New Biologicals Business Development of UPL, Bayer, Syngenta, Corteva, FMC

With global climate change, increased environmental awareness and a growing focus on agricultural sustainability, biologicals are rapidly emerging as sustainable solutions, attracting industry giants, such as UPL, Bayer, Syngenta, Corteva, and FMC, to accelerate the development of their biologicals business.

These companies expand their businesses in multiple ways. They launch innovative products, establish research and development (R&D) partnerships, set up international R&D centers, and expand production facilities and capacity to meet growing market demands. Their portfolios span multiple areas of biocontrol and biostimulation, aiming to provide farmers with more comprehensive, practical and sustainable agricultural solutions.

Below is an overview of progress over the past year and plans of the five giants in the biologicals sector.

UPL

UPL's Natural Plant Protection (NPP) business unit offers products in both biocontrol and biostimulation. The company continually introduces new biosolutions to the market. For instance, after launching the bionematicide Nimaxxa in Brazil in 2023, UPL is awaiting registration approval of the product in the United States. Its Yukon, a product effective on downy mildew launched in Europe, will enter multiple Latin American markets in FY25. Currently, UPL has ten new active ingredients in its NPP pipeline.

UPL has made much progress in expanding business in Latin America. In 2023, the company established a new state-of-the-art Global NPP Research Center in Mexico, featuring a modern greenhouse to facilitate collaborations with local and international universities and research centers. UPL plans to expand its Bioplanta facility in Brazil in 2024. The expansion will include additional laboratories for the development of biologicals. Bioplanta currently produces algae-based, micronutrient-based products, with plans to significantly increase its production capacity in the coming years.

Beyond Latin America, UPL has incorporated Step-Down wholly owned subsidiary, UPL Lanka Bio, in Sri Lanka. It aims to promote sustainable agriculture, drive transformational growth through technology integration, facilitate innovation, provide farmers with biosolutions, and foster collaboration across the food value chain.

Moreover, UPL has worked with Radicle Growth to launch ″The Radicle NPP Challenge by UPL″, investing US$1.75 million in startups worldwide that are advancing biosolutions. UPL is confident that these substantial R&D investments will empower its technological development.

To be closer to the growers and better understand their challenges, UPL is strengthening its sales team through NPP Academy, an online digital training program covering their 28 hero products and incentivizing the entire sales organization. UPL has deployed over 100 NPP field promoters across 20 countries in Brazil and Europe to boost product demand. The company's Pronutiva program addresses growers' concerns by combining biologicals with traditional crop protection products, benefiting crops such as bananas in Central America and pomegranates in Europe.

The NPP business is expected to drive UPL's future growth. With the global biosolutions market projected to grow at about 10% annually over the next five years, UPL aims to outpace this growth with a CAGR of approximately 14% over the next three years, leveraging its current portfolio and a new pipeline.

Bayer

As a critical strategic program, Bayer focuses on regenerative agriculture, encompassing various sustainable solutions to address climate change and food security challenges. The company aims to achieve good quality and yield with soil protection and natural solutions and reduce the use of chemicals. To support regenerative agriculture, Bayer emphasizes the development of biosolutions, particularly in biocontrol and biostimulation.

Bayer's biological portfolio includes various products containing microbes, microbial metabolites, or plant-derived active ingredients. The company has launched over 20 biologicals to meet growing market demand. In China, Bayer introduced the Root2Success brand, featuring notable products, such as Serenade, based on the patented strain, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens QST 713, which promotes crop health in multiple ways.

Bayer's Ibisio, a bird control product containing black pepper oleoresin as the active ingredient, is designed to protect freshly sown fields from birds. The product will be launched in Europe. In 2023, about 20% of corn fields in the EU and the UK used seed treatments including bird repellents. However, very few plant protection products are now available for bird control. This product will provide farmers with a new option to address the problem.

The company has also established distribution partnerships, such as with Elicit Plant in France for Best-a and EliZea, containing phytosterols to mitigate the crop’s water stress, with MustGrow Biologics for mustard-based biocontrol products in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and with AlphaBio Control for a new bioinsecticide-acaricide targeting arable crops.

To discover breakthrough technologies, Bayer invests in external companies through its impact investment arm, Leaps by Bayer. Although Bayer Crop Science's R&D team spends $2.9 billion internally annually to enhance its world-leading R&D capabilities, many technologies of external companies are areas that Bayer has yet to venture into. Leaps by Bayer has invested in several companies, such as NewLeaf Symbiotics, in its newly completed Series D financing.

Bayer aims to achieve a 17% CAGR for its biologicals sales performance, raising from €200 million in 2022 to €1.5 billion in 2035. The company's strategy includes expanding its portfolio, accelerating market entry for the pipeline, and establishing R&D partnerships. Bayer continues to collaborate with leading innovative companies and strengthen its internal R&D capacity, striving to prepare for the launch of new products to achieve its growth targets.

Syngenta

Syngenta is developing its biologicals business by launching new products and investing significantly in its portfolio for plant/seed health.

Recent product launches include Pyrevert 5% EC, a natural pyrethrin-based insecticide for the Spanish market. The product contains high concentration of the active ingredient to control aphids, whiteflies, thrips, cluster moths, leafhoppers, potato beetles, vinegar flies and other pests in many crops.

