Natco Pharma to launch pheromone product to control Pink Bollworm in cotton crop

Natco Pharma Ltd is panning to launch its first Green Label Pheromone product for Effective Management of Pink Bollworm (PBW) in cotton crop duirng Kharif 2021.

“Natco Pharma is pleased to announce its foray into Pheromone based mating disruption technology for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) solution to farmers in India,” the Hyderabad drug maker said in a statement on Monday.

The product will be launched under the brand Natmate PBW. “This is the first pheromone-based indigenously manufactured product for mating disruption that received approval from Central Insecticide Board (CIB),” the company said.

Natco, through its Crop Health Science (CHS) division, is working with ATGC Biotech Pvt Ltd (ATGC) for the technology. ATGC is a science-based innovative technology company concentrating on developing new biosafe molecules and tools to protect diverse crops from insect pests, in collaboration with US-based agricultural biotech company ISCA Inc.

Pink Bollworm posed a major challenge in the past few years to cotton farmers across India. The damage to quality and yield of cotton due to PBW is significant and often severely affects the livelihood of small farmers.