Sharpen Herbicide Expanded for Preplant Use in Rice

Rice growers seeking to get early control of the toughest broadleaf weeds – including glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth and marestail – now have the option of using Sharpen® herbicide, powered by Kixor® herbicide technology, for preplant burndown.

"Using a comprehensive weed management program that starts with Sharpen helps rice growers reduce time spent later in the season dealing with tough weeds,” said Bryan Perry, Kixor Marketing Manager with BASF. “This label expansion will help rice growers start clean and stay clean until the end of the season.” As an industry leader, BASF is dedicated to providing solutions, technical support and educational tools to help growers implement a weed management program based on herbicide best practices. This includes utilizing herbicides with multiple sites of action.

"Sharpen gives growers the opportunity to incorporate another site of action, helping them prevent and manage a broad range of resistant broadleaf weeds,” said Perry. “In addition to Palmer amaranth and marestail, Sharpen has been proven effective at controlling weeds such as morningglory and smartweed.” Sharpen also provides rice growers with a fast, flexible option for burndown. Sharpen is three to five times faster than 2, 4-D ester and glyphosate and its residual activity can provide a wider, more effective window for postemergence herbicide applications.

With sales of €4.0 billion in 2010, BASF’s Crop Protection division is a leader in crop protection and a strong partner to the farming industry providing well-established and innovative fungicides, insecticides and herbicides. Farmers use these products and services to improve crop yields and crop quality. Other uses include public health, structural/urban pest control, turf and ornamental plants, vegetation management, and forestry. BASF aims to turn knowledge rapidly into market success. The vision of BASF’s Crop Protection division is to be the world’s leading innovator, optimizing agricultural production, improving nutrition, and thus enhancing the quality of life for a growing world population.