The specialized segment of agro‑pharmaceutical fertilizers has entered an “expansionary” cycle, with a review of popular insecticidal fertilizer products currently registered, such as chlorantraniliprole and thiamethoxam.

In recent years, competition in the agricultural inputs market has intensified, with the industry becoming increasingly professional and sophisticated, and entry barriers steadily rising. The emerging category of agro‑pharmaceuticals has opened up new opportunities, attracting keen interest from manufacturers, distributors, and farmers alike, and serving as a “second growth curve” for many agro‑input companies. Leading pesticide firms and traditional fertilizer producers are expanding into this space, helping propel the agro‑pharmaceutical sub‑sector into a period of robust growth.

The rapid growth in sales of agro‑pharmaceutical products has further strengthened companies’ resolve to capture this market. Such development is driven by market demand: in areas like Laibin and Liuzhou in Guangxi, 60% to 80% of sugarcane farmers rely on agro‑pharmaceuticals for production—without them, they do not plant sugarcane. Meanwhile, the cultivation of high‑value crops such as ginger, scallions, garlic, and traditional Chinese medicinal herbs is also gaining traction. With surging market demand, fertilizer manufacturers are rolling out agro‑pharmaceutical products to meet consumer needs and secure a competitive edge.

The entry of traditional fertilizer companies marks the beginning of consolidation in the agro‑pharmaceutical sector. An increasing number of brands are gaining market recognition, with their brand strength significantly bolstered, ushering in a new era in which agro‑pharmaceuticals are driven by robust branding and experiencing a surge in market prominence.

Similarly, from the perspective of market trends, agro‑pharmaceutical fertilizers can help address rural labor shortages and meet the demands of high‑quality agricultural development. First, these products are well‑suited to the evolving crop‑production landscape. For instance, controlling underground pests and soilborne diseases in crops such as peanuts, Chinese medicinal herbs, and sugar crops is precisely where granular agro‑pharmaceutical fertilizers can leverage their advantages. Second, they help resolve the growing mismatch between labor supply and demand. Large-scale grain producers, in particular, urge manufacturers to intensify research and development efforts, actively introducing herbicidal, insecticidal, and fungicidal agro‑pharmaceutical fertilizers to significantly reduce labor costs.

China’s major crops are cultivated on approximately 1.9 billion mu annually, with a potential area of up to 880 million mu suitable for the application of agro‑pharmaceutical fertilizers. These products target weeds, diseases, pests, and harmful animals, while microbial agro‑pharmaceuticals and foliar sprays incorporating plant growth regulators also enjoy substantial market demand. Estimates suggest that China’s fertilizer market is valued at roughly RMB 800 billion, with the pesticide market at around RMB 50 billion, leaving considerable room for growth in the agro‑pharmaceutical fertilizer segment. According to industry reports, by the end of 2022, the market size had already surpassed RMB 10 billion.

Insecticidal fertilizers are among the most mature categories of agrochemical‑fertilizer products currently developed in China, and they have already been widely adopted for crops such as sugarcane in southern regions and wheat and peanuts in northern areas. According to registration data, taking granular formulations as an example, the primary active ingredients registered for these products include chlorantraniliprole, thiamethoxam, cartap hydrochloride, imidacloprid, diazinon, abamectin, and thiazophos.

Chlorantraniliprole

Since its patent expired, chlorantraniliprole has remained a hot commodity in the industry. Domestic technical‑grade production capacity has expanded rapidly, and the number of formulated product registrations has surged—among which agrochemical‑fertilizer combinations have also become a key area of focus. Thanks to its outstanding efficacy against lepidopteran pests, long residual control, excellent activity against eggs and larvae, and ability to effectively kill older‑stage insects, coupled with both systemic and stomach‑poisoning modes of action, chlorantraniliprole is highly sought after by agrochemical‑fertilizer manufacturers.

At present, the number of registered granular formulations in China has reached 29, primarily formulated in combination with thiamethoxam, clothianidin, imidacloprid, lambda‑cyhalothrin, and other active ingredients. The currently approved target pests are concentrated on sugarcane borer, rice stem borer and rice leaf roller, corn armyworm and grubs, as well as peanut grubs, among others.

Thiamethoxam

Thiamethoxam is a fourth‑generation insecticide, succeeding organophosphates, carbamates, and pyrethroids. It exhibits contact, stomach‑poisoning, and systemic activity, and is favored by modern farmers for its low toxicity and minimal residue, its unique mode of action—applying the product underground to protect aboveground pests while enabling both upward and downward systemic translocation—and its versatile application methods, including foliar spraying, seed treatment, and granular broadcast application.

As a soil‑borne pest control product, thiamethoxam delivers outstanding efficacy against onion maggots, garlic maggots, and grubs, effectively replacing organophosphate pesticides and becoming a cornerstone of modern underground pest management. Currently, the number of registered granular formulations of thiamethoxam in China has reached 50, with an additional 22 registered as formulated mixtures; these mixtures are combined with bifenthrin, cartap hydrochloride, chlorantraniliprole, flufenoxuron, and dimethoate, among others. The primary target pests include sugarcane tortoise beetles and sugarcane borers, corn grubs and two‑spotted armyworms, as well as peanut grubs.

Imidacloprid

Imidacloprid is one of the earliest active ingredients in China to be used in seed‑treatment and granular formulations. Thanks to its excellent systemic properties, it is particularly well suited for seed treatment and application as a granular pesticide. Currently, there are 48 registered granular products containing imidacloprid, making it the top‑ranked active ingredient among granular formulations. It exhibits contact, stomach‑poisoning, and systemic modes of action, primarily targeting piercing‑sucking pests such as aphids, thrips, and whiteflies—smaller insects that feed on plant sap. In addition, imidacloprid is effective against leafhoppers, striped flea beetles, the twenty‑eight‑spotted lady beetle, rice weevils, rice stem borers, rice water weevils, grubs, cutworms, and mole crickets, delivering strong control across a broad spectrum of pests.

