Imidacloprid: Strong Market Competitiveness despite Increasing Resistance of Insects  

By John Werner, Pesticide Market News   

1. Production   

Imidacloprid is a new nitro-methylene insecticide with the most rapid development since the mid-1990. It is also called chloronicotine or neonicotine insecticide. Imidacloprid is a systemic insecticide and also has extremely high contact poisoning, stomach poisoning and excellent food repelling effect. Imidacloprid as a system conduction insecticide can effectively control insects with various resistances. Its production has always presented a trend of rapid increase since 1996.
    In 2001 the new-generation IPP neonicotine insecticides (including imidacloprid) developed by Prof. Qian Xuhong and Prof. Li Zhong of the East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST) attracted the attention of Jiangsu Kesheng Group Co., Ltd. The company paid ECUST the permit fee for the domestic use of the imidacloprid production technology and became one of the first imidacloprid producers in China. Jiangsu Kesheng Group conducted technical cooperation together with ECUST and quickly achieved the commercial production of imidacloprid. Owing to the new process developed by the two parties thereafter, the purity of imidacloprid technical material produced by Jiangsu Kesheng Group is increased to 98%, the capacity of imidacloprid technical material is up from 2 000 t/a to 3 000 t/a, the power consumption is down from 9 500 kWh per ton of product to 5 500 kWh per ton of product and the waste water amount is down from 16 tons per ton of product to 8 tons per ton of product. The consumption of power is reduced by nearly 10 million kWh a year and the emission of waste water is reduced by more than 20 000 tons.

2. Present market status

Imidacloprid is one of the varieties to replace the first group of high-toxicity pesticides in China. As the demand is increasing constantly in the past decade, it has become a highlight in pesticide market today. Many domestic enterprises have made registration for the production of imidacloprid in the Ministry of Agriculture of China. Sixty three domestic enterprises including Jiangsu Kesheng Group, Jiangsu Red Sun Group Corporation, Shandong Jingpeng Bio-Pesticides Co., Ltd., Qingdao Hailir Pesticides and Chemicals Group, Zhejiang Hisun Chemical Co., Ltd. and Fujian Sannong Group Co., Ltd.and Bayer of Germany have made registration in China for the production of imidacloprid technical material. Nearly 370 companies have made registration for single-component glyphosate formulations and nearly 600 companies have made registration for compound formulations. According to relevant data and interviews with major producers, the production capacity of imidacloprid technical material in China is around 25 000 t/a. The output of imidacloprid technical material in China was around 12 000 tons in 2009, accounting for two thirds of the world total. The domestic annual demand is between 3 000 tons and 4 000 tons and the export amount is around 8 000 tons a year. Due to factors such as the financial crisis and the raw material price drop, the price of 95% imidacloprid technical material was RMB92 000 per ton in May-September of 2009, a drop of RMB35 000 per ton from the highest price of RMB128 000 per ton in March and April in 2009.
   As an excellent insecticide extensively used in the agricultural production to control rice plant hoppers and aphids, both the output and the sales amount of imidacloprid started to have a rapid increase in China in the early 21st century. As farmers regarded imidacloprid as the first choice pesticide to control pests with pricking suction mouthpieces in rice, cotton, wheat, vegetables and fruit trees and have made a continuous singularly use for many years, however, brown plant hoppers in rice have quickly developed strong resistance to imidacloprid in recent years. In 2007 China's Ministry of Agriculture proposed temporary stoppage to the use of imidacloprid in the control of brown plant hoppers. The demand for imidacloprid therefore fell drastically in that year. Imidacloprid quickly lost the big market in the control of rice pests and the inventory was built in. How to digest the production capacity of imidacloprid has become a focus of attention in China. Imidacloprid has many advantages. For example, it has no interactive resistance with organophosphorus and pyrethrum pesticides, low toxicity to natural enemies of pests, safe application of recommended doses and compatibility with most pesticides or fertilizers. As a result, imidacloprid still holds a considerable market share today.
   Imidacloprid holds the fifth place in the export of pesticides in China. Its sales value in the international market has reached US$1.0 billion a year, holding the first place in the sales of insecticides. The Chinese-made imidacloprid exported to advanced countries and regions such as the United States, EU and Japan is making a year-on-year increase. The value of imidacloprid exported to the United States was US$19.0 million in 2008 and the average export price was 23.98% higher than the previous year. The rapid planting area expansion of vegetables, fruit trees and wheat in Turkey and Poland of East Europe and Vietnam, Thailand, Korea and Singapore of Southeast Asia has promoted the demand for imidacloprid produced in China. The export of small-package imidacloprid formulations has presented a rising trend in recent years. Both the export amount and the export value of imidacloprid have therefore grown constantly.
3. Cope with insects' resistance to imidacloprid

The research of insects' resistance mechanisms is the basis for coping with resistance to pesticides. The mechanism for resistance in pests against imidacloprid is not yet clear today. Judging from the present research results, the development of the resistance is possibly related to the upgrading in the detoxicating ability of pests and the deterioration in the toxin sensitivity of target portions. The reduction of the skin penetration rate is also likely induced.
   The sustained selectivity pressure resulted from the long-term irrational use of pesticides is the fundamental cause for the development of resistance in pests. With the extensive application of imidacloprid, the problem of increasing resistance in pests has become a major issue in urgent need of solution.

4. Develop new application sectors to promote the market share upgrading of imidacloprid

Imidacloprid has following new application sectors.
    (1) It can be used to control pests with pricking suction mouthpieces such as aphids, rice gall midges, leaf hoppers, thrips and white flies in cotton, wheat, vegetables, fruit trees, flowers, fodders and greenhouse plants. It also has excellent effect on the control of some flies (such as fruit flies), beetles, stink bugs and scales.
    (2) The treatment of seeds with imidacloprid can control various pests with pricking suction mouthpieces such as aphids, grey plant hoppers, rice thrips and rice curculionids, as well as some underground pests, with a lasting effect. In the control of underground pests, imidacloprid can be used alone, but is preferably blended or compounded with phoxim and chlorpyrifos to get complementary and better effect.
    (3) Imidacloprid can be used in forestry to control termites. The expansion of these new application sectors has extremely important implications on the market share upgrading of imidacloprid.
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