Science and Strategy Spur Syngenta’s Crop Protection Portfolio

Developing a crop protection portfolio is a lot of science and a little serendipity.

“There are a number of things you look for,” says Vern Hawkins, President, Syngenta Crop Protection, and Regional Director, Syngenta, North America. “One is where do you have gaps? We have a very broad portfolio, but we still have gaps. We also look at segments that are trending for growth. You want to plan your new or replacement products in those segments. They’re big and they’re growing. You might have good products in these segments, but you need to protect your continuation strategy.”

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That’s the science.

“Then you have the opportunistic piece that comes with discovery,” Hawkins says. “Let’s say you find a great fungicide compound and you have a great fungicide portfolio. You might find two or three interesting leads, but only need one. When you find an interesting area of chemistry, you mine it aggressively because you don’t find a good area frequently.”

That’s the serendipity.

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“We know technology is a big part of helping farmers grow more productively,” Hawkins says. “We will continue to invent. We need to size up the current situation around seed traits and their global marketability. That is a concern. We have the best corn traits in the industry right now, so we have great capability there and we’ve got to continue to leverage that.”

Farm Chemicals International sat down with executives from Syngenta to learn what’s in the company’s crop protection pipeline.

A new herbicide, Acuron might be the largest launch for the company in a number of years, says Jeff Cecil, Head, Crop Protection Product Marketing, North America.

Acuron was developed under code name SYN-A197 and has shown in numerous trials to deliver residual control of the most difficult broadleaf weeds and annual grasses in corn. In late April, EPA approved registration of Acuron herbicide for use in field corn, seed corn, silage corn, sweet corn and yellow popcorn.

“In addition to that we have a very strong pipeline in fungicides, Cecil says. “We’ll be ready to launch Solatenol which is our fungicide line for multiple crops. We’ll have four new brands that we’ll launch under that AI.”

According to the company’s website, Solatenol is “a third generation SDHI (succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor) in FRAC group 7, Solatenol fungicide demonstrates excellent activity on diseases such as early blight, powdery mildew and gummy stem blight. Solatenol fungicide strongly binds to the plant’s wax layer and slowly penetrates into the tissue. This binding plus translaminar activity and extremely high potency delivers long-lasting disease control.”

The four brands that Syngenta hopes to receive U.S. registration for are Trivapro, Elatus, Aprovia and Aprovia Top.

Aprovia is a broad-spectrum fungicide for use on pome fruit, including apples and pears. Registration is expected in 2015.

Aprovia Top combines Solatenol with difenoconazole, and registration is expected later this year. Aprovia Top will be available for use on fruiting vegetables and cucurbits. Difenoconazole is a proven chemistry that has been used globally and nationally for many years.

Elatus combines Solatenol fungicide with azoxystrobin and will be used on peanuts and potatoes. Elatus fungicide was launched in Brazil in 2014 to help treat soybean rust. Registration for this formulation in the United States is expected in 2015.

Trivapro combines Solatenol fungicide with azoxystrobin and propiconazole. Once registered Trivapro fungicide will be available for use on corn, soybeans and wheat for disease control, crop enhancement and resistance management. Registration is expected later this year.

Oxathiapiprolin, a new active ingredient in development by Syngenta, provides control of late blight, downy mildews, and Phytophthora root and stem blight on a wide range of vegetables as well as potatoes and tobacco. This is the next significant product in the MIC market, Cecil says. Upon registration, which is expected next year, oxathiapiprolin will be marketed as Orondis fungicide.

In addition to a slate of new fungicides, Syngenta is working on new seed treatment offerings.

“We’re continuing to launch and ramp up Clariva (Complete Beans), our nematicide offering, which is getting good traction, and Vibrance, the latest seed treatment fungicide. Both products build and enhance on our already strong Seedcare portfolio and add additional value in the field,” Cecil says.

Even when serendipity helps bring a new product to light, there are still years of work before it can make it to the market. Syngenta constantly reviews the needs of the market and explores how it can best fill those needs.

“Pipeline-wise it’s important to bring new modes of action and to have breadth,” Hawkins says. “Being able to have as complete a partner as you can is pretty important to managing resistance and sustaining farmer productivity. That sort of philosophy shapes some of the other things we do.”

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