AGROCHEMICALS

Figure 1 – Field tests of Regev on potatoes

GLC Consulting . Quitman , GA . 2017 . Pathogen : Alternaria alternate . Application every 7 days 4 Applications , 20 GPA . RCB , 4 repetitions .

Planted : April 3 . First Spray : April 24

‣ processes here , especially in southern Europe . And , where Timorex ACT was introduced as a totally organic pesticide , Regev is being pushed as a full-label fungicide with the science fully in place behind it . “ When you are doing it that way , there are no short cuts . The registration process is endless ,” Nativ says . It will therefore take another five to six years before Regev hits the market in the EU . Conceivably , the timeline may be different in the UK , now that it has left the EU . STK is now in negotiations with some small companies in India to find a suitable partner and expects to choose one by the end of this year . Similarly , it is looking for partners in other countries in the Far East . In China , for reasons nobody really understands , the law forbids mixing biological and chemical treatments . Most of Africa is also some way off as a potential market .

As yet , Regev has not been used with large-volume row crops , beyond some minor use with potatoes and rice in Colombia . This is mainly because of price , because the market here is dominated by very low-cost generics . STK , at least for now , prefers to focus on fruit and vegetables .

Longer-term outlook

“ If people look 20 , 30 or 40 years into the future , they know the crop protection market will be full of biologicals ,” Nativ says . “ They also know there will be a certain gap to cover until the biologicals are more effective and the cost of them is more competitive .” STK believes that mixtures and hybrids like Regev have an important role to play in bridging the gap , enabling growers to experience and understand biologicals . The company also has other products in the pipeline , combining TTO with other actives . One key issue here in the choice of actives is the need for certainty that they will remain legal in the US and the EU . There are also some plant derivatives in the company ’ s future portfolio . “ This is somewhat further down the road , but we do have other areas coming in and now that we are a little bit older as a company , we are going to develop them from the beginning and we will do this in parallel ,” says Nativ . The new products are for use in fungicides and insecticides . The latter is seen as an area of big potential for hybrids , because of the often low efficacy of biologicals in insecticides in some situations . A one-residue hybrid would offer a lot of answers to this problem . “ Herbicides are really the Holy Grail of biologicals ,” Nativ says . “ Currently , there are a few that work on specific weeds . There are some plant-based compounds but they tend to require too high doses and there are no broad spectrum biological herbicides on the market . We are working on it , but so far we have nothing specific to look forward to .” •

Yair Nativ

VP SALES

STK

J j yair @ stk-ag . com www . stk-ag . com

30 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS