Research has been the Isagro Group’s major strength right from the company’s formation. Research and development activities in the Group are concentrated in a separate company, Isagro Ricerca, in which Isagro holds a controlling interest. Set up in 1994 in line with Isagro’s highly successful strategic alliances policy, it is jointly owned by Isagro (85%) and Phyteurop (15%).

Projects are guided by a special committee, consisting of the top R&D management of the participating companies plus executives in charge of agricultural operations. This committee allocates funds each year to the most promising projects in terms of market needs and commercial potential. Isagro Ricerca draws on many years of experience,for its activities today represent a direct continuation of Montedison’s research work in the sector. The recent acquisition of Caffaro’s agrochemical division made available proprietary know-how in the research and development of copper fungicides and brought specific experience in formulation.

Isagro Ricerca has three important establishments: at the Guido Donegani Institute in Novara, at its Biological Evaluation Centre in Salerano al Lambro, near Milan, and at its Agronomic Station in Galliera, near Bologna, with some hectares of experimental land in an intensely farmed area.

The Department of Chemistry and the Department of Biology and Agronomy are engaged in R&D operations designed to discover new products to meet current and future needs. It is a highly creative and challenging work that draws on specific know-how in synthetic chemistry and a vast heritage of biological research accumulated over the years. Isagro Ricerca is fully equipped with state of the art equipment for all types of synthetic chemistry, with a pilot plant, glasshouses and laboratories for in vitro and in vivo biological evaluations.

The EnviroChemistry Department and the Toxicological evaluation Department have a dedicated and efficient team of scientists who perform accurate and effective metabolism studies for the registration of agrochemicals under international Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) guidelines and monitor toxicological studies performed by third parties.
The analytical laboratories are certified by the Italian Health Ministry for residue analyses and physicochemical characterisations under GLP guidelines.