Agrochemical Industry

• Agrochemical - chemical products used in industrial agriculture to improve crop yields and protect plants from pests, diseases, and weeds.
• Pesticide (Crop Control)

  • used to kill, repel, or control plants and animals that are considered as pests
• Fertilizer (Soil Supplements)

  • Any organic or inorganic chemical supplements added to the soil to provide essential nutrients for supporting plant growth and development.
• Types of Pesticides

  • Insecticides
  • Rodenticides
  • Fungicides
  • Herbicides
  • Germicides
• Insecticides


  Pesticides that are formulated to kill, harm, repel or mitigate one or more species of insect
• Rodenticides


  Pesticides that kill rodents. Rodents include not only rats and mice, but also squirrels, woodchucks, chipmunks, porcupines, nutria, and beavers
• Fungicides


  Pesticides that kill or prevent the growth of fungi and their spores
• Herbicides


  Pesticides that kill or inhibit the growth of unwanted plants, such as weeds and invasive species
• Germicides


  Pesticides that kills germs (bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms that can cause infection and disease)
• Types of Insecticides:

  1. Stomach Poison - Lethal only to insects that ingest them
  2. Contact Insecticide - Kill following external bodily contact
  3. Fumigant - Acts on the insect through the respiratory system
  4. Systemic - Absorbed right into the sap stream and translocated throughout the plant
• Types of Rodenticides:

  1. Anti-coagulant - prevents the formation of blood clots
  2. Non-coagulant - Do not directly interfere with the blood clotting process but may still affect aspects of cardiovascular health, nervous system, and blood flow
• Types of Fungicides:

  1. Contact - eradicates the fungus they come in direct contact with
  2. Systemic - absorbed and redistributed into the plant
• Types of Herbicides:

  1. Selective - prevent the growth of some specific species of plants without having an impact on crops
  2. Non-Selective - herbicides are broad-spectrum and will affect any plant it is applied to
• Types of Germicides:

  1. Antiseptic - prevents or arrests the growth of microorganism; living tissue
  2. Disinfectant - An agent that frees from infection; inanimate objects
• Types of Fertilizers:

  1. Organic: Derived from natural sources such as plants, animals, and minerals.
  2. Inorganic: Prepared from rock and minerals and are formed by physical and chemical processes
• Types of Organic Fertilizers

  1. Manure
  2. Minerals
  3. Compost
• Manure:

  • Consists of animal feces
  • Adds N, K, P, S, Mg, and Ca
  • Increase soil stability, increase water infiltration, add bacteria diversity, and over time reduce the impacts of soil erosion
• Minerals:

  • Organic "inorganic" fertilizer
  • Mined from fossil products of animal activity
  • Raises pH of soil which stimulates microbial growth, increase biological processes, and enable nutrient flow
• Compost:

  • Provides little in the means of nutrients to plants
  • Provides soil stability through increasing organic matter
  • Helps microorganisms proliferate which in turn breaks down decaying plant material into substantial bioavailable nutrients
• Types of Inorganic Fertilizers

  1. Nitrogen
  2. Phosphorous
  3. Potassium
• Nitrogen:

  • major component of chlorophyll, the compound by which plants use sunlight energy to produce sugars from water and carbon dioxide
  • major component of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins
• Phosphorous:

  • ATP forms during photosynthesis, has phosphorous in its structure, and processes from the beginning of seedling growth through to the formation of grain and maturity
  • Vital component of DNA, the genetic "memory unit" of all living things, and RNA, the compound that reads the DNA genetic code
• Potassium:

  • helps the crops fight against disease, it is known as the "quality nutrient"
  • affects quality factors such as size, shape, color, and vigor of the seed or grain, and improves the fiber quality of cotton