The market
The world market for pesticides, fungicides and herbicides has oscillated around $ 40 billion in the past decade. While the growth of herbicides increased by +10 % per year, sales of pesticides dropped by 15 %. The northern hemisphere market (United States, Europe and Japan) is around 80 % on herbicides, while in developing countries where the environment is more tropical, sales are also distributed between pesticides and herbicides . With 31.7 %, the European market is the largest in the world, with a turnover of $ 12.8 billion, followed by Asia which exceeds North America. Herbicides represent the largest category with nearly $ 19 billion in sales. Unlike popular belief, the United States is a relatively small consumer. However, this can be the result of a vast penetration of GMO cultures. The number of different active chemicals is estimated at 500 which have been reformulated in approximately 2,700 specialized products. France is the largest consumer of phytosanitary products in Europe and only occupies the world in the world after the United States and Japan. Roundup as an individual brand, produced by Monsanto is distinguished in world sales. Most GMOs are designed to operate with a specific herbicide. Since GMO soy has been introduced in the United States, Roundup sales increased by 72% to reach almost three billion dollars in 2010, or about $ 300 million in profits.
Innovation
R&D costs have increased and should increase as regulatory requirements for safer agrochemical products increase. Biotechnology has also encroached on chemical solutions that have dominated since the early 1950s. Genetic engineering implies, among other things, the manufacture of herbicidal resistant plants. This strategy allows companies to control the market for specific crops, such as the Roundup association as herbicide by Monsanto and tolerant soybeans in Roundup, which allows them to earn money by selling chemicals and seeds. American Cyanamid continued the same strategy by developing varieties of tolerant wheat with herbicides, the most important agricultural culture in the world. Only a few researchers opt for allelopathy innovations, the study of natural herbicides such as those produced by walnut trees. Jonas Carlsson, Managing Director of JCS Europe AB, a Swedish company which is dedicated to innovation in the field of agricultural machines, has been concentrating for more than a decade on organic farming. As a biological aggregator, he resisted the application of herbicides while fighting to control the thistles that set up a long and arduous battle each spring. Jonas studied the physical differences between its crops and the weed, seeking an independent solution of chemicals and without genetic controls. He imagined detection blades to fight weeds in various cultures. Unlike a mower, which would eliminate any vegetation, it has designed fixed blades which paint weeds according to the physiological difference between unwanted plants and young growing crops. Jonas found strange that no one had the idea of exploiting the form and texture of weeds. Jonas imagined a cutting system that removes the thistle after its leaves covered the ground. For three years, he tested and tried his ideas in cooperation with JTI (The Swedish Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Engineering), built a prototype and obtained a patent for 32 countries. SLU (Swedish University of Agriculture), located in Uppsala, tested the machines towed by tractor with remarkable success. One of the fundamental principles of the blue economy is to apply innovations that are based first and foremost on physics. The traditional use of chemicals, and genetic modifications based on biotechnology, are thwarted by the identification of the shape and shape of weeds, allowing very effective control. This makes organic farming more productive.
The first cash flow
Jonas then tested his weeder for various applications. Of course, his first goal was to win the fight against thistles. The machine went down to culture and seeks weeds. The progress speed can reach up to 10 km/h and the work height can be adapted to the surface. The blade is simple and has no mobile parts. The only rotating component is a brush that prevents clogging. It is driven by a hydraulic engine. Technology is only mechanical, offering a high level of reliability. In the spring of 2010, the first machines were put up for sale and while customers were limited to Sweden, the increase in productivity was measured not only by the elimination of chemicals, but it demonstrated that use The weeder reduces the need for work of the soil, which consumes time and energy.
The opportunity
This is the first time that farmers have been offered an alternative to chemical controls and genetic changes. The combined sale of chemical and genetic controls raises many doubts about the long -term impact of these changes on ecosystems. However, now that professional exposure to herbicides (paraquat) has increased the risk of Parkinson's disease and that a roundup additive (adjuvants) kills in vitro cells, regulatory authorities are much more reluctant to approve their use. The time when it was announced that aerosol herbicides could be sold as safer than table salt and practically non -toxic to animals is definitively over. Monsanto and Dow Agrosciences were forced to modify their claims after tests have proven the opposite this creates a new and vast platform for the sale of agricultural equipment, as opposed to a market in difficulty for chemicals, with a large reluctance from the public. One of the main advantages of the mechanical approach developed by Jonas Carlsson is that instead of having an aggressive product at the service of all, it is necessary over time to develop a series of knives that target certain bad Herbs. While chemical and biotechnological solutions are made by a few multinationals, this mechanical solution stimulates business spirit. This reveals a second successful strategy: adapting to the local market and adapting solutions to weeds that must be eliminated. Since Jonas reduces the costs, reduces the carbon footprint and increases labor productivity, one wonders what will be the next generation of jobs? It seems that this simple breakthrough will result in new job losses in the chemical industry, which is already fighting to adapt to new market conditions with the dismissals announced. Machines adapted to local conditions, which can be harnessed to any tractor, may well offer a new competitive advantage to local entrepreneurs, generating few jobs but guaranteeing a healthier environment.