Insecticide single

Chlorantraniliprole exhibits strong contact, stomach‑poisoning, and systemic translocation activities, delivering excellent control of lepidopteran larvae, particularly borer pests. Its key advantages are: first, its outstanding water solubility enables efficient upward and downward movement within the plant; when applied to the roots, it controls pests on the upper parts of the plant, while foliar sprays target stem‑base borers; second, it possesses ovicidal activity. In recent years, an increasing number of agrochemical manufacturers have been formulating chlorantraniliprole with insecticides that operate via different modes of action to achieve more comprehensive pest‑control efficacy—for example, abamectin + chlorantraniliprole, buprofezin + chlorantraniliprole, chlorantraniliprole + chlorantraniliprole, and thiamethoxam + chlorantraniliprole. To date, 23 granular formulations of chlorantraniliprole have been registered.

Avermectin/Thiazophos

Avermectin and thiazophos have been formulated into granular products for soil application, primarily targeting root-knot nematodes while also providing supplementary control of other subterranean pests. At present, combining avermectin or thiazophos with functional ingredients such as sugars, humic acids, alginates, and amino acids not only promotes root development and improves the rhizosphere soil environment but also enhances nematode management, delivering a synergistic effect that exceeds the sum of its parts. Looking ahead, the development of avermectin and thiazophos into ferti‑pesticides for root application holds substantial market potential; companies like Hebei Sannong and Henan Diweishi have already launched specialized thiazophos‑based ferti‑pesticides, making this a promising area to watch.

Thiamethoxam

Thiamethoxam is a neonicotinoid insecticide characterized by a broad spectrum of activity, high efficacy, strong systemic translocation, and low toxicity. It can be applied as a foliar spray, used for seed treatment, root drenching, or soil application. After application, it is rapidly absorbed by the plant’s roots, stems, and leaves and translocated throughout the plant, achieving rapid pest control. Thiamethoxam is primarily used to manage sap‑sucking pests such as aphids, whiteflies, tobacco whiteflies, thrips, and tea green leafhoppers; it also provides control of grubs, wireworms, codling moths, leaf miners, leafmining flies, and nematodes. There are 57 registered formulations of thiamethoxam granules, which currently consist mainly of single‑ingredient products or are formulated in combination with other active ingredients, including cartap, chlorantraniliprole, thiazophos, and bifenthrin.

Diazinon

Diazinon is a low‑toxicity organophosphate insecticide that exhibits strong contact, stomach‑poisoning, and fumigant activity, as well as some systemic properties. It exerts its insecticidal effect by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase and disrupting the nervous system of pests. Diazinon is widely used to control aboveground pests such as rice stem borers (Chilo suppressalis and Chilo polychrysus), rice planthoppers, corn borers, beet armyworms, and vegetable pests including cabbage caterpillars and aphids, as well as underground pests like grubs, mole crickets, wireworms, cutworms, and root maggots. When applied as a granular formulation to the soil, diazinon not only controls subterranean pests such as grubs, sugarcane tortoise beetles, wireworms, mole crickets, and small cutworms, but also exhibits a certain repellent effect against field birds. In terms of controlling underground pests, compared with mainstream competing products, diazinon outperforms phoxim in both application rate per mu and duration of residual efficacy, while surpassing chlorpyrifos in toxicity and residue profile. Currently, the primary registered formulations of diazinon for underground pest control include 0.1%, 4%, 5%, and 10% granules, as well as 40% and 50% emulsifiable concentrates. Granular formulations are mainly applied as basal, band, or hole‑application treatments in field crops. Among the existing ten diazinon‑based mixed formulations, six are registered specifically for managing underground pests, including diazinon–thiazophos, diazinon–abamectin, diazinon–trichlorfon, diazinon–thiamethoxam, and diazinon–phoxim, among others.

Fluorochlorcypermethrin

As is well known, soil-dwelling pests are relatively sensitive to pyrethroid insecticides; however, as the common cutworm has developed increasing resistance to these compounds, traditional pyrethroids no longer offer a significant control advantage. The introduction of lambda‑cyhalothrin (Kungfu) and cyfluthrin (Baishu) has effectively addressed the resistance‑related limitations of pyrethroid insecticides in managing underground pests. Although both compounds demonstrate good efficacy against soil pests, field data indicate that cyfluthrin exhibits higher control efficiency and a longer soil half-life than lambda‑cyhalothrin. When using cyfluthrin granules for underground pest management, it is advisable to opt for formulated mixtures—such as the 2% cyfluthrin–thiamethoxam granule—which not only controls common subterranean pests like grubs, wireworms, and mole crickets but also targets onion maggots, leek maggots, flea beetles, and Japanese beetles. Moreover, this formulation provides effective control of piercing‑sucking pests during the crop growing period—such as aphids, leafhoppers, and thrips—as well as leafminers. Currently, nine cyfluthrin‑based granular formulations are registered in China, primarily combined with active ingredients like thiamethoxam, chlorantraniliprole, and imidacloprid, for the management of peanut and potato grubs, corn two‑spotted armyworm, and other target pests.

Notably, due to the high regulatory barriers associated with insecticidal fertilizers, the registered active ingredients are currently highly concentrated, leading to severe product homogenization. Going forward, the development of new active ingredients will be a key focus for the industry.

Source: WeChat Official Account: Agricultural Inputs Herald – Pesticides