Indian agrochemical maker Dhanuka Agritech has launched two crop protection products for the domestic market, Fujita, a fungicide against rice blast, and Wetcit Neo, a spray adjuvant, according to details it disclosed to the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange on 25 September, Global Agriculture reports.

Fujita contains isoprothiolane at 40 percent EC and is described as a premium systemic fungicide for controlling leaf, nodal and neck blast in rice. Dhanuka says it acts both preventively and curatively, moves through the plant's roots and leaves, and works by inhibiting the fungus's phospholipid biosynthesis to hold the disease back. Isoprothiolane has been registered against rice blast for years in parts of East and Southeast Asia; under the Fujita brand it adds a systemic option to Dhanuka's Indian range.

Wetcit Neo is formulated with avocado oil, blackcurrant oil and surfactants. According to the filing it lowers the surface tension of spray water so that sprays spread, cover and penetrate better, and it absorbs and dries quickly. The company says it is compatible with most pesticide chemistries and combines several adjuvant functions, such as wetting, spreading and penetrating, in one product, so growers need not tank-mix separate additives.

Both products are for the Indian market only. The launch follows Dhanuka's rollout earlier this month of Polin, a separate rice blast fungicide developed with Japan's Nippon Soda.

Photo: Donald Groth, LSU AgCenter, Bugwood.org / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Source: Global Agriculture