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Dicyandiamide is a downstream product of coal chemical industry with a long history of use, applicable in chemical, pharmaceutical, and agricultural fields. In recent years, as a unique dormancy-breaking agent, its application in plant growth regulators has gained increasing attention. In the chemical industry, China has a dicyandiamide production capacity exceeding 80,000 tons, accounting for approximately 90% of the global capacity. In 2020, the global dicyandiamide market size reached 1.2 billion yuan, and it is projected to reach 1.7 billion yuan in 2026, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.3%. In the plant growth regulator field, the global formulation volume is 7,000-8,000 tons, with a market value of approximately 160 million yuan, mainly used in high-value crops such as grapes, kiwifruit, blueberries, and apples as a dormancy-breaking and defoliating agent. This article will outline the key aspects of dicyandiamide from production to application and its market development trends.

The Chemical Genealogy of Dicyandiamide

The industrial production of dicyandiamide began in the late 1930s, produced by the reaction of calcium cyanamide with sulfuric acid. In the 1960s, the raw material route for dicyandiamide was changed to calcium cyanamide, carbon dioxide, and water. Since the 1960s, there have been continuous reports of new dicyandiamide production processes, but none have been industrialized. Dicyandiamide production in China began in the 1960s, mainly as a pharmaceutical intermediate, using international production processes from the 1930s and 1940s, with no major changes until the early 1990s. Starting in 1995, China established several production units based on international dicyandiamide production processes from the 1960s and 1970s, which have continued to develop to this day. Currently, the main production areas of dicyandiamide in China are concentrated in the Ningxia region. Although the price of calcium carbide, the upstream material of dicyandiamide, fluctuated significantly last year, because calcium carbide is a basic chemical raw material with a volume of over 30 million tons in China, and the volume of dicyandiamide is relatively small, the price fluctuation of calcium carbide has little impact on dicyandiamide.

Dicyandiamide mainly contains the following concentrations: 20% aqueous solution can be used as a defoliant; 30% aqueous solution can be used in the electronics industry; around 50% aqueous solution can be used as a dormancy-breaking agent and in the electronics industry; and high-purity crystals above 95% can be used in the pharmaceutical industry, etc.

In addition, dicyandiamide can be used as a pesticide intermediate for the production of products such as carbendazim, benomyl, methyl pyrimethanil, pyrimethanil, pirimicarb, pyridaphenthion, chlorsulfuron, metsulfuron-methyl, metsulfuron-methyl, ethoxysulfuron, bensulfuron-methyl, pyrazosulfuron-ethyl, cyromazine, etc.

Dicyandiamide in Plant Applications—A Highly Effective Dormancy-Breaking Agent

Dicyandiamide can be used to break the dormancy period of grape and deciduous fruit crops, promoting earlier germination, flowering, fruiting, and maturation, increasing single fruit weight and yield per unit area. In plants, dicyandiamide is rapidly metabolized and completely converted into carbon sources needed for plant growth. It has extremely low residue at maturity and has no adverse effects on fruit quality, making it an excellent plant growth regulator for producing green fruits.

Studies have shown that some sweet cherry varieties or other tree species cultivated in warm winter regions have a longer flowering period than when planted in temperate or cold regions. This phenomenon is due to low winter temperature accumulation and can be offset by the application of dicyandiamide.

To compensate for the insufficient accumulation of chilling requirements, dicyandiamide, as an effective dormancy-breaking agent, has been widely used in the production of deciduous fruit trees such as grapes, kiwifruit, apples, and peaches. Studies have shown that spraying dicyandiamide on fruit trees 2-5 weeks before natural bud break can promote earlier and uniform bud break, increase the number of flowers and fruits, advance flowering and maturity, and improve fruit quality.