Market Share of Jinggangmycin Has Been Constantly Swallowed by New-type Pesticides   

By Zhang Weinong, Nantong Pesticide Market Information Center

Jinggangmycin or validamycin is the most successful biological fungicide developed by Chinese scientists for the control of rice sheath blight. Since it was developed in the 1970s, Jinggangmycin has dominated the rice sheath blight control market in China. Rice sheath blight, which is one of major rice diseases, plagues around 19.3 million hectares of rice paddies each year and seriously restricts the high and stable yield of rice. As an effective fungicide for rice sheath blight, Jinggangmycin has won high praises in the market for a quite long time. There are more than 30 Jinggangmycin producers in China. Zhejiang Qianjiang Biochemical Co Ltd is a leading Jinggangmycin producer in China and can annually produce 15 000 tons of Jinggangmycin formulations, accounting for more than 50% of the domestic market share. Nevertheless, Jinggangmycin has already been used for more than 30 years, so its effectiveness has declined. In China, the output of Jinggangmycin formulations (based on 5% Jinggangmycin formulation) has reduced to 30 000-40 000 tons annually, and its coverage has shrunken to around 10 million hectares. The main reasons for the decreasing consumption of Jinggangmycin are as follows.

1. New-type pesticides are constantly developed, and they swallow the market share of Jinggangmycin

Among fungicides for the control of rice sheath blight, the demand for hexaconazole grows fastest in China. It is called by farmers an excellent pesticide with low cost and fast and good pest control effectiveness. After this fungicide is popularized by plant protection departments, the demand for it has grown constantly in recent years. Leading hexaconazole producers in China are Jiangsu Fengdeng Pesticide Co Ltd and Jiangsu Sevencontinent Green Chemical Co Ltd. The output of hexaconazole technical in China is around 3 000 tons each year, of which 50% is for exports, and the remaining 50% is used by domestic formulation plants to produce 5%, 10% and 30% hexaconazole formulations for the control of rice sheath blight. The price of hexaconazole technical is RMB140 000 /t. Due to the increase of producers and fierce market competition, the price of hexaconazole technical falls compared to the same period of last year. For the control of rice sheath blight, the cost of hexaconazole is RMB21.25 per acre per time, higher than that of Jinggangmycin. However, due to its longer control effect and its less application times, the total cost of hexaconazole per acre of rice paddy is lower than that of Jinggangmycin.
   Prochloraz and tebuconazole are also robbing the market share from Jinggangmycin. A pesticide dealer in Anhui province said: "Among fungicides, prochloraz and tebuconazole have been increasingly salable in the past two years." The two fungicides are low-toxicity pesticides and are mainly used for controlling rice sheath blight, false smut and blast. In 2011, rice pests are more serious than the past years in China. The demand for Jinggangmycin has reduced rapidly, but the demand for prochloraz and tebuconazole has grown 20%. In Anhui province, the price of prochloraz is RMB4.0 per bag (6.5g), up RMB0.5 per bag over the same period of last year. In Guangdong province, the planting area of rice is 1.99 million hectares, and the demand for Jinggangmycin is around 5 000 tons in 2011, down 7% year on year; and the demand for prochloraz and tebuconazole reaches more than 1 200 and 400 tons, up 10% and 12% year on year, respectively. In other major rice-planting provinces such as Hunan, Hubei and Guangxi, the consumption of prochloraz and tebuconazole for rice sheath blight control shows a growing trend.
   The market share of propiconazole, thiophanate-methyl and polyoxin B in the rice sheath blight control market also presents a growing trend. Japan and China are major producers of polyoxin B. The sales volume of polyoxin B in the world is more than 50 000 tons (based on 1% active ingredient), and its sales value is over US$100 million. In recent years, enterprises and the plant protection departments have strengthened the dissemination of polyoxin B in the control of rice sheath blight, wheat powdery mildew and the diseases of economic crops, and polyoxin B has made up for the defects of Jinggangmycin.
   Due to its high safety and control efficiency, Armure (15% propiconazole +15% difenoconazole) produced by Syngenta AG has won high praises in the market. The consumption of Armure for the control of rice sheath blight is quite large in Hunan province. In Hubei and Zhejiang provinces, Armure is regarded as the best pesticide for the control of rice sheath blight. The market share of Armure in China is expected to climb to more than 20% in 2011. Besides, a large number of compound fungicides are launched into the market and have also squeezed the market share of Jinggangmycin.
   The rice sheath blight in China was more serious in China in 2009, and farmers in most areas used antibiotic and biological fungicides for the control of rice sheath blight. Among the compound fungicides, the Jinggangmycin compound formulations, such as the Jinggangmycin + bacillus cereus formulation and Jinggangmycin + bacillus subtilis formulation, are widely used are used the most widely and have quite ideal effect in rice sheath blight control.In addition, the sheath blight control effectiveness of pesticides like thifluzamide and fluoroamide is also quite well.

2. The effectiveness of Jinggangmycin has declined

Since it was developed in the 1970s, Jinggangmycin has already been used for more than 30 years. Its effectiveness has declined, and rice has developed some resistance to it. Besides, its control effectiveness is short, lasting around 7 days. But the control effectiveness of hexaconazole can last 20-25 days. In the rice sheath blight control period in a year, the application frequency of Jinggangmycin is 7-8 times, whereas the application frequency of hexaconazole is only 2-3 times. Jinggangmycin has poor control effectiveness on other diseases, especially diseases of economic crops like greenhouse melons, fruits and vegetables. Due to the defects of Jinggangmycin, such as declining effectiveness and a narrow application scope, China is faced with a serious trial in the control of rice sheath blight and wheat powdery mildew, the structural adjustment of the agriculture industry and the rapid development of facility cultivation.

3. Price of Jinggangmycin has remained at a low level for a long time

After Jinggangmycin was developed in the 1970s, China has not been able to develop specific pesticides for the control of rice sheath blight for a long period of time. And the unit consumption of Jinggangmycin is quite small, about 45-75 grams per hectare, and the price of Jinggangmycin is cheap. Owing to the increase of their production cost, the prices of most fungicides have grown in recent years. However, because of the rejection from dealers owing to its low profit, it is very difficult for Jinggangmycin producers to raise its prices. The market price of prochloraz is RMB4.0 per bag (6.5g), up RMB0.5 per year on year, and the price of Armure is RMB3.5 per bag (5 ml), whereas the wholesale price of 20% Jinggangmycin powder formulation is only RMB0.39 per bag (25g). Due to the long-term low price of Jinggangmycin, the capacity and sales of its producers have decreased synchronously, and their gross profit margins have reduced.

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