Nutrien Ag Solutions’ recent acquisition of Suncor Energy’s AgroScience business, which includes a pipeline with more than 80 crop protection patents, looks to give its proprietary Loveland Products group an entrance into the biocontrol market.
“This will be our first commercial entrance into the biocontrol space,” says Spencer Harris, senior vice president, of Global Retail Operations for Nutrien Ag Solutions. “What’s most unique about this biocontrol pipeline, is there are products that can be used as both a fungicide and an insecticide.”
The acquisition includes several patented and patent-pending innovations, including chlorin-based photosynthesizer technology which takes sunlight to activate and then breaks down the cell walls of the targeted pest resulting in mortality.
“Chlorin-based photosensitizer technology is a natural and highly sustainable solution to controlling pests ” Harris says.
While this type of technology has been used in other industries, this is the first application in agriculture, which will bring a unique mode of action and its own independent FRAC group once products are commercially registered.
According to Harris, the new chlorin-based photosensitizer formulations are expected to launch in certain global markets by 2025. Product submissions to the EPA in the U.S. are anticipated by 2026.
“The technology’s broad-spectrum efficacy against a wide range of pests and diseases positions it as a versatile integrated pest management tool which will be ideal for fruit, vine and permanent crops with additional formulations anticipated for row crops.”
Harris says his company currently sees the greatest potential for the chlorin-based photosynthesizer technology to be paired with existing crop chemistry products as a second mode of action to reduce the overall rate of synthetics applied, and to aid in resistance management.
The chlorin-based photosynthesizer technology will be formulated in products to be sold under the Loveland Products’ portfolio, which currently has a lineup in the biostimulant and bionutritional areas.
Harris says the Suncor Energy AgroScience acquisition is clearly aligned with his company’s strategy to invest in novel technologies that deliver high levels of performance and solid ROI to farmers. “Based on our size and market reach, we have the ability to bring new and unique solutions to customers globally.”
While the biologicals space is $8.5 billion in sales globally today, Harris shares an outlook of the market size being $20 billion in just a few years.
“We want to meet the needs of our customers and help fill gaps that the industry is having right now,” he says. “We believe new opportunities for next-generation technologies from this latest acquisition will help us deliver on this exact objective.”
