Message from the
President
Kyoyu Agri’s story begins with the founding of Yashima Chemical Industries Ltd. in 1938. The next significant development in our history occurred in 1955, when the company began operating as an agrochemical manufacturing partner of the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (Zen-Noh) by selling its products through that organization’s network (this is so called “Keito” business). More recently, the company took on its current form in 2004 when Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd., and Zen-Noh increased their respective stakes, absorbed the Keito agrochemical business of Sumitomo Chemical – Takeda Agro Co., Ltd., and changed the company’s name to Kyoyu Agri Co., Ltd.
We have worked on promoting our products by practicing the customer-centric approach that is espoused by our corporate slogan of “Always for Growers,” a philosophy that enables us to assess farmers’ needs in the field and recommend appropriate products so that we can live up to their expectations. As a manufacturer of agrochemicals, we remain committed to providing safe, high-quality products to farmers along with higher-quality technological service. At the same time, we also look forward to contributing to Japanese agriculture through our work to develop and promote Integrated Pest Management (IPM) – familiar products in response to consumers’ high level of interest in food safety.
Pyraclonil, a rice herbicide active ingredient we developed, gained a broad user base throughout Japan thanks to its high level of effectiveness against sulfonylurea-resistant weeds, which had been becoming a significant problem at farms nationwide. As a result, pyraclonil has become Japan’s top seller rice herbicide ingredient for nine years in a row. Our greatest joy is to help farmers tackle the challenges they face.
Nowadays, agricultural production field are aging, and the scale of management is expanding and incorporation is progressing rapidly at the same time. It will be the time in which reduction of production costs and labor saving are required more than ever. In order to respond to such changes in the time, we will continue to take on new challenges together with the people in the agricultural field as a whole company. We look forward to your continued guidance and support in the future.
Satoru Ando
President, Kyoyu Agri Co., Ltd.
Corporate Profile
Our company was originally founded on 29th March, 1938 in Kawasaki, where the Kawasaki head office is currently located. For more than 80 years since then, we have been involved in manufacturing and sales of agrochemicals.
On 1st May, 1996, the company merged with Mikasa Chemical Co., Ltd. which had more than 70 years of business history. On 1st November, 2004, the company inherited the “Keito” business of Sumika-Takeda Agrichemicals Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Kyoyu Agri Co., Ltd.
| Company name | Kyoyu Agri Co., Ltd. |
|---|---|
| Registered head office | YTT Building, Futago 6-14-10, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa, Japan 213-0002 |
| Address of Tokyo head office | Yamaman Building, Koami-cho 6-1, Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan 103-0016 |
| Date of establishment | 29th March, 1938 |
| Principal businesses | Manufacturing and sales of agrochemicals; leasing and management of real estate |
| President | Satoru Andou |
History
| 1938 | Yashima Chemical Industries, Ltd. is established in Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa to start manufacturing of agrochemicals for pome fruits using sulphur, copper, lime and others as starting materials. |
|---|---|
| 1955 | Sales via ZEN-KOREN (currently called as ZEN-NOH) is started. |
| 1962 | The Nagano Plant and the Nagano Agro-Science Research Center start their respective operations. |
| 1964 | The Yamagata Plant starts its operation. |
| 1965 | The Kanto Plant starts its operation. |
| 1971 | The marketing of Mametto, an in-house developed herbicide formulation for paddy rice, is started. |
| 1989 | The YTT building is constructed in Kawasaki. |
| 1992 | The granular formulation production facility of the Kanto Plant is moved to the Yamagata Plant. The management of the Tamado Mall, a commercial facility, is started. |
| 1996 | The merger with Mikasa Chemical Co., Ltd. is completed. |
| 1998 | The marketing of Baroque Flowable, an in-house developed acaricide formulation, is started. |
| 2004 | The company inherits the “Keito” business of Sumika-Takeda Agrichemical Co., Ltd. through absorption-type split. The company name is changed from Yashima Chemical Industries, Ltd. to Kyoyu Agri Co., Ltd. |
| 2006 | The marketing of Eco-Pita, an in-house developed pesticide formulation for IPM, is started. |
| 2007 | The marketing of Pyrachronil, an in-house developed herbicide for paddy rice, is started. |
| 2011 | The Tokyo Head Office is opened at the Yamaman Building in the Nihonbashi District of Chuo Ward in Tokyo. |
| 2013 | Pyraclonil received pesticide registration in Korea. |
| 2018 | Pyraclonil received pesticide registration in China and Thailand. |
| 2018 | Used area of Pyraclonil reached 700,000 hectares in Japan. |
Offices
Tokyo Head Office
Yamaman Building, Koami-cho 6-1, Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan 103-0016
| General Affairs Department | 81-3-5645-0700 |
|---|---|
| Development & Marketing Department | 81-3-5645-0707 |
| Overseas Department | 81-3-5645-0709 |
Registered location of the Head Office
YTT Building, Futago 6-14-10, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa, Japan 213-0002
Factory
Since its establishment, Kyoyu Agri has been developing specialized formulations for agricultural uses. Our highly advanced facilities have made it possible to produce a wide variety of formulations, such as granules, emulsions, emulsifiable concentrates, liquid and flowables, which can be used for various purposes. The production of each formulation is systematically managed through formulation designing, physicochemical property testing, pilot production, commercial production and quality control.
