UPL acquires naturally-derived fungicide, OptiCHOS to strengthen biocontrol portfolio

UPL on Wednesday announced that its group has acquired OptiCHOS, a naturally derived fungicide for its Natural Plant Protection (NPP) business unit, whose NPP portfolio houses natural and biologically derived agricultural inputs and technologies.

NPP is a global operating entity housing UPL's portfolio of 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.

The fugicide 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, company stated.

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, the company further added.

UPL is a global provider of sustainable agriculture products and solutions. Its portfolio consists of biologicals and traditional crop protection solutions with more than 14,000 registrations.

The company's consolidated net profit rose 24.89% to Rs 1,179 crore on a 23.78% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 11,297 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q3 FY21.

Shares of UPL fell 0.87% to Rs 822.45 on BSE.

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