Sunjoy Agroscience — A global supplier of premium crop protection solutions

Date:03-07-2022

Incorporated in 2015, Ningbo Sunjoy Agroscience Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Sunjoy”) is one of China’s leading crop protection companies. It integrates R&D, Manufacture, Marketing and Sales into one company umbrella, thus forms a powerful business ecosystem. The company is committed to develop products that promote better food safety, quality and sustainability.

Sunjoy was originally affiliated to Sinochem Ningbo Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Sinochem Ningbo”), a state-owned enterprise, and has inherited all its assets in the field of crop protection as well as its outstanding characteristics. 

Today, Sunjoy has established business in 88 countries covering 6 continents, with a global turnover of $300 million. Its ever-growing business is tapping new markets to make sure farmers have access to the best farming solution. Starting from 2001, Sunjoy, former Sinochem Ningbo, has made remarkable development in agrochemical market with a CAGR over 17%. As a result, Sunjoy has ranked among Top 20 China’s Agrochemical Exporters for the past ten years.

Knowledge builds expertise

This achievement cannot be accomplished without the efforts throughout the company. Sunjoy has built a team full of talents and expertise. Team members, whether from R&D division, registration division, production division, marketing division or sales division, all have Master’s or Doctorate degrees in Plant Protection, Entomology, Plant Pathology, Agronomy, Chemical Engineering or other relevant majors. 

R&D division is composed of two sub-divisions, Agrochemical Research Institute and Bioassay Center. Agrochemical Research Institute consists of synthesis team, formulation team, analysis team and project design team. Over 30 talented professionals are working here. Well equipped with facilities for different research purposes, the experts constantly turn their knowledge, experience, comprehension and creativity into differentiated products.

 

Bioassay Center now has two testing buildings with multi-functional chambers, including phytotrons, germination chambers, bio-clean rooms, processing chambers and comprehensive laboratories. Covering an area of two hectares, the testing farm comprises double-polyfilm greenhouses, ornithological laboratories, orchard gardens, cropland, and aquatic microcosm systems. Meanwhile, Bioassay Center has built the contracted partnerships with selected third parties in Latin America and Southeast Asia that conduct research works locally. 

Registration division is crucial to the company and registration tasks make up a sizable amount of the annual company budget. Through long-term cooperation with the world’s leading laboratories, Sunjoy has completed data, reports and dossiers for selected products. With a professional team full of experienced members, Sunjoy is able to provide data package to satisfy with country-specific regulatory guidelines. So far, over 3000 formulation registrations are obtained worldwide, either supported or self-owned by Sunjoy.

Beyond good to best customer services

At Sunjoy, we like the saying “product is everything.” With professional knowledge, working experience and market sensitivity, Sunjoy team can provide tailored support to clients, help find opportunities, match solutions, and create values. 

As a joint partner, Sunjoy introduced a flagship fungicide onto the fruit markets in Asian regions. Pyraclostrobin 160g/L + Tebuconazole 320g/L SC is a combination of strobilurin and triazole. The broad protection spectrum makes it possible to branch out to mango, banana, citrus and other cash crop markets. The efficacy against the main diseases such as mango anthracnose (Colletotrichum gloeosporioides), banana black sigatoka (Mycosphaerella fijiensis), and citrus melanose (Diaporthe citri) are inspiring. The effects on disease control and plant health clearly lead to the yield boost and grower profitability.  

But how did Sunjoy select this particular product for the Southeast Asian clients?

Team members from marketing and sales divisions have footprints all over the world. Working closely with the local clients, Sunjoy teams fully investigate the target crops, analyze existing products in the market, and screen appropriate active ingredients. Combining with Sunjoy’s technical and research advantages, the teams proposed a series of potential alternatives to the client. Each one is thoroughly discussed and properly considered with the traits of efficacy, resistance, cost and eco-friendliness.

 

Once the potential alternatives are proposed, R&D division will take over and turn the concept into a finished product. Agrochemical Research Institute will analyze the physical and chemical properties of the specific active ingredients, design the initial formulas with different ingredient percentages, and develop modifications as trial versions. Then, the modifications are sent to Bioassay Center for laboratory testing, in-house field trials and outdoor field tests. The test results will be fed back to Agrochemical Research Institute for optimization. Following several rounds of experiments and adjustments, the final modification that reaches a balance point of efficacy and cost efficiency will be chosen. The samples will also be tested locally by the clients for confirmation before starting the registration procedure. Once the registration is approved, the production headquarter will scale up the formula to production. 

This demand-centric, research-oriented innovation enables Sunjoy to keep offering unique customized services and to ensure the clients market leadership position.