In particular, ISO-9001 certified factories are highly regarded for their highly controlled product quality by using separate production lines for pesticides, fungicides and herbicides.
Contract production business supported by highly reliable technology.
Kyoyu Agri is also outsourced to our customers.
also conducting contract productions for our customers. The formulation technology we have developed through our long history has enabled us to respond to various demands from our customers. Our special formulation technology is particularly well valued in the fields of coated granules, adsorptive granules and suspended concentrations.
Yamagata Factory
Main factory is located in the Tohoku region, which is the largest production of rice. Based on our excellent formulation technology, we mainly manufacture solid herbicides for paddy rice such as granule, Jumbo formulation, and FG (self-dispersible type Floating Granule). In 2021, we introduced a water-soluble film packaging facility, and we also manufacture the “Large package product for agricultural producers” that leads to cost reduction of agricultural production, which has been well received.
Formulation type: dust and granular formulations
Nagano Factory
At the Nagano Factory, we manufacture highly functional formulations centered on horticultural pesticides.
Based on the accumulated product manufacturing technology, we also manufacture suspension concentrates in addition to emulsifiable concentrates and soluble concentrates.
It is a factory that is characterized by being able to handle the manufacture of various large packaging suspension concentrates.
Formulation types: emulsifiable concentrations and suspended concentrations
Amagi Factory
We manufacture insecticides using our unique coating technology.
Our high manufacturing capacity has been well received.
Formulations types: granular formulations for insecticides (coating)
Research & Development
Agri-Science Research Center in Kyoyu Agri is actively working on the research and development of new products that can contribute to society by responding to changes in the agricultural environment, targeting for high performance, labor saving, and low cost based on safety and environmental protection.
Research and development of new pesticide active ingredients
The research and development of new pesticides begins with the synthesis of new compounds and selection by biological evaluation, and after various studies such as applicability, feasibility of actual production, safety, environmental protection,formulation, marketability, etc., the development cost has been spending around billions of Yen during 10 years.The Agri-Science research Center in Kyoyu Agri, we have been conducting thorough research and development with research functions for synthesis, formulations, and evaluations, and have been promoting the development of new products with abundant originality.
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Synthesis team- Search and synthesis research for new pesticide candidate compounds
- Study of manufacturing process of new active ingredient
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Biology team
- Evaluation of Efficacy and phytotoxicity for candidate compounds (selection)
- Elucidation of pesticide mode of action
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Formulation team
- Establishment of formulation recipe
- Establishment of manufacturing method
Development of new pesticide products
In the research and development of new pesticide products, we have been developing new formulations and new products in order to utilize existing active ingredients more effectively.
In particular, for herbicides for paddy rice, we have developed FG type of formulation (self-dispersible type Floating Granules), which was Kyoyu’s original technology, in addition to the conventional main pesticide formulations such as 1kg granules, jumbo granule, flowable formulation, etc.
We have been making efforts to contribute to labor saving and reduction of farmer’s material cost.
As a result of research activities, we have filed various patent applications so far, and succeeded in developing our own acaricide etoxazole, a large number of herbicide mixtures for paddy rice including pyraclonil, and IPM compatible material Ecopita. Based on these, we have contributed to agriculture in Japan and outside Japan.We are still working hard on various new research issues for the purpose of further development.
Introduction of Agri-Research Center
Synthesis team
Our main business is research on the synthesis of new pesticide compounds and support for manufacturing the Kyoyu own active ingredients.
In new pesticide exploratory research、
(1) Synthesize compounds from natural products, bioactive substances, existing pesticide active ingredient, patents, etc.
(2) Select compounds (lead compounds) that show unique and promising pesticide activities based on basic evaluation by the biology team.
(3) We create new pesticides that contribute to agriculture by optimizing the structure of lead compounds.
On the other hand, the synthesis team is working with the overseas department to provide various technical support to the toll manufacturing companies that are outsourced for the stable production of the technical grade of our own active ingredient.
Here, it is a business that needs a wide range of expertise regarding not only in synthesis and analysis but also in chemical plants.
Formulation team
Our main business is establishment of formulation recipe.
Pesticides cannot be a product unless all of the effects of activity, phytotoxicity of crops, various physical properties, storage stability, manufacturability, cost, safety, etc. are cleared the standard.
For that, Formulation team are investigating the optimization of prescriptions that identify the strengths and weaknesses of the effectiveness of pesticide active ingredients, improving safety and environmental protection for agricultural workers and reducing workload, evaluating products that take into consideration the reduction of environmental burden, and researching various new formulation technologies.
The formulation team is always engaged in a wide range of research activities, from basic research in the laboratory to actual industrialization examinations by using practical plants.
Biology team
The Biology team is divided into 3 sections: fungicide, insecticide and herbicide, and is engaged in research focusing on evaluation with the target of developing products that better fit the needs of agricultural sites.
The biology team evaluates the biological activity of new compounds synthesized by the Synthesis team to search for promising compounds, and also evaluate the performance of new formulations and mixtures to be examined by the Formulation team in collaboration with the Development Department.
Furthermore, for products that have already been sold and to be sold, we will discover features and advantages (that other products do not have) in collaboration with the Promotion & Marketing department to consider more convenient usage methods.
In recent years, Biology team have been working on the research, development and promotion of IPM (Integrated Pest Management) materials that are not chemical pesticides such as physical pest control agents Eco-Pita liquid.