The company has also reached distribution and R&D partnerships to expand its offerings for insect pest control. Syngenta will provide Lithos Crop Protect’s a sprayable pheromone formulation targeting Western corn rootworm, a key pest in European corn. Syngenta also partners with Agriodor to develop an allomone against sugar beet aphids. In addition, Syngenta collaborates with Lavie Bio to speed up the R&D process for novel biopesticides.

Another collaboration is with Intrinsyx Bio. Syngenta acquired a 40% ownership of Intrinsyx Bio with $29 million in August 2023. Subsequently, Syngenta announced a new partnership to provide Intrinsyx Bio’s endophyte formulation to global markets. The product can boost the crop’s nutrient use efficiency and can be applied as seed or foliar treatment on critical crops.

Syngenta has also reached a new collaboration with Ginkgo Bioworks to accelerate for a new biosolution. Ginkgo plans to develop and optimize a microbial strain to achieve the production target of a secondary metabolite from Syngenta Biologicals’ pipeline. Large-scale, cost-effective production of this metabolite will accelerate the launch of Syngenta's latest bioproduct.

Since acquiring Valagro in 2020, Syngenta has constantly invested in R&D for biologicals and expanded its portfolio through various partnerships. Syngenta's sales of biologicals have continued to increase over the past few years. The latest sales performance shows that the revenue of biologicals in 2023 reached $387 million, an 11.2% increase from the previous year, making it a key business for Syngenta’s sustainable development.

Corteva

Following the acquisitions of Stoller and Symborg, Corteva established its biologicals business unit, encompassing biopesticides and biostimulants. The company increasingly values this unit's development. Examples of new product launches and distribution partnerships are as follows:

In the biostimulant sector, Corteva's nitrogen-fixing bacterial product, Utrisha N, has entered new markets, including Brazil and Australia. In Brazil, this foliar product is approved for corn use, and the Australian trials demonstrate yield increases in crops such as wheat and canola. Corteva claims the product can supply nitrogen to crops throughout the growing season.

Corteva has partnered with Bioceres Crop Solutions to advance the availability of a bioinsecticide in Europe. Bioceres' subsidiary, Pro Farm, develops the product. Corteva will become the region’s exclusive distributor once the registration is approved. Their Seed Applied Technologies team will manage distribution, and this bioinsecticide will also be applied to Corteva's Pioneer brand seed products.

Another collaboration involves Lavie Bio, granting Corteva exclusive rights to further develop and commercialize Lavie Bio's biofungicide candidates to control fruit rots and powdery mildew. These diseases significantly impact fruits and vegetables worldwide. This collaboration aims to provide farmers with promising innovative tools for these challenging diseases.

FMC

FMC has made significant progress in distribution and R&D collaborations over the past year, expanding its future biological portfolio and complementing its chemical products. These efforts will continue to enrich and improve FMC's comprehensive solutions and introduce its products to new markets through a partner’s channel.

FMC has expanded its strategic cooperation with Novonesis, becoming the exclusive distributor of Novonesis' agricultural biosolutions in Canada. The partnership will leverage Novonesis’ Saskatoon Plant Biosolutions Manufacturing and Research site and FMC’s strong presence in the country with consistent growth and complementary portfolio.

A new partnership with Brazilian distributor Girassol Agrícola has been established. Through this collaboration, Girassol Agrícola will provide seeds treated with FMC's bionematicide Presence Full (Bacillus subtilis FMCH002-DSM32155 and Bacillus licheniformis FMCH001-DSM32154). The seeds will also be treated with FMC's Protector Permit Star (Dietolato), enabling cotton farmers to apply the pre-emergent herbicide Reator (Clomazone).

In the emerging RNA interference (RNAi) sector, FMC has started a new research collaboration with AgroSpheres to accelerate the discovery and development of novel bioinsecticides, a key component of FMC's long-term strategic plan. This follows a 2023 investment in AgroSpheres by FMC Ventures, targeting the startup's biodegradable micro-encapsulation technology to optimize RNAi-based biopesticides' delivery, stability, and efficacy. The new collaboration aims to consolidate FMC's position as a leader in the insecticide market and expedite the launch of AgroSpheres' RNA portfolio by combining AgroSpheres' manufacturing and formulation expertise with FMC's high-throughput testing, evaluation, and market entry capabilities.

Developing new active ingredients and formulations will support FMC's medium and long-term profitable growth targets, with biological products under FMC's Plant Health business unit as a significant growth driver.

Summary

The significant advancements made by UPL, Bayer, Syngenta, Corteva, and FMC in the biologicals sector have had far-reaching impacts and created broad opportunities for the entire industry. Leveraging their substantial financial support and talent pools, these companies have markedly increased R&D investment, accelerated new product development, and promoted fundamental research on cutting-edge technologies.

These multinationals possess a complete industry chain, from R&D and production to sales and technical services. Their participation has fostered deep integration of biologicals with traditional agrochemicals and seed products, offering farmers more comprehensive solutions. The global business networks of these giants have facilitated the international development of biologicals and promoted technology and experience sharing worldwide.

Their involvement has effectively raised knowledge and acceptance of biologicals among farmers and consumers. By utilizing their strong brand perception and extensive marketing networks, these companies have more effectively introduced the advantages of biologicals to the end users, thus accelerating the adoption of such products.

The five giants see biologicals as crucial tools for regenerative agriculture. Their active involvement in the biologicals business development will help accelerate the biosolutions alternating chemical products and promote the development of sustainable agriculture.

This article was originally published in AgroPages magazine 2024 Biologicals Special.

Contact Joyce Wang (joyce@agropages.com) to show your bio-solutions through AgroPages.