Agform receives approval for herbicides Blutron

UK agchem company Agform has received UK approval for herbicides Blutron (250g/litre isoproturon and 50g/litre diflufenican), and Blutron Plus (250g/litre isoproturon and 100g/litre diflufenican), for control of annual meadowgrass and a wide range of broad-leaved weeds.
 

 It was announced in UK that any product containing isoproturon would be phased out in 2007, with their use in the field banned by 2009. Agform have now found a way to mitigate that risk by increasing the active ingredients efficacy, allowing it to be used at much lower concentrations, with an acceptable minimum effective dose. The company’s managing director, John Misselbrook, explains that isoproturon in its previous form was an insoluble compound and decreasing its particle size has been key to getting it reapproved. Increasing the surface area of the particles, and therefore its solubility, means that more of the active ingredient will be taken up by the plant through leaves and roots. “This allows the product to be more effective at lower rates as there is more active ingredient taken up by the target and less going into the soil and potentially, water,” he explains.
 

This season Blutron and Blutron Plus won’t be available for use in the autumn, but growers will be able to use the product in winter cereals during the spring, up until its growth stage 32 cut-off.
 

Mr Misselbrook says the company needs to convince UK growers that the product is effective, but hopes to hit annual sales in the region of £15m Europe-wide within three years. “We will have the capacity to adequately satisfy demand from our Southampton-based factory, but we have to convince growers in the UK of the product’s effectiveness first,” says Mr Misselbrook.