On March 24, 2024, the 2024 Green Prevention and Control Innovation Technology Exchange Conference and the China Biopesticide Industry Report Release Conference were successfully held in Pujiang County, Chengdu. Representatives of government departments, the FAO and industry associations, agricultural experts, and agricultural enterprises gathered together to discuss the application and promotion of green prevention and control innovation technology and biopesticides, and witnessed the release of the white paper on China's biopesticides industry.

After the conference, 36 Kr visited the organizer of the conference, Chengdu Newsun Crop Science Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Chengdu Newsun"), a "Specialization, Fine, Unique and New-Little Giant" enterprise located in Pujiang County, and had a conversation with He Qiming, the chairman of Chengdu Newsun.

Chengdu Newsun Crop Science Co., Ltd. 

Chengdu Newsun was established in 1999, continuously focusing on green agricultural biotechnology innovation, and focusing on the construction of a scientific research system and biotechnology research and development guided by crop health and plant protection throughout the process. He Qiming said, "After more than 20 years of accumulation and precipitation, Chengdu Newsun has formed six core biotechnology technologies, including biopesticides, biological plant growth regulators, soil remediation, biostimulants and 'Zero Pesticide Residue' full process biological integration technology, and agricultural low-carbon technology. These are also the ‘Six Scientific and Technological IP’ of Chengdu Newsun.”

Chengdu Newsun Bioinformatics Technology Testing Center

This year, the project "Creation and Industrialization of New Mechanisms and New Functional Plant Growth Regulators" under the National 14th Five Year Plan, led by Chengdu Newsun was approved; The product "natural brassinosteroid -14 hydroxy brassinosteroid" has been selected as one of the first batch of "Chengdu Industrial Boutique".

Agricultural Biotechnology That Runs From The Same Starting Line Both Domestically And Internationally

At present, China's pesticide industry is facing an opportunity to overtake on a bend, which is biopesticides. According to He Qiming, in the past few decades, innovation in chemical pesticides has mainly been the technological achievements of developed countries in Europe, while the vast majority of chemical pesticides in China are generic compounds. From the perspective of biopesticides innovation, some of China's technological innovation levels are currently on the same starting line as developed countries in Europe and America. This is the biggest opportunity for China's pesticide industry to achieve "Overtaking in A Curve".

He Qiming, the chairman of Chengdu Newsun 

From a policy perspective, the "Zero Growth Action on Pesticide Use" was launched in 2015, and the "Chemical Pesticide Reduction Action" was further proposed by the end of 2022. The goal is to reduce the intensity of chemical pesticide use in major grain crops such as rice, wheat, and corn by 5% compared to the 13th Five Year Plan period by 2025. He Qiming believes that this is a global trend, and the policy is in line with international standards, which is of course a good thing for agricultural biotechnology enterprises.

From a product perspective, taking the Chengdu Newsun product "Natural Brassinosteroid -14-hydroxy brassinosteroid" as an example, this product is the first to discover a naturally high activity brassinosteroid compound using innovative enzymatic extraction technology. It has stronger comprehensive activity and extremely low concentration (ppb level), and is widely used in crops such as rice, wheat, citrus and so on, playing an important role in crop stress resistance and yield increase.

Chengdu Newsun Products

From an application perspective, with the improvement of people's living standards, there is also an increasing concern for health and the ecological environment. Therefore, in agriculture, there is also a strong demand for using biotechnology to replace chemical technology. Farmers attach great importance to results and have a considerable recognition of products with high technological content, good results, and safety, which is the key to testing product quality.

Pesticides Objectively Exist, And Technological Innovation Is The Only Way to Ensure Effectiveness And Safety

For many years, there has been a public opinion controversy over the use of "pesticides", and the demonization of "pesticides" has long existed. He Qiming told 36Kr that the foundation of agriculture lies in seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and horticultural technology, all of which are the foundation of agriculture. Without pesticides, agriculture cannot develop, and after the occurrence of diseases and pests, it will be helpless. Some agricultural products advertised as "No Use Pesticides, No Use Fertilizers" are actually misleading propaganda methods to consumers. 

