With a growing product pipeline and numerous strategic partnerships, DowDupont’s Seed Applied Technologies division sees promise and opportunities for their customers.
With a presence in more than 130 countries, the Agriculture Division of DowDuPont has established itself as a global leader in production agriculture. They’ve earned that status by developing a balanced product platform, marrying seed and crop protection solutions that meet the diverse needs of farmers around the world. Going forward, the company’s Seed Applied Technology business looks to collaborate with more international players in their quest to deliver innovative products for key crops.
“We are more than a seed treatment business – we are a seed applied technology business. That means we create solutions for our customers that are available within and complement our own suite of products,” says Nahuel Lo Cane, Global Product Manager for Seed Applied Technologies.
Vivek Sharma, Global Product Manager for Seed Applied Technologies, explains their goal is to provide technologies that improve grower productivity and enhance customer experience.
“This includes bringing better active ingredients, formulations and innovative application technologies to growers. Seed-applied biologicals will play an important role to complement and strengthen our existing product portfolio,” Sharma says.
Since the company started developing their own proprietary solutions nearly five years ago, their product suite has grown to include DuPont’s Dermacor® seed applied insecticide available to corn and soybean growers in Brazil; Lumivia® seed applied insecticide for use in the United States, Canada and China in corn production; Lumiposa® seed applied insecticide for oilseed rape crops in Poland and Lumisena®, a seed applied fungicide for use on sunflower and soybean crops in the United States.
Lo Cane said products like Lumivia and Lumiposa represent a key pillar in the short term. Currently they are being combined with products already on the market but in the next two to five years, greater potential will be unleashed.
“With the combination of our pipeline and technologies from our collaborations, we will be able to offer a better long-term solution for our key customers,” Lo Cane explains.
Arysta and Valent Sumitomo were two important collaborations announced in 2017. The partnership with Arysta enabled DowDuPont to acquire rights to a leading fungicide technology that can be developed and marketed globally. Partnering with Valent Sumitomo and their chemical and biological pipeline means the company can evaluate seed applied technologies at earlier stages in the commercialization process.
“We are building a differentiated seed treatment portfolio around our proprietary base offerings in focus crops where we have a seed footprint with corn, soybeans, canola/oilseed rape and cereals as our top priority. Other crops of interest include cotton, rice and sunflowers,” Sharma says.
Lo Cane notes the potential for innovation exists beyond those crops, but they’ve opted to concentrate their efforts. “Those seven crops represent 85 to 90 percent of the total market. There are additional opportunities beyond those crops, but if we want to lead the market we need to win in those key crops,” he says.
The Seed Applied Technology business foresees more collaborations on the horizon. Their goal is to connect with industry peers in the early stages of research and development.
“We intend to develop, register and commercialize offerings using the best technologies available through our seed brands, to other seed companies and other channel members globally,” says Sharma.
