Chemical Use Decreases As Awareness Grows

Field productivity and fertilizer use appear to be nearly linear. A growing awareness of the impact of farming chemicals has led farmers to use fewer chemicals.

FREMONT, CA: Agriculture is changing to more sustainable methods worldwide. The shift results from new rules like the European Union's Farm to Fork (F2F) Strategy and consumers' increased environmental consciousness and preference for more environmentally friendly food. These regulations are a significant commercial interruption for companies that manufacture agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizer, crop protection goods, and machinery. The adverse effects of the new restrictions have received much attention up to this point in the discussion.

Success for producers of agricultural inputs needs a change in emphasis from sales of products to sales of solutions. For many years, farmers believed that producing a particular field and using inputs like fertilizers were roughly linearly related. Today, however, farmers must optimize yield per hectare while using fewer chemical quantities due to growing awareness of the effects of pesticides on the environment. As a result, input producers must refocus their R&D efforts away from developing traditional products and toward developing digital tools, novel biological products, and integrated solutions that aid farmers in getting better results.

Digital tools: Farmers can improve performance using fewer chemicals thanks to new digital and precision agriculture technologies. For instance, the most recent instruments make it possible to consistently place seeds at the ideal depth. Like conventional spreaders cover the entire field, pneumatic spreaders can distribute fertilizer more accurately. Some crop protection software uses cameras to distinguish between weeds and crops, so products can be administered where needed. Crop protection software helps manage pests and diseases. Herbicide volumes can be decreased by as much as 70 percent while being better targeted. Soil compaction can be minimized by modern mechanical weeding robots that also use digital photography.

Innovations in seed: Crops with favorable traits can be produced by creating unique seeds and crop traits using tried-and-true techniques like breeding and hybridization and cutting-edge technology like genome editing. For instance, plants bred to be more resilient to stress can flourish in harsher climates with higher temperatures and less rainfall (or flooding). Additionally, they can be more resistant to pests like aphids, eliminating the need for crop protection agents.

Biological products: Input manufacturers can create new goods that farmers can use to maintain production levels while adopting more ecologically friendly methods. Integrated pest management will always replace synthetic crop protection and fertilizer products because it combines digital tools, mechanical parts, biocontrol agents, and chemical agents to protect crops.