ChemWorld | 2 | January 1991
Uniroyal Chemical Aids U.S.S.R. Cotton Industry
In the spirit of glasnost, Uniroyal Chemical recently launched an integrated cotton improvement program in the U.S.S.R., symbolizing its commitment to developing business in Soviet Central Asia. The program represents a giant step towards establishing Uniroyal Chemical as a leader in worldwide harvest aid technology.
SIBIR, Inc., USA, a business development/consulting firm which has a joint venture in Soviet Central Asia to advance the cotton industry, approached Uniroyal Chemical to help the Soviet cotton industry develop harvest aids, and ultimately to become more competitive.
“The Soviets grow excellent cotton, but haven’t yet mastered harvesting techniques,” said David Cote, marketing manager for plant growth regulators and herbicides, Crop Protection Division of Uniroyal Chemical. “Our technical teams from the U.S. and Langley, England offices assisted in establishing the research protocols for selecting inputs for their cotton improvement program.” Field testing is now underway to evaluate those inputs. If all goes well, the program could result in multi-million dollar sales of American products, including Harvade® harvest growth regulant.
Uniroyal Chemical technical teams have provided field development assistance to Uzbekistan, a republic of the U.S.S.R., which grows over 4.5 million acres of cotton, and accounts for 65 percent of the country’s cotton industry. Recently, the Soviet team, which includes three delegates from Uzbekistan, toured the top U.S. cotton growing areas in the Mississippi Delta and California (see sidebar).
More than half of Uniroyal Chemical’s agricultural business is outside of the United States. The U.S.S.R. has been a large importer of Vitavax® fungicide for cereal grain production. Uniroyal Chemical is well-positioned to expand this business further to develop agricultural marketplaces worldwide. ■
Mardon Turaev (far left) from SIBIR, Inc. and Renat Nazarov (third from left), chief of cotton production for Uzbekistan, investigate Harvade-treated cotton during their Mississippi Delta tour. They are joined by Charles Moore (second from left), an independent cotton consultant, and two Russian translators (far right) that accompanied the group.
Russian Agricultural Officials Tour U.S. Cotton Capitals
Sponsored by Uniroyal Chemical, a three-man delegation from the Soviet Ministry of Agriculture recently visited some of the top cotton growing areas of the U.S. Brought here to observe the effectiveness of Crop Protection’s defoliant, Harvade®, the men are part of a team set up to improve Russia’s cotton growing techniques.
Each year, Russian farmers plant nearly eight million acres of cotton along the 43rd parallel, almost the same latitude and climate as New York City. The cold temperatures make growing cotton very difficult. In addition to Spring frosts (in May 1989 a frost forced farmers to re-plant almost the entire crop), the cold makes it difficult to defoliate the cotton plants. The U.S.S.R. has an extreme interest in Harvade because it works well in colder climates.
In an effort to demonstrate the effectiveness of Harvade, Uniroyal Chemical invited three of Russia’s top agricultural experts to visit some of the premier cotton growing areas in the U.S. – the Mississippi Delta and California. “We know you have a good defoliant in Harvade,” said Renat
Nazarov, chief of cotton production and other technical crop development for Uzbekistan. “We wanted to see how it works here. We wanted to see it with our own eyes, especially during the harvest.”
The Soviet problems with defoliation have escalated in the past few years because their primary defoliant was banned by the Ministry of Health. Since then, farmers have been using DROPP®; however, the chemical does not work as well in the colder climate as it does in the warmer U.S. cotton regions.
During the course of their visit, the Soviets were briefed on different areas of research for weed and insect control, mechanization, cotton physiology and genetics, and ginning, as well as defoliation. “In order to conduct agricultural business, we also have to do this type of technology exchange,” said Ronald Ames, Crop Protection’s technical manager of growth regulants.
Joining Uniroyal Chemical in sponsoring the tour was SIBIR, Inc.; USA; and the U.S.S.R.’s Ministry of Agriculture. ■
(DROPP is a registered trademark of Schering AG)
UNIROYAL CHEMICAL