Production demonstrates competence

The production headquarter makes a vital piece of company map. As an agrochemical synthesis enterprise designated by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information, it is situated in the state-level Zhenhai Chemical Industry Zone in Ningbo, covering an area of 11 hectares. Designed on the latest technical standards and highest automation level, the total synthesis and formulation capacity of production headquarter exceeds 65,000 MT annually. 

The production headquarter owns sophisticated facilities and technology for various formulation types like WG, DF, WP, SG, SC, SE, OD, SL, EC, ME, EW and CS. With an investment of over $15 million, the second-phase formulation project was put into operation in 2016, mainly designed for SC, FS, OD, SE and DF production. 

Sunjoy has made breakthroughs in challenging formulation development. For example, Sunjoy overcome the difficulties in Suspension Concentrate (SC) with low melting-point and high water-solubility active ingredients. Today, Sunjoy is able to offer 300+ kinds of SC products with ultra-high fineness and homogeneity. Sunjoy also overcome the technical barrier in Dry-Flowables (DF). Through high tower spray and fluidized bed granulation, the average particle size of Sunjoy DF products can eventually reach less than 2-micrometer after dilution. Higher fineness greatly improves the suspensibility, dispersibility, efficacy and other performance of the DF products.

Green, safe and effective agrochemical solutions are constantly launching to the global markets that benefit the global agribusiness value chain.

Products deliver optimal performance 

In South America regions, Sunjoy works closely with local clients to develop series of products for different crop growth stages. The combo (Fipronil+Lufenuron) is a long-trusted choice on soy, cotton, corn and vegetable markets. Its remarkable larvicidal and ovicidal action against larvae and eggs, fast action against adults, provides long lasting efficacy duration to control various Lepidoptera insects, including caterpillar (Anticarsia gemmatalis), fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), Bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) and etc..

In 2020, a destructive pest “storm” of rice leafroller (Susumia exigua) attacked most of the China southern region, wiping out the affected rice field. Sunjoy provided a package solution at the right time, leading by its champion brand Comatch® (Chlorfenapyr+Lufenuron). The result was inspiring and the financial loss in the infested area was significantly reduced. Comatch® (Chlorfenapyr+Lufenuron) received high praise by local farmers and was recommended by Agriculture Ministry of Hubei Province as the premium insecticides against the leafrollers.

“How do we contribute to a better and more sustainable world?” asked Mr. Zhang Zhenye, vice president of Sunjoy Agroscience, “We develop Green, Safe and Effective products that minimize the impact on environment and biodiversity; we preserve water, reduce energy use and manage resources more efficiently across all our operations; we prevent pollutions by complying with all applicable environmental laws and guidelines in China.” 

Copper-based fungicide is one of the key product lines to Sunjoy’s product strategy. Its effectiveness, safety, rare resistance and eco-friendliness fully match the Green concept. Up to now, Sunjoy has launched Copperking® (Copper Oxychloride DF), Coppersong® (Copper Hydroxide DF), Coppera® (Copper Oxychloride + Pyraclostrobin SC) and Songtone® (Copper Oxychloride + Cyazofamid DF) in different crop markets. 

Acetamiprid is another key molecule that matches the safe concept. Its extreme low toxicity to bees makes it the most promising molecule in the neonicotinoid insecticides family. Moreover, Acetamiprid is in the list of pesticides allowed to be used in Grade-A green food, according to the Green food-Guideline for application of pesticide (NY/T393-2020) approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China. Therefore, Sunjoy has developed many acetamiprid based formulations. Tink® (Acetamiprid DF), Sinopride® (Acetamiprid SP) and Aphidog® (Acetamiprid + Flonicamid OD) are long-time favored by local farmers to control the piercing-sucking insects.

Effective seed protection solutions ensure stronger crops and better yield. Investment in seeds is highly recommended by authorities worldwide. Field crops and cash crops, treated before sowing, can resist various pests and diseases and promote seed growth. On the other hand, the number of wild birds has grown substantially in recent years and become a new problem to agriculture. While the impact of bird damage on agriculture output is still underestimated by society, Sunjoy has paid attention to this new challenge for very long time. After 10 years of research, Sunjoy has created a new generation of seedcare products that can prevent insects, fungus and bacterium, promote crop health and repel pest birds. 

Future outlook

Sunjoy sticks to the innovation-driven strategy in the global market. “We have been dedicated to offer safe and effective crop protection solutions to improve crop productivity for people and promote environmental sustainability for nature. This is our Mission.” says Mr. He Dongsheng, president of Sunjoy Agroscience, “We believe by finding solutions to address agriculture problems, we can create values for farmers, clients, shareholders, employees and the whole society. This is our Philosophy.”

Staying true to the Mission and Philosophy, Sunjoy will work at the forefront of research and development, continuously innovate to fulfill the evolving needs of global agrochemical industry, and become a Partner of Choice with the key clients.