OAT Agrio Co., Ltd.
Japanese agrochemical, fertilizer and biostimulant company built on 'agritechnology' for global food production.
Last updated September 26, 2026
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Overview
OAT Agrio Co., Ltd. is a Japanese agrochemical company headquartered in Naruto, Tokushima Prefecture, whose roots trace to 1950, when the organic chemistry division of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Factory was separated to form Otsuka Chemical Co., Ltd. It began manufacturing and selling agricultural chemicals in 1952 and has since grown into a specialist in crop protection, fertilizers, biostimulants, home-gardening materials and hydroponic/fertigation cultivation systems. The company positions its business around three 'agritechnologies': pest-control technology (crop protection), fertilization and irrigation technology, and cultivation technology including biostimulants that strengthen crop immunity against environmental and pest stress. The modern corporate identity took shape through a management buyout: in 2010 the Agritechno division of Otsuka Chemical became Otsuka Agritechno Co., Ltd., and in 2014 the company was renamed OAT Agrio Co., Ltd. and listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It has since expanded internationally through subsidiaries, joint ventures and acquisitions in India, Indonesia, China, Spain and the Netherlands, and it markets products in Japan, Europe, the United States and other regions. Its product portfolio spans insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and plant growth regulators; nutrient-solution and foliar fertilizers, phosphite fertilizers and calcium supplements; biostimulants; home-gardening supplies under the 'Garden Hospital' line; and nutrient-solution soil-culture (fertigation) systems, where the company claims the top domestic share for hydroponic fertilizers. OAT Agrio frames its corporate mission as contributing to the world's people through food-production technology and sincerity, and it links its activities directly to the SDGs, emphasizing environmental conservation, resource efficiency and hunger eradication. It operates research bases in Naruto and India, pursues new active ingredients with high safety profiles, and has obtained registrations for its fungicide active ingredient flutianil in the EU and California. The company is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Standard Market, having moved from the Prime Market in 2023.
History
OAT Agrio's history begins in 1950, when the organic chemistry division of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Factory was separated to establish Otsuka Chemical Co., Ltd. The company started manufacturing and selling agrochemicals in 1952, and in 1953 launched 'OMH-30', a tobacco axillary bud inhibitor. Through the 1960s it expanded into fertilizers, selling gravel-culture fertilizer in 1963 and the foliar fertilizer 'Sanpi' in 1964. The following decades brought a steady stream of crop-protection products: the herbicide 'Parazetto' (1976), the agricultural material disinfectant 'Ichiban' (1979), the fungicide 'Unitect' (1980), the herbicide 'Maiset' and insecticide 'Oncol' (1986), the insecticide 'Orate' and calcium product 'Calplus' (1992), 'Orion' (1993), 'Sted granule' (1995), 'Ondia' (1996), the turf colorant 'Greenway' (1997), the cut-flower preservative 'Misaki' and nationwide rollout of its nutrient-solution soil-culture system (1998), and the rice seedling box insecticide/fungicide 'Otsuka Judge box granule' (1999). In 1984 the company changed its name to Otsuka Chemical Co., Ltd. In 2000 the company launched several insecticides ('Grand Oncol', 'Oncol microcapsule', 'Ondia Ace', 'Delaus Oncol') and the fungicide 'Oceanshine'. In 2002 a new Otsuka Chemical Co., Ltd. was established to succeed the chemicals and agrochemical/fertilizer businesses, and it launched the insecticide 'Hachihachi emulsifiable concentrate'. The acaricide 'Danisaraba flowable' followed in 2007. A decisive turning point came in 2010, when the Agritechno division of Otsuka Chemical was spun off through a management buyout to form Otsuka Agritechno Co., Ltd. In 2011 the company began manufacturing and selling the rice herbicides 'Benfuresate' and 'Benzofenap', acquired from Bayer CropScience AG. It made Asahi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. a wholly owned subsidiary in 2012, and in 2013 formed the Indian joint venture OAT&IIL India Laboratories Private Limited with Insecticides (India) Limited, while launching the fungicide 'Gatten'. In 2014 the company was renamed OAT Agrio Co., Ltd. and listed on the Second Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange on June 25; OAT Stevia Co., Ltd. was also established. It was designated to the First Section in December 2015. In 2016 it established PT. OAT MITOKU AGRIO, Runhe (Zhoushan) Plant Technology Co., Ltd. and OAT Agri Frontier Co., Ltd. In 2017 it joined the founding of the Japan Generic Agrochemicals Council and launched the new nutrient-solution soil-culture 'TT series', and obtained ISO9001:2015. In 2018 it joined the founding of the Japan Biostimulant Council, established H-New Co., Ltd., acquired Spain's LIDA and CAPA, made Implant Innovations Inc. a subsidiary, and acquired the 20-company Chrysal group (Blue Wave Holding B.V.). In 2019 it obtained EU registration for flutianil and GLOBALG.A.P. certification; in 2020 it obtained California registration for flutianil. With the Tokyo Stock Exchange market-segment review, it moved from the First Section to the Prime Market in 2022, then to the Standard Market in 2023, the same year OAT Pakistan Private Limited was excluded from its subsidiaries through a share transfer. In 2025 its nutrient-solution soil-culture system was certified under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' 'Midori no Shokuryo System Act' foundation-establishment business plan.
- 2013
Established Indian joint venture OAT&IIL India Laboratories Private Limited with Insecticides (India) Limited; launched fungicide 'Gatten'.
- 2012
Made Asahi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. a wholly owned subsidiary.
- 2011
Began manufacturing and selling rice herbicides 'Benfuresate' and 'Benzofenap' acquired from Bayer CropScience AG.
- 2010
Agritechno division of Otsuka Chemical spun off via MBO to form Otsuka Agritechno Co., Ltd.
- 2007
Launched acaricide 'Danisaraba flowable'.
- 2002
New Otsuka Chemical Co., Ltd. established to succeed chemicals and agrochemical/fertilizer businesses; launched insecticide 'Hachihachi emulsifiable concentrate'.
- 2000
Launched insecticides 'Grand Oncol', 'Oncol microcapsule', 'Ondia Ace', 'Delaus Oncol' and fungicide 'Oceanshine'.
- 1999
Launched rice seedling box insecticide/fungicide 'Otsuka Judge box granule'.
- 1998
Launched cut-flower preservative 'Misaki'; nationwide rollout of nutrient-solution soil-culture system.
- 1997
Launched turf colorant 'Greenway'.
Products and positioning
Specialist agrochemical and agritechnology company focused on crop protection, fertilization/irrigation and biostimulants for sustainable food production.
Hachihachi emulsifiable concentrate
Hachihachi flowable
Gatten
Danisaraba flowable
TT series
Garden Hospital
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