42 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM RNA AND DNA Surman points to another likely trend in the crop protection industry: increased use of RNA Interference (RNAi). It’s a nat- urally-occurring process that can accomplish several things, including prevention of disease. Two examples are the crea- tion of ringspot virus-resistant papayas and orange trees that resist a disease called citrus greening. The process involves RNA molecules inhibiting gene expression, and thereby inhibiting production of one or many of the proteins responsible for the development of a disease or essential for a pest’s survival. “RNA- based technologies can also benefit crops in other ways, from the reduction of undesirable traits, to improved quality and nutri- tion,” Surman notes. Some examples already commercialized are non-browning apples, nicotine-free tobacco, decaffeinated coffee and soybeans with less saturated fat. There is also current RNAi research into producing crops with lower levels of natural toxins, such as gossypol in cotton seeds and linamarin in cassava plants, as well as nutrient-fortified and hypo-allergenic crops. In addition, RNA-based technologies can improve crop per- formance by increasing stress tolerance, inducing early flow- ering or delaying ripening or deterioration. Surman adds that they may also be used to develop crop protection products that only affect targeted pests. “For example, an insecticide would be highly targeted to only impact corn rootworm in maize, but not other insects or animals,” he says. Lastly, Ramos lists genome editing (e.g. CRISPR/Cas9) as a new genetic technique that will increase in use. It will allow the rapid introduction of native traits into various crops and also accelerate the development of transgenic seeds, he says, and “it could also have a great impact in shortening breeding cycles. New hybrid crops like wheat and barley will be game changers.” IMPROVED PLANT SUPPORT In Emanuel’s view, improving nutritional support for plants is a growing trend. “Farmers can simplify their use of fertilizers, increase yields and see an improved environment footprint through using nitrogen stabilizers such as Limus, which we recently launched. It improves the amount of nitrogen that plants can use from urea-based fertilizers. In addition, our seed-applied biological inoculants such, such as Nodulator in North America and HiCoat in Europe, are based on delivering nutrition, and therefore increasing yield and plant growth potential, to legu- minous plants through nitrogen fixation.” Ramos also foresees technological breakthroughs in plant support, specifically in the area of abiotic stress. “There is a potentially very big market of unaddressed needs in that area, mostly driven by climate change and soil degradation. Technologically, these needs could be addressed by chemicals, traits, breeding technologies or a combination thereof. At the moment, there is no evidence of disruptive breakthroughs in this field but as technology develops in other segments, new solutions may emerge in the mid to long term.” INDUSTRY MERGERS Over the last 12 to 18 months, many mergers and acquisitions have occurred in the crop protection products industry. The fol- lowing companies are now the major players: Bayer/Monsanto, Dow/DuPont, BASF, FMC Corp., and ChemChina, which recently purchased Syngenta. Smaller companies include Nufarm (Australia), United Phosphorous (India), Sumitomo Agrochemicals (Japan), AMVAC (US) and Albaugh (US). Another is Platform Ag (US), which may merge with one of the larger companies in the coming months. BASF says that since the industry consolidation activities are ongoing, it is too early to foresee all consequences for the industry in detail. Regarding Bayer and Monsanto joining forces, Klages says the move is about bringing new and more innovative solutions to customers in a shorter timeframe. “Today, it takes companies like us more than 10 years to develop new crop pro- tection products. And it takes seed companies almost as long to develop (corresponding) plant traits,” he notes. “If both aspects were worked on jointly and in parallel, it would be possible to save a lot of time and give growers – big and small – quicker access to a broad set of solutions to meet their current and future needs, including enhanced solutions in seeds and traits, crop protection, and digital agriculture.” These are expected to result in significant and lasting benefits for farmers: from improved sourcing and increased convenience to higher yield, better envi- ronmental protection and sustainability. PATENT PROTECTION EXPIRATION According to the AgroPages report ‘New Off-Patent/Generic Agrochemicals 2017-2022,’ 26 agrochemical active ingredients (AIs) will lose their patent protection between 2017 and 2022, including 13 herbicides, 4 insecticides, 8 fungicides and 1 safener. “Some well-known products like Chlorantraniliprole are in the list, as well as some niche products such as the eco- friendly fungicide Isotianil used on rice,” states the report. “Bayer holds the most (a) products with patents expiring in the coming five years, the same numbers as from Japanese compa- nies.” These are Amisulbrom from Nissan Chemical Industries, Pyrimsulfan from Ihara Chemical Industry, Pyroxasulfone from Kumiai Chemical Industry, Flubendiamide and Pyrifluquinazon from Nihon Nohyaku, Fenpyrazamine and Metofluthrin from Sumitomo Chemical. In terms of the impact of these developments, Klages notes that “competition from generic manufacturers is a global trend. We at Bayer continue to focus on innovation.” Ramos agrees that when a patent expires, and generic companies are allowed to copy and sell the product (usually at a reduced price), this pro- vides a strong incentive for the innovator to keep on innovating. “Most innovative companies do not only focus on developing new active ingredients, but also exploring new formulation oppor- tunities for optimizing the active ingredient’s performance,” he says. “Patents can be also applied to specific novel manufactur- ing methods or specific innovative formulations. The originating companies may want to enforce these patents as well.” Ramos adds, however, that if generic companies manage to circumvent patents relating to processes and formulations, products will be able to go to market with a direct impact on the sales of the originating company. “For generic companies,” he says, “it can be an opportunity to ‘renew’ their product portfolio and reduce their dependency on purely commodity products.” One of the fastest growing areas of R&D among crop protection companies is biologicals.