36Kr dialogued with He Qiming, Chairman of Chengdu Newsun

But the concerns of the public are not non-existent, and we need to approach pesticides dialectically. Pesticides that can be approved for production and sales must undergo strict scrutiny. He Qiming said that in the application stage, some chemical pesticides are prone to resistance. Once more advanced products are not available in a timely manner, due to resistance reasons, drugs that originally could take effect with just one dose need to be used in two or even four or eight doses in the later stage to take effect. When used twice, pesticides may not necessarily be safe, which is closely related to technological innovation. In the agricultural field, crop protection, pesticides, and other aspects still have a risk of “Getting Stuck in The Neck”.

"Pesticides are safe, but excessive or unreasonable use of pesticides is unsafe." According to Phillips McDougall, the cost of developing a new chemical pesticide is $286 million, screening 160000 compounds, and taking more than 10 years. Due to the increasing difficulty of pesticide research and development, the global market volume of new pesticide compounds has gradually decreased in recent years. However, the development speed of pest resistance has exceeded the development speed of new pesticides, which means that existing pesticides can only be continued to be used, and then resistance will emerge, posing a risk of double use.

"In fact, these public opinions reflect consumers' concerns about food safety. At the same time, consumers need products with good taste, large size, and beautiful appearance, which has caused some distortions in the planting and sales strategies. The increased supervision on the consumer end will push the planting end to become more and more safe. From this perspective, consumers' voices are actually good, reminding us to do well in technological innovation."

Chengdu Newsun Honor Wall(partial)

When it comes to technological innovation, He Qiming proudly said, "Chengdu Newsun can be said to be a very good example in the integration of industry, academia, and research and the transformation of achievements."

It is reported that over the past 30 years, more than 40 universities have cooperated with Chengdu Newsun. He Qiming said that whether it was cooperation with scientific research teams, individuals, or school officials, the vast majority of them had achieved fruitful results. Enterprises that survive by relying on sales for profit naturally place great emphasis on application in research and development. Chengdu Newsun has established a mechanism for cooperation with research institutions in universities, summarizing consumer needs and categorizing them into specific technological directions. They then divide them into different specialized colleges and professional research teams, each leveraging their strengths. Over time, this has formed a mature model with better technology and higher market acceptance. In terms of profit distribution, research institutions have higher profits, forming a mature market-oriented research system.

Developing Together with Pujiang County And Jointly Building A Modern Agricultural Industry Ecosystem

The products such as “Chou Gan” Citrus, Kiwi, and Ehime Orange in Pujiang County, Chengdu City have gained a good reputation and have obtained the "Agriculture Promotional IP”. The modern agricultural industry ecosystem is also a major component of Chengdu's strong chain construction map. He Qiming said that he is a native of Pujiang County, and Chengdu Newsun has always been rooted in Pujiang, closely connected with Pujiang County and Chengdu City, and has received many assistance in enterprise development.

Chengdu Newsun Event Site

As a high-tech enterprise, Chengdu Newsun enjoys certain tax incentives. In addition, Pujiang County and Chengdu City provide considerable support to Chengdu Newsun in terms of talents. More than two-thirds of the doctoral students in the company have received corresponding subsidies from the "Rongpiao Plan" and "Tianfu Emei Plan". The total amount of subsidies over three years is as high as millions of yuan. Thanks to such talent subsidies, scientific and technological talents live and work in peace and contentment, and the company's scientific research is getting better and better.

Chengdu Newsun Laboratory

36 Kr learned that Chengdu Newsun currently has no constraints on raw materials and equipment. In terms of raw materials, they can be obtained through technological means such as microbial fermentation and synthetic biology, without the need for additional planting, which will not occupy agricultural and forestry land space. If there is a large-scale expansion in production in the future, enterprises are also preparing response methods.

The development challenges are not without them. From the perspective of the agricultural biotechnology industry, Chengdu Newsun hopes to work together with the government to promote biopesticides and let everyone know the advantages of biopesticides. He Qiming introduced that currently, chemical pesticides occupy the vast majority of the market and cognition, and people are more accustomed to using traditional products. What is biopesticides and how to use them? Public awareness requires government guidance.

He Qiming stated that China's current biopesticides market is not yet mature, but there is a huge potential for development. After another cycle of development, companies like Chengdu Newsun will have more opportunities. He hopes that start-ups currently engaged in agricultural biotechnology can quickly make efforts to form differentiated and mature products, jointly contribute to China's agricultural modernization construction, and lead agriculture towards a more green, efficient, and sustainable direction.