UPL acquires naturally-derived fungicide, OptiCHOS to strengthen biocontrol portfolio

Capital Market 

UPL on Wednesday announced that its group has acquired OptiCHOS, a naturally derived fungicide for its Natural Plant Protection (NPP) business unit, whose NPP portfolio houses natural and biologically derived agricultural inputs and technologies.

NPP is a global operating entity housing UPL's portfolio of natural and biologically derived agricultural inputs and technologies.

OptiCHOS offers farmers a new, low-risk, residue free and bio-degradable broad spectrum disease control solution, with low environmental and human impacts. The active ingredients of OptiCHOS were developed from the chitin-rich by-products of the shellfish industry by BioCHOS, a spin-off of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. NPP's acquisition of OptiCHOS includes the registration data package and patents enabling the product to be used in mixture of a wide range of fungicides, providing the agricultural industry a variety of options.

The fugicide has already been submitted for approval for use in the European Union and NPP expects to be able to launch OptiCHOS products across the bloc in the next few years. Outside the EU, UPL will identify other markets for OptiCHOS and launch registration and approval processes to make the product available to farmers, company stated.

OptiCHOS will be integrated into UPL's ProNutiva programme which integrates naturally based biosolutions with conventional crop protection products to offer farmers tailored and adaptable packages that directly tackles pain-points. Through this programme, farmers can ensure higher yields with lower environmental impact while also improving their economic resilience and sustainability, the company further added.

UPL is a global provider of sustainable agriculture products and solutions. Its portfolio consists of biologicals and traditional crop protection solutions with more than 14,000 registrations.

Shares of UPL fell 0.87% to Rs 822.45 on BSE.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Dear Reader,


Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor

First Published: Wed, May 04 2022. 15:52 IST
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU