi Zhengbang. In this article, Chen Shaoyong, Aerial Application Commercial Manager, Syngenta Group China Crop Protection Business Unit and Zhong Yingjia, Innovative Business Development Manager, Syngenta Group China Crop Protection Business Unit shared their insights.

Syngenta’s U-ban^® contributes to industry upgrading, building up aerial application standards in cooperation with industry experts

In 2019, Syngenta established its aerial application brand – U-ban, which integrates drone application criteria, pesticidal agent, adjuvant and technical guidance to carry out the ″product + technology +aerial application″ one-stop service in cooperation with channel customers and aerial application service providers. 

Syngenta, along with the China Crop Protection Industry Association (CCPIA), industry experts and enterprises, has drafted the Safe Aerial Application Criteria, calling for and guiding partners in cooperation to establish and implement standardized procedures for aerial application of crop protection products.

With guidance from the National Agro-Tech Extension & Service Center, China Crop Protection Industry Association, and China Association of Pesticide Development & Application, Syngenta follows the principle of precision application, system perfection, and operation standardization to organize training of drone operators for aerial application. Syngenta promotes formation and transformation of the new ″product + service″ mode in the pesticide industry and makes further optimization of the professionalism of new farmers and agricultural drone operators, having promised training of 1 million growers every year. The U-ban brand follows the standardized conception of scientific and safe operation of crop protection drones, aiming to promote the sustainable agricultural development.

The U-ban, through the company’s in-house experimentation and the expert team of China Agricultural University, makes adaptive screening of products for aerial spraying and conducts rigorous outdoor aerial application-associated testing in cooperation with drone manufacturers, thus validating the safety and effectiveness of the product to be used in aerial application. Based on the validated technologies, Syngenta has launched its product series by aerial application-oriented technical guidance, which has been promoted to the market for many years.

At present, CCPIA and the expert team have recognized several suggested technical standards for the U-ban program, which resulted in the formulation and publication of the Technical Guideline for Aerial Application to Control of Disease and Insect Pest.

In addition, institutions and experts of Syngenta Group China participated in preparing five aerial application-oriented formulation standards, as proposed by China Association of Pesticide Development & Application and drafted by ICAMA, which have been released to public.

To adopt a ″two-leg-walking″ strategy to develop formulations for aerial application,  exploring mixtures and method of evaluation of mixtures

Syngenta has been closely watching aerial application development in China and has done a lot of exploratory work. To better meet the formulation requirement for aerial application, Syngenta adopted a ″two-leg-walking″ strategy. For products that have been released to market, Syngenta conducts relevant physical tests based on the aerial application scenarios, covering suspension rate, dilution stability, and emulsion stability to screen the formulations fit for aerial application; for newly developed products, Syngenta gives priority to the aerial application needs in new product development. In the formulation design, the adjuvant system is optimized to achieve the best effect of aerial application; a series of aerial application-related tests are carried out in the development process to ensure that the new product is fit for aerial application. In addition, Syngenta has developed a device that can simulate drone spray to test the spray performance.

The mixed application of pesticides is a common way of pesticides application in China, which often includes pesticide, pesticide mixtures, pesticide-foliar fertilizer mixtures, and pesticide-biostimulant mixtures. However, in the case of the concentration for aerial application, the above-mentioned mixtures are prone to incompatibility, resulting in problems such as flocculation, layering, sedimentation and foaming. Over the last few years, Syngenta has done a lot of testing on tank-mix compatibility, having established a scientific and rational method for testing and evaluating the compatibility of mixtures, which has been promoted and used in aerial applications. Moreover, Syngenta has conducted in-depth research into the tank-mix compatibility-targeted adjuvant, having selected suitable adjuvants for use in Syngenta’s various tank-mix solutions to enable better stability and performance.

Creation of Yixuan product series to serve growers in cooperation with agricultural service partners

Yixuan brand is an innovative business brand of Syngenta Group China, which gathers Sinochem’s strong technical material supply chain, Syngenta’s most advanced pesticide R&D capability and ADAMA’s most extensive generic product line, Sinochem’s existing crop protection products, Grand AgroChem’s aerial application-oriented adjuvants and Sinofert’s plant nutrients, having formed a complete product layout covering fungicides, insecticides, seed coating agent and special fertilizers. The Yixuan brand put together the results of new explorations with the application of new technologies, new models, and new scenarios, being dedicated to serving growers in cooperation with agricultural service partners via the provision of the newly established trustworthy Yixuan aerial application-dedicated product series, covering adjuvants, formulations, and nutrients.

This interview was published in AgroPages '2024 Formulation&Adjuvant Technology' magazine. Click the following picture to Read/Download. 

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