BASF signs herbicide licensing agreement with Kumiai

Kumiai Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. and Ihara Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. have granted BASF the exclusive right to develop and commercialize solo herbicide products with pyroxasulfone for corn, soybeans, wheat and sunflower in the United States and Canada. BASF anticipates introducing its first product with this exciting technology under the brand name Zidua® herbicide in the United States in 2012.

"We are excited to be adding Zidua to our growing portfolio of herbicide innovations,” said Nevin McDougall, Senior Vice President, BASF Crop Protection, North America. “Zidua is a new class of herbicide chemistry, and represents a step change in its mode of action group, delivering greater breadth and depth of weed control.”

BASF was also granted the right to develop premix formulations and continue to evaluate the herbicide active ingredient for additional crops, such as cotton, peanuts, and potatoes in the United States and Canada. Further details of the deal were not disclosed.

Ziduawill provide growers long-lasting, broad-spectrum, residual control of key grass and broadleaf weeds with flexibility across a broad application window. Zidua will also be an excellent tool for controlling tough weeds, including those found resistant to multiple herbicide modes of action, such as Palmer amaranth, waterhemp, Italian ryegrass and others plaguing growers today.