Chinese farmers spend on average 45 CNY per ton on postharvest treatment of citrus fruits. Most of the agrochemicals used target blue mold, green mold, black rot, stem-end rot, oospora rot, anthracnose and are also used for preservative purposes. China’s annual citrus yield is over 30 million tons and is estimated to be worth as much as 1.3 billion Yuan.
The major active ingredients for postharvest fungicides of citrus fruits were imazalil, prochloraz, iminoctadine tris (albesilate) and their respective salt complexes. Though the MoA has issued hundreds of pesticide registration certificates to nearly 200 Chinese companies and MNCs, only a small number of the fungicides was registered for citrus postharvest treatment. This niche market is almost completely controlled by several MNCs such as Rotam, Nippon Soda and FMC. The average tonnage prices of these three fungicides (technical material) was 300,000 CNY, 20,000 CNY and 2,000,000 CNY, which deterred Chinese companies from further formulation R&D and registration activities.
There is a lag between pesticide product developments globally (particularly in the US) and the Chinese industry. Trends in global markets usually precipitate trends in the Chinese market. In recent years the US EPA has approved fludioxonil, pyrimethanil and azoxystrobin for postharvest preservation. The three active ingredients are all classified as low-risk pesticide by the EPA and have distinctive actions compared with the main three postharvest fungicides used in China. Chinese companies see these alternatives as a useful complement to standard citrus fruit postharvest treatment evidenced by the increase in Chinese azoxystrobin production in recent years and it can be expected that these pesticides will see further growth in the coming years.
