Seipasa - Story of Spanish Biocontrol Company Growing through New Phytosanitary Registrations

The company consolidates its international presence with a global catalogue of more than 70 phytosanitary registrations and a commercial presence in 30 countries through six business units. 

Seipasa celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2023, and anniversaries are always an excellent excuse to look back and analyse the path taken. 

Seipasa has a global catalogue of more than 70 phytosanitary registrations, a commercial presence in more than 30 countries through six business units, and a profound know-how in formulating and developing biocontrol solutions based on botanical and microbiological active ingredients.

Seipasa’s history is the story of a company that has based its international expansion on new phytosanitary registrations. When Seipasa enters a new foreign market, it does so based on previous work to register its products in that country.  This is how it has developed in Mexico, the USA, Europe, Africa, LATAM and, of course, Spain. 

″More than 15 years ago, we decided that it was time to give value to all the active ingredients we were working with. We had to register them, put them in the right place and give them a future,″ explained Pedro Peleato, CEO of Seipasa. 

His story explains the turning point in the company’s history, the decision that would determine its medium- and long-term future. It was a leap forward, crossing the boundary between being just another player in the biocontrol industry and becoming a major player with a catalogue of proprietary registrations. Seipasa chose the second option.

″Other companies have had to invest hundreds of millions in buy-outs and acquisitions to achieve a portfolio like Seipasa’s. We have done this with a lot of hard work and effort, maintaining our financial and commercial independence, but above all with a great vision of the future to anticipate the changes that have transformed agriculture,″ Peleato stressed.

Pirecris in Mexico was the first phytosanitary biocontrol registration obtained by Seipasa. It was followed by Morocco, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Turkey, Colombia, Ecuador and a long list of other countries, making Pirecris a broad-spectrum bioinsecticide, not only because of its label but above all because of the solvency and efficacy it has demonstrated in the most diverse and demanding agricultural systems around the world. Pirecris is based on 2% pyrethrin, which provides maximum efficacy with a lower concentration of active ingredient.

 ″Our global growth is based on registrations because when we enter a new market, we do so with the quality assurance that comes with phytosanitary registration. There is a vital prior work of market prospection, analysis of the farmer’s needs and knowledge of the agronomic reality of that country,″ stated José Ramón Fernández, Director of Seipasa’s registration department. 

″All of this,″ continued Fernández, ″involves preparing the registration dossiers, carrying out the efficacy tests and submitting all the documentation to the country’s registration authorities. We are talking about processes involving significant financial investment and years of work. Phytosanitary registration gives us in-depth knowledge of the product we have developed, which guarantees quality, trust and safety for the end farmer.″

A unique and recognised model

But what lies behind this global catalogue of registrations? The Spanish company has reached maturity in the market, supported by the solid Natural Technology model that has been implemented since its creation. ″The phytosanitary registration is part of the work we bring to the surface. Behind it is a long process that begins with in-depth knowledge of the botanical and microbiological active ingredients we work with and continues in the formulation process of our products,″ explained Francisco Espinosa, the company’s R&D Director.

 ″For Seipasa, Natural Technology means offering effective solutions for agriculture based on innovation and research applied to principles of botanical and microbiological origin. These substances may be available to everyone, but our competitive advantage, is that we are able to identify and select the most efficient ones and apply the technology to get the best out of that active ingredient. In other words, we start with the raw material provided by nature, but we do it with the most advanced technology of the 21st century,″ Espinosa said.

Patented Furity technology

The microbiological fungicide Fungisei is a perfect example of this Natural Technology model. Developed from a highly effective and pure strain of Bacillus subtilis, Fungisei combines Seipasa’s experience in using and researching microorganisms applied to agriculture.

The patented Furity technology contained in Fungisei biofungicide has enabled Seipasa to design a molecular structure capable of protecting the microorganism and ensuring its stability and homogeneity in a liquid formulation. ″Furity focuses not only on the active ingredient, but also on the exclusive formulation that carries the active ingredient and enhances its effect. It is a phytosanitary registration based on a micro-organism considered low risk by the EU. It has been internationally recognized with the award for the most innovative formulation at the Agrow Awards,″ Espinosa said.

Seipasa’s presence in more than 30 countries around the world allows it to subject its model to continuous improvement based on the experience and knowledge of the products in each agricultural system in which they are used.

Seipasa R&D Department

New alternatives for farmers

One of the company’s most recent registrations is Seican, a biological insecticide, acaricide and fungicide based on cinnamic aldehyde, which Seipasa has registered in the primary fruit and vegetable-producing countries in Latin America, in addition to the United States and Mexico. 

″With Seican,″ said José Ángel Talavera, Seipasa’s Sales Director, ″we are providing farmers with an innovative solution that meets their needs and adds value to their crops.″

In the case of bananas, mancozeb remains one of the most widely used fungicides to control black sigatoka. However, mancozeb has been banned from the European Community market since 2021, severely limiting the catalogue of active ingredients available to banana growers, who risk being excluded from major international destination markets.

 ″Seican has positioned itself as a real alternative to mancozeb, a solution that combines efficacy, reliability and flexibility of use, as it is a product that leaves no residue on the crop and has no withholding period. In addition, its active ingredient is included in FRAC group BM 03, which confirms Seican’s ability to prevent the emergence of resistance,″ said José Ángel Talavera.

In addition to Seican, another new product that Seipasa has added to its portfolio of biological control solutions is Dasword, a biopesticide against mites and insects developed from garlic oil and already registered in the USA and which the company plans to launch in key markets in South America and Europe.

Talavera emphasised that, besides biocontrol, another of Seipasa’s strategic lines is biostimulants, the fastest-growing segment of the biorationals market worldwide. ″Biostimulants is a line that brings together a high level of internal investment and very important technological development at Seipasa. It is a strategic line that will help us enter and develop our biological portfolio in some international markets where we have ongoing registration processes that will take longer to complete,″ stated the company’s commercial director. 

Developed from PK-Tech technology and incorporating the ASM molecule, SeiZen is one of a range of high-tech biostimulants designed to boost photosynthetic activity, delay leaf senescence and extend plant life.

New business unit in APAC

Seipasa’s global catalogue is built around the business units that support the company’s activity in Europe, the USA, Mexico, Africa-Middle East and LATAM. In addition to these five business units, the Asia-Pacific region is the latest to join this international network.

  ″APAC is a market where we have worked for several years and have already started to reap the fruits. It is a market that is increasingly focused on high-value crops for export, where we are applying all the experience in registering biocontrol products that we have gained in other markets over the years: visiting the land, getting to know the needs and problems of farmers and laying the foundations so that when we go to market it is based on phytosanitary registrations that guarantee the use, efficacy and performance of these products,″ said David Candil, the company’s Director of Marketing and Projects. 

The phytosanitary registration guarantees quality, indicating that the product is qualified to act against a specific pest or disease in a specific scenario. Seipasa is therefore writing its present and designing its future based on its Natural Technology model and the new phytosanitary registrations.

Seipasa's new headquarters in Valencia, Spain

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