Innovation in Crop Protection: Trends in Research

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Abstract
In the absence of the remarkable levels of growth in the yields of important crops, neither the rapid increase in living standards in industrialized countries nor the adequate standard of nutrition for the greater part of the world's population would have been possible. Alongside high-yielding varieties, improved agricultural techniques, and rapid mechanization, the chemical industry has also contributed substantially to progress in agriculture since roughly the middle of the nineteenth century. From the chemists “kitchens” came two “magic weapons”: artificial fertilisers and chemical agents for crop protection. Today both have become indispensable to modern yield- and quality-orientated agriculture. This review spans the development of the crop-protection industry from its earliest beginnings to the present day and attempts to portray how the research-based crop-protection industry is prepared for current and future challenges. Considerable space is thus dedicated to the discussion of trends in research.