On September 27, 2019, the Pesticide Testing Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China made the tenth
revision to the list of approved herbicide products in Chinese agrochemical
companies. In particular, the list includes a pinoxaden formulation from Anhui
Yuanjing Corps Protection Co.,Ltd, which will become the third agrochemical
product that contains pinoxaden to be registered in China. On September 12,
2019, two companies in Anhui, namely Shanghewoda Biotechnology Co., Ltd. and Keyuan Plant Protection Engineering Co., Ltd., also successfully
registered their products containing 10% and 5% pinoxaden, respectively.
Pinoxaden is an
herbicide developed by Syngenta, an agricultural company based in Basel,
Switzerland. The pesticide was listed in China in 2010 and it is mainly used
against weeds and protect grain fields in China. The use of pinoxaden in China
was restricted under a chemical compound patent belonging to Syngenta until
March 10, 2019.
With the
evolution of weeds in wheat fields in China, the increase in resistant and
malignant weeds, as well as the expiration of the patent of pinoxaden, many
companies in China have concentrated on the study, development and the testing
of their pinoxaden products since 2014. Until 2018, three agricultural
companies have successfully registered their pinoxaden products, and Anhui
Shanghewoda Biotechnology Co., Ltd. became the first Chinese company to
register its agrochemical product with 10% pinoxaden. The registration of this
product has been approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of
China and became one of the herbicide products listed in the announcement.
Advantages
of pinoxaden
Firstly,
pinoxaden is regarded as highly safe to use. When using pinoxaden to protect
crops, the herbicide does not need to be applied at strict intervals, and its
effectiveness is not affected by weather. Pinoxaden can also be used as a
supplement after crops have been treated with a different herbicide. As
pinoxaden seldom remains on plants after harvest, it is safe to be used with
plants such as grains, beans, and melons.
Secondly,
pinoxaden is a broad-spectrum herbicide which can be applied in a wide range of
planting areas. It is commonly used in barley fields as it is effective in
removing weeds which are harmful to wheat land.
Thirdly,
pinoxaden can also be used to kill weeds which are resistant to the ALS
inhibitor herbicides such as Mesosulfuron-methyl and pyroxsulam. Compared to
the traditional ACCase inhibitor herbicides, like fenoxaprop-P-ethyl and
lodinafop-propargyl, pinoxaden contains a new chemical structure that even
defeats highly resistant weeds.
Finally,
pinoxaden can be combined with other herbicides, no cases have been reported of
hazards related to mixing pinoxaden with other chemicals. Furthermore, there
are no known instances of pinoxaden interfering significantly with other
compounds.
Recently,
wheat farmers have reported difficulty in removing poaeceae weeds from wheat
fields due to a gradual increase in pesticide resistance in these weeds. By
implementing pinoxaden-based pesticides, the provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui,
Henan, and Shandong may be able to increase agricultural output significantly,
with improved output of various wheats and oats in particular. By utilizing
pinoxaden to reduce weeds on farmland, China stands to increase its output of
food and agricultural products, and this herbicide will play an important role
in China’s food industries.
For
more information about China’s herbicides market, please have a look at our
monthly newsletter Herbicides
China News.