UPL broadens biocontrol portfolio with acquisition of new naturally-derived fungicide, OptiCHOS

UPL Ltd. (NSE: UPL & BSE: 512070) (‘UPL’) announced that UPL Group has acquired OptiCHOS, a naturally derived fungicide for its Natural Plant Protection (NPP) business unit.

The NPP portfolio houses 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.

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.

Mike Frank, President and COO at UPL said: “The addition of OptiCHOS to our comprehensive NPP biocontrol portfolio will enable us to further solve key global farmer pain points in an environmentally sustainable way by matching the efficacy levels of conventional fungicides with naturally-derived biosolutions. This reflects our mission at UPL to Reimagine Sustainability by harnessing the power of agriculture as a climate-positive industry. We look forward to delivering OptiCHOS-based products into the hands of farmers.”

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.

Jai Shroff, Global CEO, UPL said: “NPP is the world’s largest biological platform, and UPL through its OpenAg approach continues to add new technologies to expand our range of biocontrol products. This acquisition strengthens further our entire biologicals portfolio as we continue to lead on innovation in sustainable agriculture.”