Without naming clear deadlines, Syngenta plans to release chemical alternatives to glyphosate if a popular broad-spectrum herbicide is removed from the market.
John Parr, president of plant protection for seed and agricultural giant Syngenta, says his company's new non-selective chemical product (an alternative to glyphosate) may be available to farmers in five to seven years.
Although John Parr makes no assumptions about potential threats to Bayer’s widely used glyphosate herbicides, this year’s active ingredient has been facing increasing public attention and regulatory pressure.
Germany and France announced plans to ban the herbicide by 2023, fearing its negative impact on ecosystems, and several other countries have limited the use of glyphosate. The question of further litigation in the United States from claims by people allegedly affected by long-term contact with glyphosate remains open.
While on a visit to Australia, Parr noted that the Australian farmers he met asked if the industry could find a replacement for existing non-selective herbicidal products, especially in light of the growing potential threats to glyphosate regulation.
The fact is that glyphosate herbicides have come under close scrutiny in Australia, and Victoria's Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning is now considering how such products are used on public lands. The possibility of massive actions by eco-activists cannot be ruled out.
Parr believes that existing non-selective herbicides work well and should be preserved.
“But if they are limited or removed, then alternatives will appear over time,” he said.
“We already have some interesting and exciting herbicides for farmers that will contribute to a wide range of weed control. This is a completely new product that may appear in five to seven years, ”he added.
“We understand that the flow of innovation is critical to our business and our industry, and we've made significant progress over the past three years,” Parr commented on Syngenta's success. “We've been very successful with some fantastic molecules, including a canola and horticultural fungicide released a year ago, which farmers find extremely attractive. To be sure, the barriers to new active ingredients and to maintaining existing registrations are increasing. In the 1990s, we saw the industry register dozens of new products every year, but now I would suggest that this number is more likely in single digits. People rightly want less expensive, more efficient and safer products, but that's what we do in our business. "
(Source: Farm Online. Posted by Andrew Marshall).