BASF and Kingenta to Jointly Address Tough Agriculture Challenge in China

24 Jun 2016 --- BASF and Chinese fertilizer supplier Kingenta announced their partnership to bring farmers in China novel fertilizers coated with BASF’s new Limus technology. Limus addresses a pressing issue in agriculture: the loss of nitrogen in urea-based fertilizers. The new technology allows farmers to achieve greater harvests by protecting against this overuse of resources.

With conventional fertilizers, only 50% of the available nitrogen is taken up by plants. These losses occur through volatilization and leaching, processes that are tough to control. Limus is one of the most effective urease inhibitors worldwide. With this breakthrough innovation, the volatilization can be reduced by up to 90%. The result is that more food can be produced with less nitrogen, significantly increasing resource efficiency. Limus will allow farmers to simplify their fertilization practice, make the most of their investment and increase yield potential while at the same time contributing to a healthier environment.

In this partnership, BASF will provide Kingenta with its Limus technology. Kingenta, one of the largest fertilizer suppliers in China, will directly promote and sell Limus-treated fertilizers in China from July 2016 onwards.

“With this powerful collaboration, we combine a fantastic product with high-end expertise in the Chinese fertilizer market,” says Mark Shillingford, Head of Marketing BASF Crop Protection China Limited. “BASF and Kingenta have jointly developed a solution to one of the most important challenges in agriculture,” concludes Shillingford.

Farmers are constantly seeking new ways to produce more with less input and therefore be able to supply the increasing demand for food and feed. Fertilizers have become an essential resource to help achieve that. However, the excessive nitrogen loss results in farmers having to apply more fertilizer, which can be costly and can have negative impact on the environment.

“BASF has invested significantly into R&D to solve drawbacks of generic urease inhibitors. Limus® has an outstanding biological performance through two active ingredients and a longer shelf life due to BASF's polymer technology used in its formulation. That's why it is the best urea protection for optimal plant nutrition,” says Dr. Markus Schmid, Director Global Limus launch, BASF Crop Protection.

“The strategic cooperation between Kingenta and BASF will be a mutually advantageous combination of technology, product, brand, channel and services. Kingenta commands advanced production technology and a strong service network for marketing throughout China. The cooperation with BASF’s urease inhibitor product brings customers both an excellent product and service. In the future, highly efficient products made from Kingenta’s technology and BASF inhibitor Limus, will be promoted rapidly throughout a sales service network of 100,000 covering the entire Chinese market. Together, we will provide farmers with highly efficient and environmentally friendly products and will boost yield increase,” said Mr. Yang Guanbo, Vice President of Marketing & Sales at Kingenta.