Use of AI speeds up R&D for pesticide costs to curb rise in pests in imported crops

Crop protection companies making pesticides are increasing adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across the value chain in agriculture for shorter timelines of data churning and acceleration of the Research & Development (R&D) process. Chairman of Croplife India and CMD of Crystal Crop Protection, Ankur Aggarwal told CNBC-TV18 that all heavy-lifting on communication to farmers is already being conducted via AI, stating that he expects AI to solve problems in the agri-tech sector on diseases or pests not being managed. He said that shorter R&D cycles will significantly shorten the time taken by new products to reach the market and will benefit farmers and consumers.

With a rise in nutrient uptake within the country along with a spike in consumption of fruits and vegetables, he said that with the cultivation and consumption of new crops, new pests and diseases are a natural phenomenon. He gave an example of several tough pests have come from other countries, like a pest in maize from Africa which later spread to other crops. Noting a significant dependence on China on crop protection chemicals, he said that supply chains are becoming more resilient even as import dependence has reduced in the Indian crop protection industry in the past 10 years, projecting that India can look to become a supplier of crop protection chemicals to many countries.

Urging the government for Protection of Regulatory Data (PRD) for new molecules for a minimum period of 5 years from registration in India under the draft Pesticides Management Bill, he pointed out that the data Protection period ranges from 6-10 years in Europe, US, China, Brazil, Vietnam, and the Philippines. He explained that patents provide commercial protection of 20 years from the date of patent being granted, of which 8 to 10 years are spent to secure commercial registration in the first country of introduction as the typical time required for data generation and the approval process of the country’s regulatory authorities. He added that in India it takes another 5 to 7 years to generate local data and get registered, which leaves 4 to 5 years of a patent period on an average when a new patented product can be commercially launched in India. Highlighting that several crop protection products are yet to come to India, he sought protection for the incurred cost to spur innovation in the sector.