UPL acquires new naturally-derived fungicide

Agro-chemicals major UPL on Wednesday said it has acquired a naturally-derived fungicide, OptiCHOS, for its natural plant protection (NPP) business unit.

The NPP portfolio houses natural and biologically derived agricultural inputs and technologies, UPL said in a BSE filing.

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 a mixture of a wide range of fungicides, providing the agricultural industry a variety of options, according to the BSE filing.

OptiCHOS 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.
Shares of the company closed at Rs 822.45, down 0.87 per cent on BSE.