Campaign to coincide with the introduction of Lamardor
Ryzhenko and his colleagues want to use the introduction of seed treatment product Lamardor® to really get the campaign rolling: “We anticipate there will be a lot of interest in the new product. We want to capitalize on this by increasing awareness of user protection at the same time”, he explains.

“Providing the market with seed treatment products that are as user-friendly as possible is among Bayer CropScience’s highest priorities”, comments Ryzhenko. For the user, protective practice actually begins with the decision as to which product to buy. High-quality seed treatment products such as Lamardor are easy to mix; they stick to seeds well and resist abrasion; and they have a good flowability, so they are also easier to work with.

Ryzhenkos Ukrainian colleague Evgenia Ustimenko is a little further down the road. In the Ukraine, both the introduction of Lamardor and the campaign started earlier, in 2006. The user-protection campaign embraces a range of topics relating to the entire spectrum of safe and efficient seed treatment practices. Ustimenko attaches particular importance to the personal protective gear worn by the user: “Promoting the use of gloves, overalls, breathing masks and goggles is at the centre of our efforts”, she explains.

High level of acceptance among users
The results of the campaign speak for themselves. Bayer CropScience sales representatives now observe that more and more operators of seed-treatment equipment in the Ukraine are applying the recommended precautionary measures. Ustimenko attributes this success to continuous communication: “Little strokes fell big oaks.”

Dr. Peter Ohs, Senior Product Stewardship Manager in Development at the headquarters, stays in constant contact with Ryzhenko and Ustimenko. “The users must discover the importance and value for themselves”, Ohs says. He draws a parallel with driving a car: “For most drivers, putting on the safety belt has become second nature. It should be equally natural for all users of crop protection agents to put on the appropriate protective gear every time they work with these products.”

Responsibility doesn’t end with the sale of the product
For Ohs, this user-protection campaign is company policy translated into practice: “Obviously, we want to increase our market share through our innovative products. But we also accept our responsibility to ensure that they are being used safely.” The challenge is to reach the many thousands of users of seed treatment products. Most are already aware of how important protective measures are, “but we must make sure that words are turned into actions”.

Ustimenko and Ryzhenko intentionally include not only their own sales representatives, but also distributors, specialist journalists and authorities. All of these people should ideally pick up the message and act as multiplicators within their spheres of activity. Responses so far have been encouraging: Seed treaters have started asking where the next training events are due to take place. The responsible authorities in the countries are also very positive about the campaign and already point towards the next step: for it to cover spray applications, too.

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